thinktubes 

A cool day for July - only 73 degrees. Light breeze off the lake. Did 63 miles up north, post work.

We’ve had a bit of rain lately and everything is lush.



Bridge near the Onwentsia Club



Since spring, they’ve been taking apart a massive house on Tower Road. Usually, they just flatten them, but this one is being “recycled. Guessing it’s an angle to avoid a teardown fee.

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Here’s what it looked like in “better” days. Guessing it was a feast of deferred maintenance.

curbtender

Fernandez Ranch was deserted so I had a nice, quiet, ride over the hill with cool breezes making life and climbs much easier. The star thistle has spread over the years so at some point this will not be a tire friendly ride.

gaucho777 

I went out for short but hilly ~20 mile loop into the Berkeley Hills on the Colnago Super yesterday. About 1/4 of those miles were on gravel through scenic Tilden Park.

Along the way, I stopped by the Blake House and Gardens. Formerly the official residence of the UC Berkeley President, it is now unoccupied and the grounds of the 10.5 acre estate overlooking the SF Bay are open to the public. Even though it’s only a few miles from my house and less the half a mile from my work, this was my first visit. Planning to bring the wife back for more exploring.

Blake House, Kensington, CA.



Redwood grove at Blake House



A couple photos along the trails in Tilden Park, Berkeley, CA.

Spaghetti Legs 

Randy you missed a chance at telling us that was your back yard!

Today was this year’s Birthday Ride. Seems to get longer every year. I started with some trepidation as, even though it’s been a little less hot (cooler does not apply as a descriptor) the humidity is way up there. First few miles working my way through our little bit of suburban sprawl were unpleasant with a hot sun beating down, but before long, clouds moved in, a little breeze sprang up and all was good. Even had about 10-15 miles in some light rain, perfect for keeping cool but not enough to pool on the roads.



Blue Ridge, wherever did they come up with that name?

Drillium Dude 

Happy Birthday, Hugh! Just celebrated my 58th last Sunday. The rides may be getting longer, but to my mind that's a good thing

DD

rccardr 

Youngsters!

gaucho777 

@Spaghetti Legs Happy Birthday, Hugh! I love a little rain on a summer ride.

@Drillium Dude Jeff, Happy Belated Birthday to you as well!

zookster 

Short 9 mile ride this evening on my 1965 Schwinn Racer 3-speed at Black Creek Park Rails to Trails in Fultondale, AL.








Old US Hwy 31 bridge

northbend 

Happy Birthday Hugh and Jeff!
My wife and I recently had our birthdays we celebrated by spending the past couple of days over on Lopez Island at a small resort next to this marina near the only village on the Island.

Marina at low tide by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Robin is enjoying her E-Bike.

Robin loved riding Lopez by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Lopez is famous for it’s bike friendly roads and it attracts alot of cyclists.
E-Bike riders are everywhere! I’d say over 75% of the riders we saw were on E-Bikes.
I was in the minority - on my human powered Woodrup.

There’s plenty of room for everybody. It’s still a beautiful and peaceful cycling destination.
Quiet roads by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

House on Aleck Bay Road by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Mud Bay by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

One of many private beaches we passed by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Beware of Dragons

Interesting Mailbox by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

We stopped frequently and explored beaches and trails

Agate Beach by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr



Point Colville by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

It was a great retreat from the heat wave the PNW is having right now.

Time to go home by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

Drillium Dude 

Happy Birthday, Matt and Robin - two more July babies

Looks like the perfect day out, Matt.

DD

Roger M

Thomas has been camping/training with his school cross country team at Orcas Island all week. I drove my bike up to Anacortes yesterday, and rode onto the ferry.

northbend has ridden there a few times, so I asked him for some help on routes. I didn't have enough time to explore the whole island, but seeing my son for a couple of hours made it a great day.

Matt mentioned that Orcas is hilly. After yesterday, I doubt that there's a square mile that doesn't have a fair amount of grade...


It's been in the 90s all week, so I didn't bring a jacket. I get to the ferry at 7am and it is mid 50s and socked in..

An hour later and the sun is starting to burn off the marine layer.

Where Thomas has laid residence all week.

Part way up to Mt.Consititution. it is at this point that I have decided this was the wrong tool for this climb..

Looking towards the east from the top. Bellingham Bay and Mt Baker.

Thomas sent me this picture a couple of hours ago. He'd just finished a four mile run up the mountain.
A terrible photo of the tower on top of Constitution

My bike is there somewhere. The ferry was an hour late on the return trip.

rccardr 

2+ hours today riding the 83 Davidson through what I am certain was soup. Not air, soup.
None of the pictures came through due to the soup-ish nature of the air.
Didn’t even put my riding clothes on the rack when I got home- slimey stuff went right into the washing machine.

nlerner

And Doc went directly into the beer refrigerator.

northbend 

Where I've been and where you'll find me for the next few evenings.
where I am spending my evenings for the next few days by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

ascherer 

What’s your impression of them?

ascherer 

The heat spell broke enough for Mrs. ascherer and me to hit the trail. First outing in 2 weeks save for a commute to work. Rode the Shogun today and I think I know what to tweak, all cockpit. I need a longer stem, I think I want Noodles or full-on rando bars, I have some better levers, and I want to check whether I have any headsets with a shorter stack height so I can squeeze in a VO decaleur mount and use a bag up front.



I fiddle with the idea of putting indexed shifting on it but after about 5-10 miles I change my mind. If this bike keeps being mostly ridden on rail trails then I really don’t need indexing.

molleraj

I shared more photos in the main thread, but I wanted to show how much my yellow 1974 Panasonic Sport Deluxe has grown on me. It's probably 28-29 lbs but feels so great to ride. It's now gone to a smattering of towns 5-10 miles from me (in North Potomac, MD). One day I will take it to BWI and bike from there to Annapolis and back.



A view towards the sunset clouds

Rocklands Farm

Seneca Road from Seneca towards Darnestown

NCI Shady Grove on the western edge of Rockville

Entering the historic town of Boyds

Double rainbow at Black Hill Regional Park (Little Seneca Lake)

MARC train to Martinsburg arrives at Boyds

Boyds Presbyterian Church

Approaching Dawsonville

jamesdak 

Off my game this weekend. Both days I felt pretty crappy in the quads, like no power. Temps have been pretty good though. Today I took the old Calfee back out. I really haven't come to terms with this one as much as I want to love it. The wonderful riding sensation I had on the Kirk Terraplane yesterday made the Calfee seem even that much, not more special. today.


It such a beautiful frame in my book and looks brand new despite being 26 years old

Old cabin in Huntsville square

Ummm....vine.

Another shot

Another shot


Backside of the new addition to the blacksmith shop.

Physical Therapy office where they try to keep my old knees going.

Andy_K 

@gugie and I went for a reconnaissance ride today, scouting out a section for day 1 of next week's Summer Tour of the Willamette Valley. As we looped back, somewhere near Chehalem, we came to the top of a small climb and stopped for a rest on the bench at the entrance to this cemetary.



While we enjoyed the cool of the shade, we noticed another set of benches across the street...and a water fountain...and a bike rack. This isn't something you normally find in a rural area like this, so we were intrigued and went over to check it out.



There was a Cycle Oregon water bottle by the base of the water fountain. Below one of the benches was a small plastic container with some basic bike tools.



Yes, we had discovered one of those special spots where some sympathetic property owner has provided an oasis for cyclists. I wondered whether they are themselves cyclists, or if this is just like putting a hummingbird feeder in your yard.

The view across the cemetery isn't bad either.

rccardr 

Around the lakes during the hot, humid days of summer
IMG_5899 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr
IMG_5901 by Doc Mertes, on Flickr

thinktubes 

Did 70 miles on Sunday - prepping for a century in early September. Beautiful day, but humid. First Jerry Ortega sighting of the year.

On weekends, there are a lot of big groups out and they usually pass by me at 28+ mph. On Greenbay Road, I looked back and saw a group approaching, so I settled in and waited for the pass. Turned out to be a bunch of geezers who blew as soon as they passed. I lifted and let ‘em go. Jerry Ortega was on the back and apologized for the “worst pass ever” 😂



Farther up north, I Spotted a text-book ”fairy ring” in a lawn.



These were the size of baseballs, the open ones were 10 inches across!



Now hiring!!!



Starting to think I have too much crap bolted onto the bike…

smontanaro 

Fortunately you won't need most of the extra gear for the NSC (I assume that's the century to which you referred). Lots of rest stops, as I'm sure you're aware - and there's traditionally pizza at the second HP stop.

Maybe we should try to get a vintage group together...

thinktubes 

Nope Harmon Hundred. Route for the NSE is perplexing - last time I did the NSC I ended up "free-styling" home.

smontanaro 

Ah, okay. I'm not familiar with that. I've never found the North Shore Century to be particularly difficult. It's just a big counter-clockwise circle. The only tricky part is the extra small loop near the first Highland Park rest stop which I think distinguishes the 50- and 62-mile routes. I guess I've done it enough I know the main parts of the route.

thinktubes 

It's not that - Gurnee, Kenosha, and Waukegan aren't places I'd pay to ride a bike. Maybe they can't get clearance from the towns, but there are much better routes they could take.