Lenton58 

The levees on Japan's river floodplains can make nice places for peaceful riding. My fellow Canadian and I went for our first ride of the new year using my Gazelle AB and Dawes Atlantis. It was chilly, but we were "rugged up" on a nice, bright January day

Winter riding gear


Stopping for refreshment: red Gazelle AB; blue Dawes Atlantis

cooperryder

A nice ride on a day full of sunshine and pleasant temps on a bike that reminds me of sunshine.

Wildwood 

EddyR

Bianchi84 I road those roads of Concord and Kanapolis for 15 years but now live down In Locust about 15 miles south. Go over to Charlotte speedway and ride around the entry road,it's 2 miles around the outside. New Humpy Wheeler and Jeff Gordon well and they let me ride the track several times.
EddyR

bear_a_bug 

As you've seen from prior posts, weather in Chicago over the weekend was unreal for an early January. Got a chance to get out and get a few miles in on my Raleigh Competition 650B conversion.

Salamandrine 

OK, not exactly today. Over the holidays I was visiting my hometown and got to do some old rides. Tassajara road, a gravel road which goes from Carmel Valley, CA to Big Sur (sort of), had been closed for a couple years due to fires and drought. Fortunately it is open now so I took advantage. Unfortunately I kind of ran out of time and didn't go as far as I would have liked, but more or less rode to the top at least. Nice views for sure. I was kind of freezing coming back down. Didn't have long gloves, and had to stop 2 or 3 times to warm up my hands enough to use the brakes. It's around 4k feet at the top IIRC.

Entering Los Padres National Forest. Road gets dramatically better at this point.




View near the top.

zukahn1 

Took a nice but some what short winter ride around Fairlplay today. I'm getting to really like the Specialized I rescued a while back with the adjustments dialed in it rides 5x better than it should considering age and it is a Tawian frame that was actually built a hair off true, and the 6 speed accushift components and clunky breaks.

curbtender

Bay bridge


Having all the ducks in a row


Golden Gate fields baytrail bypass

noglider 

I haven't been riding much. At the end of December, my wife and I took a nine-day driving trip through Ohio. We had a nice time, but I didn't lift my leg over a bike once, which was sad. We did take some nice walks, though. I've been riding short distances, as the weather has been nasty. Global warming makes me nervous, so it's hard to appreciate it when it's unseasonably warm. Now it got "normal" and it feels really cold, since we're not acclimated. I decided to be like a Minnesotan ("There's no bad weather, only bad clothing") today, and I had a rehearsal to go to, so I bundled up a lot. I wore boots with no cleats and my skiing helmet. Well, it worked. In fact, I didn't need quite that much clothing, but I certainly didn't get cold. It was only about four miles each way, but it was nice, as I crossed the East River into Brooklyn.

curbtender

Eckley pier and Wreck of the Garden City ferry. The fishers were out...



Finished with a stop for playoff football at the Powder Keg in Hercules
Got back out today on a loop ride. For me, my favorite riding weather, clear and brisk. I heard there was some slide damage on the Miller trail but saw none.

AliH

I had a nice wee ride around the dirt roads near my house on the outskirts of Phnom Penh this afternoon. Normally I'd do a 30ish mile ride in the early hours of the morning to avoid the heat, but I had a cold today so went out late afternoon instead. Found a couple of nice quiet roads

djkashuba 

The seasonal creeks are all running now.



Colnago Super by djk762, on Flickr

scozim 

Keep the photos coming folks - it's helpful for those of us recuperating or with ice on the roads.

northbend 

1st Ride in nearly 4 months yesterday!
Only about 20 flat and easy miles but hey, it felt GREAT.
I think I'm gonna like this Holland bicycle I built up during my recovery.
It has very nice manners...

1stride19 by NBend, on Flickr

curbtender

Welcome back

scozim 

This is awesome to see Matt!!

northbend 

Your day will come, Scott. Hang in there during your recovery, do the work and you'll be back in the saddle again before the weather gets warm (the best time to ride anyway!)
While I haven't been cleared by the Doc to ride yet (I see him tomorrow), I feel pretty good with almost all my range of motion in the left arm restored. I am being careful when I ride.

The nice weather continues at least for now. Gusty East winds blowing down from Snoqualmie Pass make riding in the upper Snoqualmie Valley unpleasant but I’ll let you in on a little secret: Go and ride the Middle Fork River Valley just outside of town (North Bend) when it blows like this. The mountains that line the Eastern side of the river valley block most of the wind..

So today, another easy spin. This time, rode by myself up the Middle Fork forest road following the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.
This road was regraded and paved just a few years ago and now it is one of the premier roads on the East side of Puget Sound for cycling. Since it is mid-week, traffic is light.

On the Middle Fork Road by NBend, on Flickr

As you head up the valley the Mountains loom over you

Flanked by mountains by NBend, on Flickr

Following the river by NBend, on Flickr

My turn around point is 12 miles up the road at the Middle Fork Trailhead. A gentle downhill grade on the way back makes you feel like superman.

Turn around at the Middle Fork trailhead by NBend, on Flickr

merziac

Good to hear Matt, what pray tell is the other bike in this pic?

Doh, nevermind, figured it out. Kestral.

northbend 

It's worth another look. Bob couldnt find the chuck that allowed him to inflate these wheels at the time we went on the ride.

obrentharris 

Good news!
I'm glad to see you're back on the bike Matt.
Brent

northbend 

Thanks guys, looking forward to skiing and riding myself back into shape...

bironi

Matt,
Good to see you out there.
Hope to ride with you when you reach the lofty heights of 30 miles with some hills.
Byron

Johno59

Absolutely fabulous ride. Escaping the winter wind is impossible here leave alone your incredible istas.

obrentharris 

We are about half way through our winter rainy season here in Coastal California.




Rain or shine it's all the same to the cows, but they are more picturesque when the low winter sunlight finds a hole in the clouds.




This time of year there are a few plants that remind us that spring will come back in a couple months. The first willows, growing near the creeks, start to bud.




The California Buckeye balls which dropped from the bare branches a couple months ago send out their shoots towards the wet ground, hoping to be the first roots of a new tree.




The indomitable Narcissus show their fresh faces to the pelting rain and the winds while all the other spring bulbs are still sleeping safe underground.




And some foolish bicyclist on an old bike dares to think he can make it through an entire cloudy ride without getting too soggy.



Brent

Andy_K 

Earlier in the week weather forecasts were calling for heavy rain all weekend, so I planned to sleep in and finish re-building my Serotta sometime in the afternoon. When I got up, it wasn't raining and the updated weather forecast said it probably wouldn't. Woo hoo! Luckily, I didn't have much left to do on the Serotta, just brake cables and bar tape. I finished it up and went for a roll.

I followed a familiar route down Scholls Ferry Road, but decided to try an offshoot I hadn't ridden before. Typically I take Tile Flat Road, which lives up to its name. Today, since I was riding with polka dots, it seemed like a good day to try out Clark Hill Road. It does, in fact, have a hill -- good thing I installed a triple. Here's my freshly rebuilt bike at the turn off for Clark Hill Road.



Oregon is covered with evergreens. That probably explains my fondness for deciduous trees like those I grew up around in Maryland.