ButchA

I did my longest ride EVER (well, so far) this morning at 9:00am... 42 miles total.... 3 hours and 2 minutes exact....

If you have 5 minutes to spare, check out the video I made early this morning before the ride, showing that MapMyRide site on my laptop and then going outside to my beloved C&V 1985 Fuji Del Rey road bike:
Anyway, here's the main map:



Everyone was at work by now, and the backroads were virtually empty! This was at Manakin Rd, coming off Snead Rd & Hockett Rd, in the western suburbs of Richmond, VA in Goochland County.



I got hit up by the road construction along Broad St. (Route 250 -- at the top of the map), and a cop stopped me, warning me to be careful. I pulled over into the Shell gas station to survey the situation and take a quick photo.



Lastly, here is a new area they just built inside West Creek Pkwy that is an incredible Craft Brewery that recently opened up. I would have gone in there, but obviously they weren't open yet...

thinktubes 

Thanks!
Rear mech is an Ultegra tri-color with the "half-moon" cage and Carmichael aluminum pulleys.

The rest of the bits are tri-color cranks (48/39), Shimano BR-650 brakes, and Shimano SL-R400 set up for 8-speed indexed shifting. I believe the FD is from a 9-speed Ultegra group.

It all plays together nicely.

Cheers!

Vonruden

rccardr 

Couple of local rides around the DC area.
Down by the Potomac, VA side:


Great Falls, again on the VA side:

Riverbend Park, further up the Potomac. There's a nice café right behind me. You can also rent kayaks here, it's a pretty calm stretch of the river:

curbtender

Sitting at the foot of Mt Wanda, which I believe is named after John Muir's wife.

scratchpaddy

I haven't been on this site (or the internet in general much) for a while. Haven't been riding the bike much, either, other than riding to work and running errands. I wanted to fix that this weekend.

I got up early Saturday for a morning ride, only to find a dust storm going on outside. Took a long walk instead. I tried again today with better luck. I set out at 5 with the Basso my aunt gave me fifteen or twenty years ago. This is the bike that got me into bikes. I don't know how many thousands of miles I've put on it over the years. I just finished some overdue maintenance on it, rebuilding the headset, new brake cables and housings, and new bar tape. I went with cloth Newbaum's this time.



Another day, another sunrise. Not as dusty as the last one.



A fun little dip underneath a big cloverleaf interchange. I took a moment to stop and think about all the tons of steel speeding past over my head.



The high today was 110°, and it was already getting hot by the time I got home around 8. I only went 43 miles, but I was beat. It's been too long since my last decent ride, and it's monsoon season, with some extra humidity to make the heat a little less bearable. It was good to get out and stretch my legs on my old bike, though.

Kdogbikes

Bianchigirll 

noglider 

My afternoon task was to rewire a chandelier.



My reward afterwards was an evening ride. I challenged myself with two difficult hills. I had done them before, but not recently, and man, they were hard. I took the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail in the middle of the ride. The smell of mud after heavy rain is quite pleasant, and the trail was very quiet. The roads were quiet, too. I only took one shot, on the rail trail.

I rode 16.4 miles with 1,404 ft of climbing. I may have hit a high speed record of 43.7 mph. The hills are long and steep. My McLean has always been sure-footed at high speeds. I now have some Continental GP4000S-II tires on it, the 28mm size. I rode at fairly low pressure, perhaps 55 psi or so. They feel great.

Sir_Name 

I got out for double rides today. It was supposed to rain, but instead just stayed muggy and hot. Oh well.

Johno59

First light


5 minutes later - making hay

curbtender

Hay, what does that say on your top tube? "The all ..... bicycle"

ryansu

Is anybody here a Marine Biologist?

abshipp 

Rode 26 MUP miles last night on my new-to-me Velo Orange Polyvalent, now with a rack and handlebar bag.

I can now confidently say that I'm a fan of the low-trail front end of this bike. I really don't notice a huge difference with the bag being on the bike or off of it. Obviously you can tell that there is a little bit more weight you are moving with the handlebars, but it isn't nearly as intrusive as on a mid-trail bike.

Fit is almost there, unfortunately I need a little bit less reach, so for now I'm going to be a little stretched out until I decide that I'm up for re-wrapping my handlebars.

Johno59

'The All Steel Bicycle' was Raleigh's signatory marketing slogan. One poster it headlined depicted 5 grown men standing shoulder to shoulder on a plank that spanned the handle bars and the seat.

Drillium Dude 

A quick 25-miler on the SRT after jury duty. Got back juuuuuuust before dark!

Second ride on my newly-fitted Michelin Hi-Lite Synergic 23s; I absolutely love these tires! Best folding clinchers I've ever been on, and approaches the suppleness of a very good tubular. Now if I can just keep from getting any substantial cuts in the slick tread...

DD

jimmuller 

Have you compared them to Veloflex Masters?

Drillium Dude 

I haven't - are those tubulars or folding clinchers? The Michelins ride nicer (and hopefully display less tendency to cut) than my Vittoria Open Corsa Evo SCs, the most modern folding clincher I have/use.

DD

djkashuba 

CTA Motobecane Le Champion by djk762, on Flickr

thinktubes 

DQRider 

Another ~40-mile ride around Saint Paul, with a stop to visit Dad.



The route I chose was mostly MUP alongside the Mississippi, with some nice artwork along the Saint Paul waterfront.



A little shadow-play in one of the overlooks across from Fort Snelling.



On the Wabasha Bridge.



And a final shot in my front yard.



Some may notice that I have swapped out the black wheels and tires for polished alloy and tan sidewalls. This is because I couldn't get the S-A 3-speed to work properly. I'm going to have to rebuild it this winter, but I'm too busy now during the riding season. So it wears the S-A SRF-5 drivetrain from my Raysport Turismo Roadster now, and that bike will be getting a Shimano Deore derailleur drivetrain as soon as I have time to put it together.

.

Johno59

Cocaine!

ryansu

Dang @DQRider those pictures are almost as gorgeous as your Super Course!

Drillium Dude 

Humor me and check that stem at the front of the clamp for a crack. I know they were prone to cracking and it seems that I see a thin black line in your photo.

I'd hate to see you join the ever-growing list of C&V summer crash victims!

DD

djkashuba 

Thanks for the Heads Up. There are some gouges perhaps from bar insertion/tools but I see no cracks. Used a magnifying glass. I will keep an eye on it.
-D