trucklet

A beautiful weekend in Traverse City with the SR800. I gotta get some SPD sandals and a frame bag soon…

jamesdak 

Did the northern end of the valley this morning. Only 1600 ft of climbing over the 30 mile route but there were quite a few short steep climbs to work the quads. Too the old Trek 5200 today as it's setup for climbing with a triple and a more upright cockpit.

Spaghetti Legs 

Nah, just a cable across a driveway to that empty lot. I'm sure someone will put a nice house there one day. Most of the gravel road residents out here are tolerant if not downright friendly. Homes range from normal houses, to vineyards, to horse estates.

non-fixie 

Mrs non-fixie and I will be leaving for a week of cycling in Italy in a few weeks. To help decide which bike to bring along, I rode three of them today to get a better idea of the differences.

I rode the same route of about 13km three times, and tried to put in a similar amount of effort.

On the first round, on the Koga-Miyata, a bridge opened to let a small boat pass:



So on the next two rounds I stopped in the same place, so as not to mess up my Strava recordings:






I also stopped to take a picture of each bike at the local tennis club:







Did it help?

No. Not really.

It was fun to ride them back to back and experience the differences. But each has its own merits, and I like all three a lot.

The Roy Thame, with its Reynolds 531 tubes, is the most 'alive' of the three. It feels like the old friend it is. It feels light and comfy. Great bike.

The Robust is the prettiest, but with its hi-ten tubes and heavy touring wheels it takes a while to get up to speed. It feels heavier, but once it rolls the Maxi-car hubs do what they do best and it just keeps on going. It was the slowest overall, but yielded the most personal bests at Strava segment level.

The Koga-Miyata is in between the two. It doesn't have the liveliness of the Roy Thame, but it feels light and quick just the same. It was just as fast overall as the Roy Thame, but feels like it has the potential to be faster once I get it properly dialed in.

For the trip to Italy it'll be a toss-up between the Roy Thame and the Koga-Miyata.

nlerner

Took a quick arboretum amble on the ‘74 Raleigh International to test out my new setup: SRAM 2-speed auto shifting rear hub w/ 22t cog, TA Pro vis 3 crankset with 42t ring, Challenge Eroica tires. Felt pretty spry though I felt like I could use a lower gear if I were to try using this bike on a steep gravel ride.

scratchpaddy

I've had an itch to go to a car show lately. In the past few years, some of the long-running regular shows fell off the calendar and never got put back, but there are still a few around. There was one last night in Ahwatukee, a wealthy southern neighborhood of Phoenix isolated from the rest of the city by South Mountain. It's also isolated from me and my bike, in Tempe, by Interstate 10. At least, until recently. They finally added a bike lane to one of the roads crossing the highway, Chandler Blvd.

I don't usually ride in the afternoon due to traffic and the heat, but it was only a 8-mile ride to get there, and traffic is really light this weekend. Everyone with a bit of sense fled for the mountains for the holiday to get out of the heat.



I took my first-gen Smoothie. The show was a free charity event called Cruise N Cuisine, held in a church parking lot, with food trucks to the side. It was really low-key, and not at all crowded, probably because it was 108°.

I was really impressed by this Mustang Mach 1. Everything on it was absolutely perfect. All the panels lined up, no rust, no dings, no dirt, no blemishes. I doubt it was this pristine even when it rolled off the assembly line in 1970.



There was a model of a beautiful yellow first-gen Bel Air parked on the front seat of a beautiful yellow first-gen Bel Air. Maybe, on the front seat of the model, you will find another, smaller...



Bike of a different sort.



1968 Motor Trend "Car of the Year"



I've always liked Galaxie taillights.



A father-and-son pair brought a Camaro drag racer. He said something about a 9.6-second quarter-mile time. With tires like that, I believed him.



Don't drive too fast, now.

zukahn1 

Really nice weather in the Rockies today 70's with a slight breeze and clear skies with good air quality. Took the old Nishiki SS trainer on nice ride to Alama from Fairplay and back on the bike trail. Stopped at a random Garage sale at storage unit and got lucky scored a real nice set of New 700x30 Hitchenson Pro Cross tires for $2 so I will consider this one of my better rides of the summer.

Roger M

Thomas and I rode out in the valley today to pick up some fresh corn. Unfortunately, the farm we usually get it from isn't ready for harvest yet. I'm assuming it has something to do with the cold and wet weather we had in May and June.

Anyhow, it was a nice, but breezy ride a coupla days before school starts..

bironi

Nice looking bike, I'd jump on that!

northbend 

Really nice 50 mile ride around Enumclaw today with a few friends.
Our ride today by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Wildwood 

First full ride on AndyA’s frame from over a year ago.
‘87 Vittoria with Formula One tubing. Feels like SL main tubes, with a slightly heavier fork for this 59X58cm ctc w: 17 headtube. Very light. Rides small even with 125mm stem.


view from the cockpit


Horses were a theme


Sammamish Animal Shelter - new tenants at the bottom of my hill.


They put a bunch of money and improvements into the property. Maybe free fertilizer as from prior horse stable owners. More variety for sure.

Best news of the day, is that everything works as planned, may raise saddle and/or find one with longer rails. And 30cogs out back beats 26 for climbing home.

Ride On!

fabiofarelli

Because of a fire that started five days ago still forbidden area. The moor/peat under the surface is still dangerous, burnin'. But the rain comes in a few days.

jamesdak 

Another day off and another 30 miles. Usually after a day of climbing my legs hurt but have plenty of speed in them for some reason. So figuring of a spirited ride today I planned to take out the Calfee to see if I could finally connect with it. Got it all ready and just as I removed the chuck from topping off the second tire the valve broke and BAM, instant flat. Non-replaceable core and I was already running late so I just moved everything over to the Fishlips and headed out. A few miles into the ride I realized the path was just way too crowded with everyone off for the day so I swapped over to the road. Around 18 miles into the ride I was feeling good so I opened the old steel beauty up and started flying. Came into on very sharp 90 degree turn about about 24 mph and when I glanced up the road all I saw was the motorcycle that had just passed me before the curve. So I stayed on the speed, swung wide into the curve and looked down ahead of me to make sure I was missing the cracks in the road. Hit the top of the curve wide, started to accelerate and looked up to realize I had screwed up. Somehow I missed one of those 3 wheels motorcycles and it was coming right at me. Tightened into the turn but the inside pedal was down. Hard strike, rear unloaded and kicked out bigtime and for a split second I thought I was going down. But David Kirk knows how to make a bike and the ol' girl just straightened right up and kept going. WHEW! Rest of the ride was fun and uneventful.


Water level is getting really low again.

Folks enjoying the holiday on the lake.

Folks enjoying the holiday on the lake.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

Beautiful morning out.


This one is always a joy to take out.

Well, these were pretty much new pedals.

thinktubes 

Went out for a 47-mile shakedown ride. I did some RD adjustments and needed to test the shifting on some hills. I’m doing a century next week and the last 25 miles have some monster hills.

The only hills around are in the ravines along the lake shore. Here’s the road down to the Highland Park boat launch. Can’t bomb it because it ends in a “T” intersection.



Some brave souls heading out in their Sunfish boats. Wind was blowing straight off the lake and I’m sure there was a small craft advisory.



There is a sunken barge that acts as a breakwater for the boat launch. It was getting hit with some good-sized waves.


Part of the pumping station for HP.



Got “doubled doinked” by the CTA on the was home. Forgot to take a pic of the bike.

JacobLee 

Was riding around in the west hills when I came across a cyclist who had been attacked by zombies, then thought, "WTF? It's only September 5th!"

The Merckx was fine.

Wildwood 

Halloween = 2nd biggest retail event after Xmas in USA.

Whoda thunk it?

Wildwood 

Blue sky. Low 70’s (23-24°C), breezes. Labor Day in USA, so lesser traffic on my lanes.

I did something I may never have done before. The Rickert failed its’ maiden ‘just around th block’ check-ride; but only for range of gears with 1950’s derailleurs. A slow day on the bike, beats sitting at home on a sunny pleasant holiday.

It's a kinda hidden spot, my little area, you've seen my May Valley pics, but here's our closest urban tour. First introduce the bike. '59 Rickert, built with Campa Gran Sport and a 46/30 VO crank (that I hope to triplerize). Universal brakes, Galli levers. I borrowed a wheelset with Veloflex 27mm tubulars - when riding slow, ride wide and comfortable.

Wrap th bars, check all the bolts,,,especially the brakes and go.


Downtown Newcastle, WA, USA. This is the QFC grocery strip mall 'complex'. I could have pic'd the Safeway strip mall, exactly opposite corner but it was... well,...opposite. And similar. Downtown Newcastle got so crowded the police station had to relocate - we couldn't afford their rent.

The new high density living development.

With a plaza and necessary small retail close. 2 Grocery stores a couple of blocks away in downtown.

But the best of Newcastle are the parks, paths and open spaces and ups&down.

Large kiddie playground at the top. (I do not photo kid playgrounds up close…)


This is (arguably) downtown Coalfield (unincorporated King Cty), Jay Berry's restaurant, with Shell station, coffe kiosk and (most excellent) street taco vendor spot. Or some might say the Feed&Recycling store (Kepplers) with Valley Church directly opposite. The two are close enough in proximity to be our Coalfield Front Street = otherwise State Route 900.



On the road - accessorized with the front bag to carry spare tubie and water bottle.

View of the cockpit

Fredo76

Black Mesa looking pretty green.

zukahn1 

A bit warm and not great riding condition a lot of haze and smoke. Did put the nice tires I got for $2 on my old Nishiki single speed and the look and ride great mounted on the CXp-10 Mavics I'm down to under 2lbs a wheel and close to 20 for the whole bike. So I took just a quick ride over to town did have flat turns out my old patched tubes just would not take the pressure all is fine I like to run on these tires got it changed for a NOS high pressure tube and all seems fine also managed to order a couple back up tubes eve n with the seemi tube shortege.

DQRider 

I dug Pepper (Pashley Path Racer) out of the back of the shop this morning, blew the dust off her, aired-up the tires, and she was ready to roll. We stopped for a very brief photo shoot at the local cemetery, because gravitas, you know.

The All-British Cycling Event (ABCE) is less than two weeks away, and this year we are honoring one of our members, Sir Noel Robinson, who passed recently. Black is the preferred livery, as is only fitting.



Pepper is also my bike of choice for Fall Color rides and visiting family graves around Halloween.



The classic Pashley slack geometry and single speed drivetrain with mechanical drum brakes makes for a very simple, high-quality / low-maintenance riding experience. The only special skill one needs to operate this machine is the ability to walk up steep hills with dignity.
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jamesdak 

I've got to get my Pashley out this weekend now!

jamesdak 

Back out for 30 miles this morning. This time I actually made it out on the Calfee. Gotta admit the bike felt pretty good under me but my legs were tired and flat today. Got out earlier than I have the past 5 days and it was very cool and comfortable out.


Different view of Snowbasin

This place is for sale...can't imagine what they are asking for it.

Barn

Snowbasin

Barn

Barn doors

Huntsville

Mid 90's Calfee Tetra Pro.

DQRider 

Please shoot lots of photos. A Pashley in those beautiful surroundings will be breathtaking!
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john903

Hi there, well I finally got my C&V up Hurricane ridge this morning. It was a beautiful day too I love it up in the mountains. This bike is my mystery frame I call Che Cose' (what is it). It road really nice going up and really surprised me on the descent in a good way. Pick your look through the corner and fly on through, nice.
Anyway school starts tomorrow so no more midday foray

1977 C&V atop Hurricane Ridge

out on the bike.

Roger M

Last day of summer vacation for Thomas.

We rode out towards the north end of the Snoqualmie Valley and then up to Cottage Lake for lunch. Thomas spotted a taco truck that we hadn't seen before, so that's what's for lunch.

Summer's over...




Saw this nice 61 Ford Sunliner along the way.