seeker333

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/u...t-big-sur.html

alan s 

I can only imagine the look of disappointment when a customer came in the door, and asked for a free refill of water.

pdlamb

Was that a Surly Cross Check?

alan s 

Looks like a 4130 expedition bike, for sure.

LeeG

Looks like an LHT

seeker333

It's a 2014/2015 Disc Trucker.

Cyclist0094

If it was carbon fiber he wouldn't have needed that rock to prop it up, It would have just hovered there.

valygrl

Is that your bike?

seeker333

no, I have one but not mine

LeeG

If it was graphene you couldn't see it!

Cyclist0108

I just got back from cycling south from the collapsed bridge. The highway is almost devoid of cars. It was a true delight. I tried to spend as much money as reasonable in Lucia and at a Deli near the trail. Pushing/carrying the bike up that trial was very difficult, but doable. The ride after that made the ordeal more than worth it.

Oh, and I have a far better photo than anything in the NYT article. I will post it as soon as I have a bit more energy to write it up. (I just got back home a couple of hours ago.)

trailangel

^^nice!

Cyclist0108

The best part is the California Condors are enjoying the car-free lifestyle. (OK, there are some cars, but that helps provide the food ...)




Edit: I just found Beakboy's on-line bio on mycondor.org !

https://mycondor.org/condorprofiles/condor168.html

DropBarFan

Good grief, the condors are pretty efficient scavengers. Nice for bikers to have car-free ride on the road but think of the folks who rely on motor tourist business? Lengthy road reconstruction just points to how bad US has gotten at maintaining/building infrastructure. BTW today I was driving & traffic was stopped for big geese slowly walking across the street.

Cyclist0108

@DropBarFan : The folks that are relying on the tourist business are really getting hammered. Someone did however come up with the idea of renting out motorized fat bikes, so there were bunches of them on the road. (Those were most of the cyclists I saw. A few touri.)

Although I agree with you on infrastructure maintenance, this really is fundamentally different. They are actively working on the replacement bridge, starting by 7:30 am (I know, it is very near the campsite), and it is scheduled for completion in another month or so (according to that NYT article). The slide just south of Lucia has been cleared, and people are getting in and out that way. There is a massive slide about 10 miles south of that, which I couldn't get anywhere near to, that will probably be blocking the road for another year or more. It will require a complete rebuild of the highway. I lost count of the number of major patches in Highway 1 in the 25 mile stretch between Big Sur and Lucia, and those have all been made drivable, but the highway is still in rough shape. The whole thing probably needs re-paving. These weren't potholes. They were complete all-lane wash-outs. About half of the vehicle traffic I did see were Caltrans vehicles. I honestly think they are doing as much as anyone could reasonably expect.

fietsbob

broken throughput has some advantages, but if your job depends on tourists $$ you are out of a job to pay your bills.

alan s 

What's with the number?

indyfabz

Nice. I was riding in Glacier N.P. back in June. A good portion of Going to the Sun Rd. was still closed to vehicles the morning I started up to Logan Pass from the west side of the park. Not long after I went beyond the vehicle closure point I could tell the bears were digging the lack of traffic because I rode passed two morning fresh piles of scat in the middle of the road and a few other piles that were older. Unfortunately, the N.P.S. opened the road to vehicles before I had even reached the Loop.

indyfabz

Undoubtedly a tag.

ksryder

Just finished a crit.

Cyclist0108

They are critically endangered. The population was down to 22 individuals. Now all are captive-bred and re-introduced. So I guess this guy, being number 68, was hatched about the time the population tripled. I think the tags are also radio transmitters, so they can be tracked by the NSA.

More info at Wikipedia

DropBarFan

Yes, one has to give credit--building a new bridge that quickly is impressive. I've seen a local guy riding e-fat-bike, kinda makes sense since many e-bikes have aluminum frames that can have a harsh ride. Also some folks say PCH esp in Big Sur is a bit challenging w/normal traffic due to minimal shoulder. Back in the 70's half of the Alexandria VA-Mt Vernon Parkway was closed on Sunday mornings to cars, super-popular for local cyclists since the parallel path was (& still is) bumpy & twisty.

Cyclist0108

Here is the bike:



First time I tried something like this on a bike that wasn't explicitly designed for bike touring. Even with the ultralight tent and pad, it was still ultra-heavy. I left most of the stuff in the campsite when I schlepped it up the trail. (I wasn't carrying the stuff on the table, btw.)

spinnaker

No doubt an old player of the Pittsburgh Condors.

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

indyfabz

POTD!