The last 25 photos are from today (Saturday):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7617519339243/

So ... the story ...

I drove to Bentley, found a nice place to park, and set off from there. My route took me along Gull Lake ... a very quiet scenic road which I found a couple years ago, and really like. I reached Hwy 53 and headed for Rimbey, but stopped distracted by the Snowmobile Haven. Who knew something like that existed in my area. I find things like that fascinating so I had to take photos.

I reached Rimbey and found it full of motorcyclists ... I guess they are all coming out of the woodwork too with the good weather. And then I got lost in Rimbey. I had entered it a different way than I usually do, and made a turn where I should have gone straight. Rimbey is, however, very small so it didn't take too long to figure it out. At the outskirts of town I stopped to eat and also to take off my long sleeved top and knee warmers ... it was too warm for them! In fact a temperature thing in Rimbey told me it was 24 degrees.

The road I chose for the way back to the Medicine Hills was one I had not cycled before. In fact I only drove it just the other day. It was beautiful! I took some shots of old houses, duck ponds, and Rimbey from a distance. And then I was into the Medicine Hills where Herbie greeted me ... you all know who Herbie is, right? :D

I topped a hill, and stopped to take some photos of the ski hill, when I heard the unmistakable sound of a cyclist coming to a stop. It was a guy from Rocky Mountain House who was just as surprised as I was at seeing another cyclist on the road. He also cycles long distances ... I think he's a triathlete ... so we chatted briefly and then went our separate ways.

Up another hill and I was able to get a shot of Bentley before beginning the final descent.

And then I picked up some water and snacks ... water for the guys doing my 400K route today, snacks for me. I drove out to find them, chatted with them briefly, gave them some water, and headed home.


Here's a shot of the Snowmobile Heaven :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/...e8a90b.jpg?v=0


EDIT: I forgot to mention ... this ride ended up being a comfortable 80 km.

I ended up with 60 miles today (out and back). It was almost the perfect ride. Winds were calm for the first 25 miles, during the last 5 miles out, a slight breeze of about 7-10MPH picked up. So after the turnaround, I had a nice little breeze at my back for the ride in! It was a good day.

Friday: sorting out a weird noise in my cranks after work, put in 25 miles between taking the whole bottom end apart and putting it back together.

Saturday: Family duties w/kids. A couple of walks, many games of badminton, rode to the grocery store for a big pack of ribs to barbecue.

Sunday: Up early for a solo century ride, two times around Stukel Mountain, which turned out just awesome. Perfect weather, everything worked right, and I stuck my goal of getting in under 6 hours - did 5:44.

I think it was my first long ride this year where I didn't have the allens out trying some different bar position or cleat or saddle adjustment - everything was good and comfy. I was pretty fresh up to the 80 mile mark, and calculating that a fast finish would bring me in under 5 1/2 hours, but that's where I turned up into the Poe Valley for the last set of small climbs and a bad headwind kicked up. By 90 miles I was pretty toasted, and fortunately the first part had gone well as I dragged in pretty slow by the end.

But now I need to find a good climbing route to work out for next month...

Sunday's ride: 75 miles with 2 buddies. Great weather. Good tempo pace. Not hard but not slow.

Tomorrow will be a 18 mile MTB ride, and then grilling afterwards.

180 miles yesterday.

Washed the bike and camped out on the couch watching races today.

Not sure about tomorrow.

Made a 27 mile loop around the area this afternoon. Got rained upon, but still enjoyed the ride.

Looks like spring has sprung up there in the northlands- very scenic pictures. We don't have any snowmobile heavens around here, but have some golf cart purgatories out east of here.

Best 50-mile ride ever for me. Pace was right, nutrition was right. Only problem was a failure to unclip on a short tough hill. The blood washed out of my new shorts just fine.

Monday - who knows?

Sunday's Ride:

Just got in from a 55.6 km bicycle ride out to Sylvan Lake and back. There's no ice on the lake anymore ... I think the last of it melted a few days ago ... and the beach was full of people. There weren't too many people in the water, however. I wonder why not!! :D

I may have to make a trip out there during the week when it's not so busy.

Yesterday we joined some NorCal BFers for a self-supported century. We're on the tandem, there were at one time 15 half-bikes in the group. We rode into the Sierra foothills, new territory for us. Because of my broken wrist and the awkwardness of standing to climb we've avoided a lot of climbing the last 6 weeks. We paid for that. :( Chili Hill got our attention, but good. :eek: My longest ride since my crash 10 weeks ago; so glad we went.

Enjoy the pictures.

This family stopped traffic:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...rDucklings.jpg

Some random trees we rode under:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...lagh/ARBT3.jpg

Sierra Foothils:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...raFoothils.jpg

How I roll these days:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...owIcanride.jpg
Made of ingeniuty + cannibalized aero bars + conduit shaped to fit + nuts and bolts + electrical tape + bar tape + a touch of duct tape. Not real pretty but comfortable and very functional.

The stoker's view:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...tokersView.jpg

Great pics Red Rider! Thanks for sharing! And heal up quick!

I did a solo century yesterday at a brisk but not breakneck pace. Nice to ride out into farm country & smell the lilacs. Unfortunately, the fertilized fields added some spice to the olfactory experience. Enough rolling hills to get about 3000' of gain.

Then did an easy 40 recovery this morning, followed by a nice round of golf! :)

Don't some of you have a long weekend this weekend? Where are you riding today? Are you riding to the beach, to a family BBQ, on an event?

Hey Machka,
I went out to St. Adolph for a quick 50k(a bit past) on saturday, met a teacher who did the Paris-brest-Paris Brevet in 2007.
the floodwaters have finally receded enough to get all the way out red river dr.

Did the teacher give you his/her name?

Dan

I'd guess mid-late 20s. nice fellow.

I don't think I know him, but I know there have been some new riders since I left Winnipeg in 2004. There is a good group of randonneurs there in Manitoba. I miss riding with them.

Sunday, had to do something so I went for a 60km coffee-ride(40 to the coffee place, 20 home) to enjoy the weather. Legs still felt dead, my gluteus minimus were sore beyond description and I averaged 24km/h. Oh well.

Biked 27 miles this morning with a nice break in the middle to watch the local Memorial Day services.

233 miles for the 3 days with 6900 ft of ascent. Perfect weather for just riding around.

110 Saturday, hills, some jamming with the boys. 49 miles Sunday, all jamming with the boys (Nyack Ride). 57 miles today non-jamming with the Freds (they F'd up a simple group ride as usual, don't ask me how they manage this). 216 miles over the weekend.

That doesn't suck. But I do.

A short 40 miler Saturday with 6,500' climbing testing a new crankset. Not much going Sunday or Monday.

I tried to do some intervals Saturday but felt lousy. The weather was terrible, so I hung it up after about 90 minutes. Yesterday I had a lot of work to do, but today I decided to noodle around for a few hours, ride some favorite roads and even explore a little.

I finally tried one of the more challenging climbs around here (Pinewood Reservoir for those familiar with our area). I'd heard some horror stories, but honestly it wasn't bad. It's only about 3 miles at ~8% average gradient with some flat sections and others closer to 12%. There are lots of switchbacks and opportunities to see how far you've come. It was absolutely lovely, despite relatively cool and hazy conditions. The top arrived well before I expected it.

Even for a cautious descender like myself, it is a BLAST coming down! You can see past most corners to check for traffic, and even the tightest bends hold few surprises. And of course, there are those views to enjoy on the way down.

I can't wait to do it on a clear, sunny day when I'm inclined (pun intended) to take my camera.

Only ~60 miles, but still a memorable ride.

Made a little historical loop of Mesquite, Texas, today. 35.4 miles.

The Florence Homestead. Middle of the suburbs on Barnes Bridge Road. First portion of the house built in 1871, enlarged by the 1890's.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4700Proc.jpg


Two graves at Long Creek Cemetery. You occasionally see graves in this area with shells on them. I understand this is an old custom that came from the old south, and originated in Africa. These were preserved because of the concrete, but the shells were usually just placed on the soil mound. The first burial here was in 1855, although it didn't become a regular cemetery for some time after that. These two graves are from 1888 and 1937.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4702Proc.jpg


The Lawrence Homestead, built in 1882. At the bottom right, you can see a mockingbird on the fence. Mockingbirds are common around here, and are the Texas state bird. They're kind of nondescript when sitting here, but have distinctive white patches under their wings that show when they fly.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4713Proc.jpg


The barn and windmill at the Lawrence home:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4708Proc.jpg


Mesquite was founded on the railroad. The original buildings faced the railroad. They then built "Main Street" behind these buildings, and made a town square out that direction, so those original buildings reversed their doors to face Main Street. You can see on the backside of this building that it used to have doors and windows that faced the railroad track, but have been closed off.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4709Proc.jpg


The Galloway home. This was originally up near Gus Thomason and I-30, and the house was moved out to Sunnyvale in a more rural setting. Building started with a 2-room house around 1874 or so, with additions through the years. It is on quite a few acres. It is still lived in, with a front gate out by the road that keeps you from getting too close.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/4716Proc.jpg

Rawhide is one of those rides I love to hate (or hate to love, or something like that). The views are good and it is relatively flat, but the chip seal drives me nuts.

On the plus side, you get to see antelope frequently. On the minus side, you can get winds strong enough to knock you off your bike (or at least, s-pazzy riders like yours truly). :o

Of course, when those winds are at your back, it is a very sweet deal...

Makes me want to travel!!

Monday's ride: 34.4 km

A cruise through a couple industrial parks and a stretch through the country.

53 miles with 5000 feet of climbing today. Nothing too big but it was fun.
However, I fueled it on 6 fig bars. D'oh!
That and I was drenched in a sort of cold downpour while descending. Everything dried out except for my feet. I detest wet feet.

Mountains of Misery on Sunday. 101 miles 100 ft. climbing. Last 3 miles averages 12%.

Today's near-perfect conditions made our 44-miler more enjoyable than usual. That gives us 170 miles in 3 days. This makes me happy.:D

Surprised anyone went out today. I was whining about Saturday, but that seemed to be the best out of the three days.

I encountered something like 20 riders in Golden. 0 on 119. A couple on 72 and more on 93. Maybe 5 in golden gate canyon.
A few others had the same idea.
No time to ride Sat or Sun. ugh