12/15/07 Weekly Ride Report

The weather lately has made for interesting photo ops and happy dogs, but has not been so conducive to biking.

We had an ice storm on Monday and I took these pics of the ice glazing berries in the privet hedge and a dried stalk of Joe Pye Weed.


Thursday, we had snow which the dogs absolutely love. Saffy makes Jeff and I play soccer with her. We have to use a basketball since it takes such a beating!

She invented this version of the game and puts a lot of energy and muscle into it and expects us to do the same.

Jeff and I can get quite a workout keeping up with her. She loves to try to steal the ball away from us and then wants us to try to take it from her. She loves 'fake outs' and is really good at doing it to us. She'll hold the ball with one paw, start to send it one way and then quickly change and go the other way!


Yes, I'm trying to distract you from my lack of cycling content for this post. I was so psyched up to ride after watching the cx race Saturday, but didn't get out until the brief warm up on Wednesday.

I had a really good ride with my fresh legs. I can't remember the last time they felt that fresh! They felt strong, even twitchy, which was a good feeling since I definitely have more bulky muscle than quick twitch fibers. I was on the 'cross bike, but it felt so light and connected to me. I guess that was the benefit of being so physically well rested.

The temperatures got up to 45-50 so I could go with my lighter clothes. Although a few splatty raindrops landed on me at the start of my ride it cleared a little. The wind was mild at first, though it got pretty strong toward the end of my ride.

My (meager) total for the week was 1 outside ride of 32.81 miles on the cross bike.

Rest is nice to a point, but if all this 'rest' continues I'm definitely going to start to atrophy, so workouts will be picking up again one way or another.

RI 'Cross Race

I had a great time Saturday ringing a cowbell and cheering for racers at the 6th Annual W.E. Stedman GP of Cross: UCI Cat. 2 - Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series Round #6 & Rhode Island State Cyclo-Cross Championships. This is a *very* picture heavy post, but I hope you enjoy them!

Having just gotten a 'cross bike of my own, I was really excited to see so many women racers. They make it look easy!

A pedestrian bridge crossed the course near the start/finish line, so spectators could get a neat view of the fields as they started out on the pavement.
Cat 3/4 Women

Elite Women

Elite rider, Anna Milkowski, finished 1st.

Elite women on tough runup with Hannah in pink.

Mid-air mount, Hannah again!

Elite racer, Rebecca Wellons, stayed on the bike and powered up one time. Though this strategy was probably not as fast as dismounting and running, it was fun to watch! She finished 2nd.

The men's fields were a bit larger and included the Masters,

Cat 3/4's,

and Elite's.

The course was a little snowy for the first racers.

The Master's queue up.

Juniors and Cat 3/4 Women tackle the sand.

Slippery mud on this turn tended to cause a bit of a bottleneck and a few people went down here.

One of the best spots for watching as they twisted around the trees.

Many had to 'dab' with one foot on this corner.

Another view of the course with the Elite Women riding.

The Elite Men working together.

Ready and waiting in the pit.


The results of all the races are posted here.

12/8/07 Weekly Ride Report

Weather and plans definitely hindered biking this week, but it seemed beneficial to have a little rest.

I did 2 rides outside on the 'cross bike for a total of 55.05 miles. And I did one tiny trainer session of about 7 miles inside. I have to get new batteries for my computer as it kept cutting out on me.

I saw two white-tailed deer in the distance on Friday's ride. Hopefully you can spot them in this picture, I know they're pretty small.

That gray sky sprinkled on me a little, but the heavy rain held off until I finished!

Ice Cold

We have below normal temperatures here in RI and have had winds and precips since December began, so today was my first outside ride this week! I lasted for 22.08 miles. I did a loop past a couple of the beaches and then over to the rec area field for a lap around that. My tires were inflated for pavement, so riding over the bumpy, frozen ground was quite an experience and had me clenching my teeth and struggling to keep my grip on the handlebar with my cold fingers.

See the ice in the pic? Brrr...

I'm working on getting some winter gear and will make a post about it soon.

I have to face the fact that some days I'm just going to have to get on the trainer. I did 30 minutes on Tuesday just to remind myself what it was like and it wasn't too bad. I just need to set up a TV screen and fan in front of it.

12/1/07 Weekly Ride Report

I did 5 rides on the 'cross bike this week for 154.44 miles in all.

Sunday, I was trying to take pictures of my new tights (post coming soon) while rolling, but I couldn't get quite the right angle. However, I did get this shot of the frame which I kind of like with the road blur behind.

While I was playing around with the camera, Jeff got out ahead of me! I took this picture just to show you one of our roads and then focused on pedaling again.

The wind is pounding the walls of the house today and I haven't even set a foot outside! Based on the weather forecast, I think I'm going to have to start doing some indoor trainer workouts this week.