[amol4184]

Riding is season is coming to an end here. Last 2 weeks I have not been riding regularly and even did two indoor sessions and then suddenly sunny days came back. Sunny but chilly still. Wearing a rain jacket and riding is a funny feeling but worth it.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Riding is season is coming to an end here.

Vow such beautiful colors of Autumn. Just for the sake of seeing these various hues of Autumn, I would every day venture out, be it on 2 wheels or 2 legs

[Poornavakra]

Today was a unique ride. A friend of mine came up with a trail within Bangalore which depicts Karnataka map once completed. Idea was to do this ride on November 1st to celebrate "Kannada Rajyothsava". We did a test ride week back which came pretty close but with today's ride, we were able to better it.

Ride took us through the gullies of Bangalore which we would have never explored if not for this ride. Though the distance was just 30km, the elevation at couple of places were crazy. We started our ride from Pesit/Nayandahalli Junction and completed at same location.

[amitoj]

I am not a big fan of driving anywhere to start a ride, unless the ride is at least 100kms, or it is a group ride with my Pan Mass Challenge team (which happens 3-4 times in a year). But last Saturday I was left with not much of a choice. My daughter had a robotics meet up in Alton, New Hampshire which is 1.25 hours of a drive away. Since it was an all day event, my first choice would have been to bike around Lake Winnipesaukee, but since I had already made plans with rest of the family to hike Mount Major, that was ruled out. I searched on RWGPS and found a neat 18 mile loop that took me up Mount Alton. It had been a while since I had ridden up a mountain so I took the opportunity to do just that.


I didn't know my Wahoo Elemnt could show climbs like this. It was very interesting!


Some pics along the route. There were 2 category 4 climbs, with the second one called Leg Snapper, which was nearly 1km long with an average gradient of 9.3%. Did all of that out of the saddle.

[amitoj]

I have a goal of doing at least one 100K ride in every month, including the winter months here in snowy New Hampshire.
Although there were a few exceptionally warm days in November, I chose those to spend with family instead. And somehow that left me with only yesterday as the only day for the 100K, and boy was it a challenge. First of all, the feel like temp was in mid 20F, which is around -7C, thanks to heavy winds. The route was such that for first 1/4th of the way, we had tailwinds, next 1/2 headwinds and remaining 1/4th tailwinds again, but then it got even more cold. I dont have any pics of the bicycle from the ride because I forgot my phone in the car.

Here's what all I wore for the ride:


This was one of my slowest 100K ride.


I got a couple of very useful tips from my local bike shop. One was to apply vaseline or a hand cream to the exposed parts of your skin, like nose, cheeks etc. And other was to add a dash of alcohol to your water to prevent it from freezing. Both tips worked out quite well, although I wish I had a tube of hand cream with me to reapply during the ride.

Anyway, the temps and the winds from the ride have set the benchmark for remaining winter months. Let's see what they have in store.

Amitoj

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Although there were a few exceptionally warm days in November, I chose those to spend with family instead. And somehow that left me with only yesterday as the only day for the 100K, and boy was it a challenge. First of all, the feel like temp was in mid 20F, which is around -7C, thanks to heavy winds.

I got a couple of very useful tips from my local bike shop. One was to apply vaseline or a hand cream to the exposed parts of your skin, like nose, cheeks etc. And other was to add a dash of alcohol to your water to prevent it from freezing.

That’s brutal. You got some conviction man.
Temps have been hitting 30F here so not as bad as you got but its still way too cold for my tropical ass. Here’s what I have been wearing - regular jersey and on top a thin fleece sweater and on top a Columbia rain/wind jacket. Combined effect is surprisingly warm, may be a bit too warm but perfect for me. Since it’s all general purpose gear I don’t have specific gear that just sits in the home if I am not riding. May be once it snows I’ll have to rethink the strategy.

That does leave feet and toes which go numb on the very first downhill where I hit 40mph. I could change the shoes but that would mean changing the pedals too. The Shimano SL pedals are unrideable without cleats unlike my MTB style pedals that go well with normal shoes too.

So anyway, I put two heat pads in the shoes above insole and warms the ball of the feet but doesn’t send warmth to toes. That brings me back to your photo of the gear, what shoes are those?

Besides, the Vaseline trick is excellent! I wasnt aware. Thanks a ton.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by amol4184

That’s brutal. You got some conviction man.
...
So anyway, I put two heat pads in the shoes above insole and warms the ball of the feet but doesn’t send warmth to toes. That brings me back to your photo of the gear, what shoes are those?

Besides, the Vaseline trick is excellent! I wasnt aware. Thanks a ton.

Thanks, Amol. I used to ride regularly in winters, but have become lazy in the last couple of years. Hoping to get back to it this year.

Those are shoe covers, they call them "booties", which I found to be a cute nickname. They are something like this:
Pearl Izumi Amfib Shoe Covers

Temps have to be consistently in the low 30s to mid 20s for these to be effective though, because any warmer and you'd be cycling in the sweat of your own feet. You could try just the toe covers as well:
Pearl Izumi Toe Covers

For my outermost layer, I have a soft shell jacket which offers a few advantages over regular winter wear:
1. It is light!
2. It has reflective stripes around shoulders and arms
3. Easy to access pockets

It's tricky to get the riding gear right for winter riding but having layers helps because then you can take some off if it gets too hot. One basic rule I try to follow is that if you are not feeling cold at the start of your ride then you have too many layers on.

Anyway, will see what happens in the coming months.

Cheers,
Amitoj

[amol4184]

Those toe covers look interesting. Right now my bigger worry is icy patches on trails and roads that I ride. My 25c tires already gave me a scare yesterday. Might stick to gravel bike for coming few months!

[amol4184]

Went on a maiden ride on my handbuilt bike. I was beaming ear to ear as I rode it. Definitely a proud moment for me!

[mobike008]

Here are a few pictures of my ride over the last couple of months.

I'm going to miss the summer and fall as we are now approaching some cold and icy winters.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Here are a few pictures of my ride over the last couple of months.

Superb pics there mobike008 : These are what dreams are made up of

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Superb pics there mobike008. These are what dreams are made up of

Thank you!

I'm blessed to live 200 feet away from a beautiful trail that runs for 40 miles through some scenic wooded sections as well as small cities.

[amol4184]

Some pictures from recent rides. The flatbar bike is ready to go as well as my gravel project. Had a surreal experience riding in snow. The tires worked great against my reservations, so I'm glad.

[AutoIndian]

Friends, happy to inform you that I along with other fellow cyclists (75 in total) completed the 600km #IAS_Heritage_Ride from Pune to Hampi successfully between 07-Dec to 12-Dec-2022 with the help & support of Team IAS (Indo Athletic Society).

The break-up was somewhat as below:

Day#1 Pune to Mohol (near Solapur) Wednesday_20221207
Distance: 218.38*km
Time: 09:13:38 hours

[AutoIndian]

Day#2 Mohol to Vijayapur Thursday_20221208
Distance: 152.60*km
Time: 06:36:27 hours