My Most Recent Ride 2014 (Part VII in a series)

Yeah, but sure sounds like a dream ride.

 

You will get no arguments from me!

 

The past 3 days have been gorgeous, but HOT. The only saving grace has been the wild winds. 18-20+ mph sustained at times with crazy gusts thrown in. Opening every window possible wide to let it blast through through apartment is all that's kept Loke and I from turning into melted puddles. Even Jens has complained about how hot it's been. He even... dare I say it? Suggested we go swimming! Swimming?? This from the man who I've seen swim (kinda) once in all the 12-ish years we've been couple??

Not sure how I survived the shock.

So, this morning, I decided to go for a ride early. We were out the door at about 5:45. It was soooo perfect. Temp in the 60's, not a breath of wind and nothing but birdsong to break the stillness.

Loke ran well and was happy to be out so early I think. Just a bit over 4 miles through the fringes of slowly awakening Uppsala. Glad I went and wonder why I don't go for early morning rides more often. I love them. It looks like it's going to be another scorcher today.

Terii

 

and Terii dont you feel like it makes you handle the hot temperatures better as well.
For me - I raise my body temperature while riding and then it almost seems like it acclimatises me to the heat - that or the extra fitness helps you to handle it.

 

Went for a 64.7 km [ 40 mile ] ride this morning [ supposedly before going to church ] and the highlights were :
1) Almost everyone was friendly, waving and saying Hi.
2) when I stopped [ me stopping is very unusual - normally ride without break ] there were about 8 male cyclists stopped as well and two smart dressed Lady Cyclists rode by - certainly caught the attention of the fellas.
3) about 4 people asked or commented on the Trike - one even saying " Sh_t , those things are Fast . ! " when he finally caught me on a hill.
3273 Calories used up in 2hrs 47 min. That certainly chewed up the excess calories from last nights dinner.
A lovely day it was too.

 

Well yesterday I managed something that had eluded me for years, I finally managed an imperial century on the bike. A friend had organised a 60+ mile run into the Essex countryside, so decided to ride the 20 so miles across London to get to the start of the ride, with the option of getting a train back if needed.

It was the perfect day for a long ride, warm enough to wear short sleeved shirt and shorts but didn't have the SUN beating down on us. Excluding the getting to and from the start we managed a moving average of 15mph, so not that speedy, but distance was always the main goal for me. By the time I got home I had 107 miles on the clock, so I was very pleased.

Learnt a couple of lessons, firstly on the two wheel bent I really need to get a water bladder of some sort, its just not easy to reach behind the seat while your moving - secondly I learnt just how brilliant 'bents are (as if I needed reminding). I'm sitting here this morning with no aches and pains, bar slightly tired legs and even those aren't too bad - I'm even considering having a little ride this afternoon, just to loosen things up a bit !

I've a weeks cycling holiday coming up in France in early June and I hope to take both the ICE and my upright bike - I think I know which is going to get used the most !

 

Excerpted from the Livestrong.com site:
Racing

Bicycling 16 or more miles per hour is considered “racing” by the Wisconsin Department of Health’s “Calories Burned Per Hour” chart. You can convert calories burned per hour into calories burned per mile by dividing the number of miles into the calories burned figure. When you bicycle in the range of 16 to 19 mph, you burn about 59 calories per mile if you weigh 190 pounds, about 48 calories per mile if you’re 155 pounds and about 40 calories per mile if you’re 130 pounds.

 

Ha! That is nice go know.

 

Isn't that a little misleading as it absolutely overlooks gear inches? At 16 mph, I'd have to be in my highest gear and pedalling like Armstrong... and likely having very little resistance on the pedals. Not sure my Sprint can go faster 16-17 mph on flat ground with the gear set up I have. My Trice, I could push to 19 on flats on a calm day, but the same effort on the Sprint would get me only to 15-16 at best.

Terii

 

well according to Winsconsin Health I am Racing unless I am going uphill.
Todays afternoon commute would have been wonderful if I wasnt ill - the tailwind would have had me cruising at 30 km/h [ 18 mi ] - instead it was the longest trip this year.

 

Went to the eye doctor yesterday and was release from my exercise restrictions. Today I rode at lunch. Only 15.1 miles and a slow pace as I have done very little riding this year. But plan to rack up the miles as the weather, business and vacation schedule are light. So here I gooooo.

 

Congratulation!

 

Awesome, Jon! That is great news!

Terii

 

On Tuesday or Wednesday, I promised Jens that I would take Loke out for an early morning trike ride, letting him sleep in for an hour or so before he started work from home.

The weather has been down right chilly for a bit over a week. Quite a change from the warm days during the middle of the month which even had Jens grumping it was too hot. This from the man who sleeps with a duvet until 80 F. We've not had nighttime freezes, but it's been nippy.

So, I wasn't surprised when I woke to 52 F, though the gray skies and the wet-pavement sound of traffic was a bit annoying. The precipitation was just a fine drizzle driven on 15+ mph winds. I pulled on my light thermals under the cycle clothes and went out.

My original plan of riding to drop something off with my MIL was nixed thanks to remembering a dental appointment for 11:40. Didn't want the pressure of getting there and back in time to have a shower while still leaving enough time for my hair to mostly dry. Nothing worse than going out with long, soggy hair.

Just did the usual River Loop, but oddly my Garmin recorded it as 3.88 miles when it's almost always been 4 to 4.08 miles. Jens suggested it might be the murky cloud cover, but keep an eye on it to let him know if it happens all the time and what I might want to replace it.

Loke ran well and I felt pretty strong in spite of taking that hard wind in the teeth for over half the ride. At least 4 miles, even against a hard wind doesn't feel much like a ride any more!

Terii

 

Got in a 30 mile ride today. I FINALLY got to use one of my Friday days off to ride. Beautiful day. Coulter Bridge to base of Tremont but not up the hill and back. This is only my second ride since surgery so I wanted to take it easy. This was also the first longer ride on my new Corsa. It handled itself like the Lady it is.

Stopped by U-Mann on the way back and talked to Keila for a while.

Saw a lot of cyclists today. The one picture is the bicycle bone yard I found along the way. (They were all swimming in the stream below.)