musicdiver

Like @VintageRide , I too took advantage of the warm and reasonably dry Vancouver weather to admire cherry blossoms and ride about town yesterday.



I met up with a friend down by the marina, and from there we made our way up to a quaint little neighbourhood grocery store and cafe to join others for some coffee:




After we parted ways, I headed to the library to return a book


And stopped by to say hello to another friend (and take in the blossoms) on my way home)


In the evening I dragged some friends along to the 'East Van Bike Jam', celebrating Dream Cycle's 10th Anniversary (Dream Cycle - Custom Bikes)

There was cheap wine, beer, treats, live music, and bikes bikes bikes.
I was particularly taken with these Independent Fabrication bikes



Soma's Grand Randonneur:


And the lovely low trail 650b frame up for sale from Bonavia Cycles (About Bonavia Cycles | Bonavia Cycles)


I had a nice brief chat with the frame builder and he spoke to wanting to make bikes that can move sprightly on paved roads but still handle gravel and loads. Would that I had the cash!

djkashuba 

Enjoying a lush Spring.


Motobecane Le Champion by djk762, on Flickr

jimmuller 

Great bunch of pics. Too many to compliment everyone individually. Too many even to stare at for long! Keep 'em coming.

I probably won't even do my commute tomorrow. We're supposed to get 3-6in of wet snow tonight.

Vonruden

Sweet pics coming in for sure, those Rando IF's are awesome.

quick spin on the Ebisu


The end of the road

nlerner

Rode with my old Brit bike group today, about 41 miles through the burbs west of Boston. I was on my '71 International, leaning here against my buddy's Super Course:



The star bike of the day was a Weigelized Raleigh Competition, now 650B with canti brakes:



Stuck to bike paths and back roads as much as we could:

pressed001

Took a short ride yesterday in hopes of finding a new route. Ended up off-roading it a lot more than I would like. This always happens right after I put new tires on. I need to stick more to the street. The marked "bike paths" here always end up unpaved.

Anywho, I finally got a decent pic of the Kestrel.

Chrome Molly

That Kestrel is fantastic. Looks like you'll need the climbing cogs on the cassette where you are located.

pressed001

Thank you. Interesting you should say that about the cogs. I just wrapped up a triple conversion this morning. You can see that post here.

Instead of bottoming out with a 39/32, I am now at 30/27 which should help a bit.

VintageRide

Took a spin in and around parts of New Westminster - catching as many blossoming trees as possible, along with the agreeable weather. A few street shots, the quay by the waterfront, as well as the odd older home, of which there are a few. The last image shows the ongoing removal of a double level parkade that runs behind the main street and also was built over another road that has serviced mostly trucks.. It appears that it will become a revitalized area with widened sidewalks and a cycling network, making it much more people friendly - guess the trucks will be taking another route, which would be a nice change. Hope some of you enjoy them.

VintageRide

And a few more:

jimmuller 

V_R, cool pics!

greg3rd48 

@VintageRide Gorgeous photos of the city, scenery and the bike. I am amazed that everything is so green and blooming already in Canada! I guess I did not realize that B.C. is so mild.

Vonruden

Thanks Jim

70 degrees today, did Lunch ride on the Riv near Princeton.

gomango

Is that a Wald 137 rack?

Attached with zip ties per chance?

Tia

Vonruden

Yep, works like a charm and Grant approved

Wald Wire Basket

jimmuller 

May I ask how much that bike weighs? (If I may, I will.)

pressed001

Trying to find a good new route, I headed due north to Schaffhausen then swung around back south using another route for my return trip. I had to stop frequently to check the map on the way back, trying to avoid heavily used main roads. It was a good move in that the scenery was great but looking at the map all the time was kinda a hassle. My reasoning: as I get to know the surrounding area better, I will have to do that less often and I can stay away from this terrible european traffic!

As for the bike: yesterday I installed a quill stem adapter so I can use a 31.8 handlebar/tri-bar, swapped the saddle, and finalized the crank setup with the 3rd ring.

The tri-bar is not yet positioned perfectly. I need to drop it more and put on a shorter stem. But it works and I was able to cut through the wind pretty good at times.

Overall for the day I did 95km with 1210m elevation gain.

Pemetic2006

That looks like a nice ride. I've recently been doing a lot of Google "street viewing" of Switzerland and it looks fantastic. I hope my wife and I get to go there someday.
Oddly, Germany and Austria have no Google street view.

jimmuller 

More nice pics.

I just rode my commute again, round trip 32 miles. No pics, alas. Cool temps, a bit of mist on the way home so I ended up slightly wet. Rode through a flock of about two dozen turkeys.

Vonruden

I'm not sure Jim, but I can say she's beefy, stout, and stable.

gomango

Pardon me, but.......

Is yours the "huge" or "medium" size?

Vonruden

@gomango

It's the medium version, however I have the large version zipped on my beater. I've had full coolers on this one that exceed the racks recommended weight, haven't spilled a beer yet.

jimmuller 

I can believe that. I just asked because of all the extra hardware - the rack, the basket/rack, the double DT, the larger tires and wheels.

Prowler 

Hauled my 95 Trek ZX7000 to the Delaware and Lehigh trail head in Northampton, PA this morning. Excellent ride on a very nice rail trail. Steep cliffs and embankments on one side (from all the cuts the RR made) and the quiet Lehigh river on the other side. Temps stayed in the 50s but bright sun and a stiff wind (off the Atlantic) in the open areas. Pretty well used for a weekday morning. All sorts of folks out. Rode 15 miles north then back to the car. Great trip and nice scenery. Excellent exercise.

pressed001

That's interesting. I tried street view for those 2 countries and it also doesn't work. Must have something to do with their laws.

I find that Germany is beautiful. North is more flat and south is more hilly. There are some cities that escaped the bombing runs of WWII which are just incredible to see. I can't say much for Austria except for Vienna which is just incredible.

If you're planning a chill, relaxed ride, I think Switzerland is amazing with all its old towns and buildings. Plus, it isn't as spread out as Germany so you can see more in one bang. With Germany, you've got to ride some pretty serious distances between towns/cities.

Did some pretty serious hiking when I first got here. I was amazed and culture shocked in a good way. After a while I guess you kinda get used to the way things are and don't notice them as much any more. However, the old buildings such as churches, farm houses, and castles which are reminders of the way things used to be before machines, are still beautiful.