Today I joined my friends from the Channel Islands Bike Club in their 12th Annual Lure of the Grapes ride in the lovely Santa Ynez Valley north of Santa Barbara. We started our 57 mile ride from Buellton and rode all the way to Surf Beach. After a quick stop spent cleaning mud off our road bikes (it had apparently rained the night before and the roads were wet and muddy) we headed back to Buellton.

On the way back we stopped at Lompoc for lunch at the Jalama Beach Cafe. After lunch we headed back to Buellton (but not before doing some nice, long climbs). Tonight we will have dinner at the Alisal River Grill.

Tomorrow another ride through the valley and then a quick visit to some of the local wineries before heading back home. Nothing is better for the body and soul of the 50+ rider than good friends, good food, good wine and long bike rides!

14 miles, indoor trainer

34 miles this early am, well, 34½. Planned on 42 or so but my legs just didn't seem to have it. The ride seemed like such a struggle this morning I thought I was fighting a wind, but the flags I passed stated otherwise--the air certainly seemed denser this am.

42 yesterday, 25 today. It's starting to be my favorite riding season!

Finally! First ride in three weeks and a darn nice one at that. 25.7 miles on a gorgeous day with the Tampa Bay Sunday Riders bike club. Perfect temps in the low to mid 70's throughout the entire ride with little to no winds up to the midway point. The return trip along the bay had some brutal headwinds coming across the open water. Thing was, that I loved every pedal stroke heading into the wind. Tomorrow starts my daily 30 mile routine. Can't wait.

3.8 mi ride to test new Edge 500 and HRM. Works great but need to adjust max HR setting. Used old 220 minus age for starting point and reached max -1 on ride into headwind. Sure need find current method for max HRM. Time to study.

Day 2 of the Hilly Hundred: 43 miles with 3500 feet of climbing. (Including the one hill my stoker and I climbed on foot.) Beautiful Fall day featuring sun and moderate-to-warm temps.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...M/IMG_0695.jpg

Did a 33km ride along the waterfront and made it up the front side and on the back the back side of my hill nemesis. It felt really great to accomplish both sides. It's windy here today so it was a challenge to ride along the waterfront but it was great to get out in the sunshine as it might be awhile before we get a dry day again.

Karen

Very Windy 47 miles. Temps 72*-86*
Rear flat from Brown beer bottle glass.

I hate Brown Flat Beer.

27 miles on a Fun club ride today, the weather was AWESOME, 78 F, little wind, lot's of SUN! We rode a Progressive Dinner Ride, Stop at one member house for Salad's, then another (after a few BIG 10+ hills) for Lunch/Dinner and then a final stop for Dessert, YUM. LOL, even with the HILLS, I'm not sure I didn't "gain" a pound or two! ;)

Perfect day for a bike ride here today. Full Fall colors too. Joined a friend for the 38 mile Ring of Fire loop here in town. It was survival mode all the way but overall I enjoyed being out on the bike. It's not a ride for the meek with over 4300' of climbing. The extra weight I carry these days is like an anchor on 10%+ grades.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/235921519

It was an unseasonably warm day (up to 70 °F) and I did 71 miles with a metric century club ride plus some miles to and from the meet-up place. This was my longest ride this year after being off the bike for the first half of 2012 (previously I think the max was 52 or so), and it was just grand. THere were some issues with head winds in the return direction, but I felt strong through most of the ride. I'm very pleased. No, make that, ecstatic.

Yes. And it was a blast!

13 miles outdoors in beautiful 75 degree weather

Saturday included a 40 mile ride on the Lakefront with a group of 20 vintage bikers.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...o-with-Roadfan

Does that mean 20 people riding vintage bikes or 20 vintage people riding bikes?

40 miles up the east shore of San Francisco Bay from alameda to Richmond. Nothing strenuous, but after bonking horribly the week before, it was great to get through a ride and still feel strong. I'm breaking in a new bike and still getting used to the saddle. I'll probably give it a few more rides before I decide to keep or change. The bike is a specialize roubaix and the saddle is a specialized toupe.

Some of us are more vintage than others ;-). While a few are real classics.

80 miles @ 16.4 on the club ride on Saturday, and 27.9 @ 17.4 ave yesterday. Great days for cycling.

47 miles with my son. Rode the Vintage D'arienzo. Almost 70 degrees by the time we were done.

Perfect day for a great ride. It was a bit windy this morning but I got my 30 miles in and still under 2 hours (1:57:27). Need some work to get back to where I was before the knee injury and the trip up north kept me off the bike.

Upon returning to the parking lot, I took this photo as it appears that the concept of the Transit as a bike hauler is starting to catch on. The red one on the right is the first one that I saw used specifically as a bike hauler and the one that gave us the idea to look into the Transit as a way to haul our bikes. It's also the one we got some of the ideas for the interior modifications we are doing to ours. Today was the first time that I have seen the dark blue Transit. I saw her open the rear door and there were three bikes back there. The silver one on the left is mine.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...97517976_n.jpg

34 miles this early am. I had an obligation today so I could only fit in 34 miles.

Ever ride angry?

I had a lousy stressful long day at work and couldn't get out to ride until 9 PM. Fortunately, it was a balmy 60 degrees. Maybe it's not the best way to ride, but it's about the best thing that can be done with anger. I just poured my heart into a fast 10 miles out, 10 miles back along the Midtown Greenway (Minneapolis' bike freeway) I didn't quite realize what I was doing at first - I rode the first half upright at an avg. of 18.6 MPH, but on the way back got down in the drops. The trail was empty at night and with my bright light (I love my Magicshine), perfectly navigable at whatever speed I could muster. Avg. for the 20 miles was 19.2 MPH, which for an urban ride with some turns, stop signs, etc. is cooking. Man, I needed to do something with that anger.

Not that it has much to do with the circumstances of the ride, but I finally feel like I'm back in some kind of shape.

I rode yesterday afternoon with the wife at the wilderness MUP and got in 15 miles. Winds were pretty strong when we got there, so rather than try and battle the headwinds for 30 miles at my regular pace, I decided to do the 15 miles at a much slower pace with the misses. Averaged 10.2 mph and actually enjoyed the slower pace and the longer saddle time.

Got in 100 miles with a Friend, Bill for his 80th Birthday Ride.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...Bills80BDR.jpg