photogravity

Today, I rode to Middletown MD (again). As it turns out, I did not realize that they were having a festival and that I would have to walk the bike through town to get to the restaurant. In any case, the weather was good and the ride was good, even if I didn't set a blistering pace because my legs were still sore from yesterday's ride. My weapon of choice on the ride was the 1950 Norman Rapide which, as I've stated previously, I like more every time I ride it. There is nothing in my stable that comes even close to the Norman.

Over the course of the 30 miles, there was nearly 1600 feet of climbing. Believe it or not, I'm actually starting to like hills. If you were to have rode with me back in May though, you would have never thought I'd be anywhere near as proficient at tackling them as I now am.


Middletown Loopy - 1 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Middletown Loopy - 2 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Middletown Loopy - 3 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Middletown Loopy - 4 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Middletown Loopy - 5 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

scozim 

Sweet looking roads. Small town festivals are great, if not a little quirky. But, that's what makes them so much fun.

Doohickie

Started out this morning


Joined the bike club for the breakfast ride. Ate on the patio at Esperanza's


Ended up with a (surprising) 45 miles.

photogravity

So what bike did you ride? I can't seem to match it up with any of the bikes in your profile. BTW, 45 miles is a pretty nice distance to cover on a ride, that's for sure.

zacster

I took my Seattle built 1981 Davidson, and did 5 laps of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It was driving me crazy that my otherwise dead silent bike was made noisy by the cleat squeaking against the pedal. You don't hear anything, not the chain, not the wheels, not the crank, no rub, even shifting is silent. But that damn Keo cleat against my original Keo pedals jst wouldn't stop. On my other bike I don't have any noise from that.

photogravity

zacster, I'd love to see what your Davidson looks like. Do you have any pictures? I have a 1984 Davidson tandem and I've been lusting after Drillium Dude's Davidson for a long time.

zacster

Here's some pics of my Davidson. There is some that is original, like the Campy NR, headset, stem and bars, and some that is new, like the wheels and Tektro brakes. I'm running a 10 speed cassette on the wheels, and it shifts silently with friction shifters, much quieter than using indexed shifting.

photogravity

^^ That's a sweet looking machine... How long have you had the bike? I take it you got it secondhand.

Doohickie

There are bikes in my profile? Where? Anyway, it's a 1983 Raleigh Super Course.

Thanks.

jimmuller 

53.9 miles on the tandem with my sweetie. Bedford, Concord, Lincoln, Wayland, Sudbury, Carlisle, Westford, Chelmsford. Not in that order. Superb weather, cool and dry. Autumn is here.

Just another small town attraction:

Peugeotlover

Went for a two hour ride around the Lake District, here in S. Central PA.
Took the RockHopper, a 1985 favorite of mine. I bought this bike twice. My wife and I bought it new, before we were married. Then, twenty years later, after we divorced, she owed me some money. The bike was sitting on a rack on her car in my driveway. She said: "Will you take the bike?", and I owned it a 2nd time.

First we crossed over the dam.
Then we got to some rocky downhill. Had to stand on the pedals to take up the trail shock. It was brutal with 55psi in the tires.

Those are lilly pads, and the rocket shaped structure is a bird house out in the water.

Then we crossed over to L. Redman, the sign tells about the man made lake.
Looking back from the top of the Redman dam wall you can see the lily pads of Lake Williams. That bird structure is around 1 o'clock.
That's a telephoto shot of all the geese feeding in the grass.

Then, surprise, a great blue heron, flew across the water and landed on the bank. I had just enough time to get the camera on and aimed before it flew away again. Lucky to get that shot.
The sun was heading west and the earth was turning- that's my shadow on the bike.

Looking at the tall 1500 foot climb to the top of that hill. That's where I had just come from. Didn't take any pics from the top, as you couldn't see the Lakes, just grass and trees, from up there.
The smallest crank wheel has about 32 teeth in front. The freewheel in the rear has about 32 teeth, as well. That combination kept me on the bike for the 12 minute climb to the top, no stopping. I was proud of that small achievement.

The last photo just shows what a pretty early Fall day it was.
Hope some of you got out to play today.

photogravity

It is here on the "About Me" tab.

JJScaliger

44 miles this morning on my De Rosa. I installed a new pair of tubulars I picked up from wiggle on sale; conti sprinter gator skins. They were nice and straight, but man, they were tough to mount! I wrestled them on this week and got to try them out today. They felt great, not lumpy like the rally.



I rode out in Scituate and Foster RI on one of my usual loops.



Barden Reservoir



small, nearly forgotten boneyard



the hungry caterpillar



I missed my two wheel friend. It was nice to be together again.

gomango

Great pics.

A nice bicycle deserves nice tires.

Great choice.

Don't forget to pre-stretch.

...and thanks for the pics everyone.

Doohickie

Ah. I had no idea that was there. I probably updated it two or three years ago and haven't touched it since.

mkeller234

Another day on the trail. I think I am ready to try a new route, need to start planning.


DSC00456 by mkeller234, on Flickr

The limestone dust from the trail really makes a mess of my bike. I washed and waxed the frame last weekend and noticed the components need cleaned up again.

DSC00461 by mkeller234, on Flickr

Freshly polished stem.... oh, shiny.

DSC00462 by mkeller234, on Flickr

Conan

oh thats pretty. Love shiny. Did you just buff it with different polishing compounds?

.....

jyl

Did hill repeats on Mt Tabor. 2K vertical feet. On the Cannondale. The good: very light bike. The bad: 23T big cog.

mkeller234

I just used mequires aluminum polish and a rag. I just noticed how crummy it was looking and buffed it quickly before I left the house. My whole bike in general is in need of some TLC.

Kobe 

OK, enough with the pretty pictures. These 2 were taken from the exact same spot on a spur of the local bike path I don't take very often. This trail goes to the village of Skippack.

To the West is Limerick Nuclear Power plant.



To the South is the Pennsylvania State Correctional Facility at Graterford.



I am sure at one time it was a pretty spot, but that was probably back when the Lenape Indians lived there.

GV27

Well, hopefully nobody gets mad because this wasn't taken TODAY but rather last week. On a trail called "Cradleboard" between Broomfield and Louisville, Colorado on my way to work one day. Lovely morning for a ride - never mind the pathetic looking corn in the field.

mkeller234

We'll forgive you, but only because of your awesome bike. I swear though, if anyone posts something 2 weeks old, I don't know what I am capable of.

jimmuller 

Today we rode about 10 miles on the tandem. Snuck in the time during the workday, part of my lunch hour.

JJScaliger

I had the day off and it is beautiful here in New England right now, so I made a day of it and rode 107 miles. 55 at start of ride, temp rose to about 75. A little windy, but that builds character. I went into Eastern Connecticut for a while and took many photos. Here are a few.


Obligatory sugar maple




I impulsively decided to make an ancillary trip when I saw this sign in Pomfret CT:



I was trying to avoid the dirt today, but the road through the park became dirt after about a mile. Oh well, my new tubulars are gatorskins right?



I had to leave my bike here and walk down the trail.



I walked a mile or so before I came to this rock outcrop.





It wasn't marked and looked kind of small (maybe a fox den instead of a wolf den).

After I came home,I googled images of the wolf den Israel Putnum climbed into and killed the last wolf in Connecticut. In 1742, doesn't that seem like a long time ago? I would have guessed much later, like a 100 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Putnam_Wolf_Den

https://www.flickr.com/photos/loycehoodphoto/5891081188/

I found a map of the trail system at Mashamoquet Brook State Park. I'll have to come back and track down the actual wolf den; without the anxiety of worrying about my De Rosa stashed in the woods. The dirt road was pretty technical on the 23mm tires. It had water bars and a lot of loose stuff. There are some mtb trails in addition to hiking trails in this park, maybe I'll come back with the Kelly.

tyler714

Today I woke up late. I rode up the hill to get to class. As I arrived a street from the campus I got a flat! I had no spare. :/ I had to bus it back.