gaucho777 

Well, this is a first for me. I was only a few miles from home when my shift cable snapped. I've had brake cables snap, and shift cable snap at the pinch bolt, but never had a shift cable snap under the BB. It does have an under-the-BB plastic guide there, but the cable suffered some erosion that went unnoticed. So, my planned short ride turned out to be much shorter.

nlerner

We’re supposed to get torrential rain and high winds tomorrow, so I headed out today in relatively calm low 40s with filtered sun. I took the Fitz on my favorite local gravel ride:

Schweinhund

Off to the Post Office to mail payment to Mad Honk after completely gapping it

jamesdak 

Well, my riding has moved inside for the winter so I haven't been sharing pics. Picked up an indoor recumbent this fall and have been using that versus the rollers this year. Getting old and soft I guess.


But the views still aren't bad. These were all "interruption" shots taken out the one window in the picture during the past couple of rides.










If the snow gets deeper on the slopes I'll start getting moose in the yard too.

botty kayer

I've been working like crazy over the past few months riding all over London with work, nearly 5000 miles in the last 5 months but haven't gone anywhere! I've barely had the time or the energy for any recreational rides, and last week it was -5c / 23f and can't say I enjoy riding in that!

This week thankfully it is a very mild for the UK at Xmas, being about 12c / 54f, and having a few days off over the holidays I finally got out for a short ride today. Warmer than usual it may be, but its still pretty grey and wet, very traditional.....

As today is Christmas Eve, only those last minute panic shoppers remain, so the streets are getting quieter, here's the Aldwych, normally a hive of activity.

I decide to head along the river to Battersea Power Station. I've not been inside since it finally opened to the public a few months ago after a multi billion pound refit.

These modern cathedrals to consumerism are not my cup of tea, I'd rather be in somebody's shed, but I was keen to see some of the inside. I had wander around a few floors....


...but none of the shops had anything I needed or wanted, so like a true C&V'er I was more interested in some of the original fixtures and fittings they have retained and the brickwork.



The chimney on the left now a lift up it and a viewing platform at the top, which you have to pay extra for. I didn't have time for that today but want to come back and give that a go, and look forward to pics of the view from the top. Somewhere inside there's also apparently a bar or viewing lounge that has a load of the original art deco styled old equipment, with huge glass dials, so I plan to come back and see hem all too.

Not the longest ride but nice to be out and still have feeling in the fingers and toes, and its a warm up for tomorrows ride, my favorite day for bike riding in London for the whole year. No buses, no taxi's, virtually no other cars or people, just smiling families and friends out on foot and bike. Nearly everything is closed and it feels like you have the city to yourself, its kinda magical, a tiny sample of cycling nirvana and calm in an otherwise crazy busy place. So I'll report back tomorrow. Happy Christmas everyone, hope you've all been good this year and Santa brings you some shiny Campagnolo.

Steel1

Nice and warm SoCal Christmas Eve ride by the beach. May your cup runneth over in 2023! Happy holidays!

Immediately after taking this photo I tripped on that red curb and did a number on my shin. I still managed to have a nice ride home though. My pant leg strap acting as a tourniquet of sorts 😆

fabiofarelli

I hope all you members in Canada and the USA have a save and warm Christmas in these heavy weather conditions!

scratchpaddy

Yeah, I hope everybody is having a safe Christmas out there, inside and warm!

Unless you're in the southwest, of course. Get out and go for a walk or a ride or something, because it's beautiful down here, and I'd hate to not take advantage of this lightest traffic day of the year. I took my oatmeal Centurion out for an early ride northward.



Construction along the river never stops in Tempe.



I've been meaning to go see these horses along Indian Bend. They're a little off my usual route, but I took the slight detour this time. Very cool to see in person.





This Super Elite is kind of my Christmas bike. I just finished building it a couple of weeks ago after resisting n+1 for more than two years. It feels effortless to ride, and fits me perfectly. I'm looking forward to many miles to come.

zukahn1 

Took my now pretty much annual Christmas ride pretty OK temps in the 30's but with a lot of wind and chill factor. So I kept the ride short and local only a few miles in about an hour had to slow down stop for the wind several times.


Only light snow on the roads with a lot of dry spots.

Still riding the SS on Sundays even in the cold and snow.




Actually came across several people on this section of trail.

Drillium Dude 

It was a balmy 72 degrees here in Peoria, AZ, so I got out in shorts and short sleeves for ride. Saw a healthy-sized coyote on the return leg, and I think he was as curious about me as I was about him:



Bianchi got the nod (I'd done a 2-hour Christmas lights ride around my neighborhood on the Davidson the night before):



Long shadows at the end of the day:



Finished by 5, then did dinner, and now it's time for the game. Merry Christmas everyonebody

DD

nlerner

Mid-20sF here but no real wind and brilliant sunshine, plus I needed to work off some of yesterday’s sweets and make room form today’s. This is atop the Echo Bridge in Newton, MA, part of an aqueduct project built in 1875. There are still a bunch of these spans over the Charles River though they no longer carry water.

botty kayer

Well I did go out yesterday, but the weather wasn't great and it was actually busier than I expected on the roads, so didn't go out for long, or take many pics. It was still considerably quieter than usual so I did manage to take the opportunity to check my texts while lying in the road in Oxford St, something that would result in near instant death on any other day of the year as I'd be squashed instantly under the never ending streams of double decker buses and black cabs or trampled underfoot by stampeding shoppers. Credit to Fiona for the photo as I am unable/unwilling to do selfies.

What a difference a day makes, as today it was bright blue sky and sunshine, and I must say the old city was looking very photogenic in the winter sunlight. There was a very limited bus and taxi service and traffic was still low enough to make cycling anywhere a joy today. Normally this road over Tower Bridge to the left is heaving with traffic, not today so I can actually see the Tower of London across the road.

Barely any cars in sight.....

Some more East End street art

Smithfield market


Holburn Viaduct

St Paul's cathedral still looking mighty fine for it age, classic and vintage.

And after all those old buildings I cross over Vauxhall bridge near my home, which looks more and more like a scene from Blade Runner every passing year. I don't live in any of those swanky pads, but in a rickety old house half a mile behind this lot, its not classic but is definitely vintage.

I hope people in places where the weather has not been so nice over the last few days keep safe, and can ride again soon.

curbtender

A friend was off work so he asked me to escort him on a Christmas recovery ride. Storm is on it's way so it was nice to get out before it hit. Talked to a group that had taken Amtrak down from Sacramento to Berkeley and were on their way back. They were a little off course but said they had a ride on GPS. Fog was thick and cold.

Crockett Blvd

botty kayer

I'm back to work tomorrow so managed to get out for the final spin of the year on the 753 Merckx, which is normally tucked up in the warm at this time of year, but it was dry and mild enough for it to venture out today. And Lord knows I need to try and offset some of the calorific intake of the last few days.

Bianchigirll posted on her new build thread about the tree we Brits get from Norway each Christmas that we put up in Trafalgar Square, so here's a pic of this years offering and the back story.



And there's a new addition on the 4th plinth you can in the far corner of the square. *zoom*

Seen from the other angle to include Nelson's column....

And here;s the story of this recent addition to the Square.

Not allowed to wear a hat in the presence of a white man, wow. Us Brits really did not win any public relations awards for our behavior back then did we, and then we act all surprised when the colonies start getting all uppity.

There's ever evolving rules in Trafalgar Square too, you are not allowed to play in the fountains now, not that I'd be doing that in December. But it always used to be the stock picture they would have on the front pages of the newspapers during a very rare occasions we Brits get a heatwave, people splashing about in the fountains.

I noted there is signs up now too warning people not to feed the pigeons. Apparently pigeons deposited over 1000kg of acidic pigeon poo on Nelson's Column every year, that used to cost over £100,000 per year to clean. In the 2000's the local council decided a more cost effective option would be to employ Lemmy the Harris Hawk. https://theworld.org/stories/2017-03...-solution-hawk
As is so often the case, nature already had the most elegant solution.

I wind through swanky Belgravia, haunt of PG Wodehouse fictional characters Jeeves and Wooster. I'd never noticed this statue before, which is opposite Jeeves of Belgravia, a dry cleaning company, and shows two Edwardian ladies gossiping while out shopping.

I then cut my way through to the river and cycle along the Embankment, where I encounter this 'bird man'. If this guy and his entourage turned up in Trafalgar Square I'm sure there would be a SWAT team taking him out within 5 minutes of his arrival.

And to finish off I find two new murals in south London, night and day, before settling down and putting my own feet up.

nlerner

Rode out to a friend’s house in the western suburbs to help him out with removing a TA crank. He has a definite n+1 Moulton problem:

JacobLee 

Same old ride, but a good sunset. In the course of a week we've had weather in the teens and the fifties, an inch of ice and four inches of rain. It ain't Buffalo, but pretty interesting nonetheless.

merziac

10 mi around my neighborhood, early on starts off with a good downhill on busy stretch filled with downed limbs and branches thick out to the traffic lane.

Picked my way through the first stretch ok, next segment was a no go, took the lane and signaled for my 4 wheeled friends to tamp down behind me which they did.

Got out of their way as quick as I could and of course the "red" neck Camaro was flippin out and off as he slow rolled me while I was trying to wave and thank him for playing along.

Ignored him from there and smiled as he sped off, oh well.

Went on my way and and felt so much better having got out on the bike for the first time in several days.

Wet but not raining, felt cold but really wasn't, no pics.

curbtender

Must have been late for his Southwest flight.

Monkitoucher

I didn't get a ride in today. Was shoveling snow for a good deal of the morning. But here's a ride from November.

The La Sals


The Green at Turks Head


Candle Stick

Spaghetti Legs 

I’ve ridden about 150 pretend miles inside this month and nothing particularly noteworthy outdoors, but temps pushed to near 60 today so got out for one of my regular routes on Chuck. Legs were a little “tweaky”, particularly as I went for a rare trail run yesterday but nice to get out into the hills.



Tanbark Rd. Blue Ridge Parkway is tucked just under the crest of the mountain; probably about mile marker 2.

rccardr 

Gooey, sloppy, messy, icy, disgusting 30 mile ride today around two local lakes and the trails that combine them.
I am flithy and so is the Pelizzoli.
I’d hose it (and me) down except we’ve turned off the outside water due to temps.

Gosh, that was fun!

nlerner

Out on the Fitz again but this time with a different wheelset and higher quality tires. Much more nimble and responsive! It was also near 60F here, very odd for late December.

Prowler 

As mentioned elsewhere, winter here in the northeast has lost it's grip, for a week anyway so today was an excellent day for a real ride under real blue skies. 47deg when I left the car rising to 55 when I got back. For the end of December the weather was perfect for cycling. Took the ''84 Fuji TS III as it has the triple and I intended to (and did) ride up over Tunnel Hill in Phoenixville.




Stopped at Fricks Locks village for a bit. Started in 1824 when the Schuylkill Navigation Company built the two canal locks, a slack pool and the Lock Keepers House. The village grew to be an important way point for canal, rail and local travel. Even had a 24/7 "convenience store". You can see a couple of the historic homes here, right on the Schuylkill River Trail. I'm not sure what those things are in the background. Probably some chicken farmer's rubbish incinerators. Nicer view when all the leaves are out.

bironi

Communal pot pipes.

rccardr 

So much so that after hosing down the bike this morning I did it all again this afternoon.
Followed by yet another hose job.

Gosh, that was fun!