big chainring 

Took a ride on the North Branch path today. Beautiful late afternoon sun.

Velognome 

Took a 30 mile ride on the D&R canal trail in the rain that "wasn't falling" according tp the weather man. Once sufficently wet, it was anice ride on empty trails with a stop at the Rocky Hill Tavern for lunch....Beer of the day...Speckled Hen....Mmmmm! followed with a burger topped with a sunny side up egg...double Mmmmm, followed by another beer & a fun ride home...."snapping turtles don't have a sense of humor" It was a good day!

photogravity

I definitely liked what I saw. Bring it on!

photogravity

Yeah, hilly indeed. A lot of people think MD is flat, but it appears those are just folks that have only been through MD traveling down I-95.

photogravity

northbend, you are just a cycling beast and nice pics, too. The picture of the mountain off in the distance taken from the ferry is epic. So about your fixed gear bike: What kind of bike is that? I don't recall seeing it before, or I simply forgot...

photogravity

Even without pictures, it sounds like a nice ride. We won't hold it against you...

photogravity

Hmmm, I don't recall if anyone has said that before or not. They say that the longer a couple is married the more they look alike, yes? With 25 years under our belts, that may explain the likeness. With that said, if you say us together wihout our helmets and bike gear, I'm not so sure you'd think we look that much alike.

photogravity

Nice stuff jbchybridrider! It just seems unfair to me, that while I'm getting ready for winter, you're just gearing up for your spring and summer riding.

The picture of beehive corner is really neat. It looks like a quaint building. Are other buildings in the area similar in style?

YoKev

That sure looks like poison ivy on that tree!!

northbend 

Not beastly at all, I'm actually quite well mannered. I just know how to pace myself.

I've posted it here in the 'daily rides' before. It's a 1988 Paramount. Converted to fixed gear as a way to salvage the bike when I received it damaged in shipment when I bought it years ago. Current gearing is 42x16.

photogravity

Nice shots scozim. The duck story is quite funny! Also, I'm glad to hear you missed the snake, I can't say the same about the one I encountered a few days back which I ran over. He was a little guy and was in a shaded spot on the road and didn't see him until my wheel was right on him.

photogravity

The brakes must be MAFAC Racers!

photogravity

That appears to be a pretty nice trail, with 30 miles each way. Is it pretty flat, and is your girlfriend able to keep up with you or do you just slow your pace so she can keep up?

photogravity

Nice day on the bike Velognome! I had a similar sandwich at a little riverside restaurant in Charleston WV, only it was 2 - 1/2 lb burgers, 2 eggs, 3 slices of cheddar cheese and 6 slices of bacon. Talk about a burger. It included fries and cole slaw, plus I had about 3 or 4 beers besides. The folks I was with couldn't believe that I ate everything without any problem. Obviously, they hadn't seen me eat before then.

photogravity

Nice! What was the distance you covered on the ride?

jbchybridrider 

Yeah it's not a bad life here except the picturesque green hills turn to brown in summer, at least the roads are the same.
Normally the hybrid forum sees my city rides, it would be nice to show more of it over here. Adelaide is the smallest main land capital and that's how we like it here. We've held onto our early history with most buildings being rather vintage and gothic in design with some modern buildings in the mix, but still no skyscrapers.
Adelaide's also known for wide open city park lands and friendly nature so you'd be right at home here I think.

jimmuller 

Last year I commuted 1000 miles on my Peugeot UO8, a bike I bought new in '72, the only new bike I've ever bought (for myself). But I haven't ridden it so much lately, and the reason, besides the fact that I now have too many bikes , is that the original saddle had gotten so uncomfortable. So last week I installed my favorite inexpensive saddle, a WTB Speed V. Today I rode the UO8 on my 25mile round-trip commute and re-discovered how much I like it. It's not the fastest, lightest bike in my stable, but it's still sweet.

Of course it's been upgraded. The only original parts are the frame and fork, the brakes and levers, the headset, the pedals, and the stem. Most of the other parts are still decades old. The Simplex shift levers aren't original but that's because I replaced the stem shifters with DT shifters around 1973, and those "new" levers are still in service. The derailleurs are Suntour Vx, perhaps the best inexpensive pieces ever made. It carries a Jim Blackburn rack from the 80's, I think, and a Union bottle generator I bought for it around '73, powering awesome new B&M LED lights. I had installed an alloy Simplex seatpost back in the 80's, and an alloy handlebar last year. The front wheel is one I built before last year's commute season, and the rear was built by a friend back in the 80's. The crank is a VeloOrange compact double. The tires, chain and freewheel are consumables so they don't count. So except for the lights and crank it really is a working C&V bike.

Today the weather was dark and overcast so I ran both directions of the commute with the generator running, lights aglow fore and aft. I got a bit wet from the mist this morning, but otherwise really enjoyed the trip. Lots of leaves down.

On the return I'd pedaled about 2 miles from work when I came upon another cyclist staring at the back end of his bike as if trying figure out what was wrong. I offered to help and he said he'd fixed a flat but must have re-installed the rear wheel incorrectly. I looked it over, discovered that he had just pulled the RD too far back and hadn't pushed it back into place. I got him straightened out and he was really grateful. We spoke for a few minutes and he asked where I was headed. I said the Attleboro train station, which prompted him to ask when it left out of concern that I'd be late. I said about 20 after 6, which meant I had 1 hr 15 min to go about 10 miles. We spoke briefly about the route, why I was heading south on the particular road instead of down rt116 (I was picking up the Blackstone bikeway). He said he was riding <mumble, some ride, perhaps Jamestown?> on Sunday. I wished him luck. We shook hands and he rode off.

I had no trouble catching the train, made it to the station by 6:10. It was a great day.

big chainring 

I do about 25 miles. Part roads, part path. It's a great time of year to be on the path, with the trees in full color.

scozim 

42 miles yesterday broken into two rides on the Gitane Sprint. Getting usd to the quill adapter and longer stem - just still cringe everytime I look at it. The second ride was into town (10 miles) to see my son's soccer game. Always nice to actually get the opportunity to ride into town for something like that - doesn't happen nearly enough thanks to kids activities.

Mercian Rider

Foggy on the way to work (not just my head).

photogravity

Nice picture of your Portage... The fog adds to the atmosphere.

photogravity

Today, I rode from home to just a little west of Boonsboro MD so I could pick up my car from the shop. I had dropped it off Sunday evening and rather than bother my wife to take me I decided to just ride the bike and get it. The total distance was only about 21 miles, but I climbed 1165 feet over the ride because I needed to ride over South Mountain. The guy at the shop assumed I had rode up the "bike route" which is a well travelled road with cars travelling at 60 MPH, but was surprised when I told him my route taking the less travelled two lane roads. In any case, it was a nice ride overall. I'm really starting to learn some nice roads in the area.


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 1 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 2 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 3 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 5 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 6 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Brunswick to Boonsboro - 8 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

JJScaliger

Great pics photogravity!

photogravity

^^ Thanks JJScaliger! I'm not sure they're great, but at least they capture the ride, which is the important part.

photogravity

Yesterday, I planned a ride for today of around 40 miles doing a mostly new route. The idea was that I'd be up and pedaling by 7 AM. Well, I didn't really execute as I would have liked today. I started the ride at 8:20 AM, nearly 1-1/2 hours late, and then discovered once I got in the midst of the ride that the hills were far more steep than what I bargained for, which means I rode up the hills very slowly. More than once, when I thought I had hit the top of the hill, it started climbing even more. It was a big challenge, for sure. In any case, because I got a late start and needed to get back home, I cut the ride short ending up with only 23 miles of the planned route being ridden. Over the course of those miles I climbed over 1,600 feet, with some grades approaching 11%! No wonder my legs were screaming.


Pleasant Valley Pedal - 1 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Pleasant Valley Pedal - 2 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Pleasant Valley Pedal - 3 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Pleasant Valley Pedal - 4 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr