Road Cycling - Your 2 most extreme road rides of the year?

Even though I have only been road cycling for about a year, I have certainly found some extremes as far as rides.

Today: Only 26 miles, but 1F with a wind-chill of -16.

This past summer: 100 miles with about 11,000 ft. of climbing in 93F

How about you?




* hope this post is OK here, but I'm looking over my shoulder for the forum police :(

Even though I have only been road cycling for about a year, I have certainly found some extremes as far as rides.

Today: Only 26 miles, but 1F with a wind-chill of -16.

This past summer: 100 miles with about 11,000 ft. of climbing in 93F

How about you?




* hope this post is OK here, but I'm looking over my shoulder for the forum police :(

Don't sell yourself short. The -16 is only true if you are standing still. With a head of steam, I'd bet you were experiencing -50 windchill.

Last night I had to walk instead of ride. Did five miles and had to keep every piece of skin covered. I don't have the gear to ride in this weather. I must give you credit for pulling such a stunt :)

ehenz

Unfortunately, we don't get much excitement riding here in the SoCal region. My 2 most miserable rides of the past year were a 50 mile ride in drizzly 50 degree weather and another 50 miler in very dry 105 degree temp. Heck, even today for our early morning training ride, we all dressed for the cold but by 11am it was 75!....I ran out of pockets to carry all that extra layers of clothing! What else can I say...??

George

Mine was to santa fe dam,my first 50 miler and it was cold,mid 30's when we left but a good ride.

Unfortunately, we don't get much excitement riding here in the SoCal region. My 2 most miserable rides of the past year were a 50 mile ride in drizzly 50 degree weather and another 50 miler in very dry 105 degree temp. What else can I say...??

George

Agreed, same here in Northern L.A. County. Did a 20 miler last weekend in a (at least to me!) very chilly mid 40's wind chill.

Much nicer today! We did about 35 miles under bright, beautiful blue skies with temps in the mid-70's!

Sheldon

Most severe had to be pulling my daughter in the cart for a 61 miler. OUCH! But averaged 17.9 MPH :D

Second most severe was my solo century plus 7 (107miles) I did during the heat of the summer one day just for the hell of it. Took 5 hours and 28 minutes of ride time, a short stop for lunch helped out.

This past summer: 100 miles with about 11,000 ft. of climbing in 93F


Was this an organized ride? If so, then where?

-mark

July 12th - 99 miles around Mt. Lassen, and through Mt. Lassen National Park. Included 9,200 feet of climbing, topping out at 8,800 feet, with temperatures in the lower elevations approaching 100F.

July 21st - 2nd day of Bicycle Tour of Colorado. 66.35 miles, with 7,896 feet of climbing. Rode to the top of Mt. Evans - the highest paved road in America (14,264 feet). Pictures here: http://www.shastasoftware.com/BTC2003/BTC0024.htm

Life is good!

Unfortunately, we don't get much excitement riding here in the SoCal region. My 2 most miserable rides of the past year were a 50 mile ride in drizzly 50 degree weather and another 50 miler in very dry 105 degree temp. Heck, even today for our early morning training ride, we all dressed for the cold but by 11am it was 75!....I ran out of pockets to carry all that extra layers of clothing! What else can I say...??

George

Same thing happened to me this morning. I put on everything around 7 and headed over towards simi valley, but by the time i got there, it had gotten nice and warm. I guess the only thing we can complain about here is the wind we get sometimes. Last week I did a 93 mile ride with an average speed of around 19mph into the wind the entire time, and believe me, it was more than just a nice breeze.

Same thing happened to me this morning. I put on everything around 7 and headed over towards simi valley, but by the time i got there, it had gotten nice and warm. I guess the only thing we can complain about here is the wind we get sometimes. Last week I did a 93 mile ride with an average speed of around 19mph into the wind the entire time, and believe me, it was more than just a nice breeze.

Where did you ride? We did Agoura Hills to Hidden Valley, around to Lynn and back through Thousand Oaks. Had that same wind...geez darn thing was head on no matter what direction we were going in!

Sheldon

Same thing happened to me this morning. I put on everything around 7 and headed over towards simi valley, but by the time i got there, it had gotten nice and warm. I guess the only thing we can complain about here is the wind we get sometimes. Last week I did a 93 mile ride with an average speed of around 19mph into the wind the entire time, and believe me, it was more than just a nice breeze.
I ride that wind everyday when i ride to the beach,onshore.

Where did you ride? We did Agoura Hills to Hidden Valley, around to Lynn and back through Thousand Oaks. Had that same wind...geez darn thing was head on no matter what direction we were going in!

Sheldon

I did the simi ride. I started in my house up Valley Circle and rode over to Santa Susana Pass over into simi, la avenue all the way down to madera, right onto madera, then the first left (forgive me, but i dont remember the street names in this area). meandered through simi for a while until we hit the back end of potrero, and then through hidden valley into westlake, then mulholland back to valley circle. its a great ride, big turnout, too.

The last weekend we rode out to the Oxnard area through the orange groves and the whole time the terrain was rolling and the wind was steady. Definately some tough stuff.

I did the simi ride. I started in my house up Valley Circle and rode over to Santa Susana Pass over into simi, la avenue all the way down to madera, right onto madera, then the first left (forgive me, but i dont remember the street names in this area). meandered through simi for a while until we hit the back end of potrero, and then through hidden valley into westlake, then mulholland back to valley circle. its a great ride, big turnout, too.

The last weekend we rode out to the Oxnard area through the orange groves and the whole time the terrain was rolling and the wind was steady. Definately some tough stuff.

That's the big group ride? I've heard some of the pros jump on that one. Nice. I'm not up to that kind of mileage though.

I must go by your house almost every day. I work at a private high school in West Hills.

Looks like another warm sunny day. We're taking our 9 year old out to ride along the bike path at the beach today.

Sheldon

Never done the Simi ride, although you guys are just over the Valley. Someone told me once that the Montrose (Pasadena) & Simi training rides are the two largest weekly rides in the nation.... Do you guys ever have any problems with the local police?

George

Was this an organized ride? If so, then where?

-mark

Hi Mark,

This was an organized group ride with my cycling club:
Westchester Cycle Club (WCC)

We have a guy that does what he calls a "Hill Climbing Series" This past year
it consisted of 7 rides.

It was organized, but unsupported.

Mike

Never done the Simi ride, although you guys are just over the Valley. Someone told me once that the Montrose (Pasadena) & Simi training rides are the two largest weekly rides in the nation.... Do you guys ever have any problems with the local police?

George

The ride can get pretty big sometimes and at some parts a bit unruly, but only once in a while are there any issues with the police. Only one time since late October has there been any run in with them this season.

nesdog, which high school do you work at? i go to viewpoint on mulholland, i'm sure you've heard of it

The ride can get pretty big sometimes and at some parts a bit unruly, but only once in a while are there any issues with the police. Only one time since late October has there been any run in with them this season.

nesdog, which high school do you work at? i go to viewpoint on mulholland, i'm sure you've heard of it

I have heard of Viewpoint. I work over at Chaminade, running the computer network for the school.

Sheldon

Hi Mark,

This was an organized group ride with my cycling club:
Westchester Cycle Club (WCC)

We have a guy that does what he calls a "Hill Climbing Series" This past year
it consisted of 7 rides.

It was organized, but unsupported.

Mike


Hey Mike,

I guess I asked because I was surprised to see that magnitude of vert. in Westchester. 11K feet (even spread out over 100 miles) requires some decent sized hills.

Ask your friend if he includes this ride in his series;

highlander cycle tour (http://www.highlandercycletour.com/highlander.htm)

Quite an accomplishment.

-mark

Hey Mike,

I guess I asked because I was surprised to see that magnitude of vert. in Westchester. 11K feet (even spread out over 100 miles) requires some decent sized hills.

Ask your friend if he includes this ride in his series;

highlander cycle tour (http://www.highlandercycletour.com/highlander.htm)

Quite an accomplishment.

-mark

Hey Mark,

This guy basically found every hill he could between the Greenwich, CT/Bedford border and the Hudson River and back. I think I spent 3 hrs of this ride grinding at 4-6 mph...it took forever, almost 8 hrs (including the stops)

You can find climbs a plenty around here especially when you go into Putnam County.

Don't know if I'd call it fun, but I really don't fear many rides after that. I have cycled up around the Highlander area as I have a friend who lives in Bristol, and I spent a weekend up there riding last August. Great riding, good smooth roads with nice views and awesome "visibility" for safe high speed decending.

Mike

Hey Mark,

This guy basically found every hill he could between the Greenwich, CT/Bedford border and the Hudson River and back. I think I spent 3 hrs of this ride grinding at 4-6 mph...it took forever, almost 8 hrs (including the stops)

You can find climbs a plenty around here especially when you go into Putnam County.

Don't know if I'd call it fun, but I really don't fear many rides after that. I have cycled up around the Highlander area as I have a friend who lives in Bristol, and I spent a weekend up there riding last August. Great riding, good smooth roads with nice views and awesome "visibility" for safe high speed decending.

Mike

I live just south of Rochester and will participate in the highlander for the first time this Sept. If nothing else, it gives me something to train for this summer. I fully expect that it'll take 7+ hours to complete. Having been in the saddle for that long in one strech, do you have advice to share to make it as comfortable as possible?

You should try to time a trip to Bristol so that you can ride as well. I'm currently looking for riding partners to share the pain.

-mark

I live just south of Rochester and will participate in the highlander for the first time this Sept. If nothing else, it gives me something to train for this summer. I fully expect that it'll take 7+ hours to complete. Having been in the saddle for that long in one strech, do you have advice to share to make it as comfortable as possible?

You should try to time a trip to Bristol so that you can ride as well. I'm currently looking for riding partners to share the pain.

-mark

Mark,

I have been considering the Highlander ride, and if I go I'll post on the forum and try to hook up with you. I hear that ride is really great and doing "Bopple" is something you will remember.

As far as being in the saddle for so long...The longest I've been in the saddle has been 8 hours of pedaling on a 130 mile club ride last September. I'm not sure what to say...I think I can be in the saddle all day, day after day, without much trouble. I have a bike that fits me great, a Fizik (sp) Aliante carbon railed saddle, and wear either Assos or PI shorts. If I'm not riding my bike, I'm thinking about it, and just love being on it. :D

I'd rather be riding than doing most anything else. In season (enough daylight) I ride at least 6 days a week as I can commute to work.

Mark,

I have been considering the Highlander ride, and if I go I'll post on the forum and try to hook up with you. I hear that ride is really great and doing "Bopple" is something you will remember.

As far as being in the saddle for so long...The longest I've been in the saddle has been 8 hours of pedaling on a 130 mile club ride last September. I'm not sure what to say...I think I can be in the saddle all day, day after day, without much trouble. I have a bike that fits me great, a Fizik (sp) Aliante carbon railed saddle, and wear either Assos or PI shorts. If I'm not riding my bike, I'm thinking about it, and just love being on it. :D

I'd rather be riding than doing most anything else. In season (enough daylight) I ride at least 6 days a week as I can commute to work.

Ahhh! At last! Finally, someone else who understands "the cult of Bopple."

You really do have to ride it to believe it.

-mark

Well my most memorable ride in '03 would of course be Perth to Hobart. It was hard work mostly from the discpline side of things, but also from the weather. It was really hard getting up at 5:30am each morning, in the cold and then cycling some days in the heat as well. Mostly though it was great riding weather. 2 days of constant rain was pretty hard to take and some of the team literally fell off with hypothermia.

What a huge sense of achievement, though to come to end of a month of hard riding. I wonder if I need professional help to cope with the addiction :)

http://bikeforbibles.org/calendar.html has all the stats for the ride and lots of photos.

I'm not sure how 2004 can be anywhere near as exciting riding wise.

Second memorable ride was Mt. Wellington in Hobart in Tasmania. This was my first ever `Mountain'. On this side of the country there is nothing that can be called a mountain. Mount Wellington sits overlooking the city of Hobart. The climb starts right at the CBD and goes up 1270m in about 12kms.

Here's shot from the top, with my camera on a rock I reckon this turned out pretty well !

Worst rides of '03?

Ride 1: Tour de Blast June 21st: An 84 mile, 7,100 foot climb out and back up (and down) Mt. St Helens in southern Washington. Fifty degrees at the start. By mid-point going up, cold rain. By the 3/4 point on the ascent, colder - much colder - rain. At the top: sleet. Quick tuck into the gift shop at Johnston Ridge Observatory to get plastic bags for my feet. The descent was sheer, bone-shaking, bike-shaking hell. Wind chill of 12F. Once all-but-down, a downpour. Most miserable cycling experience in my life.

Ride 2: Reach the Beach May 18th: A flat century from Portland to the Oregon coast. Drizzle and mid-forties at the start. Harder drizzle and wind (head on, of course) at 40 miles. Bean-sized hail at 60 miles. Sun. Hail. Sun. Hail. Rain.

240 miles from Birmingham to London and back last August.
15 hours of actual riding time.
Been putting it off for the last 5 years until i found the energy and inclination to actually do it.
Felt great after i'd achieved one of my many cycling goals :)