Ok, Who Rode In The Snow Today?

[CAMPYBOB]

FML.

I cleaned the chain, detailed the bike and headed out in the 42° air and 13 to 17 MPH wind gusting to 25 MPH.

The dark blue sky did not threaten.

It rained a cold rain. And then it snowed.

You heard me.

On October 17, 2015 it freakin' snowed. On me.

I allowed a wry smile to cross my face and turned into the wind.

Next, a post by Volnix telling us how warm Greece is and that he worked up a good sweat today.
After that, Beanz will tell me how Cali is suffering through another hot spell and Gina was back in short sleeves for a ride to the beach.
Then JH will chide me about Tennessee getting up to 65° today with sunshine and how the golden leaves are just now starting to turn.


Meh! I need a toy hauler to get the Vette, a couple Harleys and a few bikes out of Ohio. NOW!

 

[BobCochran]

I did 26.81 miles today in breezy Maryland, and my, was it cold. We had a dark blue sky too. I did start thinking of snow. My arm warmers are letting me down badly. The Gore knee warmers are okay, but they "let down"...literally. Maybe I should pin them to my shorts.

I did the Bob Cochran thing: I rode to my local bicycle shop and bought a pair of Endura booties. I'm also planning to add an extra handful of Kleenex to my handlebar bag. I'll need it. I want to keep riding.

Brrr! Is it cold!

Bob

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I only did 19 miles. And I just sat up the last mile or two and didn't even look at the ride data until I uploaded it.

When it gets into the 40's and you know it ain't getting any warmer...lose the detachable clothing. Go with tights and proper long sleeves.

Eliminate gaps and exposed skin...unless you are going at it hammer & tong and still want a little venting area.

It wasn't jacket weather yet, but I had two layers on up top and tights. No shoe covers yet. They're next though.

As long as the roads are clear of snow, I'll ride. I should qualify that...with an air temp of 20°-25°. If snow has forced me off the road for a week or two I'll do 20° just to get off the damned trainer/rollers. 25° is my normal low temperature and I have to kick myself in the ass to go out in that.

Last winter I think I did two rides when it read 19° and one ride when it was closer to 15°. They sucked. Hard.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Kleenex?

Snot Rockets and jersey sleeves.

 

[mpre53]

44 miles today, and I think I had a tailwind for all of 5 miles. I either had headwinds, or vectoring crosswinds, the rest of the ride. It didn't help that it was shifting between WNW and WSW the whole time. Snot rockets, you betcha, and right around mile 35, my head was really feeling the temperature drop. 57 at ride start, dropped into the high 40s an hour or so before dusk.

Tomorrow, supposed to be 34 at daybreak, and rise to a whopping 48 in the afternoon, and drop below freezing overnight. I think the skullcap has to come out. Then it's time to pick the rest of the garden, and hope the still green tomatoes ripen in the house.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

No snow here!

44 miles at 17.3 average on the tandem with Gina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R04Ea6qY_Dc


So this is how I record riders behind me at times. When I don't use the rear seat GoPro rail mount. This recorder is on a small tripod so I can pan around.

 

[BobCochran]

Very cool, everyone. I notice how Mr. Beanz and Gina have the pedals in the same position. Another cyclist takes the action photos of you, right?

@mpre53 I think it frosted here in Maryland. I understand about the gardening. My wife is a very serious gardener, but she has taken a short break from it this year. I expect next year she will plant stuff left and right and then before the first frost hits she will dig up various bulbs to protect them from freezing till Spring.

Bob

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Very cool, everyone. I notice how Mr. Beanz and Gina have the pedals in the same position. Another cyclist takes the action photos of you, right?


Bob

Actually the images are stills I extracted from the video footage. I mounted the Go Pro on his handlebars then I edited the clips to create the video. Then extracted a few images. So they are not actually photos but stills from the video.

 

[MotownBikeBoy]

If it makes you feel any better, we had a round of sleet late Friday afternoon, sufficient to make the ground look like a green and white Muchigan State Spartans field.

But ... If they are right, the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley are projected to have a warm, dry winter.

 

[BobCochran]

Mr. Beanz, does the person riding the Specialized bike have a kickstand on it? How do you park your tandem when you need a few minutes break? Unrelated question: does riding a tandem mean you and Gina can outrun and outclimb single riders, since there are two of you supplying the power? You must bring a lot of power on that tandem. A lot.

Thanks a ton

Bob

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Mr. Beanz, does the person riding the Specialized bike have a kickstand on it? How do you park your tandem when you need a few minutes break? Unrelated question: does riding a tandem mean you and Gina can outrun and outclimb single riders, since there are two of you supplying the power? You must bring a lot of power on that tandem. A lot.

Thanks a ton

Bob

No kickstands. 3 guys on Specialized in the video. My buddy Mike has white stripes so I can see where it looks like a kickstand.

We just lean the tandem against a wall or fence like I do with my singles. But I lean them so that the rear tire is against the wall and the front side of the handle bar hoods so that I don't damage the bike frame or paint or derailleurs. All about technique! :lol:

We can out ride a lot of riders on the downhill, flaming fast on descents. Into the wind we can overpower many riders. Onthe flats we can outrun most riders.

On the climbs, heck no! It's tough climbing on a tandem. But I do know some excellent climbing teams but they train specifically for the climbs and are in great climbing form. B)

 

[swampy1970]

Snow? I remember that stuff. That's what other people get. Oddly, the last time I saw the stuff on the bike was late June in California riding through 12ft high snow banks on Ebbetts Pass at 8800ft.

So, so f**king cold. Not what you need at about 150 miles into a 200 mile ride in the hills... One night in hospital under observation and two weeks on steroids followed than debacle - but I did finish the ride and drove home 160 miles back through the mountains afterwards. All the weather reports said it'd be a nice sunny day and it was but noone mentioned that there's be 5 miles of riding through what was effectively a giant walk-in freezer.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by MBB:
"But ... If they are right, the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley are projected to have a warm, dry winter."

Yeah, WeatherUnderground and AccuWeather are both forecasting a warmer El Nino Winter with slightly less rain and snowfall.

The Old Farmer's Almanac disagrees. They are predicting Round 3 of the New Ice Age.

I hope the former is correct. I have travel plans in place and the bug out bags are already packed...just in case.




It was slightly warmer today and the sun was out! I start the 40-miler at 42° and 100% cloud cover and finished at 46° in bright sunshine! Yay! As usual of late, the wind was up again. 12 to 18 MPH with gusts to 23 MPH. About half of the ride was into the wind. 1500 feet of climbing, so fairly flat and I just loafed through it, solo, at 15.7 MPH average. Heart rate hit 180 on two climbs, so some decent climbing intervals and I did ride the tailwind home for a few miles of the return leg, but for most of the ride I was just spinning easy and looking at the Fall colors.

Ohio is spectacularly beautiful in October. Still very green...the crops are coming off the fields...we still own most of Cali for a few more weeks. After that, ANY part of the the Southern tier states have it all over the Not So Great Lakes!

You want fun? Come on up and sit through a Browns game when the wind is screaming in off Lake Erie at 25 MPH and the air temperature is around 20° and DROPPING! With white-out snow conditions on the field!

Come for our excellent Great Lakes Brewing Company Ales!
Stay because you're frozen to your seat!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Swami, what went wrong? 5 miles of cold...figure all of it was climbing and you would be through that in maybe 45 minutes? Bonk?

 

[BobCochran]

I wonder what happened with Swami too. Maybe the thinner air at the altitude caused a problem?

Hope you are better now, Swami.

Thanks a ton

Bob

 

[CAMPYBOB]

BC, Tandem teams can develop twice the watts a single can with approximately the same frontal area. So on the flats and into big wind a tandem can make a single bike rider really suffer. It's more fun than motor pacing to sit in behind a good tandem team because the accelerations are smooth.

Tandems can just bomb the Hell out of a fairly straight descent. The are scary fast when running downhill. The biggest problem a tandem driver faces is slowing the damned big rig down when flying off a huge drop. Drags brakes were needed until the advent of the tandem-size huge disc brakes just to keep the tires from getting blown off the rims from heat build up.

Now, going up the shallow climbs it's a drag race between good tandem teams and good single riders. Tandems can still slam dance the power in a game of Mo'...as in Mo Mentum.

When the going gets steep, only the very best tandem teams can make an attempt at climbing with the singles. I've seen, first hand, teams than could crush long, steep climbs. Those are very rare though. The average husband & wife tandem team or even two good riders that just teamed up for a weekend Century ride on a tandem and otherwise have no miles in on a big rig are absolute dog meat under the wheels of the competent climbers on single bikes.

The tandems are quick to drop down through the gears as the hill ramps up so the riders can stay seated and in their power bands while the single riders stand up and rock & roll over the top and wave bye-bye in the rearview mirror.

Getting all of the tandem power to the ground on a stiff climb takes two very practiced and very willing to work HARD riders...riders matched in effort and in synchronization on that 35-pound sled.

 

[pwarbi]

As soon as snow or minus figures get quoted when it comes to temperature, that's the game up for me till it comes warmer again.

When I was younger I'd ride any kinds of weather but as I've got older I'm becoming more...sensible, maybe your call it?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by mpre53:
"44 miles today, and I think I had a tailwind for all of 5 miles. I either had headwinds, or vectoring crosswinds, the rest of the ride."

Good ride! Nice work!

Yeah, I know what you mean about the distinct lack of tailwinds on a ride. For some reason or other the wind dies or shifts when it should be at our backs. We've had a lot od swirling, shifting wind direction rides lately. At least yesterday I caught a break and ​did have a tailwind or a tail-sidewind most of the way home.

 

[maydog]

There were some snow flurries up in Duluth, MN over the weekend. I was not able to ride in the snow - but I did have a nice swim in Lake Superior. It was warmer than usual - about 50 degrees - so i was able to swim for 15 or 20 minutes.

I was able to get out for a quick 60 yesterday. Temps in the 60s with a stiff south wind. The weather is going to be lovely again today.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Now, going up the shallow climbs it's a drag race between good tandem teams and good single riders. Tandems can still slam dance the power in a game of Mo'...as in Mo Mentum.

Our midweek rides are up a 3 mile climb at 4% on the tandem. We do the climb twice just for exercise and it helps synch our pedal stroke resulting in more efficient tandem riding. There have been times on our longer flat weekend rides where we have to take a detour out onto the road where we encounter a 5-7% fwy overpass about 50-60 yards long. We've crushed single riders on the short climb but on anything longer than that, fo'get about it! :lol: