BobG

My buddy Dick (red helmet) was struck from behind by a car and died last month while riding locally here in NH. Dick was director of the Mt Washington NH Hill Climb bike race for many years and participated into his 80s. He transformed it from a citizen's event to a pro race. I was digging through old photos to post on his memorial Facebook page. I thought these were appropriate for Bike Forums ...


Gorges de Galamus ^, between Cubières-sur-Cinoble (Aude) and Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet (Pyrénées-Orientales) France


coffee stop ^, that's Dick on the far right. I'm sitting next to him at the cafe and riding along beside him above through the Gorges


photos by Paul Scheupp ^ and Steve Haseltine ^ ^

djb

BobG, don't know you nor your friend, just some internet stranger, but condolences and frustration at these sort of stories.
Nice to put up these photos, may you keep the good memories or riding there together. (pretty certain I rode the same stretch in teh early 90s, very strong memories for me)
cheers

BobG

DJ- The top two photos were taken in 1995 so we were there just after you. We were chasing the TDF around. Somehow we got ahead of the Tour and saw it a second time! I'll never know how, somebody else was doing the mapping. The third photo was taken in 2000, I wasn't on that trip.

Wiggle

Just completed a small 400km tour from Halifax, NS out to the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia with my wife. It was a good trip

Doug64

Netherlands




Holland, the "hilly" part of the country.

Doug64

This picture has a story behind it.

My wife and I were skiing in Bend, Oregon in March of 2007. It was the same year we were planning to ride across the U.S. roughly following US Highway 20, the longest contiguous coast to coast highway in the country. We planned on riding through Bend and across Oregon's high desert to Burns, OR, about 130 miles, on our bike tour. After finishing skiing we decided to take a drive out Highway 20 to check out a place we had questions about-- we were mainly concerned about the availability of food and water at Brothers, a small dot on the map. When we headed into the cafe at Brothers we saw a young man sitting on the steps studying his laptop. I recognized him from a picture in our hometown newspaper, as Alborz, the recent college graduate who was walking across the U.S. on Highway 20, starting in Newport, OR, and finishing in Boston, MA. We introduced ourselves,and talked about the reason for his trip, which was to see the country up close and personal. He recently graduated with a MS in macro economics, and wanted to see the country from a micro perspective. He thought he could accomplish this by taking on this challenge.

We told him about our plans of following the same route, starting on our bikes in June. We did a lot of calculations looking at the Road Atlas of the country we had in the car, and estimated where we would catch up to him on the route. We estimated our meeting point would be somewhere in mid-Nebraska. This is the meeting with Alborz, on August 3, near Ainsworth, Nebraska, which is located in the middle of the state. He has modified the method of carrying his backpack. He was doing great, making 20-30 miles a day, and unlike cyclists he likes any kind of wind because it keeps him cool. We talked to him about an hour that evening when we camped together in Bassett.

We got an email from him in November when he reached Boston!!

stardognine

Cool story. ^^^ Now will you guys quit picking on my backpack? 🙄😁😉

djb

chuckle, sure but ill keep razzing you about being Cheech ;-)

stardognine

Hey, don’t laugh, man. The weed I’m smokin’ now puts what we smoked in the ‘70s to shame. It’s called Dog’s Breath, with a 31.31% THC content. 🤪😁 Or Cherry Kush is pretty good, but only 29%. 🙄😁

stardognine

But I would like to visit Amsterdam some day. 😎😁😎

djb

I only believe you 15.7%

Doug64

I hope you like crowds

jmgardner 

Not nearly as thrilling as some of the above, but just getting started....

Highest point in NC (and maybe the east coast?) Just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a great ride ! !

Somewhere on the Blue Ridge

Not officially a 'touring bike' but put a small bag on my Roubaix to ride the Natchez Trace with Adventure Cycling...

Somewhere in SoCal...

Somewhere else in So Cal

Rented this bike and bags in San Diego and rode from Santa Barbara to the US-Mexico border.

PedalingWalrus

Last week we biked the Bold Coast Scenic Bikeway. This trail is 220 miles one way. We made it a loop for another 100 miles on the return trip. Bikeway was well signed along the way. Easy to follow the signs. The nature of the secondary roads gave us the delight of hills every day 🙂👍 but we still loved it 16756 feet of elevation later.

balto charlie

I did a 3 day bikepacking gravel trip to Canaan Valley Blackwater Falls, Shavers Fork and the Canaan loop rd. Weather was superb, 75F/24C. Lots of steep climbing along the Shavers fork while riding on gravel. Packed very light and glad I did. My rear derailleur cable snapped and I was forced to use 3 gear in front and 1 gear in rear, smallest cog 11. The return climbs were grueling but doable since I had a granny up front. After the cable snapped I rode back UP the canyon trail to https://www.blackwaterbikes.com/ and they fixed me up so I could continue to ride the next day on the Loop rd and the Camp 70 Rd. All told the trip was 3 days, 120 gravel miles. The Government road on the Shavers Fork was a great gravel experience. The Shavers Fork Rd on the opposite of the river was grueling, full of steep climbs, the Blackwater trail was clear of fallen trees and lush and the Canaan loop road fast gravel except for the section between Lindey Run and Table Rock. More of a mnt bike ride than tour. The Camp 70 rd is in great shape, use to be dirt and rock, now gravel.

Blackwater Canyon Trail

The BW Canyon

Douglas Falls

Shavers Fork

Doug64

It is great to see all you folks out there on the bikes, especially with all the virus turmoil. I'm a little envious, but hopefully, I'll get over it later in the fall.

Mr. Pedaling Walrus, You have me convinced that I need to bike some of Maine. My wife and I were going to finish up our ride across Canada this summer, from Toronto to Halifax, but it isn't going to happen. If we do get a chance to finish, taking a shortcut through Maine might be doable. Thanks

djb

hi Doug, ya over the last while Mr PW has had me thinking the same thing with his fun looking trip photos. Vermont also has some really really pretty riding, and re Maine, my impression is always been that in the mid and north, there is a lot of not much and probably pretty hilly riding.

PW, as always, fun seeing your trip shots. I see that you bought the new Eco version of the Click-Stand ("hey you, be careful of my bike stand, they don't grow on trees you know!" "errr, actually......."

balto charlie

I actually felt safer in the backcountry camping than at home in Baltimore. I took all the food I needed, used nature as my bathroom, talked to few folks ( I hardly saw anyone) and stealth camped. I am gearing up for another starting soon. Close short tours are going to keep me sane over the next few moths....winter a different story.

Doug64

We've decided to explore close to home this summer. It is the first summer we have spent at home in a long time, and is pretty enjoyable. IMO Oregon has some of the best bike riding in the country, but I am a little biased

Last weekend.

balto charlie

Many things worse than being quarantined in Oregon, looks lovely

Doug64

Yeah, like editing about 50,000 touring photos, 2007-2020. My hope during the virus restrictions was to get them culled out and in some sort of order. I haven't even thought about scanning the negatives and slides of the pre-2007 tours. Actually that is all I've done is think about them.

Washington Coast


The 4.1 mile long Megler Bride over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. A lot of folks will go out of their way to avoid this "dreaded" bridge. but for you folks doing the Pacific Coast Highway, it's a pretty safe and easy ride.

stardognine

Cool, that’s a great part of the country. 👍 I worked around Portland a good while, back in the late-‘80s-early-‘90s. Ended up going up to Seattle, instead, and might have made the wrong choice. 🤔😉

I might easily come up through Oregon, sometime soonish. I’m still searching for the perfect climate, for my arthritis, and Sacramento is a little too warm in the summer. 🤔🙄😁

djb

Recent little trip
(figured out problem with attaching photo)

Doug64

Alberta, Canada-- Sometimes you just do what you have to do.



Turn around and get an ice cream cone at the convenience store we just passed, and let the storm cell blow through! We just rode slow enough to not catch up to it. For me it is pretty easy to ride slow, that is my normal speed.

djb

Doug, yes, did a 5 day trip. A roundabout way of biking to Ottawa from Montreal, up north to Mont Laurier, then west and down to Ottawa.Will be biking directly back to Ottawa on way home, two days of about 100k each.
I tried adding a photo but for some reason am having difficulties on my tablet.

and yes,I too am generally pretty pokey. Was thrilled the other day to have a 16+ kph average. But I am, and always have been, fine with the speed I bike at.