Velocivixen

@Chrome Molly - lovely bell and fantastic scenery. Just gorgeous. Thanks for those.

Roger M

Velocivixen, I rode part of that trail a month ago with my family. It's a real nice trail. My kids liked the return ride much better than the out leg, due to it being mostly downhill.

jimmuller 

VV, an CM, great pics! Good rides, good times.

My sweetie and I took the tandem out today and set our longest day ever, 75.8 miles. Started directly from home but didn't get the early start we were hoping for. It didn't matter, we still rode all day, made it home about 6:30. Traffic was light and the weather was spectacular. Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington, Bedford, Concord, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Westford, and Lowell, and a slightly different route home through the same towns. Now for some pics.

A long ride is impossible, and pointless, without snacks. First snacks of the day, with only 60 miles to go:


A sun-dappled, tree-lined road somewhere in I forget where:


Possibly the most unusual sign we've ever seen is one I've posted before, "Tattooed Poultry". (My avatar is an extraction from that original photo.) For the last few months the barn where this sign hung has been undergoing restoration, and we wondered if the gorgeous old red shingles and the sign were going back up. Well, we don't know about the shingles and the answer to that is probably no, but the sign is back up! Rejoice!


The bike rack at Ferns had both extremes, large and small:


The Carlisle Cranberry Bog is turning red. In another month or so they'll start harvesting berries.


On the way home we spotted this sign, had to take a pic for posting:


End of the the day and the bike is tired. So are we. I started my recovery with some Dogfish Head 90 Minute Recovery Fluid. Sharon wanted a long day so we rode...


The payback is I get to do a solo ride tomorrow on the Masi. Yeah, right, like I'll have any legs left. Tomorrow doesn't matter. Today was good for the soul.

Roger M

I spent The last couple of days out and around Port Angeles with my family, trying to get in the last bit of vacation before school starts. Local Forum member, Lascauxcaveman was nice enough to get us set up in the hotel that he runs there. My wife was really understanding in letting me get out on my bike while we were on a 'Family' trip.

I only got out for a 40 mile ride while we were there, but Tim took some time out of his schedule to ride a few miles with me. I got rained for a few miles, but still had fun in some new surroundings. The weather wasn't great so no pictures to post.

Note: If you ever plan a trip out to Port Angeles, get a hold of Tim before making any lodging reservations. The Downtown Hotel(where he works) is a great place to stay and VERY reasonably priced.

photogravity

Glad you guys are hitting the trail so much these days and a longest trip to boot! Happy to see the tattooed poultry sign has returned.

photogravity

No pictures as proof, but I managed to get out of the house this morning for a bit of a ride on the Mercian. Did about 20 miles with a friend. I'd have liked to ride longer, but had stuff to do around the house.

tk1971

I just finished a re-fresh of my brother in law's 83 Schwinn Super Sport, so we're itching to try it out. And here we go:



Here's mine with a slight modification for comfort:



Off we go:


Drama ensued...

Disclaimer: I'm not a regular road rider... My normal weekend grind involves mountains, switchbacks and an occasional drop. With that said, I'm not familiar with how much pressure to push down on road bikes with my bike rack. With mtb, I'd push it as hard as I can to compress the suspension. The suspension would push back up, making the ratcheting hooks very stable.

With road bikes... well, the car must have hit a bump on the way to the bike path. On a normally busy 4 lane road, the newly refreshed Schwinn fell off the rack. It scared the lady driving behind me, but fortunately it was early and everyone had plenty of space. No way to U-turn, I safety crossed 3 lanes to pull over and ran about 400 feet back to retrieve the bike from the fast lane. Thank goodness people had their early morning coffee because no-one ran it over.

The damage: Fortunately, the brand spanking new Nitto Noodle bar and used mtb saddle took the brunt of the impact, but nothing a new set of grips can't fix. Nothing bent, well maybe a slightly tweaked rear derailleur, but due to the miracle of friction shifting, everything still works. Had to re-adjust the quill stem... but it's just a shame this had to happen on the Schwinn's maiden voyage.

The ride. Made it to South El Monte to catch the nearby bike path that would take us all the way down to Seal Beach. Here are the pics:





Here's a really nice and light Colnago owned by one of our usual suspects:






Round trip was almost 50 miles.

Vonruden

Nice ride Jim, that's a long one.

Tk, hope your ride is ok, never lost one off the rack...knock on wood.

Just completed an early quick ride on the 3Rensho. I had to go early so we can make my sons soccer tourney. Pics are a little blurry on account of limited daylight.

gomango

Every time you post in this thread, I am astonished at the quality of your bikes.

This one is no exception. I love that you ride them all.

I'll try to get some pics from our ride this afternoon. I am meeting up with some Paceline guys for a little ride in the rain.

djkashuba 

Vintage Bus collection. I don't even have enough room for bikes.

Centurion Pro Tour 15 (Graveled) by djk762, on Flickr

YouthxCrew

Out to my favorite park right now

jimmuller 

VR, that 3Rensho is the perfect color for the sunrise pics. Nicely done, both the bike and the pics. Your "My Bikes" line says see your sig, but your sig just makes a statement about your marriage. I guess that really is too many bikes.

I got out on the Masi this morning as per yesterday's plan, 42.0 miles, moving avg 15.1mph. Went west from my front door, explored a few new-to-me roads in West Concord. As I was heading into Concord Center at a leisurely pace a policeman popped out from behind a big parked cruiser, smiled, held up a radar ***, and said "14." I answered "Good" and gave him a thumbs-up. I suspect the speed limit there is 20, so I was okay. I took a few pics but they were boring and badly composed so I'm not going to post them.

Shp4man

Rode up to the Sweetwater Reservoir to check out the extent of California drought and get out of the house for a while. The bike's not really C+V, but dirt paths and dirt on everything from the trail makes this bikes's all steel drivetrain carefree.

scozim 

I've been slack in posting regularly but I have been getting out. I've been repeatedly hampered by a nerve issue in my right foot which has really slowed me down (and that mentally sucks). After only 100 miles of riding in June I reached 275 in July and almost 400 in August. These are lunch time rides of 20-23 miles and one weekend ride of 40-55 miles when I can.

At the beginning of August we were hit with another lightning caused wildfire. For those that remember, 2012 was a rough year for us with two large fires (80,000 acres and 140,000+ acres) that filled our valley with smoke for close to a month and even cancelled our local metric century ride at the beginning of October that year.

After waiting impatiently to check out the new damage in my pristine mountain biking area I was able to get in there this past Friday. The first 2 miles of the ride were obliterated, the next two still hit fairly hard by the fire and between miles 4 & 6 it got better. Every once in awhile I could smell a pine tree amongst the ash and smoke from the burned areas. While it looks ugly, at least I can see some of the other Jeep trails I didn't know existed so there are also more riding options. It definitely makes you appreciate the power of nature and the unpredictability of fire.

Two years ago the mouth of the canyon looked like this:



Today



When the fire started it didn't look too bad:



3 days in:



Fire can create some interesting shapes:



This creek bottom area was heavy with vegetation - now nothing:



A month later there are still hot spots:



Before the fire I could never see the valley in the background from this vantage point because of all the trees:



And, yes, I did find some green on the ride

Frogbutter 

Had the Masi out for some fun in the sun. Chippewa River State Trail, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.

Bianchigirll 

Not much riding for me during the week for some reason, interviews Tue, Dentist on Wed, I don't recall what I did on Thurs other than a nap around 4ish, and Friday I went to the range for a bit. I got out Sat after waiting for some one to come by and pickup the K2 frame I was selling, I actually have an empty double rack and hook! Anyway Sat I got out late and did just under 25 miles but I tried hard to keep the pace up a bit. Unfortunately when I went to download the Garmin this morning the batteries were dead. SO I lost yesterdays ride and had no Garmin for today.

Today I went out and had a great ride, I worked hard and pushed pretty good on the hills. I had my old Sigma/Polar HR monitor and that was it. I tried to keep it up around 130-140, I am using a max of 160 from my stress test. At one point I saw a 'rabbit' go by as I was coming to an intersection and the chase was on! I really pushed hard and got up to 173 and held above 160 for a good few minutes but alas the bunny got away. I kept pushing though and had a nice ride over all until stopped at the Philly Pretzel factory for A pretzel. The rest of the story is in the Walk of shame thread. I think it should have been pretty close to a 30ish miler today.

jimmuller 

Froggy, that's a nice looking Masi. The bright red makes it look much like mine from 20ft away, except for your yellow trim. IIRC, you described it in another thread recently. Is that a Gran Criterium or something else?

gomango

When is the best time to ride that trail to take advantage of fall color? On average, which week?

Your Masi is gorgeous btw.

jimmuller 

I took my Masi out again this morning. Yucky weather, steamy like riding through a steam room, very different from yesterday. Did only 22.6 miles.

The roads were quiet though, even if still wet from the morning's rain.

Lots of green everywhere.


Concord Center was empty.




Empty roads too, mostly.

northbend 

Rambled above Ellensburg on my fixed gear on Saturday.



Umtanum Ridge:




Return via pavement on Manastash canyon:



It's a very interesting area. I'll be back to do more exploring.

Chrome Molly

Jimmuller, 75 miles on a tandem is an impressive feat of endurance, not matter how much you enjoy it along the way

I also hit the Chippewa trail today, but a little west of where Frogbutter did earlier this weekend. Did 46 miles from Menominee down the Red Cedar river trail, then on the Chippewa trail to Durand. The Red Cedar river trail is nice packed double track, much like the Elroy Sparta trail. Some pictures from along the way...


Crossing the Red Cedar about 6 miles south of Menominee, very high water today with recent rains


Miles of nice packed double track, you really felt like you were moving along quickly being such a narrow trail


My precariously perched Poprad


Another photo of the Red Cedar, nice and close to the water. Fewer mosquitos today, so had time for more pics than back last Spring.


Photo of my favorite spot of the trip, just east of Durand Wisconsin, along the Chippewa trail


A view of Durand from across the river. I went across Hy 10 to see how far the local trail went, just across the river...

Frogbutter 

Good memory it is a '84 Masi Gran Criterium and the thread - https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...al-thread.html
Kinda funny the Masi was my second choice. I had the Merckx down only to find a flat front tire.

Thank you.
Best guess is around October 15 +/- 5 days or so.
Let me know when/if you come. Also consider riding the https://www.appleaffairbiketour.com/ . Christina and I will be there.

photogravity

Ouch!! Fortunately, the damage seems minimal. Your pride probably took a bigger hit more than the bicycle. It is nice to see that you were able to still do the ride and got in a pretty nice one at that!

Here's my solution to ensure that I don't ever lose a bicycle or chance having one hit from the rear. Note the drive side, front 3/4 shot.


Facelift 2 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

photogravity

Beautiful rides everyone. Keep the rubber side up and the wheels spinning.

jimmuller 

PG, we're missing your ride pics!