Andy_K 

They were on the ferry back to Seattle with us. Better keep an eye out for her around the city.

Spaghetti Legs 

RiddleOfSteel

Man, how could I have missed her??? I must have been too busy worrying about and looking down at the Paramount's continually loose and loosening headset.....

Lascauxcaveman 

Seattle's a pretty small town; I'm sure they'll bump into each other at Starbucks. Or on the Space Needle observation deck, someday.

I took some pix of this ride. Dan, Andy and David rolling into the small port town of Poulsbo:


We daisy-chained our bikes for security on the sidewalk in front of the Slippery Pig brewpub where we had a highly caloric and somewhat alcoholic lunch. Fuel for the road ahead. Check out the comically prototypical old Poulsbo dude checking out Andy's legs. (Well, truth be told, Andy does have pretty nice legs):



We found this nice piece of C&V bicycle art just few steps away, at the south end of the marina. An ancient cruiser bike equipped with a sidecar fashioned from the stub end of an old canoe. Very cool and very crafty:


Riding onto the ferry back to Seattle, after a very quick visit to Classic Cycle, a must see for any C&Ver who passes through the town of Winslow. Very much recommended.



Back in Seattle, after an urban-cycling cross-town adventure, AndyK gazes in wonderment at the sheer volume of old steel in the basement of Seattle BikeWorks main shop. We spotted a few really cool bikes, there, but there's probably quite a few more that we missed:


Game time, Safeco Field! I think the Orioles may have won the game; I wasn't really paying attention

Andy_K 

To be honest, I was pretty sure that guy was just waiting for us to go inside so he could steal our bikes until I noticed that he was wearing a Slippery Pig sweatshirt. The distinction between shady vagrant and brewmaster is often difficult to spot.

Wildwood 

jimmuller 

We took the tandem out for 43.7 miles today, a lovely cool day. Rode out from the house as far as Concord where we encountered a foot race in progress and the Concord Food Fight, I mean the Concord Food Fair.



Of course we had to stop and buy some veggies



and a potted plant.



Had a nice lunch.



Headed home, found someone's lost earring.



Unfortunately we found it embedded in our rear tire. That cost us about 15 minutes.



Even so, it was a very nice day.

deux jambes

DQRider 

Well, it's been nearly a month since my big crash into the rocks down by the river. I've taken the cast off my right arm; it seems to have healed pretty well. There is no swelling, but I'll take it easy on it for a few more weeks. The big goose-egg on my head is gone, and my eyes have lost their bruised shadows. Hopefully there was no dain bramage. But then, how would I know?

So tonight I took my first real ride since the crash. The ABCE (All British Cycling Event) is next weekend, and I wanted to make sure both bike and rider were ready for it. So I took my Super-Course roadster conversion out for a spin `round the `hood at sunset.



Signs of Autumn are showing up already. Just before I took these photos, there were two big whitetail bucks standing in this field, resplendent in their full spread of antlers. I couldn't get the camera into action fast enough to catch them.

Speaking of my Leica, after I cleaned the blood off it, I noticed that the bamboo hand-hold was damaged, and there were scratches on the lens barrel at the aperture ring. The lens cap was gone as well, and the skylight filter had to be replaced because it had cracked. Still, the little brick seems to be functioning just fine. That metal body is tough!


In the background are the woods where the two bucks disappeared.

So I didn't ride far tonight, maybe 8 miles or so, and the wrist was just a little sore at the end of it. I'll make sure to bring some ibuprofen with me next weekend for the 30-mile Gentleman's Tour. The bike's ready, and so am I.

.

Drillium Dude 

Glad to hear you're healing up - and back on the bike

DD

Johno59

Bike looking tremendous. Initially I thought you'd pranged this one. Imagine my relief when I realised another of your herd was banged up. You'll steal the show on this one.

DQRider 

Thanks, DD. I appreciate that.

Thanks Johno59. The bike I crashed was my Peugeot Canyon Express, and it came through in better shape than me. The rear rack took the brunt of the impact, so it was a bit scratched and bent. I was able to bend it back, and touched up the scratches with a Sharpie marker for now. One hand-grip is scratched up on the end, but that's no big deal. It's an old mountain bike - minor damage is simply considered "patina". None of the frame tubes or the fork were damaged.

.

scratchpaddy

Good to see you back, DQ. Honey Brooks on British Racing Green is a beautiful thing.

The final piece I needed to finish my Schwinn "Graveler" came on Friday. I put everything together Saturday and took it out for the first time this morning.



I've been wanting to explore Papago Park beyond the pavement for a long time. It's one of the more distinctive parks in the area, with rolling sandstone hills and lots of good, rugged riding. It's been years since I've been on a mountain bike, and this just a road bike with 40mm tires. Still, I was surprised at how stable it felt on the rocky hills.



I had lots of fun bouncing around the trails. My gearing bottoms out at the stock 40 front / 28 rear, but it was enough for me to scramble up some loose, rocky slopes that had several people I saw on actual mountain bikes dismounting to push. It felt good, giving my arms and sense of balance a workout they never get on the road.



I got to talking with a mortgage broker by the Hole in the Rock. He was pushing a low-level aluminum Trek up a really steep slope there. His bike was more suited to the terrain than mine, but he wasn't as comfortable over the rough stuff as me. He hadn't been on a bike in years, and his helmet was on backwards.

We stuck together the rest of the way through the park, heading out around the largest outcropping at the north end of the park. I always ride alone, but it was nice to have a buddy for once. We exchanged phone numbers so we can do it again sometime.

MezzoLew

Love the term castle-infested - the Welsh borders are similar!

DonRocinante

Sir_Name 

Nice Trek, @DonRocinante! I was recently gifted the ~same in grey with a bent fork. Not sure what to do with it yet as I don't want to pass it along to anyone after correcting the fork.

This past Saturday a friend and I got out for a good ride to find a local MTB destination. Weather was overcast with temps in the mid to high 60s, a welcome change from all of the heat and humidity we've had lately.

The trails from the head we wound up at were too technical for the bikes we were riding that day, so just a bit of recon. I'll need to pack the MTB into the car and investigate further soon. Rockland Preserve has a great reputation.

Finding our way there:


Trail map:


Pump track closed due to recent rain:


Finding our way home:


Ride:

DonRocinante

Andy_K 

Yesterday @gugie and I went out for a ride over Bald Peak, with the obligatory stop at the South Store Café.

Here's my Stella and his Grander Sportier on the ridge.



Fun with panoramic mode -- there's only one road in this picture and it's straight. The fence is straight too. The view, at least, looks about right.



A more reasonable panorama.



After the ride, we stopped to rehydrate at the Uptown Market. @RiddleOfSteel, you should definitely add this place to your "research" list.

gugie 

I'd passed by there maybe a hundred times on the way back from a ride or commuting home, more than a few of them with Andy. I mentioned more than once that we should stop by sometime, yesterday was the day, and we did. Excellent selection of rehydration beverages, and a food truck permanently parked next to it.

djkashuba 

Sonoma Coast by djk762, on Flickr

Sir_Name 

DonRocinante

Wow, Andy K! Beautiful bikes & absolutely amazing views!! Ah yes, life is good indeed!

DonRocinante

Incredible view!! I don't think I would ever want to go home!

DonRocinante

So your plan is to fix up this Trek & give it to someone who needs it? Dude, you are an awesome soul to pass this on to someone! It reminds me of the guy who sold me my bike & who let me buy it for $150. I'm thinking, now that I'm learning so much about bikes, that he could have sold it for a couple to three hundred more with no problem. When I sent him a message telling him how much I would like to have that beautiful machine, he said that if I wanted it he would hold off on some other offers & make sure that I could afford it! He said he wanted to make sure that it went to someone who would appreciate it! You & he should be elevated to sainthood!

abshipp 

I don't think I have ever actually posted about a ride on the day that I actually did it, and the trend will continue today as well.

Sunday I went on a ride that I've wanted to do for a while: out to Marengo Ridge Conservation Area and back.

This area is one of the more interesting geological features in northern Illinois. From the McHenry County Conservation District website:

"The Marengo Moraine was created about 24,000 years ago by the Wisconsin glacier. The ridge is made up of rocks, gravel, sand and finer sediments that were carried within or pushed ahead of the ice sheet as it advanced and left behind as it melted. Where the ice melted and advanced at an equal rate, the debris piled up at the glacier’s leading edge. The result is a deposit that is up to 280 feet deep, several miles wide and 40 miles long. At its highest point, the ridge stands 1,050 above sea level."

Basically, the ridge that gives this area its name is an end moraine formed about 25,000 years ago during the Wisconsin glacial episode. Officially it is the Woodstock End Moraine, but I suppose that since the area is under the jurisdiction of the city of Marengo, they got to name it what they wanted to .

Here's a map showing the end moraines in Illinois. As you can see, There is basically nothing interesting in northern Illinois west of the Woodstock moraine, so I was really looking forward to the chance to ride out there:



The route was a 46 mile loop. The first 22 miles out were mostly a 1.5 hour eastward slog into a quartering 15kt headwind, with brief respites as I turned South. Surprisingly, I didn't get frustrated with my slow progress, I wasn't making great time, but I wasn't struggling either. Perhaps it was because my legs were still quite fresh and I was excited to go riding somewhere new. Hopefully I can channel that feeling of contentment and acceptance the next time I'm faced with a big wind on the nose.



After reaching Marengo Ridge, I rode around the park a little bit scouting out their campsites, and was pleasantly surprised! Lots of very secluded sites with massive trees everywhere! I'm definitely planning a camping trip out here soon!

Here's the view from the top of the moraine, looking East:



Leaving the conservation area, I was excited to not have to deal with a headwind anymore, but unfortunately the road that I decided to take is one of the roughest I have experienced in the area! River road was not a terribly pleasant experience, there was more traffic than I wanted, and the road condition just killed my wrists after a while. I think the next time I make this ride I will do whatever I can to avoid this road.

Coming back to my house, I found myself quite enamoured with the changing colors of the soybean fields all around me. The corn is mostly changed to brown already, but most of the beans have quite a pretty mixture of yellow and green still:



Overall, it was a really wonderful 3.5 hours on the Super Le Tour. I think this may have been my longest ride so far on this bike. Usually for anything over 25 miles I would take either my Tempo or my Polyvalent, but the Tempo frame is cracked and the Polyvalent wasn't really the kind of bike I was wanting to take, so my only other road bike option was the SLT.

I became quite impressed with this bike after spending so much time on it. The bike is responsive but not twitchy, and the Shimano 600 drivetrain shifts extremely well, especially with the racheting shift levers.