Machka 

Happy Valentine's Weekend & Happy Start of the Olympics Weekend.


Friday - a nice little 26.25 km ride up and down the road.


Saturday - I completed a 103.8 km bicycle ride today!! WooHoo!! I'm getting the endurance back again!! That's the longest distance I've ridden since the beginning of December ... and I felt good doing it.

I started at 10:30 am, cycled out to Eildon (33 km) where I stopped for a couple granola bars and a bottle refill. Then back to Taggerty (58 km) where I stopped for an ice cream and bottle refill. Then off to Marysville where I stopped for a granola bar and a bottle refill, and back to where my car was parked. I hit the 100 km point at exactly 4:30 pm ... 6 hours!! Quite pleased about that.

The route included flat ground and some undulating hills. It also included a fair stretch of headwinds, but a lovely stretch of tailwind right at the end. The temperature started at 18.4C, then reached a high for the day of 25.6C ... a nice, reasonable temperature for a bicycle ride

And nothing cramped!! My last attempt at a 100K resulted in massive, horrible, painful cramps that ended my ride at 88.5 km. Today I was fine.

And now for the Olympic opening ceremony.


How about you? What sporting activity did you do this weekend?

subnoob

Sat 13. First century ride Evr

ls01

Atta girl Machka! Good for you! If I remember correctly you had a clot from flying? So the clot is gone now?

Machka 

My left leg from the knee down was chock full of clots right from knee to ankle, I had one clot behind the knee, and one major one partway up my thigh which had completely blocked a vein. I developed them on a flight on June 12, 2009. They were discovered at the end of July 2009, and I spent two weeks in hospital. My last ultrasound was in late December, and at that time I still had one clot left, but it is really soft. I'm still on warfarin (coumadin) every day, and will likely be for a while yet.

I would never have thought I would have developed a clot on a flight ... I'm active!! But it happened. And either the clotting, or the coumadin, or both have really taken it out of me over the past several months. It's been a struggle to do what used to come so easily to me. But I keep working away at it.

rollin

Good luck with that. Let us know how it went.

rollin

Sunday is the first day of the Chinese New Year. Planning a century, roads should be nice and quite. Need to ride to work off the feast I just devoured

ls01

Well, good news. Just take it slow you'll get there.

Machka 

Thanks.

alexp247365

2 degrees above zero outside. I looked out the window with blank eyes while logging 30 miles on the trainer this morning. 1300 calories burned in 2 hours. First century of the season - April 25th (only ridden one other one, and that was at the end of last season)

StephenH

There was a planned 200k brevet today. Only problem is, we had the biggest snowstorm since who knows when on Thursday and Friday, in an area that doesn't get much snow. I think most of the riders decided not to ride due to possible wet streets + overnight freezing. I drove on out to the start point, looked like one guy was getting ready to go. It was cold and foggy and felt colder than it was. I'm okay with the cold or okay with it being wet, but don't have riding clothes for cold wet conditions, so I backed out, too. Went and rode my 20 mile route this afternoon after it warmed up some. I should get some more miles in tomorrow, and will try to work in my 200k next week, probably the same route I backed out of today.

Machka 

And today (Sunday), I climbed a mountain!! Or at least halfway up Lake Mountain. I would have gone all the way to the top, but I ran out of time. The first 12 km of my route were a very gradual climb against a headwind. The next 4 km were steep ... somewhere in the neighborhood of 10%. The next 6 km were somewhat more gradual, probably something in the 3-5% range. And that's where I turned around. Total: 44.8 km.

I'm pleased to announce that I did not walk any of it. I stopped and took breaks a few times, but did not walk.

One thing I noticed today ... I think I saw the most cyclists in one day I've ever seen outside of an event. Maybe there was an event on. But I'd say there were at least a dozen cyclists out there.

Seedy J

Next month, I move to Florida. This month, I climb.

Saturday group ride. Not quite race pace, but pretty fast (at least for me) on the hills.


Sunday solo ride. Did the two big local climbs, Mt. Katsuragi and Mt. Kongo, despite being tired from the group ride.


These were my first outdoor rides since getting my Specialized BG Fit done. It was SO worth the money! Being on the bike for a long time is much more comfortable, and I can feel how much more efficient I am while climbing.

dsotm

Good Job Machka! It was a relatively warm day at 28F, I got in 47 miles. Hopefully I'll get more in if the roads are clear from the snow that fell last night.

rollin

Century Fail.

Woke up with a little bit of a sore throat and blocked nose, assumed/ hoped it was just a mild case of "can't-be-arsed". Good breakfast then off.

Roads were quite


M.U.P was quite


Skies were blue(ish), palm trees were swaying


Had a break after 40km, felt cold, which was strange my watch was showing 40C. I'd drunk electrolytes (as usual) and had a sodium rich gel.


Decided to take it easy on the next stretch.


Not everyone celebrates Chinese New Years


Ended up joining a BBQ with a Malay family, still couldn't shake off the chill. Heart rate was running at 70%+ max even spinning at 30kmh. Headed home.


Totaled just over 110 km

Am laying here with a flu remedy. Two more days of public vacation here, plan to take it easy tomorrow, hope I can get out again on Tuesday.

Happy New Year!

Machka 

Nice pics rollin!!



Anyone else do anything active this weekend? Skiing? Snowshoeing? Weightlifting?

dgasmd

I met with a couple of the guys in town for ride this morning. 37F when we left into the 10-15 MPH winds and by the time we came back it was only in the low 40'sF. However, the sun had come up some, the wind had come down to under 10 MPH, and it felt a bit nicer. Still, pretty cold even for this time of the year in this area. So much so that you hardly see anyone riding in town when it gets colder (below 55F). I don't really care. So long as it is not below 25F and it is not wet I just dress appropriately and go out anyway.

PeddlingPilgrim

i ran the austin marathon today w/ a clock time of 4:03:03 & a chip time of 3:46:42... i was waiting in line for the restroom @ the start! i hope to get out cycling tomorrow & loosen up and spin in the smaller front ring.

this thread should include the 15th for those w/ the holiday off!

grwoolf

Almost a perfect weekend of riding for me, until the last few miles.

Saturday:
First good ride in over a month after dealing with some tendonitis in my knee (also out a week on vacation). 46 miles, my version of the Dam loop near Lake Travis, pretty hilly. My legs felt very good considering it was my first ride over 20 miles in 5 weeks. Mid 30s when I left in the AM, pushing 50 by the time I got home. My knee also felt pretty good and this was my first long test with some hills. It was great to be on the bike, hopefully with my knee problems behind me.

Sunday:
I was planning to take the day off since I don't want to push the knee too hard too fast (and I'm riding on Monday). It was just way too nice this afternoon not to ride. It was in the mid 60's and not a cloud in the sky, nice change from all the rain we've had. I decided on a nice easy recovery ride, same route as yesterday. The first 38 miles were one of those perfect days, just cruising around happy to be outside with the beautiful weather (I felt stupid for bringing the arm warmers).

Then the cold front arrived, 10 miles from home. Temp dropped to 40's and I was heading straight into a 20-30 mph wind with gusts up to 50 (really windy for around here). I sucked it up for about 4 miles and then decided to call the wife. I know, I'm a big puss, but I really didn't want to screw up my knee again and I was working way harder then planned just to maintain 8mph. I also didn't want to cross the bridge by the dam in those kind of winds.

It was a great weekend of riding (except that last little bit) and I'm off work tomorrow, hopefully the wind will die down a bit.

stevegor

Friday: Nice gentle 50km spin.

Sat: 90 km Hammerfest. I swear we're getting quicker each week....getting to the coffee shop too early!

Sun: Gentle romantic morning MTB ride with my sweetie around a local water catchment to get the Sunday paper.

StephenH

It was windy from the north today, and cold, so I rode north so I could coast home. Got in 26.2 miles on a route I used to ride every once in a while, but seldom do. Went out Pleasant Valley Road. ("Another pleasant valley Sunday, here in status symbol land!.."). There was one spot on the route where they tore out the old road and I had to bypass that spot on a busy highway. Well, when I got up there today, I found they had made a bike path through there, so I could still skip the traffic. Makes that route much more attractive! It was around 37 degrees F here, don't think I'm warmed up completely yet!

BarryJo

Long weekend for me......
Friday 110 minutes of intervals on the rollers. That's the first time I've tried doing 20 minute intervals. Man that hurt.
Saturday 90 minutes rollers somewhat easy recovery.
Today 2:10 minutes at the movies finally getting to see "the Blind Side"
I need to get outside so tomorrow the plan is 3 hours LSD.

Nice to see you putting in the miles (kms) Machka

Rollin - it looks like the wind's blowing pretty hard down there...... And those roads look perfect compared to what I have around where I live.

Terex

Roads snowy/icy and winter bike in shop. 1.5 hr. spin class Sat. and 1 hr. today. My legs are tired, so I guess it was good. Way to go Machka and subnood.

MSC_Mav

wait...im confused...a country not dominated by white people is actually prosperous? and has bmc's? what?

wow...fat load of good college is doing me.

whats even worse is that there seem to be lots of chelsea fans there. glory glory man united...

Machka 

What holiday is that?

dsotm

Presidents Day weekend.....

Yesterday I got in 2:30 on the trainer since it snowed over night.