cooperryder

I forgot to mention the zip ties are temporary as I have 3 nice Campy clamps for the rear brake cable / housing
in my stash I need to find.

In my rush to start riding it I did not take the time to locate them and I'll be taking it all apart soon for powder coating.

thinktubes 

Somehow, it was 70 degrees in Chicago today.

Green Bay Trail looking north



Green Bay trail looking south.



Ended up going 27 miles. Days are getting longer!

zukahn1 

Still a tone of snow,ice and mud in Fairplay so just a couple of pics.

LucasHartong

That LOOK is so beautiful!

non-fixie 

Niceish winter day
Fine gravel and a tailwind
Home before sunset

curbtender

It's a great example of what the hills around here all looked like in the early 1800s before the gold rush. This is all second growth redwoods but most of the canyons were harvested and never grew back. Worth the ride if you are ever in the area.

darkmoon

It's like a scene of Dutch Light/Hollands Licht, by Pieter-Rim de Kroon.
I like the long shadow.

My favorite Dutch painters are van Gogh, Jan Vermeer, and M. C. Escher.

jamesdak 

Out for a windy 25 miles on the Pacenti. First ride on this bike.


The bike felt pretty good the times the wind wasn't trying to kill me.

"Downtown" Huntsville

Fredo76

Uno de Marzo, 2024

bikoman

Whats that bike please in the second picture?

zukahn1 

It's 93 Marin Bobcat Trasil not a real high end bike but it has a really nice hard frame and rides great super smooth and fairly light for a big MTB about 25lbs.

bikoman

Thank You!

botty kayer

A quick peak inside Stockwell bus garage, built in 1952 in a area cleared by blitz bombing, at.a time when steel and brick were in short supply.

The view east from Lambeth bridge.

I then cycle along the South Bank and take some snaps of the brutalist grey architecture.


Gratuitous bike shot as the sun made a rare appearance.

And finally over in north London I find another grey scene.

obrentharris 

Fine weather today for those of us with waterproof outer feathers.





The rest of us took any available shelter from the occasional showers.


Brent

RCMoeur 

Today, our bike club had its quarterly breakfast meeting - all the way across town (and "town" is one of the larger metro areas in the US). I figured that since it was a bike meeting, I'd ride there. So I was up and rolling well before sunrise heading diagonally down the canal paths and quiet streets.

Good morning, sun. Good morning, freeway.

Today I decided to ride my alumicruiser - it is the bike which gets the most miles overall due to its combination of capabilities. Not as heavy as my neighborhood cruiser, can carry a lot more than my speedy bikes, has a more-efficient pedaling position than my more relaxed bikes, etc. Plus I added my most recent Secret Weapon® - a Ridekick e-trailer with a lot of battery range.

Sorry about the bag being so grubby. Hey, it works for a living.

I rode by the airport and into downtown Tempe, crossing the pseudo-pond on the 1931 bridge.

Just another run of the Mill day.

I wandered through the maze of the Arizona State campus, and visited the plaque commemorating my great-great uncle (the last sitting governor to order taking up arms against another state) on the building bearing our names.

More Moeurs.

Headed south on the aptly-named College Avenue toward & over the US 60 freeway, waving to other riders and taking in the suburban scenery.

A collection of chainrings adorn a SRP standpipe

Bike bridge arches over the Superstition Freeway

Looking down at the zooming traffic

Turned eastward on the Western Canal, where I had to swerve around several ducky obstructions in the middle of the path.

Bollards? No, mallards.

Made it to the restaurant, devoured decent food, saw friends and others, and the meeting... well, no need for pictures. But it was good.

After the belly was settled I returned north, noting the much-busier streets and passing the demolished remains of a once-thriving regional mall.

The mall has been mauled.

Made it up to the path along the mostly-empty Salt River, and was amused by the, um, "creative reinterpretation" of standard markings.

I don't seem to remember this one in Part 9 of the MUTCD...

And with that... stay tuned for the dynamic conclusion - right after I finish typing it.

RCMoeur 

And now - the rest of today's two-wheel tale.

In north Mesa and Tempe, the river path runs alongside the Loop 202 freeway, and drops under the Loop 101 freeway at its sprawling interchange.

Descending under the busy ramps

Flyover, go under.

I crossed the river at a major street (go, Ridekick, go!) and turned onto the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt. This pathway system was one of the early ones in the US, built in the 1970s and attracting a lot of recreational foot & wheeled traffic on picture-perfect weekends like this one.

Better not be in a hurry, and keep that bell a-dingin'

A new experience for me - riding through a professional disc golf tournament.


Serious Frisbee.

I wended my way along the abrupt turns and happy throngs, veered into an underpass... and was met by a big slobbery roadblock. None shall pass - until sufficient skritches are given.


The new semi-portable 'Basset Bollard' undergoes testing

Breakfast was a while ago, and lunch sounds good. And I knew of a great lil' eatery just off the pathway.


Grilled yum.

Continued along the canal paths and bike lanes into Paradise Valley, waving at the Bentleys and Alfa Romeos and generally behaving myself.

I then turned west and noticed something. A breeze. No, make that a big ol' headwind. And still a pile o' miles to go.


The palms sway and the upwind riders pay

Up until now I'd been doing much of the work using the e-trailer for a little boost at signals, upgrades, and other spots. But now: "Ridekick, take my butt home." I smooshed the throttle lever so hard it twisted the velcro, and the electrons surged to do their lardbutt-bailing duty. Whew. Otherwise this could have been less than pleasant, albeit character-building (I think I have enough of that).

A few miles from the house, I spotted a yard sale, and the owner's kittycat took it upon herself to go out by the street, look lovable, and lure the rubes in. Yeah, it works. I think the shorts will fit.


Don't just take pictures of me - buy some of this stuff.

Almost home. But not quite there yet.



Hey, who put this hill in my way?

Wobbed through Moon Valley, zipped across the busy streets, and brought it in to the driveway with ample reserve power available in the trailer's batteries - but only 1% showing on the phone (brought the charger,, but not the right cord). Almost 74 miles for this day with about 1,400 feet of climbing, and nearly forty 100% me-powered miles coming up tomorrow. But now it's time to recharge everything (including me) and hope that Sunday is also a success.


Long lumpy loop, but a fun day

LucasHartong

Phoenix, Arizona... fond memories of our Dutch son learning how to fly an airplane... he succeeded.

LucasHartong

Might be a bit of a problem. Long distance from NL.

darkmoon

Weekend rec ride
Mt. Fuji view point, clouds hid her today too.
Mmm...




Kawazu sakura
An early blooming sakura.
This sakura blooms from February, as early as ume, Japanese apricot.
It was found at Kawazu town in Shizuoka prefecture, in 1955.
It was crossed naturally with Ooshima-sakura and Kanhi-sakura.
Popular recently, and many are planted.
I've looking for some and found one at last!

With a super cool kid's bike.



Close shot




Tokuonji temple, founded in 1019
I posted pics last year.
The road in front of the temple is slightly down grade, and too fast and good to stop to take pics.
But the weather was good, and the temple was too beautiful to pass by today.

Hondo, the main building, rebuilt in 2022.
Shiraki, unpainted or unfinished wood, is beautiful and will age beautifully.




Shinnyodo(shin-nyo-do) built in 1995.
It is a multi-purpose hall.
The wood is painted.



Beautiful weather, sakura, and temple.
It was very good cycling again!

non-fixie 

Thank you for the report and the pictures, darkmoon. Very beautiful!

One question, though. I find the picture on this sign very intriguing. What is it about?

non-fixie 

My ride today was just another shakedown of my latest build in the neighborhood.

Build goal is a sportif, which is basically a racing bike with fenders. But I want it to be comfortable enough for a week of leisurely touring, so choosing the right frame was of the essence. Responsive, but not nervous.

darkmoon

You're welcome, non-fixie.

the sign says:
From Yokohama city hall to dog owners
Please take care of your pets' solid and liquid waste.
It's your responsibility.

I visited this view point over 50 times.
But I found no dog droppings.
This yellow sign was appeared 2 weeks ago.
Yokohama pet owners are very good-mannered, and better than Mt. Fuji, hahaha.

botty kayer

I agree non-fixie the sign is intriguing, I can't tell if it's saying all.dogs must be on leads, or if its saying all dog mess must be cleaned up by the owners, or something else.

And as.it happens i saw a ridiculous no dog fouling sign today, more on that shortly....

After my recent obsession with all things grey to match my newly built grey bike, for a change today it did not rain and we had some sunshine, so I went in search of color.

Our sakura are a bit behind Japan and have not flowered yet, so while i wait for nature to deliver me color, i decide to go to Penge in south London for my first visit of the year. It is one of the lesser known street art spots in London, but every time I go I find something new, and today was no exception, in fact it was a bumper haul of new stuff.

But first I have to cycle over the hill at Crystal Palace, the route i choose is up College Road in Dulwich which has the last active tollgate in London. It covers a stretch of road approx half a mile long, is free for pedestrians and cyclists but cars have to pay. £1.20 ($1.50).

There were many dozens of these toll gates all across London, but they were finally ruled too restrictive to trade and movement and were abolished, helped by the introduction of the railways . This one is on private land so can remain, and they also have an old sign near the tollgate showing the old toll prices for vehicles and livestock. Thankfully I was not mistaken for a donkey so got through without charge.

And a bit further along I find the ridiculous no dog fouling sign I mentioned above. This is private land that pedestrians and cyclists have free right of way through, but as its private it has its own rules and signs. And typical of posh rich old English people to use way more words than necessary and be condescending at the same time. It's that or the sign writer was charging by the word and was trying to fleece the landowners for all he could. Have you ever seen such a wordy 'no dog fouling' sign?

I crest.the top of the hill than and descend into the technicolor environs of Penge, which did start off quite grey, but as the sun came out the artworks I found got brighter and more colorful.




Admittedly it's not quite the levels of big blue skies and sunshine RCMoeur experiences, but after months of northern hemisphere winter the arrival of sunshine really does lift our spirits.

And despite not leaving Londom I too mamaged to cycle near phoenix...
....this wet and dark scene has been more like what we've endured.here recently....

...and my last one of the day is a case of role reversal, after spending the afternoon taking pics of street art with my bike, the street art takes a pic of the bike.

non-fixie 

Thank you! I figured it must be something like that, but since the picture looks like a person with a medical bag having a conversation with a dog, I thought I'd ask.

In my country the signs tend to address the perpetrators directly:



We even have signs discouraging the owners to help them (I think):

thinktubes