ascherer 

Another happy C&V-er making miles while the sun shone. Nearly 60F in the eastern Catskills today, and I had a 2-hour window to squeeze in a 20-miler.


I rode the Paramount, having built tubular wheels earlier in the winter but hadn’t yet tried them. I haven’t had tubulars for at least 30 years. These are Vittoria Corsas and they were very comfortable and responsive.



It was great to get out, work my legs, and see the beautiful landscape.

bironi

It was a nice day in my hood, but this made my day.
I stopped to take some pics and spoke with the owner.
It was his mother's car, and he got it on the road this week.
It is a 1951 Nash Airflyte.
Designed in Italy.
Looks 1930's to me, but 1951 was the year I arrived as well.
I'm pretty sure I could fit a few bikes into this rig.
I owned a 1961 Rambler Ambassador when I was in my late teens as well.
I drove from Seattle to Tucson cruising at ~90 when I could.
We had two bikes standing vertically on the tail fins tied down very stably by my knot/sailing buddy.
Hey, just made my day!
By

SharpByCoop 

I'm new to this thread, and this is just BEFORE I put 20 miles on my newly-restored Paramount. (LOVE the gem ^^ two posts up! Hubba hubba!)

Rode the 'Gold Coast' roads in lower Fairfield County CT along LI sound (Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield)

Spectacular outing. (My Zwifting paid off in pace, yet this make it all worthwhile.)


I'm VISIBLE. Mirror, strobe lights and hi-vis. Too many cars in my area. Lots of FUN in this photo!

bironi

Welcome to the ride.
Nice bike and pic.
I'd bet with a couple adjustments, I might ride away on that with a smile.
Keep your eye on that!

Classtime 

I’ve been nervous about my preparation for the Spring Classics. It’s been cold and rainy here with rides cut short or skipped altogether but now I’m feeling more relaxed after doing 4 laps around the hill.

Different lighting with each lap.

bikef.f354s

The bikes in this thread are a gold mine for inspiration and ideas on restorations. So many awesome bikes

SharpByCoop 

Today I bailed on the Early morning Zwift and decided to ride outdoors in the afternoon. Feb 11 in the Northeast is a rare opportunity,

A long ride for me at 32 miles solo and age 70. I persevered. Road debris, crowded roads and cranky entitled drivers made it difficult.

However, all ended WELL. Here's my 1972 Schwinn Superior I restored and rode today.




Colorful!

darkmoon

Weekend rec ride.
I couldn't ride for three weeks.
And the skies were partly overcast.
Clouds hid Mt. Fuji, again.
Mmm.

The visible mountains are Tanzawa mountains.
They are about 1 hour from central Tokyo like Shinjuku, by train.
Very popular for mountaineers.

Wildwood 

Lots of shorty rides lately. Muchly about pumping tires and little stuff. Between the Pacific Moist West showers. ….and damp chill. But we get out. Some sun, some road, some trail, … and a stop to ask for peace.


This time with commute backpack.

Give Peace a Chance


but the deer have returned,….


And never fear, MIB are on the job. No alien landings at this innocuous site near Spirit Mt (aka Mt Rainier)

…altho’ conditions have been favorable with unlimited vis.

cooperryder

It was one of those perfect riding days in North Texas with light winds and low 60's temps on a super smooth and comfortable 46 year old Peugeot.

Straightblock

Saturday ride to the end of Wellbarn Road.

Spaghetti Legs 

I was reminded that yesterday was 20th anno of death of Pantani, so in honor I took the Carrera out today. Beautifully sunny and supposedly low 50’s but a stiff chill breeze made it feel much colder. One of many examples of wall art in my little town, none as good as those Botty Kayer shows us in London but we only have 40,000 people to pick our artists from. Apologies, the sun and that parked car made getting a good shot difficult.

rccardr 

I’ve seen SL’s Carrera in person, and it is stunning!

Spaghetti Legs 

Just rode down to the store for tonight’s supper but the today was a good example of where the Blue Ridge gets the name. Really nice gun metal blue today with quick glimpses as I’m riding downhill toward the store but I couldn’t find a good spot for a pic on the way home. Kappa Kappa Gamma house to the right behind the bike. Just remodeled and I can only imagine what the dues are. Much different from the nearly condemned house I lived in during college.

Classtime 

To have one (or more than one) as-ridden-in-the-TDF bike is a dream of mine.

Wildwood 

A 1980/81 vintage - not much ridden lately. 42/26 lowest hurts too much, at times, on Cougar Mt. But I made it. Switchbacked my way up the steepest bits.


I have this pic ^^ with several different bikes as subject. Makes me smile

Price of eggs?

Made it home, no walking. 1981 AD Olympian (poor man’s Vent Noir) is a wonderful stretched in-th-drops French fit rider for me.

Spaghetti Legs 

Golden goose eggs? That is pricey. I used to work in a small farm town and a lady at work would bring me free eggs faster than I could eat them. A Colnago Super’s worth at that rate!

Wildwood 

Suburban Puget Sound. Not far enough from big cities to be truly rural. Maybe the pet chicken is overworked?

Classtime 

BWR Recon ride. Only 53mi and 4265ft but rocks, mud, steep single track pitches…over the bars just one time😁
I’m contemplating a few changes for the real thing.

Who does this to their #1?

bironi

I'd work on your otb's form.
Have to have some style.
Have a good ride.

non-fixie 

Dinner appointment with some old school friends tonight. 25-mile round trip. The weather forecast said no rain, so I decided to leave the car at home and let my winter beater do some work for its living.

This is what no rain looks like ...



The return trip was much nicer. The rain had gone and the wind had died as well.

northbend 

The other day, a memory popped up in my Facebook feed of a picture I had posted 14 years ago.
It was a picture of one of the Seattle areas better known hillclimbs called “Zoo Hill”.

The hillclimb is just under 4 miles and 1400 Ft elevation gain from its base off of Interstate 90 to an old NIKE Anti Aircraft Missile Site (now a County Park) on the top of Cougar Mountain.
It starts off steep and ratchets up from there until you muscle past a sharp hairpin turn before relenting somewhat after a mile allowing you to get your breathing under control.
You get onto a long straightaway, the hill pitching up again with several false summits, each one breaking your heart if you’re not familiar with this climb as another pitch presents itself before you just as you start to think your suffering is over.

The end for most people that ride this hill is at a private school where the hill crests and the road drops down the other side lined by luxury homes with expansive views of Seattle and Lake Washington.
For extra credit, take a sharp left just before the school and climb another 200 feet of elevation on a dirt road to the old NIKE site on top of Cougar.

When I took that picture in 2010 I had ridden it during my lunch break at work training for “RAMROD” which is a 1 day, 150 mile endurance ride that I would do on a fixed gear around Mount Rainier National Park, held later in July.
2010 was a time in my life when, in my 50’s I was doing all sorts of physical challenges like Marathons, double centuries n such wondering if I could still ‘measure up’.
Midlife crisis? Probably. I don’t know. I had some adventures and remained true to my wife and didn’t get us into any trouble anyways..

As I was looking at that photo I began to think about how those 14 years just flew by.

It seemed like yesterday.
Then I realized 14 years from now I’ll be 80! This life is passing by so quickly.

So now I’m thinking it’s been years since I’ve climbed the Zoo Hill.
I should really go ride it and see how it feels 14 years after that picture was taken.
It would be interesting to see how I’d handle it now as an older guy with a far different attitude towards cycling and a mind swirling with thoughts about my own mortality.

So Yesterday afternoon I went for a ride…

Stopping for a picture at the same spot I taken that photo 14 years ago.
14 years later on Zoo Hill by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

I’m riding a bike (Woodrup) that’s much heaver but also much lower geared than what I rode 14 years ago (Merlin Extralight).
While I was slower than I recall (I used to complete this climb from my office in Eastgate in less than 90 minutes) I never felt like I was working too hard.
This hill is still my playground!

I swooped down the backside of Cougar Mountain Road and Lakemont Blvd feeling exhilarated.
I still had some time to kill so I went down another memory lane with a ride through Lake Sammamish State park.

We used to come here alot when I was a kid. Back in the late 60’s mom was studying to become a registered nurse and she’d take us kids here to swim and play while she studied at the beach during the summer.
We’d run amok, free for hours. When we weren’t swimming we’d run along the sandy trails that lined Issaquah Creek before it spilled into the lake by an open sand spit.
Out there, away from parents eyes we got into all sorts of mischief.

I hadn’t been to the park in years. The trail lining the creek was still there but now was ‘improved’.
Lk. Sammamish State Park by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

It was a bit tattered out at the sand spit but there was still some resemblance to how I remembered it. I could almost hear the transistor radios and ski boats out on the water....
Where Issaquah Creek empties into the lake by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Vieux chnoque

I am visiting Phoenix, living in the Eifel in Germany the rest of the year.
This is my cheapo craigslist bike
F9F67657-5553-480E-BBE3-0C8F90E07452 by Hub , on Flickr

and here some pics riding the parks and canals of Phoenix, nice temperatures in the seventies.
IMG_7518 by Hub , on Flickr
Medium (800 × 600)
IMG_7533 by Hub, on Flickr

This is a 50 mile roundtrip, one of several I have in Phoenix.
https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvyZkDYzKO
gives an overview of the ride.

nlerner

Dang cold here for more extended riding, so I’ve gotten out a bunch for shorter (20-35 mile) rides. This morning was on the Fitz all-rounder:

curbtender

No ride today but I was searching for a local artist, Jim DeWitt, that has a new mural painted on a huge storage building in pt Richmond. I ran across one of his other prints that reminded me of those members that ride Marin. Titled "Biking in Marin"...