DMNHCAGrandPrix

Went to a science conference in Switzerland and was able to borrow a bike from the hotel on a couple of afternoons. Not a grail bike. Definitely a grail location for riding!

Force 

^^^ Good grief, that is beautiful!

JunkYardBike

70 miles with ~4500 feet of climbing in 5 hrs. Much respect to those who can do a century with more climbing in the same time.

Bianchigirll 

WOW!!! I have been alot of places but this is absolutely beautiful!!!

northbend 

Sunrise road this morning

DMNHCAGrandPrix

The meeting was held in a small Swiss town called Les Diablerets, located 10 miles east of Lake Geneva in the Alps. The Eurotel Victoria Hotel had bikes available for guests. From the hotel, I took a ski-lift ride (with the bike) up towards a nearby peak (Isenau) and then climbed another 1400 feet or so through the spectacular scenery shown in many of the pictures. Easy descent all the way back to town. On the next day, I rode up the glacial valley in which Les Diablerets is located, ending at a spot where you could watch cascading waterfalls coming down the sides of the mountains that surround the valley. The waterfalls feed an outwash stream that runs all the way down the valley, through Les Diablerets, and on toward Lake Geneva. Truly one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited, and I'd love to go back with more time for exploring.

YoKev

My friend and I did a 5.5 hour ride through the Catskill Park yesterday, about half on road and half pure off road. Fun fun fun! We did it clockwise, starting and ending in Woodstock.

-holiday76

nice! i see Hunter Mountain on your map. I've hiked that several times.

southpawboston

Wow, YoKev that ride sounds fantastic!! What amazing scenery. You rode all the way up overlook? Past the buddhist monastery? That's pretty impressive. I've never ridden that area, but used to hike it all the time when I lived there. Have you ever ventured into Delaware county? There are some nice hilly trails up that way.

seedsbelize 

I didn't. For the simple reason that I was just too tired. Never happened before, and hopefully never will again.

YoKev

Yes, amazing scenery for sure

I've ridden up Overlook (town to tower) many times, but not this ride. We left from town and did the route clockwise. Finishing with an all downhill run back to the car was the bees knees. If we had finished up with the hike-a-bike we did on the first leg, we would be much less enthused to return for a second helping.

Have a happy 4th!

RFC

Lovely! Thank you.

YoKev

I visited Jinja, Uganda for nearly the past two weeks. Here are a few pictures of bicycles I snapped. Not included, because my jaw was on the ground, was the guy transporting sugar cane overhanging the sides by about 5 feet on each side, one guy carrying a couch, and another carrying a 4x8 sheet of plywood! Unbelievable...

Anyhow, the shots are nothing high end, but the good 'ol point and shoot documented what having a bicycle means to people in this 3rd world country. I only saw one roadie in a full kit the whole time, which was shocking.

The closest thing to a bike I rode there was on the back of a motorized boda










Note the foot pegs and what looks like #5 rebar rack struts. Besides lots of motorized bodas, bicycle bodas are just as common




My favorite shot:

YoKev

and a few more....

bigbossman 

Last Sunday - 55 miles of fun, about 4500 or so feet of climbing.... most it up front. We went from Fairfax in the Marin area to the beach and back. Nice ride, with lots o' forest, beach, and other assorted scenery.




Lots of redwood forest:







Looking over Bolinas Lagoon to the Pacific - Japan is out there, somewhere:


Scrap iron:


The beach:


The Lagoon:


Sutro Tower, above SF:

kookaburra1701

Today I went for my longest ride so far, 35 miles out and back, from Florence, OR to Mapleton along Hwy 126. It was much easier than I expected! Except on the way back I had to fight a coastal headwind, and a crazy hobo who wanted to take my bike. Should I post in the roadie forum crowing about how I dropped his drunk arse?


Going East along the Siuslaw.


The sky was incredibly blue - it was cloudy in the morning, but cleared up by 11:00.


My noble steed.


Stopped by a marsh to watch some cormorants shortly after going mano-a-hobo. I stopped and walked for about 1/4 mile to stretch out.


And the bridge into Florence, a lovely sight. I had to walk a bit while going north on 101 - the wind picked up so much it almost blew me into traffic a few times.

EDIT: I just walked into the bathroom and I have a sunburn on my forehead in the perfect shape of my helmet vents. Oooops.

bigbossman 

Last Saturday, I had occasion to do something I had wanted to do for almost my whole life - visit Crater Lake in Oregon. My brother and I had planned a trip there when I was a teenager, but life got in the way and the trip was scotched. I've been thinking about that missed opportunity ever since, so when fellow BF'er Markopolo mentioned that he was going to do the Crater Lake Century, it didn't take too much convincing to get me to fall in for the fun.

I took the preceding/following Friday and Monday as vacation, loaded up the truck with girls, gear, food, and the family dog, and took off. Bikingshearer was going to be up there as well, and he found what turned out to be a marvelous lodge to stay at. We took off Thursday night after work and arrived on Friday afternoon, after meandering through Northern California and Southern Oregon to see the sights. After rendezvousing with everyone, we enjoyed a delightful BBQ, and retired for the evening.

Saturday morning dawned clear and cold..... or at least cool, at around 50 degrees or so. Mark was doing the full century, so he started off early. Rich and I elected to be lazy and saunter through the metric, so we slept in and didn't hit the road till about 7 - 7:30 am. I started out with a light jacket and arm/leg warmers, but that didn't last a couple miles. We were on a gentle incline from the get-go, and with the thinner air at altitude it warmed up quickly. I shucked my extra clothing as we passed our lodge (conveniently located two miles up from the start), and we continued on.

Onward meant upward - you can see what I mean by looking at the Garmin trace. Basically, we climbed for near 30 miles at a pretty steady clip. It wasn't really steep, but it went on and on without too much relief. Well, except for the scenery - it is beautiful up there. Just spectacular. And the payoff.......ooh-boy, 30 miles of ballroom descent on great pavement with sparse traffic and fantastic sight lines. Just more fun than a man should be allowed to have without close supervision.

A sight headwind grabbed towards the bottom and reeled in our soaring spirits a bit, but not enough to wipe the grins off. Since the following day was Rich's birthday, we counted it as his birthday ride.....well, he did - I think it's a rule book violation of some sort, but being a very good friend I let him get away with it and did not file a grievance.

Apres-ride, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we watched a distant electrical storm play nick-knack paddy-whack on the distance peaks. Sunday we said our goodby's and went our separate ways. The girls and I decided to explore the north east corner of California, and we ended up at Lassen National Park for the night after exploring the Lava Beds National Monument and skirting the east side of Mt. Shasta. Monday we enjoyed the geothermal wonderment of Lassen, and then headed for home to wrap it up.

Let's see - in 4 days we viewed 4 different dormant volcanoes - Crater Lake, Mt. McLoughlin, Mt. Shasta, and Mt. Lassen.

One heck of a trip, beautiful countryside, great weather and friends, and a nice ride. What's not to love? Obilitory pics follow - full slideshow available HERE:

Ride profile:


Lodging:


The start, Ft Klamath:


Summiting at the rim:


The rim road:


Crater Lake:




After ride storm and sunset:

bigbossman 

Ancillary, day-after pictures.....

More sunset:




Mt Shasta, at just over 14,000 feet in elevation:




Random pond:


Mt McLoughlin, as seen from the Crater Lake rim:


Mt Lassen:




The family mutt:


Steam vents, boiling mud, and fumaroles in Lassen:

kookaburra1701

Gorgeous photos! Crater Lake is so amazing - I've only been once, but since I started riding this summer, I've decided that next year's century is my goal. Just beautiful country out there - no matter where you look there's something wonderful.

well biked

+1!

RFC

Yes, I have canoed the lengths of Lake Geneva and Lake Brienz. Incredible.

southpawboston

My God, BBM, your description and photos of your vacation and ride make it sound like Nirvana! Wonderful shots, and that climbing was formidable!

Mike Mills

LOL!

The thing your photos do not convey about Lassen is the foul, sulfurous smell!

Drillium Dude 

Nothing like the commentary and scenery of BBM's recent post, but I have a weak offering just the same

30 miles or so today to Rosario and Deception Pass State Parks. Just me, the Mondia and my iPod.

Deception Pass Bridge:



Same, different angle:



Deception Pass State Park wilderness trail:



Same park, the Mondia at the dunes portion of the trail. I you look closely, you can see where I followed the advice of a Forum member to prop the bike up with "whatever is handy":



And, yes - I was there, too:



That's all, folks!

DD

bigbossman 

I like the bridge pictures - looks cold and windy......

We need to keep this thread alive...... c'mon everyone, post your rides and pictures!!