Drillium Dude 

Nice pics, Roger - I was climbing Mount Pilchuck the following day; that's a great area for outdoor activities

I was out and about today, doing some local roads, country lanes and a lot of the Interurban Trail, ending up in Everett for a late lunch. Although the skies looked threatening all day, not a drop of rain.

Btw, I've decided: my 1983 Colnago Mexico is simply hands-down my favorite bike. I've begun riding it again (after spending lots of time with the Davidson and '73 Super) and it's light - lighter than most of my bikes - and the handling is just perfect. But it's more than that: I simply feel faster and stronger on this bike. I found a short 9% grade on my return trip today that I went up in my 20T cog - didn't have to use my 21T bailout, either. Sure, part of it is quitting smoking, but still...

20 years after putting this bike together while stationed in London, it's still the go-to bike. Think I'm taking it to Cino in Septemeber.











DD

northbend 

Ahhh, Roger rode to one of my happy places: Mt. Baker. Thanks for posting those photos. I need to get a ride in up there before the snow melts.

DD, are you ready to do some gravel riding to get ready for Cino?

I'll add to Roger n the Dude's contributions to this thread and post more photos from the PNW from my ride today on the fixed gear. I am planning on riding it in Cino Heroica this year so today was a ride seeking out some gravel, washboard, rocks and some climbs to get the feel for riding those conditions on a skinny tired fixed gear.

I headed out from North Bend via the Middle Fork forest service road into the mountains east of town.



I turned around once I got to the middle fork trailhead and this view of the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River from the footbridge.





On the return loop I rode up the Bessimer Spur road until I reached the CCC trail.

This trail is a popular MTB route, I had to carry the bike at the entrance to the trail and for several other water crossings farther up. Otherwise, it was rideable. Challenging on 25mm tires and a fixed gear though.

After a couple of miles climbing singletrack, it opened up onto another service road which I followed back to civilization.

The hardest, most challenging section was descending down to Mt. Si road on a very steep gravel road. There were a few times on this section I thought I was going to slide out or go over the handlebars but I didn't. About 35 miles total, it was fun and challenging ride.

Drillium Dude 

Matt, I'm ready. Going to try it with the tires I'm currently running (note there's not much clearance for anything much bigger), and I'll swap out to my 24T bailout freewheel. What route are you thinking and when? Next Tuesday I have to drop my car for a little maintenance over in Bellevue for a few days, and I'm trying to get with Stuart for a ride on Wednesday - and I'm heading for PDX on Friday, so as far as next week goes, Thursday is it

Great pics - as per usual. I'm ready to see that stuff close-to!

DD

likebike23

I went out on a nice ride today on the Hop river trail in Vernon, CT. The trail is all crushed gravel with a few rocks and sandy areas. The U-08 handled it all really well. I swear that bike is made for gravel.

jimmuller 

That's a sweet looking bike. And it may indeed have been made for gravel. One prevailing story is that many of the French bikes of that era were expected to be ridden on pretty rough roads. You probably answered this in another thread but what size tires does that bike have?

Sharon and I did 40.45 miles on the tandem today. That's not bad considering we had a gig last night in a town so far out in the sticks they don't have the Internet, they have to use the Outernet, so small they don't have their own zipcode (really!).

Photo-op, a corn field in Carlisle. Knee-high by the 4th of July:


A stop in Concord Center:


Lunch at Heart Pond, our typical lunch destination:

nlerner

Jim, I'm planning on riding that event but will opt for the century ride starting at 7 a.m. I thought about riding to the starting point from home, but that'll make it a 150+ mile day. I've done one ride longer than that this year, but I think I'll opt for a less tiring day.

Gary3

Did about 15 miles today with my son including a couple of miles on some trails, we are complete noobs off road, I kept telling him (and myself) " /Look where you want to go, and KEEP pedaling!"

likebike23

Thanks Jim. The tires are 700x35mm Panaracer Paselas, they fit with ease and rolled well through the sand without getting squirrely at all. The bike is definitely not a purist's dream, but I customized it to suit my needs. The 47/36 cranks and 14-32 6 speed Shimano alpine freewheel are perfect for tackling most off road situations I'll encounter on this bike. I saw that Bertin you put up on the last page, I like it a lot (in my best Lloyd Christmas voice). Pastor Bob mentioned he may do a C&V gravel ride this fall in NH, I'm going to try and make it if I can. Maybe you can dust off your U-08 and get it dirty. Regards, Mike.

jimmuller 

Considering that the bike came with 27"x1-1/4" originally (at least mine did), 700cx35 would be pretty close to the original. Slightly larger (+3mm) tire on a slightly smaller (-4mm) rim, so they should fit easily. I put 27"x1-1/4" on the Bertin thinking it might improve the handling; it did a little. I figure that was probably the original design (if "design" isn't too strong a word).

That's a perfect lead-in to the next subject, since that frame came to me from nlerner by way of someone else. Two quotes begging a similar answer:

A 7AM starting time would be a bit early for me, though doable, were I to ride it solo. But I'd have to get a special dispensation, since we're usually on the tandem and the stoker is the boss, social secretary, ride coordinator, provisioner, quality assurance manager, and job foreman. I am merely the captain. The tandem wears Pasela TGs in 700cx32mm. It probably wouldn't be too happy on gravel. I know the stoker/boss/ride coordinator wouldn't be.

jimmuller 

Vonruden, I've been meaning to post how much I liked your Dawn Patrol pics, especially this one. That one boat lit up is so appealing.

kehomer

seedsbeize, be careful how you communicate your color choice to your painter. I had a bike painted in British Racing Green a few years ago and found there are a number of hues recognized as BRG, from a dark, almost black green up to a kind of putrid yellow green. I finally selected something a couple of shades darker than Hunter Green. Anyway, nice looking bike. It deserves a good paint job.

gaucho777 

A few shots from yesterday's ride. Did a popular route called the Three Bears Loop in Contra Costa County just on the other side of the East Bay hills. Total was just a hair under 40 miles and slightly over 4,000 feet of climbing. First I made my way through Tilden Park, where the fog lingered throughout most of the morning. This first pic is just before Inspiration Point, at the top of Wildcat Canyon.



It doesn't take long before you've left the city behind.



Here is a shot looking up at one of the Bears (though I came down this side).



The Three Bears Loop goes around the San Pablo Reservoir which can see in the distance.




There were a lot of cyclists on the road, but the only other vintage steel I saw was an orange sorbet-colored Landshark.

southpawboston

Northbend, your photos make me want to move to the PNW!!! Lovely shots, and impressive that you did roads like that on a skinny tire fixed gear!

gaucho777 

+1. Always such lovely photos. And though I've never met northbend, his ride reports make me think he is one hard, hard man.

Chrome Molly

Took a long weekend and have been putting in some fun mileage. 220 miles over the last five days. Today would have been a bigger addition to that, but we're looking a 90 degrees, a strong SE wind, and I didn't get started until we were into the heat advisory hours of the day. My arbitrary goal for July is 200 miles a week.

One photo of us stashing our lights upon exiting the tunnel on the Badger State Trail in Wisconsin (Sunday's ride).

obrentharris 

Gaucho,
Thanks for bringing back some fine old memories of riding out of Berkeley and Oakland forty years ago! I see the roads are smoother now, but the hills look just the same.
Brent

northbend 

Thanks but no, I'm no hard man. I am not afraid of hard rides though, they appeal to me aesthetically and keep you honest and humble. I rode Hurricane Ridge (a 5200 ft climb) a week ago with a guy who I could not hold onto his wheel after the first 6 or 7 miles of climbing. I was in a 39x29 granny and had to back off before I blew. He just pulled away on his fixed gear (44x18). wow

northbend 

Great tunnel shot, chrome molly!
My wife arranged an overnight stay on Lopez Island for my birthday on Sunday.
Bucking the trend most older guys do, I rode roughly 1/2 my age. Which was cool with me as I shared it with my wife.

The clouds threatened in the morning but it never rained.





Lopez is a very quiet Island, famous for being bike friendly.



Yes, there are bikes everywhere. Here is the bike parking at one of the small parks on the southern end of the Island.
Check out the Santana tandem with the Exogrid tubeset:



Interesting sights like this Heron

and this XK120



Made for a great overnight stay.

EBH

There's been some great photo's lately, and a big thank you to all who keeps this thread so interesting and fun to follow.

It's been damn hot even in Norway lately, so here's from today's evening ride.





Nice end to a nice ride

otg 

As I say all the time when I look at this thread, these are stunning, all of them. I'm not worthy. But anyway, here's my humble picture from todays humble ride around SE Conn. and RI. This is Beach Pond, right on the state border between Exeter, RI and Voluntown, CT.

Vonruden

thanks Jim!

scozim 

Been a rough couple of months for me on a myriad of fronts. Finally getting some rides back in although I'm depressed because all the main roads on the three different loops I ride for my "lunch rides" are freshly chip sealed. Whoever invented that process to "protect" roads doesn't get my love. Because of this I may be relegated to the mountain bike for awhile until the roads settle down. Or, throw the road bike in the car and drive somewhere to start riding - not always the most appealing thing for me and the busy life.

I've always wondered how many rattlesnakes live in these rocks:



Taking a cool off break at the turnaround spot




On the flip side I got some positive news today from the local college that I was the winning bidder on a early 90's (I think 1993) Trek 950 mtb at their auction this past week. I need another mtb since the Scott Comp Racing went back to it's owner but haven't spent a lot of time on a rigid fork machine so I'm looking forward to it. The bike appeared to be in decent shape - 7 spd Shimano Deore LX shifters/brakes, crankset and front derailleur and a Deore XT rear derailleur. Last I saw these 7 spd shifters were in demand. The Scott had them and I enjoyed them. The Klein is fitted with 8 spd versions and they work flawlessly.

Chrome Molly

I decided to do a mix of gravel and road on the Croll today. It wound up being much more road than gravel, after selecting a longer route than I originally set out to do. Wound up with 49 miles all in. More work on those big tires, but once I settled into the pace it was fine.

On my final turn home I noticed one of my main road routes is being chip sealed also, ugh. It's lightly travelled, so it might take awhile to be ridable.

It was the last of six days out of the office, and the riding weather has been mostly great.
Three pictures from the ride today: One from the gravel section of the route. One of the BNSF rail crossing of the St Croix in Prescott. And, one of a sailing camp in Hudson (it was windy today).

Sir_Name 

That looks/sounds like a whole lot of fun.

seedsbelize 

Went out to ride some hills today, and returned sore in every limb and my back. But I rode strong and enjoyed it immensely, and now feel fully re-acclimated to hills, just in time to leave them for another year.