you're making me want to go ride the northern ca. and southern or. coastlinesQuote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
kinship feelings ftw!!!
Printable View
you're making me want to go ride the northern ca. and southern or. coastlinesQuote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
kinship feelings ftw!!!
Here are a couple photos from our laundromat ride! DH carrying the laundry in panniers and rear rack basket and me at the laundromat, plus a bike path we found in town -- sweet. Wish we'd gotten a shot of the young touring cyclists!
Attachment 18055 Attachment 18056 Attachment 18057
Did a hard, but good ride today. We took the route from a metric we did a couple of years ago and changed it, to start at our house, go over to my new office building, where we got a tour, and then head out. So, it was 47 miles, with 2,600 ft. of climbing. I rode the Guru for the first time since maybe last October? I figured I'd better, since next weekend we are going to Portland (Maine) and are doing a guided 25 mile tour on an island and are taking these bikes.
Today's ride was good because it was all local, with several bail out points, none of which I took. There were 4 hard climbs, 2 of which I usually avoid, but have done several times. Good thing was, we got to go down Oak Hill, which is not usually the case. However, I thought we were done with the more difficult climbs after this, and then saw we had to go up Nagog Hill in Acton. There is a cut off point, (this is the part of the ride that was leading us home), but DH stuck to the original route until we had to turn off in a different direction. By this time I was starting to feel a bit out of it, probably should have stopped to eat more, but since we only had like 6 miles left, I soldiered on.
We did this ride at "touring pace," which you can guess at. We took one longer rest stop at mile 20 before most of the climbing, and then split a panini at the Harvard General Store, where we sat outside in the shade and rested.
The most exciting and disturbing thing about this ride is no more than one mile from our house, at the start, we were riding down Main St, when a car was stopped to turn left. The guy then procedded to turn just as DH entered the intersection (a small street). I yelled out and DH had to take evasive action and skid his bike out. He rode after the guy, screaming and swearing, banged on the window, after he saw the guy was about 90 years old. This is exactly what happened to DH when he broke his collarbone, a woman stopped completely, and then went with DH going straight and having the right of way.
Glad he wasn't hurt. Does help to have more than one set of eyes when riding. Since I ride solo, I tend to be uber alert in traffic, always thinking two moves, ahead. Even so, have had my share of close calls. Definitely more risky to ride alone in nasty traffic.
My nasty traffic riding days are behind me, now. Pretty much me, my north woods and very quiet open roads. Already over 500 miles for June and lots of month left to go. Life is good in my north woods.
As the sun rose this morning I was on a peaceful slower paced ride with Alex and two friends. We rode from our friends’ house next to the golden gate park through the park then along the pacific ocean to fort funston. Rode back around lake merced and through city neighborhoods. A little under three hours and we didn’t keep track of the miles…..we just enjoyed being together.
We came to san francisco to walk with hundreds of others this afternoon from the harvey milk plaza through the castro district then through the mission district to a gathering in the streets around the galaria de la raza to honor our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in orlando. The feelings of a quiet beautiful morning ride along the ocean started the day in a way that helped us to see that actively working for peace in our own lives and especially our communities is such a strong and needed paradigm shift from hate, fear and negativity. The benefits of bicycling can be so much more than mere exercise or transportation.
amor y solidaridad
North Woods, I wouldn't have called this a heavy traffic situation at all. Main St. is a 2 lane road, and purely residential at the place this occurred. Yes, cars were going by (speed limit is 35), but not as many as during rush hour, as it was Saturday morning. DH commuted, for years, in heavy traffic, so he is uber alert. I sort of had a feeling something funny was going to happen here, and I slowed a teeny bit, so I was not right behind him. We've had a few weird things happen this week, but it will die down next week, as school is out in Concord on Monday and is already out in surrounding towns. There is a noticeable drop in traffic during the summer, and we see this even on the weekends, because people tend to use the precious summer weekends to go to the beach or mountains. The worst summer thing around here (and it basically starts in March) are the huge number of people training for the PMC out on the roads on bikes on Saturday mornings. I live in a very popular area for cyclists; tons of people come out here from the city to ride, have lunch, ride the hills, and go home. It is annoying, even to me, when they are clogging up narrow country roads to the point that before I moved, I had to alter my route if I was going to the grocery store on Saturday morning. I love seeing how popular riding is, but a lot of these people just have poor riding etiquette.
I get that. I lived in the Chicago area for about seven years, so I know about heavy bicycle traffic. The Chicago area actually has some very good paved and unpaved bike trails, but these are also shared by pedestrians, often with kids. I'd see guys flying by these pedestrians, weaving in and out, no warnings, doing 20 plus mph on their bikes or the usual bicyclist and jogger plugged into an iPod, listening to music and so on, totally tuned out to the environment. Also, being a multicultural area, my usual, "On your left" as I passed didn't always register since English was definitely a second language for a lot of folks. Interesting place to live, for sure and I enjoyed the diversity.
It's all mostly a matter of educating, of course, as to proper etiquette and safety. As for the bicycle traffic, I worked around it as best I could, often riding during the heat of the day when traffic was the lightest. By August, had the trails to myself in the afternoon.
Up here, the biggest danger is some of the older retired folks in their cars who really don't know how to pass a bicyclist, not seeing us, passing too close, honking their horn and so on. By and large, though, I have the roads to myself and that's a good thing, of course. Might see another biker or two in a 20 mile loop, maybe half dozen cars. Still, there are times when I miss my Chicago days and having folks all around. Okay, just miss it a little. :)
Did a little 10.2 mile to the Acton Boxborough Farmer's Market in West Acton, mostly so I could reach 1,000 miles today. I only needed 7 miles to do this, but we go back a different way, that is pleasantly almost all downhill, and a little longer. It is not a huge farmer's market, but very nice. Nice to see how my former community is doing something to bring people out; so many walking and riding there from a 2-5 mile radius. Although I've lived in Concord for almost 11 years, I still don't feel very connected to the community, but it's not a big deal, since it's all close by.
It's definitely hotter and more humid today, so this was fine, since we were out at noon. All we bought were some bagels, as we did not bring an ice pack or the big panniers, just a trunk rack.
I love riding to farmer's markets! There is one nearby (10-11) miles to our current campground, but we didn't want to brave the heavier Saturday traffic to ride there, as there's only one main road that way, and it gets busy. We did ride into town today, though, to visit a Little Free Library so I could exchange a few books (left five and took two; good for keeping the motorhome weight down :D). Oh, and also to ALDI for groceries, which DH carried back in his panniers and rack basket. We have finally figured out that if he carries 40 lbs., we are well-matched in cycling strength. LOL!
Traffic was light on the way there and pretty heavy on the way back. Hot (80s) and sunny but not too humid, for Missouri in the summertime, anyway!
Ended up 27.6 miles at a slow pace -- lots of hills there and back. But a fun and productive ride.
We live in a mixed use neighborhood and the owner of the complex has a food truck rally 4 times a year. I don't mind food truck rally's but really needed a people break so on a "lark" we decided to do an S24O Friday night. Left the shop at 6pm and rode 14 miles. Now 14 miles isn't that far unless it involves over 3,000 feet of elevation gain on a loaded bike! I was experimenting with load so went with heavy in the front and light in the back, I didn't like that for climbing. Notice we stopped at the brewery at the bottom of the climb to grab a growler (which I carried) so once we found a wonderful, isolated spot to hang the hammocks we enjoyed our beer and pre-cooked dinner. Had a beautiful view of Boise as well. Saturday morning we were up with the birds, drank some coffee and then a quick descent back to town. We were home by 9am. Quite a satisfying little "stay-cation" Attachment 18058Attachment 18059Attachment 18060Attachment 18061
Love the view. As I mentioned, before, we lived in Boise for a short time own the late 70s. Loved that dry air and the way the temp would drop in the evening, even on the hottest days. Ah, those wide open spaces. Do miss them.
That sounds like a blast, Sky King -- everything except the 3000' elevation gain, at least! But what a view.
When we did our self-supported tour in upstate NY way back in 2004, we carried more weight in our front panniers, as recommended on various websites. This was a very hilly tour, and I thought the bikes handled much better this way than with more weight on the rear, especially downhill. Heavier in the rear (as we'd tried before) resulted in squirrelier handling in the front end and more shimmy on descents. These were our Bike Fridays with light front ends and 20" tires, so that might have made some difference.
Sky....thinking low trail front loading randonneuring has been around for awhile….my older than me 650 rene herse at home in france handles well with front loading.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky King
For me when touring on my Waterford, when climbing or when descending on a dirt road I actually like more front loading. I mostly rear load on it though for overall quicker steering adjustments when needed on pavement and because of the geometry of the bike....thinking there is a certain amount of just adjusting our riding technique to loads too though.
…..and hammocks ftw :)….have you seen Tentsile?
Emily…yeah certain geometries and tire size can make front loading much better.
Did my favorite oxnard climb on my way home today. The wild geraniums have faded and now wild flowers are filling the other side of the road (lots of cosmos and california poppies) and lemons are ripening on the trees. I talked to the owner of the land when I first found the road to get permission to occasionally ride it. She is a very kind older woman who has also told me wonderful stories about her life growing up in the area. She also gave me permission to take some lemons when they were ready to pick.
Lemon bars tonight ftw!!!!!....:)
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7475/2...beebf54a_z.jpg
https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7414/2...1df3b907_z.jpg
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7419/2...e33809ea_z.jpg
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7440/2...77986476_z.jpg
We don't have lemon trees, up here, but I've been carefully watching some wild blueberry and strawberry patches along a couple my bike routes, waiting for them to ripen. Will trade you some berries for some lemons. :)
Glorious photos, rebecca! And one of my very fave desserts ever. Lucky, lucky you!