The Biking Thread

nuke_diver said:
Even around here on the roads there are downhills that I don't think I will do again. And downhills that I would rather do uphill even though they are very painful because going down is more frightening than going up. Knowing some of the trails around here I'm sure there are much worse off road
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I'm a better descender than climber, mostly because I have to drive a few hours to get to longer climbs. I've flown down nasty technical descents that I should have walked down if I had any brain cells. messedup0 Over time you can improve your skills and speed if you stick to a familiar descent and work on it.

My best road sprints are short hills, but not many races end that way.
 
I do get faster on descents once I get more familiar with them. On Wed I stayed ahead of the white truck behind me on a 3 mile descent but I'm still rather slow it seem as charted on Strava. Even though it was my fastest time down I'm still bottom 1/3 and I don't see getting much faster than I was...the speed I was doing was comfortable and controllable without having to do any heavy braking for the tight corners. I'd rather not end up as a hood ornament :Wave:
 
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Today's ride was supposed to be an easy one...no big hills 50ish miles. The expected climbing was only 2300' with 1 cat 4 much less than I have been doing lately (last wed was a 57 mile ride with 4000' of climbing and 1 cat 2). BUT it kicked my ass. My time was ok and that might be part of it since there were some headwinds on the way back but my legs were dead by about the 30 mile mark and it wasn't a lot of fun for the last few miles (tired legs aching back). Might have been the wind might have been that all the riding has wiped out my reserves and I just plain ran out of gas. It's never really happened before. I did stop and have something quick to eat but maybe not enough (time or food :shrug:) or I didn't get the long downhills after the long uphills to recover like on the other rides. I'll do a shorter ride on Sunday and then I'll be off for a week so if Sunday is also painful maybe I just need some down time

I'll sleep well tonight I think :P
 
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From tonight's evening ride. You could feel early autumn cool in the hollows, and still waves of late summer warmth on the slopes. Good stuff.

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Rode a few laps on the local cyclocross course this morning since I wanted to stay off the road. They made several changes (all grass/trails, no pavement), making it more challenging for my slick tires. Only 7 miles, but it was all pain.

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Ordered some proper CX tires for future fun, some Maxxis Mud Wrestlers.
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Today's pedal out west of Hailey. Nice cool Autumn weather, great dirt conditions.

I want a sweater or a wool blanket with these sage greens, earth reds, twiggy browns, and variety of golds in the grass, willows and leaves woven into it.
 
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i have to say i was disappointed in my late summer and fall riding this year. Didn't get enough riding in as we were in and out of town, and had other stuff going on. As a result, i did not get into the cycling shape I am accustomed to this year. Still, better to go as much as i can than not. Getting some of the last of it in now, before the snow flies.
 
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. My workout today.

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It is supposed to start raining and snowing tomorrow so we may start closing the season down. But I bet there is some more left if I bundle up.
 
Milwaukee was the place to be this weekend for the 15th annual Santa Cycle Rampage.
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I don't own one of these but it looks fun. Typically I put away the bicycles and use both Alpine and Nordic skis this time of year.
 
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