thinktubes 

Probably rides everyday. Usually see him heading north when I’m going south. Likes to work his way through the pack using the gutter (his signature move). Used to live near me in Rodgers Park. Rides a BMC - before that, a fancy Colnago Master.

Drillium Dude 

So he's just a regular guy, right? The usage of both first and last names suggested to me he was a luminary of sorts - or it was, as noted before, an inside joke.

If he is indeed famous, I'm not recognizing him from the photo above for obvious reasons

DD

thinktubes 

Regular guy, shaped like a sack of potatoes.

zukahn1 

Nice weather today after a bunch of rain yesterday and this morning. Took a short local ride to get some more aspen pics hard to believe that in the coming weeks it will snow some.

Drillium Dude 

Was on a short trip to the corner store, but only made it as far as the corner before getting hit from behind by a car. Taco'd the rear wheel; looks like it's toast. Fatal damage to the Flite carbon saddle, cosmetic damage to the RD, driveside pedal cage, and driveside brifter. Lucky I didn't end up underneath the car. Mostly superficial scrapes on my left leg from contacting some part of the bike as I came off. Gonna need to find a replacement wheelset before I can get back on the road, which means I'll likely be insane by the end of next week

Not having access to my other bikes has never felt more frustrating, let me tell you.

EDIT: Rear wheel: four adjacent spokes are loosey-goosey while the remainder are tight as a drum. As a result, the rim is displaced an inch or more over approximately a third of the circumference. My LBS will take a look at it Tuesday, but I have my doubts they will be able to fix it - or even want to attempt it.



DD

smontanaro 

Dang Drillium Dude . I hope you heal fast.

SurferRosa

.
33rd Ave W Pedestrian Bridge

Bad Lag

I do more or less the same ride all the time. I enjoy the heck out of it, too. It never gets old for me. I've been at it since 1978. In that time, the route hasn't changed but the people who populate the pathway surely have.

I have several different versions of it, ranging from a mere 7 miles to over 25 miles. Of course, it could be extended but those are enough for my needs.

fender1

Got out for a couple of hours today.

I realized that I had not posted a pic of this bike since swapping the Gran Come center pull brakes for the Velo Orange dual pivot calipers.

Liking the Vo brakes much more. They clear a 45mm and a 35mm tire with no problems.

fender1

Glad your OK after that.

Andy_K 

I'm glad you're OK. Is this the same Flite saddle you were trying to repair a while back?

jamesdak 

Dang Drillium Dude glad it wasn't serious and hope you heal up fast.

Drillium Dude 

Yes, same saddle. And after looking at it in more detail, I may be able to affect yet another repair. Fingers crossed...

DD

botty kayer

Blimey Drillium Dude you've had some rough luck recently, so are clearly overdue some good fortune. I'd be a nervous wreck after a rattlesnake encounter never mind the rest of the drama. Sorry to hear about you being bike-less for a while, and may that turn out to be shorter than expected. I tend to go a bit stir crazy after a few days of no biking too. Hope you at least get a pay out from the driver for the damage, and our cycling tales can tide you over until you're back on the road.

Not to rub it in, but I managed to get out on 3 bikes today. I was out before breakfast to the postal depot to collect a bottom bracket, bar tape and pedals for an upcoming bike build. As it was a nice morning I tagged on a few extra miles to cycle through Clapham Common, which a month ago looked as dry and scorched as California, but recent rain has returned it to its proper green making my green Merckx feel at home. 6 gentle miles.

Back home for breakfast and coffee, and before I'm distracted and tempted by some eBay shopping, I'm off out again. 40 miles around town on the Simoncini this time, just enjoying ripping around so I didn't stop for many pics on this leg, though I did stop at this, as the image on the right instantly made me think of a saying my Dad uses occasionally, "they've got a face like a smacked arse"

And I stopped off for a pic on the bridge over the Serpentine in Hyde Park, the sign helpfully advising that jumping off the bridge would not be a good idea.

Back home again for some lunch and some chilling, but it was a nice evening and rather than sit in front of the TV transferring fat from chips to my waistline, I decide to head out for a gentler more pic focused ride on bike number 3 for the day. Heading along the river towards the Shard, which you see many miles before you get to it.

I then cycle along the river and discover there's a temporary exhibit in front of Tate Modern.

*zoom*

A noticeboard nearby explains its called "come home again" by Es Devlin, and is "an illuminated choral sculpture highlighting the 243 bird species on London's priority list". The artwork commissioned by Cartier "proposes that the first step towards protecting the biosphere is to pay detailed attention to its inhabitants, to observe and draw them, to learn their names and remember their stories".

Onto the London Eye, the nearby trees have some new pink lights, like illuminated cherry blossom,

As the light was fading I thought I'd ride the short distance to see if I can catch a Waterloo sunset, 55 years old this year this song is....
Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night?
People so busy make me feel dizzy, taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise".
Unfortunately cloud cover denies me the sunset from Waterloo Bridge.

But by turning 90 degrees to my left Waterloo Bridge offers up some artificial light to brighten the approaching night sky.

And a little further along Battersea Power Station also has new temporary lights, every few seconds the chimneys colours change from red, to white then to blue.

And then back home for dinner, 16 miles on this run, taking me to just over 200 for the week with tomorrow still to go. That's a shade under 800 for the month, and 7209 miles so far this year. Now I'm kind of thinking I have a long shot at making 10,000 miles for the year, something I've only done once before. Its still a fair bit to do over autumn/winter and I'm not a fan or riding around in crap weather for the sake of it, and December weather in the UK is crap, its tradition! As December also includes Christmas holidays when I'm with non cycling family increasing the waistline again, its usually my lowest mileage month of the year, so this realistically means I need to get ahead in the next 2 months. I spent the evening trying to catch a sunset but the stakes have been raised, the days are getting shorter and I'm now in a race against the sun, game on!

jamesdak 

Today was about getting more miles on the two 80's bikes I'm still sorting out. 25 miles each. First was the Bianchi Trofeo. Late start today due to the cold temps. This bike feels fast and agile while still being comfortable. Had a close call with only 3 miles left in the ride. Driver in a bright yellow Jeep Renegade pulled right out of the church parking lot into the side of me. I swear she looked right at me as I was approaching. How do you miss the bright flashing front light I run if you just bother to actually look?



I'm really liking this one.


Fall colors are just barely starting

This is one big pumpkin patch

They still working on the barn

Another shot of the sweet ol' Italian

Local hayfield

jamesdak 

Second ride on the Kuwahara count, pulled the Bianchi in, jumped on this, and headed out for another 25 miles. Two completely different bikes. This one is several pounds heavier, fatter tires, taller, etc. RIght off I could tell how much narrower the handlebars are on this one. Didn't really bother me on the first ride but about 10 miles in today I started getting pain at the base of my neck between my shoulder blades. Classic symptom of too narrow bars from past experience. So I answered that question and will be finding some 42 cm bars for this. This one feels more like a cruiser than a racer after riding the Bianchi. Although, it sure would run up to speed easily enough. It just seemed happier running at more moderate speeds. Or maybe it was just the wind that had kicked up with old man legs tired from the earlier ride, LOL!


Installed a leather saddle on it this morning before the ride.

Also put on some new Vittoria Corsa G 700 x 30 tires.

Beautiful, clear skies this morning.

Hoping to head up that pass in the background next week while I'm off.

Just another local field

This had been dried up for about two months until we started getting some good rains again.

A large amount of the valley is kept hydrated by these ditches that the pioneering Mormons put in when they settled the area.

Barn in Huntsville

Another shot from late in the ride.

Wildwood 

Been riding every day. Only 15-20 miles, but … it works in setting a routine and keeps me smiling.

Did not stop at Doofers for a beer

Red barn shot

Green grass - sprinklered. All Summer (June21-Sep21) = 0.50 inches of rain and the greatest number of days over 90*F in Seattle.

New tires on the Calfee ride.

jamesdak 

Also ran into these by the Shooting Star Saloon on my second ride today.

curbtender

Where is the flying pig?

Oldairhead 

Took the Bianchi out for a spin locally, to Swan Island Dahlia Farm. I don't know why everyone seems to hate this bike, it rides like a dream!!!

JacobLee 

Spent the weekend near Sunriver, Oregon so I did a little exploring on my whatever-you-want-to-call-it bike. The newish COTC trails they built are smooth and flowy; perfect for this sort of bike, as long as you watch out for the occasional rock garden.



Rolling along on my orange deep v's, I came across a woman on a pristine example of the blue M2 Stumpjumper I rode in the mid-nineties. "Hey, I had that bike!" I said. "Yeah, it's an antique," she said. The only responses I could think of were "Not really," or "That thing will shake your teeth out," so instead I said "Enjoy!" and rode on.

Drillium Dude 

You're not kidding, and I've been wondering myself what kind of gremlin(s) have been following me 'round as of late! But then again, I've been riding an awful lot, so perhaps more stuff is bound to happen with more miles. I even have to attribute a small portion of blame to myself for the accident as I violated my cardinal rule: don't put myself in front of a car without having made eye contact with the driver. Hiking will have to suffice in the interim, while I figure out the wheel issue, but the saddle replacement is already sorted (and I'll see if I can save the damaged one, too). I'll clean up the road rash on the derailleur, pedal, and brifter body over the next few days. Oh, he's assured me - and the police officer backed him up - the insurance will probably set a settlement at $2000 which would be more than enough to set things right. I personally suffered zero real injuries, and certainly didn't wind up traumatized - it was an accident.

But I have to say, thanks for the latest round of pics - they most certainly did raise my spirits. Love seeing the old and the new - even when I was there, there were some modern high-rise buildings going up, vying for space in the city. For me, it's an interesting look, old and new, and the Battersea Power Station restoration/reconstruction is the perfect metaphor of that mash-up. London is still the best city I've ever visited/lived in, and one day I've got to get back, with a bike, and spend a month riding 'round and 'round it again.

DD

SurferRosa

Did this show up on your Google feed too?

Animals deluxe edition released September 16 2022

DQRider 

I'm so glad you're alright, DD. You've had some pretty crappy luck lately. I was going to ask what you might have done to piss-off St. Christopher lately, but then I found this: Madonna Del Ghisallo: Patron Saint Of Cyclists | Bicycle Universe

On a serious note, not knowing how this incident went down, I'm not sure if this applies in this case. But it is something I have wanted to discuss on this forum for a long time.

This has to do with riding on the sidewalk. Certainly not in instances where a dedicated bike lane is provided, but specifically on busy city streets where there is no provision for cyclist safety. The major thoroughfare in my area is called Robert Street. It is where all major commerce is done in West Saint Paul. It is two-lanes wide in each direction, with concrete medians and turn lanes in the modern suburban traffic-control pattern, and is busy as heck during the day, and until businesses close at night.

Parallel routes are Oakdale to the east, several (4-6 blocks, depending on location) blocks away, or chaotic streets to the west that only go for a few blocks at a stretch before being interrupted by said commerce. Riders almost always take to the sidewalk here, because riding in the street is just too dangerous. I don't even know if this is legal here, but more importantly, I don't care. I'm not looking at anything other than where I am going while riding on the sidewalk, and I am very considerate of pedestrians at all times.

I'm resisting the urge to go on about this, because I think you get my point. Whenever there is an elevated risk of collision, I would rather be the windshield than the bug.
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curbtender

Fitting for Drillium Dude exploits...
"If you didn't care what happened to me
And I didn't care for you
We would zigzag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing"