Machka 

Where did you ride your bicycle this weekend? Or are you participating in other sports? Tell us all about it!!

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Friday -- just 5 km walking.

Saturday -- we're getting ready to go!!

It's chilly out there and may be a bit overcast, but the rain is supposed to hold off till evening. We'll see!

Machka 

Saturday -- 82.67 km!! That's the longest ride we've done since November 2.

We drove to a small village south of where we live, and started the ride from there. The route followed the coast so we had views of the bays all along the way. The route was also a bit lumpy ... lots of up and down at the beginning, then a little flatter, a big climb just before the halfway point, and the opposite on the way back.

Our first stop was beside one bay where we watched gannets dive for fish. They're amazing to watch!

There was a scenic outlook stop a little further on. And then, we stopped for lunch at the turn-around point.

Last October we visited Cygnet on a 100K ride, and stopped at a fascinating cafe/bakery which housed all sorts of memorabilia, including a collection of cycling memorabilia. Sadly and unfortunately, that cafe/bakery had a bad fire and is now closed. As we cycled into town, we noticed that several other places were closed. Not for the same reason ... they were just, mysteriously, closed at 2:30 pm on a Saturday.

But one place was open ... and it was really good! The panninis were delicious and filling. And the raspberry cheesecake was one of the best we've had in a long time. In addition, the staff were great ... so quick and cheerful. At one point a group of them broke into song ... Sisters from White Christmas!
The Lotus Eaters Cafe - Cygnet, Tasmania

And then we headed back, trying to make it before night fall. Fortunately we had a tailwind on the way back which helped us increase our average speed on the return trip. Or maybe it was that cheesecake!!


When we started the ride, it was about 12C, the high for the day was about 15C, and it dropped back to about 12C by the end of the ride. Somewhat overcast, just a few drops of rain here and there, and winds gusting to about 28 km/h.

Solidjake

10 miles total today commuting to/from work and tomorrow is a 55 mile marathon.

Machka 

The elevation profile of our route ...

Jakedatc

Sat: 32mi B (turned into B+) shop ride. big group with plenty of drafting

Sun: watch P-R and ride at some point. not sure if i'll do hilly group ride or something more casual

alexaschwanden

Saturday: 34.7 miles early morning ride, i saw the sunrise.

Lazyass

44 miles through the boonies of Scotland County, NC and Marlboro County, SC. 20 minute wait for a train that was going about 1mph.

bbattle

Nice weather for a change, but quite windy. Mostly headwind(of course) but we did get to enjoy a couple of tailwinds so not too bad. Visited the village of Elkmont, home of Belle Chevre goat cheese. The group split fairly quickly into fast and not so fast ones and for a change I was smart enough to not try and stay in the fast group.

The dogwoods are in full bloom and the azaleas are looking great.

Our speed was all over the map due to the wind. I'm slogging along up front at 12mph into the wind, then we fly at 25 mph with the tail wind. I finished the 46 miles with a 14.7mph average; not too bad for just my third ride this year.

Machka 

Too early for me ... but it would have been nice to see the sunrise.

illdrag0n

beautiful 24 degree day in Adelaide South Australia. Rode 42km into the city and then down to Henley beach for a "performance enhancing beer"

Bassmanbob

48.5 miles in preparation for my 50 (miles) @ 50 (years old) in 13 days. I felt pretty good today-- much better than last week. I plan to do some hard riding next week, followed by some light riding the week of the 50 miles.

E

tangolima600

18.7 miles (new personal record)

https://www.runtastic.com/en/users/t...ions/433952457

Machka 

Sunday -- we accidentally did a 11.7 km hike today.

We were planning to go canoeing, now that we've got our canoe, but it was too rough out there. So then we decided to go for a little walk instead. The original plan was to drive to the start of the trail, and then to hike the 6 km return trip. But as we left the house, we decided we could probably walk there.

Before we knew it ... 11.7 km done!


At the beginning of the hike part of the walk ...

jbchybridrider 

Sky's look a lot clearer down at the beach illdrag0n and yeah it was a great day for riding.

I rode up Gorge road to Lobethal to Gumeracha and back to the burb's, overcast all day nice temps no wind

In a few weeks it'll be beautiful green countryside here.


More regrowth after bushfires.


An old kiln in the bush with a great fern growing inside.


Next to Kangaroo Creek dam. On the other side are trails to Fox Creek mtb park I'll be riding some when it's wet.

jbchybridrider 

Nice pictures Machka. I can tell you like the beach a lot.

Machka 

I love the beach!!!

Fortunately we live about 1 km from one beach ... and about 2.5 km from the beach in the photo above.

jsigone

4/11~
Distance 142.2mi
Moving Time 10:38:33
Elevation Gain 12,890ft
Estimated Avg Power 152W
Energy Output 5,830kJ
Avg Max
Speed 13.4mi/h 48.5mi/h
Heart Rate 139bpm 179bpm
Calories 6,500
Temperature 66℉
Elapsed Time 12:45:39
Bike: F4 with new 25 spesh all condition tires
Comments: The extra credit club made me do it!!! Super long day, started 10mins after sunrise and rode up a meeting section with the extra credit crew. The word got out about the shinangans my club was doing and swelled to about 20 riders from other clubs and those interested to sit in the pain cave. We hit the first dirt climb about 20 miles in, averaged about 8% for a few miles. The front group go select pretty quick about 8 of us left than we hit a rutted section, two guys had balance issues and toppled over. They still beat me up the climb about a mile later lol. Hit so local power hills and dropped down a dirt road into a valley where the mouth of Palomar Mt was. At the turn off we regrouped and I snagged 2 oranges of the tree there. We're 50 miles in and 5kft vert already. with a 11mile and 4500 dirt climb in front of us. Front A group took off and were gone, I managed to tackle the queen in with standard cranks and 28t in the back. I did walk a few of the 18-22% pitches where my rear tire would spin if I stood up. Lucky to have my good buddy ride with me here. Regrouped at the store at the summit. I was drained, no water left, no food left, those two oranges came in handy other than the weight on my back pockets. I refilled my pockets, 4 payday bars for the road, a snickers, banana and 2 mex cokes was consumed at the store. I'm at about 60 miles and 8900 ft vert at this point. The A group marched forward and glad they did. The B group was 7 left at this point. After we all peeled our self from sun bathing the half bonked bodyes off the parking lot tarmac we decended down the mt. But was also met with head winds I'd face for the 80 miles. We climbed mesa grande, a steep but shorter 3-4 mile vertical. Somehow my gearing had me in the front, those smarter than me w/ compacts were able to spin up the switch backs.

At the summit of Mesa grande, we got in the trees for a few miles w/ rollers. Than took Black Canyon road down to ramona. This is about a 12 dirt road that drops 2k elevation with a 4mile climb in the middle. Dirt was mostly fine DG (decomposed granite) that was tricky in the turns and hair pins. I ride MTBs alot so had some confidence, others in the B group wasn't so lucky. One hit the sand pit at 20mph and crossed up his front. He got rash on both arms from wrist to elbow. But nothing broken so he was able to solder on. As we got back into ramona, we topped off the bottles and pushed on. Was kinda nice being in the land of stop lights again. We did rotations in the wind down highland valley road and regrouped at the bottom of the steep decent arriving at lake hodges. 4 more miles of dirt til the parking lot. The 6 voted to take the city back and ez way back to the cars. I was still feeling really good at 114 miles and I pushed on to the orignal route. Added another 6 miles of dirt before able to get back on pavemnt and climb out of the valley and loop around another hour for the last 1500ft climb on the last hill. I made it home with the garmin flipping to night mode, the sun has set, the street lights were starting to flicker on. This was the longest ride I've done. The route reminded me of the LA Rapha Gents race I was able to do about 1 1/2 yr back. More amazing to me that exactly one yr ago I was in ICU from a car hitting me, 10 broken bones. And a yr later I'm able to do stupid sheet like this with my friends, VERY blessed! I think I'm ready for the Belgian waffle ride in two weeks.

That big bump @ mile 50 is dirty Nates https://www.strava.com/segments/1205524?filter=overall

dirty vertical way up Palomar Mt (10miles and 4400ft vertical) via nate harrison grade


cobbled rock section of lake hodges (last dirt of the day)

woodcraft

Nice ride, & that's a big climb.

Are you thinking about putting that compact on?

jsigone

Not really. I'm a slow climber with either. I just installed the standard set over winter, had 50/34. My strong suit is power rollers and lead out guy so geared to my advantages

Machka 

I watched the P-R but late on Sunday. In fact, I ended up staying up later than plannned to see the end.

alexaschwanden

Sunday: i did 85 miles on three seperate rides.

Jakedatc

was a good race so worth it!

Sun: 32mi with a friend. was supposed to be a bit easier than we did but the legs felt ok. have a few days before I ride again anyway. was nice to be out in the sun though.

bgav

Friday - 53 mile solo training ride MA/CT/RI, my riding partner had to bail. 40's, windy, foggy with drizzle the whole ride. Stopped at the 1/2 way point for a double shot of espresso. Got some dirt road riding in.

Sunday - Woke up and caught some of PR live, then headed out to Cumberland, RI to meet up with a couple of friends to get some riding time together with them. 55 miles total, weather was 40s-50s and not a cloud in the sky.

Panorama, hills & last snow remnants.


Road grime.


Woodstock, CT.


Espresso.


West Thompson Damn, CT.


Dirt road near Buck Hill on the CT/RI line.


Ice Cream Machine in Cumberland, RI

woodcraft

85 miles. Out w/ friend who will be doing first double in 5 weeks (Davis CA DC).

I'm signed up as well, but only need to maintain fitness 'til then.

Lots of turkeys, & plenty of raptors too.

A wedding at picturesque little church- very fancy, & charity ride rest stop just 30 yards away.

RR3

Congratulations. I seem to remember reading that you had not been feeling well. 82Km is huge therefore even for someone who has done the distances that you have done. This sounds like great news. GL and good health. My focus over the past 15 months has been to get back good health. I hope you can restore your health and regain the fitness that you had for PBP, 24 hour challenges, etc.

I did my first "USCF" aka USA Cycling event in around 20 years yesterday. I entered a 55+ circuit race studded with "old" Cat 2 and Cat 3 riders. I was kinda scared to be perfectly honest. Problem is their legs did not look too old aside from the old battle scars. My modest goals were not to crash, finish with the pack, and not be stupid enough to foolishly contest a sprint with 60 year olds who competed in the Pan American Games, etc. Spent most of the time on the rivet, no crashes, and finished with the pack. Not bad for a former fattie. Big sucess for me. It reminded me of my younger years....thinking to myself in a Butch Cassidy kind of way, "who are these guys?". Yesterday, my power meter was in the 300+ watt range and sometimes in the 500 watt range out of corners into the prime zone and my poor heart found new levels that I did not know existed anyjore. It did not kill me but nietzsche is dead nonetheless. I don;t know how to download the data and graph it but when it hurt, I would just look at the meter and thing, yup, this hurts. It don't tell no lies. When the legs hurt, I never looked down to see a feeble power lever on the meter. When it hurt, the number was big (for me). So, why bother? I almost wonder if it don't hurt in another way. Do we have too much unactionable data? A rollerblader got onto the course and bifurcated the last third of the pack where I resided somewhat homeless being unwashed and teamless. Naturually, this rollerblader wandered out during a prime lap. Loverly. Already hurting from the efforts of those wishing to win last year's water bottle, I should have thrown gasoline on the fire immediately instead of looking at my stupid power meter and feeling sorry for my hurting legs. ....I saw that it saaid 800 W and it scared me more. Basically, I was sprinting. Like I did not know that. I pause and the gap is now serious.-it is now or die. God, it hurt. I wonder the value of a power meter in a race a a break when it is now or never. Maybe stupid thoughts. New to technology. In the old days, there would have been no hesitation. Why did I need to look down to the stupid meter to confirm that my legs really hurt. It just made the gap grow and the ultimate suffering worse. Maybe that pain will pay off. Maybe I will continue to get stronger. I know that my older body does not response as favorably to training stimulus as when I was younger.

Anybody want to buy a set of Zipp 404 clinchers with a G3 powermeter?

On today's Grandpa recovery ride up the River, I reminsced about my first ride 15 months ago where it literally took me 50 minutes to cover a mere 6 miles and that on every ride for quite sometime, old grand mothers would pass me as I plodded along at around 12mph in relatively poor health. Sorry to be sexist. I kinda wanted to walk hills last winter. Everbody passed me. Today life could not have been better. 65F. Sunny. No wind. Sunny. No more snow. Spring done sprung. One of those days where the pedals just floated effortlessly and not that I care but today was the first day, the very first day that nobody passed me and I was in my full 32mm Rando outfit with full wool and baggage setup for a 600k , and not even the poseurs in full kit butchering a double echelon came by me. Crap, for a moment I thought I was Jan Heine. Only someone who had been pretty fast in their life and them slow as hell can appreciate the redemption of coming back from crappy health to pretty good cruising speed. Jus EZ cruisin at 18mph for around 20 miles up the river for a Latte. Damn......Life is good.

I hope never to take good health, strength, and endurance for granted ever again. God, the road to recovery has been tough. The big ring is no longer my enemy and hills no longer terrify me.

I hope others have had good rides this weekend, too. Gl to all.