AT Cycling Log - 100,000 miles done! Next stop ???

[mechBgon]

28 miles. Chilly ride. Didn't wear enough clothe and ended up with 15 minutes uncontrollable shivering after I got home.

Total: 21,816

Yikes. Did you get a chance to plunge into a hot shower afterwards? I may have put in a plug for this before, but this is a great bail-out jacket that can be stuffed down to fit into a jersey pocket:

http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-11269-o2-cycling-rain-jackets.aspx?variantID=16639

Permanently waterproof and windproof, lightweight, cheap. The inside is flocked so it's not clammy, and it's got some breathability to it. I take this on my winter rides and throw it on before big descents, where the wind chill and reduced muscle-generated warmth are a 1-2 punch.


We're due for another storm tonight, so I rode to the grocery store and picked up some food. I'm gearing up for the Rapha Festive 500 which starts at midnight tonight and goes until New Years Eve. 500km / 311 miles. I can do it if logistics don't get in the way, but our laundry room is Out Of Order, so if they don't have that fixed soon I may have to bail, since most of my cycling gear is in the laundry pile right now

Anyway, +11 miles for Total: 21,827

 

[mechBgon]

I got up early and took the rural route to work. It was a slog, there was fresh snow and the plows hadn't done the majority of the route yet. I only averaged 11mph. On the way home, I did the reverse of that route and pulled out almost 15mph.

So +44 miles on the first day of the 8-day 311mi challenge. 267 miles left.

Total: 21,871

 

[drteming]

42 miles. The temperature was 61F when I started. Winter time is when I'm glad to be in the South.

Total: 21,913

 

[mechBgon]

45 miles today. I ventured south onto the back roads, taking it slow & steady. In the winter, I try to go prepared in case I have to walk back, so I had the panniers stuffed with extra clothes as usual, plussss.... a thermos of hot chocolate That was a nice treat.

So that's day 2 of the 8-day distance challenge. 143km out of 500km, 28% done.

Total: 21,958

 

[mechBgon]

22 miles on the way to work, and 25 miles on the way home. It wasn't supposed to get lower than 28F tonight, but it got there fast (27F now) and the roads were a bit glazed up in places. It also began snowing lightly, so things may be exciting tomorrow.

Now up to 43% on the eight-day 500km challenge with 5 days left to go, so I'm a little ahead of schedule.

Total: 22,005

 

[mechBgon]

Another 44 miles of commuting on the studded-tire bike. I'm halfway through the 8-day challenge and 57% completed. So far, so good!

Also (o happy day) the laundry facilities at my apartment are back online!

Total: 22,049

 

[Ns1]

christ mechbgon you are hard core

 

[mechBgon]

christ mechbgon you are hard core

...or a member of Dateless Losers Anonymous Either way, if the shoe fits, I'll wear it :biggrin:

56 miles today... 23 on the way to work, 33 on the way home. So the 8-day challenge deal is going fine, I just need 75 miles before New Year's.

Total: 22,105

 

[mechBgon]

Today I slept in, then geared up for an afternoon ride. I rode south on the highway into the farm country, then took back roads back to the city. It was colder out today, about 24F and snowing lightly.

I took extra clothes and swapped to dry sweaters after a couple hours. Wool, it's awesome I also took along a thermos of hot chocolate again. It makes the locals stare... :hmm: there's a guy with a bike standing alongside the road... maybe he needs help... OMG he is standing in the snow with plastic bags over his feet, drinking cocoa and eating a snack bar! DRIVE, HAROLD, HE'S CLEARLY INSANE!!

Anyway, I ended up with 41 miles, leaving just 34 miles to go in the 8-day 500km challenge, with two days left.

Total: 22,146

 

[mechBgon]

I wrapped up the 500km challenge today with a cold 35-mile ride: http://app.strava.com/activities/34870535

It was tough to stay warm today. Even with my handlebar covers and wool glove liners inside windstopper shell gloves, my hands were getting cold, so after about 11 miles, I stopped and put a second set of wool glove liners over the first set, AND put chemical hand-warmer packets inside the shell gloves. I also busted out my O2 waterproof/windproof jacket and put that over two regular shell jackets to shut down the wind on my body. That's a double-edged sword, since it also stops sweat from evaporating, but it's the lesser of two evils. Thank goodness for wool sweaters from the thrift store

Now that the distance challenge is done, I'll emphasize shorter, more intense rides that keep me closer to home. Winter's not a great time to go far afield if you don't have to. edit: although now I see Strava has a challenge to ride as far as possible in January, with recognition badges every 200 miles all the way to 1,000 miles. That would be a tough row to hoe in this climate, especially with lows dipping towards 10F next week. Maybe I'll sign up and try for 600 miles.

Total: 22,181

 

[Blieb]

Added mechbgon on strava. I have a love/hate thing going on with strava.

I haven't posted miles since 11/19. Adding 448 (447.9) to total.

Some is on the mountain bike, some on the cross bike. I haven't touched my road bike since October :\ ... gearing up for a 50+ mile offroad ride (Tour de San Felasco - http://www.sanfelasco.net/tour.shtml) in a couple weeks.

---------------
11/20 - 23.3
11/21 - 22.6
11/23 - 10.1
11/25 - 18.2
12/01 - 19.2
12/02 - 43.8
12/08 - 14.7
12/09 - 53.2
12/14 - 35.6
12/16 - 34.4
12/23 - 42.6
12/25 - 40.0
12/29 - 25.9
12/30 - 64.3
---------------

Total: 22,629

 

[mechBgon]

I joined the Strava January base-mile challenge, but will be focusing more on shorter, intense types of rides. Today I did 13 miles close to home, including two hills that I've climbed a lot (Greenwood Road and Indian Canyon Road).

It was pretty cold, about 23F. After doing Greenwood, I coasted back down, then attacked Indian Canyon (they're on opposite sides of the same little valley). I accidentally left the chain on the big chainring on Indian Canyon, resulting in a big AHA! moment when I finally noticed, after climbing half the ascent. Classic. Well whatever, I'm going to finish what I started. I ran my heart rate up to 183bpm.

Total: 22,642

 

[Blieb]

12/31 - 09.60 (rounded down to 9) leg flush
01/01 - 50.01

Total: 22,701

 

[KMc]

Started my winter indoor trainer regimen yesterday. A whopping 7 miles!

Total: 22,708

 

[mechBgon]

3 miles to work, 16 on the way home. I seem to have caught a minor cold, but I threw in one gradual 3.6-mile climb on the way home, and gave it a reasonable effort. I was about 4 minutes off my PR (ouch), but it is what it is.

Total: 22,727

 

[mechBgon]

I skipped work & riding yesterday due to my cold. Today I felt adequate, so I did 8 miles in the AM (to the grocery store and to work), and then did 9 miles on the way home.

On the way home, I felt like doing at least one climb, so I hit Greenwood... with about 30 extra pounds of weight onboard, in the form of groceries and a heavy-duty bike lock I picked one gear lower than normal and vowed not to shift down any further. WIN.

Total: 22,744

 

[mechBgon]

I found an interesting-looking climb on Strava's "Explore" map. It has 1,128ft of elevation gain in 5.2 miles, and would take about 1/2 hour to climb. So I decided to go out there and make a good workout out of it:

http://app.strava.com/activities/36112763

I shaved 37 seconds off the previous leader's time. Granted, my heart rate was 30bpm higher than his, but I doubt he was on a 45-pound mountain bike with massive air drag either :sneaky: Anyway, it was a good result for the handicaps I was up against, and I definitely got my half-hour non-stop workout :thumbsup: On the way back, I was feeling a little gassed (I had nothing but water along, some energy drink would've helped a lot) but I went up another decent climb to finish off my legs.

Total: 22,780

 

[KMc]

3 additional trainer workouts this week:

Thursday - 10 miles
Saturday - 7 miles
Today - 10 miles

Total: 22,807

 

[mechBgon]

+23 miles on a slog through some new snow and up several climbs:

http://app.strava.com/activities/36390921

The last climb I hit was clear of snow (it must've gotten a de-icing spraydown) and I improved on my time from a week ago by 18 seconds, with average HR slightly lower (169 versus 174). Maybe not statstically significant, but I'll take it :sneaky: The other climbs had enough snow to make comparisions irrelevant.

Total: 22,830

 

[Blieb]

01/05 - 27.87
01/06 - 30.79

Total: 22,888

 

[mechBgon]

It snowed about 4-5 inches last night, and the snow was rather wet, so the 4-mile morning commute was set to Expert Ice limpets under mushed-up snow are treacherous even with studded knobbies.

On the way home, I extended the commute with some arterials and one good hard hillclimb, about 17 miles total: http://app.strava.com/activities/36648375. It had warmed up to about 36F so everything was very, very wet. Some roads were clear, some were still covered with random ice limpets in places, but overall it wasn't too outrageous.

So that's +21 miles.

Total: 22,909

 

[mechBgon]

25 miles today. I took the 4-mile short route to work, then did a 21-mile training commute home, with a few hard efforts on hills (and jamming down 2nd Avenue to keep up with traffic):

http://app.strava.com/activities/36887925

The fitness is rebuilding OK considering I got restarted about one month ago. Cardio and legs are both comfortable with hard efforts, now I need to increase duration/repetitions when weather's permissible. Today was relatively warm at about 38F, which helps a lot.

Total: 22,934

 

[KMc]

9 mile trainer workout last night.

Total: 22,943

 

[mechBgon]

37 miles today (4 in the morning, 33 on the way home with a couple spirited efforts and some steady cruising). My legs were feeling a bit tired since that's the 6th day in a row with a training-quality ride, but I didn't want to waste the relatively good temperatures (mid-30s) since a cold front is coming this weekend.

Total: 22,980

 

[mechBgon]

28 miles today: 4 in the morning, and 24 on the way home in which I did an out-and-back time trial along the river. In a snowstorm, in the dark, on a mountain bike with studded tires and panniers. Great 40-minute workout I only placed 44th on the leaderboard, but under the circumstances... good enough.

It was a very slick night for the motorists, I saw 4-wheel-drive vehicles getting 4-wheel drift just applying throttle at 25mph. Glad I wasn't in a car.

Total: 23,008