Some kind of barrier strung across - not sure.

I took my new Marin Muirwoods 29er to return 45 pounds worth of paint to my landlord. I could have borrowed my girlfriends car, but I felt up for a challenge. I didn't anticipate an iPhone photo shoot later on during my ride.

This is the terrible job I did trying to secure the paint to my new Topeak rack. I didn't have bungee cords or rope so I used a leather jump rope. About a block from my apartment, it was clear I needed to make some changes to the rack setup.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...o/IMG_0828.jpg

This picture was taken off of Grand Avenue in Chicago. There is a little park with a Veteran's memorial.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d...o/IMG_0831.jpg

Here you can see my new mounting setup. At the time of taking this picture, the 40 pound, 5 gallon bucket of paint was in the process of stretching out my Jandd Grocery Pannier. My U-lock attached a 1 gallon bucket of paint to the 5 gallon. Other than bending the top of my pannier bag, the setup worked well to get me through the 3 mile ride to my landlord's office.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U...o/IMG_0837.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/IMG_0840.jpg


On the way home, I stopped off at a restaurant on the West side of Chicago called Feed. You can see my BBQ chicken sandwiches (and sides of course) in my pannier bag. In the process of balancing the bike, it fell over on the pannier side. Fear not, the food was relatively unscathed. Once you get a mile or so West of the Chicago River, the area gets relatively industrial and there are some pretty cool pockets to explore. The stock wheels on my Marin worked well enough.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...o/IMG_0844.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...o/IMG_0852.jpg


Overall, I'm very happy with my new bike. I put on Shimano PD-M324 hybrid pedals, King Stainless bottle cages, PDW front and rear lights, a Topeak 29er Disk Rack (very solid), and cut down the handlebars a bit and installed Oury locking grips. For now, it's a pretty sweet commuter/apocalypse bike.

I'll take some Chicago skyline glamour shots soon.

Have a great weekend!

My hybrid took me out for a 31 mile ride. I'm getting ready for a 100 mile ride (by far my longest ever) in a few weeks and am trying to get on the bike enough to get my rump in shape. Usually during the week a 30 miler is about all I have time for with a longer ride on the weekend.

Nice 29er! I've zipped tied a milk crate to my rack and a 5 gallon bucket fits nicely.

It took me to work today. Stopped by this nice Machiya wall (merchant house)

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psfadec96b.jpg

Hot! sure looks fast with them little bitty tires. Maybe I've been looking at too much fat lately?:D

Nothing wrong with a little fat. ;)

Today I rode to my daughter's double-header fastpitch game then rode back. Total of just over 40 miles. My wife took my gear (I coach) to and from the game. Worked great except that after a double-header off the bike I was a bit tight and it took some stretching and a bit more than normal spinning to get warmed up before pressing.

Morro Bay, California.

Had an incredible ride today on my Hybrid with friends. What was supposed to be a gentle scenic ride, turned into a hard, technically difficult trek. Many hills / mountains, landslides fully blocking the road which we had to climb over, mud and sand, and a tunnel with zero lighting for 3/4 of it. What an experience. My phone's battery shat itself so the attached strava is only to half way. The total details for me were:
4:35.59 travel time
98.61 km covered
21.4 average speed
68.7 km/h max speed.
http://app.strava.com/activities/84288752
These are the pics my friend took for me...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ps36399dbe.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psde039fd1.png

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ps2246cb7f.png

MY PICS...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psf20b3e38.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psa241c756.jpg

Awesome. Is Kyoto a bike-friendly city? I've heard of people "puttering" around in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka on their bikes.

Yes, Kyoto is bicycle friendly. It's a major part of our transport system here. We don't have the cycle lanes etc. that you guys have, but the drivers are "bicycle aware" due to the fact most of them, their partners and children ride bicycles.

That sounds better than having bike lanes--wish more people were like that in my neck of the woods.

That's great to hear. I know a lot of people ride Dutch-style bikes ("mama-chari") over there. I just wasn't sure if it translated into bicycle friendliness from the recreational/road cyclists' point of view.

Bellingham Bay & Skagit River Waterfront http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=342612http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=342613

MOOSE Bye Bye

Very nice! I'd love to ride up there, especially that waterfront!

My hybrid took me on a 20+ mile gravel grind. I hope to get that aluminum fork switched out to carbon or steel very soon.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=342681

Wow, looks like you live on graph paper, LOL. I went to South Dakota for work a few years ago and everything was completely flat and all roads went north/south and east/west like that. It was very strange to me.

It would be difficult to get lost around here! ;)

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=343861http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=343862

Bridge over ICW. Emerald Isle NC.

Right through the local ditch
 

This time of year is amazing in the local ravines, tons of salmon jumping up the stream, the fall colors are awesome, even in the forest it is a carpet of red and yellow (looks nice, deadly in case you have to stop fast). Took my time on that one to enjoy the sights and one of the last warm days of the year.

http://www.strava.com/activities/86263634

http://distilleryimage4.ak.instagram...0a1f9812_7.jpg
http://distilleryimage7.ak.instagram...0a1fbca9_7.jpg

My hybrid took me on my first group ride last night. I didn't know what to expect, so I brought the hybrid. Turns out everyone else was on a road bike and wearing bike clothes and shoes. I was the only one in sandals and cargo shorts. Some of them seemed concerned that I was in over my head, and recommended a beginner's ride. They said the slow group rode at 16-18 mph the whole way, but it turns out they average about 14 mph. I had no trouble keeping up with the slow group, and finished with the slightly less slow group.

Everyone was very friendly, and some were impressed that I could hang with them so easily. I'm convinced the difference between my hybrid and a road bike is pretty slim in real world, casual use. With all of the potholes and puddles, I think my hybrid may be better suited to the task.

It was a whole lot of fun.

Sounds great!

How long was the ride? I don't have experience with road bikes, but I'd be inclined to agree that the differences between a hybrid and a road bike would be minimal on a 10-20 mile ride at an average speed of 14-15 MPH.

The ride was a little over 20 miles. I rode an extra 10 or so getting to the starting point and back home. 30 miles on my Giant Escape City is easy.