Bud Bent

I rode the Prairie Hill Roundup 200k permanent today with two friends. It was 78 degrees this afternoon, but the wind made it tough, and so did the fact that all but about 30 miles of the route have become boulderseal. I ended up with 126.0 miles, an on the bike average of 15.7 mph, and finished with an overall time of 9:30.

kenkayak

Hi Ya Neal H ;That camera takes great pictures////We had terrible rain Saturday;Sunday I spent the morning clearing boats and woods gear of water and got wet doing that I did canoe to the falls to watch the water thunder.///Injoyed all the
posts today Even the real 10Wheels I think![and the pictures on that desert super highway!

10 Wheels

78 miles Saturday:
Started on my race bike, heard a creak like coming from the saddle.
Stop to check it, Found the frame was cracked. Got on the touring bike.
Pics:

https://s256.photobucket.com/albums/h...view=slideshow

BikeWNC

Yep, that frame is toast. I don't know how you ride those roads in Tx. I looked at the pics from yesterday's ride and I just couldn't do it. But then I saw about all I wanted to see of Tx when I did a touch and go at DFW.

kr32

BikeWNC.....
Those are nice pictures,looks like you have some really nice riding where you are. Sweet

kr32

I got in 44 today in beautiful sunny weather with temps reaching in the low 70's! Wore summer kit but with arm warmers, could have taken them off but didn't.
Went out on the roads and saw 1 other roadie but wen I reached the rail-trail 30 miles later to get on that to come home I saw a ton of bikes.
I think they were all so happy to get out they forgot how to ride on the right though as they were all over the place. I took my time with all those people walking their dogs , strolling about not looking where they were going and well you get the picture. It was cool though as they were out just having a good time in great weather in November just like me.

Only two days of road biking this month....sad.

kjc9640

Sunday 11/15/09 The "D" (daughter) and I rode from the house to Panera Bread in Heathro then on to SR 46a where we took the fly over across I-4 to the Rinehart Trail. Then we headed south to Lake Mary and to The Out Spoken Bike shop to see if they had anything that we could not live without. Lucky for the charge card the did not have anything that we needed. We headed south again from the bike shop to Jax 5th ave. sports bar where we watched the Dolphins pounding the Bucks. "Poor Bucks" and devoured some super nachos. It was a good ride today with the temps in the mid 70s and clear sky's.

30.39 (s)miles today
307.42 (s)miles this month
5974.22 (s)miles this year
11 ride days this month (Nov.)
Retirement, the best job I ever had.

olliesdad01

50+ Did you ride today?

Was delighted to have gotten out to shake off the Ida blues. Today's weather was ideal. Clear with temps in the mid 70s and calm winds. Sunday is my trail ride day at Salem Lake! To deal with the essentials of the day: Total Distance 26.15 miles, time 2 Hrs 16 minutes Miles since June 918.52. My bike, a Trek 620 circa 1983, with a 44/34 crank driving a 14x28 rear cluster, and 32x630 tires.

I love this ride; a two-mile asphalt trail runs along Salem Creek to the lake itself. Upon entering the asphalt trail it was clear that Ida had left some rain behind. Soggy grass in the flat areas to either side forewarned that the creek might have overflowed its banks. As the trail rose and fell along the creek it soon revealed the first sign of overflow. A great opportunity to test the tires under these conditions.

An underpass on the trail received a lot of overflow and sediment was deposited in a terrific pasty mud. "Whoopie", I thought as remembered to keep my bike upright as I negotiated the S turn under the bridge. No slipping at all on either the front or rear wheel but my turn was so shallow that I ended up leaving the pavement for the soggy grass, no problem.

Continuing the trail offered a variety of wet pasty mud, heavy deposits of sand across the trail. And two fording opportunities through water no more that about 3" deep. Lousy for carrying the bike, but cool for pedaling through. Now the real fun began with the lake trail about to begin. This is an unimproved double track with technical trails running into the woods.

I stick to the main trail composed of gravel, sand, stone and hard packed clay. At seven miles the trail itself is only a little less than a third of my total ride. Given Ida's gusts of up to 45 mph locally, I was surprised that no fallen trees blocked the trail at any point, and as a whole it was surprisingly normal, if a bit wet. There were a number of cyclists on the trail and I enjoyed watching some youngsters negotiate the fords, their first? Later, another grey-beard and I rode together and visited a bit before parting ways.

A total of three fords, mud, soggy grass and even three horseback riders whose animals were very well adapted to cyclists. How good can it get? Another cycling week began in earnest!

olliesdad01

Whoda thought two mid 70s days in a row in November?

My ride today was a quick spin of 8.96 miles in 43 minutes to recover from Sunday. Nothing lasts forever and tomorrows 15 miler will be under clouds and 60 degree temps.

This morning I cleaned the trail dust and dried mud off my Trek 620, lubed it up and inflated the tires to 90 psi for the week's road efforts. After the ride I really wanted to stay on the bike.

Could it be time to extend my "recovery ride" by another 5-7 miles? Or, is it riding on 90 psi again? Doesn't hurt that that additional 5 lbs of pressure increases my speed by about 1 mph.

Mojo Slim

If it's Monday, it's a club ride. We rode 60+ miles, with a goodly amount of climbing. About 10 miles into the ride, we hit the worst hill, about 1 mile of 10%. Then lots more hills. First break at a Starbucks at about 23 miles. Lunch at a store at which we often stop, at about 36 miles. Home, by this time largely downhill at about 61 miles for me. As usual, we stop for a debriefing at our local coffee shop. We started with seven riders, ended with five. Here's a picture just after the halfway point. The scenery is part of why we ride.

kjc9640

That looks like a beautiful area. From the picture it looks like the temp might be on the cool side. Thanks for sharing with us

"The scenery is part of why we ride". Always at the top of my list for reasons to ride.

kr32

I took the MBT out after work for a quick 5-6 miler due to time restarints, gets dark so early, and saw a "trail" off the mup and took it. It turns out it was a 4 wheeler trail that went through the woods for a few miles. It was pretty cool too. There were mud puddles and one was pretty deep , so deep in fact I got bogged down and had to put foot down. Got soaked too.
Anyway it came out on a road I knew and was too far to go on road back to where I started so I went back on the trail and had a good workout. I am guessing maybe 10-12 miles total and bike was a muddy mess too. Got home just before it got dark.
Sweet!!!!

kenkayak

Similar ride here kr32;I rode an extended N.E.Forestry Foundation [Sortwell lot] ride . I had just taken my hipboots off ,a mistake my lowboots got soaked and I had to put the hippers back on for the journey home./Kenneth

kjc9640

Monday 11/16/09 No ride... the wifes birthday
Tuesday 11/17/09
Yes, 31+ miles, great day for a ride today expert my riding partner has gone home to St Pete. She will be back for Thanksgiving so we will ride together again then. Weather was just picture perfect today. Mid 70s when I got back home.

My mileage goal this year is 6500, turned 6000 today so it looks like I will make the goal with a little to spare. That just means I have to raise the bar higher next year. By my calculations I should reach 10wheels mileage by 2025.


31.16 (s)miles today
338.58 (s)miles this month
6005.38 (s)miles this year
12 ride days this month (Nov.)
All is well in Slo Spoke Jim's world.

Daspydyr 

14.3 miles this morning. 42 when I went out. Dressed like a hockey goalie. Horizon Ridge to Sloan Canyon. Thought I was good until a mom came jogging by pushing a stroller. God bless that lady.

olliesdad01

Todays ride was one of my favorite in the city limits rides. An out and back 13.53 miles with steep and fast descents on the outbound leg, morphing into demanding climbs on the return. About half of the ride was rolling ridges. 60 degrees with a heavy overcast combined with a late start cut the ride short. Traffic increased and the threat of darkness loomed large. On the whole a good effort bringing my weeks miles up to 48.6 and months miles to 131.67. Since you asked YTD is 941.01 (since June).

This is my favorite time of year. Acorns cracking and popping under your wheels with a subtle counterpoint provided by the crackling of leaves excited by your passing.

And they ask why we ride bicycles.

kenkayak

HA HA SLOW SPOKE /In ten years maybe ill get a year of that 10wheels crowd/ Its that tea she sips that keeps her going; Im sure its some illegal brew./Kenneth

10 Wheels

Tuesday 11/17/09 3 riders
67 cool miles, Temps 42* to 64*, winds 13 to 19 mph

Felt Warranty is sending a New frame to my bike shop.
It will be ready next Friday.

kenkayak

Ive changed my bikeing place from a heavy hunting area to an area with more climbing and a bit more open landscape IM hopeing the change will help in longer bikeing season and the climbing keep me in shape./Kenneth

olliesdad01

This was supposed to be a pleasant day but the best laid plans can run counter to conditions.

Left home at 8:15 for a V A appointment at 9 the temperature was 50 degrees and the sky overcast and a little windy. Within a mile of the V A as I was climbing a hill I was blasted by a 20 mph gust of wind and quickly downshifted to my 32 inch gear (34x28) and still struggled to maintain 5 mph!

Finishing up at the V A ( my recent chest X Ray was free of defects) I looked forward to catching a tail wind for my planned trip to Wally World. EXCEPT that a fine mist of rain was falling so I opted for repeating my route to the V A that would have permitted a jump off to get to WW if conditions improved. They did not, so my jump off was in the opposite direction and home.

So what should have been a 16 mile ride ended up being a modest 9.41. Cold and wet on the home leg, I reminded myself that it often takes days like this to appreciate clear, sunny days.

Stats
Weeks miles: 57.78
Months miles: 140.81
Year Since June: 950.15
Bike: Trek 620 w/commuting and trail gearing and tires.

bjjoondo 

Most of the ice has melted off the roads and paths, well except for the patch that I did a fall on today slowly got up, checked out the old body and found it could still go under it's own power, looked over the bike, it seemed ok, did find a bent the outer edge of the pedal so I road it over to America The Beautiful Park (photo) and then over to my LBS. Had them check it over and as I thought the only damage with the bent outer cage of the pedal so I'll be forking up funds for new pedal's, this weekend. A sunny day, the best so far since Saturday but still a bit of slush and yes, some ice on the trails and roads thoughout Colorado Springs. Since I still haven't gotten around to getting a new bicycle computer since mine went beszerk back in May, I figure it was a total trip of 10-15 miles. Lucky for me I wore a helmet as I did bung the left side of my head a bit, helmet looks ok but I may just go ahead and buy a new one, left upper hip is a bit sore and I'm a bit slow moving but that seems to be all the problems so I got off lucky I'll be WAY more careful crossing the "slush" patches at speed, sometimes it's not as melted as it looks.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

kjc9640

Wednesday 11/18/09
Yes, 35+ miles, great day for a ride today . Weather was just picture perfect today. Mid 70s to 80s when I got back home.

4 Sand Hill Cranes &
2 Gopher tortoise's today

Mileage goal T/Y 6,500 mi.
Miles needed 459.36

35.26 (s)miles today
373.84 (s)miles this month
6040.64 (s)miles this year
13 ride days this month (Nov.)
All is well in Slo Spoke Jim's world.

P.S. purchased a new Dinotte 140R AA and put it on the bike today. I have been using a PBSF but it doesn't do the job in sun light that the Dinotte does. The Dinotte is the best daylight running light that I have seen. I am anxious to try it at night.

Dan Burkhart 

Temps in the low 50s this afternoon. Did a supply run to Costco. It's about 6km from home, first 3 is a pretty stiff climb on the way there. Makes it a nice downhill run comming home loaded.


I stopped by my rented storage bay on the way home to pick up my studded tires. Time to get my all season bike ready for old man winter.

cervelo-van

1 hour on Indoor trainer yesterday. Still recovering from injury in crash 3 weeks ago. I have been able to ride and swim with a pull buoy, but not much running. Did my first 10K running race in about 12 years last Sunday in cold and wet conditions. Very very humbling. I was limping in the warm-up Had done a 3.5 hour bike ride on Saturday and on Sunday after the race, did a 45 minute trainer session.

Hopefully by next week all will be back to normal. Winter riding on trainers indoors is tough.

Dan Burkhart 

Was that shot taken in the Garden of the gods?