Vonruden

Nice pics Mike.

Hit the trails for a morning ride.

WNG

^Very nice single-track. And a fabulous jersey!

jimmuller 

43.45 miles, Bedford, Concord, Sudbury, Stow, Hudson. Turned around on Main St. in Hudson for two reasons. We wanted to go back to the Assabet Wildlife Sanctuary for lunch, and we didn't want to go up this hill with is 10% grade, traffic getting heavy as we approached the center of Hudson, and the shoulder seemingly narrowing to nothing. It looked steeper than it looks. DeLorme TopoNA says it is steep-type steep.


Had a nice lunch at the Visitors Center.


Stopped for a photo op passing the Sudbury River and bumped (not literally, for he was on the opposite side of the road) into BF member Rod Holland, had a nice conversation.


It was a nice day on the bike!

JJScaliger

Great pics vonruden!

I got a little dirt in too; only about 3 miles of my 36 mile ride today. A gorgeous sunny day here in RI at about 75 degrees. I rode in Scituate and Foster on the Dawes.

Barden reservoir






farm field in Foster



head tube lugs on Dawes





living on the edge

otg 

Summer solstice ride, 47 miles. JJScaliger, we seem to take the same types of pictures. Weather was as good as it gets today.




No geese at my waterfall though...

Lamplight

Just a short ride to Lake Padden this morning, but I explored a trail I'd never tried before. At first it was mild and no trouble for my Univega. But eventually it just turned into what I would call a "moderate" mountain bike trail. That didn't stop me, though, I just had to dismount occasionally to get over logs.

JJScaliger

Wow, great shots as usual lamplight!

jimmuller 

Everybody got out today! Nice pics!

I got out on the Masi this morning, doing a first run on new wheels I strung up a week ago and new tires, Veloflex Criteriums running 140psi.




They performed spectacularly. 44.9 miles, Waltham out to Carlisle, with a moving average around 15.5mph. Don't know exactly because I noticed the start/end times only on the outbound leg, and had a leisurely conversation with someone on the return. Had no flats this trip, probably because I was carrying two spare sew-ups in the handlebar bag. When you are prepared you never encounter the problems you are prepared for!

On the way back I met up with one of the guys who works at Belmont Wheelworks. He and (presumably) his wife were riding matching his'n'hers Raleighs from mid-last century. I asked the year, he told me, and I promptly forgot, but it may have been 1952. Rod brakes, 4-speed Sturmey-Archer rear hubs, white-tail fenders. Really cool. He also recognized my Masi as from Carlsbad, CA ~1975. Not many people even recognize a Masi at all these days.

It was a good day.

Then my sweetie and I took our canoe out the Assabet River. A very pleasant afternoon.

Lamplight

Thanks!

JJScaliger

I got out today too, managed 42 miles on the Dawes. Another sunny day around 75.







P.S. Nice tires and rims Jim!

jimmuller 

Thanks. One unexpected thing is after that mileage they show no sign of wear, no cuts or abrasion, not even from the center of the tread. Veloflex must have used a good tread compound.

autoteacher

Loaded the Raleigh Twenty into the boot of my Morris Minor for the English car Day at Larz Anderson Motor Park. I rode around to see the other cars. My grandsons dropped by.

Shamelessly showing off my grandsons: (If you look closely the shifter is visible in the boot )

oddjob2

Cute grandkids @autoteacher, but they'd be cuter with an "N" and "Y" on their hats!
I do like the Patriots, awesome owner and QB, from a fine college in the midwest!

Love your vintage Morris too! Enjoyed them in Denmark, only as a passenger for a summer. Got me one of these, in the spirit of the original Mini, now going on 11 years.

autoteacher

My brother's 1974 Austin Mini

To make this relevant he got me into the bike thing and so I ride a bike.

Ed.

Scott C with hardly a doubt.

We labored today, and my planned ride was waylayed for the first time in close to 50 years of presta valves, by a valve that refused to seal. We did get to look out on the lake while we had dinner, however.

jimmuller 

This is clearly a reference to someone or something (other than the dear bird). I'll show my ignorance and ask. Scott C? Is that the scientific name for a Great Blue?

Ah, Scott must be the name of the guy I was conversing with today!

txmnjim

I did about an 8 mile trip through downtown Rochester along the Zumbro river. I must say this old Gitane is
definitely more than my expectations! Its so good I'm thinking of having painted in the off-season in the colors
that Greg Lemond won the 1983 Tour de France in Gitane USA - Greg LeMond (blue w/ yellow handlebars)

photogravity

Admittedly, this is a couple days late. Better late than never, I guess. Anyway, Saturday I went for a ride with a couple guys who, along with me, are on the board of Bike Brunswick. We did a ride of 33 miles with about 1/3 of it on gravel roads. They posted some pictures of the ride on the Facebiok page, but these were all I took, which was at the end after they had peeled off to their respective homes.

I can now say without reservation that the Mercian is one sweet ride. The conversion to 650B works very nicely. I look forward to working out its capabilities over time but, so far, so good.


King of Mercia at Potomac Street Grill by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


King of Mercia at Potomac Street Grill by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

WNG

^ That's a nicely composed photo.

jimmuller 

Murphy was with me today. My commute today was an adventure.

I had so much fun on the Masi yesterday that I put the clincher wheels on it for today's commute. Only trouble is, it still has rather fragile tires.

The fun today started with the discovery that Lexington was paving Woburn St. right in the middle of rush hour. Getting through the traffic jam and the one-lane paving operation was interesting. Fortunately when the traffic cop directed me to ride across the new pavement the tires didn't throw any tar up onto the frame.

Then as I was rolling through Woburn Center I heard the ominous hssst silence hsst silence hsst silence... Dang, a new cut. I had gotten an early start for work but I burned through it all fixing that flat. I'd taken my patch kit out of the Masi's handlebar bag for the sew-up ride. I discovered that when I'd thrown patch kit, spare tube, and levers back in it last night I didn't get the new patch kit, only the old one with just one patch left. Bad move. Well, maybe I'll be lucky. Pumped it up, rode the remaining 3 miles to work.

Middle of the day I decided to top off the air pressure. No problem. About 4PM I looked over and saw the wheel sunk to the carpet. What the...? It was leaking at the base of the valve stem. Somebody made a seriously bad batch of tubes. So I swapped in the spare I was carrying, pumped it up, and it promptly went flat from a hole in the sidewall near the valve stem. No more patches, two bad tubes. I checked online for bike shops nearby, the nearest was Mike's Bike Repair in Woburn Center, 3 miles away but on the way home.

By now it was nearing 5PM and only two people were left. One had a commitment. The other offered to take me home but I'd have to leave the bike and he wasn't leaving until 5:45. I called AAA and they said their road service calls were running about 90 minutes late. I said no thanks, I could walk to a bike shop by then. I tried cutting patches out of one of the tubes but they wouldn't seal completely when glued to the other tube. I called Mike's Bike Repair. He was heading out but promised to leave two tubes in the mailbox, and I said I'd drop some money in. By now it was 5:45 so I checked and sure enough my co-worker's BMW was too small for a bike. So I started walking.

About an hour later I got to W.C. and sure enough Mike had left me two tubes, 25-30mm tubes to fit in my 23mm tires, after he'd asked me what I needed and I'd told him they were 23mm. However fitting one into the tire wasn't too hard. Pumping up a tire to discover that it holds air is a most satisfying endeavor!

I rode home. Traffic was light.

photogravity

Thanks WNG. I try and sometimes succeed in getting good composition. It depends on the day and whether I'm in a hurry or not. I also find that I tend to do a much better job with composition when I shoot with my SLR(s).

Jim, sorry about your rough commute. Flats seem to be the bane or your commuter existence.

jimmuller 

Oh, I'm just trying to get to work and enjoying everyone's pics...

Last night I gathered up patches and a second spare tube for today's commute. I got 3/4th of a mile, barely out of our neighborhood, when I heard Psst Psst Psst Psst from the rear. Funny thing was, it stopped leaking after the pressure got down low enough. I didn't even bother to look for the leak, justs rode it home gingerly and leaning heavily on the front, transferred my lunch to the Bianchi with its Gatorskins, and headed out again.

A closer inspection comes tonight. The rim strip had migrated so maybe the puncture was from inside. Maybe the tube burst through an existing puncture in the case. Can that happen? Anyway, there isn't much left to inspect. That tire is looking like a ninja's practice dummy.

To answer the thread title's question: Yes I did ride today. My usual commute to work. The Bianchi handled it nicely. I expect no trouble getting home. Yes, it was new and improved.

Sixty Fiver

Last night... 40km round trip with this little bump in the middle.



Took the newly minted Diamondback Apex and this morning swapped in an 8 speed rear because the mosquitoes were able to catch me going up the other side.



With the 6 speed block...

The DBR really flies on the road despite the big boots she wears and when the road turned into gravel and potholes I didn't even need to check my speed.

JJScaliger

Cool old mtb and pics!

jimmuller 

65er, that's a big bump in the middle! Okay, maybe a medium-size bump.

I did my commute today, had no more flats after the single episode this morning. Did find a pinhole leak in that tube. First I pumped it up to 130psi this evening and it did not appear to leak. So I stuck it under water and there it was. Apparently it had sealed itself against the tire casing enough to hold air. Now that wheel carries a 23mm Gatorskin, ready for tomorrow!

On the return home I was climbing a longish hill when I noticed a local police car facing me, sitting diagonal across both lanes with its blue lights flashing. Obviously that policeman wanted no one to continue in either direction. Then I saw why. A turkey hen and two tiny chicks were crossing the road. The chicks were no more than 3-inch tall balls of fluff. Mom could have moved faster, but the chicks couldn't. I stopped maybe 30 yards away and watched and waited. When they reached the shoulder the policeman burped his siren a few times and nosed his car over to chase them safely into the woods. Then he rolled down his window, and as he started up past me he waved and said thank you. It was a very pleasant experience.