My Most Recent Ride 2011 (Part IV of the series)

Heat wave of 60 degrees and sunny today. Got Red out and rode 17.8 miles around my Cherokee Blvd. loop. Beautiful day. No wabbits today.

 

3pm, thermometer says 69 degrees in the shade. Windy as hello, so i think i'll go for a ride. Hope all my lights are charged......

 

helped mark at power on today then got a ride in about 430pm 15.00 miles was a nice day before the rain come in on thursday so here we go lol lol

 

Got a quick 13.8 mile ride in this chilly morning before the monsoons hit us!

 

Back to Riding again

20.5 Miles GPS only says 19.5 because I forgot to start it..lol

2,231 feet of climbing-A whopping 17.0 mph average--Best time on this loop ever and this is after not riding for a month..lol

http://app.strava.com/rides/2200525

My average before was 14-15 mph

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/188126


More info and Photos under Corsa Page.

 

I told you so. Also, if you can sustain that power output for longer rides
I can't touch you. I usually average around 180-200 watts (by guestament)

 

Raining, not hard, sort of a heavy drizzle. Temperature in the 60's but due to drop into the 40's. I wanted to get out and test my "waterproof jacket" and my winter cycling boots. I also wore some snowboarding shell pants over my cycling shorts. Checked the batteries in my lights and off we went.

One couple with hybrid's were huddled under a gazebo as we pulled out. Visbility was fair but it was pretty dark already for 6pm. We headed out east on the new rail-trail and only passed a few joggers. The rain came and went as did the wind which was pretty steady from the NNW at a strong 10-15 mph. Once the trail ended we only had a couple of miles of roads before we were onto the post. No issue's with traffic but my brakes were almost non-existent.
That along with the rain slowing us down helped us decide to shorten our route.

The jacket did pretty well for about 45 minutes then the water began to soak through. I only wore a thin base layer under it and stayed relatively warm. The snowboard pants were soaked in the middle of the ride but towards the end when it eased up they dried really fast. My feet stayed warm and dry. The helmet cover helped quiet a bit as well.

So, 22.5 miles in 1:44 with very little elevation gain. However, I did learn a good bit about how my nasty weather gear will work.

 

Brian,

You have now turned into a BENT MACHINE!!! If you come to the Smoky Mountain Recumbent Rally (SMRR), I will let you tow me so I can keep up!!!

 

lol No not even close..

Did 14.8 Miles today with the old folks...
1755 Climb average 11.9

They were impressed with the Corsa and they even tried sitting on it. Maybe Ill get some new recruits.

I did a lot of slow peddling and waiting for the gang to catch up...hahahaahah

With the Garmin 305 it is very interesting to see how I react to different things/ stats etc.

 

Well technically if you got soaked at all in any location then they're obviously not "water proof." HOWEVER, if it is just a light rain that doesn't soak through badly and you are ok with it then hey water resistant is good enough right?

 

Hey Ward, what was the jacket and the pants and helmet cover. And how did the helmet cover actually do. I ride a lot in the rain, snow etc. and always looking for an inexpensive way to keep dry and warm without looking like Jon's clown suit...
From your post i know i can exclude the pants and jacket so just curious what they were.

 

The jacket is a Golite that is spos to be waterproof. It did keep me warm with only a very light layer underneath. I assume some of the water was trapped sweat. A lot of the water also seemed to be what oozed through the zipper. Riding a bent in a pretty laid back position the water was just sitting on my chest.
The pants are REI brand snowboarding pants and they are considered water-resistant. I bought them more for wearing over tights during snow than rain. What I like is they have zippers that go all the way down the sides so when it warms up during the day I can open them up to cool off.

The helmet cover is sort of a standard type, performance brand I think. I have worn it for several years now in snow and rain and it really helps keep the noggin warm and dry. I usually just wear a headsweats underneath when I have it on and am pretty good unless its close to freezing outside. Then I have a heavier head cover I wear.

 

Thanks. I seem to be collecting rain wear. Have several variations or Gortex but they do not seem to be all that breathable to me. Maybe i just perspire alot and that is the nature of the beast. Love my Froggs but they have the one major leak spot that makes them useless for bent or motorcycle rides.
So i'll keep looking and hopefully find a happy medium...

 

This time of year, I never know if the ride I'm doing will be my last one of the season; and this was no different. We had a heavy frost last night. It was 27F when I got up, and the grass was all white anywhere there was shade. It wasn't much warmer when the ride started - a club ride attended by 5 of us.

I wore an underarmor-type undershirt, a long-sleeved jersey, and a lightly-lined club riding jacket, along with medium-weight tights and some heavy coolmax socks. I wore some light polar-fleece gloves and some homemade ear flaps on my helmet straps.

The first half of the ride was into the wind - such that it was. It was almost blindingly sunny, which felt really good as I loafed along. I stayed with the group and they only did about 15 mph. Since they were taking it so easy, I decided to stay one gear - my 39/15. That went well; there were no big or steep hills. Well, except for one downhill, where it was really hard to resist upshifting and blasting down! I did get in front of the others on several climbs; since without downshifting I had to push a little harder to maintain my cadence; but I always let them catch back up right after the climb.

Lunch was at the Depot in the town of Leslie. It's a converted train station. I had a BIG pancake.

We were halfway back, when the rough road started getting to my bladder; so I pulled over by some bushes while the others continued on. They got about a mile ahead, but luckily I had a tailwind by then; so I temporarily gave up my one-gear ride and upshifted to my 53/13. That went much better, and I cruised at 25-30 mph until I caught them. Then I reverted to my former gear and continued the ride.

Overall, a GREAT day. It started cold, but got up into the 40s. There was lots of SUN, good company, I got to go fast for a little bit without killing myself, and I'm now within a hundred miles of my 3500-mile goal for the year.

 

Longest ride on Corsa to date---I love this ride.

I rode from my house in Strasburg solo to a club ride in White Post Va.

It was 24 .5 miles to white post and my average was 18.9 mph-For me that is blazing! I really do not know how much climbing I had during that 24 miles. But it all wasn't flat.

I then met up with a few other DF riders and we did a loop before I headed home with another DF rider who lives in Front Royal. I had to slow a bit to let them keep up with me..lol

Total 48.6 miles
elav-4,591
Mph- 16.3

http://app.strava.com/rides/2237724

By th way-My legs are a tad bit sore--Not sure if its due to the lay-off or the more reclined postition. ONe other thing of note..My arms are going numb--Due to to much arm stretch?