[Gordonm]

Good to hear both of you are back at it. I have been slacking a little lately and it has shown. I put on a few lbs over the holidays and my wife has also. She even said she needs to get back at it. We bought the trainer for her and she has yet to get on it. I have been the one using it. The outdoor riding has not been good due to road conditions.

Some miles are better than no miles I guess. The indoor is just boring though. I'd rather be cold than ride in one spot.

[A_Darling]

mag trainer?? try a set of rollers to add some skill training into those boring sessions.

[Ronin]

A Darling, et al.,

I do rollers with my single, and although I know that tandem rollers exist there is no way I'd put a tandem on rollers. I spoke to Al Kreitler about them and he will make them only if you sign a very technical waiver of liability -- he has real horror stories about tandem rollers.

Our plan for the winter was, and is now beginning to become, mag-resistance on Tuesdays, Thusdays, and Saturdays and Rollers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

[A_Darling]

Originally Posted by Ronin

A Darling, et al.,

I do rollers with my single, and although I know that tandem rollers exist there is no way I'd put a tandem on rollers. I spoke to Al Kreitler about them and he will make them only if you sign a very technical waiver of liability -- he has real horror stories about tandem rollers.

Our plan for the winter was, and is now beginning to become, mag-resistance on Tuesdays, Thusdays, and Saturdays and Rollers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

ok, didn't know you were using the tandem for indoor rides. If you do set up some tandem rollers, please please please take some video and put it on youtube. I imagine that would be quite entertaining.

btw, did about 10 miles of mountain biking today, threw in a dirtjump session to spice it up a bit.

I just don't understand why people live in the frozen north.

[Gordonm]

Coldest ride so far for me. I put on everything I own and tried my new booties out. It was only 28 with a wind chill of around 20 so it was not to bad. I went 20 miles and I wore to much. I was quite wet when I got home. Feels good to be outside though. Lots of salt but it was dry so it was rideable.

[Ronin]

A Darling, et al.,

No way you will find me trying a tandem on rollers. Linda is a bit of a squirmy stoker to begin with and if I got her onto rollers we'd be on the ground so fast....

Gordon -- You are the manly man. I thought about going outside yesterday but I could not wrap my brain around the wind chill. I really love to ride but don't want to spoil it with making myself miserable in the process. Another stage in the Tour-de-Garage.

The only bright spot is now that "Lance" has returned to the pro-pelothon Versus is covering more races so we go to see the Tour-Down-Under and that was good motivation to put up with the T-d-G sessions. No, I don't have a televison in the garage -- That might just be dangerous.

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday I learned yet another lesson in over-doing-it. Linda and I were doing the Mag-Trainer stage of the T-d-G and I tried going up one additional cog from our normal gear progression for the 16 mile Indoor Time Trial. Well, we did okay up till mile 11 and then my legs started to falter, and we struggled to make mile 12. My legs got shaky and quads were sore as well as the lesson learned.

Today was the roller stage where I added another 30 miles while listening to the radio and staring outside at the ice formations that formed during the day.

FWIW: the current issue of Bicycling Magazine has a great article on what they call the "Sitting Disease." It explains a lot about cyclists who get back troubles as well as suggestions to prevent/overcome those back problems.

[paramountz]

Hey all I'm a commuter and like to race the 24 hour races I usally commute around 42 miles round trip, 24 hours in the old pueblo is coming up me and my brother will be racing, and I love old Schwinn Paramounts hence the screen name good to see some fellow riders on here peace all.

[A_Darling]

Originally Posted by paramountz

Hey all I'm a commuter and like to race the 24 hour races I usally commute around 42 miles round trip, 24 hours in the old pueblo is coming up me and my brother will be racing, and I love old Schwinn Paramounts hence the screen name good to see some fellow riders on here peace all.

hats off to you sir, I've seen write-ups over on mtbr.com about the old pueblo 24 hour race, sounds pretty intense. 2 man team is pretty hardcore for that kind of race, keep us posted, and good luck.

[Gordonm]

I hope any of you east coasters got out today. It was 50 here in South Jersey. Probably one of the best rides I have had in 2 months. 32 miles of good riding. Of course my bike and me came back with a coating of salt but that washed off easily. Looks like it is back to the cold though.

[Ronin]

Hi Gordon!

Unfortunately Linda and I didn't make it out today. Despite the wonderful temperatures, the roads had not been plowed back very far during the last snow and ice storm so the roads are both narrow and very wet. (Dangerous and yucky)

You are correct that the temps for the week are forecast to be low again (this is winter after all and we have the added bonus that these low temps are killing off some creepy crawlers that have come further north in recent, warmer, winters -- spring should be less buggy!)

Back to T-d-G tomorrow (Oh Joy!)

[Ronin]

Ah, Winter! How do I hate thee -- let me count the ways...

Yesterday was a bit of a bummer. Despite temperatures in the low 50's it was absolutely unsafe to put our tandem on the road. The roads are still narrow due to snow berms on both sides and large puddles of melting snow and ice that would push any cyclist either into inch deep water or into the middle of the traffic lane. So, Linda and I took a four mile walk instead.

Today we were back to T-d-G and the tandem in the mag trainer. We upped the resistance in the odd miles a bit making it a harder workout and we felt pretty good -- I guess we worked hard enough to get the endorphines flowing. We watched the snow falling through the windows in the garage door -- I'll shovel that tomorrow (again).

[Gordonm]

I couldn't take it yesterday. Such a nice day I just had to ride something. I took down the hybrid bike and took off to the bank. Well that machine was down so I rode t oa few different banks. They all wanted to charge me to take some money out. Oh well I got home after riding about 10 miles, just nice to be outside riding. Snow is falling now. The weekend looks real nice though. IN the 50s

[Ronin]

Hi Everyone:

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and Linda and I just completed a windy (we call it charachter building) 16 mile ride. The snow and ice have melted back sufficently to make it safe to ride. Are we ever grateful for the Planet Bike fenders we mounted on our first tandem -- it makes riding on the sloppy roads bearable.

We opted for the 16 mile loop when we noted the winds (16-18 mph from the West) because that loop only has one sustained three mile stretch that is dead into the wind whereas the 22 mile loop as that stretch plus an additional four mile stretch that is also dead West.

Despite the wind, the temperatures in the low 50's was great. I made sure not to over layer so that I did not get too hot (I should have packed my wind vest for that windward leg).

Tomorrow looks like another outdoor riding day as do Tuesday and Wednesday. This could be a good week for us.

[Gordonm]

Ronin,
You did not get out early enough. I heard it was going to be windy today so I was up at 6.30 and not much wind. I was on the road at 7AM. Great ride, 30 miles and the only bit of wind was the last leg of about 5 miles. The early bird gets no wind.