bigbossman 

I've gone north, I've gone east, and west is a dead-end, so I was going to go south this morning and head down 395 towards Bishop via Round Valley. However, the girls decided they wanted in on today's action, so we did a reprise of the June Lake Loop.

This time, we parked at the north junction of 158/395, and climbed up to the south junction of the 158/395 loop. We did this as it got the big climb out of the way, a 6 mile run up 395 that is in full sun (and wind) later in the day. It turned out to be a good call.

Arriving at the junction, we turned in and began the scenic loop. We got maybe 2 miles in before being stopped at a construction area, and had to wait for the pilot vehicle to shepherd us through. After a bit of a wait, the pilot arrived and gave us the run-down. He wanted us right behind him, and to be able to maintain about 20 mph. No problem as it was all downhill, and we were going to split off two thirds of the way through to grab lunch at the Tiger Bar. We took off right behind him, and Katherine got a nice lesson in drafting a car. She really enjoyed that.

After a delightful lunch, we finished the rest of the loop, and descended back down towards Mono Lake and our car. Thinking ahead, I had parked next to a nice creek with a good swimming hole, so we got a nice refreshing dip and then changed our clothes and headed for home.

22 miles and about 2,000' of climbing. A very good day!

Initial climb, looking down at the girls:


Drafting the pilot car:


Powered by Chili Fries:


A nice scenic shot:


Mom chasing daughter:


Descent towards Mono Lake:


Descent towards Mono Lake - my view:


The girls:


Me:


The bikes:

rhm

I finally got a good excuse to take my old Norman --it's from about 1950-3-- on a long ride; the excuse being my daughter wanted to go for a long-ish bike ride involving camping out one night. She's 9 and rides a typical kid's bike, rescued from a dumpster and modified into a 3-speed; so it only seemed fair that I ride a 3-speed as well!

Here are the two bikes on Long Beach, near Sag Harbor:


Starting from our 'beach house' in the Antihamptons, We took a train to South Hampton, rode our bikes up to Sag Harbor, took a ferry to Shelter Island, another ferry to Greenport, camped out near a friend's house next to a sod farm, and headed home the next day.... about 35 miles of cycling each day. A fair amount of riding for a little kid!

Mechanical issues... you know, it's surprisingly difficult to find the right gearing for a little kid to get the most use out of an AW hub! She used to use just the highest gear, and it took her a while to learn to use the lower ones; and now she only uses the lowest gear. Progress indeed, but I have to lower the gearing before we do another long ride.

Also, the leatherette mattress saddle on the Norman is showing its age...not very comfortable, and it left a bicycle-seat shaped imprint on my shorts... perhaps it's ready to be retired... I wish I could get a weather-proof saddle that looks like a leather Brooks!

bigbossman 

We're bugging out tomorrow, so today was my last chance to go for a ride before heading home. This time, I elected to turn south and strike out for Round Valley, just north of Bishop.

I saddled up at about 8am, and took off down 395. It was a pleasant enough ride, but sort of boring compared to the last few I've done here. At McGee Creek, I exited 395 and spun on down the frontage road. Nice scenery, but still a bit ho-hum. Cruising though Lake Crowley Resort and Long Valley, I was treated to a nice climb in a warming sun. Summiting, I was then able to descend down into the town of Tom's Place. I stopped here to call the girls, and see if they were pursuing yet. They were just getting into the chase car some 30 miles behind me, and I thought seriously about sitting at the café and having something to eat while I waited for them to collect me.

In the end, I decided to press on until they caught up - they knew the route, and I wanted some more miles. What a good call that turned out to be! Departing Tom's Place, I had to rejoin 395 south and then exit at the next offramp at Lower Rock Creek Road. That was a very pleasant several mile descent, followed by a 2 mile grind in dead air and ever warming conditions. As I reached the top, I was treated to a glimpse of what was to be the centerpiece of the entire ride. Before me lay Round Valley, far away and shimmering like a mirage at the base of the far mountains.

As I started down, I had no idea what a descent this was to be. Rock creek Road had turned into the Old Sherwin Grade, and I was rocketing along on an open mesa, descending down into Round Valley with the hand of God on display everywhere I looked. The descent wasn't too steep - about 30mph coasting - but the sight-lines were wide open, the pavement was marvelous, and it when on forever. Almost 10 miles later, I rolled out onto the valley floor, and cruised along on lush lanes lined with Cottonwoods.

Next to the descent off of Sagehen to Adobe Flats, it was simply one of the most exhilarating descents I'd ever experienced.

The girls finally hauled me in at the town of Rovana, and we enjoyed a nice lunch together before heading back to spend the remainder of the day.

Signpost, 6 miles into the ride:


Coming out of Mammoth, looking south down 395 towards Bishop:


Glacial moraine:


Mt Morrison, 12,268' in elevation, as seen from 395:


Looking back down Rock Creek Road climb:


Beginning of Sherwin Grade descent - downhill all the way to that green patch in the distance:


Wheeler Crest 13,780' in elevation, at the bottom of the descent:


Mt Tom, 13,652' in elevation, seen from Round Valley:


Coming into the Cottonwoods:


Round Valley, with the Four Gables in the upper right:

grayloon

Life ain't fair. BBMan rides in beautiful places, on beautiful bikes and with beautiful women. Meanwhile, us mere mortals gotta make do with our flat urban and suburban landscape. Life ain't fair.

Great photos.

Pieralberto

And this is where the ride ended

https://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI95087/

cizzlak

I cannot compete with those absolutely gorgeous mountain shots... but here is what it looks like in Washington County, Wisconsin. Rough road!

Bianchi 30 Mile

Thanks for the great shots----obviously you had a great time and great ride taking them. Keep on riding.

Exit.

Absolutely gorgeous shots, bigbossman. I'm simultaneously jealous and inspired.

EraserGirl

Now I am embarrassed that's an awesome locale.

I took the '69 Armstrong off roading at Maudslay State park in Newburyport.
lots of mountain bike worth trails, but she did good.

roccobike

Just a short little six mile ride today. But an important ride for the Bianchi Campione. I was having significant problems shifting the right, 7 speed brifter. I gambled that the problem was the cable housing, cause that's a lot cheaper than the brifter (although deep down, I really thought it was the brifter). Turned out, the housing was crimping the cable, causing downshifting to jam. Put on an old, but good cable housing and all is well. I'll have to buy some new housing this weedend.

bigbossman 

Today I rode a 45 mile loop that I planned and organized for the NorCal BF group. We had 30 or so members in attendance, so I didn't take too many pics as I had my hands pretty full being Ride King and all. But here is one that represents the ride pretty well:

A pastoral scene on Carneal Road:

RobbieTunes

30 miles thru tobacco fields, the aroma was nice. Soybeans and peanuts, also.

A newly paved road with a novice who is getting used to shifting, etc.
Finished up by taking her bike home w/me to tune up, and delivered it later.

Cars gave us plenty of room and it didn't get hot until we stopped.

All in all, a good day. Nice ride, good tinkering time,
solved a binding hub problem, cleaned up a nice bike, and ECU upset VA Tech.

A good day.

cuda2k

Finally back on the bike. Had more mole removal surgery on my left leg early this month, meaning I was off the bike from the 3rd through the 30th! Depressing when I actually went back and saw just how long it was. Anyways, here's the rides over the long weekend.

Saturday: 10.5mi on the Serotta. First half I went real gentle, just a cruise really. On the way back I picked up the pace some, let the smile grow across my face and was happy to finally be back and feeling pretty good.

Sunday: 20.75mi on the Serotta. Went out solo again, deciding to see how my endurance and legs were really feeling after nearly a month off the bike. Don't think I was drinking enough on this ride, but bounced back fairly well by the evening.

Monday: 37mi on the Gazelle A-Frame. It was my club's yearly Labor day ride. I was originally planning on doing the 20mi route so I took the Gazelle which hadn't had many miles on it since having the new headset put in. Got to the start, felt pretty good, looked at the riders doing the 20mi route, and decided that since the "40" was going to be closer to 37-38mi, I'd have a crack at it. Stayed hydrated better this time, and while there were times I was wishing for a moment I could take a hand off the bar to shift, I didn't miss the Ergo shifting too badly. With the stitches only 5 days removed from my leg, was trying to keep the cadence from getting too high after all. The simplex retro-friction levers do need some final fine tuning as I found myself over shooting shifts from time to time. Granted, there isn't a whole lot of movement needed for the 7sp freewheel I'm running. By the end of the ride, I was at my limit, but felt good pushing beyond my original intent and accomplishing a large step back to the level I was riding at at the end of July.

cuda2k

Beautiful as always.

jan nikolajsen 

bigbossman: Nice outing you had there. We used to live in Bishop for a number of years, back in the nineties. Your images bring back memories, although I was mostly concerned with mountaineering in those days.

Here's from a morning ride. Headed out into a crisp, albeit cool post dawn with temps in the low forties. Fall is arriving early this year in the mountains of North Central Washington.

It was a fine out-and-back excursion of some 60 miles, culminating with the steep climb up 8 Mile Creek to the end of the pavement, taking care to avoid the only known pothole along this favorite ride of mine. A scrutiny of the attached map will reveal that this route deftly weaves around all the main highways via county roads serving the quiet side of the river.

A little about this place: We live and work and bike in the Methow Valley, an incision into the North Cascades on the eastern and drier side of that great western watershed. Our river drain into the once mighty Columbia, after a run of some 90 miles along first great cliffs and snowy peaks, then later verdant pastures with the odd town now and then.

Besides possessing some scenic value, the rides here are characterized by gentle inclines along the main arteries on the valley floor but with the everpresent option of branching up the steeper tributaries. There's epic climbs on smooth pavement, like the 4000' grind from our cabin to Washington Pass, or the shorter but steeper Loup Loup ascent of a mere 2700'. But for a mellow day, vertically speaking, you can do at least 100 miles with less than 1000' of gain by staying along the river.

Traffic, both motorized and human powered is virtually non-existent. That is if you stay off the roads on summer weekends when our tourist based economy shows itself in all its splendor, mostly in the shape of sweaty Harley gangs in black leather and motor homes bigger than some dwellings around here. On a morning like today the main hazard is choking on the exhaust from the various unmaintained old ranch machines going about their ways.

So, it is not all just wonderful and dreamy. An incessant wind blow out of the mountains on most summer days, while the frequent storms bring on that same annoyance, but from the opposite direction. Winters are not friendly, with an average of 5' of snow blanketing the valley. And, without a large pool of other cyclists there's less opportunity for impromptu races or evening social rides.

That said, our very active Sport Association (mostly concerned with a huge winter Nordic ski program) does host the event shown on the poster below. Besides all sorts of silly trail bike activities you'll find 3 great road rides at 35, 70 and 100 miles. Link here:

https://www.mvsta.com/summer/bikefest.html

The bike is an '85 Cinelli Centurion Equipe, tastefully albeit incorrectly restored to mimic a seventies Super Corsa.

Jan

SF Valley

I did my first century last Sunday, August 31. I started at my house in San Fernando Valley and went south along the pacific coast route. I bought the book "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" a few months ago and used that as a guide but the route was simple: stay along the coast. The book was great in terms of warning the rider of hazardous areas and directions on taking smaller streets but the descriptions aren't even close to what you experience on the road.

I was planning on quickly leaving the house as soon as I awoke before sunrise but I opted to make some pancakes for breakfast and hang around for a couple of hours until I felt awake. Finally left my house at 7am and the sun has well risen. The climate was perfect when I left: A little cool. Saw several cyclists around my area.

One of the first highlight of my ride is about an hour into it, which is about a mile long hill climb on the Sepulveda Pass over the Santa Monica Mountains. As soon as I reached the crest, I knew it was going to be an easy coastal/ beach ride for the next 4 hours or so. I passed by all the well know beaches in Southern California: Santa Monica, Venice, marina Del Rey, Dockweiler, Manhattan, Redondo Beach. Saw hundreds of cyclists laong the way. Entering my first beach path in the morning was great. Hardly any people on the beach and the sand was bright. The book suggests to take the Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, after Redondo Beach, which heads inland until further south to Long Beach. The ride through long beach and the other surrounding towns was the most stressful section of the route. The roads were rough and there were construction at several places happening in several areas...plus no bike lane with narrow lanes. I took the book's advice to not dilly dally around this area and just get it over with as quickly as possible.

Riding through the port areas around Long Beach were pretty dislocating. Didn't see any other cyclist, which made me wonder if I was taking the right path. I saw maybe one pedestrian but a whole lot of trucks and fast cars going over the the bridge. In an effort to avoid mixing with fast traffic over the bridge, I ended up under the bridge near the shipping yards then I had to watch people going in and out of freeway on-ramps. In retrospect, it probably wasn't that bad but I was a little stressed since it was my first and I haven't ridden in a lot of fast traffic. From the bridge looking down at the shipping container yards, I saw a junkyard lot that had old pick up trucks from maybe the 20's to the 50's that were all rusted. The yard was a field of monotone rust with trucks jammed against each other and then on one corner of the lot were old engines, again with the same monotone field of rust color. There must be some gems in there.

Halfway into the trip was when the beaches and their paths were in full swing. I took the opportunity to slow down slightly to watch people and the beach houses as I'm riding. I zipped through the city of Seal Beach, the entrance from Los Angeles County to Orange County, with their wide roads. I just had to take advantage of the wide roads and move swiftly. I then entered the beach path into Huntington Beach and Newport Beach at it's peak. Thousands of people around: on the beach, playing beach volleyball, surfing, fishing, eating, swimming, walking, biking, sunbathing, etc. Nice bike paths too...it was getting warmer and I can feel the beginning of a sunburn on my face. My longest ride before this was 43 miles so, yeah, I was getting a little fatigued

I then passed by some quieter beaches that are more secluded and were much more calming than the motion overload of the more popular beaches. However, there were a bunch of consecutive mini hill climbs that had me cursing. I had no choice but to ride them since I was 80 miles away from home. I always keep and exit option in my mind just in case (finding the nearest hotel/motel at whatever cost or inconveniencing my brother to pick me up). I rode through about 10-12 hills right after another that are about quarter mil long runs. I had to walk halfway up on a couple of them. The worse was probably the consecutive hill climbs in downtown Laguna Beach that was made stressful by roads being too narrow with cars parked on the shoulder. I had to ride on the sidewalk a few times when I couldn't mash up the hill right beside the parked cars. I didn't research carefully whether there was a flatter beach path around that area. Again, in retrospect, it probably wasn't that bad but stressful at the time.

I had planned to take take a train back home and I had planned to give myself a couple of hours after mile 100 to find the train station and still catch the latest train that would connect me to the other train. Well, I went too far past the correct station. Actually, I crossed under the railroad track bridge and followed it lright instead of left. I panicked a little when I saw the train platform and it was labeled as the station further south than where I was supposed to be. Mind you I had to be on a certain last train in 1 and a half hours. Luckily, the road back was flat and had a huge dedicated lane. I don't exactly know where the train station is but I planned to just follow the railroad track. I hit some mild uphills and my legs were showing signs of mild cramping...same with my neck muscles. On the way, I stoppped at a gas station to get the exact street of where the station is. I was done with exploration for the day and had to get just to the station quick. Asked another person along the way how to get to the train station just to verify that I was heading the right way...no time to get lost. The train station was 100 feet away. It was a beautiful train station!...San Juan Capistrano...

I caught a train that was a couple of trains earlier than my latest train. The train was about 10 minutes late so I had time to sit and stare at my bike. The train arrived and hung my bike on the rack next to two other bikes. Got to downtown Los Angeles and went to Philippe's and got a pork French Dip with blue cheese, apple pie and iced tea...took the connecting subway home, a bus and then rode a half a mile home.

spiker

Dug out my winter ride this morning to ride to work. TS Hannah was expected to be storming across Cape Cod this evening. Never rode in a TS before. Apppears to be going inland & just bands of showers here. So what I anticipated as an interesting ride home this evening is now just a damp commute.

hobo #3

I rode yesterday, so I hope it still counts. The first big ride since fracturing my tib-fib in April. For a week and a half I've been biking to work (7 miles round trip), but yesterday I did 18 miles on my '66 Varsity (poor man's) single speed. Granted it was mostly on bike paths through the city, but for now, it's all the same to me. One day I hope to make it from downtown Portland to a friends house up on Mt. Scott (in Happy Valley), but I'm not there yet. The ride was fantastic though. I'm still new to biking, and I'm continually amazed at how quickly you can transport yourself on a bike without using any of that new-fangled energy like electricity or gas. Suffice it to say that after being cooped up indoors for 4 months and not being able/allowed to walk, finally getting on my bike and flying down the road feels like heaven. Trying to get back up the road is closer to hell, as per the fact that it's an old Varsity, but I digress. It was a morning ride, so I got to enjoy a nice cool breeze, a lovely Portland sunrise (consisting of the clouds going from dark blue to light gray), and even a small amount of mist just when I needed it. Ever so nice. I wasn't exactly sure how far I was going to go, but certainly not as far as the Springwater trail lets you. 40 miles? Not yet. Does anyone else ever wonder if they'll have enough energy to get back home? Sort of reminded me of Gattica. Anyway, I finally got to an intersection that I knew fairly well (not having a cycle computer forces me to map it when I get home, so I gotta know where I am, man!) and turned around. Of course, the whole way back I was thinking that I could have gone farther. Oh well. It's probably a good thing I didn't, because once the headwind started up I was getting pretty shaky. Oh, I guess the population of Portland decided to go jogging on the trail as well because I had to dodge a humorously large crowd of people within a mile. My bell rang strong and true. I finally got back to the city, and as it was still pretty early I decided to take on the downtown crowd again. (Usually I just ride up the "stop sign every block" street.) It's uphill. Like, all the way. And it was windy. Like, all the way. Not quite what I needed, but my legs prevailed and I was soon walking down the hallway to my apartment. Huzzah!

RobbieTunes

20-mile normal loop, and got stung by a bee inches from disaster.

curbtender

Did a ride from Pinole, CA, up to Benicia to catch a bike race and swap meet. Another nice day.

para-surfing the strait

YoKev

Did the Woodstock Century Ride on my Woodrup yesterday.

Woodstock->Stone Ridge->Boiceville->Phonecia->Hunter->Windham->Saugerties->Woodstock

Pace was 17.2mph with a 5:50 ride time. Good time No pictures

divineAndbright

Now that race season is pretty much over its time to start getting in some long rides before the snow starts coming, did a 200km (125 miles) solo ride today on my sekine, the whole ride was pretty much rolling terrain on highways and back country roads. Didnt bring the camera though I didnt see a whole lot, I got stuck at some railroad tracks for a good 5 minutes waiting for a train to pass through, I also saw a heard of buffalo on some guys farm which was cool considering I dont see much buffalo around here! Took it easy for most of the ride, and picked up the pace the last hour or so and felt surprisingly good, completed the whole ride in 5 hours and 40 minutes.

cb400bill

I went on a little ride today with my friend Jim. We left his house this morning with the idea of riding to see the old Centerville Covered Bridge that is in the area. He was on his 15 y/o Giant Rincon hybrid and I on my Cannondale Synapse.

Here is a pic of our bikes taking a break on a bridge. With Michigan having 3 straight days of rain over the past weekend because of Ike, the water in the river was very high.


Upon getting closer to the covered bridge we noticed construction cranes looming ahead. This didn't bode well for riding across the river on the old bridge. When we arrived at the bridge we found that it is under full reconstruction and is not due to reopen until the end of November.
So no pic.

After we left the bridge area, we were riding back towards home, and we spotted some large birds. They were a family of Sandpiper Cranes. We couldn't get very close to them as they were quite leery of us.




There are many small lakes in the S/W Michigan area, and because of all the rain, most of them are deeper than they have been in years. Check out the docks by these boats.



On our return leg we were about 3 miles from Jim's house when he got a flat tire. After remembering he had no spare tubes or tools on his bike I rode back alone and came back and picked him up with my truck. Jim had mentioned that he had all that stuff on his old road bike. When we got back to his house he asked me if I wanted to see his old road bike.

Out of the rafters of the garage Jim reappeared with his Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2 that he had bought new back in 1976. Now close to 60 years old, and with a bad hip, it isn't comfortable for him to ride it anymore.


No it is not for sale and neither are the Brooks Professional saddle or the Cannondale bag.

daidalas

Went rolling around my hometown, lake st. louis today to do some grocery shopping and get to a friends house and back. All together 15 miles. learned a valuable lesson that hanging grocery bags by drop handle bars can be a scary experience!

1981 miyata 210

bigbossman 

Did a 45 mile, 5,000' climbing ride Sunday with some BF NorCal members. We even have our own kit: