subgrade

Took a small trip into wilderness, only a half an hour ride from my home.


Rails to trails aren't really athing where I live, and those few derelict rail beds that exist, don't get maintained. So it was a nice surprise to see a new wooden floor installed on this old railway bridge.


Getting further away from civilization


Bog arums have taken over the road


A small bog/lake in the middle of the woods. Very calm and peaceful environment, with only a couple of cranes shouting at each other.


Looks like this path is used mostly by animals. I saw quite a lot of signs of activity of deer, probably moose, and boars.


Evening fog on a meadow on my way home

timgriffin2

Thanks for posting. That looks like quite an adventure. Nice pics and commentary!

Greg C.

Thank you for posting dueWest. Gulf State Park is a nice place to ride. My wife and I discovered it last fall.

camjr

Today was just going to be a short 10 mile ride to simply keep moving during the week. Radar showed a few storms off to the north-no big deal. I got out to the westernmost part of my ride, and BOOM! Lightning, and it was close! Storms started blowing up on top of me. I knew a covered pavillion at a park was nearby so I made for that (pic taken there). The rain wasn't bad yet. The lightning decreased and it was looking clear for the 3 mile run back to my house, so I made a break for it. A mile from home, all hell broke loose. I nearly got knocked down by a crosswind gust, HEAVY rain hit, as did pea sized hail (not painful, but VERY loud on the helmet). I sheltered against the leeward side of a wall until the wind settled, and got back home. The rain was nice until it was sideways, and I don't want to go through that again. Mrs. Camjr was not pleased...

Summer storms in Texas can be interesting...

hokiefyd 

Another argument for helmets, right? Hail guard!

camjr

I was quite thankful for the integrated visor as well!

camjr

25+ miles this morning. Sunrises on the lake are one of the reasons I leave before dawn (well, and it's cooler). I'm riding the Fuji hybrid until I can rebuild the bottom bracket on the old Motobecane road bike. The wind out of the north completely changed this route for the better.

257 roberts

23.50 miles on the Withlacoochee state trail.....I have ridden the trail up and back for a total of 97 miles

GTryder

stuman74

37+ miles round trip today, crossed just over the cheddar curtain. iPhone got too hot on the return trip so just the 1st half of the map recorded.

camjr

Here are a couple of sunrise pics taken during my early 20 mile ride this morning up to Lewisville Lake north of Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas.

andrei_r

Spectacular! It must take a lot of motivation to go out that early. But it surely pays off.

Scottrod

Wow brings back some good memories of a few years ago. We were staying in Gulf SHores and every morning during our VACA I would be up early and head out to ride the many trails around the state park and surrounding communities. Very nice time, thank you for the pictures!!

camjr

It's not especially difficult for me. I've been getting up for work early my entire life. I can't sleep late to save my life even if I wanted to. Besides, I have to ride early this time of year to beat the Texas heat. It's brutal during the day. I also don't mind having many of the roads to myself, either !

Aqua_Andy

I'm ashamed to say that it is the end of July and this is the first time I have been on my bike this year. We took a long weekend and went camping in the white mountains of New Hampshire. We rode the Franconia notch recreational trail and had some beautiful views. I forgot how good my body and mind feels after a ride.

This is one of the profilers that you can look through to see what the old man used to look like.


The Old Man of the Mountain hung off that vertical face at the top of the photo before falling in 2003.


The basin in Franconia notch state park.

Greg C.

Took my routine 10 mile ride on the paved park trails this evening. It's nice to have a trail system accessible from the neighborhood. This time of year I like to ride near dusk when it's cooler. The bike is working great right now and is a pleasure to ride.

Jac of Hearts

Went to the Outer Banks on the North Carolina coast last week glamping and got in some great rides.

We stayed on the southern end of Hatteras Island in Frisco which is close to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

My 1st longish ride was to the lighthouse and back. About 15 miles round trip.



On the way to the Lighthouse I passed the Mothership which has been moved from Area 51 pending the storming.



This photo was taken by another cyclist that had just arrived.

Next day I rode from the campground to ramp 49 for the ocean. About 4 miles roundtrip. About the last 1/4 mile was gravel which was fine but I tried to ride up the ramp in the sand and with 700c x 38s that was a no go.



This is a beach access ramp for ORVs.

The following day I went for the ride I was really looking forward to. The Northern end of Ocracoke Island to the Village in the south. At 14.5 miles it was not bad but a lonely road with a lot of sand blowing and on the road. I had a strong tail wind which really helped.



Waiting in line for the Ferry on Hatteras Island.



At the Northern Ferry landing prepping to leave. You can see how the wind is blowing my beard.



The route




Success. 14.64 miles, 58 minutes

We had a great time and my wife Liz was a great help driving to the Village to meet me. Then she hid from me and left hints on FaceBook until I found her.

If you get a chance to visit the Outer Banks (OBX) definitely do so.

dueWest

Nice! I'm thinking about doing so in the coming years. Want to do a lighthouse crawl. So, I take there are plenty of bike routes or bike friendly roads?

Jac of Hearts

The OBX is very bike friendly. On the Northern Banks, Corrola, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, there are well defined wide bike paths. In the National Seashore Hwy 12 has wide shoulders and you see plenty of bikes even on the more desolate stretches.

You can ride all 4 OBX lighthouses in relative safety. It is a long haul.

Google biking OBX and you can download a map showing you all the paths and options.

subgrade

Who said that hybrids aren't too capable off-road? Sure, there are different kinds of off-road, but I managed to ride my Focus Crater Lake through this no problem.



The weeds were 2 to 3 feet high, so it was a bit sketchy riding on while having no idea what may lie beneath, but thus far it went well. Spooked some rather big animal by the sound of it, but the tall weeds hid it from the view. Might have been boar, as I went past a few small clearings with upturned soil just before. A bit further down the "road" I encountered logs and branches under the vegetation so I proceeded to carry the bike on my shoulder, CX style, until I got to a somewhat clearer place again. Had to spend a while to remove all the grass that had stuck in the rear derailleur and casette before moving on - it's good to have a pocket knife with you.

crazyravr

Keeps on taking me to work and bringing me back, usually safely lol

LeoGrand

Chester , NY

limbot

Beautiful day and hit the local MTB park

Ardrid

Went for about a 15 mile ride through Duke Farms out here in NJ on my new Marin Fairfax 2. Was gorgeous.

Trav1s

No pics but I fair amount of time on the Cedar Valley trail and on surface streets of Cedar Rapids both yesterday and today. 15 miles yesterday and 16 miles today. Not currently having a job does give plenty of time to ride but it does not pay the bills.