A friend of mine arranged a 100miler. I was expecting a bit of a slog but we were joined for the first 50 by 6 more folk than I was expecting The unseasonably mild weather is back again for a few days and a few turned up in shorts and would have been very comfortable; I was comfortable in thin knee warmers. I think from the meet in Yaxley we went through Holme and Sawtry before looping around Woodwalton to Alconbury Wield back up to Sawtry. We then headed into Northamptonshire and up to Folksworth over Morbourne Hill (according to Strava I hit nearly 43mph, it not steep enough ), crossing the A605 south of Warmington and through Cotterstock to Upper Benefield turning back to Ondle there. Most folk left there and 4 of us continued to Stoke Doyle, Aldwinkle, Thorpe Waterville, Clopton, Thurning, Winwick, Upton, Alconbury, Buckworth, Winwick again, Great Gidding, Glatton, Holme, Ramsey St Mary’s, Pondersbridge, Farcet and back to Yaxley.
I went with a couple of them to Hampton where we went through at near walking pace at times , before heading back to Peterborough and stopping for the obligatory photos at the Re-opened Orton Mere.
52 miles of Zone 2/3 outside today. Rode with a couple buddies who understand “tempo”. I’d say what the wattages were and time in zone, but I don’t want to give away my secret “Endurance Sauce” to the forum
No good ride photos, but it was another nice sunrise after storm Nicole passed through.
My plan was to go to Moab this weekend for some final desert riding of the year. As I was driving there Friday, my friend who I was going to ride with called me to tell me he crashed on Captain Ahab and was not going to be able to ride any more this weekend (he’s OK, just hip and knee banged up).
So I rode at the Kokopelli loops in Fruita instead. Still great desert riding, but 2 hrs closer. It was just above freezing when I started - so a bit chilly, but the cold temps meant I was able to ride fast. I set a bunch of PRs, including on the Horsethief Bench loop where my time of 24:02 is identical to that of Mr Lance Armstrong (maybe it was a recovery ride for him ).
This may be the final MTB ride of the year unless I can convince my family to go to Moab for thanksgiving instead of Chicago. ??
All the leaves are brown (not really, some are still yellow and others are green)) and the sky is grey, I went for a ride on a winter’s day. I’d be safe and warm… wait, I’m ok no longer being in LA or California (apologies to The Mamas and The Papas).
Back in the saddle today after nine days off due to a trip to Japan. I did get in two runs in Tokyo (to and around the Imperial Palace) during the week, but that wasn’t enough to stave off the detraining message, which I knew was lurking. The recent monthly Strava stats email foretold the impending status.
I met some mates in Elton for a gravel ride. We at first headed up towards Wansford, then we mainly cut down off road to road to Southwick. From there we ended up in Oundle and headed up through Ashton to a new cafe. At the cafe we met another mate where it was decided we would have a pub stop but as it wouldn’t be open till 12pm we did a loop around Polebrook. Lol we were still 10minutes early for opening so we went for a loop around Fotheringhay. After I left my mates, being a two pint light weight I decided to take a mainly off road route back to Peterborough. Now Ive had lunch and sobered up a bit I better clean the bike
I miss those “chilly” days in San Diego. Was mostly running when we lived there and the cooler days were the best.
We finally have seasonable temps here in Eastern PA. just under freezing at night and high 40s during the day. Had to find my knickers and light gloves for yesterday’s outing.
Some friends and I road in Capital Forest near the Mima Falls Trailhead this weekend. We had to dodge some horseshit, but had a blast.
If anyone has ridden that area and has any favorite similar rides in the PNW, please let me know. I do enjoy more technical stuff too, but XC trails are my favorite.
Was hoping to get a couple hours in, but a work call went long and weather moved in. It started sleeting on me around 50-55 minutes so I turned back for the barn. It’s almost time to get serious about the winter program, move inside except for those rare nice days. Am holding out as long as possible though. Indoor riding is the devil’s workshop.
Don’t hate, it costs a lot to live in this Mediterranean climate.
Headed towards the foothills on the bike, the Sierras received a couple feet of snow last week but it was hazy today. Took a pic but you can’t see the mountains:
Kinda reminds me of Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun, but I’m in a Soundgarden - The Day I Tried To Live (Official Music Video) - YouTube mood after our neighbor lost his battle to cancer. But that song is a little dark, I’ll just let it live in the sentence and not make it easy to listen to while reading the thread
Anywho, read a FasCat blog article that said I might increase HRV by taking an ice bath. So post-ride, in the dark, I stripped down to nothing and spent a minute in the pool and to be honest it felt great! I think it helped that the pool water was warmer than air temp!!!
Or trigger a cardiac arrhythmia!! Nice photos. Friend sent pictures from Park City, the ski resorts look to have best Thanksgiving Day conditions in over a decade.
My wife’s aunt and uncle recently moved to Gulf Shores (Alabama), which has been nice as it gives us a free place to stay at the beach and a chance to visit family all at once. An unexpected treat has been her aunt and uncle getting pedal assist e-bikes. We’ve had a few chances now to go on some rides with my wife riding an e-bike and me on my road bike, and she totally loves it! So, I guess we’re in the market for her own now! She wants it to be comfortable but “not look like it should have tassels on it.”
I’m always up high on the leaderboard Wed/Thur/Fri, and then the weekend warriors log big miles and push me back down. Last month ‘the’ donut warrior went out on a Sunday night after dark, and logged 5 miles around his neighborhood to knock me out of the top 10. Savage.
The local young lady in #1 spot goes to UCLA and has been dominating our leaderboard all year. I haven’t had the chance to ride with her yet but she has been absolutely crushing it. Looked at her Strava feed for the week and she is at a USA Cycling camp in AZ this week, and some decent results at USA Cycling Collegiate Nationals a few months ago. I’ll take that as a sign she will continue to dominate the leaderboard!!!
I can continue to ride outside this time of year, it just means a different bike and clothing setup. I took my new Outbound Lights helmet light for a trial ride today. It works great along with my Bontrager Ion as a handlebar light. The cold temps, however, adversely impact battery life, so after 1.5 hrs on a mix of medium and high, both lights were warning me they were low on battery. I could easily ride in the snow on the low setting for both however, so that’ll extend the life.
Furious whirling crosswind nearly ripped my handlebars from my grip a few times as I neared the river. Stopped and took a pic of grapes still on the vine, sorry its too hard to get closer so its a cropped shot:
I’m up front on the right, pulling for Mansoon (? Persian name), she was really suffering in the whirling winds. Why is her boyfriend always riding behind her??? Dude recently retired as head chief at local Apple Laguna facility (where they made the original iMac back in 1998) and he is pretty strong, maybe he got soft in retirement. I dunno.
Followed the paved route up with doing The Dirty Lemmon today. I opted to not climb back to the top when I made it back to the pavement. The last 6 miles before getting back to the pavement were hands down the hardest of the entire ride!
The unseasonably mild weather is back again for a few days and a few turned up in shorts and would have been very comfortable; I was comfortable in thin knee warmers. I think from the meet in Yaxley we went through Holme and Sawtry before looping around Woodwalton to Alconbury Wield back up to Sawtry. We then headed into Northamptonshire and up to Folksworth over Morbourne Hill (according to Strava I hit nearly 43mph, it not steep enough 
), crossing the A605 south of Warmington and through Cotterstock to Upper Benefield turning back to Ondle there. Most folk left there and 4 of us continued to Stoke Doyle, Aldwinkle, Thorpe Waterville, Clopton, Thurning, Winwick, Upton, Alconbury, Buckworth, Winwick again, Great Gidding, Glatton, Holme, Ramsey St Mary’s, Pondersbridge, Farcet and back to Yaxley.
, before heading back to Peterborough and stopping for the obligatory photos at the Re-opened Orton Mere.
).
??
and to be honest it felt great! I think it helped that the pool water was warmer than air temp!!!
It’s about the same temp as Lake Superior in the summer, or the coast of CA.
