VintageRide

Went for a ride to Stanley Park in Vancouver today on one of the few rides with the old Italian road bike, the only downside was the sore behind on the return home, probably around 30-35 miles. Dang Cinelli seat is definitely not as comfortable these days as the Brooks B17 on my other bike on trips like this. But I do enjoy being on a nice vintage bike when most are riding much newer products.

due ruote 

Evening ride last night; these were taken at the Highland Park IL beach. Unfortunately I was only packing my flip phone, as the light was pretty extraordinary.

Also unfortunate was the fact that this happened on the way home. At least I had a couple zip-ties with me to secure the saddle while I stood for the remaining 5 miles. Now that I take note of how little material is there, it's a wonder this thing lasted as long as it did. Pretty poor design imho.

seypat

I went on one of those rare summer rides that become more frequent now that fall is here! My 9 year old son and I goofing along for 5 or six miles total. No reason to bring out the vintage steel or biking gear.(except for the helmets) We just trolled along in the low gears with occasional "laughing 50 yard sprints." Now if we can just get his 7 year old sister to join us more often we will be set.

The Golden Boy 

I know it's not "today" but I'm stoked that on Saturday I finally was able to talk my wife into going up to the Elroy-Sparta bike trail- it was outrageously beautiful weather, the leaves were in the process of turning, the temperature was perfect, it smelled like fall and it was a truly wonderful experience.

I got to ride my Trek 620 with my newly acquired 1985 Cannondale panniers. My wife rode her Trek 7.1 FX- affectionately known as "the bat bike."

SteveSGP

Hit the Gateway again Saturday with the wife for about a 24 mile round trip and did 16 miles with the son yesterday on trails and county roads with some decent hills for good measure.

Beautiful riding weather here this time of year.



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YoKev

I couple I've snapped the past couple of evenings on some after dinner cruises:

The Stormtrooper Blaster is no match for my angry pumpkin:


Vivid double rainbow on the Hudson River tonight, starting at Annie Liebovitz's property and ending in Rhinecliff. I know where the pot of gold isn't

TimmyT 

Man, I miss Stanley Park. Everytime I'm back in Vancouver, I find it harder to leave. I'm sure I've sat on that patch of grass your bike is enjoying. I used to love riding the loop or ducking through the woods in nice weather.

TimmyT 

A simple ride today ... down to midtown for an appointment and then my first trip over the Williamsburg Bridge to a bike shop to pick up some bar end shifters. Score! He had them at the right price. I was also impressed at how high that bridge is and how much bike traffic of all sorts it gets. There was construction at the base, and the MTA had officers there waving pedestrians to the side so the cyclists could get by (Wow!). Sometimes the MTA has it together.

Then, crosstown and up the Hudson in the evening light. A really good day.

scotjonscot

Picked up the boy from pre-school and did a leisurely 20 mile cruise. Stopped at a playground by the river. (Mississippi) Wasn't on my Panasonic, but the kid seat doesn't work with drop bars.

JJScaliger

Tri-state ride today (Rhode Island - Connecticut-Massachusetts), modified from Tom Catalini's Road Biking Massachusetts. Pretty fun, 53 miles total. Route 16 in Webster kind of congested. Did a little off roading with the De Rosa. Buck Hill Rd and Wallum Lake Rd were particularly nice. Here are some pics.



A mouthful.



Buck Hill Rd, very nice!



Old Douglas Rd. About a mile of this.



Monument to the Industrial Revolution G.Washington.



The Mill tower directly across the street from the monument.

YoKev

I took a nice ride out to the Ashokan Reservoir today

Entering the Catskill Park:


The spillway at the reservoir:


Pumpkins:


Some street art I passed by on the way home:

Drillium Dude 

Just around town for a couple hours - test ride of the newest build. Oak Harbor's waterfront:



I'm really digging this bike! Too bad winter's right around the corner

DD

seedsbelize 

I did a tune-up ride for next week's century. 55 miles on my favorite route, which always has the sun and the wind at my back on the return. I'm not ashamed to say that I prefer a tail wind to a head wind for the return leg.
This shot was taken from the overpass, just after turning around.

This is where I return to the city on 75% of my rides, and I'm always looking forward to this stop. I normally get a liter of pink grapefruit juice. If I'm coming in from a century, I down it all; if, like today, it's a shorter ride, I take a couple slugs, and put it in my jersey pocket to sip on when I'm stopped at traffic lights.

Paradise Juices

ColonelJLloyd 

Rode across the river to the Falls of The Ohio and to the cabin of George Rogers Clark. I enjoyed the first root beer float I've had in years. I enjoyed it so quickly I got brain freeze. We had some Mexican fare back on the Kentucky side after our ride. Perfect weather.

Drillium Dude 

Roger M and I did a 50 miler today on the Centennial Trail. We began at the trailhead at the edge of Snohomish and rode up to the current end of the trail at Blynn. A nice surprise was the newest portion of the trail; it had only been dedicated/opened the day before. There is still about 2 miles of road-riding into Arlington, but it's not too bad.

However, on that little 2 mile portion, I had the misfortune to flatten my rear tire. A nice, shark tooth shaped rock punched right through the tread and sent the tube to heaven. While nearly complete with a record-pace tire change the new tube's valve snapped right off while I was pumping it up! Roger lent me his spare and we made it into Arlington and Stanwood Velo Sport to top off the pressure and pick up two more spare tubes.

After turning around at Blynn we stopped off at a market in Arlington and quickly scarfed part of a ham/cheese/roast beef sandwich at one of the small rest areas off the trail. Although the ride back had more uphill than the ride out, we seemed to be moving faster on the way back. It was a pretty good pace the entire ride. Roger rode his Titan which is a beautiful and near-pristine ride. I mean, it looks almost brand-new. I don't think the previous owner put 200 miles on it. I took the Spinella as the ride is pretty flat, with gradual climbing on the return leg.

It was a bit nippy, but you didn't really notice it until you stopped, although by the end of the day my toes - and Roger's - were feeling a bit cold. Time to break out the plastic bags

Some pics ('cause it did happen) follow.

Roger's Titan and my Spinella at Lake Cassidy:



Obligatory "we were there, too" shot; do I look short next to this guy or what?



Roger enjoys a snack at the halfway point:



Food:



The bikes get a rest before the return leg:



Thanks for coming, Roger - that was a fun ride. I hope the weather stays decent in the coming weeks and we can get Alex and maybe Scott on the road with us, too!

DD

bigbossman 

Hey Roger..... nice bike. Where did you get it?

Roger M

Thanks for the invite,DD. That was a good ride, and seeing your latest hot rod was pretty dang cool. You have some serious attention to detail in your bikes.

I'll post a couple of my pictures tomorrow. You forgot to mention the new 'proper' bike etiquette that you picked up from that sweet older ladie that we passed...

I got it from this guy in Seattle. He was going to sell it to me for a C-note, but told me that some high roller from the Bay Area called and offered him twice that...

I had to tap into my kid's piggy bank.

Yep, BBM once again, thanks. It's been a great bike, and the photos really don't do the bike justice

retrofit

Nice pics Drillium Dude.

What kind of shoes are you wearing for riding toe clips?

On Edit after seeing Roger's pics: Are those the discontinued Sidi touring shoe?

Roger M

Here's my photo contribution to DD's post above. While he was scarfing down breakfast, I tried to pick apart his bike, hoping to find some flaw to make public... failed. He must spend a fair amount of time on each peice, because I could not find anything that wasnt perfect. The frame is a beauty, with chromed fork, stays, AND headtube. It has some cool features, and one that I have never seen before is this cable routing through the chain stay.



The paint work on the levers and crank arms is awesome. Great skills





This has to be one of(if not THE) best looking gear changers. One day I'll have one



DD was on course to break the world record for fastest tube swap.... instead, he broke the valve stem in half. Talk about shear brute strength.



Here's the obligatory pumpkin shot



It was a good ride, along with some good bike talk. And thanks for lunch, Jeff.

Drillium Dude 

^ I think it was my bad technique with a short-pump rather than strength that caused that faux-pas

It was pretty funny afterwards when I thought about it; of course, it wouldn't have been without Roger's spare tube!

Thanks for the nice comments, Roger - I do tend to look at each part as a separate entity prior to a build and get each one just-so. Some people call it OCD. I would tend to agree with them

BTW, folks, Roger passed along to me a neat piece of cycling esoterica prior to our ride: a Campagnolo poster commemorating the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Nice patina; it's going up in my cycling-cave once it's built.

Thanks, pal - I have something for you since this is gift number two, and it's much better than just lunch!

DD

Drillium Dude 

Thanks!

The shoes are Sidi Titaniums. They're mesh/leather uppers with thick leather soles. They have a titanium shank and cleat plate for the really old-school three-bolt cleats. Really nice fit - even better than the fit of the touring shoes. If only the cleats weren't so hard to find - and so dear.

I was riding my Sidi Touring shoes most of the summer, but when I pressed the Ti pair back into service I found more stability and speed

DD

WNG

Gorgeous looking bikes, guys!

retrofit

Thanks!

Roger M

Thanks!

Today was a great fall day in the NW. Our local corn harvest is winding down, so I rode down the hill and picked up some for dinner. Weather was great, about 60 and blue skies.

If you pick it yourself, it's five ears for a buck. If you grab it at the little shack, you only get three for a dollar.



While I was in the fields, a couple of balloons floated by





The cows were eating dinner when I rode by. When I parked my bike in the hay, about half of them bolted(I don't think they care much for French bikes)



I only rode about 15 miles, but enjoyed it nevertheless.

BluesDaddy

My wife was down for a ride on the rail trail today so we loaded up the bikes, trailer and the 2 kids who are too young to be in school.

Northern Rail Trail in NH on the Shogun



My cute passengers



Mrs. BluesDaddy on the 80's Peugeot City Express