gaucho777 

Foggy day in the bay area. Went out this morning for a couple hours into the east bay hills and along Grizzly Peak/Skyline. It was raining under the trees from all the condensation. The Look got a good wipe down after I got home.

jwood72

No pictures today, but I got 15 miles around Valle Crusis, NC getting some elevation in my legs before the Blood sweat and Gears ride at the end of June. Rode my 84 trek all weekend and it was super

crank_addict

After Sat. AM chores, took the 72 LeChampion for some C&V all terrain fun. I'm really enjoying beating the hell out of this bike. (Meaning I like this one.)

Wet trails, led to low land mud, climbs with tree roots, washed out gravel. MapQ showed 33+ mile of which also included gravel and tarmac. Avg. dog speed 13.5 mph - LOL. It beat me up. Tough getting the shift timing right with downtube shifters in whoop-dee-do trails. Need to keep both hands on the drop bars..... comical... grab for a low shift and then bammm into rut's, causing miss shifts. Lots of grunt stuck climbing in a taller gear. Front Campy NR is now acting up. Probably dirt sticking.

Washed it off, mounted the Bluemels Tour de France ally's. (Acquired one from a forum member and the other was kindly gifted from RHM. I reason most 'shorty's don't get the respect, but full mudguards on this bike is a no go. Have big time toe overlap and not a fraction to spare.)

Anyways, today the loop was a riot. Spring showers were actually nice. No heavy down pour but throws another element into the fun.

jimmuller 

Man, this is tough crew to keep up with!

We rode the tandem on the carriage road around Eagle lake in Acadia National Park, but only after we climbed Sargent and Penobscot Mountains.





We saw this little guy in a pool of water on one trail. Anyone know what it is? Gray above, yellow underneath, with that band around his neck.

crank_addict

^Aptly named Ringneck. In the habitat they like, water and hunting frogs.

MZilliox

a quick 30 mile trip to pick up some wine...

Pemetic2006

My wife and I have ridden, and hiked, more miles than we can count at Acadia. Our favorite place on earth. We love it so much we got married there.
Have fun.

crank_addict

Acadia Natnl. Park +1

Spectacular cycling in Autumn. Catching the color change, the views, little romp of fun on Cadillac mtn., lobster and mostly the people. Generous and welcoming to cyclist. Its been many years, but I imagine now Bar Harbor is probably a tourist trap.

Vonruden

Went with the Kirk today, rides like a dream.

jimmuller 

Yes indeed. My sweetie and I have have been coming here in September for a zillion years. Like @Pemetic2006 we have also hiked and biked and canoed here more miles than we can count. (Pemetic Mountain is one of the peaks, for those who have never been here before.)

Tomorrow if the weather holds out I will bike the Park Loop Road again and climb Cadillac Mountain on this, '86 Champion Mondial:



It will be my 6th vintage bike up Cadillac. The previous bikes were, in order, the Raleigh, the Bianchi, the Masi, the Centurion, and the Motobecane.

Not really, not much different than is has always been.

We climbed the Gorham Mt. trail to the top of Mt. Champlain today. Saw lots of students and families. It was spectacular.

Squashednuts

Hi,

I've got a week off so am spending more time doing longer scenic rides

started off in Sumner



Climbed for 6kms rode along The Port Hills

amazing views in to Lyttleton & Christchurch
.

totally journey 23 kms, just under an hour.

best thing I was only saw one car

TickDoc

Out to the middle of nowhere and back.
I did see some nice horses and a couple of Amish buggies. Not a common sight around here.
Sorry for the screen tilt.
https://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/...psows7y5jc.mp4

Roger M

I rode with my son on the tandem today. We pedaled from Duvall to Tolt Macdonald Park on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, about 22 flat miles in all(round trip)

northbend 

It looks like they laid down some new gravel on the trail, Roger! I really like that photo of your son in the stokers seat. You're building some fine memories, man.

I spent memorial day weekend with friends in Pendleton, Oregon riding in the Century Ride of the Centuries (CROC). The area around Pendleton is great for riding tihis time of the year. CROC showcases the area well by hosting rides on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It is truly a fun time, a rolling party of sorts. Each rest stop has a theme and the local residents really get into the spirit and bring it over the top. I went retro this year with the BG.
















Photo from one of the official ride photographers

jimmuller 

How do you guys find such empty roads?? Simply spectacular!

I did a bit of riding today, up Cadillac Mt and around the Park Loop Road in Acadia National
Park, Mt. Desert, Maine.

Overlooking Bar Harbor:



Near the top:



At the top:



My sweetie hiked up the South Ridge Trail, met me at the top. It was wiiiiindyyyy...



Overlooking Eagle Lake:



How people went up Cadillac Mt 125 years ago:



End of the day, pulled pork at Mainely Meat and Atlantic Brewing's Double IPA!

northbend 

There's scads of them out West, Jim. If you and your sweetie ever travel out this way, I'll show you a few :-)

JAG410

I changed offices, therefore my commute tripled in length. Today was the first trip to the new office, and the ride was fantastic.

Vonruden

Nice pics Jim!!

Chrome Molly

A manly man doing Mainely things.

And NorthBend climbing one heckuva hill from the looks of it.

Makes my soggy 47 mile spin yesterday seem like child's play.

Pemetic2006

Mainely Meat and Atlantic Brewing is a must stop for us, usually 3 times in a week. Hope they have the double IPA next year (the Scottish ale is a favorite of mine). I remember when Atlantic Brewing used to be in town.
Looks like a great trip.

Italuminium

Inspiring pics, @jimmuller! seems like the perfect day out.

Kobe 

I am a little late getting my Memorial Day ride in.

It started with me trying to see if I could follow this balloon. Like a 2 year old, I saw an interesting side road and lost interest in it.



I stopped at a couple of old buildings for rest stops.





I found what must be the last gravel road remaining in Montgomery County Pa., all 3 miles of it.



The total ride was my longest of the year, 42 miles on the Bridgestone 400. How do you guys always remember to take the water bottle off?

Ed.

25 wandering, windy miles over the hills of Hopkinton, Grafton, Upton, and Hopedale. Sorry, no photos, not so picturesque. About 3/4 of the distance this song by Eric Bogel was running, over, and over, and over, thru my head. I do believe the inspiration (in my case) was not domestic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcXz...yer_detailpage

jimmuller 

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys. NB, we may just take you up on that offer after we've figured out a way to get the tandem out there.

Thanks. You know, sometimes my bikes talk to me. When I was putting the Gazelle together it asked why I chose such a large FW since the world (as far as it knew) was flat as a pancake. Halfway through yesterday's ride it observed that it had never seen hills that steep, didn't even know they existed.

We had some interesting experiences. At the top of Cadillac we fell into talking with a trio of riders who'd arrived about the same time we did. They'd been speaking some language I didn't identify and when I asked where they were from they said Poland. They were impressed and surprised, I think, at seeing the Gazelle. One was quite proud of his "aluminium" Cannondale, said it was a 2005, the last year made in the US. I asked him about his gearing. The FW was something smallish but it had a triple crank. Of course everyone speaks of wishing they still rode steel.

Today we took the tandem around the Park Loop Road.

The bike at the Jordan Pond House:



A pause over Eagle Lake, same place as yesterday on the Gazelle:



Lunch at the Sieur De Monts Nature Center:



Then we went for a spin on the Carriage Roads. It's fun and challenging to ride a road tandem over gravel. A stop at Witch Hole Pond:



A taste of the Carriage Roads:



We found a lovely road about two miles long and mostly blocked off to cars, running from rt233 to the PLR extension. At the northern end we found this sign:



The tandem continues to garner interest almost everywhere we go. At one stop a group of park rangers were cleaning up some brush and one of the women immediately came over and stared at the bike, said she loved 80's style bikes. Of course she and her compatriots had to stand around and talk about bikes for a while. Then she gave us an email address to send input to a study they are doing about improved transportation on the island.

When we were prep'ing for the CR ride a group of folks from some bike rental place or go-exploring company were loading bikes into vans and one of the twenty-something guys asked about the tandem, said he loved the color, wanted to know how long we'd had it, etc.

It was great fun!

jimmuller 

So do we! A few years ago when we stopped by we happened to meet the owner, mentioned how we'd been by when they'd been in town. In the course of the conversation he told us the story of their blueberry ale. Nobody had ever made it before. They'd been closing up late one October evening when a local stopped in for a meal. The guy said he didn't have any money but he had a whole truck of wild blueberries he hadn't been able to sell so he'd trade for the meal. They took him up on it and then wondered what they were going to do with all the berries. Their brewmaster suggested they use them for ale so they did. He said they ended up with blueberries everywhere, spattered on the ceiling, just a mess. But the beer was pretty good.

So on a whim to submitted a bottle to a sort of "products of Maine" competition and lo! they won 1st place! Not only that, NBC had a local-color crew filming everything and it ended up making some big TV stories. Suddenly they had lots of orders for blueberry ale. Now it seems every local brewer has their own. All because they traded a meal for a truckload of berries back when the brewery was still in Bar Harbor.