Did You Ride Today?

[cyclenthusias44]

Quote by MBB:
"14.5 inches of snow since 7 am"

Holy ****! I haven't had time to check the weekend reports, but the East of Cleveland 'Lake Effect Snow Belt' area was supposed to get 2" to 6" Saturday night/Sunday morning.

We did not get anything more than a few very light snow flurries.

Sunday was somewhat cold. It was 32° and I thought a flat sprint up one of the Rails-To-Trails paths would be something different from the usual training routes and possibly the last opportunity to get a bike path ride in before the season completely goes to ****. I also figured it would be close to deserted due to the cold...it was. Three runners and a couple walking their dog was all I saw in the 20 miles I was on the trail.

The Little Beaver Creek Greenway, an outstanding trail any time of the year.

http://www.bicycletrail.com/Greenway.htm


The trail is 10 miles from Lisbon to Leetonia. I rode into Leetonia and through town, then out to the abandoned Cherry Creek Coke ovens. At the turn of the century coal was mined in the area and burned into coke to be used in the steel mills. The hundreds of old coke ovens are slowly being restored into a park/tourist attraction. And houses and roads in Leetonia still regularly fall into the collapsing coal mines under the town. The water-filled trough between the ovens is about 12' deep. At the bottom is a railroad track. When the ovens were running open top coal cars were backed into the trench and filled from the hot ovens by workers with shovels.

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History of the Cherry Valley Coke Ovens: http://www.leetonia.org/cokeovens.asp

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I followed the new trail extension up to Washingtonville before turning around and heading back. The fast, flat run was good for 32 miles of fun.

The scene is wonderful. The tress look beautiful. I would like to visit this place.

 

[zipp2001]

Weather and back have not been any fun the last couple days so I've been doing some speed walking on the treadmill the last three days. The extended weather forecast doesn't help out with a good chance of rain the next 3 days. If the rain is light enough I'll go play in the woods and get nice and dirty Thursday, because I'm not in the mood getting any of the road bikes coated in dirt.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Yeah, rain this afternoon and evening so I replaced the rear wheel and installed new Chorus chain.

I greased the derailleur pulley bearings and got a cassette out of the spare parts stash in case the test ride skips a gear or two. The cassette 'should' be good, going by mileage, but until I bed the new chain in at test out a couple of sprints and climbs I'm always ready to slap a new stack of gears on the rear.

Rain forecast for tomorrow and Saturday. I probably won't get a test session in until Friday.

 

[zipp2001]

Couldn't take the treadmill anymore and didn't want to jump on the trainer so it was the mountain bike. Hit the trails for 14.83 miles with a chilly 46 degrees, 8-10 wind, and light rain the whole ride. Leg's were happy to be turning over the peddles and it was fun getting nice and dirty. Looks like the same weather for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so will play in the mud for the remainder of the week. I'm beginning to think I'm in England instead of New England.

 

[Weatherby]

I did 17 miles intervals on my Strava segments. I improved my times on both. Cut the sessions a bit short because the legs are a little heavy. I love this cold, raw weather.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I was forced onto the trainer by a downpour just as was ready to get dressed to ride. AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

Timing...it's everything.

52 Minutes on the trainer and as hard as it killed me, I killed it. I pounded the **** out of that Kurt Kinetic knowing an Eyetalian road bike was in the garage, new tires on new wheels and a new chain just waiting to be test ridden.

Tomorrow...

 

[Weatherby]

If the weather is good tomorrow, I'm taking the 44 year old Eyetalian made Masi with those big fat juicy tubulars out for 35 miler. I really need to get the corncob off the back.

 

[Uawadall]

A cloudy, mucky, windy week. A 4.5 mile run this morning and a ride in the evening were the only activities I've done all week so far. 18.2 miles/18.3 mph, 850 ft of climbing. I'm glad that I can do my hour route at a 17.0-18.5 mph pace consistently now, but I really need to do longer rides during the week. I think I may go for a metric Saturday or Sunday.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I really need to get the corncob off the back.

Never! Never, ever surrender! You can do 600 Km's with a gazillion feet of climbing! You can still get over a few walls in that 42x21! Buy that Holdsworth repro I posted pics of in the other forum and build it up with some Record or C-Record and bolt a Regina 13-27 on it for fun hill rides. Those prices on those Planet-X replicas are downright reasonable!

I went over a few hills the other day...leaving it in the 39x23 and 39x21 thinking...I was once a young stud that could absolutely power and strain over these hills in that 42x21. Hell, that old Peugeot PY-10 had a 45x21 on it! The difference 45 years makes...

I'm fighting hard to keep my racing double and I loathe the day I will be forced onto the ubiquitous 28t cluster everyone rides. That day is coming, but I will scream, "Rasuto Itteki Made!", until I can climb no longer in a 25.

My old riding buddy in Columbus and I made the decision to pull the plug on TOSRV. Bad, bad weather is moving in tomorrow and the further South you go the worse it's supposed to get. We had a motel booked in Kentucky and after hearing even Churchill Downs may have problems with rain, winds and lightning...we cancelled. Lightening is the one thing I will absolutely not ride in, given a choice.

I'm hoping to get a long one in on Sunday with a bud from up by Cleveland. I'll have to keep it flat and slow as he's not race ready condition yet this year, but maybe we can find some fun in and around the Cuyahoga Valley. He knows the local roads really well so it should be a gas.

 

[Weatherby]

Cold and rain all day. Did some bike maintenance and put a new tire onto the rando bike. New wheels coming for the racing bike.....tomorrow. Putting some fast tires on some fast wheels.....wonder if it will matter. Anyway, a rest day today won't hurt and it is probably what I needed anyway. I did some customization on my older Sidi 6.6 cycling shoes so I can walk on wet surfaces without wiping out. I bought Sidi Mt bike sole pads and screwed and epoxied them onto my road shoes. I have a nice new pair if I have to play dressup for the real racers but I'm tired of walking across wet metal and concrete and nearly breaking my neck. A shame cuz they aren't cheap but they are getting long in the tooth anyway. I get to test them in the rain tomorrow.

 

[zipp2001]

It's been a week of rain and it doesn't look great for the weekend. I did the trail in the rain yesterday, and bolted from work a tad early and beat the rain today by 1/2 hour. Didn't risk it and went with the mountain bike again.

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[CAMPYBOB]

22 Miles after...you guessed it...mowing and chores. Only 550' of climbing, but the wind was running 25 MPH. New wheels rolled just fine. The chain bedded in to the cassette with no skipping so the cassette stays on for one last cycle through this chain's life.

I got a late start and blasted through the ride, slowing a couple times to do on-the-fly rear derailleur cable tweaking that wasn't really needed. Fought with the wind a little, but had a good time stretching it out after that hard trainer session. When I put the new wheels on I jacked the seat up 2 MM and completely forgot about making the change. It felt so natural I only remembered doing it mid-ride. I think I'll see if I can do another 2 MM this weekend. After getting off the Emonda I feel a little too low on the Wilier and maybe a bit to squared up. Hmmm? How pro would I look laying over a 130 MM Deda stem?

I'll have to hit the bricks early tomorrow morning to beat the impending doom...more rain. Note to self: Buy a 55-gallon drum of RoundUp.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Nice tunes and nice ride, Zipp!

Under The Milky Way Tonight!

 

[Uawadall]

The roads were wet and their were only 2 groups riding today, An A group and a B group. I like a challenge, but no sense in trying to get more aquatinted with slippery conditions at 20 mph. I've pedaled myself out of enjoying B rides, close to 29 miles/16.4 mph/1100 ft of climbing. Had to do some soft pedaling to no leave people behind. I will say, a few of them have very good form. I think what I need to do is, get back to longer weekend mileage and build a good pace for 50-60 mile rides. If I can do that, I can go up to the B+/A group and study the other riders for a while.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

80 miles, 72 with The Boy Wonder. 2,800' of climbing so just flat to gently rolling with a couple moderate climbs. 17.2 MPH average despite the last 30 miles being into a 10-15 MPH swirling and gusting headwind...and due mainly to The Boy Wonder's megawatt pulling into it.

I kept thinking I must be in decent condition just to sit on his wheel as we went down the road like we had a tailwind. Damn, that was fast.

The sun was out for almost the entire ride and I did some...you guessed it...mowing when I got home. Then the rain hit. Just a quick darkening of the sky, an increase in wind speed and a drop in the air temperature. Only little drops and not enough to chase me off the mower for maybe 15 more minutes. The rain picked up and I called that a day. The salad I'm wolfing down sure tastes great!

We saw a gal out riding her road bike and three racer types...one was my buddy Greg. He was flying North with the wind at his back and we were buried and going almost the same speed headed South. We stopped at a stop sign and a racerish dude on a Giant Propel aero bike and matching clothing asked us for directions to a local park that was hosing a garden show of some sort. The Boy Wonder and I were clueless so Giant dude whipped out his cell phone and we rode off...both of us wondering how cool Giant dude was to be riding 100+ miles today with no helmet.

Three miles later we passed the park that was hosting the garden show.

It was a great workout and we got on some roads I hadn't been on in a couple years anf The Boy Wonder had never ridden.

 

[jhuskey]

Windy, windy and windy. That sums up todays ride. It is nice and warm now.

 

[zipp2001]

Same as all week RAIN ! Went out for breakfast with some great brothers from church then started laundry when I got home. By noon I was ready to go hit the trails again and get wet and muddy. I found some new crazy single track sections that were like a snake. I had a fun crash going a tad to fast around a sharp corner covered with wet leaves. Had a good laugh knowing I was pushing the limits the whole ride and only went down once. Spent 2 hours and 42 minutes playing in the mud.

 

[AryaSnark]

Yes, it was sunny and warm all day long, so I had a great ride. I'm visiting my parents now so I can ride around the town and enjoy the beautiful area, unlike my not-so-beautiful home city, so I took advantage of the opportunity and spend over three hours biking

 

[CAMPYBOB]

50.22 Miles plus whatever it took the Garmin to find the satellites through the tree cover. 17-something MPH average with right around 1500' of climbingPretty darned flat, but not pan flat looking at my max. speed. It was a cool 60 degrees and sunny, but the wind was going 9-17 MPH with gusts to 22 MPH.

The ride was a combination of Rails-To-Trails and road riding. I hit 42 MPH down one hill with three S-turns and the damned cross wind was playing with my line all the way to the bottom. I met a buddy on the trail about 12 miles into the ride and we jammed into the headwind at a decent clip. We had not seen each other since last summer and were BS'ing about life when one of the local racing team's guys caught up to us at a stop sign...the trail was being heavily used today by all types of dog walkers, baby pushers, birders, casual cyclists and a few people that wanted to go fast.

Racer dude was wearing his team gear and jumped hard from the gate as traffic parted at the stop sign.

**** this ****! I had the gear, I had the Campagnolo and damnit I looked fantastic! I stomped after him. Closing the small gap quickly I sat on his wheel as the speed ramped up. My buddy closed and latched on behind me. No obstructions for the next mile or two, racer dude pounded out the Watts. We started talking about who knew who and who raced at which race, etc. I stayed with him until I just about blew a Y-split...not knowing which way to go and no one calling the turn I locked the ***** up and jacked it sideways into the grass. Finally knowing racer dude was going left and my buddy verifying the course change, I charged off after the guy. His speed had never slacked and the gap was growing.

Challenge accepted!

My buddy said there's a long, uphill drag coming so I put the power down and started really working. I got on his wheel just as the gentle rise started. He hit the gas midway up the hill where it got a little more steep and I dropped a gear and we both got out of the saddle to get serious. I looked back and my buddy was long gone so I kept pouring it on over the false flat. I told him I had to drop back and get my friend and let go of his wheel on a downhill run.

It was fast after I got my friend back on my wheeI, but I knew there was no way in Hell we could catch racer dude now, but there he was...on his cell at the next stop sign.

Time to repay the favor of him pulling us for that first mile or two. I sprinted off the sign as he stuffed the phone in his jersey and got on the drops as I ran up a gear or three. The next two miles was my interval, just sit back, shut up and hang on. That damned wind forced me down a gear when we hit an open spot, but I kept it turning over hard and fast and no one got out of line...must have been fast enough!

Racer dude flipped around and headed South at the next stop sign and my buddy and I pressed on for another 7-8 miles into the wind and sun.

Racer dude was a friendly guy and all the wheelsucking in the world didn't make **** difference to us. We all three had a great time. Never did catch his name, but doing some trail jumps and intervals with him was a riot. What could be more fun than making friends for 1/2-hour on a bike, beating **** out of each other?

After running North into da big city, we turned South and headed for home. My buddy split off to go do some chores at his house and I headed for the car and the ride home.

Happy Mother's Day to all you muthas out there!

 

[krnd]

Wow that sounds like an incredible ride for mother's day. I barely went out for a ride less than 5km away to sign up for my new semester classes. It was an enjoyable ride although unexpected on a Sunday.