I’ve got my singlespeed pretty much dialed. Been playing with volume spacers & air pressure in the fork. Went from none to 2 & dropped ~10psi. Fork is sitting just where I want it, small bump compliance improved & the action is great in g out type hits. Went out this morning to a trail network that either climbs or descends. Been super wet so far this spring & I almost lost it on some downhill leaves but saved it. I slowed down & took what I could get before a band of heavier showers moved in.
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Almost my usual Saturday ride, a spurious route from Peterborough to Oundle and back via the pub at Fotheringhay. We usually have time to cross the A43 before the pub opens but we spent a bit longer sitting in the sun at the cafe stop. So we turned right at Bulwick to get to the pub on time. To keep it together I was riding mainly Zone 1 before Bulwick but after the decision with a strong tailwind for the folks at the back I decided to throw in a couple of Tempo to Threshold blocks. I think I would have upset folk if I shot off the front and left them to struggle into a headwind 
Oh and bizarre one on the way back Pottyboro. When the road turns busier cycle lanes appear and we use them. A car slowed down and the female passenger leant out and yelled at my mate, "get on the cycle path ". There is no path and not even a footway just the cycle lane we were in 
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BWR prep.
North OC to West LA and back.
Ignore the NP. It was closer to 195-200. Power meter ran low on battery and spiked for about 20 seconds. Luckily I keep a spare battery in the bag.
Santa Monica Pier in the background. Those who aren’t familiar with Socal but have played GTA-5 might recognize it.
LOVING the Canyon Grizl.
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I’ve very familiar with that spot and Palisades Park in general. Way too many runs up & down San Vicente, to the pier and back (typically starting at or near Gretna Green) or pier to the path below, up the incline or under PCH at the canyon mouth, maybe some loops on the stairs at Entrada (down the wood, up the cement).
Your route to the east of PV, San Pedro, onward to and through and beyond LB to Seal Beach is not a scenic route, and you did it twice. Right there you get kudos (and an appointment for a head check). Was your route to / from HB along the Santa Ana flood control channel, er, river?
After taking a break from all training / workouts starting Wednesday, I got back on the saddle today, literally. I had been tempted to ride Saturday, but we had a light snow in the morning 
(it didn’t stick at our elevation though) followed by sunshine and followed by hail, it wasn’t a nice day. The roads were wet with temp around zero C, plus high wind, so I wasn’t keen on a road ride. The gravel bike looks too clean to take on the wet trails, so… pass. Today was different. I waited for the sun to come out and dry the roads and hit the road to shake out / burn out some of the cobwebs. I was notionally doing a TR outdoor workout (sweet spot), but I didn’t adhere to it as I was simply trying to spin the pedals. A late start on a Sunday with cool temps – around 9ºC / 48ºF, colder in the shade – meant the roads were relatively quiet.
The route was an out and back to Rapperswil, which is down Lake Zurich from Zurich. In terms of traffic, this stretch was relatively thick. The structure on the hill to the left is a 13th Century castle and to the right is a 13th-century church. Blocked by the black car further to the left is a still-operating monastery that opened its doors in 1606. At the base of the white buildings are loads of restaurants and an open plaza… and a good gelato shop. I rolled to the end of this bridge and at the train station just there, I turned around. Beyond the train station and to the right (not on this road) is a zoo that’s primarily for kids. The zoo keeps their giraffes in an area that goes along the sidewalk & road and kids and everyone, including the giraffes it seems, enjoys the beasts looking over the fence to watch the people go by. I didn’t visit them on this ride.
The following pics are from the causeway pictured above but heading back. Here’s a view up the lake. Because of the bend in the lake, Zurich can’t be seen from here. I think, though, where I live is straight ahead beyond about where the right side of the lake meets the water.
Here’s looking to the left of the causeway for a bit of snow hanging on ever after a sunny day (it’s just after 4p when I took this).
Here’s another view up the lake. There’s a little island out there with buildings with a restaurant, a chapel, and I suspect a couple of people live there. There’s another little (and smaller) island to the right out of the frame, also with a restaurant. By the way, if you’re confused by the rail being on both sides, the rail swaps with the road and moves from the northside to the southside by going under the road just behind where I took this to stop at station for a village that has been there since at least 1217.
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LMAO.
That’s one of the reasons I took the gravel bike. No way in hell I was going to risk flatting on those crap roads in sketch areas on Anaheim St. connecting PV and Long Beach.
Yup. I live right off the trail in Yorba Linda. It’s more or less free of transients these days and gives me a nice buffer in case I run out of daylight.
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I know, I know…
gotta find something to do on the boring endurance rides!
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It started 0deg for my first ride today and for a change I met my mates between Wansford and Nassington for our gravel ride today and we headed to Peterborough town (basically the same route I took) to meet some more mates at a cafe. By the time we’d got to the cafe it had warmed up to a beautiful day and the gilet came off. We then did some of the Peterborough GreenWheel cycle route to Morbourne. At which point one of my mates decided we should explore a bridle way. I think Ive followed it before and I got lost I told him. Lol, After we got through a field it seemed to disappear but a foot path was at the far side of the field. He volunteered to see if it was navigable. 10s or so after we went through the gate came the cry, “hold the gate, I’m getting chased by a bull” After I left him I thought I would have a quick coffee at my favourite cafe, as it had turned really warm, get back clean my bike and do some TT practice. I had heard a Scottish accent in the queue. Just as I was leaving an old man turned around wearing a fleece jersey with my relatively small home town football (soccer) club badge on it, so I thought I’d say hello. A very nice old chap but when he was telling me about the last time he bumped into someone like which it turned out to be an old classmate he dropped that he’d say hello to a lamp post, I should have known it wouldn’t be a quick hello. 45mins to an hour later I finally left the cafe.
The pics are in the Relive:
I committed a terrible sin when I finally got home, I had a quick lunch and jumped on the TT bike for Bays +1) without cleaning the Gravel bike 
The TT bike had been shifting perfect except for the smallest cog (top gear) but it extended to the bottom three cogs. So I guessed I’d need a new cable which I would pick up after the workout. Or so I thought when I finished the wo the shop was closed for the day. That sapped the last energy from my legs. I hope I can find one in my cupboard or its a lunchtime visit to a lbs.
On the way home, I saw an ice cream van and suddenly had the notion for one. I can’t remember the last time I went to an ice cream van That was the one thing I was warned not to eat during chemo in 2019 (my body would falsely think it was getting throttled and my stomach wouldn’t cope with it out of a van anyway which might not be 100% pure) so it was at least pre 2019.
It was now 14deg C btw
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Rode Hincapie road races day 5 and 6 this weekend. Yesterday was a hill climb loop 9 times, today was a generally flat circuit around an air field. Maintained contact with the main peloton until the very end both days and am very encouraged. My first time racing as a cat 3, in a tough 1/2/3 regional race. Was very scared of getting popped off the back and feeling like I didn’t belong but I’m encouraged, despite my poor overall finish, that the potential ceiling for growth has just been raised.
Yeah the cat upgrade is a whole different ball game. Excited to play.
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I’ve ridden that route several times (on a bike I just donated to my LBS), west LA down to San Diego, SD back to LA, or down to HB. My only variation from you was following the PV coast (recommended but slightly longer). I’m willing to bet some of the worst sections haven’t been redone since I rode them nearly two decades ago!
A not-so-flat quickie road ride at the end of the day: 14 miles and 2100’ of climbing.
It’s warmed up a bit with much of the ride around 20ºC / 68F. Still, to be safe, I had a long sleeve with my shorts. I could’ve gone with short-short, which is how most of the riders I saw were dressed. Anyway, some of the views on the climbs (no pauses for pics on the downhill, and the curving roads meant it wasn’t safe to take a pic on the fly or I might literally be on the fly…).
This first pic is looking north toward the metropolis of Zurich (around 405k ppl & the largest city in Switzerland).
Same climb but looking E-SE across the lake to the so-called “Gold Coast” (because they get the sunset… and not just because there tend to be large homes with their own vineyards over there… our side, this side, is the “silver coast”).
After the descent following the first major climb at around mile 6 of the ride.
A bit farther up the road from the last pic and the bike lane has moved to the other side of the road.
When I got home, my dog had a busted nail ripped down to the quick. Fortunately, he didn’t bleed anywhere, it seems. Ten minutes after speaking with the vet, we were in the office and they took off the busted nail to the base, cleaned, and wrapped it. He was a very good boy. That was my post-ride warm-down.
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Glad to hear puppy is ok!
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Nokesville, VA, USA
Finally made it outside! Super chill ride while my middle kid was at soccer practice. Three small loops and one big. So nice to be out again.
Nokesville is 50+ miles southwest of Washington, DC and the beginning of farm country. The Blue Ridge mountains are further to the west but I didn’t capture any in my pictures.
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What a cute dog!! Sorry for his ouchie.
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a few more flat rides left https://www.strava.com/activities/6975462216
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Rocking that zone2, Spring Break style!
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thanks goodness Spring break is over here!!! was a zoo
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Well it looks like that ride has cost me circa £80.
Some heavy showers were forecast but the time kept on changing every 15minutes. At about 4PM they finally arrived and after a couple of downpours I checked the forecast it was now to be dry and sunny. There was one more storm however which frightened of most folk apart from one mate. We had a really good 2up and the rain did eventually stop. I decided to come back by the park and that where it went wrong. I got stuck behind two joggers and after a few excuse me’s one stopped chatting and told his mate to move out of the way. Which he did, the only problem as soon as he had done he closed the gap again which forced me onto the verge and I p’tured and it was too big for the sealant and has made a proper mess. Much to his amusement, ‘you’ve got a blow out’ I hoping he was just genuinely stupid and not actually malicious 
I was close enough to home however I decided that if it didn’t seal I’d put more sealant in the flat. When I got back there was a massive piece of glass in the tyre and no amount of bending the tyre and poking with a screw driver dislodged it. I eventually got it out with a pair of needle nose pliers but I could only get the tyre to seat when it was full of sealant and couldn’t get it to hold more than 40psi without opening the hole again. I’ll leave the sealant overnight but its looking like a trip to the bike shop before the long weekend or borrowing the tyre off my other wheels
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Wed night group ride! Sidelined for 4 days, and finally setup my ‘new’ (LOL) gravel bike:
Well not so new, its my Tarmac SL7 with a brand new Terra CLX gravel wheelset and Specialized Roubaix Pro 30/32 tires that measure out to 36mm 
which will be perfect for the upcoming gravel event.
So with this break the rule of 105, decidedly non-aero wheelset I was still able to drop the hammer and haul ass with the A group:
that top 10 was powered by a 2022 5-minute power PR, just under my estimated power at vo2max. About 15 minutes of threshold and throwing anaerobic punches:
Then I dropped off and let the A group go… learning to suffer again, week by week.
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I’m amazed you can get 36 in there with clearance. That’s fantastic. And a strong ride!
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