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Rode the usual 15-mile "evaluation" ride after making some changes for fit. I'm using the Basso Gap as the guinea pig. The goal is to get a flatter back in a more aero position. Why? To go faster? IDK. Got a bee in my bonnet, I guess.
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I haven’t ridden any this week, recovering from last week’s 500 miles, played golf every day, storms in the afternoons etc. I rode 78 miles with 3300’ of hills this morning. I ran into our Sunday morning group that had a nice group of 14 riders today but just waved and kept pedaling.
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Been riding my usual 12 or so miles on my work break most days. I got a new saddle yesterday, and I like it better than the stock one. The stock one was a bit too narrow and I found my sit bones were hitting the edges, which led to some discomfort. I have a small sore from it, as well. The new saddle’s width allows the bones to fit more “squarely,” improving comfort. I think it was a good move.
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40 flat, rural miles this morning on a M-W-F morning club ride. Averaged 17 mph on the first half, which is blazing by my standards, but slower on the return.
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A couple days late: Saturday was my DAMn ride. 240 miles (plus a few bonus miles) in just under 19 hours.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a49d1e8c61.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4d150d179a.jpg Here's the thread I started last year - I'll add details in this thread for this year too: https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...minnesota.html I just joined the 50+ club at the end of July ... :p |
30 miles with 1600’ of hills around the house. Very humid, but not too bad as long as you we’re moving.
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About four hours on the clock early this morning. Didn't ride that whole time since I stopped for pictures and exploring. Maybe 28 miles I guess.
Happy to see I wasn't the only one holding up traffic. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9788b7d102.jpg |
Up in the hills this morning for some fire road and single track hardtail fun.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...232cc91e_b.jpg IMG_9537 by 2cam16, on Flickr |
13 miles with Lisa after work.
My bike is cleaned up from my Day Across Minnesota, but my knee is still recovering (more ice, Advil, and rest). I'm honestly kinda shocked that my only issue after 19 hours and 240 miles is my knee ... I've never had a knee problem before Saturday and I did the DAMn in 2018. I'm 99% certain that I shot myself in the foot (or more accurately - knee) by replacing my saddle a couple weeks before the ride and didn't give enough attention to position with the new saddle. I found that the new saddle was too low and too far forward, and those are both common reasons for knee pain. Live and learn :D https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d9e94a4ffe.jpg |
16 miles yesterday evening on the paved roads. Had to stop riding the gravel roads (for a while) because they were doing a number on my right wrist (guess I was holding the grips too tight, and a lot of braking to keep slow). We only have one paved road in our area, so the ride was just up and back. Not much variety. Scenery was still pretty, and the motorists who shared the road were very pleasant with lots of friendly waving. New saddle arrived - will put it on in time for tonight's ride.
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A nice day to climb Mitchell from Marion. 63 miles with 7100’ up and 7100’ down!!! It was 59 degrees up top at 11 am.
I was too stubborn to use my easiest gear and now my knee is telling me that wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done. The only good thing about Hwy 80 is it’s nicely shaded! It was an excellent simulation for climbing McKenzie Pass in Oregon next month. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...849c72dbd.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...607f0c996.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...16369cd5a.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...15c99590a.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a6465b501.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...81d17fcf9.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8410ff8bf.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2df68e96e.jpeg |
. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ae4a72a285.png
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...71885d57e2.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2926d04fa7.jpg My first trip up Mt. Tam from Fairfax. To date my longest climb and my legs have disowned me. It is an amazingly beautiful ride and it was a really nice day. Had the road to myself. |
20 miles on the paved roads while DH borrowed my tractor for mowing (he lent his temporarily to DS whose antique tractor decided - last week - to call it quits forever). Beautiful morning to ride. Put the new saddle on this evening and tried it out. Not sure yet if I like it. Going to give it a trial run tomorrow for another 20 miles. If it's a no go, I'll swap for the Serfas RX saddle on my road bike which I rarely ride anymore. The new Giant ebike continues to protect my knee from reinjury and keeps me riding without worries or stress, for which I'm very grateful.
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26 miles Thursday evening on a club ride. Very flat roads in the vicinity of Franklin, IN. Rode the long wheelbase ti 'bent. 17mph average, which is speedy for me.
Rode the short wheelbase steel base this morning on the M-W-F club ride with spouse on her Trek e-assist bike and a dozen others. 33 miles from southeast side of Indy to Franklin and back. Some of the same roads as Thursday. Flat except for climbing up and over Mt. I-65. |
I finally got out and went for a nice bicycle ride around 9:00 - 9:15am this morning... I was always too busy driving my school bus for summer school, and would get home all exhausted, sweaty, and irritated from dealing with {expletive} kids that have serious attitude problems (which is why they are in summer school!)
Now that summer school is over, and we had a cool morning, I finally got out my C&V 1985 Fuji road bike and went for a great ride: 18.73 miles in 1hr 14 min. This is the map layout and Facebook link from Strava, that I posted earlier. https://i.imgur.com/0rfpi4a.jpg This photo is great, and so peaceful looking! This is from Blair Rd, from River Rd heading north up towards Patterson (as seen on the left side of the map above). It's a scenic back road that doesn't get much traffic. I just wish it looked like for 25-30 more miles! :D https://i.imgur.com/tlmvDD6.jpg |
Yesterday, a four-mile hill workout in the hood (the thing I used to warm up *for* is now the thing I do to warm up, which isn't too bad) then a timed speed run to the greenway then a slow ride home. Hot. As. Heck. 90F at 2pm.
It's been a cooler-than-usual summer here, 80s instead of 90s, and I've ended up doing a lot of night riding because of my schedule and I've lost my heat acclimation, so now I'm earning it back. I need some way to fix an old t-shirt to the bars as a sweat rag because I really put it out. |
This was paved the last time we were here. A little gravel never hurts, I guess. We got in 49 miles at 17.7 mph on the long, straight, flatish, roads.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d0c2982d23.jpg |
Got in my first full 20 mile ride today. As a newbie, I feel pretty good about that 😁. 5-ish weeks ago when I started cycling, I didn’t think I’d be doing this with as much ease as I did. Cycling really is not only fun , but also improving my health. My husband and I rode on the American River bike trail not far from our house. Really beautiful day for a ride, too.
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Originally Posted by LaurieD
(Post 21069314)
Got in my first full 20 mile ride today. As a newbie, I feel pretty good about that 😁. 5-ish weeks ago when I started cycling, I didn’t think I’d be doing this with as much ease as I did. Cycling really is not only fun , but also improving my health. My husband and I rode on the American River bike trail not far from our house. Really beautiful day for a ride, too.
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Thought I'd try something different today - my wife's flat bar road bike (Specialized Vita)! It's a little small (48cm), but thankfully it has a very long seat post that got the fit in the ballpark for my purposes. The main reason I wanted to ride it is because of the triple crankset (26-36-46), to see how low I really need to go (gear wise) to manage most hills I encounter locally, or aspire to ride. I have avoided MTBs and flat bars in general as they have always put too much pressure on my wrists, creating significant discomfort within minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to encounter no problems on today's 1.25 hour evaluation ride! The Vita's bars do have ergo grips, which may have helped some. My old MTBs have none. I had to move my hands some after a half hour, but easily found several resting points. I was a little slower than average on my road bikes, but not much. I think I could do better with a proper fitting frame and a little more aero position.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a gravel bike. Perhaps I will consider a flat bar version. This was the first time the bike has been ridden on the highway. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...844aa92637.jpg |
12 miles today, mostly testing out one of my old saddles on the new Giant ebike. Didn't like the brand new noseless saddle I'd just purchased - it was too fat aft of the bobbed nose and that extra width got in the way. So I swapped out the saddle from my road bike - a nice thin Serfas RX - and my derriere approved. Took a bit of stop and go and adjusting along the way, but got things situated just right and now can concentrate on increasing the miles. The roads were very busy today with convertible cars and out of town cyclists. Everyone wants to visit "the countryside" when the weather is nice. Aren't these people supposed to be in church on Sunday? Geez.
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Originally Posted by horatio
(Post 21070268)
Thought I'd try something different today - my wife's flat bar road bike (Specialized Vita)! It's a little small (48cm), but thankfully it has a very long seat post that got the fit in the ballpark for my purposes. The main reason I wanted to ride it is because of the triple crankset (26-36-46), to see how low I really need to go (gear wise) to manage most hills I encounter locally, or aspire to ride. I have avoided MTBs and flat bars in general as they have always put too much pressure on my wrists, creating significant discomfort within minutes. I was pleasantly surprised to encounter no problems on today's 1.25 hour evaluation ride! The Vita's bars do have ergo grips, which may have helped some. My old MTBs have none. I had to move my hands some after a half hour, but easily found several resting points. I was a little slower than average on my road bikes, but not much. I think I could do better with a proper fitting frame and a little more aero position.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a gravel bike. Perhaps I will consider a flat bar version. This was the first time the bike has been ridden on the highway. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...844aa92637.jpg have a lot of range. You can adjust the height on most of then. |
Saturday rode 12 miles each way to the State Fair where I helped out with Pedal and Park. Free parking for bikes. Our bike club provides the volunteer workers. We parked 250+ bikes yesterday.
Today - 23 mile tandem ride with my stoker, of course. |
Finally back it the saddle again i
After spending about two months unable to ride due to illness I took two short rides last week. Amazing how fast you get out of shape.
First ride, Wednesday, was about 3.5 miles - my quads asked if I was kidding. Second ride was almost 7 miles before I tired. Getting it back pretty quickly. Hope the weather holds up so I can ride a couple of more times this week. |
41.5, a bit more than my usual 25-30. Takes more out of me than I like to admit. I'll take a day to recover.
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