Great Lakes - Did you ride today?

You heading down for the TdG? Are you going to ride any of the roads?

This is my second year for TDG. Last year I had a tour guide so to speak but this year I guess I am the guide. As of today we are planning to tackle the 3 gap (http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ga/dahlonega/648048855) on Thursday and see how we feel. Friday I want to do the http://www.sabacycling.com/circlethebald.shtml route (http://www.sabacycling.com/images/Brasstown%20Bald.bmp).
Saturday will be saved for Brasstown. We will get there early and climb Brasstown a couple of times then head back up to the top to watch the race. I will let you know how these rides work out when I get back.

climb Brasstown a couple of times
Glutton. For. Punishment.

:beer:

Glutton. For. Punishment.

:beer:

For real.....I will be wishing for a triple ...or a compact.....or a 27.......:(

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!
37.25 Miles out to Rocky River. Road down in the park a bit. Stopped by Performance to buy some supplies then came on home.
2 hours ride time.

The weather is perfect today in Chicago. My short ride to work (2mi) was the most glorious it has been in awhile.

4/18 - commuted in again. Trail is still flooded over in a few spot, but I was prepared for it today.

I'm getting faster.

I kicked into alternating running and cycling days again. I'm nothing of a runner, but even the pathetic attempts I make really make a difference in form on the bike.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!
37.25 Miles out to Rocky River. Road down in the park a bit. Stopped by Performance to buy some supplies then came on home.
2 hours ride time.

you rock dude.

i gotta ask, what do you do for a living? to me, it seems you may be a professional cyclist :D.

later.

i gotta ask, what do you do for a living? to me, it seems you may be a professional cyclist :D.

.

I am a dad :) I have been a S.A.H.D. (stay at home dad) for almost 6 years now. Both kids are now school aged so as long as I get my chores done I am free to do as I please. I try to really clean house on the crappy days so I have the nice days pretty free save for a little dusting or vacuum. It ain't bad being the ***** :)

I am a dad :) I have been a S.A.A.D. (stay at home dad) for almost 6 years now. Both kids are now school aged so as long as I get my chores done I am free to do as I please. I try to really clean house on the crappy days so I have the nice days pretty free save for a little dusting or vacuum. It ain't bad being the ***** :)

very cool.

later.

1st year with a rode bike...got in 40 miles today but I got a lesson about wind. Rode 20mi south into a 23mph wind with gust to 35....at times I felt like I was going backwards. The ride back was better...I even hit 30mph on flat stretches if I pushed hard...that was cool...but I couldn't keep that pace as long as I wanted cause my legs were wiped from fightin the wind......
(rode open farmland in the far south burbs of Chicago) all in all a nice day
Sonny Red

Almost 21 miles today mainly on nearby trails (Rock Run Greenway trail from Black Rd. to the 7-Eleven by I-80 and back; Rock Run Preserve long loop 3 times clockwise (1.96 mile loop)). Weather held out all day here in eastern Illinois today. Western part had rain today and is going to spread in here tonight and part of tomorrow. Sunday should be nice again.

4/17 as stated by graysol, we rode with the Akron Bike club on what they call the fast ride, (no quarter given, no quarter asked ride) My computer was reading 44 miles at the end. That included an earlier ride around the valley. Me and the gary did well, of course!!

4/18 got out on the "old steelie" for some good times, what a beautiful day here! No destination, just random cruising. ended the day at 35 miles. One of those wish it didn't have to end days for sure.

4/18/08

15 miles with temps in the high 60's.

7 miles today cut short by a ridiculous amount of gnats/flies that made any speed above 15mph grueling. They were quite literally all over me. After swallowing about four of them, I decided to turn back and call it a day.

Hopefully they'll be gone soon enough...

Usual commute again (16 miles) plus another 14 or so just putzing around, visiting friends and whatnot. Some dick threw a bottle at me from his SUV on my way home; thankfully it hit my bag. I followed him for a few blocks, til he abruptly turned into an an alley and booked it out of there. Dangerous nonsense....

20 miles through bull valley IL's hills. Very little traffic, cool views. I've determine hills are are smaller mammals :) An unfortunate head wind on the way back home, but otherwise a nice ride, looked like rain but only sprinkled.

Errand riding: LBS (for tubes), bank, coffee beans. 4 mile loop around the north side. Winthrop between Granville and Bryn Mawr is a giant mess of potholes, sand, broken glass. Lots of other cyclists out - always a good sight.

20 miles. Did the Race Around the Lake series today.......

4/19 A.M. left the house at 6:50 am (forcast is for afternoon rain) wanted to get in a ride before We had to go for a college visit with our daughter. Headed for Oberlin Ohio (for those unfamiliar) a small college town just west of me. I toook a looping route in, There is a neat little bakery/store on the main street called Gibsons, it has tables out front on the sidewalk that overlooks Tappens square (a beautiful little park in the middle of town). I got my cup of joe and just took in the beauty of all the daffidials, tulips and hyisents(sic) it was just amazingly calming and pretty. Rode home for a total of 25 miles.

4/19 P.M. After our visit to Cleveland State University, we (me and the wife) desided to head on out as the rain is holding off. We did a long looping route around our county, it was a great ride. 37 miles on this one.

So for the day that would be 62 miles, maybe an evening ride yet?? Radar is saying NO!! Looks like the rain might get us after all.

The team is trying to do a 3.5 hour long ride tomorrow in the AM until early PM. If it rains, I'm out.

I did 22 miles today in the AM. I did the Poudre trail (Paved and cement)from my apartment to Laporte and back.

45 miles yesterday... rode out to Elwood and back. Tried my new aero bars, and I love them!!:p

Today is the Easter Ride, yay!!... it's going to be a great day! Will do the 68 mile loop, and then two on my own to even it to 70 miles, he he:D

40 Miles this morning and the weather couldn't have been any better. No wind, sun was shining, temp in the upper 50's. Felt great. now I'm off to St Paul, MN for the week. See everyone in New Glarus

4/20 Well the original plan was to ride the AFROST, a local ride that circles Lorain County, ohio, but the rain this A.M. put an end to that. So after we returned form church, a check of the radar showed a possible break. We rolled out around 12:30. My wifes coach had a 2 1/2 hour ride scheduled for her today and the prospect of doing it all on the trainer in the basement was not a good one, so away we went (rain or not) and low and behold 48.5 dry miles later we had her ride completed. Cloudy most of the ride and a very light shower, wind was not much either so it was a good ride concidering!

BTW when we got home, within 30 minutes the sun was shining, arghhhhh!!!

4/20 = yes It was a wonderful ride on a wonderful day, our first 70 since last October! Keep 'em coming...

Total Time (h:m:s) 2:01:08 3:49 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:56:45 3:41 pace
Distance (mi ) 31.65
Moving Speed (mph) 16.3 avg. 32.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,501 / -1,482

Avg. Heart Rate 147 bpm Zone 3.9

Commuted into work on the new build. What a great day to ride at 0500. Foggy and crisp, but not too cold. Early Sunday morning = nobody or no traffic anywhere. It was awesome. Ride back was different as I was leaving at 1600. People everywhere. I had 2 guys actually ask to draft off me up a hill so I was proud of that minor milestone. Of course right after they drafted off me the turned off after the descent. Lousy Bastages.. 12.7 each way. Perfect day for a ride.

I, too, had a good ride today. 33 miles and managed to ride with some friends I'm trying to get to ride with me more frequently. What a day! I managed to get a little bit of hills in, the first time all year. We'll see what the BFNIC New Glarus ride holds for me (most likely suffering). The good news is that my foot felt great (recovering from a stress fracture) with no pain at all, even when cranking out of the saddle. Yay!

I wrapped up the day by walking up to the Capital Square to catch the last race of the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Regionals. The crit was 75 minutes around the square. This was my first time watching bike racing in person- fun stuff!

4/20 addendum, The sun came out, as stated in my earlier post, so me and my wife made an ice cream ride into Oberlin, Ohio (a mere 10 miles down the local bike trail) after dinner. Gibson's is an ecclectic little college store that carries everything and their bakery and goodies are great. So we had ice cream ( in chocolate chip cookies dough cones no less). so add 20 miles to the earlier ride for a total today of 68.5 miles.

4/20 - Sugar Grove TT. Headwind and uphill for 9 miles then kind of tailwind/crosswind for the other 9. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. Results still not posted.

Some people passed me....yes it is demoralizing especially if you are already pegged in the red zone. Haven't uploaded yet, but it looks like I was just a teeny bit under 20mph for an average. Not bad for solo, but not nearly good enough to mean anything at this event.

At least I didn't puke.

4/20 = Yes = 40 miles.

Edge Data (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.do?episodePk.pkValue=5453830)

spent 7 of the past 24 hours in a car travelling for passover. the legs were slow and unresponsive at first. so, i punished them :). sprinted up every little roller and into every headwind. when it was done the 40 miles was knocked out at a 17.7 mph average. not bad for my 7th time out this season. still not ready for the BFNIC Spring Classic. later.

About 38 miles in great weather. Finally!

Today. Rode 54 miles with ColorChange, Rowdy, and Voldemort. Just looped around Barrington Hills for almost three hours.

Glorious day for a ride. Lots of others out on the horse farm roads staring at the ginormous houses off in the distance.

Muy divertido!

~40 miles in Wauconda/Barrington today after doing 30 yesterday. I can't really remember how long it took last year, but my lungs and legs seems to be taking their sweet time getting into form. averaged 18mph for each ride which was a good sign...

today: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=5451477

4/20 - yes - managed to squeeze 35 miles into busy Sunday. Great day today!

4/19 - 15.2 miles
Had to get mom some liquid paper at Walmart, then did some laps around the small loop trail in Rock Run Preserve.

4/20 - 41.9 miles (most thus far this yr.)
Got dropped off in Oswego. Rode around town for a few hours, then rode home in Joliet. Excellent day to ride despite having a little spring cold. Took many pictures that slowed my avg. speed down quite a bit but averaged 14 mph on way home when not stopping. If anyone was wondering about the Fox River, it still is a bit high with water over portions of Hudson Xing Pk. and Violet Patch Pk. (in Oswego) but on river side of trail. I assume the part of trail that goes under Ashland Ave. in south end of Aurora might have water on it. (didn't ride that far north today though)

Brian
from Joliet, IL

4-20 rode the do the rock mtb race. 8 miles in 41 min.
plus went to deer grove for some single speed mtb riding

38 miles today.

The bridge in Batavia closed and the weather broke so it was my maiden voyage out on my "commuter" bike which is a cross bike that I've tuned up to ride back and forth to work and for short errands. I LOVED riding to work.

I loved that it was so peaceful just gliding along the trail....actually think I made it there faster than if I had driven plus I wasn't stressed out from the traffic, etc. Definitely a change for the better that I'll continue even after the bridge reopens.

Anywho, 8 miles roundtrip to and from school.

30 miles with my neighbor after work...standard hilly route. My legs were trashed. I am truly exhausted. I've informed the family that I'm going to bed at dark! :eek: :D

4/21 - yes, 16 miles today. It finally feels like summer - warm and humid !

4/21.... 84* 76 miles with three other riders.

4/20 = No
4/21 = Yes 1:46 minutes. 33.38miles. Ave speed 19.00 Norm power 248
Beautiful Evening. Just a touch of chill in the air and a slight breeze out of the East. Solo ride down into the parks and did a few big ring hill sprints then cruised on back home. It was one of those evenings on the bike where it all just felt right.

Modified commute to work this mornind from Village Peddler to downtown SC using the trail along Randall Rd. 7.8 miles each way. Thought I did good on the ride in doing it in 28:01 with an average over 16 (fast for me) Figured it was mostly downhill, tho only slightly. On the return I didnt plan on cranking it too hard but things just clicked. Made it back in 27:53. Ive never made the return trip faster mostly because its primarily uphill, but I just got into a rythm and went with it. Felt great. Havent ridden my other road bike since finishing the build and am seriously loving this build. It seems faster than the aluminum Pinarello.

Topped it all off with some goodies from Performance. Was going to order some new bibs and other knick-knacks online tonight. Wife reminded me we were heading to Schaumburg for some school clothes for my oldest son. Thought I'd see if I could locate the the Performance store after hitting the uniform store. Wasnt too hard to find, right next to the uniform shop and across from our ultimate destination, Barnaby's pizza.

What a day..

20 miles today. i was looking over my rides for 2008 and my avg. HR on each ride has been between 160 and 165. i think i need to lower my efforts a little bit.

i mean, this was today's ride. i definitely pushed it hard on the way home trying to push up my avg. speed...

http://i27.tinypic.com/xbml9g.jpg

Commuted today, 4/21 and added a little extra on the way home for a 9 mile round trip. I decided I needed more bike time after work so I hopped on the roadie and put in a quick 18 miles. I pushed it and averaged 17.8mph, which is pretty good for me on this route! I guess I was feeling good! I probably won't be able to ride again until Thursday. Unless I go home sick early on Wednesday...

No ride today, but I made some Tiramisu which I will have a piece tomorrow after I'm done being shelled at the races tomorrow :D Tiramisu to cure the pain. Me likey.

I finally got out for my first ride of the season yesterday: a couple of laps totalling 16 miles around Stoney Creek Metropark (Rochester, MI). Hey -- it's the first time out since last November, and I'm coming off of a running-related hamstring injury that's had me sidelined since January. Here's the course as recorded by my Forerunner:

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj214/gordonwd/Cycling/StoneyApr08.jpg

It's 6 miles around the lake on the park road, and the northern spur adds another 3+ miles. It's a great place for hammering down, with lots of bikes there in the evenings and on weekends. There's a path alongside the route for runners and recreational bikers, but the roadies stick to the main road. Rolling elevation changes, and the spur is like a biker's speedway.

The only drawback is that it's also famous for wind that tends to circle in both directions at once, so no matter if you ride clockwise or counter-clockwise, you're going into the wind all the way around. :rolleyes:

4/20 - yes, 15 miles 58:20; 4/21 - yes, 15 miles 1:03:xx.

My wife and I went out and rode the typical "quick loop" the last 2 days. She has only been on the bike once this year before Sunday, but I was impressed with her pace. I've FINALLY got her to up the cadence in an easier gear, rather than try and turn the hardest gear possible the whole time.

4/22/08

12 miles in the rain with temps around 54.

4/22/08

12 miles in the rain with temps around 54.

Rain in Rockford = bad. It means rain in Elgin for afternoon ride. This is no good. Oh well I hear the Fox River needs it. :rolleyes:

Rain good for the Fox? NOT!

Anyway, that rain that was west of here basically fizzled out. Psimet, think you'll get lucky and stay dry today.

Yeah, I just came back from riding around the Mt. Prospect Technology Campus. No rain here. It looks pretty cloudy, but it stayed dry so far.
Stupid work cut my lunch ride short :(

Thomas