Finally outdoors.. and of course a super weird ride

[benb]

I have had a crap winter. I rode once outside in January and did pretty well getting to the gym, but I was sick a lot this winter.

And at the end of January I had the dermatologist go crazy about a mole on my leg. They cut me up 2X, each time saying I couldn't ride for a while. (I had a lot of stitches the second time.) . Luckily it wasn't cancerous, but it was something they don't like to see as it's "on the spectrum" to melanoma.

Anyway.. got my stitches out monday, we have had some crazy weather.

So anyway I went riding in shorts/jersey + rain jacket at lunch. Had to take the rain jacket off after a couple miles it was so warm. Meanwhile the roads are flooded as we've still got 12" snow drifts from the snow the last couple weeks. Very windy. Feet got wet but not cold it was so warm. It was in the teens last week and 60 today.

I'll take it...

[fmradio516]

I have had a crap winter. I rode once outside in January and did pretty well getting to the gym, but I was sick a lot this winter.

And at the end of January I had the dermatologist go crazy about a mole on my leg. They cut me up 2X, each time saying I couldn't ride for a while. (I had a lot of stitches the second time.) . Luckily it wasn't cancerous, but it was something they don't like to see as it's "on the spectrum" to melanoma.

Anyway.. got my stitches out monday, we have had some crazy weather.

So anyway I went riding in shorts/jersey + rain jacket at lunch. Had to take the rain jacket off after a couple miles it was so warm. Meanwhile the roads are flooded as we've still got 12" snow drifts from the snow the last couple weeks. Very windy. Feet got wet but not cold it was so warm. It was in the teens last week and 60 today.

I'll take it...

I was contemplating going out today but they predicted a lot more rain that it actually did, so I was going to go out tomorrow.. Now not a cloud in the sky. I am regretting it.

[parris]

I'm glad that it turned out to be nothing.

We have 70 degrees right now in The Binghamton area with H I G H winds. It's expected to drop to 30 tonight with the possibility of snow ugh.

I went out a couple of hours ago and it was all I could do to maintain 12 mph in places on the flats. The flip side is coming back with the wind I was sitting up cruising at 25!

[benb]

I changed both of my road bikes handlebars from 42cm -> 44cm width.

I had changed my Trek Domane out in January and that bike only rides on the trainer in the winter. It was promising, the trainer is always the least comfortable place for me.

With the promise of nice weather this week I stayed up late last night swapping the bar on my All City Space Horse. Then I thought the weather was going to be too bad to ride.

Then I get up this morning and the forecast had improved. Put the bike rack on the car, truck the bike to work, and of course it starts raining.

But it was so warm I'm glad I went through with it. At some point a fitter (can't even remember who) had convinced me I belonged on 42cm bars even though 99% of stock bikes in my size range would come with a 44cm bar. I had a pretty decent left hand injury in 2014 and it has nagged forever... lots of work and my left wrist always seemed to get sore on the hoods.

The wider bar finally seems to have solved it.. it seems like my wrist was somehow compensating for the bars being too narrow for my shoulders in a way that compromised the wrist. Can't really say for sure until I ride a lot more miles but it is not a subtle difference. Basically 0 symptoms with the wider bar, and I am not in good shape right now so my bike felt really big and the bars felt really low today!

Any riding at all does a lot of good for my mental state.