Chrome Molly

Only had time for about 35 miles today, so took a spin down to Grey Cloud Island and then over to Afton.

Pics
-Drive by of a barn
-The ice cream parlor had plenty of customers
-A picture of the Gitane, lest it be jealous of the Trek
-Some of the ups and downs

photogravity

Nice pictures of your ride today Chrome Molly! That is surely some pretty countryside you've been riding. BTW, somewhere to get ice cream over the course of the ride is a good thing!

SteveSGP

Just got back from a bike ride with my son, East side of Minneapolis to Lake Minnetonka with a stop for a picnic at the lake. About 37 miles with half asphalt and half crushed limestone and an average speed of about 16.5 mph on our old steel road bikes.

Number of times we were passed by other riders?

One, yup only one

I can tell you one thing, I'm not in any rush to do that ride again. Riding on the limestone wasn't bad but the dust it caked the bikes with sucked.

photogravity

After yesterday's ride, I thought it prudent to get back onto the bike again, only this time on the Bilenky tandem with my wife. Since I didn't want to push it too much and since there was an impending rain storm on the way, I thought it best to do a quick ride on the C&O Canal towpath, where I've not ridden since late spring or early summer this year. We managed to cover about 24 miles mostly flat, except for the descent from my house to the river and then back, for a total of 900 feet of climbing.

For those that have been pestering me to post a picture of me in my bike shorts, something I have been resisting for a long time, here you go. Don't say I didn't warn you!


Bilenky Brunswick to Dargan C&O Towpath Run - 4 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Bilenky Brunswick to Dargan C&O Towpath Run - 1 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Bilenky Brunswick to Dargan C&O Towpath Run - 5 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Bilenky Brunswick to Dargan C&O Towpath Run - 7 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

mobilemail

Photogravity - awesome tandem! Nice shorts.

From Friday's ride:
The legendary Piasa bird at the Alton end of the Sam Vadalabene bike trail in IL:

Looking across the Mississippi River from the MO side of the Golden Eagle Ferry:

Lumpy Calhoun County IL:

Peugeotlover

Well, I went flying down the road to a County Park.
There's a turtle watching me real careful-like, on that log.
That's not algae on the water, those are tiny lilly pads.
That's some Fall flowery grass.
Between the bike triangle, that's a small water fall.
Then, we climbed up the face of a mountain, to the top. Mostly pushing the bike, lifting over the logs.
Then we are down to the Lac Villiam, on the other side, north.
And, finally, another bridge shot with the stream below.
You know, one does not realize how beautiful the earth is,
not until you get out on a bike!

Chrome Molly

That is a fantastic picture. New wallpaper for the work PC. Thanks!

photogravity

You guys were moving at a pretty good pace to average that kind of speed! No wonder only one person passed you on the ride. I concur about crushed limestone, it makes a huge mess!

photogravity

Thanks mobilemail. Since I hadn't heard of the Piasa bird, I needed to look that up. Interesting story/legend about it. Based on your pictures, that area looks it has some really nice riding available!

photogravity

Very nice shots, Peugeotlover! I don't know if you saw my post about yesterday's ride, but I was up Adams County yesterday, almost into York County! Some of my wife's extended family lives in the York and Hallam area.

What park was that where you took the pictures?

mobilemail

Miles and miles of rural roads around my house. South/southeast of me in Madison County IL, and St. Louis County and St. Charles County MO (and points west, thanks to the Katy trail) are hundreds of miles of bike trails. Personally, I prefer the country roads.

photogravity

I feel honored. If you dig around in my Flickr photostream, you'll see I tend to take all my bikes and "pose" them there. There's just something about that spot that works nicely for pictures, at least to my eye.


Hercules Kestrel - First Ride - C&O Canal Towpath - 5 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Norman Rapide - C&O Ride - 13 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Hercules Royal Prince at Harpers Ferry - 4 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

photogravity

I'm with you on the country roads. I was riding almost entirely on MUPs, but found that I was getting bored with them, so this year I broke out of my comfort zone and started riding on the road. I'm enjoying my riding more than ever. I look forward to seeing a lot more pictures from your rides, since you live in such a pretty area!

jimmuller 

What they said. Those are some awesome pics, and the Harper's Ferry tunnel shot is spectacular.

Ah, that is pretty hilly country, innit?

mobilemail

Well, let me give you an indiscriminate crash course! I travel quite a bit for work, and once in a while I get to sneak in a bike ride. Here are some "postcard" photos I've taken from several of those places. If you're still interested after I've shown my poor photographic ability, I can show you a little local stuff.
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=C5295...6673790E%21312

Peugeotlover

That's cool how the pictures keep changing.
We like pictures, show your local stuff.

Peugeotlover

That is Nixon County Park, one of the best kept secrets, so don't tell anybody.

I, too, was particularly liking that photo with the tall mountain tunne,l and steel girders with the tressels sticking out, and the bike down below against the stone wall. Great photo spot. And, rather nice bike selection.

Yeah, East Berlin is just a little west, and north, of here.

northbend 

I did a day long ramble on my fixed gear today. Rode from my house in North Bend.It was cold and foggy this morningI climbed above the fog to warm upIt was short lived, Fog again along the Issaquah - Fall City Road.I have meant to stop many times before to take a photo of this artwork on a house in Alki. Today was the dayTook the ferry over to Vashon island. I rode south along the east side of the Island. Along the way I stopped and visited briefly with my Brother and his son. The it was off to the south side to take the ferry back to Tacoma. While waiting for the ferry, I snapped a few photos.We arrive at Point Defiance in Tacoma. Thanks WSFI am now out of my comfort zone. I don't know this area very well but eventually I make my way thru Tacoma and up north to Bellevue and then head east, shadows getting long. I know I am running out of daylight. Out comes the phone to call my wife for a pickup in Issaquah about 20 miles or so short of home. I wait for her at the Issaquah Brewhouse. An Ice cold IPA is a fitting end to a day like this.

zacster

Ah, the good old days for me riding in the Seattle area. To contrast that, yesterday I did a 50 mile loop through the Bronx! Beautiful scenery, great wildlife, vistas of natural beauty. Oh, wait, that was Seattle again. No, I rode up the west side greenway of Manhattan, across Harlem, into the very south Bronx, up past Yankee Stadium where at 10am people were already gathering, past the art deco buildings on Jerome Avenue and then up University Heights. My hill climbs were on University and then Manhattan College into Riverdale, then back to the greenway and back to Brooklyn.

It was actually a pretty good ride and I was able to keep the pace up around 19-20 where traffic permitted.

noglider 

photogravity, has anyone ever told you that you and your wife could pass for brother and sister?

I once dated a woman who looked like she was closely related. We both noticed.

jbchybridrider 

I don't usually ride road bikes around town but did today so no pic's riding in the hills this time. Great spring day for it rode the coast too.







This guy in the Charger stopped holding up traffic so I could get a pic front on but it came out totally out of focus. I was spewing over that, didn't realize till later.




Bee Hive corner marks the very center of our small city. The building was built in 1896 as it say's, only a couple years ago the original bee fell off and was replaced.

Chrome Molly

Rest day, essential travel only.

scozim 

After a few weeks with no access to my favorite mountain biking spot because of this:



I was "jonesin' " for some fat tire riding. So, I decided today to ride "illegally" along the local irrigation canal. Some nice contrasts in nature thanks to water.

The canal is normally shut down this time of year but the water is really needed so it's still flowing - they're pumping water and filling tankers for the fire fighters.







Saw a couple of ducks on these ponds so I stopped and snuck up to take a photo - they were decoys. ##&@*@&#@ at least it was a good stalk.





Got home and almost hit this little guy:

jimmuller 

I got to do my 25 mile round trip commute. It's been a while since both the weather and the work schedule let me do that. I rode the '72 Bertin C32, its first ride of more than just around the neighborhood. Except for the fact that the brakes squealed like a 2-year-old whose dropped his sucker, the bike was great!

jerrduford

Me and the girlfriend's cruiser at the tridge (tri-bridge) in Midland, MI.
Out for a weekend stroll - Hit the town and Pier Marquette Rail Trail.