The late fall weather continues to bounce around from warm to cool. After two days off the bike I was back on my mountain bike today. The clouds had thickened from the partly ones earlier in the day. The temperature was up to 66 and then down to 64 when I finished. There was no wind to speak of but just enough that when I was in the shadow of trees I could feel the difference. Changing from my road bike to my mountain bike sounds easy but certain muscles and nerves take time to acclimate and there was some complaining as this was going on. I was not able to pedal with the leg power I am used to so my average speed (12.1 mph) dropped and the time to cover the 15.78 mile route was a little longer than I would like. My average cadence was lower than usual for my MTB riding at 75.3 RPM, down 3 RPM from Monday’s ride.

There were a number of other people out biking on the trails. All but one are what I call light recreation bikers. The one exception was in the serious category with a helmet and other gear. Riding the trails with light recreational bikers can challenging since their bike handling skills do not always match how fast they are moving or turning.

December mileage is now at 172.02 and YTD is 5543.32 miles. This week I biked 108.68 miles. For December I have been on the bike 12 hours and 30 minutes. The Christmas days will block off some biking but I should be able to get to the 200 mile mark for December.

12-18-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route Map

12-18-2011 Home Weather Station End