Bianchigirll 

Thanks

Darth Lefty 

One mile to the CVS! This one time I even shifted.

southpawboston

Well, this past weekend I attempted my 2nd "Dirigo Dynamo" ride, an overnight right from Boston to Portland during the full moon (this year a perigree moon!), inspired by the Dunwich Dynamo ride in the UK. 140 miles ridden overnight, starting at 5:30pm, and arriving in time for last call at Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, NH, the halfway point, before heading on to catch sunrise at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Then breakfast and onward to Portland, catching the downeaster back to Boston in time for lunch. When I attempted this two years ago, I bailed shortly over the border to Maine, taking the train back from Wells after 100 miles. Two of my riding partners weren't feeling well, and I bailed with them just because I didn't want to finish solo. This year, one of my riding partners wasn't feeling well and I developed a worsening headache by Portsmouth-- I hadn't rested enough during the day before the start of the ride. I bailed with him after the brewery, after fortuitously learning that there was a 3am bus back to Boston (who'd have known?!). Maybe next year I'll get to actually finish the entire ride!

Here are some photos I managed before I bailed:

Some of the crew, shortly after disembarking Somerville. Others joined us a little farther north (my friend Brian snapped this photo, and forum member @jptwins was with us too, the smiling rider with the rando bag tall enough to stow a person in):


Near Boxford, fairly early into the ride. It doesn't take long to leave the city behind and see roads like this Approaching dusk, you can see the dynamo headlight casting light down on the pavement.


Me and my friend Brian (riding partner and new friend Dave snapped this one, and all three of us were sporting 650B bikes. Another interesting side note, three of the rando bags used in this ride were made by Dave, who makes custom randonneuring bags to order):


Coming into Hampton Beach, NH, a major party town. Notice the awesome beam cast by the IQ Cyo headlamp (I think almost all of us had either B&M IQ Cyo's or Schmidt Edeluxes, which use the same optics). Light where you need it, not where you don't. (Another photo by Dave):


Perigree Moon outside of Hampton Beach, NH:


The bailing point for me, Portsmouth Brewery:


And finally, Boston at 5am. Photo taken from the Mass Ave bridge, on my way home from South Station:


Overall, I clocked in only 80 miles, and despite DNFing halfway, it was still a magical ride. It's a wonderful experience taking in the nighttime coastline, with next to no traffic or chaos to contend with (except in the beach towns, where drunken partygoers would yell "Lance!" or "Pedal faster, faster!"). Next time, Portland!

jimmuller 

Southpaw, that ride is absolutely fantastic! Who cares if you didn't make Portland? It's a great trip to the brewery and a perfect excuse to go again next year!

southpawboston

You're right, Jim, I was thinking that it could become a regular "ride 80 miles to the pub and take the bus back" kind of ride, or at least as an abbreviated alternative to the full ride. The only trouble with that is, the timing is designed to start late enough to get you to the brewery just before last call, so you can enjoy a beer or two before continuing on. If the brewery were the destination, you'd want more time there, so the ride would have to start sooner, and therefore take in less nighttime. And I'm told that the best part of the ride is the second half, taking in the night, the seclusion, some rail trail, and watching the sun rise over the beach. Still, the pub destination is not a bad idea...

jimmuller 

I meant to ask, what roads did you use to get out of Boston? We've ridden the beach strip from Newburyport to Portsmouth. Not sure how I'd get out of Boston, nor how I'd cross into Maine. I guess if you went through Boxford you must have headed more or less straight north for a while before turning easterly.

southpawboston

Jim, here's the full route. Went through Somerville, Medford, Winchester, Stoneham, Reading, Boxford, Georgetown, and Byfield before arriving in Newburyport.

Velocivixen

@southpawboston - great photos & description. Looks like you had a blast.

My urban adventure to Portland yesterday took me onto the Willamette River, specifically the Eastside Esplanade and the floating part of the path. Was sunny & warmer than I like, but I had a fun time. Rode the "limo" (Sekai) and the big tires make some rough spots nice and smooth.

RobE30

Looks like a fun ride SPB!

oldmancolin

I've been on that esplanade more times than I can remember! I loved riding on that floating bridge! I wish every city could be as bike friendly as Portland.

Today it was only 70s with low humidity here in the Asheville area, so I rode all the way downtown and back for the first time. Longest trip I've done yet on my Bianchi.

Velocivixen

@oldmancolin - great scenery in your backdrop. Is that some place special, like a park or ??? Your bike looks clean, elegant, simple. What is it?

Bianchigirll 

I had my stress test first thing this morning so after that I ran and did some errands and didn't get on the bike until 3:30. Just took a short little 17 or so mile spin on the Ugly Betty. She seems to ride pretty well I just which she wasn't too big. I stayed close to home and on the flats mostly, the Junior gearing with that 5spd FW feels funny. I didn't shift much to I am starting to wonder if I can do that little loop on my SS?

Sir_Name 

The view from the top of “Mountain Road”. You should just be able to make out Springfield, MA centered on the horizon.:





More from the lookout:



I’ve been coming to this area for a long while now, but this past Saturday was my first time riding here. It’s more climbing than I typically do, and was an absolute blast. This is all within ~15 miles of my house or so. I think I’ll be making it out this way a bit more… Having a grandfather who lives at the top is perfect for cooling down and refueling/hydrating mid-ride.

The ride home was an entirely different experience from the ride up:



Wonderful scenery along the way:



(…ps, I promise to start posting pics on a C&V ride soonish…)

RobE30

A few pics from my July 4th weekend ride. I love this bike....

oldmancolin

@Velocivixen - Thanks, it's an '83 bianchi special, one of the Japanese bianchis. I've got some before and after photos in the "before and after" thread.
It's Pack square park in the photo. The pergola was made by a local metal artist.

acoffin 

I've not been riding much this summer due to a combination of working too much and not sleeping well. The last two weeks I even missed my weekly group ride due to family being in town. However, I was able to get out for a few hours the other evening and got in a hard fast ride. Stopped at the Arch grounds to check out the renovations. In the first pick you can see the new "lid" over the highway under construction.

otg 

I got out for a nice 41.5 miles today with quite a bit of climbing. Found another 1 room schoolhouse in RI, looked like a nice place to stop for a break. It is out in the middle of nowhere and it was dead quiet while I ate some crackers.

Bianchigirll 

I don't if I would have had the courage to go up, but I always wanted to see that up close.




Nice ride today. My legs felt a little tired heading out but once the blood got flowing past all the built up cholesterol and plaque they started to feel better. I ended up taking the route out through what I call hills and into Carlisle. A brief stop at sheetz for some ice and something from Cliff Bar with tonnes of protein in it. 35.1 miles, 12.2 avg and 895 ft elevation gain.

jimmuller 

How can you eat crackers without making noise? Just curious. Nice pic.

I did my usual commute today, 30 miles round trip. (Unlike some of you folks I have to go to work from Monday to Friday most weeks.) But I wanted to be adventurous so I rode this beast, the last of my bikes to make the commute:



It's not a great bike, has slightly peculiar handling, doesn't seem efficient when pushed, and that VO saddle doesn't work for me. But dang, it looks so cool! And those 32mm tires were just the ticket for navigating the detritus of yesterday's storms.

otg 

Nice looking bike!

seedsbelize 

I'm riding the Shenandoah Valley twice a day. I don't have the manual dexterity to take pics while riding, and I'm not inclined to stop just for a pic. Last year, while here, I had a spoke pull through the rear rim, and so fiddled with it daily. This year, on my loaner bike, I'm breaking spokes continually, so I've taken the front wheel from last years bike and am re-building it into a rear for this years bike. Next year I'll be riding this. I'm thinking British racing green.

jimmuller 

seeds, you really should check into why that frame came apart. The wheel too, of course.

Vonruden

Dawn Patrol - a quick 40 around Monmouth and Ocean counties

JJScaliger

I got out for a ride early this morning, not quite at dawn, more like 7:30 AM. 38 miles on the Dawes.



Barden Reservoir


Apparently they leave the new style maple syrup lines up year round.

Roger M

It's been awhile since I've added to this thread. I've been riding quite a bit, but mostly the same old local stuff. On Wednesday however, I got out with a friend to ride the Mount Baker highway, from Glacier up to Artist Point and back. It's about a 50 mile round trip with a little gain in elevation along the way. The only bad thing about riding here is the 3 hour drive to Glacier(from home).

It was going to be a hot day in the 80s, so we got an early start(in the pedals by 9am). This is really a beautiful place to ride, so the effort to get there was sorta forgotten in place of the scenery. My friend was insistant on bring his mtb instead of his road bike. He told me the road was beat to hell, and the mtb was clearly the preferred choice....





Mt. Shuksan is about 9100'







Here at Artist Point there are spectacular view of both Mt. Baker here, and Mt. Shuksan. The elevation here is right about 5,000'





After we rode down to the car, we drove back up and hiked in towards Mt. Baker, hoping to snowboard some of the chutes. The snow conditions were kinda crappy, so I didn't ride. Jason got in one run, and then we hiked back out. The 3 mile hike with boots on and boards strapped to my back was a workout in itself..



Mt. Baker is 10,800' in elevation