nlerner

Back out on the Mercian today in sub-freezing temps for a quick jaunt with a friend. From atop Peter’s Hill in Arnold Arboretum:

3alarmer 

scratchpaddy

This year, I did my big road trip to see family for Thanksgiving, so I'm left to entertain myself on Christmas. I'm kind of relieved; it's a rotten time to travel on the west coast right now. I did a little local travel this morning on the vivid De Bernardi, taking advantage of the holiday to get the roads and paths all to myself.



That big storm coming in from the Pacific reached up over Baja California and made it rain all day here yesterday. The rain stopped overnight, but everything was still all wet this morning... or underwater.



I was on the Greenbelt in Scottsdale, which is great almost all the time, with underpasses under all the major roads, but it's also the area's main drainage channel. Get a moderate amount of rain, and the path turns into a river.



That's okay, I can detour up on the roads... oh.



Plan C: wet feet. At least I had the wool socks this morning.



Nope. Time for another detour.



These feral geese were fearless. Don't they know what day it is??



My poor bike got so dirty! Seriously, it's never been this dirty before.



Light fog rolled in as I turned south to Tempe. This is unusual weather for us, so I climbed up to the top of a parking garage to admire the view until a security guard came and told me to get lost. There's no sneaking around on this bike.

zukahn1

Nice weather with 40's with snow on the ground. Took a quick Christmas ride in the snow it's nice to finally have some snow on the ground.



Only one on the bike trail nice fresh powder.

Prowler 

A very good day. After visiting all the servants downstairs to distribute the annual Christmas boxes and a ration of rum, then the same at the gardener's cottage and the gate keeper's, I took the drop bar'd Mountain Track out to the Perkiomen Trail for some well deserved cardio (and much needed calorie burn). This shot is at the top of the 12% grade behind Spring Mountain, a much appreciated bench to stop at. I still find this hill VERY challenging but I've not walked up in over 10 years and have no intention of starting now. I suppose it's inevitable though. Warm with light breezes. Rainy days the rest of the week.

That '95 Trek sure is comfortable with the drop bars and thumbies.

rccardr 

Glad you’re keeping all of The Help happy and satisfied.
Failing to do so may result in Mutiny. Or Revolution followed byDemocracy.

gaucho777 

Forgive me for cross-posting a few pics I also added to gugie's TdMIL thread. I tagged along with the TdMIL crew for a portion of the first leg of their 4-day tour. A beautiful morning ride with pretty vistas, scattered showers, and not-so-pretty-but-still-excellent company in need of showers.

djkashuba 

Keeping an eye out for Coho.


Gitane/ Austin Creek by djk762, on Flickr


Sonoma creek by djk762, on Flickr

thinktubes 

Was hoping to get out yesterday, but it never dried out. And now we have this - fudge.

Spaghetti Legs 

scratchpaddy I really like your pics. Did you take a DSLR with you?

Warm dry December continues, which I have unfortunately been unable to take advantage of, but with rain slated for tomorrow I was able to get out for 17 today. I took the VO Rando out, planning to ride the gravel road up to Ragged Mountain Reservoir but found it freshly paved. Mixed feelings on this one. I liked having a little bit of gravel not far from my front door and I always got a smug pleasure following right behind the cars loaded with mountain bikes driving up to the trails there.



Imagine, if you will, dirt and rocks, here.

Prowler 

I suppose many of us seek out the most picturesque section of a ride, or even turn the camera just so to avoid a seedy bit of scenery, to provide the best photos for this thread. Nice. But it's winter so days like today are just not picturesque - 40deg, overcast and damp. But my standards are seriously lowered in winter (above freezing and not snowing or raining's good enough) so today was a good day, a good ride. Given the low standards I decided, waddaell, I'll not avoid the seedy underbelly of the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT). Most trails have them. This shot is near Norristown, PA. Refuse hauler yard, busy traffic overpass, rail yards, row houses and abandoned factories in the distance. It's part of life too. Out for 30 miles of cardio on the Ersatz Gran Prix*

BTW, I've been on numerous trails from Maine to South Carolina and the SRT is one of the best, despite the occasional underbelly. Just comes with the territory on the East Coast.




*Fabrique par Claude Rene Sobriquet in Ersatz France (Normandy) in 1974. Very rare bespoke velo.

scratchpaddy

Thank you! I used to use a DSLR, but moved on to mirrorless when Sony came out with the A7 in 2014. I like to adapt old and unusual lenses, and mirrorless cameras have better aids for manual focus. Plus, they fit well in that red saddle bag I have.

I've been fooling around with movie theater projection lenses lately. Tons of them are out there to buy used after the transition from film to digital projection, and you can get them for a tiny fraction of their original price, since you still have to go through the trouble of adding a focus mechanism and the means to attach to a camera. I design fixtures and automation equipment for work, so that's right up my alley.

Those pictures were with a German-made lens from the early 2000's, one of the latest and greatest before film projection finally went obsolete. It's annodized red, so it matches the bike perfectly.

botty kayer

After spending all year living and working in London I'm out of London for Christmas and up at my parents in Wales. Admittedly in December it is a bit soggy and not as green as spring and summer, but it is a world away from my usual urban cycling and unusually mild for the time of year, I'm still cycling around in fingerless gloves which is pretty much unheard of for winter here. Despite the trees having shed their leaves it is still very green and the fields are the classic British patchwork quilt of a landscape, and even though the constantly rolling hills can be hard work it is a magical place for cycling, and I'm already looking forward to coming back in Spring and exploring some more country lanes. Happy New Year and roll on spring.

Kobe 

That's why I'll only go down it.


Paving it a few years ago made it a little easier, but I think it's more than 12%. I am about the same as you and have not given in and walked it in probably 10 years.

curbtender

A stop in Benicia state park. Got my mud stripes, but otherwise a perfect day.

abshipp 

I hate to say that I just don't take the vintage bikes out much anymore.

Short day at the bike shop today, and I was scheduled at our new location just up the bike path from my house. Perfectly rare opportunity for a bike commute

LucasHartong

Happy new year from the other side of The Pond! Wishing you lots of beautiful adventures, wherever you live!

thinktubes 

Last one for 2021. Was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to ride the North Branch Trail up to the botanic garden. I used to ride the trail a lot when I lived in Rogers Park (20 years ago!). They added a southern extension down to Albany Park and I wanted to check that out.

I took the North Shore Channel trail to get down to Albany Park. I wanted to stay off the streets as much as possible to avoid the NYE traffic.



Mysterious pipe on the Argyle St. bridge. No idea what’s in it - water/gas/poo/Tim Robbins - who knows? It’s a big-ass pipe.



Interesting relief on the front of Von Steuben HS. Studied it while I was waiting to cross Kimball.



I crossed the river on the new-ish Carmen Ave. bridge.



Miles and miles of bungalows in Albany Park.



Old rail bridge off the trail. They’ve been trying to get the right of way to put in a connecting trail. Hopefully soon…



When I got up north, there was still a little snow and it felt colder.



Green houses at the botanic garden. Would love to get a tour sometime.



Had lunch at a time-honored spot across from the Japanese garden. Very quiet and peaceful.



All told, a good day for a ride. Temps were around 40 and I banked 43 miles. We’re under a winter storm warning with up to 8” of snow expected. May not get out for a few weeks/months. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s pics for 2022 and a happy new year to all!

JacobLee

Most of our snow melted in Portland, and we were left with lots of road grit and 34 degree temps. I figured I’d let the Super Course see the sun.



And see some cool graffiti art.



And see the snowy mountain.



Have a great New Year’s!

narwhale100

Lap after lap of Regent's Park outer circle (3mi each time round), sunny start to the year and only cyclists out
Trying out yet another saddle on my newish Van Nicholas Zephyr - this one too left me with numb legs - the search continues!

non-fixie 

First activity of 2022, a twenty-mile loop around the Nieuwkoop lakes to the Old Rhine river and back. Temperature was exceptionally nice for the season - in the high fifties, but it was a little windy.

abshipp 

A bit of an inauspicious start to the year!



Oh well, nothing that I couldn't fix on the road to get home. Plus it's hard to be mad at a Jan 1 ride when it's 75°F out

There is a lot of play in my rear hub for some reason though, I'll have to dig in to that.

curbtender

That sucks...Happy New Year!

droppedandlost 

Front shift under load. Unfortunately I know from experience...

abshipp 

Chain suck sucks! Happy new year to you as well

Got greedy and shifted front and rear at the same time. With one of my other bikes it likes to drop the chain if I try that. I guess the old Trek is a bit more temperamental