Machka 

Happy Valentine's Day ... tomorrow. Will you be cycling with the one you love this weekend?
Tell us all about your cycling (inside or out), hiking, snowshoeing, etc. etc. Post pics if you've got them.


[HR][/HR]

We've been cycling quite a bit lately.

Thursday -- 21.89 km

Friday -- 17.45 km in 45 minutes ... so quite a brisk pace for me!

Saturday -- we'll be heading out for a ride soon.

thin_concrete

Considering the weekend will start out with wind chill values close to 0* Saturday morning and -35* on Sunday, I'm sitting in front of my fireplace and not moving.

Doctor Morbius

Where I live the high is going to be 14 Fahrenheit, so no weekend ride for me. I doubt I even go outside except for to put some food out for animals.

Machka 

Saturday -- it was a warm one out there. Hit 30°C in the afternoon while we were out cycling.

We rode 42.28 km to the end of the cycleway and beyond. Then when we got back into the city we cruised by the waterfront to find something to eat ... and Fish Frenzy is always a good choice.

And then we went to the Speedway for the evening!!

ThinLine

Agree, it is negative numbers with wind chill where I am although I made sure the suet cages were filled and seed in the feeders.

2manybikes

Today (Saturday) has a predicted high of 22 F and very high winds. OK to walk the dog just a little. Tonight predicted to be minus seven (ambient)and 25 mph wind.
Sunday High of 12 F and 20 mph wind. Night 2 F and 10 mph wind.
Probably a short walk, Possibly too cold for the dog.

Machka 

Sunday -- 32.5 km with 540 metres of climbing. The first 16.25 km was the climb ... halfway up Mount Wellington!! The second 16.25 km was the descent.

The day was very windy, gusting to about 65 km/h down in Hobart and 100 km/h on top of Mount Wellington. We had been planning on attempting a full climb, right to the top, but it was just too windy to be a safe ride. So we cut it short halfway up at Fern Tree.

The temperature reached 22°C down in Hobart, but sat around about 5°C at the top of the mountain. It was probably in the low teens in the Fern Tree area.

For me, I was very pleased with the climb. I'm not a climber and was somewhat apprehensive, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I just got into a rhythm that worked for me, left a bit in reserve, and more or less cruised. There were a couple steep bits, and I was glad I still had something in reserve for them.

So next ... we'll have to try the whole climb!! Evidently there are a few more challenging bits in the second half of the climb, so I'll see how I go.


Amusing thing ... Richie Porte did the climb (the whole thing) just the other day ... for him, it was "a leisurely climb up Mt Wellington" ...
Category: | The Mercury: Richie Porte’s ‘relaxed’ home start

I wonder if it will ever be "a leisurely climb" for me!!

Lazyass

Finished restoring an '86 Schwinn LeTour last week. Weather has been crappy but I had to take it out yesterday for a 25 miler, 32 degrees and 15-20mph winds. Smoothest riding bike I've ever had. Even took her off road.

jbchybridrider 

Nice job with the Le Tour. I had/have a Ricardo Varsity the aussie equivalent of a Schwinn, gas pipe bike took 35c tires and the smoothest riding bike I've ridden only retired from a to long top tube.

jbchybridrider 

Yay remembered to change my cleats. Rode my favorite hills ride again a little slower because I've been on the flats recently and missed a few weeks.



The old light house at Mt. Lofty was recently restored.


New Schwalbe One's, hate the look but ride nicely.

kbarch

The Speedway?! Did you see Maniacs on Wheels? Actually, Once a Jolly Swagman was a pretty neat movie.

Machka 

The Speedway is an oval where they race cars. We especially like the Sprint Cars.

There was a jaw dropping "crash" among the winged Sprint Cars in one of the last races. It was bumped, flew up the air, rolled ... and everyone thought it was going to land upside down on the wing, but it kept rolling in the air ... and landed on its wheels!!

woodcraft

Winter's taking a break here. Leg warmers, but a beautiful day.

116 mile bakery run, for the coveted lemon scone.

Stop at 1/4 point.


At the bakery.



Post ride refuel.

kbarch

Well, I thought I'd be a tough guy and go for a ride in near-zero Fahrenheit temps, but winds were 20+ mph, too, so I decided to stay in after all. Maybe tomorrow - it should be relatively calm and in the teens by mid-morning.

As it turned out, the simulated ride on the rollers was probably a much better idea, training-wise. I figured I'd roll to some music, and that classical would be a good choice, what with the variety of tempo and volume it offers. The first 75 minutes were spent listening to Bach partitas. Generally fairly short movements, nothing too fast, nothing too slow, nothing too loud, nothing too quiet, but a variety in any event. Kind of like a giant group ride through rolling terrain. After that, it was time for a break, and time to put on Schubert's "Great" C Major symphony - probably my very favorite piece of all.

The first movement starts out quiet and sort of slow, and there's a bit of punchy-ness in the middle as it sorts itself out before picking up speed and volume for a rousing conclusion. It was like a 10-minute version of a race. The second movement was like just riding around, letting the legs recover, keeping them warm. The third movement, it was time to pick up the cadence - kind of like a nice, quick paceline, with a bit of cruising along in the middle. Then, the 4th movement was like the hammerfest to the finish. I've always loved the propulsive rhythm that keeps chugging through the quiet parts: ba-da-da-DUM... ba-da-da-DUM... ba-da-da-DUM... ba-da-da-DUM...
For those who are unfamiliar, but curious, here's the finale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aan9SqcSFoY
And here's the full version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjdCHESuROs

All in all, two hours, ten minutes on the rollers. Mentally as much as physically draining.

ZIPP2001

-17 degrees this morning then add in the wind and it felt like -30 degrees. I decided to stay in and do a mini Duathlon 1/2 treadmill, 1 hour bike trainer, and 1/2 treadmill to finish.

bikecrate

No video?

Saturday was a great day for cycling. I went for about 40 miles to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail. The temps were in the mid 60's, sunny and wind was just about right. Sunday the temps dropped in the morning to the 40's/low 50's and the wind picked up again. Not quite as fun ride around S. Tampa for 35 miles. I took my accursed road bike which (knock on wood) nothing bad happened.

rfmarotti

45 miles, my first time heading up to Beals Point from Sacramento ~1300ft of climbing. Beautiful 70 degree day. A little windy on the return leg. Really tried to push my pace and averaged 16mph.

Machka 

Little bit hard to see, but I think it takes place about 32 seconds in on this video. We were seated on the left, almost directly in front of the crash, but the person doing the video is down at one end.

bikecrate

Oh, there you go...reminds me of this reality show that used to on TV called Carpocalypse. It was dear to my heart because it took place in Central FL. There were different teams of drivers who had to come up with vehicles for the various races. Things like bus, trailer, demo derby type stuff. Mostly just wanton destruction. Pure dirtball FL.

Anyways, went out Monday night for a pounding of wind pain. 32 miles around Davis Is.

Machka 

That particular race was just sprint cars. And that night there were sprint cars, wingless sprints, and a collection of old beaters. Three different types of races. All with the intent of racing, not destroying anything.

The first 25 seconds or whatever on that video is just advertising ... not what we saw when we went. Then the spring car race starts, and just seconds into the race the sprint car flips. First time I've ever seen that happen.

Drew Eckhardt 

Saturday February 13th, 2016: 133 miles, 6000 feet, 9:37 moving out of 11:36, 442 TSS, .60 IF, 4147 kj

https://www.strava.com/activities/492979426/overview
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/7846837

Tunitas Creek runs around redwood trees, Highway 1 passes Pacifica Beach, the Golden Gate bridge is iconic, and Larry's boat is in a land-locked lagoon.




I realized that waiting until the last Saturday risked not finishing my century a month so I took advantage of Saturday's nice weather. February being the 2nd month suggested 200K which is enough for a round trip to San Francisco so that's where I went. I routed along the Pacific Coast so I'd see more water than on my last long ride. It was foggy when I left before sunrise, but that burned off quickly producing perfect weather for the rest of my trip.

I took Kings Mountain up the Santa Cruz Mountains from Silicon Valley, thenTunitas Creek down to the Pacific Coast. I rode north on Highway 1 past Pacifica, took a right on Sharp Park to Skyline, then returned to follow the coast on Great Highway. Riding around San Francisco was worth an extra hour waiting in traffic. I came back along San Francisco Bay which is flat so I wouldn't be riding too much before sunrise or after sunset.

That was my first 200km ride and longest distance in one day.The 133 miles didn't seem like more effort than 109 two weeks before.

Although I have a smart phone I got lost a few times navigating the old fashioned way because there's only enough battery life for a few quick peeks (which still got me down to 5%), and my first headlight battery was pretty run down by the time I got home. I'm going to build a dynohub wheel to fix both problems, with limitless light by night and gadget time by day. I also pre-ordered a Wahoo ELEMNT which is one of two dedicated bike computer which can display power + heart rate information for pacing on the navigation screen and supports maps (the Garmin Edge 1000 does two data fields too and routing which is better, although I've grown tired of Garmin's low quality firmware and want to try something else).