giantcfr1

Got side tracked while commuting today and ended up at one of the side gates of Nishihonganji (West Temple)

jbchybridrider 

Had a break down with one of my C and V bikes today but went for a night ride later at night, about 2.00am that's 7.30am California time a day behind down under, very warm tonight.

AlphaDogg

Very cool picture!

BridgeNotTunnel

Even after my brush with hypothermia yesterday, you could not keep me off the pedals today.

I decided to try to ride some of the Albany Rail Trail and experience off-road riding as living in the city does not offer much in that regard.

Icy, wet, muddy, and with large chunks of gravel going was slow so as to try to avoid a wipe out.

Like a fool I had forgotten to charge my GoPro last night and only charged it for half an hour before I went out.

I missed some beautiful foggy landscape shots as well as a number of interesting landmarks along the way.... oh well, next time.

xoxoxoxoLive

Now that looks like a nice ride, but it does seem cold.. How far was it ?

BridgeNotTunnel

Only 12 miles, and my average speed was only 7 mph.

Technically whats known as the Historic Albany Rail Trail is only a mile long with signs marking the beginning and end.

Locals tell me it's fully 9 miles end to end, I saw most of it today but did not quite reach either end. In better trail conditions I will try to do a couple laps perhaps.

It took all of my concentration to stay upright on this trail while fending off thorn branches in deep ice water mud tracks at some points with fairly steep drops on either side. I'm quite sad that I did not get more pictures, but I shall return!

This trail is not intended for bicycles (yet) and the signs said so, but I doubt anyone would give me trouble.

My least favorite thing about the trail is what I assume must be coal dust in the mud.

Huge train loads of coal ran up this path many years ago, apparently leaving dust behind.

My mothers poor white bathroom needed some help after I stripped my gear in there.

AlphaDogg

giantcfr1

A morning ride up Kurama Mountain.
I had to stop short of the peak of about 2km as the road was getting simply too dangerous. I started slipping and decided it was too much. Desending was a bit scary for a while.
VIDEO>>>

VIDEO>>>

BridgeNotTunnel

Wow, really great stuff man.

giantcfr1

That was fun. Your bike shop is huge. You would be shocked at how small my LBS is. We do have big ones but they only carry the boring bikes. Our smaller ones have the good stuff.

giantcfr1

jbchybridrider 

I'm very jealous of these pic's it looks beautiful and fun even though it's cold. I've never even seen snow Here it was hot and very humid and I was dripping with sweat not even doing much.

giantcfr1

Yes it's quite a change to where I'm from. (Gold Coast) You are right it was fun, and I admit that I needed the triple for this. Speed was most definelty not the priority today.

You like my lunch? It also included chocolate coated peanuts and hot coffee. Life is great.

xoxoxoxoLive

Wow ! I knew it looked rough to start with just from experience...But after reading your follow up post, I'm surprised you managed to average 7 MPH on a bike.. Then after watching Giantcfr1 ride up and down Kurama Mountain, you guys are tough ! And I was waiting on my wife to drive me to this Trail right now : https://www.traillink.com/trail/dunn-...ail-trail.aspx (LAUGH) I have seen the sign where it starts like 100 times, my bank is right on the same corner. But for some reason thought it was 14 miles long, and did not know if I would feel like riding both ways...It is a 17 mile one way trip by car to get there, (I live in the woods) and generally just ride all the roads and trails from my house, but they also are not intended for bike use, and can be brutal. I really do not like having to load up the bike to drive somewhere to ride, but thought (on my wife's advice) who does not ride, to try some trails designed for bike riding. After looking it up while waiting on her, now I'm having second thoughts ! Looks to boring. But already loaded up and committed, so guess I will go. Here is another place I have been plenty of times :
Hog Run (beginner loop)


: The beginner loop starts at the
trailhead and is identified by blue circles. This loop is designed to
give

those riders just starting out a taste of mountain biking. The
terrain

is relatively flat with few obstacles. The beginner loop is
signed for one-way traffic only. Length: ~ .7 miles.
Hog Run (intermediate loop):


The intermediate loop is designed
to challenge mountain bike riders with average skills and
experience. This loop is identified by yellow circles and has a more
narrow
riding tread. It also boasts more changes in elevation and log
jumps (with ride-around option). This loop is signed one-way
traffic only. Length: ~ 2 miles.
Hog Run (advanced loop)


: The advanced loop is identified by
red circles. It offers the longest ride as it is made up of a series of
loops that offers different routes and more challenges to the more
skilled riders. The advanced trail is open for two-way traffic and is
accessed by crossing the park road. Length: ~ 5 miles.

Only the Advanced loop is worth riding, but the Cannondale I will be riding is not the right bike for it, to many technical things like roots, rocks, creeks, Etc. and the others are way to short and easy. Plus I like seeing new things and have been there before. At least they claim the Erwin Trail is flat, so my average speed might increase. ( LOL) Richard : ) PS. AlphaDogg your trip to the bike shop looked more interesting than where I'm going riding. (we will see)..

giantcfr1

How embarrassing, I took the pic in my granny gear. (I really did it in 53 x 11) NOT

AdelaaR

Hah! ... I'm not going to count the teeth on the picture but that doesn't look like anything that could possibly have 53 teeth on it
Still ... you're riding in the snow and that automatically makes you a badass!

AlphaDogg

HEY! What about me? I rode in the snow a while ago (its posted in this thread) and I almost fell a bunch of times! Next time, I'll remember to put on the hybrid tires and take off the 25mm slicks.

VeloShare

A very uneventful 5 miles to football and back.

AlphaDogg

And that's the smaller shop! There's another one that I frequent that is about 3x the size.

AlphaDogg

First fall of the 2012 season! I did 32mi today.

xoxoxoxoLive

The Dunn-Erwin Rail-Trail turned out to be much more fun than expected. Was just like the link to it's website claimed it to be, very smooth and flat, lots of road crossings though. This was really my first time riding such a nice smooth groomed Trail, and could not believe how much I enjoyed it. Started out fairly cold, but warmed up pretty quick so off came the jacket. It seemed more like a relaxing Sunday drive than anything, would definitely go back. Just wished it was much longer, going to start looking for more of these in my area. Surprised at how many people go there, here are a few pictures of it, my batteries died in my camera right after I got started. Most everyone I talked to takes just under an hour to ride it both ways, but you can tell know one is in a hurry. Richard

PS. I did take a lot more photos with my phone, but there to large of files to upload from my computer. So I just put them on photo bucket.

BridgeNotTunnel

Good stuff, man.

It's a shame to have to drive to ride more comfortably, but it looks like it was a treat.

xoxoxoxoLive

It was a very relaxing ride, and a break from all the hills around my house. Plus it was nice to talk with all the people that came out in the afternoon. I'm pretty sure just about every bike was an Hybrid also, seen Trek's, Schwinn's, Raleigh's, Cannondale's. I'm sure that I will go back... Richard

AlphaDogg

Today, the day after the crash, I am feeling effects of the crash. My left bicep as well as my left hip hurt. My left hip is bruised. This crash wasn't very bad, though. My worst one was back in November when I took a downhill turn too wide and fast, went into the dirt on the side of the trail (at about 25mph), stayed upright for ~10ft and just fell. Luckily, it was at the beginning of the off-season, so it was cold and I had long sleeves and my legwarmers on (which equals NO road rash!). Also I got no road rash on this recent crash because (1) I had long sleeves and legwarmers on and (2) I was on snow. I had snow on my entire left side when I got up.

BridgeNotTunnel

I don't even wanna watch! My knee aches just thinking about it! I'm glad nothing more damaging happened.

After 4 (yes 4!) trips to my LBS complaining of the same problem (knocking in my crank arms) my mechanic finally says, "oh yeah I remember, you need a new crank arm, someone who worked on your bike stripped the threads." I then explained that he has done all of the major work on this bike and that other shops have done nothing more than change tires. To which he had no real reply. He quoted me 25$, asked for 28$, and i gave him 30$ for having it ready in an hour.

i have a new crank arm and she rides like new again.... finally!!

so of course i had to go for an evening ride.

Activity: Cycling


Date: 30/01/2012 16:39


Distance: 10.29 mi


TotalTime: 00:59:27


Average Speed: 10.38 mph


Calories: 764 kcal



Start time: 16:39:54


End time: 17:57:52


Best(1500 yd): 16.82 mph


Max Speed: 25.97 mph


Max Pace:02:18 min/mi


Average Pace: 05:46 min/mi


Total climb: 843 ft


Total descend: 883 ft


Location: New York


981 time lapse pics with GoPro Hero ended up with 255 pics i kept.


I wish I had a Hero 2 as it supposedly takes better low light shots, but as this cam was a gift, i'm not complaining....


here's a few shots for the curious....






























^^^I got very lucky with this shot and happened to capture some cornering at high speed at the bottom of a hill here