ascherer 

Weather, the demands of a newly-renovated country home and minor setbacks from meniscus repair surgery have made it a slow start to the season. But on Thursday I was determined to get in some miles.

When I finished work I drove to the Ashokan Reservoir to take the Shogun for the first proper ride since I got it. I’d put a set of Swift Sand Canyon tires in and was interested in how they felt. The answer - great. When you can get them, they are nice and supple 27x1-3/8 tires. The reminded me of the Col de la Vie.


The trail was delightful. I only got in 15 miles but I encountered a wild turkey running down the trail just ahead of me, a couple of deer at the salad bar, and a big old turtle. Not too many walkers or other riders.


The Shogun is going to be a great gravel bike. As an all-out tourer, it really likes to run straight, and it felt relaxed and confident. It hasn’t rained much, but I’m going to mount fenders anyway which may keep the dust down. It was fun to see how deep my muscle memory for flipping pedals with clips and straps around has remained, but I’m going to put SPDs on. Glad to have finally given this one’s its day in the dirt.

jimmuller 

More awesome ride reports here!

We took the tandem out for 28.5 miles today on roads we've ridden many times, When we've ridden as much as we have it's hard to find roads we haven't experienced before. My sweetie insisted on taking this pic.


Earlier this week I took some time away from work and we rode part of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. On the way back we encountered this little fella', a small but not baby snapping turtle who had apparently just crawled out from some mud. He/she was trying to cross the trail, an especially dangerous thing to attempt on a busy afternoon. We helped him/her get across safely.


At the end of the ride, I brought the bike to a stop and my free foot wouldn't pull out the toe clip! At zero mph we went down sideways onto the pavement. Some other kind cyclists came over to see if we were okay. Sharon was fine, I got a few scrapes which are healing up just fine. No broken bones or serious bruises. One guy mentioned that toe clips were dangerous, and I told him toe clips had been my friend for over 50 years. When we got home I investigated, stuck my shoe in a times and tried to pull it out, had trouble once or twice. The problem was, the toe clip was distorting and hanging up on the shoe. The reason? Well, check out the pic. It's a cautionary tale to check your equipment every so often.

non-fixie 

First real summer day of the year, so a must-ride day.

We'd taken our bikes to the Land of Altena, a lordship dating back to the tenth century. Lots of history, small villages, and best of all: excellent cycling roads.

First up was Dussen castle:



Marianne Vos grew up in this area, and it was hard not to notice. There was a Marianne Vos roundabout ...



... a Marianne Vos park bench ...



... and a Marianne Vos sculpture. She does look a lot better in person:



Water crossings are always a bit of a treat. And a photo opportunity.





Summer!

bear_a_bug 

Got out for a quick 30 miler just north of Vancouver, WA. Picked a route from a search on RideWithGPS that was pretty flat (<1600 ft elevation), but had a bit more business on the roads than I would have liked. Had a beautiful stretch along the Lewis River that made it worth it, tho.

Got poured on for the last half of the ride, but it was a great chance to test out the waterproofing of my new Berthoud handlebar bag. Snagged this Rene Herse/Compass GB28 (no side pockets) on ebay for $65, almost unused (!!!!). Nice to be outside in temps above 60 degrees. Been a wet, chilly spring in PDX.

zukahn1 

First day this year nice enough for shorts 70 or so and clear with almost no wind. Tuned and cleaned up the old Hardrock and went on a nice ride to Alama on the bike path and took the hard way back on the back roads. Nice easy ride about 20 miles round trip in around 2 hours.

rccardr 

Jim, you should frame that picture of you reclining at ease.
A classic!

obrentharris 

Much to our relief, after a very dry couple months, we had some late rains this year which really brought out the wild flowers and filled the local reservoirs. A thirty mile local loop this morning allowed me to take it all in.

Now the hills will turn brown as we enter our annual six month dry spell.









Brent

cooperryder

I rode 43 miles today on my Sam Hillbourne bike around downtown Dallas and other areas including the Farmer's Market.

Made a stop and pic at the infamous 'Grassy Knoll'.
Someone painted a nice likeness to a Passion Flower vine bloom.
I have some growing in my yard.

Rocket-Sauce 

Great shop!

nlerner

Last week I was in NYC for a few days, helping my youngest move into a new apartment in the East Village. Yesterday to counter the time spent in the car and in the big city, I headed up to a state forest north of Boston for an overnighter.

ascherer 

Sunday found me on the PX-10 I got from @jonwvara, my first ride on the local roads around our Woodstock house.


This small farm near Mt. Marion is typical of the area, a mix of residential and small family farms. Raising goats seems common for these smaller operations.


Over a short 18 mile loop I was mostly on back roads that are as beautiful as any I’ve ridden. Hidden just off a main route (blink and you’ll miss it!) the Centerville Methodist Church sat at a peaceful, inviting corner that felt like a different era. After another 2 miles the climb back home began. I was grateful for Jon’s triplizer!

Dfrost 

My son, Peter, is treating me to a week of cycling and other pleasures in Bend, OR. Today’s lovely ride on one of Oregon’s lovely Scenic Bikeways included great views of the Sisters mountains. That’s my red Marinoni and Peter with the beautiful orange Erickson that his wife and I gave him a few weeks ago. It was one of those incredibly surprising donations to Bike Works in Seattle that was a perfect fit for Peter in so many ways.


A better shot of the mountains, but you really wanted to see the bikes first, right?

esasjl

Bowland Knotts today. The pull up from Stocks needed tea and a fig roll before the descent to Keasden.

Spaghetti Legs 

Explored some new to me roads in Albemarle County today. First new road tried was a dud as it petered out Into a couple of long driveways. Happens a lot around here as goggle maps will show these as continuous roads. Next road tried was a resounding success, taking me through an apple orchard and up a long steady, increasingly steeper climb then descending into a small community of pretty homesteads. I was only slightly disappointed that the 6 mile gentle downhill ride from there was nicely paved road rather than dirt.



Spring Valley Road. Gentle climb out of the orchard that got steeper. This stretch is 12% when I decided to take a break before it stiffened up ahead of me. Turned around to see this stunning view behind me.

White Mountain Rd lunch stop

Prowler 

Sunday afternoon I checked another box, another trail I'd not been on. Granted, it was just a snapshot of the trail but I got a sense of the place. I made a trip to West Virginia to pick up my Grand daughter for her annual two week visit (horses, cycling, hiking, general foolishness). As usual, ahead of time I looked at the map to see what trails I could visit. My route went through Williamsport, MD so I swung off to ride a bit of the C&O canal tow path (NPS park). OK, 9 miles out of 185 gives me no bragging rights but I only had time for that then back to the car. VERY nice. Photo shows Lock 43 and the lock keeper's house. You can see the trail is a very nice crushed stone twin track and surprisingly firm and dry considering the rain we've had in the past couple of weeks. Long quiet forest passages, lovely view of the Potomac River, occasional passing of civilization and oodles of spring flowers.

I reached the trail closure near mile 90 and decided to turn around rather than ride what looked like a tedious detour. Heading back I was headed north west and could then see the sky to the south west. "Gosh that looks dark." Still sunny overhead so just keep going, enjoy the day. Mile by mile the sky looked darker. 5 miles to go was then overcast and the wind was picking up. Keep going, don't stop, faster, up shift, push, push. It started "snowing" (the flower pedals being blown off the trees). Upshift, keep going. 2 miles, darker, go faster. Arrived at the visitors center. Carry the bike up over the canal (on the old lifting rail bridge) and down again. Hop back on and scoot. Got to the car and whipped the front wheel off and stuffed the bike into the back seat. Jump into the car and relax and the rain is just starting. Within 5 minutes it was torrential. Cars barely moving, roads awash. I regained Interstate 81 south and the navigation app showed traffic backup ahead. The road was empty but the very few cars were just creeping through the deluge, faking out the software. Nice to be dry and a fun adventure. I wonder if I'll ever ride the C&O end to end?

Dfrost 

Today’s ride went east from Bend into more obvious high desert. More great but much flatter roads, which these old legs needed for recovery. (Post 18841 above has the bikes and background for this incredible gift from my son.)

Darth Lefty 

Stupid frustrating little outing today. Got the Expert TG out, haven't ridden it in a year. Rode about a mile in and feel the front tire folding over in a turn. Flat. Find the next level spot. Gosh, there's a mosquito. Do I have a tube for this thing? 23's? Nope. Do I have a patch? Nope, I've got sealant. I've been riding mostly tubeless. More mosquitoes. Here comes the core remover... This tube doesn't have a removable core. Sealant goes in, the hard way. Did I get any? Can't tell. Get the pump. Try to convert it to Presta... guess what, it's not convertible! Looks like it is but it's all a lie. Mosquitoes everywhere. Find the little conversion chuck. Air goes in and seems to do nothing. Abandon this spot, find somewhere with breeze and sun. Try again. Put some air in and sealant comes flowing out nearby. Tube is slashed. Which is crazy because when I left the house it was holding air, and it didn't fail suddenly. Wheelbarrow it a mile back to the house. clump, clump, clump on my SPD's. At least they're not SL's. A guy asks me if I need anything... I eye his commuter rig, he's not going to have a 23 tube. I just tell him I'm close to home and it's ok.

daverup 

First spring ride on my 86 Ironman.

curbtender

Maybe that snake missed your heels and caught the tire...

Kai Winters

Lake Ontario area of Northern NY.
Rode along the Saint Lawrence River on the "Seaway Trail" for a very nice 47 mile ride.
This area is amazing for riding. Well paved roads and very little traffic with wide shoulders on the main roads make for great rides.
I love this area of NY.

esasjl

Two views of Pen-y-ghent. First from Long Scar Cairn on the drop-bar ATB.

Then from Dry Rigg Quarry on a road bike.

Dfrost 

Today was our last ride in the Bend, OR area for this trip, after enjoying some cave exploration yesterday when it wasn’t riding weather. The ride was a quite flat 29 miles loop south of Bend (heading south from Sunriver, for those familiar with this area) and no photogenic aspects, but with strange weather! We started just before 11:00 with temperatures in the low 50’s and a light breeze. That became a cold SW wind by the time we got to our southern limit in La Pine. As we headed north the temperatures were now in the low 40’s, maybe even touching 30’s and we even had some snow/sleet/hail! And then it was back to high 40’s by the time we got back to the car, and the occasional tailwind was appreciated. What a great week with my son, Peter.

rccardr 

Have spent the last several weeks doing a full nut and bolt restoration/refurb on the '87 Schwinn Voyageur that I picked up off the Berkely CL when we were out in California for Eroica. The CL pickup was a story in itself.
After putting it all back together shiny and clean, decided to address the one major aspect I dislike about this Voyageur iteration: the brakes. Or rather, the 'speed attenuation suggestion appliances'. Regardless of how well they are adjusted, they simply do not perform up to my expectations/riding style. After a bunch of weaseling and measuring, determined that Tektro 539 nutted calipers would slip right in behind the original canti mounts and attend to the original Wolber 27" rims, which are now shod with new Pasela's. When paired with the bars, stem and Shimano SLR style levers seen in the pic below, the bike now actually stops well. Foolishness will continue.

But I digress, and a shame that I am doing so, since there are several scrumptious photos of today's ride on the Fairfax Cross-County Trail:



Culminating, no less, with these shots of Amtrak professionals using heavy machinery to swap out worn track ties. Fascinating to watch. I was as captivated as any 7 year old.

zookster 

Did a 9 mile ride through downtown Birmingham, AL with Redemptive Cycles for the Thursday night Trample ride.

bironi

Biopace? Take that sucker off and throw it as far a you can!