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  • Originally posted by PaloAltoCougar View Post
    The wife's new wheel set (she got the Mavic Aksiums) seemed to agree with her
    Don't you mean Ksyriums? I thought she already had Aksiums.

    Looks like a really nice ride. The weather was warm today, but we had other things we had to do; getting a little cabin fever.

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    • Originally posted by mtnbiker View Post
      Don't you mean Ksyriums? I thought she already had Aksiums.

      Looks like a really nice ride. The weather was warm today, but we had other things we had to do; getting a little cabin fever.
      Yup, I blew it. She loves the new Ksyriums.

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      • We also took advantage of great weather and an open calendar. Left at about 8:00 with temps about 50 and put in just over 51 miles. Temps at the finish were in the upper 60s. We had a great group, including one guy who just had his ACL repaired last summer and took up cycling to replace basketball and weekend touch football. He is an absolute hammerhead, Killing the rest of us already. Very fast ride, with lots of attacks. Thanks to a very mild winter I'm way in front of where I usually am this time of year, but still lack much seated power, which I really feel on the climbs.

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        • Originally posted by bluegoose View Post
          We also took advantage of great weather and an open calendar. Left at about 8:00 with temps about 50 and put in just over 51 miles. Temps at the finish were in the upper 60s. We had a great group, including one guy who just had his ACL repaired last summer and took up cycling to replace basketball and weekend touch football. He is an absolute hammerhead, Killing the rest of us already. Very fast ride, with lots of attacks. Thanks to a very mild winter I'm way in front of where I usually am this time of year, but still lack much seated power, which I really feel on the climbs.

          So how does the "attack" thing work? Do you agree on a route and then one or more breakaway and the others reel him/them in? Or is it simply one guy blasts away and then waits for the others to catch up? I see big groups now and then and think it would be fun to join in, although I'm not sure I could hang.

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          • Nothing set. Whenever someone is moved upon by the spirit, they blast around the edge and make a dig for it, trying to create as much space as possible and stay away for as long as possible. The hills are an obvious place to do this, but this time of year I am lucky to get to the top, so attacking the hills isn't really an option yet. We also have a few set spots where people know which bridge to sprint for or which stop sign to race toward. It's intervals in disguise, and a great way to get yourself in shape.

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            • Went out with the group Saturday for 33 miles. It was brisk but it felt good to get out and ride with the group. I worked really hard this winter to get my strength back and I'm close but the guys in the group were good to not push it really hard.

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              • Originally posted by RC Vikings View Post
                Went out with the group Saturday for 33 miles. It was brisk but it felt good to get out and ride with the group. I worked really hard this winter to get my strength back and I'm close but the guys in the group were good to not push it really hard.
                That's a nice comeback for you; glad the bionic parts are working well.

                We had a couple of good rides last week as we build toward century season. The missus likes her new Ksyrium wheel set and I'll probably take the plunge soon as well.

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                • Nice work, RCV. Glad to hear that you are back in the saddle. There's no reason to think that you can't back into really good condition with the new parts.

                  The weather continues to be amazing here, despite a couple of incoming storms this week and next. After spending about 11 hours on Friday night and Saturday morning helping with my son's boy scout yard sale I was feeling a little stressed out. So I dragged a friend out for a 32 mile ride in the early afternoon. A few hours after we finished my wife wanted to go out for ride, as she has been riding about once a week with some friends for the last month or so. So we did about 20 miles together Saturday evening, for a grand total of about 52 miles for the day for me. Neither ride was very strenuous, but it felt really good to get and run the engine for a little while.

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                  • Our final prep for next week's Wine Country painfest had us going 80+ miles today, including a return to Mt. Diablo. We planned the route so that we wouldn't begin the 10-mile Diablo climb until mile 40. Our route traced the second half of this year's Amgen Diablo stage, although we still had 30 miles to go after we pounded our way to the top.

                    Along the way, we saw some Devil Mountain Double participants, rode counter to a 50-mile organized race of sprinters, and followed a dozen 1910-vintage horseless carriages, all the while fighting 10 mph winds. We didn't set any speed records, but had a great ride and we're back safe, which is the only test that really counts.

                    http://app.strava.com/activities/134501285

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                    • Crazy wind today (out of the South at 20+, gust in the 30s) so I decided to take advantage of it. Averaged 26mph over a stretch of about 13 miles, except for one break when I got my first flat in over 2000 miles (I was going 30 when I flatted - it was a bit scary). But the best part of the day was taking KOM on a particularly competitive Strava segment - I used the same gusts to get into my smallest cog and go for broke. Averaged 34.6mph over a 1.5 mile stretch - that one is going to stand for a while - and 29.3 over a 6 mile stretch. Hit a top speed of 37. Kinda fun to be going that fast (I know this is nothing to some of the speeds you all hit on descents, but, hey, flatlander here!).

                      The stretches into the wind completely sucked, though.
                      Awesomeness now has a name. Let me introduce myself.

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                      • Originally posted by Pheidippides View Post
                        Crazy wind today (out of the South at 20+, gust in the 30s) so I decided to take advantage of it. Averaged 26mph over a stretch of about 13 miles, except for one break when I got my first flat in over 2000 miles (I was going 30 when I flatted - it was a bit scary). But the best part of the day was taking KOM on a particularly competitive Strava segment - I used the same gusts to get into my smallest cog and go for broke. Averaged 34.6mph over a 1.5 mile stretch - that one is going to stand for a while - and 29.3 over a 6 mile stretch. Hit a top speed of 37. Kinda fun to be going that fast (I know this is nothing to some of the speeds you all hit on descents, but, hey, flatlander here!).

                        The stretches into the wind completely sucked, though.
                        I just noticed you put up a couple of KOM's today, nice. We had a windy day here also and I got one KOM. I'm not sure about Strava, I find myself going down a stretch of road wondering if it's going to be a portion of road that counts on Strava. It would be nice if your Garmin lit up to let you know it was time to get after it because this next three miles is going to count.

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                        • That's really impressive, P'dip. I've never broken 30 in the flats, and certainly not for that length of time.

                          And RC, you know that you can create your own segment on Strava and then as people ride it a scoreboard will develop. My daughter in Colorado has created a few there, and she enjoys being QOM, at least for a while. At my age, I have no hope of being KOM, especially not in this well-ridden area. But Mrs. PAC has nailed it a time or two. Before yesterday's ride, I noticed that QOM on one of our planned sprint segments was there for the taking. I alerted her to it and pulled her to a QOM, besting 55 other women, so I've got that going for me.

                          Yesterday's ride produced over 100 "trophies" for me, but that a function of both a well-traveled route and because it was only the second or third time I'd recorded it on Strava. Still, I'm thinking of having actual trophies made up to commemorate my feats; it'll be an impressive trophy case. I may do it for my running, too, and throw a party to show it off. It will be a feet feat fete.

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                          • Originally posted by PaloAltoCougar View Post
                            That's really impressive, P'dip. I've never broken 30 in the flats, and certainly not for that length of time.

                            And RC, you know that you can create your own segment on Strava and then as people ride it a scoreboard will develop. My daughter in Colorado has created a few there, and she enjoys being QOM, at least for a while. At my age, I have no hope of being KOM, especially not in this well-ridden area. But Mrs. PAC has nailed it a time or two. Before yesterday's ride, I noticed that QOM on one of our planned sprint segments was there for the taking. I alerted her to it and pulled her to a QOM, besting 55 other women, so I've got that going for me.

                            Yesterday's ride produced over 100 "trophies" for me, but that a function of both a well-traveled route and because it was only the second or third time I'd recorded it on Strava. Still, I'm thinking of having actual trophies made up to commemorate my feats; it'll be an impressive trophy case. I may do it for my running, too, and throw a party to show it off. It will be a feet feat fete.
                            Both my KOMs were on well-traveled routes that I frequent a lot, so I knew they were there. (I would have had a third if it wasn't for that blasted flat tire - Strava is sharp enough to include all time, not just moving time). I do make my own segments up quite a bit, but I usually leave them "hidden" - I can use them to gauge my own effort to see how I'm doing.

                            With my Achilles still out of commission (technically it's pain-free, but the doc says I should save up my running karma for the Ironman), I've been putting a lot of time in on my bikes (200 miles/week or so - not Mrs PAC levels, but not bad for me), and I can feel the difference. I'm heavier than I should be right now, but even with the extra weight I'm faster than I've ever been.
                            Awesomeness now has a name. Let me introduce myself.

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                            • We're getting ready for the Denver Century in two weeks, and returned to Mt. Diablo this morning. That final climb still kills me. I PR'd, but I was going just over 5 mph so let's not gush. I'm not concerned about the distance or climb in Colorado, but starting at a place that's nearly 2,000 feet higher than our summit today has me a bit concerned.

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                              • Our final ride (well, mine--Mrs. PAC will ride again Monday while one of us has to work) before heading to Moab and on to Denver. I like how the elevation charts use a far different scale for the vertical than the one for the horizontal. It looks like we rode up Everest. Still, it was a nice climb, even with the heat and some wind on the way back. No dogs! And a few hundred miles in, still no flats with the tubeless tires.

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