Troul 

26 miles while temps fluctuated from 19°F to 25°F.

jaxgtr

So I took a few days off this week as my birthday is Friday and have plans to ride my age Friday as well. It was quite cool on Wednesday and I just could not mentally force myself outside yesterday as I was looking at my smart bike in 70F inside temps, so I got in 28 flat miles. Temps much more comfortable today, but I got a call my boss and there was a server that died and she wanted me to cover for her on a call as she had to take a family member to the hospital. So I did 62.7 fake flat miles inside while I listened to a bunch of people discuss what needed to be done that I, or my boss don't have any control over, and have no idea why we needed to be on this call.

rsbob 

62 miles indoors is impressive!

rsbob 

Was all set to do a FTP test, while my wife was away, so did a nice 20 min warm up and then started the test. Rode the first 20 mins of ‘warm-up’ included in the test. then got into the 9 minute mark of the test running a constant 300 Watts (I’m old and pathetic) when all of a sudden I heard a loud bang somewhere in the house. I called out to see if my wife was home, no response. Gasping for air I called two more times with no answer. Getting concerned, stopped the test and got off the bike and then she appeared. She said she dropped her phone and replied to me but I couldn’t hear her over the trainer. So I did a 45 minute zone 2-3 as consolation. 😪.

Sierra_rider

If you do manage to hold 300 watts, that's a respectable number for anyone, regardless of age. I know guys 1/2 your age that would kill for that number, so keep it up.

Another thing, trainer watts feel harder than road watts to me. The direct drive trainers are way better than the old wheel-on trainers in this regard, but it's still easier for me to crank out higher road watts.

rsbob 

Totally agree. My Kickr is making weird noises so it may be affecting the stats.

jaxgtr

Thanks, I was quite happy with it, 22.2 mph and avg 195 watts for 2 hrs and 49 mins with one 30 second break to get a new bottle. I asked for my domestique to get me a new bottle, but she was on a business call and blew me off. I need to find better people to support me on these long rides inside, the one I have is lacking in dedication to the team leader.

rsbob 

Hilarious! . I understand George Hincapie is looking for a gig….

Sierra_rider

I've got a Garmin/Tacx trainer. As far as effort, it's mostly a mental thing with me. That being said, it has an annoying power dropout issue on Zwift. It's a fairly common issue with no good resolution...basically I'll be in a hard effort and it will suddenly lose most resistance, drops the power down to 150ish watts, and then suddenly come back after a few seconds. It's enough of an issue, that I think it may be worth a few watts on an FTP test. Mostly happens at around 90-95 rpm, which happens to be my preferred cadence.

Sierra_rider

Props to you for being able to spend that much time on the trainer. My upper limit is about 2 hours and even then, it's only because there's a blizzard or torrential downpour that's keeping me indoors.

jaxgtr

I'll hit him up.

rsbob 

That would drive me nuckin’ futz. Maybe you will burn it out soon and get something else.

jaxgtr

It got windy and warm today...but got in 61.4.

rsbob 

Soft pedaling day indoors watching The Cure concert. Went 15 miles in one hour at a whopping 100 Watts. Almost didn’t need a shower. Plus Santa brought a new fan for the trainer riding - which was fantastic. Total Z1 Call me Mr Slackerpants.

jaxgtr

Moving the legs is moving the legs, no matter what zone your in

biker128pedal

No long ride for me. Did my first cyclocross race. I have not raced in 27 years. Did the Cat 5 beginner. 5 miles 3 laps over 40 minutes. I slipped and almost fell once. Bunny hopped the logs. Road my Domane stripped of all accessories and the burrito. Easier to carry when needed than the mountain bike but the stock gears a little tall. Put the stock wheels with GR1 tires. Grip was good but this was the first race of the day. May do again after I retire next year. Did learn how out of shape I’m on. Set a heart rate record of 164 bpm. That was my max for Garmin zone estimates. Guess I’ll have to up it and never see zone 5 again.

Best part was the kids course and little Belgiums race. My four year old granddaughter had fun on the course bombing down the his on her 12 inch pedal bike. For the race she was upset she was not in first.


Muddy Domane

Little Belgiums Start

SpeedyBlueBiker

Went out at 6:45am this morning and rode 31 miles. Nice day but very humid.

The Chemist

Only 46.5km, but it was at an average of 246W / 32.1km/h, so still a pretty strong effort.

beechnutC23

A mere 25 km. But, it was only 3C and raining and any December ride in Québec is a bonus ride. On Friday I picked up my new gravel/bikepacking bike. The frame was designed by my son (Bassi Bikes, Montreal), and it was built up by him (Bassi Hog's Back). So I couldn't resist the urge to do a test ride. The weather radar said I had an hour and a half window of rain-free opportunity. The radar was wrong, it rained pretty much from the start but we pushed on regardless. The bike was awesome, my previous gravel bike, a 2018 Bombtrack Hook 2 was starting to give lots of grief after 31,773.6 km in just over 5 years. The rear hub is shot with lots of free play, the headset is crunchy, and the frame has a lot of rust on it from all-weather riding. My son will give it some TLC over the winter with a new powder coat, new rear wheel and hub, new headset, and then it will go into semi-retirement at our secondary residence on the Wet Coast. Big difference in performance with the new bike; I hadn't realized how badly the Bombtrack had deteriorated. Now I can keep up with my wife who also has a Hog's Back from 3 years ago, spec'd a bit differently. Mine is SRAM Rival 1 (hydraulic brakes), 650b wheels with 48 mm tires, Salsa Cowchipper handlebar, racks, SON dynamo and dynamo lights.

Out with the old:




and in with the new:



At the shop, ready to roll out the door

Finishing touches

rsbob 

32 fake miles taking 2 very real hours. Am so tired of riding around and over Central Park. Thank the almighty Netflix for providing a distraction for the first half.

Edit: AND 6000 meters climbing. (2000’ for the unwashed )

Sierra_rider

Nice. I've been dabbling in CX this year a bit myself. I've been using non-ideal bikes, my 2x gravel bike and an endurance road bike that I put a 1x drivetrain on. I'm seriously thinking about building a dedicated 'cross bike for next season.

CX racing is no joke. I'm fairly competitive in XC mtb racing, but I get my butt handed to me at the CX races.

Sierra_rider

A bit of a hammerfest today(by December standards)...averaged 200 watts with a 240 watt "normalized" power for over 4 hours. Grand total of 58 miles and 7,000' of climbing.

john m flores 

Rode to the Italian deli for some coffee beans, mozzarella balls, Italian sausage, and a prosciutto, mozzarella, and roasted pepper sandwich on focaccia bread.

about 4 miles

WaveyGravey

I rode twenty miles into a strong head wind.

Gyro

Broke my yearly 5000 miles last month. Should hit 5300 if the weather holds out.