Oh!! So cute!!! I’m so jealous, @ellotheth!! I wish we had them everywhere! I don’t know why more people in the US don’t tide them. Such sweet personalities, amazing temperaments and surprising athleticism!
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“Ride them”
Another weather window allowed me to get some single speed work in yesterday. Making the most of it before winter arrives.
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My photography skills leave a lot to be desired!
Every jacaranda tree was heavy with flowers today. If you’re familiar with them you’ll know how amazing it looks when you’re surrounded by a sea of purple.
As a bonus, I also ended up with a load of Strava segment PRs and some TR all time PRs. I’m hoping it’s a sign of things to come with my LV (+ plenty of outdoor rides) plan.
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After targeting my training since Feb for a Gran Fondo and having metrics suggesting I was fit and ready, I wan’t going to exit the year without doing a big ride (last year it was La Marmotte in July, plus the Levi Gran Fondo in October). So today was my solo Gran Fondo.
Final stats: 100.5 miles, 11.9k feet of climbing (four big climbs and some small ones as well), 8:22 of rolling time and 9:35 of clock time. The first two climbs went well and I was thinking sub-8:30 clock time was doable which for me would have been great. But I really struggled with the third and fourth climbs and was thrilled just to finish. Not sure if it was the heat wave here (SF Bay Area), or muscles that weren’t up to snuff, but I’m planning to (finally) focus on strength training during the “off-season” and work on that weakness.
I’m lucky to be able to ride a legitimate Gran Fondo in beautiful surroundings (including a glimpse of the Pacific) that starts and ends in my driveway. And also lucky that my wife met me at a few places on the course with a trunk full of goodies. So overall quite happy with the day.
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NICE! You’re a lucky guy!
I’ve only benefitted from the team car once, and that was due to an unrepairable 30 miles from home.
Did you take a sticky bottle🤣
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Buddy of mine came to visit me in Chicagoland for the past handful of days, so we had a couple days of riding around the area battling wind, chilly temps and rain for some excellent fall colors vistas. Both days we rode were 55-mile days.
First day was a trip to South Bend, Indiana because he wanted to see Notre Dame campus, specifically Touchdown Jesus. Found some other really incredible sights on that route as you can see below, too. All of that was serendipitous as we planned out the route the night before using Strava heatmaps expecting some low traffic roads. More than pleasantly surprised by the landscape and leaves changing, which made for great bike photos.
Day 2: I showed him around the Chicago area, namely northwest burbs heading to north Chicago via the Des Plaines River Trail, through Riverwoods east to Fort Sheridan and back home by way of the Botanic Garden and Northbrook Velodrome.
The Des Plaines River Trail was spectacular that morning. Small spat of rain forced us to shelter for about 30 minutes in a nearby hotel. Then the sun came out and really made the trail and lake front shine. But then a turn for the worse as scattered storms rolled through the area as we left the Chicago Botanic Garden. So we cut out a diversion to the Northbrook Velodrome, and I pushed 3 w/kg for almost an hour to pull us straight home in a head wind and needle rain in low 50s temps. Never was a shower more welcoming than after that final 17 miles.
Had planned out Day 3 to go riding out west of me in Barrington Hills where I do most of my weekend riding, but after the storms yesterday, the wind really started to pick up. In fact, the weather service issued a wind advisory for sustained winds of 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50, so we scrapped the ride and ate pancakes instead. Bummed I couldn’t show him everything I had planned to while he was here (weather failed to cooperate as we expected warmer temps), but happy for what I did get to have him experience.
I also got to test out my cooking skills on him by making breakfast, bike food and dinner every day using recipes I’ve learned this year to improve my nutrition and save money by not going out to eat. Happy to report he said that everything was excellent!
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This year ain’t been good 
Broke my collarbone just before my first event then by the time that had healed the UK was just about to head into lockdown. Bailed from my next event (just really, really tired) then a surprise announcement that a ride in Scotland was taking place but I didn’t quite manage that for various reasons so it was looking like a blank year especially since various lockdown measures are still in place here in the UK.
My last event is one that normally takes place on the second weekend in October in Mid-Wales and is an individual 200km mountain bike challenge. I can only do this every other year due to other commitments so disappointed that it wasn’t to be. However the organiser decided to do something different. Rather than it being based at the usual community centre with us all leaving within a two hour period (for legal, can’t be a race reasons) this year we could do the event at any time during October and we could start and finish at any point on the route (it’s a circuit). He also took the opportunity to have the route further south around the Brecon Beacons national park. There’s a 36hr time limit.
So my wife and I decided to attempt it this last weekend. Then the Welsh authorities announced that from 1800 no-one from one of the high tier Covid hotspots in England could visit Wales. We aren’t in one of these areas but it did mean we moved our plans forward a day.
Thus at 0830 on Friday morning we started the route.
My bike - we had to carry bivy equipment so the yellow seat pack is my sleeping quilt, mat and down vest and spare gloves and socks. There’s a small handlebar bag with tarpaulin, bivy bag and waterproof as well
You can just make out the early morning mist in the valley
Those hills in the distance are about three hours’ riding away. My bike is leant against a shooting hide, probably grouse shooting.
Way on the far side of those hills. This is the last shot I took as it was dark not long after.
By 2100, i.e. 12 1/2hrs on the go, I was at the top of the pass coming back north. 125km down so a sub 20hr finish was on the cards, I’d done most of the climbing as well. Then I hit the moorland sections, really vague tracks that were hard to make out in the dark. Time began to slip away. I got to the last town, Builth Wells, at 0430 with 25km still to go. I finished just as it was getting light at 0710 well within my target of 24hrs. I saw just two people out walking for the last twelve hours of the ride - it’s a pretty quiet part of the country!
After a couple of hours sleep I went and got some breakfast and tried to figure out where my wife had got to. Eventually in mid-afternoon she decided to quit having done 160km. A good effort on her part.
No link to my Strava activity as the organiser as asked us to keep it under wraps until after those who’ve entered have had time to do it.
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A relaxed ride up to Rutland again. We were joined by a young student from Angola, looking for mountains. He’ll not find that here but we took him to Rutland 
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Decent mid-length ride. Dry if grey. Busy out there today!
Minor whinge: why does Strava always knock 0.3-0.6kph off my average speed relative to Wahoo? And it won’t upload HR data? 
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Obligatory cobbles*:
A very cute climb with chill grades and switchbacks that I’ve somehow never been up even though it’s twenty minutes from my house:
I have belatedly realized that I should have taken a picture of one of the three signs we saw admonishing cyclists to slow down (pedestrians and their dogs on flexi-leads stretched across the width of the path are fine, obviously), so here’s the lake at the top instead:
*I have been informed that these are not actually cobbles
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I could be wrong but I think strava cqlculates autopause independent of the garmin/wahoo on 0mph. My Garmin is set to auto pause below 4mph. I think strava still runs for a few secs until its 0mph. If there’s a ride with no stops like a TT garmin and Strava are identical 
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More base miles for me and helping my newer buddy get around in the winds with a draft. Also, I don’t drink enough and today it was really apparent
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Today was rather overcast when I headed out the door. By the time I’d finished the main trail down the hill there was a small creek racing me down.
PR up the hill and parts of the run down.
Time out at the trail head while the lightning subsided. Then a quick sprint home.
Head to toe muck so ended up hosing myself off along with the bike.
splashing in muddy puddles never gets old.
Bonus pic for the nature lovers out there. Not part of the ride as such but worth sharing.
The skimmer box was making a funny noise as I was leaving for my ride. 7ft plus coiled up in the basket got the heart going.
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Just been for a very muddy and very, very, windy blast on the fat bike. So windy I ended up walking part of a Strava segment that I’m top ten on! It’s now chucking it down 
Total of 26km with 620m of ascent.
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Our training ride was cancelled today so we went for what was billed as an ‘easier’ ride down to East Northamptonshire 
Before we got there a mates left crank arm came off and off again once reattached. He thinks it was because the plastic cap came off. I don’t, I’ve lost that cap a few times and never had a crank arm come off. I think it’s more likely the clamp bolts have failed. Oh well.
We then went back to another’s mates house, with him pedaling one footed, to get him another bike.
We got a wee bit further and another mate started to blow. We kept on easying up for him but he decided after a bit to call it a day.
It was a bit of a Mystery tour after that
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