Tad under 30 miles, 2300' climbing...not trying to set the world on fire....this time of the year any road miles I can get are a bonus. It's actually my first time riding outside in probably a month. Been mostly riding rollers in my garage weekday mornings watching TDF DVDs....:(
So I roll from my house up into Woodbury to Ayla's, a little coffee shop on Rt. 64 I used to frequent when I lived in Woodbury. I get to the entrance and surprisingly there's about 5 bikes parked out front. I walk in and see a bunch of riders and they all look at me as if to say, "Holy crap ! We're not the only idiots out riding on Christmas Eve ???". I didn't recognize any of them but walked up and said, "Hey, nobody emailed me about the ride ???" They all laughed and invited me to sit with them. We chatted for about 15 minutes before we went our separate ways. It was just real nice to run into some other riders and talk about our shared passion.
That is all.....:)
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Really nice story! I only wish I had the internal motivation to get outside in the cold like you do!
JoeOxfordCT
Yeah, It had been awhile myself since I'd ridden outside.....the longer you wait, the easier it seems to be to find reason not to get dressed and get outside....wet roads, sandy roads, cold....insert excuse here....
I've been riding rollers fairly regularly at home and doing intervals on the stationary bike at the gym at work but I tell you, there's nothing that compares to punishing yourself out on the roads.....nothing...
It was also real nice running into those other riders too.......they were super nice, no attitude at all..
bruin11
Yeah I rode on Christmas eve as well as Christmas day. I did a 30 mile loop into Easton from where i live in Bridgeport. Joe what group did you ride with from the Soundcyclists. I sometimes rode with the b- groups but mainly with the c+ groups. During the summer we did a few rides up into the Southbury, Roxbury area. Some really big hills up there.
JoeOxfordCT
Uh let's see....I'd have to open up all the newsletters to get the names....Housatonic Riverbank Extended was one.....The Gallows Humor ride....I frequently did the Tuesday Night Hill rides out of Shelton.....There were also many that sounded good that I missed as well. It's hard....those folks are tough and I laugh when at the end of a 3 hour ride on Saturday they say, "See you on tomorrow's ride...". A club ride on a weekend kills basically half the day between prepping, driving, riding, driving, unloading at home. I can do that on one weekend day but if I started doing that both days my wife would kill me.......so I tried to do one weekend ride and Tuesday nights if they were riding out of Shelton. I work in Shelton and live in Oxford so I'll be damned if I'm going to drive to Weston or Wilton on a weeknight to ride for two hours when I have roads equal to or better than that out my front door....
That said I love the club, I love the challenges of group riding......there were rides when I hammered and some where I got hammered.....and some where both happened on the same ride !
I used to live in Woodbury and from there I used to frequently ride up into Litchfield and then over on Rt 202 into New Preston and then home through Washington & Roxbury. Love it up there ! It's God's country to me but too far to commute from....
Yeah I rode on Christmas eve as well as Christmas day. I did a 30 mile loop into Easton from where i live in Bridgeport. Joe what group did you ride with from the Soundcyclists. I sometimes rode with the b- groups but mainly with the c+ groups. During the summer we did a few rides up into the Southbury, Roxbury area. Some really big hills up there.
fprintf
Got a set of rollers donated to me on Wednesday. Spent 15 minutes learning how to ride on them on Thursday and then got in 1/2 hour today before my brain gave out and I slid off the front. I am not sure I will be able to do more than 1/2 hour inside - too boring, half the fun of cycling is being outside and the other half is going places. But I have to get back in shape, so it'll be on the rollers for a while until the weather warms up.
JoeOxfordCT
Everyone rides off the rollers from time to time....keep at it !
I've been doing rollers 30-45 minutes at a time and a whopping whole hour last Sunday.....(sigh)
But I rode outside Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday......
Rain tonight ending early tomorrow....sunny & high 40's later on.....
Better ride Saturday, Sunday, & Monday.....they're talking about a Nor'easter on New Years Eve....:(
Got a set of rollers donated to me on Wednesday. Spent 15 minutes learning how to ride on them on Thursday and then got in 1/2 hour today before my brain gave out and I slid off the front. I am not sure I will be able to do more than 1/2 hour inside - too boring, half the fun of cycling is being outside and the other half is going places. But I have to get back in shape, so it'll be on the rollers for a while until the weather warms up.
Homebrew01
Really nice story! I only wish I had the internal motivation to get outside in the cold like you do!
It's not that bad once you get used to it, as long as you dress warmly enough. It helps to have a group to ride with. I've been riding regularly down to 27 degrees and not feeling cold. I really don't want to ride the trainer (it's still in the box unopened), and with the weather this December, I've been getting in 125 - 150 miles a week on the road. Get out there !!!