I pootled on my twenty through Old Town Negaunee. A kind of ghost town really. After they dug out iron ore (in some cases 88% pure iron) the town started caving in so they moved the town 1/2 mile east and fenced the whole thing off. Now, 75 years later they figured most of its safe so they opened it up and fenced off the REALLY dangerous areas.
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sidewalks to nowhere
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a sculpture showing the miners working a drill
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steps to nowhere
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people who lived here....
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A dangerous place
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bike parking
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a little single track was no problem for the twenty

Excellent. Great to see a 20 out on the roads. And hi to all the other Pootle-nauts who are keeping alive this great tradition (since 2008)

First ride on her Folder
 

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Did a short ride on the Bob Jones bike trail near Avila Beach to try out her Mu Sl. She spotted a skunk just off the trail on the ride home. Glad we didn't offend it. My buzz flyby is behind her bike. Sorry for the poor photo quality, captured a frame from her flip camcorder, forgot the camera.

Great area to ride a bike! Did you get a chance to eat at Fat Cats? Out past Diablo Canyon?

After the ride we went back to Pismo where we were staying, and ate at Mo's BBQ. We'll have to check that place out next time. thanks.

Very first pootle on our folders. :)
It was a good ride, the bikes feel remarkably like our hybrids. Still having some problems getting used to the drop bars, different shifters etc, but working on it.
It was so bloody cold today, that I only took a camera out once. Here you go:

Lucille, how tall are you? Is the red bike yours?

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A bright and sunny day - at last! Had a nice 35mile ride "around the island" near where I live in Carlisle UK. It isn't actually an island but it is surrounded on three sides by the sea. It is a tongue of land that juts out into the Solway Firth and it is home to several villages. The Roman wall started here and ended at Walls End on the east coast. There is not much of the wall left around here because, after the Romans left, locals stole the stones to build their homes and barns. Some of the wall was used to construct Carlisle Cathedral!

The road runs along the estuary and Scotland is just a short hop across the water. The tide is very strong and rushes in and out with great force. When it is out some of the cattle that graze on the marsh sometimes walk across to Scotland and then can't get back! As you can see by the sign the road can flood during spring tides.

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Just to reinforce how dangerous the tide is there are notices warning would be swimmers to stay out. Note the bright orange life belt behind my bike. You can see Scotland across the water.

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You can just see, in the distance, the hill called Criffel in Scotland. The photo does not give a good impression of the hill as it is closer that it looks and much higher.

Riding out from Carlisle, I had a slight headwind but when I turned the corner to come back the wind was behind me and helped to push me home! The ride out had the sea on my right with Scotland in view and on the way back the water was still on my right but my native English Lakeland hills kept me company.

A great ride on a lovely day.

Brilliant, thank you for posting.

I am kind of pootling every weekend. Turin Bike Pride
 

The riding season is here. I am kind of pootling every weekend.
Last Sunday I went to the Turin Bike Pride. It is kind of an organized Critical Mass. It has been pretty COOL! Many folders were there. Also some vintage folders.

That is me while testing Frogs Legs wheels:

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here the rest of the pics:

http://bicireclinateitalia.forumfree...entry400384120

Pootled in Monza
 

I had the chance to ride my portable bicycle in Monza. We have been there with the Human Power Club of Italy.

It turned out to be better then expected to basically run a Time Trial inside the Monza track. I did a 11'36" (with an average speed of 29.96 kmh) which is about a tenth of the F1 record of that track.

This event has the potential to grow. Hopefully next years we are going to get more people to show up and ride with us.

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So utterly utterly coolsome.

Not sure if a time trial around a race track counts as a "pootle", but great post anyway!

Few people were pootling around. Like these people:

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I went all what I had for one hour. In retrospective, going all what you have fits well with that place. Next year, I might show up with skinsuit, shaved legs, ....

My wife and I got a chance to go to Idaho and Montana this summer so we dusted off our Downtube VIIIH's and hit the pootle trail!

There are lots of bike trails in northern Idaho, but one of the most interesting is the Route of the Hiawatha, a rails to trails conversion on the Idaho/Montana border.
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The trail begins in Montana with a ride though a 8771 foot/2674 meter long tunnel. The tunnel is cold, wet and dark. There is not general lighting in the tunnel, and every thousand feet or so there is a flashing orange light. We had lights on our handlebars and helmets and it was still dark!
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The tunnel is also pretty cold, about 40 degrees F or 4 degrees C all year round. We could have used more clothing and full-finger gloves. Note that you can't even see the tunnel floor or walls in this pix. Half-way through the tunnel we crossed into Idaho.
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The road surface is good, hard packed rock for the most part. Some muddy bits and some rougher parts, none of it paved. This next tunnel allows motor vehicle traffic as well as bikes and pedestrians so it could be very crowded in there. Lucky for us the shuttle bus was parked outside the other end of the tunnel.
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The trail also has a bunch of trestles. You can see one in the distance in the next two pictures.
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Here is a closeup of the trestle.
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The trestles are quite high, but have wide surfaces and railings so they feel quite safe. Not as spectacular as the Kettle Valley RR trail north of us in British Columbia, but still fun to ride.
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Trestles are closed to motorized vehicles which is a good thing...
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For maps and more info on the Route of the Hiawatha there are several websites including this one...
http://friendsofcdatrails.org/Hiawatha/index.html


To Be Continued...

More pootles...

Next pootle took place in Missoula, Montana, home of the University of Montana. Anyone care to guess what their mascot is?
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Lucky for us that was the only grizzley we saw. The local newspaper had stories about a man who had his ear chewed off by a bear and a woman who went to hospital after hitting a elk while riding her bicycle. It's a rough town...

The Clark Fork river runs though town and there are bike paths on both sides of it. This part is paved.
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There are also unpaved portions like this that make you wish you had bigger tires and full suspension, but the DT VIIIs worked pretty well. They have now been in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia. Folders are a great option for car trips.
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There are also at least two car-free bridges across the river.
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All and all a good time was had by all!

Doesnt the famous "Book of Pootle Rules" state the top speed must not exceed 12mph?:innocent:

^^^^

Good heavens! A miscreant!

My first Pootle
 

So now that I had a respectable bike, it was time to go for a Pootle, I kept it short but wanted to see how the bike handled. I must say it is quite a bit more zippy than I had thought it would be and handled a bit of very mild singletrack with no issues. Even handled crossing some long grass quite well when the trail turned to a mess of broken glass.

I stopped for a bit of coffee downtown then we were off.

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Past my current place of employment, a lovely, small, high end restaurant.

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Down the hill to the parks and river bank, that's my Farmer's Market straight ahead.

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Not this time, but soon. That trail heads 30 miles north then connects to a couple hundred miles of linked trails.

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Sharing the view of the Tridge with a lovely couple. This is the meeting of two rivers, the "Tridge" connects three sets of Parks along the river's edges.

I love the last photo! Too cute!

Continuing on
 

Now time to see some new sights.

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Stopped in the middle for the view.

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As folded as my baby gets.

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Svelte profile

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View down river

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I had never been down this trail, leads behind the local disc golf course along the river bank.

Down the Trail
 

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Hanging out on an old bridge footing.

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obstruction ahead

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Low Bridge!

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YIKES! that was a bit scary on a new bike with twitchy handling.

Keeping on
 

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Looking up river. After this the trail turned into a mess of broken beer bottles and other things. This is evidently the local "party spot" for the young folk. I jumped up onto the Disc Golf course and cut across a couple fairways to the nearest road.

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Smooth sailing now, I may have broken the Pootle speed limit on this stretch.

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Stopped at hole 18 of the disc golf course to talk to some folk. Not playing today but we will be down here quite a bit.

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Back over the Tridge, the area down here is a cycling hotspot with the parks and rail trail. You can see several folk getting ready for a ride in the background and this is a weekday after noon, on weekends and evenings it is crazy with bikes.

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Stopped at my bikes birthplace to say hi, and express my contentment with my new ride.

Last little bit
 

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Local Veterans Memorial

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City Hall

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My town has many nice little "pocket parks" very impressive sculpture in this one.

All in all a very nice ride, only about 3 miles total, but I was happy with the little guys performance. It's not quite a "real" folder, but it solves my issue of hauling it up and down my stairs. I was pleasantly surprised at the overall peppiness of the bike.

Last Saturday, my friend and I went for a ride around Richmond (a suburb of Vancouver) in British Columbia.

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This is the view looking into Vancouver from mid span on the new bicycle & pedestrian bridge which is slung underneath the rapid transit train called the CanadaLine.


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This is my buddy approaching from the Richmond side. Note th high railings and special extra traction surface.


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The ubiquitous sign of capitalism. Note the Dahon Helios in the background.

Great! Good to see that people are still pootling.

lexm's quasi-lomorific urban pootling adventure: Chicago style, part I
 

Living just off Chicago's Magnificent Mile, my pootling has a decidedly urban flavor. And what could be more flavorfully urban than the Billy Goat Tavern, on Hubbard right by Lower Michigan Avenue? Immortalized by John Belushi on the original Saturday Night Live, the Billy Goat is quite real - "No fries! Cheeps!" - and a traditional journo-hangout.
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Turning right on Lower Michigan, I approach the lower span of the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The bridge crosses the Chicago River, which separates the River North neighborhood (where I live) from The Loop.
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Not wanting my teeth rattled out of my head by the metal grate bridge, I opt for the sidewalk adjacent. No one (except lost tourists and vagrants) walks here, so it's a nice place to view the river (facing west)...
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...and the Wrigley Building (Chicago is!).
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Safely across the river, I now take to the pedestrian walkway the city laughably insists is also a bike path. Looking over my lovely new Brompton's handlebars, we see the Wrigley Building (Chicago is!) and (to its right) the Tribune Tower.
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Riding slowly, I pass under the Michigan Avenue Bridge, on the south bank of the Chicago River.
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Here are gathered many people waiting to board the Chicago Architectural Foundation's tour boat. The architectural boat tour is a gem. It comes in at about 90 minutes, they hit dozens of major landmarks, and there's a bar on the lower deck. If they could just find a place to put these people between when they buy their tickets and when they board the boat, it'd be perfect.
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I continue my quasi-lomorific ways: What are those eye-poppingly yellow shoes I'm wearing? Old school Onitsuka Tigers.
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Bad bikes for rent - especially the universally hated quadricycle.
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At last clear of the crowds, I approach the Lake Shore Drive underpass.
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What's on the other side? Find out in lexm's quasi-lomorific urban pootling adventure: Chicago style, part II.

lexm's quasi-lomorific urban pootling adventure: Chicago style, part II
 

When we left our story, Brompton and I had crossed the Chicago River and dodged pedestrians, quadricycles, and the odd wine bar along the south bank of the river. We were approaching Lake Shore Drive when the ten photograph limit kicked in.

Crossing under Lake Shore Drive, Brompton and I turn south to find boats in the harbor and a bike path.
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Chicago's lakefront bike path offers urban cityscapes - made all the more attractive when framed by a parked Brompton. The tall one on the left is the Sears Tower. The seemingly taller one on the right is one of the South Loop's newer luxury highrise condo buildings. (It only seems taller because it's closer.)
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Note the footpath on the water and the bike path about thirty feet away, with a stretch of grass in between. The inability of Chicagoans and tourists to respect this easy-to-understand division of thoroughfare is the most maddening thing about the lakefront. (Note also that although I photographed my Brompton on the footpath, I didn't ride it there.)

The Buckingham Fountain, as viewed from the segment of bike path that tracks Lake Shore Drive:
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Those of you who recall the opening sequence of the Fox situation comedy Married, With Children are doubtless getting misty-eyed.

My inner Sir Mix-a-Lot is stirred from his slumbers:

You can do side bends or sit ups
But please don't lose that butt!
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The woman on the left has a pleasing thickness and motion in her ocean. (I'll forgive her running on the bike path.)

After I regain my composure, Brompton and I pass said motion and said ocean and speed down a hill. We encounter the Shedd Aquarium:
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Out on a point, the Shedd Aquarium offers dazzling views of the city. The lakefront bike path goes around the perimeter of the Shedd, mere inches from the water, affording photo-ops like this one:
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After crossing under a bridge going to the Adler Planetarium, Brompton and I climb a small hill. At the top of this hill we meet Soldier Field:
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Home of the NFL Bears, those Monsters of the Midway, Soldier Field was once a stately, dignified stadium in the old style. Then the crowd that likes to sell naming rights to every square inch of anything sports-related got ahold of it. The original plan was to raze the whole thing and build a gleaming, sterile, modern edifice that would have borne a name like SoldToTheHighestBidder.com Stadium. However, veterans groups demanded that a stadium dedicated originally to the fallen maintain the name Soldier Field. Meanwhile, architectural preservationists demanded that Soldier Field's signature columns make no date with the wrecking ball. In a deal that could only have been brokered by the Daley Machine, the name and the columns stayed. The rest was razed and the architects designed an even uglier, larger, modern stadium that would fit within the bounds of the old columns and then spill over once it had cleared their height. My wife calls the result The Toilet Bowl.

Inner Sir Mix-a-Lot intervenes again:

Give me a sista-I-can't-resist-her
Red beans and rice didn't miss her!
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The one on the right more fits the lyrics, but either will do for my Inner Sir Mix-a-Lot.

Past McCormick Place, Chicago's convention center, I tire. Brompton waits patiently as I take on water and take a photograph:
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What will happen when we turn back north? Find out in lexm's quasi-lomorific urban pootling adventure: Chicago style, part III!

Wow - At long last the sun came out today! To celebrate, I cut out of work early and took the new Carryme out for a trial spin around Yokohama.

First stop - Sakuragicho Station , a view of Landmark Tower and a quick cup of coffee at "Bubby`s".

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Can`t pootle past the old "Nippon Maru" without snapping a shot.

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Now down to the waterfront and the Pacifico Hotel and Convention Center where the APEC economic summit will soon be held. WooHoo! A few more photos taken in the area quickly attract attention from some hyper diligent police officers, so I vamoose over to Aka Renga AKA Red Brick Warehouse.

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Next I enjoyed the lovely harbor views at Zo no Hana Park (Elephant`s Nose Park) -

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Finally, a shot of the Carryme next to the Yokohama Archives of History. This building was built on the site where, in 1854, Commodore Perry and representatives of the Tokugawa shogunate, signed the treaty which ended Japan`s 200 years of seclusion.

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Spring (almost) ride around Marquette Michigan USA on the sunny southern shore of Lake Superior. It was darn near 40 degrees F today so I went for a short spin on my R20 with the new shiney bits in place.

Here's the gate to the community garden. My plot still has a foot of snow on it. No weeding yet!
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Upgrades include SA 8 speed hub, Origin8 crankset, Un72 bottom bracket and MKS Lambda pedals

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You can sell your blood here and use the money to buy some Phil Wood Tenacious Oil.
And you thought no blood for oil was a good idea.....
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Here is the world's largest wooden dome. They covered it in a rubber membrane so everyone calls it the con-dome.
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Still easier to walk than swim out to picnic rocks
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Not quite beach weather yet but you can keep your beer cold.
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I put the chainguard back on after the ride. I needed to add some plumber's tape to the front mount because the rear sproket is bigger.
I know my bike looks dirty but it was all shined up with 2 coats of wax before I started.
cheers!