Did you ride today?
12-31-17, 07:51 PM
Senior Member
Nope. No more riding until the road salt is off the roads! I don't have a place to rinse the road salt off after a ride, either. -1°F last night, got up to a whopping 11°F today, and will stay pretty much the same for the next ten days... I'm also not about to spend $20 in propane to heat up the garage to work on any bikes in the near future...
12-31-17, 08:07 PM
U.I.O.G.D.
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A braver man than I. It is also -22C here in Quebec, strong winds, drifting snow, and wind chill -38C. I went for a short walk, did a quick 180 after 1 km and went back inside next to the wood stove. Even hiking is, no pun intended, on ice at the moment. For me at least. My wife went out. I'm a big fat wimp and will wait until it's no colder than about -15C to hike on the local mountain. I did get out for a 7.5 km hike up to the 969 metre summit of Mt. Sutton last week.
12-31-17, 08:17 PM
What happened?
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The Midwest Winter has officially arrived in the Chicago area. It is cold. Only riding is indoors until further notice. I had a wonderful Holiday and I ate some great food with family and friends. It was a no-ride rest day and I removed the bike from the KickR for maintenance. I also ordered my Bow Flex after twenty years of wanting one. I now need it to avoid the too-skinny look as I am losing much body fat from riding. $500 off for a Holiday sale was icing on the cake.
I rode on Zwift yesterday and felt quite strong after the rest. My main training goal is endurance, but as of late I am adding leg strength and raising FTP to the mix. I have come to learn that I was kidding myself with the default gradient setting of 50%. I experimented and found 7/8 to be the sweet spot for the most realistic ride. I now feel every bit of incline, even before it goes to 1%. It took me a bit to adjust to the change and others just seemed to pull away from me. Gear selection, timing and shifting technique now are much more important, not to mention the realistic speeds when climbing. The Metric and Century jerseys I was so proud of needed to be re-qualified for and I did my Metric last week.
I felt good riding and after a 12 mile ride and short break, I did a 21 minute bender as a FTP test. It was an honest effort and I gained 15 points to my FTP. Back to leg strength training and up the mountains! I decided it was time to attempt a Century early on in the ride and it was now on. I did not mess around and I set PR's for every KOM and segment during my Metric. I finished my 10,000 calorie challenge and set sights on my Everest challenge. I climbed every mountain I could, including the Radio Tower 4 times. I felt OK until 84 miles, then I had to start digging deep. In fact, I cheated by riding with my eyes closed during some long slow climbs. I needed to use every gear I could from the cassette.
I covered the entire Watopia map and finally reached my 100 mile goal. I put that jersey back on as I earned every foot of those climbs and miles. I fell 1000+ points and feet short of my level 18 and Everest challenge. I did not have any more climb in me and it could wait for another day. I am very glad I made that change in Zwift and it is wonderful to ride whenever I want.
I rode on Zwift yesterday and felt quite strong after the rest. My main training goal is endurance, but as of late I am adding leg strength and raising FTP to the mix. I have come to learn that I was kidding myself with the default gradient setting of 50%. I experimented and found 7/8 to be the sweet spot for the most realistic ride. I now feel every bit of incline, even before it goes to 1%. It took me a bit to adjust to the change and others just seemed to pull away from me. Gear selection, timing and shifting technique now are much more important, not to mention the realistic speeds when climbing. The Metric and Century jerseys I was so proud of needed to be re-qualified for and I did my Metric last week.
I felt good riding and after a 12 mile ride and short break, I did a 21 minute bender as a FTP test. It was an honest effort and I gained 15 points to my FTP. Back to leg strength training and up the mountains! I decided it was time to attempt a Century early on in the ride and it was now on. I did not mess around and I set PR's for every KOM and segment during my Metric. I finished my 10,000 calorie challenge and set sights on my Everest challenge. I climbed every mountain I could, including the Radio Tower 4 times. I felt OK until 84 miles, then I had to start digging deep. In fact, I cheated by riding with my eyes closed during some long slow climbs. I needed to use every gear I could from the cassette.
I covered the entire Watopia map and finally reached my 100 mile goal. I put that jersey back on as I earned every foot of those climbs and miles. I fell 1000+ points and feet short of my level 18 and Everest challenge. I did not have any more climb in me and it could wait for another day. I am very glad I made that change in Zwift and it is wonderful to ride whenever I want.
You can't get over Everest on a bike anyway. Just enjoy the fruits of your labor and get back on soon.
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I don't know nothing, and I memorized it in school and got this here paper I'm proud of to show it.
12-31-17, 08:59 PM
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31 miles on a sunny day with no wind. 28 degrees when i went out. 42 degrees when I returned three hours later. 212 miles for the month. I've never been an athlete so I'm very proud of these numbers. I just turned 71 and ride all year round although my winter mileage is much higher than the summer. i don't like the heat
12-31-17, 09:21 PM
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Rode about 7.5 miles running errands. Trip to the office, delivered some correspondence to an old friend, then to the druggist to get medicine and a Red Baron pizza to celebrate New Years. Happy New Years to 50+, the mods, and all.
12-31-17, 09:34 PM
rebmeM roineS
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Happy New Year! Impressed with your cold-weather riding in Frigid Indy. It did get up into double digits today, though.
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Bacchetta Giro A20, RANS V-Rex, RANS Screamer
Bacchetta Giro A20, RANS V-Rex, RANS Screamer
12-31-17, 10:37 PM
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I see Bob Ross got a nice ride in today, too. He definitely went the distance in this cold snap.
Warmest regards,
Don
12-31-17, 10:51 PM
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I knocked out a tad under 41 miles today, temps were decent at an avg for the ride of 30 f. Using the old Orbea Cabestany right now instead of the nice stuff since the winter roads are nice to steel bikes.
This pic of the bike from the 32 mile ride I did Friday.
This pic of the bike from the 32 mile ride I did Friday.
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Steel is real...and comfy.
Steel is real...and comfy.
01-01-18, 05:51 AM
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Fell asleep about 1/2 hour before the New Year rolled in then woke up after I obtained my obligatory 3 hours of sleep. Hit the head, got dressed, prepped the grocery grabber bike and was out the door by 0301. Biked to the 24 hour Walmart, picked up a few items then back home but found it necessary to take a little detour. Adding the extra milage got me to 17.3 miles this year.
01-01-18, 07:43 AM
Full Member
I do not know the pain you are experiencing, that is something I would not presume, but I acknowledge the journey.
01-01-18, 10:22 AM
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A braver man than I. It is also -22C here in Quebec, strong winds, drifting snow, and wind chill -38C. I went for a short walk, did a quick 180 after 1 km and went back inside next to the wood stove. Even hiking is, no pun intended, on ice at the moment. For me at least. My wife went out. I'm a big fat wimp and will wait until it's no colder than about -15C to hike on the local mountain. I did get out for a 7.5 km hike up to the 969 metre summit of Mt. Sutton last week.
01-01-18, 03:08 PM
Me duelen las nalgas
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FWIW, when we were able to convince my Mom to move from her home for 30 years, to a facility that had everything from independent apartments to full nursing care (including a memory care unit), her health improved. I mean, she still declined (is now receiving hospice care in full nursing care unit), but on her own, she was eating poorly, and not following her medical care needs (medicines, primarily, but other stuff as well). With assistance, she has been able to experience at least some relative joy in life.
I do not know the pain you are experiencing, that is something I would not presume, but I acknowledge the journey.
I do not know the pain you are experiencing, that is something I would not presume, but I acknowledge the journey.
It's difficult to guess right now how my mom will do in long term care. Not well, I suspect. For all of her wonderful qualities (she's genuinely loving, generous and a loyal friend) she can be difficult to live with, which catches some people off guard because of her initially charming exterior. But, as she often says herself, she was an only child, raised to be a princess, and doesn't cope well with sharing her space (she's generous with sharing possessions, but needs her own private living space) or having to compromise for other people.
She can be very stubborn about doing things her way and no other, and expects to be catered to by everyone around her. All of which would be fine if she were a member of the Crawley family in Downton Abbey. But she doesn't have that kind of money. I looked after her at home for 10 years (longer than all of her marriages combined) and by 2017 I was exhausted.
And I still have a bunch of administrative stuff to tackle, including reworking her Medicare coverage to suit her new condition. The coverage she's had the past few years was an HMO type plan, a Medicare replacement, which is great for relatively healthy folks (zero or low copays for meds and medical appointments) but not suited to long term rehab or nursing care. Her Aetna coverage will probably be cut off next week, so I'll need to apply to switch her back to traditional Medicare. Higher copays, but longer coverage for rehab and nursing care. Then, eventually if she's unable to return home, she'll be transitioned to Medicaid.
I only learned about these Medicare complexities Friday, so it's a bit overwhelming.
01-01-18, 06:32 PM
Author Guy
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16.6 miles (26.7k). A beautiful new year's day, low 50s, sunshine, Kiwanis Coffee Riders group ride. I had to walk part of a steep hill I've climbed before, still outta shape, ran outta oomph. 5½ weeks off has taken its toll. I needed this ride.
2018: 16.6m (26.7k) ♂ Total: 21,000m (33,796k)
2018: 16.6m (26.7k) ♂ Total: 21,000m (33,796k)
01-01-18, 07:58 PM
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Went out New Year's eve for a little over 50 miles. According to my Garmin connect activity, temp was 73F, but with the wind chill it felt like 73 
But I got home just before sunset and the temp was only 64 as I finished.
scott s.
.
But I got home just before sunset and the temp was only 64 as I finished.scott s.
.
01-01-18, 09:05 PM
What??? Only 2 wheels?
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Oh, don't rub it in! My phone app says it is -5F. Of course it is 10pm.
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With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
01-01-18, 11:07 PM
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I rode NewYearsEve&NewYearsDay 30&10miles. Temps around 40, damp.
Winter is here. Wet has been abundant. Carbon River running high.
Winter is here. Wet has been abundant. Carbon River running high.
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Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
01-02-18, 07:37 PM
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Enjoyed all the photos!
I made only one resolution for 2018 bike riding - to use my ELEMNT while riding in Zwift. I really like it and I use the LED's for power output to allow me to use those LED's with the E.T. clock for training in the sim-mode, much like the workout HUD in Zwift. I rode an honest metric century on the ELEMNT and finished with 63.6 miles vs. the 74+ miles in Zwift. I noted the ELEMNT speeds were much more in line with what I would expect from my work level. I do wish Zwift sent a grade variable to it.
I'm back to the metric century jersey until I re-qualify for the century.
Very cold outside. Great to ride indoors!
I made only one resolution for 2018 bike riding - to use my ELEMNT while riding in Zwift. I really like it and I use the LED's for power output to allow me to use those LED's with the E.T. clock for training in the sim-mode, much like the workout HUD in Zwift. I rode an honest metric century on the ELEMNT and finished with 63.6 miles vs. the 74+ miles in Zwift. I noted the ELEMNT speeds were much more in line with what I would expect from my work level. I do wish Zwift sent a grade variable to it.
I'm back to the metric century jersey until I re-qualify for the century.
Very cold outside. Great to ride indoors!
01-03-18, 07:58 AM
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The weather has really sucked here in Central Florida over the past three days and it's not looking any better for the rest of the week. Looks as if I'm going to have to pull out the trainer for a few days.
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HCFR Cycling Team
Ride Safe ... Ride Hard ... Ride Daily
2017 Colnago C-RS
2012 Colnago Ace
2010 Giant Cypress
HCFR Cycling Team
Ride Safe ... Ride Hard ... Ride Daily
2017 Colnago C-RS
2012 Colnago Ace
2010 Giant Cypress
01-03-18, 11:41 AM
your god hates me
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6:45AM, 13°F, went for a 15 mile spin. Ugh...
01-04-18, 08:13 AM
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After 3 days of not riding because of crappy weather, I woke up to 31º temps this morning. It's the coldest we've had in Tampa since 2010. Brought the bike in and I'm now waiting for the wife to have breakfast so I can clean and set up the trainer. Last time I used the trainer was a few days in 2015. Before that, it was in Jan and Feb of 2011 while recovering from a bad shoulder injury. I'm sure the memories of boredom will return while working out this morning. 
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HCFR Cycling Team
Ride Safe ... Ride Hard ... Ride Daily
2017 Colnago C-RS
2012 Colnago Ace
2010 Giant Cypress
HCFR Cycling Team
Ride Safe ... Ride Hard ... Ride Daily
2017 Colnago C-RS
2012 Colnago Ace
2010 Giant Cypress
01-04-18, 08:56 AM
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38 degrees in Galveston, TX yesterday with N winds gusting in 20's. Almost made 1 mile out and gave up for 1.8 total. Punched a few buttons on Amazon Prime and warmer stuff on the way.
01-04-18, 10:57 AM
Me duelen las nalgas
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12 miles Wednesday night. One of the few occasions I've had to ride just for riding and not short commutes since early December. A bit chilly, around 30F, but not bad since I was dressed for it.
01-04-18, 05:42 PM
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WARMER! 12.5 mi before I quit. Good chance even warmer tomorrow. No way I am buying bike gear to ride below 50 degrees. It would be cheaper for me to move.
01-04-18, 06:08 PM
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31* this morning! 😱 Last time that happened was in 2010. Pulled out and dusted off the trainer and did 14 virtual miles while watching a Steven Segal movie. I now know why I live in Florida! So I don’t have to use a trainer in the winter months. 😄
