Fifty Plus (50+) - Didn't ride at all this weekend

Yet I am happy.

What a great week.

Me neither. I did get out and do some whitewater with my family on Sat. Here's a pic of our daughter in the bow of the tandem canoe we paddled.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p37/apadyk/IMG_1837.jpg

Beautiful weather here, and Nora and I got a couple of hours of nice riding.

I did not ride either. We had rain thursday Friday and Saturday. Was sunny but in the 40's with 10 to 15 mph winds today. So at least I worked on the bike room and built a rack to store the bikes without leaning them against the walls and each other. So it was not that bad of a week.

We did the regular Friday ride to lunch. Saturday was breakfast with friends from the park riding program. Today is was too cold and windy for anything except staying indoors and relaxing:)

Same here:cry:, but I'm recovering from a doozie sinus infection that I inflicted on my self by riding in a strong cold wind last Saturday. I figure it is better to recover well and get some miles in when I go to LA for Thanksgiving.

We did our Saturday ride to brunch with the group yesterday, 35 miles round trip. The temps were comfortable when we left home but hot in the low 90s when we returned home.

Today the air was very unhealthy with smoke and ash from the fires to the south and west of us, so we stayed in. It will be that way for the next 2-3 days.

Rain on Saturday kept me to commuting via the direct route. Less than five miles round-trip. Sunday is rest day, especially welcome today after coming off five six-day workweeks.

Next week only five days, and the week after that, four with the holiday, then finally back to my regular four-day weeks.

Even so, I managed to log 197 miles in the first half of this month. Not bad considering the work schedule and the weather.

I rode a solo century on Friday from Eugene to Corvallis and back, then today (Sunday) I rode a hilly 75 mile ride in the Coast Range west of Eugene. I've learned to make the most of good weather this time of year in Western Oregon.

I managed 75 miles over the weekend. The roads were wet, but I was able to actually dodge the rain drops. Now the bike is on the stand. I've got to get rid of all that nasty road grime.

I still prefer this time of year over the dog days of summer.

Sometimes not riding is as satisfying as riding.

Last week I rode M-T-W-S and accumulated 114 miles. We rode the tandem 34 miles yesterday and 43 miles today. The weather was perfect, the rides beautiful and just right in terms of effort. Chris's schedule and the short days leave us weekends for tandem adventures, and I'm not ashamed to say that we pigged out this weekend. With the holidays fast approaching, as well as the promise of wintery weather, we feel as though we need to take advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves. No regrets here, either.

The next 6 weeks will be challenging. Tandem or half-bike I'll be squeezing in every minute I can to enjoy the road.

Saturday I cleaned a week of early-winter grime off my commuter bike; no riding.

Today I did 52 miles, much of it in the fog - left home at 43 degrees, it gradually warmed up. Beautiful ride.

Work on Saturday morning and Sunday was working on the car and out looking at cars for the wife.

BUT- I have a weeks holiday to finish the service on the car and to get down to the LBS to get some riding in.

On Saturday I went with my wife to the fitness center. While she worked out I rode the Precor cycle for 45 minutes, trying to keep the ride easy.

On Sunday I did a cyclo cross race. It rained over an inch on Sat and snowed an inch or so over night making the course wet, muddy, uckky and cold. Just like it's supposed to be! The warmup got me soaked to the core even with nylon pants and jacket. I changed socks before the race and rode in tights, thermal long sleeve shirt and team jersey. During the 30 minute race only my toes and hands got cold. Shifting was getting difficult towards the end of the race, not from mud on the moving bits, my hand was not moving very well!

About 25 minutes into the race I was wondering why I'm putting myself thru this mess and pain. After carrying the bike up some stairs I couldn't clip in for about 1 minute and got passed by two guys. I got my focus back and overtook those two young punks and put enough distance on them that I didn't have to sprint thru the 50' long mud hole to the finish. 15 minutes after the race I was still at the finish line mud covered, soaked and chit chatting with other racers, incuding those two nice young men, and already recharged for the next race.:D

I didn't ride this weekend either, nor will I next weekend or any time this week. In fact, I'm not sure this weekend really happened. I left my house in Brooklyn at about 3:30pm on Friday, gave my twin girls a hug and got in a cab. 24 hours later it was already Sunday, and I was in a complete haze.... In India. Chennai to be precise. It is Monday evening here, but my body is still telling me it is morning in NYC. There's a 10.5 hour time difference after a 21 hour flight, with a stopover in Paris. You lose the entire weekend.

As for the prospect of doing any cycling here, well just faghedabboudit. You have to be crazy just to walk around here (or Indian I guess.) The only roads well paved enough to ride a road bike on would be suicide with the traffic. I guess an MTB would do OK on the lesser streets. But it just isn't feasible.

Next weekend I come home on Sunday. At least I leave and arrive on the same day.

I was able to get in 67 miles this weekend and get all the leaves on my 1+ acre property up off the lawn and winterize the garden. Yesterday, in order to get in a ride and do the outside work, I was out before sunrise and not back into the house until 6 p.m. I slept quite well last night!

Lazy weekend for me with GMR/GRR (Glendora Mountain Road/Glendora Ridge Road) to Baldy Village and back (44 mi. 5,000 feet of climbing) on Saturday. Lovely up on the mountain, plus saw several cycling friends up there. Could see the fires in the distance, esp. from the ridge.

Sunday I did the OCRR club ride, 8:00 AM Gold, 55 mi. and not quite 3,000 feet of climbing. Kept it to a moderate pace on purpose since I have a double century next weekend (my last double for the year).

Rick / OCRR

It rained all day Saturday and it snowed all day Sunday. I'm a wimp when it comes to riding in the wet anywhere in the low 30s.

Saturday I spent 6 hours in the woods along the Buffalo River in Arkansas doing trail maintenance with a conservation group I belong to. We usually do Saturday bushwacks, but always set aside a Saturday for trail maintenance. My bike group starts biking from late April to early May and through the summer and into mid-September, when a lot of the members start hiking every Saturday. Of course, a lot of us continue to bike during the winter when we can. I am so grateful I can do both.

2 hours again, today.