Wow, who planned this?

After riding a 1113 mile month in December, January rolls around and I don't hardly spin a pedal! Who would have guessed? Certainly not me!

I guess that a rest will just make me hungrier to start riding the way I need to.

Many firsts this month, the first time I did not ride at least 500 miles since November of 2008, the first month I did not ride at least one century in many years, likely since 2007. (I'll find out the exact number after I have time to look at each blog entry!)

So, it will be February tomorrow. Time to start riding a bit. ;-)

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0..............0.............0..........0...........,0
Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
YTD.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 160th phonecast

My friend Chris as she was riding toward Furnace Creek in Death Valley

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 159th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 158th phonecast

ipadio: Following the Desert Coyote - 157th phonecast

The view of Las Vegas spread out before us as I made that audio post.

Earlier in the day we rode through The Valley of Fire. It was an awesome ride, we could have easily spent all day there, but alas, only had a few hours. As it was we rode the last 12 miles or so in darkness to get back to the vehicle.







Only 35 miles, but what wonderful miles they were!

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........35..............0.............0..........0...........35
Jan.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139
YTD.........105.............34.............0..........0..........139

Real bikes but not real roads.

This will be the first month in many years where I do not get at least 500 miles. I'm okay with it, the weather has been a bit nasty, and I've got a lot of riding to do soon so the break is probably good. I did ride tonight a bit for the first time in 10 days, again, the longest I've been off a bike in years.

A friend invited me to watch a movie tonight. It's always a good thing when a pretty woman invites a guy to a movie. :-) It's even better when it involves cycling! ;-) We set up rollers in front of a BIG projected image and rode our bikes while watching Green Lantern.

I don't ride rollers much, in fact, I just about quintupled my lifetime roller miles tonight. To my surprise I stayed on them pretty well, my only "off roller experiences" were when I got too involved watching the movie that was slightly to my left, causing me to drift to the left as I pedaled. I pedaled reasonably hard. I was in my big ring and holding in the upper 20's to low 30's. I played around a bit and even pedaled up to 45 mph. Amazing what no wind drag will allow you to do!


My roller skills improved as the evening progressed. ;-)


........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today.........0.............34.............0..........0...........34
Jan..........70.............34.............0..........0..........104
YTD..........70.............34.............0..........0..........104

What's a bike?

Wow, I haven't been on my bike in so long I almost forget what it looks like. :-( It's the longest stretch off my bike in years. I had a busy week at work and in the evening (and into the wee hours!) I was working on a presentation I was to give at JoyRide Cycling Studio.

The presentation went pretty well, especially if you take into account that I did not have time to view the powerpoint prior to presenting. JoyRide is one of my sponsors for a crazy endeavor on the horizon.

There is snow on the ground in the Portland area, and much of the Pacific Northwest this morning. I won't be riding the roads today but may just dig the rollers out and set up in the driveway and "ride". At least when I fall, doing so in the snow makes for a softer landing. ;-)

A Good Reminder

I did not ride many miles today but I did get a valuable some valuable training.
I pedaled off this morning thinking that 75-100 miles might be nice. As I rolled out it was 34 degrees with heavy fog. Short of 34 degrees and heavy rain this is just about my least favorite weather to ride in. I rode out along the Willamette River from Wilsonville toward Newberg.

I was not "feeling the love" and was making all sort of excuses why I had too many things to do to be out here riding when the weather was soooooo yucky.

Finally that little "bike pansy" climbed up on my shoulder and talked into my ear and convinced me to turn around and head back. As far as I knew the whole valley was fogged in and cold.

I arrived back home with a paltry 31 miles. I put the bike away and went on about my day doing the things I had on my "to do" list.

By dark the reports from friends began rolling in. The fog had been very localized. While this area suffered under the cold wet stuff, others had a decent day. I heard reports of rides of 50-80 miles being accomplished in decent weather.

So my mind goes back to ultracycling events. As long as the bike is moving, keep it moving. Current conditions can't predict conditions down the road. Keep pedaling.

Figuratively I was sitting in the support car DNFing watching the other competitors ride by to finish.

So I didn't ride much but had a lesson I thought I had learned before hammered back home.

........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........31..............0.............0..........0...........31
Jan..........70..............0.............0..........0...........70
YTD..........70..............0.............0..........0...........70

okay, so not many miles

but they've been fun miles! :-)

Tonight I rode another of our infamous "waffle rides". Tonight we discussed the origins of this craziness, we decided that Chris comes up with hair brained ideas and I make them happen. Fair enough!

We had a small group tonight, two on a tandem hit the deck on the way out and returned home to nurse their wounds. That left 4 of us to start off with waffles.

Following the waffles we rode to Madison's, a bike friendly establishment, and had some finger snacks and some libations to wash them down with.

Chris and I then did our own version of the Bridge Pedal and zigged and zagged our way over Portland's downtown bridges. It was a beautiful night. A little fog began to form near midnight. It made our rather warm evening feel a bit cooler, but made for interesting photos... these are via Chris's cell phone:
(Chris W. photo)

(Chris W. photo)

I got 18 miles, that and the 21 from last Sunday brings me up to about a good two hard hours riding. Neither ride has been hard however, but they were both fun!


........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........18..............0.............0..........0...........18
Jan..........39..............0.............0..........0...........39
YTD..........39..............0.............0..........0...........39

A leisurely start

The new year has to start somewhere.
Mine started in Rancho Cucamonga, California where I joined my social bike club's sister club, Butts on Bikes Inland Empire (BOBIES) for a New Year's Day social ride.



I commuted two hours north from San Diego to join them for this ride on a rails to trails path. We rode a leisurely pace of about 10-12 mph out 10 miles to a lunch stop and back. The sky was cloudless, the temperature was 83 degrees, there was no wind. Sort of like a nice Oregon summer day, except it was on January 1st in Southern California!


(I am still learning the fine points of helmet cam aiming, Sorry!)

We had a good ride, even the locals were impressed with today's weather. I was made aware that we are all on a continuum of fitness. Some of us rode today with virtually no effort at all, while others where huffing and puffing to maintain our 12 mph pace over this flat course. Let's not forget that we all started somewhere.



I've been leading an annual ride around Crater Lake in August and invited the BOBIES to put together a van or carpool of folks and make an adventure out of it. That ride may be a bit more than some of today's riders care to bite off, but I'm sure that with a little preparation that they will be able to put together a group to come join us on this gem of a ride in Oregon.

It was a good ride today, a nice break in the long drive home.



........road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total
Today........21..............0.............0..........0...........21
Jan..........21..............0.............0..........0...........21
YTD..........21..............0.............0..........0...........21