Mhendricks

Yes, We're still talking because I never liked those paramounts and they're not big sellers in San Jose. It wasn't in my size, I'm looking for a 70's Panasonic, Sekai 5000, or a Fuji Ace/Pro, and besides I didn't want to spend money for a back rim and tire.

bikingshearer 

Actually, I'm the one that bigbossman refuses to speak with anymore, due to my reaction when mhendricks and I were waiting at the bottom of the hill on which bigboss lost it: "He better not have crashed because I'm going to be pissed if I have to climb back up there to find him."

Hey, it's a steep climb and I am considerably larger than either of those other two guys (at least in girth - not so much in height).

bikingshearer 

Actually, the saddest sights on the ride were: (1) what Glorietta Blvd did to bigbossman's jersey commemorating his success in a century last year (even he was more upset about the jersey than the road rash); (2) anything involving me going uphill and (3) me fixing one of four ^*+$^@*?%&^#@*ing flats I had before figuring out the inner sidewall of my rear tire was torn just perfectly so as to abrade through a new tube after 5-10 miles, even with a dollar bill or a big hoinkin'patch as a boot.

Actually, #2 is simply pathetic at the best of times and #3 was pretty funny, except for the time wasted. Oh well, it really was a beautiful day and a fun ride with two great guys. I just hope they are willing to put up with me again . . . .

Mhendricks

I'll be your wingman anyday! We'll do this again real soon.

bigbossman 

You kidding? You're gold in a headwind......... Err..... ummm...... yeah - well, I guess, so am I

tenordl

Here's a pic of the bike I rode today, and yes, that is snow in the backround. The temperature actually got up to around 45 degrees today, here in Connecticut, and I just had to take advantage of it. I only rode about 8 miles, total, but we have hills here. I get so jealous of the guys in California!

David L

jcrouse

The forecast was for around 50 today so I took the afternoon off and did 21 miles. I saw around a dozen other riders so I wasn't the only one playing hookey from work. I'm fortunate to have a great route just minutes from my house. There isn't much of a shoulder on the road for the first 5 miles and with the recent snow (it snowed 3" on Monday) the edge of the road was covered in cinders. Luckily the locals are used to bikers and are really considerate. There is a little snow visible in the picture but with the warm weather the past couple days, it has quickly melted off. Hard to believe it was just yesterday when I wiped out on my mountain bike after hitting some ice on my way to work.



The route has some nice rolling hills near the beginning and then flattens out nicely. If you ride far enough the hills, quite a bit steeper, start again.



The route runs adjacent to a couple of lakes for many miles. The one pictured is pretty low (this is sometimes water as far as you can see) but it had hundreds of geese and ducks around it. The batteries in my camera died so I didn't get any pictures of 'em. I also saw 4 bald eagles that winter in this area.



Let me know if you plan on visiting the Grand Canyon or Sedona this summer. I'm located between the two and could show you some great biking routes for both road and mountain bikes.

Joe C

raverson

Good looking Univega.

Is the fleece cover for padding, or to keep from sticking to frozen leather?

tenordl

LOL It's for padding, since it's too cold for bike shorts! At least that's my excuse. I've always found that the hardest thing about riding a bike is the seat, and it seems as I get older the seat on the bike gets harder and mine gets softer.

divineAndbright

Got a descent 50km ride in today, been a while since I got that much road in no thanks to winter, but it sure felt good. -5 and 20km winds. I headed out to hwy 17 where I had awesome tail wind, tucked into the aero position and ate up 10km like nothing, then I turned out into some back country roads, lotsa nice hills! Roads were a mix of dry/wet/snowy/sand. Went right to the end of the back country road turned back and went all the way back to the hwy where it was brutality heading back home into the wind, saw another guy on a road bike heading down the way whence I came and exchanged waves.

No great photos, but I took two:



Check out the camoflouge tire!

rmikkelsen

Nice ride today organized by the Swedish embassy and the Washington Area Bike Association. It was in conjunction with the annual Vasaloppet cross-country ski race in Sweden, also held today. The race is 90 km/56 m (I skied it in 1992) and the bike ride had 56, 28 and 18 mile routes. My buddies and I chose 28, being early in the season and all, and it was lovely. It started at the brand-new Swedish embassy near the Watergate, went out MacArthur Blvd above the Potomac to Great Falls Park, and back. As you will see in the pix, Great Falls was raging with Spring runoff. Other highlights were the long, smooth downhill from the Great Falls entrance, traditional hot blueberry soup at the embassy, and the view from the embassy roof.

As the sign says, Glen Echo Park. A step back in time.


The raging Potomac.


The raging Paramount


If you look real hard, you can see Sweden from the embassy roof.

USAZorro

You can almost see the "Mile 0" marker for the C&O canal from up there.

bigbossman 

We've been having nice weather of late, so on a lark I packed up the family and drove the 100 or so miles to Merced to ride their Foothill Century. This was the first organized ride of the year, so I signed us up for the metric. We arrived at the starting location early in the morning, about 7:00am. It was clear but cold - somewhere in the 37-40 degree range, but no wind. When we parked the truck, I we realized that there was quite a bit more going on than just an organized ride. Racer's were everywhere warming up on rollers, team trucks and mechanics were strewn about, and there were banners and booths everywhere. Turns out, Merced hosts a milieu of events on this weekend - the organized rides, criterium's, and a road race. juniors to pro level, and everything in between.

Anyway, We headed out of town. and were presently in rolling farmland. The sun finally rose high enough to actually impart some warmth, and by the time we hit the first rest s top 20 miles out we were able to shed the jackets. While the first 20 miles were pretty flat, the next 15 or so got us into some pretty good rollers. While they were a lot of fun, they were a bit taxing on the 11 year old. decepive in appearance, according to Garmin some approached 7-10% towards their tops, and so the legs started to accumulate a bit of fatigue.

By the time we rolled into the lunch stop at about 40 miles, the little one was pretty spent. She wasn't complaining, but I could tell she was beat. We had a nice lunch, and while we munched I probed her a bit to see how she was feeling. She didn't want to say it out loud, but I could see the relief in her face when I declared it was time to quit and get back into town to see the pro's race.

We finished up eating, caught a SAG ride back to town, and enjoyed the rest of the day experiencng our first race as spectators. We had a ball, and very much enjoyed watching a crit close up - to say it is exhilarating is an understatement.

And the payoff - While walking back to the car at the end of the day, holding hands with the wife and daughter, my girl looks up at me and says, "this was the best day, EVER".

A few pics:

Some rollers:


Close to Lake Turlock:


The Family Unit:


Misc. race photo's:

rmikkelsen

Sweet. So nice your daughter has caught the bug! Sure you'll treasure that moment for a long time.
I'm working on my girls. All three have ridden with me the 18-20 miles into DC and the Lincoln Memorial. The youngest (13) gets around the neighborhood pretty avidly on her Giant hybrid, and she rode a roadie around the REI lot one day. This summer, I hope to get her out for a good spin.

East Hill

When I first saw those photos I thought "Whoa, this bigbossman guy is way too serious for me if he's busy racing--I don't think I could handle that kind of competition for my first every organised ride (the Ride Around the Buttes)".

Then I realised that those were the RACE photos and felt much better when I saw the photo of you with your wife and daughter.

It looks as if everyone enjoyed themselves, just remember not to wear out your daughter so much that she doesn't want to do the easy 40 miles in April .

I didn't get photos, but today's ride was quite nice--I saw one of my favourite ducks (a drake hooded merganser), and heard wood ducks calling in the local wetland. Then I bought a mixte, and went shooting. It was 57 degrees Fahrenheit here today, looks as if Spring is Springing.

East Hill

ollo_ollo

Yesterday was the first warm day since end of October 2006, 70F which was a record for 3/6. I got out for a couple of rides, about 16 miles on a nearby MUP, plus later, a quick ride downtown to my LBS & back.(date on pics is off by 1 it was the 6th not the 5th!) Don

East Hill

Which MUP is this, Don?

East Hill

bigbossman 

One of my favorites, too. How do you cook yours?

East Hill

Ah, bigbossman, they are just too pretty to eat. And I don't think they'd have much of a good flavour anyway.

https://www.enature.com/flashcard/sho...dNumber=BD0417

In case anyone is wondering what the heck a hooded merganser is...

East Hill

divineAndbright

You guys with nice weather are really making me jealous! Despite being cold here (-10, still lotsa snow out there) I had a beautiful ride today, only about 50km but thats all you can manage before your toes get too cold. Last night I was thinking "Ride the trainer tomorrow or go out for a ride?" I looked at the weather network site and tomorrow was warmer than the next day so the choice was made. I went to work on my battered winter beater and tried to clean as much sand outta the chain/various other parts as I could. My Rear Derailler is shot and I can no longer get my higest gear on the cog no matter how I adjust the screws. If I want my high gear I have to pull over and stop and move the chain manually to it, ugh! This bike is now a 4 speed, or a 10 speed if I kick the chain to my small sprocket up front (no front derailleur!), and as mentioned move the chain to the lowest cog on the freewheel by hand!

Anyways, one road I rode down called "Sunnyside Road" is a beautiful road running along beside a lake (frozen and snow covered this time of year) with a lot of rolling uphill/downhills with blind curves, really scary riding down some of those descents with tons of sand all over the road, this route shall be really fun in nice weather. I had a cute dog run along beside me on one back country road which was nice as its usually a rabid bloodshot eyes dog chasing you, wish I had the camera out at that momment.

USAZorro

Aye - a hardy soul. I'm waiting for 50 F.

I trust you've made sure your rear derailleur cable is pulled snug?

divineAndbright

'course! It just "sits" in the wrong spot when in highest gear, I can push the derailer over that extra tad by hand to where it needs to go.. it just wont stay there for some reason. Its really no wonder though, I've been riding this bike all winter long.. norther ontario winter no less, the roads get completely covered in sand every time it snows and that crap gets everywhere when you ride... I won't get started on what my chain is like.

ollo_ollo

Chehalis Western Trail, I live just West of it. Pics are on the Northern segment that runs between Martin Way & Woodard bay.
Now that the bridge over I-5 is open, you can ride from near Woodard Bay out to Tenino or Yelm with only a couple of small unpaved sections at Pacific Ave & again at the railroad tracks. About 27 miles I think, maybe more. Don

raverson

Nice pictures and bike.

That looks like a great ride for the wife and I as soon we have time for riding. Chehalis here we come!

ollo_ollo

The trail is mostly in the Olympia area, not Chehalis. I believe it was named after the Chehalis Western RR that used to haul logs down to Woodard Bay. If you google it, there are maps & directions. One quirk is the trail North of Martin Way to Woodard Bay (about 7 miles) is managed by Washington State DNR while Thurston County maintains the remainder of the trail (about 22 miles) from near Pacific Ave on South to where it intersects the Yelm/Tenino trail (which is about 14.5 miles long. Most of the maps on line are out of date as the trails have been improved lately & it appears all the remaining gaps will soon be filled in. Lots of good riding or walking & the trail isn't to crowded even on the nicest days. Don