seagrade 

Three afternoon hours riding the rural dead end roads 20 minutes west of the small city…

botty kayer

Thanks Spaghetti Legs , no dedicated camera, its just the camera on my phone that's a couple of years old now, a Samsung S21 Ultra.

Spaghetti Legs 

The link in your earlier post does not - "page not found" , but the one above does.

rustystrings61 

Actually yesterday - 14 miles noodling around Edisto Beach, South Carolina, including a stop at a beach access and a close encounter (less than 20 feet!) with deer …

zukahn1 

Just a quick ride outside of town and back nice weather but a tone of traffic and and so great air quality.


I'm starting to like the Marin clunker it does ride nice and looks good in pics.

DQRider 

ART! Very nice...

DQRider 

Rode my `49 Raleigh Clubman Path Racer to the Capital(sp) View Café for breakfast this morning, as I do most weekends. Can't beat the Mexican-inspired breakfasts and excellent bike parking. This morning: Chipotle Red Pork Chili and Eggs. No food photo this time, sorry.
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zookster 

28 mile ride this morning with Le Tour De Ham on the weekly Saturday Stroll. When I got back to my Jeep around 1pm it was 101F with high humidity, which for Birmingham, AL equals very warm!

Only 2 of our group were on vintage bikes; I was riding my '90 Specialized Sirrus and the other rider was on a Trek 820 (guessing mid 80's forgot to ask what year it was).

Renew Birmingham


Group picture a Legion Field. I'm in the center, yellow jersey, Trek rider is to my right.


When we rode through Ensley we stopped to chat with the Renew Birmingham folks, who volunteer to clean up vacant lots/areas and work to revitalize underserved communities.


Ensley mural.


Another mural on seemingly abandoned building.


Waiting out a long freight train about 1/2 block from our end point. Always a possibility when riding in and around Birmingham.

darkmoon

Weekend rec ride.

Fair weather and summer's scorching sun.
But humidity wasn't so high.

Mt. Fuji view point.
As always, I couldn't see it again!





Molteni orange and Yokohama orange
mikan, mandarin orange.





Coming closer, they are still little and green.
But they are getting bigger.





Yokohama lemon
Sorry, but you can hardly see little limon-like things.
Yes, they are growing bigger, too.





Summer flowers started to bloom.
Blueish violet morning glory and yellow gladioli.

There are 2 types of morning glory.
One is annual.
The other is perennial.
This morning glory is perennial.
Perennial variety has longer flowering season, late June to early November.
The leaves are rounder.

Morning glory has been very popular in Japan since Edo era, for 300 years.

This color is called ocean blue.



It was a gorgeous day.
The scorching sun tired me!

cooperryder

Yesterday's ride of 30 miles was on my Vent Noir II.

1989Pre 

Darkmoon, Thank you for pointing out some of the wonderful natural features of your local area. My morning glories (Kniola's Purple) are perennials, and occasionally, one is pink. I'll send some pics when they bloom later in the month. Forgive me if you catch me gnawing on your bicycle!

ollo_ollo

Anything above 50 mph is truly hair raising! Our NW United States mountains have long descents that can take you there....usually my eyes were glued to the road throughout, only later confirming my max speed. Now that I'm an old man, I keep my speed down, plus all my bikes have the widest tires that will fit. Don

rustystrings61 

I puttered around here in Edisto Beach. My hindquarters told me this morning that riding 14 miles after a year off the bike is not to their liking, so early on I flipped the wheel ‘round to the freewheel side and noodled around the 7.6 mile circuit on the 44x20. Being able to coast felt gentler than continuously turning 44x17 fixed. I still took short breaks, which gave me the chance to walk out on a beach access at the other end of the island. The view was well worth it!

Wildwood 

Too nice a day to be inside.


Continuing the silver silo theme

A placid river

Why leave up one rusted truss - to frame a picture of……nothing, I guess. So I took it. Love blue sky.

botty kayer

ollo_ollo I've always loved descending but as I've got older (now 50) I definitely find those 'what if...' thoughts creep in more and more.

What if I get a blow out on one of these fast descents,....
What would happen if my brakes failed here.....
I hope whoever put this bike together did it properly...oh crap it was me that put this bike together.....gulp.

But I've wanted to come here and bomb down hills for so long, that I guess I've found those thoughts easier to suppress, for now at least.

The day before yesterday I drove for nearly 3 hours from the Dolomites up to Mezzana to meet a buddy from England. The evening started early and ended late, and caught up in the holiday excitement we both drank way too much, so I awoke yesterday with a furry tongue and feeling worse for wear, I really should know better, but what the heck, I'm on holiday.

Yesterday I awoke feeling super dehydrated and in need of clearing the head, I decided on a short out and back ride from my hotel up a hill/mountain 10 miles away. The humidity was about 90% which made my dehydration seem even worse, and if ever there was a case for proving alcohol is not performance enhancing, this day was it.

My legs felt dead and uphill progress was at glacial pace, but it was a nice morning and the mist in the valleys made it seem a bit more magical.


I love that the Italian style seems to extend to all walks of life here, even the hay bales were dressed up in the colors of the Italian flag.

After nearly 10 miles up of almost constant uphill, the head was clearer but the legs were no longer willing, and I decided this helipad was as far up as I was going this day.

At least the return leg was all downhill so the legs were thankful for that. Back in Mezzana I met up with my buddy again and we headed down the road to watch the UCI World Downhill Mountain Bike Championship at Val di Sole. I was big into MTB 20 years ago, but I tend to break not bounce when I fall off now, so I'm a fully converted roadie these days, but appreciate the skill and nerve it takes to ride these courses flat out. The margins are small and the competition is fierce, so its seems there's no middle ground, its either Hollywood or hospital.

I've not followed MTB for years so don't really know any of the racers, but did recognize a major name in the game from my time, UK legend and former World Champ Steve Peat, who is now a rider/ambassador for the Santa Cruz Syndicate Team.

And strangely the other big name I recall from my era, Cedric Gracia was sharing race commentary duties, so it felt like old times.

I found myself a good spot near the penultimate jump, which was the biggest on the course, in the hope of getting some good air pics. But a combination of my hungover reaction times, the slow speed of my camera phone, and the sheer speed the racers were going, meant that after a dozen or so attempts, every pic the rider had either already landed or was out of shot.

This frustration finally led me to discover my phone actually had a slow motion feature I've never used before, and I finally got some of the air pics I was after. I've not been able to see Youtube links on here for a while now, so don't know if this will work but here goes anyway, see these 2 clips below:


A good day out and fun watching the racing, the eventual winner was riding for Steve Peat's Santa Cruz Syndicate Team, young Canadian Jackson Goldstone with his first big win in the Elite category. It's always good to see the joy of a newby winning the biggest race of their career. well done lad, and well done to all the competitors, this lot really earn their pay the hard way.

I then had a 2 hour drive back over the Gavia Pass in thick fog, which was an experience I'll never forget and made my mouth dry all over again, and was more butt clenching than any riding I've done here.....

....and it made me appreciate all the stories from the Giro of how the weather on these mountains can change in an instant and catch out the unwary.

But as soon as I was over the summit, the other side of the mountain was clear with blue skies and the majestic views visible once more.

Another unforgettable day in Italy, this place continues to blow me away.

1989Pre 

You flipped your rear wheel around? (Did you remember your nitrile gloves?) Also, is that a protected area? It looks nice.

jamesdak 

Just another Sunday cruise around the valley this morning. Today I took out the Krapf bike and did some speed work on the second half of the ride. The bike was eager but not my legs, LOL!



The more I look and ride this one, the more gorgeous I think it is.

Still snow up top waiting to come down.

Getting the hay out of the fields.



New addition along my daily route that was finished up last year.

Turn around point.

Can't wait to get the handbuilt wheels for this one.

curbtender

Well placed 'f'.

JochenRindt

Pumpkin Vine Trail, West of Middlebury, Indiana. From Goshen to Shipshewana it's a 34 mile round trip. Today was my second time riding it. Took the LeMond and I really felt fresh on the bike. The last 4 miles I was really pushing hard and got some good speed.

bironi

50 year old bones are a good time to ride these roads.
Some may do it 20+ years later.
I hope you are in the remaining group at the crest.
Just keep posting the good pics!
Enjoy!

Wildwood 

The nice weather continues.


Blue sky day

Continuing the red tin roof theme

botty kayer

I'm back in Bormio and my Italian adventure is nearly over, so today was my last days riding. I decided to tackle the Stelvio pass from Prato, which is regarded as the hard side, not that the ascent from Bormio was easy, but from Prato the climb is longer and steeper with more hairpins.

I drove over the pass from Bormio and managed to find somewhere free to park in Prato, unloaded the bike and as is the norm here, the climbing started right away. The first 5 miles were the most gentle of the ride averaging 5%, and for the early bit I had my own cycle lane that followed a typical crystal clear alpine river, so I did not have to play with traffic on this stretch.

After riding up hill for 7.5 miles, which was already longer than any hill I've cycled up in the UK, the climb properly starts with the first of the 48 hairpins between here and the summit which is still about 10 miles away, yikes.

From here the gradient averages over 8% for the remainder of the climb, and in places was up to 14%. What I've found really killer about these climbs is there are just no flatter bits that allow you to catch your breath, its all relentless hard work. I've always preferred proper food, flapjacks and fruit and nuts to gels, but for the first time I 'got' the gels idea. I really struggle to eat when doing major efforts, a gel can be dispatched in a few seconds, whereas a eating a nut bar when heavy breathing is not possible for me, and I don't think I'd be able to give myself the Heimlich half way up a mountain if a nut went down the wrong way, so food breaks mean stopping. Not to bother I'm old and not on Strava so I've no times to beat, just getting to the top and enjoying the descent is the goal.

Besides these roads are so bendy, that you need to keep your eyes on the road or you might wake up in hospital, so the breaks allow me time to take in the views and the snow capped peaks.

Another brief break was at a traffic light with some roadworks. I can barely cycle a few hundred yards in London without coming across a traffic light, so 1 set on a 17 mile climb is not exactly a hardship, and the backdrop sure is nicer than south London's concrete jungle.

The higher gradients tend to be on the inside of the hairpins, so can be avoided if you ride wide around them, but if there's traffic coming the other way, that is not an option. Articulated lorries are not permitted on these roads, but I don't think these roads are suitable for coaches either and I had to squeeze past a few on the ascent which was a little unnerving.

The last 20 or so hairpins are above the tree line and in the sun, and its a lot warmer than it was when I ascended the other side of this mountain last week, making what is already a hard climb that bit harder. I did not pass a single shop since leaving Prato, so you better have all you need on you, with only the occasional mountain stream offering some cold water refreshment, but I'm making progress and there's much more below me now than there is above.

Once I've got less than 10 hairpins to go that almost feels manageable and I get a second wind, I'm going to make it.

The summit, phew, that was really hard work.

My vintage carbon lugged Look 585 I built up for the trip has not missed a beat, no mechanicals or punctures the whole holiday.

On reflection the 53/39 crank was a mistake for this trip, and though I've managed to cycle up everything its been much more of a struggle than it could have been, so I'd definitely advise a compact or semi compact crank for anyone considering coming here.

That said the bike has helped haul my 90kg over some of the highest roads in Europe and has been confidence inspiring on the fast twisty descents. Most cyclists I've seen have much newer bikes than me, I've not seen a single vintage steel bike on this whole trip which is a surprise considering Italy's cycling heritage. Nearly every bike I've seen has disc brakes, but even with my rim brakes I've not been held back. I've been overtaken by plenty of lighter climber types on the ascents, but I've not been overtaken by a single cyclist on a descent for 2 weeks, and I've flown past most of the motor vehicles going down too, only the big motorbikes can stay ahead going down these mountains, but their joy is muffled in their helmets whereas my whooping with excitement can be heard booming out far and wide across the mountains.

I had another fantastic yeeeee-haaaaa inducing descent from here too, a dream 20 mile descent that started by heading down the Stelvio towards Bormio, turning off a few miles down to take the Umbrail Pass descent into Switzerland, another hairpin rich grin inducing technical descent. I filmed it all on my Gopro again and have nearly 3 hours fast descending footage of this trip for me to watch back and relive the experience for years to come.

I was waved through the border check and back into Italy without even needing to stop, oh if only all border crossings were so fast and simple. I made my way back to Prato a bit sun scorched and jelly legged but happy as can be, then jumped in the car and drove back up and over the Stelvio again back to my apartment in Bormio. It's been an absolute dream holiday, everything I dreamed of and more, and if you ever get the chance to come and ride a bike here do it, its amazing.

nlerner

@Andy_K and I met up in Washington, DC, last night and today rode on the C&O Canal Path to Brunswick, MD. Our intent is to ride to Pittsburgh by the end of the week, following the C&O and then the GAP trail.

I took Amtrak to DC from Boston:


On this line, you remove the front wheel and hang your bike by the rear wheel in the coach car:


First stop today: Trader Joe’s in Foggy Bottom. We didn’t think we’d encounter any trail side lunch purchasing options.


The hard-to-find starting point. No, I’m not on a vintage bike. Actually just received and built this one up a week ago. Fenders and 650b fat tires were very welcome today.


A coup,e of times we had to navigate downed trees on the path.


See what happens when you don’t ride with fenders? Andy was off looking for the local bike detailer.

Wildwood 

. You know how stubborn those Hand Crafted Heat Treated Aluminum guys are.

ascherer 

@noglider joined me for a loop around the Ashokan today. The humidity was about 500% and the temps were up as we squeezed in the 30+ miles between rainstorms that have been common this past week. On the other hand, it did clear the air of the Canadian wildfire smoke.

Uncommonly for me I didn’t take photos until the last 5 miles when I spotted this beautiful hunter along our path. However we were between him and his next meal so I apologized for the interruption and we moved on.


I believe it’s a Barred Owl. They’re common around here and I hear them calling most nights.