cooperryder

Nice day for riding yesterday in sunny 50 degree temps with light wind.

This is a 1990 Bridgestone CB Zip set up for urban riding and sporting Rat Trap Pass tires.

Bergz

Dicksons Road, Otago, New Zealand. Old Avanti mtn bike, a fun ride although I had to walk up a couple of steeper hills....

eom 

Bergz
That's a lovely shot! Thanks.

curbtender

Pregame test ride of a single speed I parted together. Forgot how simple bikes can be. Stop in Rodeo for a couple of shots and then got back to get the field ready.

Prowler 

I’ve often recalled a Peanuts cartoon from back when I was a wee sprig:

Lucy: “What’s wrong?”

Charlie Brown: “I had a math test today. I really worried about that test. I worried and worried and worried.”

Lucy: “So how did you do?”

Charlie Brown: “I got an A. I wasted a perfectly good worry.”

Lately, I’ve been worrying about one hill that’s pretty tough for me. After a fairly medically year in 2022, I’ve been struggling with confidence that I can climb such hills. “Its too cold. There may be ice. My legs may not be strong enough. My heart may not be strong enough.” I got fed up today and said “Stop whinging and go ride up that #@*% hill”. So I set out from Towpath Park going southeast on the Schuylkill River Trail. 9 mile warm up to the bottom of Fairview (aka Tunnel) hill. Probably a 12 to 14% grade for 0.2 miles, curving back and forth. But a good day - no sun glare, cold, no wind, no other people. I was on the 87 Schwinn Voyageur. Heavy but lovely triple up front. I put my head down and just ground on up with one cog to spare. I did it and did it again going back home. And I felt great after all. Strong.

I wasted a perfectly good worry.



Tunnel Hill. The old rail line goes thru the hill be we gotta hump up and over. Ugh.

That guy on the bench works for the NIH. He sits there all day every day keeping a log of all the dim fool old men trying to get up that hill when they aught to know better.*

* That last sentence is not entirely truthful.

northbend 

MF ride Feb 12 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

RCMoeur 

The morning started uneventfully enough, with me leading my usual Phoenix Metro Bike Club Granada 4s group to a Mexican restaurant via a hilly route (with some bonus miles due to unexpected detours due to light rail construction). So while we're finishing breakfast, another rider says "Anyone up for going west for a longer ride?" Most of the group demurred, but I said I'd go with him. So we rode the ACDC path out to the Skunk Creek path to the New River path. All of these are on independent alignments with grade separations at almost all streets - basically a "bicycle freeway". As we wandered westward and then southbound, the bicycle traffic increased, until we got to the site of a small event that happened to be going on today:

Heading toward the Big Silver Cow Flop

That's a weird way to spell... something.

Are we running through, or passing through?

Since we had no game ticket, concert ticket, tailgate ticket, or speeding ticket, we rolled around the perimeter. Pro tip: If you put your blinky lights on, wear a bright shirt, and look like you belong and know what you're doing, you can get waved through several checkpoints. Brought back memories of managing security and bike teams for the Fiesta Bowl Parade a decade or so ago.

Then the ride home. The stadium has convenient path access to the west and south, so we rode the Grand Canal path and then took minor through streets back toward the central city. Went fine, except for the pesky headwind and the fact I was starting to get low on water and hungry. Stopped in a local hole-in-the-wall pizzeria for a snack, and we were lucky to escape without being press-ganged into dough duty - they were so slammed with orders they couldn't even serve us anything. But they were nice about it.

Finally got water at a park and into the homestretch, now eastbound on the ACDC path I'd mentioned earlier. It has very few at-grade intersections with streets, but it has one at 25th Avenue, which is a minor street serving a park and offices. And in the middle of the intersection was a bleeding rider, who had just been struck by a hit-and-run driver a couple minutes before. Fortunately, 911 had been called and the rider was conscious and responsive, and Phoenix Fire expertly treated and packaged him for hospital transport while I went over his exquisite all-Dura-Ace engraved Merlin to assess damage. As he was being wheeled into the ambulance, he asked about the bike, and I told him from what I could see the worst damage was a broken Garmin bracket and a slightly out-of-true front wheel - everything else checked out OK in my ultra-quick assessment, and neither the frame nor fork looked bent at a glance. This seemed to make his misery slightly less miserable.

Rescue 33 on the way to the hospital

Got home with just about 55 miles for the day, slightly sore legs, slightly chafed... and all the way from the restaurant carrying two chimis + sides, and some fajita leftovers, kept in a small bike-portable cooler with ice packs. So the bike was probably around 60 lbs (including the leftovers, bags, the leader tools & other stuff), and it behaved well. But I really can't complain a bit given the 75° weather, and hope that hit rider heals up well (and they find and punish who hit him).

RCMoeur 

Like those green cranks. Although I personally would choose a more modest chainring diameter, it looks like that size works for you, and looks good on the bike.

djkashuba 

2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr


2-12-23 by djk762, on Flickr

northbend 

Nice seeing you and Tim riding those glorious roads djkashuba. You really do have it good, Cino-bro!

Straightblock

I found a few miles of river bottom that I had thought were on private property and closed to the public, Apparently it's been open for a few years. The main path is an easy, flat gravel road leading to a pay-to-enter fishing area, with some single and double track too. I plan to put it into my ride rotation and explore it further until the hot weather comes.

Spaghetti Legs 

Beautiful warm, sunny weather today and got out for 23 miles riding around town on the Masi. There was nice crisp shadow when the sun was at the right angle and I tried to capture it with only limited success.

Schweinhund

got the mango beast out and pedaled around town.

abshipp 

I've been commuting on this bike for the last few months, most rides less than two miles.

Tonight I took the "long" (3-4 miles) way home, my planned route had two railway crossings.

Stopped trains at both of them

zukahn1 

First day in a couple weeks tough weather and tough times for me but I will ride any Sunny day in Colorado. Took the SS speed Nishiki with snow tires which is actually a great packed snow bike.

cooperryder

Breezy 42 degrees on yesterday's errand ride on this 650b converted 1978 Peugeot.

curbtender

Had to stop at the Danville rail station/museum to use the facilities. They converted a caboose in to a restroom. A lady came up and asked if both rooms were occupied. I replied yes but these two guys were here before me. She said "oh" and started to walk away. I laughed and had to tell her they were mannequins...

messmer777

To the UPS store to drop off a package. Super exciting!

rccardr 

Two weeks in Palm Springs, alternating hiking and biking:
IMG_6789 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr
IMG_6798 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr
IMG_6894 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr
IMG_6843 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr

abshipp 

Planned on a long road ride today, but an hour on my Super Le Tour fixed gear was just right.

botty kayer

A multicolored 'giant' corgi outside Methodist Central Hall in Westminster. One of 19 dotted around Westminster installed as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, each painted by a different artist. Prince Andrew has taken over looking after the Queen's corgi's since her passing, so I hope somebody is checking up on them to check they're OK

In the run up the football World Cup in 1966 which was hosted in England, the Jules Rimet Trophy was on display in Methodist Central Hall, but on 20th March it was stolen. The thief was never caught, but 7 days after it was stolen a collie dog named Pickles, out with his owner near their home in south London, sniffed out a newspaper wrapped by the wheel of a parked car, and had found the missing World Cup. Fame and fortune followed for Pickles, Pickles' owner was awarded a £5000 reward, equivalent to about £100,000 in today's money, Pickles of course won dog of the year, appeared on numerous TV progs and even appeared in a movie 'the spy with a cold nose'.

England won the world cup in that summer of 1966, and haven't won it again since. Tragically for Pickles, in a scene you can imagine out of a Wylie Coyote or Tom and Jerry cartoon, Pickles died in 1967 when he was strangled by his choke chain lead that caught on a tree branch while he was chasing a cat near his new home in Surrey.[size=8333px] [/size]He was buried in his owner's back garden,[size=8333px] [/size]and his collar is on display in the National Football Museum in Manchester.

I ride out to Chelsea where they currently have a Challenger 2 tank outside. You can park where you want in central London if you have one of these, and last month we agreed to send some to Ukraine to help them against Russia's advances.

I then meander over to east London in search of some new street art, and as always find something new.

And today was clearly a dog day afternoon.



And on my way back home I stop for a pic at some nice old vintage cars, 2 nice Saab's from a few decades apart, and the ratty MG MGA had UK plates and Texas plates, so that has clearly traveled far and wide, and driving around UK in February in car with no roof, the driver is obviously a bit a brave character too, or just plain mad.

But they got lucky today as it remained dry all day and we even had patches of blue sky and sunshine, but its not shorts or short sleeve weather yet.

And my final pic of the day is a new sculpture on the banks of the river opposite Mi6, by Bruno Catalano.

RCMoeur 

Didn't lead my usual PMBC group this morning, as I have professional duties at the national ATSSA meeting downtown. But I heard there was a lil' bike race going on up the street, so I unfolded my Bike Friday on a Sunday and rode west a mile or so to check it out.


Seems like the RWGPS heatmap looks a bit convoluted today...



Sunny & 70s. Nice day for a race... or a ride.

Spaghetti Legs 

Very windy but warm and sunny. Most of the heavy lifting, wind wise, was done in the first half of the ride, so sailed large for home stretch.

Drillium Dude 

Always nice when the wind's at your six when you're most fatigued

DD

obrentharris 

Vintage Gravel Bike.
Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Marin County, California









Brent