Right; here's my pootle. Up at 5:30 this morning for a ride in the countryside, from Southampton out through Totton and Cadnam to Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst, Lymington, Beaulieu, and back home through Eling, taking in some of the most idyllic sights Englandville has to offer.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190007.jpg
Outside my house. The light is lovely at 6 am. That snack-box on my handlebars is not entirely full of snacks. In fact, this morning, it's just got tools and a spare tube - I haven't had any breakfast, and I've only got a couple of cereal bars in my jersey pocket for sustenance. Should burn off some of that fat!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190008.jpg
The view from the bridge over the River Test. On the other side lies all my lovely riding.... Take note of the containers on the right of the image - more of those later.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190009.jpg
And here we are, in the Noo Furrrest (that's New Forest, for those of you who don't speak local)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190010.jpg
No, I didn't ride down there, but I thought it worth a picture.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190011.jpg
Lyndhurst is quaint, pretty, and posh, as evidenced by the Ferrari and Maserati dealership. Me and my bike aren't jealous though, not a bit of it *dribble*
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190012.jpg
At the top of the climb out of Lyndhurst (you seem to climb out of every town and village in the Forest), open road, not much traffic - a nice change from charging through the London rush hour .
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190013.jpg
Pub names round here are fun. This is in Brockenhurst.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190015.jpg
Lymington harbour, in the distance.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190016.jpg
Otters crossing. That's just how we roll...... Riding out of Lymington is a monster hill, not super long, but ludicrously steep, and the site, last year, of my second and most embarrassing clipless fall. I was on an early 80's road bike, lovely and fast, but with very close ratio gearing, and not much granny-business for hill climbing. I hurtled past a rustic looking individual on a mountain bike, started up the hill with a vengeance, and near the top, found myself really struggling. I got unmanageably slow, and decided to clip out and walk, but at that speed, you don't have much time, and my size 11 clodhoppers make it hard work clipping out, so I simply rolled gently into the ditch, which is full of nettles. The kindly Polish gentleman on the MTB asked me if I was ok, as he sailed by....

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190017.jpg
Since everyone like the miniature horses so much earlier in the thread, here are some Wild Horses. They made a token attempt to Drag Me Away, but it wasn't possible.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190018.jpg
As forests go, this one has a lot of moorland. Reminds me of Exmoor, but perhaps that's just the ponies.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190019.jpg
Beaulieu in the morning. Idyllic, or what? By this time I'm 24 miles in, and starting to feel the pace a bit. Time's a wasting though, so I turn it up to Pootle Factor 10, so there are no more photos for the next ten miles or so.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190020.jpg
Eling Church - nearly home.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P6190021.jpg
Crossing the bridge from Eling into Totton. See the containers in this picture? They're the same ones you can see on the extreme right of the second picture of the set. 5 minutes later, I'm home, sweaty, and smelling like a badger, but feeling good about myself!

:bike2:

Mind the horse poo...



New Forest Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest


Brilliant pix, thanks. I know the area quite well, as I used to go over to the Isle of Wight. The Noo Furrest too. Horsey Central. That Maserati dealer in Lyndhurst I know too.

In fact, I'm inspired to get my soggy *ss down there ASAP as I'm moving to Hampshire soon. G/F likes camping there.

Sammy, you done some miles there today, I think. How is the training for the charity ride coming on? Should we sponsor you?

More dang pix of Downtubes. Cripoes!

Thank the Lord I have one on order......:crash:

37 miles this morning. If I do that 3 times, I'll be almost there on one way of my two way big ride! Training is going well, but I need to step it up if I'm to be ready. I think I'm going to do a ride of around this length at least once a week from now on. If you're going to be down this way, drop me a line, and we can go riding. Does the missus ride too?

"Does the missus ride too?"

She's a walker of the 20 mile variety. But she's discovered the joys of riding the silly Hammerhead, and has taken possession. :-) Yes, I'm sure we'll all get together for a folding excursion!

Sounds like fun!

http://i25.tinypic.com/vdlhew.jpg


The Hammerhead meets its distant cousin, a seven-bar gate. Recycled Hammerheads are melted down in a secret factory near Oxford, and made into bucolic utility items.


http://i26.tinypic.com/oistbq.jpg


The Hammerhead recognises more of its distant family, and snuggles up to them.


http://i25.tinypic.com/opn5f5.jpg

Young Holsteins opposite the old Air Force Base, being irradiated with microwaves from the cellphone tower. Yum!



Today's run, part of my attempt to get well after three weeks of being under the weather.

Well, okay, then! Here's my contribution, Part One.


Yesterday I did my summer-time commute out from my NYC office to my "beach house" on Long Island. Had to mow the grass, harvest some lettuce, prepare the house for summer occupation (which starts next week). Now, I had the option to take the 4:30 train from Hunterspoint Ave station which takes me within 4 miles of my house, for a total of 6.3 miles of bicycling. Instead I opted for a 2:25 train from Penn Station, which involves a transfer at Jamaica, and ends at Patchogue; then I have to ride an extra 10 miles or so, or maybe 12 miles if I opt for better scenery and, I figured, would still get me to the house a little earlier than usual, provided I pootled along in a leisurely way.

The problem is I forgot who started this thread. Anyone want to remind us what SNAFU stands for?

Well, the first thing that went wrong is that I missed the connection at Jamaica. I don't know how that happened, sure wasn't my fault (I blame LIRR). So I took the next train to Babylon. I figured, I'll ride from there, it will add a few miles to my ride, but I have a bottle of water, no problem.
It was a local train, a bit slow, so it was about 4:30 when I strapped all my gear onto my Mini and started pedalling.

Then I realized, I should be taking photos. And I realized my rear tire seemed a little squishy. So I stopped. As this photo shows:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/...24c391.jpg?v=0
the bike was heavily loaded, with my briefcase suspended from the seatpost rack, a rack trunk full of who knows what, my fleece jacket (needed for riding on refridgerated train cars) bungied to the top. As you can see, my water bottle fell when I got the pump out, and the unbreakable plastic shattered. I removed (and recycled) the plastic, but left the water where it lay. Call me a litterbug.

Finally on my way, I found myself on roads too busy to allow for one-handed photography. Still, I took a few of architectural interest:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/...1b668d.jpg?v=0
A pretty church
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/...7ab567.jpg?v=0
and a nice old house. Great photography, eh?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/...484ef6.jpg?v=0
Now and then the road crossed an estuary, such as this one.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/...fff95a.jpg?v=0
The 18th century church of St John, Oakdale.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/...ef73f6.jpg?v=0
... another estuary ...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3227/...a95976.jpg?v=0
... and a canal, with homes on both sides, with boats tied up behind the houses.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/...031df6.jpg?v=0
The harbor at Patchogue; finally getting to familiar territory!

To be continued...

And here's Part Two.

I should explain that most of my ride was not particularly scenic. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3007/...b33356.jpg?v=0
This stretch of Montauk Highway was pretty typical. Nice, eh? But at least I didn't have to get off my bike to take the photo.

By the way... I wanted to do a little something to show my appreciation and respect for the distinctly British flavor I have detected in this thread. Oh, excuse me, I meant flavour, so sorry! Therefore I actually stopped, got off my little bicycle and stepped through a hole in a fence to take this photo ...
of ... http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2403/...62c5ee.jpg?v=0
Yes, you knew it, that's the Long Island Rail Road station at Bellport, NY! One of the most British novels of the 20th Century was written not a mile from here! I refer, of course, to Something Fresh, which P. G. Wodehouse wrote one winter at a rented bungalow very near this scenic spot. You have to picture the young Plum standing on the platform, perhaps on a cold February morning in 1915, manuscript under his arm, waiting for a train to take him to The City so he could present it to his agent. I removed my helmet and stared solemnly.

And then I pootled on. I considered making a detour to Remsenburg, where Wodehouse lived out his later years, but I don't know which house was his, and it would have added another ten miles of riding. Another time, perhaps, if you specifically request more lovely Long Island photography. Speaking of which....
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/...c190f5.jpg?v=0
Carman's River, AKA Connecticut River. Note that I stopped for refreshment somewhere along the way, and it's dangling from the back.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2405/...13c92c.jpg?v=0
Artistic shot, looking down from the bridge.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/...b76114.jpg?v=0
Canada geese and a Long Island Rail Road bridge. As I approach destination, I realized, that some dinner might be in order.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/...g?v=1213968726So I stopped at a supermarket, after which I had to mount yet another bag to the bike, this time http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/...g?v=1213968803from the handlebar. I pootled on, eventually reaching
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/...e3c762.jpg?v=0my street!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/...1f997f.jpg?v=0
There's the Mini, the tomato plants, lettuce, onions, and zucchini. Distance covered, 35 miles.

Wow, long ride, and a big load! I'm impressed with how much you get your Mini to lug!

Hurrah! Loved the pic of the scoot in the shopping trolley.

But, and it's only a small but; could you not carry a little more luggage next time?

Excellent!!! Great to see Bellport NY.

In other news, my Mini wants to look like yours when it grows up. As soon as it's off press duty, Big Apples and fenders are in the pipeline.

Excellent. Don't forget to beat it with chains. --Rudi

Brilliant! :thumb:

Great report and writeup, RHM!

I just have one question - Do you really ride with a 6" drop between your saddle and the bars :eek:? You must be either really young or really flexible...

I rode 25 miles and about 1500 ft of climbing today on the Mini. Got to a top speed of 35.9mph on a downhill and ran out of gears to pedal. (Does that disqualify the ride as a Pootle? ;)) I was riding through redwood trees and then along the Pacific Ocean on a beautiful day. Unfortunately didn't have my camera, though. Thought about the missed opportunity to document another Pootle to this gang. Oh well, will have to do another one soon.

Attachment 74457Abandoned graveyard.
Attachment 74451

Attachment 74454

My favorite epitath. . .Perhaps a little bitter?
As you are now
So once was I
As I am now
So you must be
Prepare for death
and follow me
Attachment 74456
R20 didn't want to go in the graveyard.
Attachment 74457

An estuary on the way to Fort Delaware
Attachment 74458

Not all is bucolic. Delaware is known as the chemical capital of the world. I didn't take pictures of the chemical plants, refinery or nuke plant across the river.
Attachment 74459
Three Forts guarding the Delaware River and access to Philadelphia. http://www.threeforts.com/
I rode through Fort DuPont today. Others are accessed by boat.
Attachment 74460
Delaware City was built at the head of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, connecting the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay. Grand plans for Delaware City never came to fruition as the railroads took over just as the canal was finished. Now it is just a quaint backwater town.
Lock from the old canal system. Almost forgot my sunglasses.
Attachment 74463
Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware. Infamous Civil War prison.
Attachment 74464
Some Batteries.
Attachment 74466
Attachment 74467

More Fort Delaware
 

The magazine
Attachment 74468
Gun emplacement. Tough shot with all the trees!

Attachment 74469
View back from the top of the battery.
Attachment 74470
The R20 did some light offroading.
Attachment 74473
It gave it a woody!
Attachment 74472
All along the watch tower.
Attachment 74474
Warning!
Attachment 74471
Wounded. Standing and climbing this small hill caused some frame twisting and this is the result.

Attachment 74475
Attachment 74476
Some unused buildings.
Attachment 74478
Attachment 74479
Attachment 74477

A nice day in the park.

I knew someone from Delaware, once. Great to see the place, and from the saddle of Twenny. How old is that bike, VC? Have you fixed the wound?

A local Pootle.

This is a pootle that begins on the Stevens Creek Trail in the middle of the Santa Clara Valley/Silicon Valley area. A bike trail is being(slowly) built from the hills to the bay along the seasonal creek. It is a pleasant ride with lots of shade and greenery.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181347

The trail is connected to the surrounding areas with various bridges over the creek.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181400

Well, we don't have an Area 51(at least not that we know of!), but we do have Moffet Field which contains the NASA/Ames Research Center. This is one end of the huge wind tunnel there, the largest in the world.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181439

Moffet Field also has Hangar One, built to house dirigibles in the '30s and '40s. This thing covers the area of ten football fields and can even have its own weather inside. Because of its huge, flat, undisturbed space, the TV show Mythbusters has used it for several of its episodes. It can be overwhelming to stand inside of this thing.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181502

Commuter and freight trains(always late at night, it seems) run on these tracks. Some of us will be riding this train to SF next month for the FolderFest. Should be fun!

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181530

Off the trail now - this high tech area has sidewalks that are great for pootling - shady, curvy, inviting and low speed.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181556

This is the only speed indicator I've ever found that actually registered me on my bike. Blazing/pootling along at 10mph, one handed whilst pointing the camera!

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181590

Google is everywhere here. To the best of my knowledge this is the main campus of the Googleplex, but they occupy many buildings in the area. Merely the beginning of their plans for world domination I suppose, one building at a time. Yahooplex, eBayplex and a multitude of others are not too far away.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181626

Cool! I have no idea what these things are, but they sure are interesting. Three wheels, obviously electric, parked in the Google lot. Amazingly enough they have their own recharge stations. Let's see more of this!

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181666

Stevens Creek Trail runs all the way to the Shoreline Recreation Area on the bay. There is an enclosed lagoon of sorts that is used for sailing and windsurfing. A nice spot really. It’s windy so it also used to be known as a kite flying location. But the kites got too big and too high and apparently freaked out the pilots on their approach to the Palo Alto airport which is just upwind from here.

The twin peaks in the distance are part of the canvas roof over the Shoreline Amphitheater. It is built on the site of a former landfill. When first opened there were instances of escaping methane gas being ignited by smokers during the concerts. A personal light show!

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181722

Doesn’t look like much, but this is the southern end of S.F. Bay. On most days you can easily see the hills on the other side, but not today. We’ve had a number of fires and there is a lot of smoke in the air.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181756

Well, from perusing the other posts it appears that an important ingredient for the true pootle is a pic of local quadrupeds. I rode well out of my way to take a shot of some local celebrity hoofers, but they weren’t there! So, what can I do but post the sign that describes them? It sure isn’t the same, but it’ll have to do for now. The claim to fame is that Perry, the smaller of the donkeys, was the inspiration for the character “Donkey” in Shrek. The company that did the animation had their original offices nearby. Full story http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NG7FEKUAB1.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NG7FEKUAB1.DTLhere.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181793

And there is no better way to end a long pootle than a cup of tea, a pastry and a good read at my favorite coffee shop. Just for the record, I spend way too much time(and money) at this place.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181856

It’s great to see other folders around. This guy brought his Tikit inside the coffee shop. He was duly invited to the upcoming FolderFest.

http://gi249.photobucket.com/groups/...g?t=1214181881

So, where to pootle next? Not sure, but I think I hear the S.F. waterfront calling me....

Tiny Delaware, second smallest state in the U.S. Not uncommon to hear "Where's Delaware, is that part of Pennsylvania?" Next week our local club is holding its annual Delaware Double Cross ride. Ride accross Delaware and back again at one of its narrowest points, 14 miles out, 14 miles back. Longer rides are included also.

I've owned the Twenty for about a year. It is a 1972 model. I pulled the chainguard out enough to make the ride home. A better repair awaits.

Nice report, Sahadev! :thumb:

Great to see SF area. I always wondered why I never made it to SF, look at the climate, already! And, in true pootle style, tea and buns are included..

Pleased to see you didn't exceed the 12mph 'Pootle Limit'. :-)

*cough* my average speed was inadvertently higher than the pootle limit. Peak speed on my pootle, 34 mph. Oops.

I made it up to 13 miles on the bike today, after my illness, and was pleased to see the bike pooter had recorded 28 mph peak. Yay! Had to retire for tea and buns mid-trip to bring my average SOG (speed over ground) down to pootle limits.

Yes, I do! This position seems more efficient to me, and of course it's much better aerodynamics. I'm 46, BTW.

Sounds wonderful! Your speed is duly noted as the Mini's top speed. I'll get back to you if I better it (but don't wait up for me, it might not be until tomorrow).

Oh. NOW you tell me. Sir, I cannot ride a bicycle at 12 mph, no matter how hard I try, unless it's on a prolonged incline, and we don't have any of those around here. For me, 15 mph is a leisurely pace. Today I was riding up 8th Ave on my Mini, I was going about 22 mph, and a guy on a yellow Brompton pulled out in front of me. Yes, really, he rode down into the street off the sidewalk into the traffic lane, and I had to slow down to 20, very annoying. And then, before I could pass, he accellerated to 25! I kept up with him for about 15 blocks, but he was still in front of me when a light went red and he got through and I didn't, and I didn't see him again. Whew! I sincerely wish I could let guys like that go by without feeling the need to keep up... but it doesn't seem to be in my character. Perhaps the thing to do is to flip my handlebar right-side-up again, trade in my helmet for a Homburg, and ride like a gentleman... any advice?

"Perhaps the thing to do is to flip my handlebar right-side-up again, trade in my helmet for a Homburg, and ride like a gentleman... any advice?"

I should think a large iron ball with spikes in it, on the end of a piece of motorcycle chain, would take care of any bounders on Bromptons, should they dare to pull out in front of a Pootler going like a giddy kipper in search of buns.

We may have to lobby the UN to elevate the International Pootle Speed Limit, due to popular demand and the need to avoid wack-a-doo Bromptonauts... Or add a class of Competitive Pootling, leaving the Touring Pootle Class limit at 12 mph.

Heaven knows what we can do if a Bromptonaut posts a Pootle.

whats the meaning of this term 'pootle'?
is it just farting around on the bike with too much time and boredom and using the bike for complete, no-holds-barred recreation?

Sometimes, you just gotta go back to the first post in a thread... I should have, before I thought I could do it:
while swinging one of those iron ball with spikes and chain doodads, doubtless sold in quantity on ebay....

Reaching speeds above 12mph is actually called 'Velocitating'
:speedy: