smontanaro 

My granddad lived at the veterans home in Yountville fort the last several years of his life.

Bianchigirll 

Yep. Not quite as dumb as having nothing but need to fix that

Wildwood 

Cherry tomato is so eclectic it should run 1 clincher and 1 tubular, just to maintain the reality of diversity hung on the frame.

edit: Where does one source blue brake bumpers for Campa brakes?

Bianchigirll 

Oh that’s Justyne’s website. I don’t know where she gets it but she’ll sells lots of nice high end stuff and quirky things like these o rings

https://bikerecyclery.com/barrel-adj...ed-blue-green/.

Wildwood 

thanks.
Purchased a few things there. Always pleased w/ the products.

I get her emails, but have been avoiding the 'buying sites'. But I know where to find and fit 2 pair now.

Eclecticism has virtue.

jamesdak 

Hmmm....spent half the night hacking up a lung for some reason. Couldn't really decide if I wanted to ride today or not but finally decided to go. Grabbed the Davidson out of the bike cave, wiped 'er off and hit it with some quick wax. Man this is one sweet looking bike with mint looking components. Felt as great as it looks under me today despite things. We got a lot of rain yesterday and it was really foggy early on. Once it cleared I headed out for a really nice but slow ride.


This are such nice bikes.

The usual busy roads.

Looking back over towards Eden.

For some reason a fat old man riding all in pink makes other cyclist smile when we pass, LOL!

This is one of the drier areas up here.

This is leading to a new small development of homes.

Cool old barn made with split logs that still have a rough bark on them.

The old cabin on the edge of Huntsville.

Horses right outside of Huntsville also.

curbtender

We usually do a loop there but it's still covid sensitive. Nice facility. A veteran coworker retired and then took a job there as the shuttle driver. It was like his dream job.

non-fixie 

Mrs non-fixie and I had some test work to do. Of our bikes. Of ourselves. Eroica Germania is in a couple of weeks.

We decided to take our bikes to Limburg today. Limburg is the only bit of Holland with serious hills, it has been the host of a few World Championships, and it is also the home of Eroica Limburg.

And it is just a 2 1/2 hours drive from our home.

The ride started easy enough:



The Limburg landscape is something to behold:



The first 'strada bianca':



The inclines are short, but there are many and they do wear you down after a while:



And they can be steep as well:



After lunch things got worse ...



... and worse ...



... and worse ...



... and worse:



When we finally got out of the woods we threw down our bikes and finished our water bottles. We looked at the map and found out it was only downhill form there, and just another four miles or so back to the car. Yay!

Wildwood 

Just a ride. But full sun and hot. Took a triple.


Batavus with Campy9

Blue sky

Adult slow pitch softball league going strong.

zukahn1 

Really nice weather past couple of days 70 degrees no wind or rain and good air quality. Took a nice Sunday ride on the back roads and local trails to check out the late season wild flowers.

ZudeJammer

On a hot and humid hilly Philly ride (~45mi, 3500ft), I was pleased with this shakedown ride because after swapping around various parts the Count is faster than ever.

curbtender

Not sure what I'm seeing with that shift lever. What's happening there hombre?

ZudeJammer

Suntour AR shifters can pull a Deore mountain derailleur across an 11 speed cassette without slipping but you have to push it so the tip of the shifter pushes against the cable for the hill gear.

AJI125 

Nothing in particular notable about the route through Chatfield State Park, as it's one of my two normal weekday routes, nice ride on the comfy Fuji. But I thought the both the sun/clouds and pair of bucks (among the two biggest mule deer sets of antlers I've ever seen, and both at once) were pretty neat. Some of these may look pixelated from cropping, older iPhone + crappy photographer = not the greatest pictures.

Drillium Dude 

I took my final ride on the New River Trail today. Ended up riding for my life as a result of a run-in with three motorcyclists on the trail. I had 911 on the phone when one of them actually grabbed my jersey and tried to pull me down (he dumped it instead). Still amazed I made it out without a scratch.

I've lost count of how many time I've personally been buzzed by these cretins. Now I get to go to the roads where people regularly give me the horn, tell me to get on the sidewalk, and call me names. Wonderful.

I did get a couple pics before the stupidity.

New River actually running - not typical:



One result of the recent hard rains:



Where one perp grabbed me:



Souvenir:



DD

northbend 

^ I'm glad you're OK Jeff! Oh man...

northbend 

Another day of heat yesterday so out looking for a swimming hole. It was a quiet spot so I went skinny dippin' here :-)
The swimming hole by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr

The main appeal of bicycling to me is that while I'm riding a bike I feel like I'm a feral 13 year old out on a grand adventure. No adults around to spoil the fun

droppedandlost 

Well there's a forum signature for someone...

DQRider 

Wow. People seem to be losing their minds these days.

Just two weeks ago I had an encounter down by the river while shooting photos. A scruffy pair of teenage gangsters approached me, watched for a bit, then one said "Hey, that's a nice camera, man. I think you should give it to me."

Did you ever experience that surreal feeling, when the bad things you see on the news, happening to other people, are suddenly happening to you? Being a Marine, I couldn't help channeling Clint Eastwood: "This is a German-made chunk of steel and titanium (lie - no titanium, just sounded better). The only way I would give this to you is to smash your skulls with it. Then I would photograph your corpses and just ride away.". They backed off and left me alone after that.

Jeff, I know you ride with the full lycra/helmet kit. Do you think this invites the abuse you are getting? I dress like "a feral 13 year old out on a grand adventure" - (Thanks, Northbend!) - and I usually don't have a problem.

Have you ever considered riding armed? I've thought about it, but that would invite risks I would rather not take. Such is America, 2022... civilized countries don't have these problems. I'm glad you're alright.
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rccardr 

Geez, Jeff. Glad it wasn't worse but would be happier if the PD could ID the idiots and do something about it.

nlerner

These are weird times: a friend told me a story yesterday of getting assaulted while riding over the weekend. He was on a busy path, and someone on one of those electric single-wheeled contraptions buzzed by him at high speed. When he caught up at a light, he suggested the guy get a bell or some such to let people know he was there. The guy grumbled something about “personal freedom” and sped off, only to then slow down let my friend pass, and then speed up and push my friend off of the path, where he crashed. The guy sped off. My friend was quite shaken up, did call the police (and remarked a large number of people passed without any gestures toward seeing if he was okay), but doesn’t hold much hope that the perp will be found. Yeesh! Be careful out there!

johnnyace 

One incident that wasn't recounted on the Summer Tour of the Willamette Valley, was the road rager on Day 2 (Saturday morning), on River Road South, headed out of Salem. A driver in a Lexus (SUV? crossover?) was honking and irate at the rear group, but finally passed them. When he got up to Bob Freeman and I up at the front, he continued with the honking and such, with Bob yelling some choice words at him. At this point the man braked hard, rolled down his passenger side window, and as Bob passed him and I came by the window, he yelled "Get off the damn road! Next time I will run you down!" And then he sped off indignantly. I've never had an incident like this happen to me in 35 years of riding in and around the Salem area.

Later, when recounting this incident with gugie, I mentioned that I am a concealed carry holder in Oregon. For obvious reasons of weight and also being a peaceful individual, I don't choose to carry firearms while riding. But sometimes I wonder...

JacobLee 

Whew, "Where did you ride today" could get political really quickly, couldn't it? Of course, that's what it all comes down to, really. I just finished a couple of books about round-the-world bike tours and was struck by the fact that while these folks could physically ride their bikes just about anywhere, it really came down to the laws and customs of a place that made it possible, or enjoyable.

(As a side note, it's not much safer for motorists these days, considering that so many people are driving with loaded weapons and don't seem to mind unloading them into stranger's cars.)

Drillium Dude 

To address a few things:

No, I won't go strapped - not on a bike. A bike ride should be about fun, not preparing for possible battle.

As far as what is inviting the "abuse", I don't know. Could be my kit, could be they're just *******s. After all, they're on 250cc dirt bikes, doing 45mph+ on a 9' wide MUP where they're forbidden.

Lastly, I've decided to give up on the trail based upon the questions from the first responding officer. The first thing out of his mouth was "Why did you call 911 for this?" - not even kidding. After a few minutes hearing my story, he took no notes, and instead seemed more concerned with whether I provoked the perps; I swear I began to wonder if the officer recognized one of his kids from my vague description of the MCs and their riders' garb. Also, while speaking to him I realized I'd talked with him once before, maybe 3 or 4 months prior, on the trail during a night ride. I'd just been buzzed by a MC rider about 2 miles earlier. I came across a police vehicle on the trail, with two officers outside of it. I came to a stop, and asked the officer nearest me if they were there trying to catch the MC rider. He looked at me for about 10 seconds without answering, then simply said "no". I told him what had happened earlier, and he never even answered back. As they were obviously on an unrelated call, I gave up and rode off - but I was a bit nonplussed, to be honest. Same officer, no doubt. While I have no problem with police in general, this guy seemed the type to coast and collect - non-policing sort, you understand. Thankfully, I'm going to assume he's in the minority.

A second pair of officers then arrived, and I got up, told the first officer I'd go home, call the normal Peoria police number, and make my report. I was seriously wondering if I'd done the wrong thing calling 911 based upon the first officer's questions! The male officer of the male/female pair that showed up after the first officer then asked if he could talk to me, take notes, and see if we could get a sequence of events on paper. Grateful isn't the word - and I felt much the same at the end of the interview when I asked if I'd done the wrong thing by calling 911 - and he emphatically told me no, it's exactly what I should have done.

Anyway, apart from motorcycles being ridden on the path at extremely high speeds relative to the rest of the trail users, apparently the police can't do a lot about it (their vehicles don't have good access for much of the trail's length, for starters). It's not worth my life to ride this trail, and now, though I don't feel "traumatized" so much by the event, I think: "the perps didn't catch their prey (and one ate it big-time in the attempt), what's to stop them from another attempt in the future when I'm off my guard?".

Nope. I'm out.

Some pics of the "assault route" (after departing the trail obviously) should give an idea how brazen these three were, chasing me down city streets trying to run me off the road.

The rider who grabbed me and tried to pull me down crashed right in the middle of the street here. We'd come from the side street to the left, and since he'd already got hold of my jersey before entering the boulevard, I couldn't go the way of opposing traffic, which had been my plan. One down, two still there:



Unfortunately, the road was this empty, and the two MCs were on my tail here and trying to come around me. I couldn't go as fast as possible because I had to weave back and forth across the road to throw them off - plus I was getting fatigued as it had been a long ride in 100+ temps:



In desperation, I jumped the curb to the right, and turned 90 degrees to the boulevard down that little concrete path. They overshot me. I found myself in a cul-de-sac, but also watched two of the three (the fallen one was back up and back in the chase) continue on, to cut me off, while one waited back:



This is where I saw they were splitting up to cut me off. Did a 180 and crossed the boulevard, heading for a business across the street:



Got to the doors of the building in the photo below, but they were locked. I headed down to a second building, all the while hearing their engines getting closer:



I got to the second building, and rode into the entry to the right of the white van in the photo, tried a couple doors until I found an unlocked one, then ran in and collapsed on the floor. A man inside called 911 himself when he realized what was happening:



I'm generally a solo rider, though I do on occasion enjoy group rides, too. Sometimes I think this is a disadvantage, particularly in situations like this. But this was a first, I mean I've never had anyone actively attempt to run me down or off the road.

DD

Roger M

That's a pretty sobering post, Jeff. Glad you're ok.

I only got out to watch Thomas practice at his high school band camp. Third day for them, and they seem to be coming together well.