jaxgtr

Became a work-a-holic last week, no rides at all. Finally got one today, short 16 miles and 3700 ft of climbing on Rouvy while the Mother's day meal was cooking in the crock pot. Wife wanted to save me from cooking outside today as the humidity is off the chain right now, so she asked for some Pot Roast. Bless her

diphthong

56-spot vintage ride yday. hoping to get out for some such both monday and tuesday. slowly getting motivated. feel like a reptile must.

jadmt

longest ride in a long time. slow and steady like the tortoise .

Average Old Guy

. . . and I'm dyin' !!! 78 years old, laid off the bike for three weeks because of health problems, hopped on my old beater bike and made 8 miles and I CANT FEEL MY THIGHS !!!

Couple of gin and tonic will fix things.

Sierra_rider

Only 45 miles today, but it made up for it with climbing.

diphthong

monitor pass x 2...well done!

Sierra_rider

Thanks, I'm trying to gear up for the Death Ride in July(14k' of climbing)...it's coming along, but there are still some things that I can improve on. This whole riding "thing" has a high cost of entry when you take extended time off from it lol.

diphthong

rock on. have coursed out the route (and driven some of it) but never ridden any section of it. if you can summit monitor pass 5x in a single ride, you'll be good.

diphthong

ummm...yeah. totally agree. last summer, was game for anything distance or vertical gain. that fitness dwindles all too quickly.

Sierra_rider

I think I could do it now(slow and painfully,) but any fitness gains between now and then should make it that much more enjoyable. I've ridden all the DR climbs before, just never all of them consecutively. My favorite out of those is Ebbett's, but we'll be lucky if it opens by Memorial day.

I took most of last year off from riding...partly lost interest, partly because my carpal tunnel issue made it really annoying to ride. I was set to have surgery, but I've been able to make it tolerable without surgery. I'll probably still do it in the future, but for now I can mostly ride without numbness. Anyway, this year has mostly been a struggle just trying to capture past fitness...I was getting a little worried about my improvement, but I think this last week or so has been a bellwether of good things to come.

jaxgtr

[QUOTE=Sierra_rider;22891207]Only 45 miles today, but it made up for it with climbing./QUOTE]

Hmmmmmmm.... snow..... looks cold.

Cdubs

6.2km in to work and 6.3km home from work. A nice tail wind both ways somehow lol.

Sierra_rider

[QUOTE=jaxgtr;22891780]It wasn't too bad...I don't believe the numbers my Garmin says, but I'd guess upper 70s at the base of the climb and low 60's at the top. The only place I was chilly was at the very top of the descents.

diphthong

32-spot in the san diego backcountry about an hour’s drive from home. beautiful day. upper 70’s. low traffic.
5-6mph breeze. 25% humidity. everything still green and lots of water and flowers. a fave area in socal to ride and need to get back up there again in the next two weeks.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9084879468

diphthong

seems like many have embraced the '28's (or larger) tires for a more comfy ride. still rocking '23's like an vain idiot but double bar tape wrapped all my handlebars which helps my hands/wrists on century rides and hard mountain rides.
have never had carpal tunnel or hand/wrist issues but not looking for them either.

Troul 

it usually takes about that long of a drive to ride in a much more pleasant environment. Wonder if those that live in that area do the same, & do they go where we left from? lol

Sierra_rider

I've been on 28s for awhile now...one of the selling points of my Canyon(2020) was that it can fit a 32 with room to spare, so I put 28s on it as soon as the stock tires wore out...never looked back, they're the way to go IMO unless you're built like a spindly climber.

It seems counter-intuitive, but I partly run a low bar/stem position because it actually takes pressure off my wrists. My carpal tunnel issues get worse as I progress up through my taller bikes...my mid-travel mtb is the worst one for hand-numbness even though it has the most upright riding position. The side benefit of the low cockpit, is I can exercise my vanity.

In my case, my hobbies and work have likely all contributed to carpal tunnel syndrome. Besides spending hours cycling every week, I've been riding/racing motorcycles for most of my life, and have a job that entails frequently using vibrating equipment. Apparently mine hasn't progressed to the point of doing permanent nerve damage, so I do some exercise and diet related stuff that keeps it from being more than just a mild annoyance.

Sierra_rider

Nice! I haven't been south of the grapevine too many times in my life, so that's honestly not the image I see when I think of San Diego.

diphthong

possibly. in my neck of the woods, the coastal ride from del mar up to oceanside and back or vice versa (roughly 34 miles) is the one ride to do should you visit the area.

scenery. plenty of support cycling-wise. one of the true busy cycling thoroughfares in the country. world-class athletes of several disciplines more than occasionally cruising.

oodles of places to pull over for "refreshment." grew up at the beach so prefer the mountains but i get it. unless you're doing sunrise/sunset rides when it's warmer or colder, the socal coast rarely drops below the low-50's at night and usually hits the low-60's in the winter. in the heat of summer, coast can hit 90+ but if it's that hot on the coast, it's triple digits inland.


having ridden the san diego coastal area extensively for the last two decades+, just looking for different when motivated. local mountains laguna/cuyamaca/mount palomar areas have historically gotten hit plenty by myself (and it's in my top three areas in all of socal to ride). much less support (anywhere from 5-20 miles) so more realistic awareness (of your conditioning/body, bike and stores/water sources) is critical.

can't begin to even fathom riding consistently in/on snow.

Sierra_rider

I think it's all a matter of perspective. My home roads are considered to be a cycling destination by many down in the valley/SF bay area. I think my local roads are cool and feel lucky to be able to live here, yet I frequently drive 30-60 minutes to go ride the Sierra passes. As cool as my home roads are, I've ridden them so many times, it's cool to see some variety...other people's weekend riding trip is just my regular grind. Even though the high-sierra stuff is a short drive away and I ride it a lot, I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

In the winter, I even drive down the hill to ride in the valley, but that's mostly to escape freezing temps and get a break from climb-heavy routes.

diphthong

glad it isn't. san diego backcountry is ridiculously underrated as riding territory. semi-easy to get to from san diego but a pita from orange county, riverside county and la.
if i had unlimited funds, would open a riding center with a chef, team of massage therapists, resto/bar, road/mtn/gravel bikes, fleet of support vehicles, individual cottages for approx 25-30 riders,
pool/jacuzzi/sauna and a dedicated shuttle to/from sd intl airport. road. dirt. area does not suck for riding. mtns. foothills. desert. plenty of interface between all three.

Troul 

31 miles, 37F, & winters keeps on cycling back.

jadmt

I need to start paying attention so I can match my top speed and miles. my fastest top speed in a long time. need for speed is strong lol. seriously bugs the **** out of me that I didn't hit 45mph.

SpeedyBlueBiker

Rode 39 miles on a very nice sunny day today. A little hazy due to forest fires in Alberta, Canada blowing down this way. Luckily, they are at a very high altitude, so it isn't bad to be out as you aren't breathing it in.

rsbob 

Just didn’t feel it today so detoured to a coffee shop for treats and a LBS where one of the guys told me about an elderly couple with two unleaded dogs cut him off (the dogs not the people) which caused him to wreck and breaking his elbow. First broken bone after mountain biking on hairy stuff for 20 years. The rub was the couple asked if he was ok as he was bleeding profusely from his face unable to push himself back off the ground because his elbow was no longer connected to his ulna. They told him mountain bikers are tough and he should be fine as he sat there in shock and pain unable to get up. They walked on and left him.

I did get a picture of a nurse-stump.