2010 Daily Road Riding Thread

[Roadhouse]

Miles and experiences here please. Always good to read about other rider's rides or races so even when those who didn't ride or can't ride get the daily dose of it. Plus you can track your mileage and put it against other riders. Pics are a plus so have it, if the mods are cool with this idea that is.

Just a thought. Here are some pics from my last city to city ride in Texas.

the bike, Specialized Tarmac Elite

shadow rider, me

the road sign of the road

 

[elapid]

Good idea for a thread. I will not be contributing much until I emerge from my basement in April, but look forward to reading about everyone's epics.

Here are some of mine from 2009:

Training in Australia (Melbourne and Cairns). This one is from Mt. Dandenong near Melbourne, which has four different roads to the top of the mountain (all around 10km and 5-8%).

Climbing up Independence Pass (12,096 feet) on the last day of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado. Other highlights included Grand Mesa (50km climb and descending the 36km on the opposite side in 30 minutes without touching the pedals!), Colorado National Monument, and riding the dirt road over the top of Cottonwood Pass (12,126 feet) in freezing rain.

The famous Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. This is ascending North Mountain at an average gradient of 12% over 5km, including a 1.5km section of 15%. Not easy with standard gearing and panniers!

The Cabot Trail again, this time coming down French Mountain and riding away from the Cape Breton Highlands National Park (where we had just hiked the Skyline Trail and saw seven moose!).

 

[Roadhouse]

damn, you got me beat a hundred fold. good pics!

 

[CentralCaliBike]

I really need to figure out how to post photos - today went on the first ride of the year with my son. he did well keeping up an a stretch while we were pushing to catch up with our group that had turned around early (especially since he is only 13 and not a racer). Ended up the day with 23 miles and two climbs on a very wet and cold day in low lying cloud cover. At the end of the ride he told me he want to ride a lot more this year including riding evenings during the week with me - make a dad feel real good

 

[usedtobefast]

I really need to figure out how to post photos - today went on the first ride of the year with my son. he did well keeping up an a stretch while we were pushing to catch up with our group that had turned around early (especially since he is only 13 and not a racer). Ended up the day with 23 miles and two climbs on a very wet and cold day in low lying cloud cover. At the end of the ride he told me he want to ride a lot more this year including riding evenings during the week with me - make a dad feel real good

if you use picasa you can upload your pics and then once that is done right click
on the photo and hit view image. copy that url and paste it into the upload image feature on this page. it is easy once you get the sequence.

 

[CentralCaliBike]

if you use picasa you can upload your pics and then once that is done right click
on the photo and hit view image. copy that url and paste it into the upload image feature on this page. it is easy once you get the sequence.

Thanks - I will try that.

 

[Roadhouse]

I use photobucket and only have to cut 'n' paste the url directly into the reply box and that's it. btw, nice to hear about your son. good job!

 

[broken chain]

Good idea for a thread. I will not be contributing much until I emerge from my basement in April, but look forward to reading about everyone's epics.

Here are some of mine from 2009:

Training in Australia (Melbourne and Cairns). This one is from Mt. Dandenong near Melbourne, which has four different roads to the top of the mountain (all around 10km and 5-8%).

Climbing up Independence Pass (12,096 feet) on the last day of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado. Other highlights included Grand Mesa (50km climb and descending the 36km on the opposite side in 30 minutes without touching the pedals!), Colorado National Monument, and riding the dirt road over the top of Cottonwood Pass (12,126 feet) in freezing rain.

The famous Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. This is ascending North Mountain at an average gradient of 12% over 5km, including a 1.5km section of 15%. Not easy with standard gearing and panniers!

The Cabot Trail again, this time coming down French Mountain and riding away from the Cape Breton Highlands National Park (where we had just hiked the Skyline Trail and saw seven moose!).

You lucky fella,I'm mired here in 18 inches of snow.Those are some gorgeous pics.Beautiful scenery.Some nice challenging terrain also.

 

[Race Radio]

Thanks - I will try that.

Picassa is excellent. Tinypic also is good but the quality is not as good

 

[eleven]

I ended 2009 and started 2010 with eight straight days of really fantastic riding outside of Austin, a "winter training camp" tradition. Bit chilly, but generally dry and fantastic routing.

Unfortunately, I returned to my "other" home and was welcomed by 32 inches of snow. Hello, trainer...

 

[LongSprint]

Around the Bay in a Day

My big ride for 2009 was the Around the Bay in a Day in Melbourne (210km). Second time I've done it and finished much better than the first time when I bonked badly and could barely sit on my crappy old saddle for the last 30km (Selle Italia). Photos here

I probably won't do it again though - too many riders who don't know how to ride in a bunch. I was nearly wiped out descending the Westgate Bridge when someone moved over on the guy in front of me forcing him to move outside our lane and knock down a plastic bollard which I then couldn't avoid running over. Then the aftermath of two bad crashes at least one of which appeared to have resulted in a broken collar bone. And these were in the first hour. The final straw for me was when a rider was hit by a car from behind a hundred or so metres back from the group I was with.

The good news is that my riding time was about six and half hours and I felt relatively fresh afterwards and recovered well.

 

[craig1985]

My big ride for 2009 was the Around the Bay in a Day in Melbourne (210km). Second time I've done it and finished much better than the first time when I bonked badly and could barely sit on my crappy old saddle for the last 30km (Selle Italia). Photos here

I probably won't do it again though - too many riders who don't know how to ride in a bunch. I was nearly wiped out descending the Westgate Bridge when someone moved over on the guy in front of me forcing him to move outside our lane and knock down a plastic bollard which I then couldn't avoid running over. Then the aftermath of two bad crashes at least one of which appeared to have resulted in a broken collar bone. And these were in the first hour. The final straw for me was when a rider was hit by a car from behind a hundred or so metres back from the group I was with.

The good news is that my riding time was about six and half hours and I felt relatively fresh afterwards and recovered well.

I know what you mean! I did the Briabne to Gold Coast ride last year, and there was at least 8000-9000 people in the ride, and I recall having so many near misses, passing people who did not have a lot of bike handling skills, experience riding in a bunch, and I yelled out to people that our group were about to pass and to stay left, but either nobody heard me (and I was yelling very loudly), or they did not know what to do. I guess the pouring rain did not help.