genejockey 

After my bike-buying frenzy in 2020-2021, I'm sure y'all thought I would just keep going. But no! Here I am with 10 bikes (well, NINE bike, 3 frames, 2 forks, and a box of parts), and I feel only mild interest in a new bike. I watched a couple videos, primarily Cam Nichols and Jourdain Coleman, on cheap but high quality Chinese carbon frames, and that provoked a brief flurry of interest. Aero frame, probably build it up with something Di2, carbon wheels and disc brakes. I priced it all out and it would come to >$3500.

Then I thought, "Why? What for?" Racing? I don't do racing. Impressing the guys on the group ride? I don't do group rides. Going faster? The biggest thing slowing me down is my climbing speed, and chicken-**** descending, and the first is a function of mass and the second a lack of practice, and anxiety. A fancy new aero bike wouldn't fix either of those.

I just want to ride what I've already got. Dunno. Maybe I'm cured.

terrymorse 

Just another day in sunny Northern California:



When it starts raining frogs, I am out of here.

rjones28 

So, yes.

bampilot06

I hear ya, Price was too good. Did I need a rim brake version of my emonda? No. But now that I have 2 identical bikes, almost identical, I can do something crazy with one . Maybe build it to be super light, or super aggressive or TT i don’t know. I won’t sell it, maybe just make it a rain bike, maybe put the 105 10 spd on the el diablo. I don’t know.

bampilot06

He is asking if I bought the New 2023 madone . I think.

genejockey 

Look on the bright side - next Fire Season, when we can't ride outside without risking lung damage, we'll be longing for these rainy days!

genejockey 

Since you race, maybe keep the two identical bikes pretty much identical, so if you're doing a crit somewhere, doing multiple races, you have an identical substitute bike if you have a mechanical?

Mojo31

That's what I was asking.

I just can't keep up with you!

terrymorse 

Let's hope we get through another year without choking smoke.

I do look forward every year, with the hills baked to a dusty gray for months, for the first cloud sighting. I guess we humans like change.

rjones28 

Map of the day. Following the Black Soldiers who Biked Across America (Video) - BIKEPACKING.com

abshipp 

Went on a MTB ride last night expecting to end after dark, so on my lunch break I grabbed a helmet mount for my light. Was a really cool experience, especially when I caught up to the group I was planning on riding with but got delayed on my way to the start. Having a train of 7 riders really lights up the woods well Also was a very fun to have such a clear illustration of how you end up riding where you are looking. Just point the light where you want to go and you'll naturally follow it.

abshipp 

As for the reason I was delayed, I'm certainly not upset because I was held up accepting the new position within the company that I interviewed for a bit ago

Velo Vol 

Brush burning activity this morning.

One wayward spark sets half of California ablaze, but our piles of fallen branches, etc., that have been laying around for months wouldn't completely burn.

LesterOfPuppets

A bobcat has figured out doggy doors, once he tells all his buddies it's only a matter of time 'til bobcats will own all the dog beds!

Velo Vol 

You ever yearn for your homeland?
Pics of high and low tide?

rjones28 

Makes me think of this.

datlas 

We had a good midweek “Usual Suspects” ride. It was chilly and windy, but the sunshine and camaraderie made it a good ride. We had 11 hardy riders today.

Mojo31

Yep, preserving the air quality in Tennessee.

gnome

I'm living in my homeland. We moved to Aus when I was 10 and back to the better country when I was 13.

mschwett 

i have to say, it feels like these warnings are really over the top these days. it's rain. yes - there have been downed trees and mudslides... but either it hasn't been as extreme in SF and the immediate environs around or the weather people have seriously lowered their threshold for hazard. in most parts of the country, this would just be a wednesday any day of the year.

i rode in the rain once this season, maybe twice. hasn't been hard to hit 3-5 rides a week.

Velo Vol 

terrymorse 

I have gotten rained on, at least a little bit, on several rides recently. Only once did I decide to take shelter in a Starbucks while the worst of it came down (riding a "never far from coffee" route helps). We do get these cloudbursts that are pretty wild, but they are short in duration.

If you can time your ride start, it's easier to stay away from the worst rain. It looks like the rain is pretty much done for today, so it's one more day not on the trainer.

badger1

Not great ones, but a low(ish) tide from our place:

badger1

… and a high(ish) one. When we get a really high tide, that ridge in the mid-ground is completely submerged. Foreground is about 10 feet or so below where I'm standing.

LesterOfPuppets