Machka 

Tell us about your rides this weekend or during the week. Are you just riding around? Doing events?

Down here, it's the Royal Hobart Show long weekend ... well, sort of a long weekend. Royal Hobart Show Day is on a Thursday, so many take the Friday off too.

Machka 

Thursday - 6 km walk. Most of that was a bit of a hike along the cliffs on either side of "our" beach.



Friday - A little wander (cycling) around the area where we are hosting/organising/running 3 cycling events this weekend. We host many events out of this location and decided to have a better look around today.

Distance: 26.5 km
Elevation: 292 m
Moving Time: 1:31:45
Elapsed Time: 1:34:53
Speed: Avg: 17.4 km/h | Max: 37.8 km/h

Machka 

Saturday -- 24.8 km in two rides.

This was Day 2 of our 3-day event ... the longest ride of the weekend, a century (160 km). So we were out and about supporting the ride. We did manage to get two short rides in ... one in the middle after all the riders had come through a control, and one at the end after everyone was in.

It was a beautiful day, although a little windy ... a great day for a ride!

I would have been very tempted to do this ride, except that I'm also studying for an exam. I've been squeezing reading and research on the general topic of Database Management in between events.

atwl77

Saturday:Went out on my usual training route. "Accidentally" drafted a lorry, and by that I mean the lorry happened to be just ahead of me as I began to attempt another PR on a 500m sprint segment, lol. Got the PR, obviously, but I highly doubt I will be able to challenge that PR again anytime soon.


Moving Time: 1:39:32
Distance: 46.1km
Avg Speed: 27.8km/h
Max Speed: 62.6km/h
Elevation Gain: 220m

John00

50 Miles, rode up to the ski resort and a very fast ride home. Was a very warm day, took extra clothes and warmer gloves, took arm warmers off 1/4 way up, didn't need them on the fast,40+MPH descent home.

wipekitty

Friday: Work to bike, bike to work. So sad. We got our first snow! It didn't stick around.

Saturday: This was supposed to be bike ride day, but the universe had other plans! This plan included scrounging up a last minute rental car to get my significant other to an airport 2 1/2 hours away so he can go deal with a family emergency.

I'm planning to return the car by bike on Sunday. Hopefully I'll get a good ride after that. It's time to test some new winter gear!

DoYouDiverge

41 miles (66 km) this week. Mostly training loops around Central Park (6 miles) and a few rides on the west side greenway.

Machka 

Today was Day 3 of our 3-day event. Today's ride was 100 km. The 4 riders who completed the whole weekend cycled over 300 km over the weekend. Well done to them all!


Meanwhile, Rowan and I got in a short and windy ride after the event.

Distance: 20.5 km
Elevation: 119 m
Moving Time: 1:06:17
Elapsed Time: 1:07:40
Avg Max
Speed: Avg: 18.6 km/h | Max: 49.0 km/h

tangerineowl

An easy 100km today on my gravel bike. Sealed roads to get to the good stuff.

Lots of up and down in the hills and tracks, just exploring around.

Spooked a brown owl, which was cool to see.

San Pedro

The second straight weekend to feature heavy rain and an approaching typhoon. The last two weeks there has been so much rain I feel as though I've hardly been pooh my bike. Jealous of all you guys.

kbarch

That's how I started out, too. If you're interested in expanding your horizons, check out New York Cycle Club: https://nycc.org/! They have training rides and "cue sheet" group rides in the surrounding countryside for riders of all levels, social activities, even a race team now.

DoYouDiverge

Thanks, signed up. Those guys (girls included of course) must be the early birds that zoom by me in small groups.

kbarch

Today it's raining, and I slept in really late - four hours longer than normal, as a matter of fact! I'm sure I needed the rest, because even though yesterday's ride was generally a C pace ride, I've been slacking lately, and did get quite a bit of work in. First, I had to sort of hurry to join the group ride - took 40 minutes to get my act together and out the door. And speaking of which, just a few pedal strokes out the door was a 1.5 mile, 360' climb.

Not getting to the start on time, and having to intercept the group after they had gotten underway was rather embarrassing; the leader had advertised the ride with a mention of a 'climb' that was included in the route in my honor (!), namely Oak Tree Road from Piermont Road to 9W.
(Forgive me for retelling if you've read this before.) It's actually quite short, but it starts out steep - around 11-12%, but averages only 4% over half a mile. My claim to it stems from creating a Strava segment that included not only the 'climb,' but an additional, essentially flat half mile to the highway. Some time ago I'd told the ride leader/coach the story of how that got me my first real KoM. My time up the hill was good, but a long way from the best. However, because the flat portion was very rough, most riders took it easy once they got to the top. I, on the other hand, hammered over the ruts, heaves and potholes like a madman. Unfortunately, they repaved that portion within a few months and my KoM was obliterated. Even now, power numbers for the top of the leaderboard are only in the mid 200's, so it's not like many people are gunning for it, and it's hardly on the most beaten path - fewer than 2000 athletes, compared to ten times that number on subsequent segments along 9W. I'm still 1.7 mph slower than the KoM, but managed to climb back up to #2 on the leaderboard yesterday. But it was especially rewarding to see how much others also enjoyed attacking and hammering one of my favorite segments - many got their PRs on it yesterday, and one woman even got 8th overall.

There were a couple of other occasions along the return where some of us hammered a bit - into the wind at that - and after hanging out with the gang for a while at the end of the organized ride, I tried to see if I could take advantage of the tailwind on the way home. No such luck - either it wasn't as windy as I thought, or I was pretty gassed - a couple of bronzes, but not even close to getting a medal on the segment I was gunning for. But I did get a PR and my top speed for the day (43.6 mph) on the descent into town.

At the very bottom, though, a little problem that I'd noticed at the beginning of the ride was most pronounced. The rear brake had a tendency to catch, leading to a sort of surging action just before coming to a stop - nothing noticeable when feathering the brakes or at the beginning of a deceleration, but more pronounced the more forcefully I needed to come to a complete stop. It was so pronounced at the stop at the end of that descent, the rear wheel actually skidded and squirmed a little bit. I'm in the habit of stopping at the shop at the end of my rides - if only just to chat - so I had them check it out. They took a look, checked the spoke tension, put it on the truing stand and all, and saw no problem. The mechanic cleaned the rim and pads and noticed that I hadn't tightened the QR very well, but that was it. I headed home, and noticed it was still happening. So the proprietor took it out for a spin. He noticed the problem. The mechanic did all kinds of things to rule out various possibilities, and in the end it seemed that there was a sort of wide spot in the rim right by the valve. I ended up leaving the wheel with them - they'll makes some calls Monday and see what they can do. Those wheels cost a pretty penny, and they aren't that old. I'd hate to think one of them is irreparably damaged....

Oh well, it was still a great bike-y day. 50 miles, 2,600', and a very leisurely 3:47 moving time over the course of over five hours - six hours including the last round-the-block spin from the shop back home! Started out chilly - warmers, vest and windbreaker - but sunny and upper 60's at the end. Lovely group of people just to ride with and hang out with for a little while for mid-ride coffee and post ride chat.

kbarch

Yes, some of them, the A groups, but members of race teams and other loosely affiliated groups that aren't part of NYCC often ride together in the early mornings. But you may also occasionally encounter NYCC's C group who ride a more leisurely pace, typically an orderly (often chatty) double pace line.

DoYouDiverge

I also start my ride going uphill also but certainly not a 12% grade

I'll probably join group C or try to train to group B eventually (4 loops within 2 hours) but for now I enjoy the freedom of solo. I did the loop in 24 minutes which is pretty bad on their scale, let's just say I skipped too many leg days. Seeing riders pass me is a great motivator though and I'm sure you were probably one of them. Any suggestions on where I can train on a flat road within the city? The park is hilly everywhere and I want to gauge what my cruising speed for a pace ride. I'm thinking of checking out 9W for the first time but need tubes and other tools first just in case.

kbarch

Well, you should have a repair kit NOW.

The west side greenway is your best bet for flat training, especially if you're just starting out. As you know, Manhattan isn't flat, but along the river, it's fine. North of 86th street or so, the greenway isn't so well maintained - I'll typically take Riverside between 96th and 165th, which isn't too hilly, and traffic isn't too bad. Another option is to make your way to Brooklyn. You can go quite a ways along the Upper Harbor and around on flat paths, but sometimes it can be a little crowded, like the west side greenway. But as the weather cools down, it shouldn't be too bad. When I started about four years ago, my first ride was about 6 miles total on the greenway, and I was thrilled when I made it all the way from BPC to the bridge (about 20 miles round trip).

9W is not flat. Imagine the profile of Central Park enlarged three times. There are a lot of similarities - CNBC Hill corresponding roughly with Cat's Paw on the east side, State Line Hill southbound and the succeeding rises roughly corresponding with Harlem Hill and the sisters along the west side - and the straight past Kiku in Alpine corresponding roughly with the East side past Engineer's gate - except they're all considerably longer. Also, for the next several months, you'll have to climb a LOT of stairs to get up and down from the GWB. If you just got your bike, it's not unreasonable to wait until springtime to tackle 9W. Not that it's all that challenging - your improvement/learning curve is pretty steep now and it probably won't seem like a big deal once you get there, but it's not a bad idea to get comfortable making four loops of the park first.

DoYouDiverge

Interesting. I'll focus on Central Park (2 loops is rough with no breaks right now) and the west side (BPC to Fort Tyron) for now and probably head into Brooklyn one of these days just for the adventure. You're very informative, thanks.

wipekitty

Sunday: Finally got in a legit road ride. Woohoo! 39.7 miles, 2,146 feet. I finally made it out to a local hill that I hadn't done before (though it was unfortunately straight into a headwind).

The leaves are mostly brown and down now, and the whole ride was in the low 40s F/5C. I'm trying some new cool weather gear, and it worked beautifully.

jamesdak 

Off weekend for me.

Saturday - Early in the day I did 25 miles on the '87 Prologue. First ride in several days but the legs didn't feel fresh for some reason so I just did a sort of lazy ride. This one is having issues holding a gear in the rear when I get on it. It downshifts under a hard load. Need to sort this out.



Then in the evening I took out the newly built up '87/'88 Prologue TT. Just did a few down and backs on a 1 mile stretch trying to get a feel for it. Unfortunately the usual evening winds were kicking hard broadside so I never really got onto the aero bars. I did push the 3rd leg up to speed a bit. Did a little over 5 miles.



Sunday - Took the Prologue TT out on a different route while it was still cold but only a bit breezy. Made several passes at speed above 25 mph trying to get a feel for things. Ultimately hit 28.7 mph on one pass. I just have to sort out this kind of riding. Using the muscles differently and need to adapt different methodology to what I am doing. Trying to do a 90-100 cadence in the upper 20s is a sure way for me to blow up. I need learn to push that higher gear with power at a lower cadence. A little over 9 miles today.



Tube blew shortly after the ride, that could have been ugly...

a1penguin

Last Sunday was metric century day and I commuted to work all five days. Saturday was rest day and Sunday I had a hard time getting motivated. But finally got out after sun came out and it warmed up a bit. Perfect riding weather. 40 miler to Los Gatos with eerily little traffic. Got home and really wanted pasta for dinner after doing yard work but needed another 10 miles. So off to the library to return a book and then a few extra miles to get a total of 52 miles, which was enough to earn an increase in my Eddington number to 51! https://swinny.net/Strava/-4691-My-S...dington-Number

bikecrate

Not the best weekend...I took Friday off and had intended to get in some extra riding plus finish a bunch of chores. However, I woke up Friday very tired, so I decided to take my dog for a walk instead. Near the end of the walk the dog trips me and I did a face plant on the pavement. I hit on my left cheek bone. It could have been worse but looks terrible. Friday was mostly spent with an ice pack on my face. Saturday I didn't feel great, but went for a 40 mile ride around S. Tampa. Sunday, contrary to what the weather people said, it was raining. I was not in the mood for getting soaked and fighting 20 mph winds.

Jakedatc

Saturday: went up to NH to help with course setup of the Orchard CX race we were doing in Hampton Falls,NH. Tape was mostly all set up when we got there at noon so they said go ride and help burn in the lines.. so we did like 6-8 preride laps and started dialing in the course.

Sunday: Race day.. my 4/5 race was first off at 8:30 so we got there early and I did 2 laps of preride and warm up. Grass got really wet from dew overnight and made it a lot more slippery on the turns. It also helped pack down the pump track section and made it even more flowy. This is why you pre ride Race started with me around row 6 out of 8-9.. not many races. not a good position. Luckily the start and first 1/4mi were gravel power so I tried to move up as best I could before the first real turn and into slippery grass sections. I used every straight away to catch or pass people the first few laps until i was kinda in no man's land. I started catching another small group but crashed on a slick corner, dropped my chain and lost time. Same thing kinda happened on the final lap. Tired brain and misjudged a corner and ate it on the other side. Finished 20 places above my seeding so I was happy. This course finally gave me sections to really put roadie power down and I used my "big" 46 ring almost the whole race and did not over spin my cadence.
Did I mention pump track?

Power!!!

woodcraft

Club picnic w/ rides before.

Several groups/routes, & ended up w/ 49 miles, 4k riding w/ one other. Was going to go longer, but he wanted to get back for 2nd event later.

Slightly overdressed, new chain & cassette were lovely.

Otter, quail, road kill buck with scattered car front end debris.

Machka 

2017 Monthly October
Walking Distance (km): 128.1
Walking Time (min): 1601.3
Cycling Distance (km): 519.0
Cycling Time (min): 1620.5
Flights of Stairs Climbed Number: 253.0
Flights of Stairs Climbed Time (min): 202.4
Other Distance: 0.0
Other Time: 15.0

Totals
Total Distance (km): 647.1
Total Distance (miles): 402.1
Total Time (min): 3439.2
Total Time (hr): 57:19:11