rccardr 

Really nice 58 mile ride down to Mason Neck yesterday. Yep, this is the same Potomac River that graces DC, just miles downstream:


Beautiful day, low humidity, temp maybe got into the low 80's. It's been a really unusually cool (well, not normal-hot) summer:


Riding partner Bob Claude, who apparently takes smiling/happy face lessons from Robbietunes. That's my Century with new wheels and tires just behind him:

jimmuller 

Just my commute. Well, actually only the first half of it so far. Got a new handlebar mount for a camera. Going up the easy side of the largest hill, Lexington into Woburn:

joychri

Lunch date with my 8 year old daughter. Pic is of our bikes parked in front of our local Panera. Hers is the pink one in front. .

Vonruden

gomango

Looks like lovely rolling hills, much like the area of Stearns County in Minnesota we are riding in this afternoon.

Also, love the Bridgestone. You have become one of the forum members that surprise me with a great new bike every few months.

Keep up the good work.

Chrome Molly

Pictures from a weeks worth of vacation rides. My simple goal was to ride areas I hadn't ridden before, and the easiest of these to find on a map are the rail trails.

First trip was on the Sakatah trail from Fairbault to Madison Lake. Some pictures of Madison Lake (which won the sleepy little town award but had a cool campground sign), and one from Sakatah Lake state park (with the bike). The trail was very smooth to Waterville, less so to Elysian, and rough to Madison lake (sometimes paved trails are worse than crushed limestone). In all a nice metric century





Second trip was along the southern shore of Lake Minnetonka for another metric century. The trail also goes along the old streetcar line and passes the museum. Mostly limestone, but several road connections.



Third trip was on the Luce line trail and back on a trail hugging the north side of Lake Minnetonka ending in Wayzata. Only 47 miles on that one, but needed to pick the kid up from camp later that afternoon. The Luce line was relatively deserted, so a good chance to hammer on the Poprad for 20 miles of flat with few crossings. Pic of the Poprad along the Crow river in Watertown




The kid dragged home a cold that he has shared with me, so this weekend's rides will be even more leisurely.

sloar 

Nowhere, always nowhere...

Bianchigirll 

Not much riding this week. Rain on Tue and job hunting on Wed, Thur and part of Fri made for a busy week. I put my foot down and took the Sizzling Peach Volpe out for a little shakedown cruise yesterday afternoon and did about 20 miles. I can't put my finger on it but something feels real different about this. I need to look at the angles and the chainstay length, I think this is a just bit more relaxed than I am used to. It does ride very well just odd.





It was a little chilly this morning so I did a few things around the house, including getting my Mavic group listed for sale. After it warmed up a bit I grabbed my Trofeo and headed out the door. The stupid GPS dies about 10 miles but since pretty much ride the same routes all the time I just charged on. I think I ended up around 40-44 miles. I wasn't going to bother with pics today but I saw this tow truck and thought the pink and black would be a good back drop for the Trofeo.

Vonruden

Thanks Grady. Be sure to post up some pics of that lovely Minnesota country.

gomango

I really do need to work on taking pics.....

Very lazy of me.

gaucho777 

I am up in Portland, visiting family. Met up with fellow forum member jyl (John) and his riding buddy Mike. We met at VeloCult and then headed into the hills west of Portland before crossing the St. Johns Bridge and looping back to VeloCult. Got a nice little tour of Velospace once we got back--such a great space! Had a great time on the ride. Thanks, John, for leading the way and showing me your neck of the woods!

jyl/John and Mike atop their classic steel steeds



jyl coming down a descent



view from St. Johns Bridge





A little truncated group selfie



view of the Portland skyline in the distance

jimmuller 

Some great ride pics here! Keep 'em coming.

We didn't ride yesterday because our band had a show in Wolfeboro, NH, on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. Getting home was a very late night. Nevertheless we took the tandem out today, 44.4 miles.

The requisite stop to buy cucumbers for pickling.


Resting while my sweetie shopped.


Crossing the Concord Rver.


Taking a break on the Minuteman as we return.


Dang, I'm sleepy. I may not be able to dn typinhrg

pastorbobnlnh 

I'm planning to enter a race up Mount Kearsarge in Warner, NH the end of September. Did my first test run up the mountain this afternoon. The ride was significantly harder than I could have anticipated, but I made it to the top with only one stop to take a few pics from an overlook.

MikesChevelle

Took a little 15 mile'r over to the person i bought this bike from's house. He wanted to see the finished product.

Lascauxcaveman 

@Gaucho - You make me miss Portland. I lived there for five years and didn't do much biking, just a some of cruising around in the flat fields and industrial parks out by the airport, close to our neighborhood. Tried to get my wife to go out with me several times, with little success. That was in the early part of our marriage when we expected to be together every hour we weren't at work.

Nowadays, I can take off with her for a weekend down at her parents' place at the foot of the Fox Island bridge, go for a ride or two by myself while they all go to church or sleep in, or whatever.


Fox Island gets an A- as a riding destination. It's all hills, which is fun, most of the roads are in great shape (fresh chipseal this summer) and bordered by tall trees that keep you riding in the shade most of the time:

The only minuses are the often narrow shoulders and the fast driving locals. One guy in a Lamborghini Murcielago zoomed by at about 60, even though the top speed zone on the island is 35mph.

There are a few places where you can get some pee-a-boo water views despite the fact that the waterfront is pretty much all locked up in people's very private property. The northeast corner of the island is like one long private marina with almost every house having its own substantial pier, with a substantial boat or two tied up to it. How the other half lives:


A nice place to take a rest in the shade is the Fox Island Cemetery, where you can visit the grave of former Washington state governor, Dixie Lee Ray. She was a Democrat, a lesbian and so pro-business conservative that my Republican dad used to like to say "She's the best Republican governor this state has had in the forty years I've lived here." An interesting person, for sure, and longtime resident of Fox Island.


There are a couple of McMansion Farms (gated communities) here that broke ground about 12 minutes before the mortgage bubble burst and they remain mostly undeveloped. This one I've ridden by at least once a year for the last four years; three lots marked as sold, and one house half built.


Blackberry season in the PNW. I picked enough on my ride and in my in-laws yard to make a pie, which I should get around to tonight

Wildwood 

I got in an after-the-volunteer-job bike ride. The Ranger drove me to the top and I cruised downhill a good bit of the way.
It was getting late, but still too many cars.
Top to bottom on Hwy 410.


edit: ouch - mis-matched wheelsets are bad enough but w/ different tires too = just sloppy. Gotta fix more flats = manana. Visual apologies to all.

Vonruden

Nice pics coming in the last couple days. Nice elevation Pastor, as a flatlander at the Jersey shore, I must say very impressive.

here are some from my ride from Point Pleasant up to Sandy Hook and back.



Look hard and you can see Freedom Tower


The Atlantic Highlands, highest point on the Jersey shore.




Creepy Mannequin in some cool vintage cars

Chrome Molly

First day back at work after a week and a day off, grrr. Did the evening ride as a 20 at 20, I feel better now.

Bogester 

I rode my 74 Hetchins in the Lake Stevens Half Ironman triathlon. My bike was a real oddball in the sea of carbon...performed quite well though...better than me (a little sore today!).

Lascauxcaveman 

^ love it.

I hope you ran the half in a pair of Chucks, and did the swim in surfer baggies, just to show them

Bogester 

Not quite, but I was one of a couple freaks who did the swim without a wetsuit....babies

pastorbobnlnh 

Great pics everyone!

@Vonruden, thanks for the shout-out! Great pics of Sandyhook. I used to take my church youth group there from Ridgewood every mid to late September for one last day at the beach.

@Bogester, good for you for competing with C&V steel! I'm planning to do the Mount Kearsarge race on my '71 Paramount while wearing a wool shorts and jersey combo! I should garner a few looks as well!

obrentharris 

I got together with some friends in Oregon's Willamette Valley last weekend. I managed to sneak out for a nice 63-mile rolling loop between Sheridan and the Willamette River. A few graded gravel roads through the farmland and lots of quiet 2-lane paved roads made for a fine ride!



Brent

Roger M

Looks like a nice way to kill a few hours, Brent. ^^^

I've been riding the same old roads around Snohomish lately. I got out for awhile this morning, long enough to break a spoke. I had to nurse it for five miles to the nearest bike shop. I got there a few minutes before they opened. They cut and threaded a spoke for me and saved the day(Bicycle Centres of Silver Lake). It's the first time that I've had to use my spoke wrench on a ride. Glad I have it packed now.



I chased this balloon for a few minutes

otg 

I got a little over 30 miles around SE CT and RI in great weather today. Took out my trusty 83 Trek.