We've had upper 30s-40s and the roads are somewhat clear. It wouldn't hurt.

Wow. I swear I saw Rock Hudson back there trying to reestablish radio transmissions from Ice Station Zebra : )

Got 40 miles today on the Diva; cgallagh flipped the stem the other night and I wanted to try it out. First ride in 9 days and it felt great to be on the road again! 49* and foggy but the mustard is flowering nicely and the hills are greening up. The colors seemed brighter in the fog.

Rode my age today - in the rain. The weatherman said it was going to be dry, but it was drizzling when I left in the morning and just never stopped. I was pretty well protected against the rain, but brought extra gloves, hat, socks, etc. with me in a saddlebag. I never needed any of that, though.

Showers Pass jacket + Specialized BG waterproof boots - the best.

What crank is on your Kona, RonH ? Many CX bikes come with 130 BCD cranks which won't take a 34 tooth ring. I take it yours is a 110.

I didn't get to ride today. Had to drive to the Atlanta area for a family Christmas gathering. Seeing the extended family was great, but driving on I-20, I-285, I-85 and I-985 was ridiculous. I don't know how in the world anyone could face driving in that mess every day.

I rode the 200k Lone Star Randonneurs brevet out of Italy, Tx today. The first half was great, but the last 68 miles was mostly into a howling north wind. I was pretty wiped out when I finished. 131.5 miles, 9:45 overall time.

Today (Saturday) easy recovery ride of 30+ flat miles. Rode 58 miles Thursday in Sonoma county 25 miles of which was beautiful riding along the California coast. Overcast inland, but crystal clear along the coast: go figure. It's amazing how 60 miles not an inch of which rises above 400' can wear you out; the 25 coastal miles were into a headwind and the very short rollers on the coast are not kind to our tandem.http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_0519.jpg

Mountain bike ride today. It's 2 miles to the offroad bit and I stayed upright till the last 200yards Then Ross- the rider in front me- went over and I did the same out of Sympathy. I know it was Icy but to fall off with so little to go before the fun began was a bit dispiriting. Wasn't the last fall of the morning either.

Yes!!
 

Not only did I get to ride but the Mrs. got to ride too, as she can only ride on the weekends and the weekend weather has been CRUD at best most of Dec. here in Colorado Springs, it was FUN to have someone to share the ride today!:thumb: I finished putting on the Trekking bars for both of our bikes and we really feel they are much better for our riding than the "MTB straight bar/w extensions"!:love: 15 miler, mix of back streets and paths/trails. Sunny but with a VERY CHILLY breeze, didn't see anywhere near as many riders on the paths as normal.

[QUOTE=stapfam;Mountain bike ride today. It's 2 miles to the offroad bit and I stayed upright till the last 200yards Then Ross- the rider in front me- went over and I did the same out of Sympathy. I know it was Icy but to fall off with so little to go before the fun began was a bit dispiriting. Wasn't the last fall of the morning either.[/QUOTE]

Ouch, hope your ok, I did that 2 weeks ago and even now when I lay on my left thigh I can still feel a bit of tenderness!! Being slamed to the ice covered pavement is NO FUN!!

It was supposed to snow Friday night or Saturday but I took 4 hours of PTO and was able to get out Friday afternoon for about 15 miles. Snowed a little bit Saturday (nothing like the East experienced). The roads were mostly dry today so I got out for about ten miles at 31F.

Went out to look at Christmas lights tonight. Only went about 6.5 miles, but today is my day of rest. :-)

No riding today, But I did test some riding togs!
 

Too icy for riding but thankfully the temps are climbing.

Working on my riding wardrobe, I tested variations of riding togs. Today it was nylon warmup pants over riding shorts. Seemed to work quite nicely for the legs. Additionally I tested support hose under my normal riding socks. Together with my usual top I should be ready to attack the elements on a trip around Salem Lake on Wednesday.

102.51 miles, my 27th @ 100+ miles this year
Temps 43* to 67* Sunny
Winds 3 to 13 mph
4 riders
Dave Flats 1 mile from his home.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h.../27100s003.jpg

Today was the first day back on the bike since 12-9; bad ankle sprain. Only rode 4 miles, RT commute. Felt good to be back on the bike, but I felt rusty.

26 miles today, kind of cold (high 50s) and overcast. Fun ride.

A brisk trip to the grocery store!
 

Even functional rides provide lessons and test opportunities. Committed to making regular riding a 12 month deal I have been gathering info on clothing to deal with the cold. Today I used the opportunity to apply some of what has been learned.

On the outbound leg of my trip, the temperature was 43, on the return it was down to about 37 and the sun had set.My kit included a skull cap under my helmet, T shirt under a sweatshirt, my lightweight, nylon wind jacket covering all. Gloves, my new thinsalates. downstairs, running shorts under warm-up pants. Feet covered with lycra, over the calf socks under my usual riding socks.

Outbound I was quite comfy, on the home bound leg I noticed I was perspiring a bit by the time I had ridden a mile it was clear the T was a mistake, and the running shorts were beginning to bunch up. After another mile the wind jacket zipper allowed a draft to enter and chill the perspiration from the T. The results are clear. 1) Replace the T with riding jersey; 2) Wear jacket with pit and back venting.

What worked: 1)Skull cap; 2) Socks though wool will probably improve the situation; 3) Warm-up Pants work well even considering my having to reposition myself on the seat, nylon is slippery. The jury is still out on the gloves.

Stats
Load: Approximately 20 lbs
Miles Today: 6.91
Weeks Miles: 6.91
Months Miles: 25.51
Year Since June: 1032.35

I'm visiting the Oceanside CA area. Rode 12 miles on Monday on the O-side to Fallbrook bike path.
Yesterday was special. We mtn. biked all over Camp Pendleton on dirt roads. 17+ miles total. Up the Santa Margarita River, and back down, all the way to the beach where there's a dirt road along the seabluff, bordering a tomato field. Just like California was before all the people moved here and covered it in asphalt and houses....

Today was a 9.22 mile effort on a route I had stopped using. Winding through one of the City’s premier neighborhoods I could rely on it having well cleared streets.

Even though the temp on my ride was a few degrees warmer than yesterday, I used the opportunity to apply some of what was yesterday and to specifically identify some parameters.

As I started the ride it was 45 F, I wore my cycling Jersey, sweatshirt and had my warm up jacket stowed in my rack trunk, skullcap under my helmet, thinsalate gloves. Cycling shorts and my normal socks completed my outfit.

A thick cloud cover obscured the sun and about half way through the ride, I pulled out the warm up jacket. From there on my kit worked flawlessly. Thinking I might have to stow my skullcap at the beginning of the ride, I was happy to have it on through the entire ride.

I was pleased as well that the bottom line regarding leg cover is 45 F for me. Accustomed to riding with them at this temp the expectation has always been that the temps would be increasing. Temperatures expected to decline from 45 F would create a bit of discomfort.

Stats
Load: Approximately 5 lbs
Miles Today: 9.23
Weeks Miles: 16.14
Months Miles: 34.74
Year Since June: 1041.58

23 flat miles on the tandem. 36.5* when we left at 9 am, maybe 5 degrees warmer when we returned. Wind and sun prevailed. Happy to get any miles at all. Cgallagh has taken 4 weeks of vacation, my business partner is taking 2 weeks, and all of our clients want service NOW. My riding this month has been seriously curtailed. So any miles at all, in any conditions, are miles enjoyed.

Yesterday I took the day off and went on a mountain bike ride with some very fast riders. None of us had done the route before but we had a map and some advice from others who had. Even so, we got a little confused and added an extra 500 foot climb at the start. Ended up with 5300 feet in 26 miles! Most of the climbing was on fire road and there was a screaming 6 mile descent on a singletrack that had everything from green grass, mud, a little snow, rocks, scree, and an avocado grove at the bottom.
Of course, we finished the descent in a valley hundreds of feet below our cars so we had a long road climb after we were toast.

Not today...unless I'm prepared to find a good divorce lawyer.