non-fixie 

Part of my preparation for an upcoming vacation trip to Italy is to make sure the bikes that are coming along are in good shape.

I'd used my Roy Thame's wheels to get my Union on the road, so the Roy Thame needed new wheels. The attic yielded a useful set of touring wheels: Zeus hubs, Weinmann concave rims and sturdy-looking stainless steel spokes. I added a pair of Jack Brown Mile Munchers in 700 x 30C and off we went for a test ride.

eom 

First think thanks for all your posts. A great window to a part of the world I will never see in person.
I apologize for my ignorance but your world is so so different. The midwest of the USA is so car centric.

No center line. Is this a one lane road with two bike paths?



And this. Road, bike path?

thinktubes 

Where did summer go? Still feels like it here - temps in the upper 80s and humid. Did 72 miles up to Libertyville.

Passed through "horse country" - The fences are there to keep the horses in, and the riffraff out.



Love the lines of the Rondout Elementary School - built in 1917.



Had lunch at Butler Lake.



Found some shade on the island to enjoy my PBJ.



Cut through downtown Libertyville and stopped at the Cook House



There's a nice rose garden out front.



Passed an old boarded up factory in the industrial part of town. If this were in city, it would have been converted to pricey lofts decades ago.



Turns out it used to be a macaroni factory (LOL!)



Leaves are starting to fall. At least I have the legs to get into some new territory.

zukahn1 

Very nice weather today about 70 with mostly clear sky's and good air quality. Took a ride up Alama on the bike trail and back on the back roads to get some Aspen viewing pics since there turning quick this year and will probably be gone in a week or so.

curbtender

Checking the pathways around the 101 freeway in Larkspur for a group ride Tuesday. Guess you could say I took a short ride...

molleraj

I had my longest ride ever Saturday morning and afternoon on my trusty $100 folding bike! 35.67 miles excluding the short ride back from Bethesda station, lol. I took the CCT from Bethesda to the National Mall via Georgetown, Independence Ave and some side streets through SW DC to Navy Yard, and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, NE Branch Trail, and Painted Branch Trail to Kenilworth, Bladensburg, and College Park, where I got lunch and took the train. Of course pupusas in College Park were the perfect lunch after one long bike ride. Next time I need to complete the loop!


Map of the route

MLK Jr Memorial

Swift boat at Navy Yard

Caboose in Bladensburg

At College Park station

At College Park station platform

Pupusas and a tamale at Pupuseria La Familiar in College Park. Time for refueling.

non-fixie 

Officially, no. These dotted lines indicate that the speed limit on this road is 60 kph, there is no separate bike path and this road is to be shared. In practice, however, many drivers tend to keep their cars between the lines, which is probably exactly what the traffic psychologists intended.

Both. I believe it is what is called a MUP in your part of the world. I usually keep away from this one, as it can be quite busy. It is a nice shortcut through the Nieuwkoop lakes, though. It runs from the water tower seen at he bottom of this picture, to the town of Nieuwkoop on the other side of the lake:

daverup 

I changed the brake levers on my 86 Centurion today, to 105 SLR. The change meant bar tape too, of course.
After that I took it down to the lake on a test ride, seems like a success.

Spaghetti Legs 

curbtender love that picture!

After a busy weekend of work, which tends to sap my vital force, I did a short ride, 13 miles, 900 feet climbing, mostly sticking to UVA Grounds. I’ve posted pics of a lot but here’s a uninteresting view of the football practice facilities. 3 years ago, they blew up the old basketball stadium at this spot and built that building and the practice field. Now they’re asking for money for “updated” practice facilities. .?? It’s a scam I tell ya!

ascherer 

This weekend was much better than last, but I'm thinking that my bout with Lyme in July took more out of me that I thought. In any event, I rode a standard 30-miler around 4 boroughs and over 5 bridges and didn't feel the bonk.


I think it was Bike Snob NYC that coined the term "Hipster Trail" for the route north through Brooklyn into LIC.


Mid-span on the Triborough/RFK Bridge


If you're in LIC, go to Sweetleaf Coffee at the end of the Pulaski Bridge. That is all.

Roger M

I broke a spoke last week on a bike with 27" wheels. Called the closest few shops , but none have spokes in 308mm. This morning a call to Bothell ski and bike fixed that. Seems they're the only shop around me that has a spoke machine(Phil Wood at that).

I rode down there earlier today and had em cut and thread a few spokes. Saw a few things along the way, and got my third flat within the last month. Regardless, a nice cool day for a ride, and the first in a while on the big rig. About thirty miles round trip.





The local utilities shut down the Burke Gillman trail for about 10 minutes while the planted a new power pole.

zukahn1 

Nice temps some wind and a few drops of rain but no haze smoke actual good air quality. Took the Hardrock out to do some more Aspen viewing road the bike trail up to the rock quarry dirt track a few miles outside of town.

curbtender

The group got in a 33 mile ride. Other than almost getting tagged by a delivery van running a stop, it was a nice day. Richmond Ferry to SF and back around.

DQRider 

Iconic location, and you captured it perfectly. Bravo!
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ExPatTyke

I rode the Great Exmoor Ride on Sunday. I don't do many sportives now, having become much more of an audaxer, but I'm happy to make an exception for the Great Exmoor, Great Weston, and Mendip rides; all three are put on by the same company which is essentially a one man band with an ethos on having fun. There's no timings, restrictions, or pressure so the rides are just enjoyable runs through Somerset and Devon countryside with likeminded cyclists who just want a nice day out, as opposed to the high speed, no talking, timing critical thrashes that quite a few sportives in the UK have become. Quite frankly, I'm in it for the elevenses, the tea and bacon sandwiches at lunch, and the pint at the end.

Anyhow, I rode the Festina Team Replica Pug (not sure it qualifies as C&V - brifters, aluminium and all that sort of modern stuff - please forgive me for this) which got a few comments at the start, including a couple of fellow C&V enthusiasts who were on more modern bikes. Couldn't say too much about prices paid or how many bikes unfortunately as my wife was at the start. I met a mate from the local club after a couple of miles, and rode together for a while, but he's considerably fitter than me and on a much quicker bike, so he headed on after an hour.

The climb onto Exmoor was longer and harder than I remembered, but it feels like that every year. Luckily the weather this year was kind, a gentle breeze and sunshine as opposed to the horizontal rain being hurled into our faces a couple of years ago, so everyone had a chance to take in the views over the top. Dropping into Exford for lunch was a pleasure as always, several miles of non stop descent.

Lunch was livened up by meeting the two guys I saw at the start. "So how many bikes have you got mate - you wife's not here and we won't say anything", although I might have overindulged a bit, couldn't get the legs going on the hill out of Exford, and ended up walking. A 39x24 bottom gear was probably a mistake...

The final descent ended up in Watchet, and I went over the railway bridge just in time to see a steam engine leaving the station under the bridge. A great day out all round, made by the company on the road and the enjoy-yourself attitude of the organisers.

I've gone on here a bit I know, but it was my first big ride out for some time and it really made for a great day. My wife had a good day too, meeting up with some relatives who farm on Exmoor that she hadn't seen for over a year.

One final thought - I do the occasional sportive, and a few Audaxes, on C&V bikes, and I think there are a few others on here who do as well - how about a Sportives and Audaxes on C&V thread? I do like to see the photos of events, bikes, sights and riders, from other parts of the World.


Climbing up from Dulverton - just over 1000 feet in 5 miles


Over the top of Exmoor


View to the Channel


Exford Church. Beautiful 15th century church, unfortunately I didn't have time to look inside


At the top of Exmoor - downhill from here

Spaghetti Legs 

ExPatTyke Im not sure what an elevens is but I am otherwise likeminded about what I want out of an event.

Today, against my better judgment as I wasn’t feeling particularly sprightly, I decided to tackle Jarman Gap Rd up to Skyline Drive, then come back through the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Afton. This a rough gravel road with about 1500 ft elevation gain in 3.5 miles. There are usually a couple of points where I’ll take a break but today I stopped at least 8-9 times and even walked 100 meters or so. Just a few days ago, I extolled the virtues of my Fly12 camera/light on another forum and of course today, just before reaching the tunnel it made all kinds of weird beeps before bricking. No amount of button pushing and holding would get it to respond, so I rode through the tunnel holding my cell phone light. All is well and feel better now having challenged myself and overcome one more time.



Some of the steeper sections of Jarman Gap are paved, so on this 15% I just decided to sit down to rest in the middle of the road

Up on Skyline, mostly downhill rest of the way.

West entrance of the Blue Ridge tunnel. I’ve posted pics at the other end before

Green is supposed to be “good to go” on this camera, but not today!

Light at the end of the tunnel, not an incoming train. Tunnel is always a nice cool down in summer. About 60 degrees.

northbend 

I rode out on the Middle Fork Road a couple of days ago with some friends, a route we normally do as an out n back but this time we decided to make a loop out of it by taking the CCC trail back to North Bend.

CCC Trail 2 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

I’ve posted many pictures of the Middle Fork Road before so this time, I’ll concentrate on the return leg on the CCC trail instead. This is an old logging road that has been swallowed up by the forest.
What remains is a delightful trail lightly used by MTBr’s these days.
CCC Trail 4 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 11 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 13 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 16 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 30 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

It’s not all fun n games though…
CCC Trail 28 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 32 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

CCC Trail 29 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

The trail ends at a gated forest service road. It’s all downhill for miles from there back to Mt. Si road and civilization…
CCC Trail 31 by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Drillium Dude 

I rode twice yesterday. Starting at noon, Jacob and I rode the Green River Trail down to Auburn where we got a snack at our fave taco truck. We got back to the trailhead around 3, and I was in Bothell by 4. The weather was near-perfect for temps, even tho the skies were quite gray (and I don't typically like shooting pics with gray skies, which is one reason there are no pics with this report). 36 miles, I think?

Anyway. Around 11pm, I had reason to step outside for a few minutes and noted (1) a fairly clear sky with a half-moon and (2) it had not gotten appreciably cooler since late in the afternoon. I checked my Nite Rider and found the battery still showing blue, so off I went on the Sammamish River Trail, headed for Redmond. The quiet and solitude was reminiscent of the night ride out to Rattlesnake Lake about a month ago, except the MUP is quite open and of course has a smooth, paved surface. Never saw another soul for the next 2 hours. On the way back I got a really good scare, tho - lucky that's all it was, too.

About a mile from Redmond the light on the battery pack went red. Taking this to mean the battery was running down, but having no idea when it would actually stop providing light, I immediately turned around and headed home. The light was a tad bit dimmer, but still functioning strong and not flickering, so I figured I it would be good for the 30 minutes or so it would take to get home. I was half-right; about 15 minutes later, not 100 yards from a very tight and unlit underpass the light abruptly shut off, causing me to grab the brakes and slow down enough that I was able to enter the underpass well to the left and get through safely. Had the light gone off even 5 seconds later I'm sure I'd have piled right into the retaining wall - going from bright light to nothing was like immediately becoming blind. Quite unsettling!

The only reason I post this is because the thought running through my mind just prior to dropping into the underpass approach was "I wonder if there's any warning before the battery dies and the light goes out?" - and in the very next second I got my answer! It was almost as though my subconscious gave me a preparatory thought - so I would be ready.

The night ride was something I'd forgotten about, and it's even better on pavement because you can hear all the activity of the night; and there's a lot of it along a river at midnight. Hopefully tonight is dry because I want to go again

DD

northbend 

^ Glad you didn't learn a hard lesson there, Dude!
I carry a Black Diamond headlamp as a backup on every night ride. They are fairly cheap and easy to carry. Great for hiking too.

Last week while I was at a Memorial for an old friend of mine, I got to talk’n bikes with my buddy Bruce.

I asked him if he’d like to join me for an overnight camping trip on Bainbridge Island the next day.

Bruce is one of those friends who like me, is retired and up for an occasional spur of the moment adventure.

Early the next morning I was out, chasing my shadow up Snoqualmie Ridge to meet Bruce in Bellevue.

Striking out Thursday Morning by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Riding into downtown Seattle, we take the ferry to Bainbridge Island. After grabbing some lunch in Winslow we head along the “Chilly Hilly” bicycle route to find a camping spot at Fay Bainbridge S.P. The sun was out, things were warming up nicely as we rode along Manitou Beach Drive taking in the view of Seattle.

Seattle Skyline from Manitou Beach Drive by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

We got a hiker/biker campsite close to the beach, 7 bucks for the night. After everything was squared away, we set out on our bikes, unladen to ride the rest of the “Chilly Hilly“ route around the Island…

Overnighter on Bainbridge by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Lynwood Center and ended up lingering there until the sun began to set. We switched on our lights and finished circling the Island in the dark. Traffic was quite light and we had fun riding along on backroads in the dark. We stopped again along Manitou Beach Drive and took in the view of the lights of the Seattle waterfront glimmering like a diamond necklace across the Puget Sound as the sky darkened, watching the air traffic pattern overhead as jets approached for landing SEATAC airport.

Crappy picture but it was the best I could get from my small camera.

Night time ride around Bainbridge Island by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Bruce turned in when we got back to camp. I went down to the beach and watched the sky not wanting the day to end, finally retreating to the tent when the chill started to creep in.

We rode back in the morning, Bruce splitting off in Bellevue. I continued Eastward.

One last photo taken as I waiting to cross Front Street in Issaquah. An old car, I have no idea what it was, chugged by. An interesting subject though.

Not often you see something like this by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Climbing into the foothills back at home in North Bend by 3:30. A nice little get away…

HTupolev

Crescent Lake Road, looking East. A bridge over the Snoqualmie river is just behind the shot.



Under some trees.

Warbird21

I've never ridden a folding bike - so its amazing to me that you can do that kind of ride!
I'm opening a restaurant in the Student Union Building at the University of MD campus next month (Stamp Building). So, I'll be down there a lot, but not on my bike.
Traffic and pedestrian traffic looks awful entering and exiting campus, so doing 35 miles seems like it would be a chore.

zukahn1 

Some more easy Aspen viewing riding on the Hardrock yesterday great weather road several miles up County Road 9 and did some riding around on the short side trails in the Pike national forest.


Nice smooth riding on the dirt part of CR9 but a tone of mag chloride.




Nearly all the wild flowers and stuff have gone to seed near the river so probably only a week or so till nearly everything turns brown.

droppedandlost 

Beautiful day on the rail trail

molleraj

Thanks! It's a nicer ride than you think. The fast acceleration and tight maneuvering are big pluses. I did just put a squishy sprung seat on my Dahon Speed D7 so I might ride that around sooner or later.

Oh cool! What kind of restaurant? Maybe I should stop by. Indeed Baltimore Ave is awful, but the Anacostia Tributary Trail System is really wonderful. Much quieter than say Mt. Vernon or CC trails.

Warbird21

A Roy Rogers restaurant. Our HQ is in Frederick MD. I'm praying we can find some folks to staff this one.