Machka 

This weekend ...
-- the end of daylight savings time.
-- April Fools day
-- Palm Sunday

Did you get out for a ride this weekend? Did you ride inside? Did you participate in another sport?


~~~~~~~~~~~
Saturday - Rowan and I drove to Jamieson, a little way away, to cycle from there for a change. The drive there is very twisty and windy and it took a while after we arrived before my stomach caught up.

We had a tentative plan of how far we were going to cycle, but DSE was doing planned burns and the air was smoky. We were both wheezing on every climb ... and the route was quite hilly.

Finally we decided to turn around earlier than planned, and ended up with 36 km.

Overall, despite the smoke, it was a good ride, with some challenging terrain, in a very pretty area we have not cycled before.


And then we finished the loop around Lake Eildon ... driving. It's approx. 180 km around.


Lake Eildon ... and the smoke haze ...


Lake Eildon ... and the burns on the mountains ...


Rowan and a flat part of the road ...


Me, at the end of the ride ...


(Click photos for more)

dissident

I can't compete with scenery like that so I won't try. It's flat and boring out here.

HokuLoa

Decidedly less so on a bike I tend to find...

Thanks as always Machka! For the moment I'll live vicariously through your ride reports. Nothing to report here and don't wanna talk about it... Have fun folks!

Machka 

Sunday -- getting ready to go and ride in the flatlands.

generalkdi

After last weekend where we got temperature as hot as 20 degrees C. I was hoping for a nice and long ride. It looks like mother nature had something else in mind. We had -10 all week with snow. It got up to +2 today and went for a short 23kms ride. Tomorrow is supposed to be around +1 with a little less wind, so I'll probably go on for another 20kms ride.

dstrong 

A spirited 24 miles today on my regular route...tried to keep the heart rate high and the breathing hard...it worked. Reached 225 miles for March and will kick off April tomorrow with a 40 - 50 mile ride. April could be a high mileage month (for me) as I plan to ride both 75 and 100 mile charity rides.

I noticed a strange sound coming from my drive train today and guessed it was my rear wheel. Swapping in a different wheel after I got home confirmed it, so I proceeded to tear it down, including the freewheel (first for me). I think I need a new axle as the threads on one side are kind of rough but the bearings and pawls look fine. If this rebuild and cleaning doesn't silence things then I'm not sure what's next.

valygrl

Long weekend training camp with my team.
Thursday, drive to Moab, ride Colorado National Monument on the way - 40 miles, 3000 feet.
Friday, La Sal Mountain Loop, 65 miles, 5000 feet.
Saturday, Arches, 50 miles, 3800 feet.
Tomorrow, short/flat ride then drive home.

ThinLine

Rained yesterday, cold and miserable so on the ellipitcal I went for 27 min. Quite a work-out. Today is nicer perhaps after a nap from getting in late with new girlfriend and a few too many martini's I will do my usual 24 miles.

Machka 

Sunday -- April Century Complete! 100 miles on our tandem.

Late last night, we were forced to set our clocks back. We were forced to let go of daylight savings time. Darkness now falls way too early.

Early this morning, Rowan got up and went to work. He works every other weekend.

Later this morning, when Rowan returned from work, we loaded up the van and drove across the range to the flatlands, specifically, to Euroa. At 10:23 am, we set off on the century!

The first leg was just over 50 km to Benalla. That's a nice route that uses a service road beside the main highway, and the wide shoulder of the main highway in places. We had a bit of a tailwind and made good time. We stopped at the McDonalds in Benalla to get a bite to eat (and to answer questions about the tandem by a number of curious children).

The next leg was about 60 km to Shepparton. The road was fairly decent, with an adequate shoulder, but it was quite busy. We also had a bit of a head/crosswind all the way. We still made decent time, but it was more difficult than the first leg of the ride.

Along that leg of the journey, we were "awakened" from a steady and comfortable rhythm when we hit a bump that actually lifted the front wheel off the ground! Rowan was able to keep control of the bicycle and we continued on.

Feeling a bit tired, we stopped at a shopping centre and picked up a bottle of water, a coke, 2 little cheesecakes, and a bag of potato chips. Yum!

It would have been nice to have a tailwind back to Euroa, but things like that don't always happen. We had a head/crosswind all the way back to Euroa. Fortunately it wasn't too strong, and although our pace dropped off a little bit, we were still able to roll into our finish area at 7 hours 54 minutes.


The temperature started at about 15C and rose to about 25C, then dropped a bit at the end of the ride. All good. The sun also shone all day. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. It had just set when we finished the ride, so fortunately, we were able to do the whole ride in daylight.

The route was almost entirely flat, but there were two small hills to keep things interesting. And we could see hills for most of the route ... hills, and trees, and fields, and sheep, and cattle, and horses. The non-native trees are turning colour, which made parts of the route quite pretty.


Autumn foliage


Where we started/finished


Between Benalla and Shepparton

alexaschwanden

Going mountain biking with the South bay mountain biking group in Campbell.

StephenH

I did a 400k brevet yesterday. We rode from Canton, Texas, to Vivian, Louisiana and back. Very humid a good bit of the morning and evening, but temperatures were nice. There was a group of 4 of us riding together, with two others part of the time.

Machka 

Tandem or single?

alexaschwanden

Today i rode with the south bay mountain biking group, and it was a bit slower then i expected, but nice. we went down the los gatos trail to the reserve and back.

Machka 

Looks like it was cool there.

StephenH

Single. My tandem partner was on the way back from Europe on Saturday, so she couldn't do the ride. We are planning a tandem 600k next weekend, though.
The week prior, she did a 400k that I didn't get to do, so it all evens out, sort of.

Machka 

We seem to be having a bit of difficulty cracking the 300K distance on our tandem. Not sure if it is a fitness thing, or the fact that so many of our longer rides involve a lot of climbing, or both. I think I've mentioned before that I would love to do a flat 400K ... nothing over about a 5% grade, and not many of those either!

Machka 

Monday - Today's ride was very short ... basically just around the block. But it was the maiden voyage of my new Thorn touring bicycle.

It's not quite finished yet, but getting very close. From that very short ride today, it has a very smooth and comfortable ride. Looking forward to riding more.

dennisa

Rode Sunday started out a bit on the chili side but overall we had a pretty good ride 40mi with about 3600ft of climbing.

clichty

Went out with the fiancee on Sunday for the first ride of the season. A measly 11 miles (didn't want to wear her out and I don't think we have the bike fit correctly yet) but it was fantastic. Mid 60s and sunny but lots of wind. Tons of people out around the lakes in Minneapolis so getting her used to riding on the road. Better to deal with drivers than little kids swerving everywhere.