The Cycling Thread!

[alphseeker]

QUOTE (AgentScotty @ Aug 1 2010, 07:37 PM)

This has been one of the best summers I can remember for bicyclists that like warm/hot summers. Hopefully everyone is having a good year on the roads, or off the roads for the MTBers.

I've been in heaven for two weeks now - Each ride has been awesome - First the weather has been perfect - For some crazy reason it hasn't been above 70 degrees for each ride - actually i could have used some arm warmers on thursday - we have had a thick marine layer

 

Started training at higher altitude this week - I have a century on Sept. 11th out of Mammoth Mountain - It's called the Sierra Fall Century - i guess it will reach 8500' at some points - three weeks later we have our annual Tour De Poway century - It's awesome because we climb to about 3500 feet and then it's a good 40 miles mostly flat and downhill all the way to the beach in carlsbad where we ride along the coast until we head back inland -

[AgentScotty]

Sounds like some cool rides. Can't beat 100 miles with no stoplights and one stop sign.

 

I've got one century coming up in August and two in September, one of which I can ride twice if I'm up to it.

[bigalfan]

Just wanting to bump the thread and see how all you bikers are doing in this heat....ugh! Also, I came across one of these at a local bike shop today - I am really starting to like all these 'new' road bikes. Never heard of "Felt" until today!

 

Felt Speed 50

[AgentScotty]

I'm reveling in the heat.

 

Last night's 37 miles was 84-86F at the start, 79F at the end.

 

Tonight's 25 miles was 90F at the start, and 84F at the end.

 

Every time I step outside at work (68-70F in the building), and it's steamy and 90F+ out, I wish I could just punch out and grab my bike and ride all afternoon.

 

I've got 1975 miles for the year, which beats my total miles for all of last year, and if the hot weather holds through September and stays warm into October/November, I'm hoping to hit 3000-3500 miles for the year.

 

I'd never heard of Felt, either. That looks like a cool bike. I used to ride a straight-bar triple like that in the 1990s.

[alphseeker]

San Diego recorded it's coldest July in over 100 years - And this week is no exception - low 70's - it's been awesome - be doing this ride on saturday whats great about it is that it is a fire service road no cars allowed -

 

http://beta.mapmyride.com/route/detail/19138528/

[ForceTen]

Good riding all!

 

We're in a wet, humid heat wave up here in the Midwest. Almost feels like Florida...

 

Oh, and Felt bikes are very good. My local shop carries them and I know a few people with them. Good quality!

[MusicHead]

I want...no, need...to get my bike out this year. Here in the Ozarks, we don't truly have a spring. We jet right into summer, then bypass fall for winter. While my bike might not be up to Tour de France standards (a Walmart 18-speed), it's provided me much in the way of exhilaration and good exercise.

[alphseeker]

today i Climbed what would be considered a Category 1 TDF climb - 12 miles /3000' of climbing average grade 6.0 percent - it was at 6000' altitude so the air was a little thin - the road was practically a bike path / no cars allowed - It was incredible - had to stop once for about 3 minutes, knee was started to kill me but the scenery and switchbacks got me through it -

[AgentScotty]

[AgentScotty]

I just got in from bicycling 104.5 miles. We did about 37 miles with Gus's Bike Shop, from North Hampton to Kingston and back, and then three of us went on to ride 67.5 miles from North Hampton to Nubble Point and back, covering much of the route of the upcoming GSW Tri-State Seacoast Century. Edited August 9, 2010 by AgentScotty

[alphseeker]

Edited August 9, 2010 by alphseeker

[AgentScotty]

It's fairly common for our Centuries to run over 100 miles, usually by at least a mile, sometimes by as many as five.

 

The two ppl I was riding with (this was a pair of unofficial rides tacked together to hit 100+ miles) have a reputation for adding on extra miles, and I was prepared to bail out if they tried to extend it to a double-metric (124 miles).

 

As thunderstorms were forecast for tonight, I did a solo ride after work to beat the storms, and then showed up for the group ride (which I assumed would be canceled due to bad weather) but the weather cleared, so I ended up doing the group ride on top of the solo ride, and now nearly have my 150 miles for the week.

[alphseeker]

QUOTE (AgentScotty @ Aug 9 2010, 09:18 PM)

It's fairly common for our Centuries to run over 100 miles, usually by at least a mile, sometimes by as many as five. The two ppl I was riding with (this was a pair of unofficial rides tacked together to hit 100+ miles) have a reputation for adding on extra miles, and I was prepared to bail out if they tried to extend it to a double-metric (124 miles). As thunderstorms were forecast for tonight, I did a solo ride after work to beat the storms, and then showed up for the group ride (which I assumed would be canceled due to bad weather) but the weather cleared, so I ended up doing the group ride on top of the solo ride, and now nearly have my 150 miles for the week.

I'm doing the fall seirra century in Mammoth CA in Sept. It's 95 miles so we're taking the June lake loop which adds 15 miles to the course all downhill but it passes 4 high seirra lakes on the way down its not apart of the official course but we all say screw it and go that way anyway for the scenery- I have a feeling this will be one of my best years - did 70 miles on Sat. including the 3000' climb and felt great afterward could have easily gone 100+- Registered for three century events in Sept./Oct. and November -

 

I've heard some compare a century to a marathon but there is no way my body can take that pounding and survive - i hate running -

[AgentScotty]

Due to the time involved, I'm finding it harder and harder to do long rides like that. Even at 16 mph, 70 miles is over a 4 hour ride. Having 3000' elevation and feeling great afterwards after that much saddle time must kick ass. Good luck on your Centuries.

 

I did 240 miles last week (rested on Tuesday and Saturday), and have the Blazing Saddles Century this coming Saturday. I'm hoping to ride 15-45 miles a day at a moderate to easy pace, and possibly a tough 45-60 miles at a moderate to hard pace on Wednesday or Thursday to give myself a kick in the butt for Saturday.

[Ancient Ways]

I was able to sneak in a 26 mile ride Sat. AM and a 16 miler this evening before darkness. You guys have me laughing at the distance overrun posts. I did an MS150 (75 Sat and 75 Sun supposedly) a couple of years ago. It was from Busch Gardens in tampa to Sea World in Orlando. When we hit 75 miles and I could not see the Shamu tower at Sea World I was not very happy. Total distance - 87 miles. That is a little too much off for me. I did have a great time though. Even after serving in the military in a pretty tough discipline that weekend is probably the hardest thing I ever did.

[AgentScotty]

12 unexpected miles can be pretty brutal, especially on the second day...

 

At the end of a tough ride I'm often counting the quarter miles, if not the tenth miles.

[AgentScotty]

My Blazing Saddles Century ride went pretty well this past weekend. At 16.74 avg MPH, it's also my fastest Century ever, even faster than the one I did in 2006 when I was 20 pounds lighter and in the middle of a 6 month sabbatical from working, and riding nearly every day.

 

"SeeMeBiking" got my picture as I was coming over the top of a small but tough hill:

 

http://www.seemebiking.com/BlazeGroup15/?o...le=DSC_0750.jpg

 

As we're finally getting some rain in the Northeast, this is my lightest week mileage-wise in a few months. Even though it's rained for 4 days straight, I managed to sneak in a dry ride Monday night. However, I gambled and lost tonight: A light mist (which I was hoping would clear) turned into a steady drizzle and I got drenched pretty good over the course of 21 miles, so I'll have to give the chain a good lube before crashing out, and give it a proper cleaning this weekend.

 

I managed to bag 690 miles for July, and I have 692 so far for August. As the rain is supposed to clear out tonight, I'm hoping to bag a bunch more miles in the waning days of August.

 

Unless we get a good Indian Summer in October (and I skip out of work quickly enough to bag the last few hours before sunset), there's only one month left in bicycling season. It's been one of the best bicycling seasons I can remember, but it's sad that it's coming to a close.

 

EDIT: It looks like the link I posted from my earlier "Climb to the Clouds" ride last month is dead, but I can't edit the post to fix it:

 

http://www.seemebiking.com/c2c_group8/?ope...le=DSC_0351.jpg

Edited August 26, 2010 by AgentScotty

[alphseeker]

QUOTE (AgentScotty @ Aug 25 2010, 09:55 PM)

My Blazing Saddles Century ride went pretty well this past weekend. At 16.74 avg MPH, it's also my fastest Century ever, even faster than the one I did in 2006 when I was 20 pounds lighter and in the middle of a 6 month sabbatical from working, and riding nearly every day. "SeeMeBiking" got my picture as I was coming over the top of a small but tough hill: http://www.seemebiking.com/BlazeGroup15/?o...le=DSC_0750.jpg As we're finally getting some rain in the Northeast, this is my lightest week mileage-wise in a few months. Even though it's rained for 4 days straight, I managed to sneak in a dry ride Monday night. However, I gambled and lost tonight: A light mist (which I was hoping would clear) turned into a steady drizzle and I got drenched pretty good over the course of 21 miles, so I'll have to give the chain a good lube before crashing out, and give it a proper cleaning this weekend. I managed to bag 690 miles for July, and I have 692 so far for August. As the rain is supposed to clear out tonight, I'm hoping to bag a bunch more miles in the waning days of August. Unless we get a good Indian Summer in October (and I skip out of work quickly enough to bag the last few hours before sunset), there's only one month left in bicycling season. It's been one of the best bicycling seasons I can remember, but it's sad that it's coming to a close. EDIT: It looks like the link I posted from my earlier "Climb to the Clouds" ride last month is dead, but I can't edit the post to fix it: http://www.seemebiking.com/c2c_group8/?ope...le=DSC_0351.jpg

I see you have a Saxobank jersey - My favorite team - as you can see my avatar is Cancellera (Spartacus) - Was really pulling for Andy this year but oh well he'll be even stronger next year on a different team though -

[alphseeker]

Laurent Fignon Died today - Sad / 50 years old

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/two-t...-dies?GT1=39002

[AgentScotty]

[AgentScotty]

For the second time in my life, I rode a double-metric century (128 miles / 206 km). It was also a very tough ride in terms of hilliness:

 

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/142883

 

I only ended up averaging 15.3 mph. On many of the rolling sections we were going 16-22 mph, but some of those uphills knocked us down to 4-8 mph.

 

The ride organizers painted little smiley faces on the side of the road at the top of each of the severe climbs.

 

This ride also put me up to 3071 miles for the year, which is very close to my lifetime high of 3100 miles in 2006. As I have centuries coming up both of the next two weekends, I should be able to blow away 3100 miles.

[alphseeker]

QUOTE (AgentScotty @ Sep 11 2010, 07:14 PM)

For the second time in my life, I rode a double-metric century (128 miles / 206 km).  It was also a very tough ride in terms of hilliness: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/142883 I only ended up averaging 15.3 mph.  On many of the rolling sections we were going 16-22 mph, but some of those uphills knocked us down to 4-8 mph. The ride organizers painted little smiley faces on the side of the road at the top of each of the severe climbs.  This ride also put me up to 3071 miles for the year, which is very close to my lifetime high of 3100 miles in 2006.  As I have centuries coming up both of the next two weekends, I should be able to blow away 3100 miles.

You're a frikin beast - Never done a double metric and probably never will -

 

I just completed my second century of the year in Mammoth, the Fall Sierra Century 100 miles with over 5000 feet of climbing - It was the best supported centuries i have ever ridden, 5 rest stops and 1 lunch stop well stocked with everything and two sag vans for wheel support and for those who just can't hang - the scenery around mono lake and mammoth were incredible - there was one 6 mile climb at mile 70 where the last 3/4 of a mile was 15 to 20% it was HELL - The first time i have ever had to go side to side during a century to make it up without stopping -

 

In two weeks i'm doing my second century, the Tour De Poway followed the next month with the tour of julian century - I only do century rides in the fall and spring because i'm a wuss in the heat -

Edited September 14, 2010 by alphseeker

[AgentScotty]

[g under p]

Next month I plan on riding around that big lake here in Florida....that's

 

Lake Okeechobee. It's 116 miles around with my average speed of 22 mph hopefully no flats and headwinds.

 

Peace

[AgentScotty]