Show your 2013 summer adventures (picture thread)

[rebeccaC]

Thanks Emily!! When I clicked on your links they took me to a password protected photobucket page

Shootingstar, those murals are so excellent!!!!

mzone, that looks like a great tour especially with the wonderful water views!!!

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks Emily!! When I clicked on your links they took me to a password protected photobucket page

Password is TeamEstrogen

I put this in the original post, but you must have missed it.

[indysteel]

Emily, so glad you enjoyed your trip. I need to remember to look at your pictures on my home computer. Photobucket is an off-limits site at work.

Rebecca, again, your photos are outstanding!

@mzone, tell me more about the Northwest Tour. I've looked at the TCBA site, but there's not a ton of info available on the routes? It sounds like the rides are hilly? How hilly would you say? How was the support and the camping? Are most of the riders members of TCBA or are there some outsiders as well?

Before getting married, I did a couple of weeklong tours in Tennessee similar to the Northwest Tour and would really like to do something like that again if I can talk my husband into it. I love how little you have to actually worry about on a tour like that. It was surprisingly relaxing.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

[mzone]

Indy, the NW tour has some good climbs on each route. I don't consider myself a good climber by any means, but I was able to struggle up the big ones without getting off and walking (even if i was going 4mph at some points!). If I remember correctly, there were 3 route length options each day, so you could choose your experience.

The campground is nice - they have a pool and a small store and keep things clean. The food was fine. The TCBA folks were great. It's the same club which puts on the DALMAC, so they know what works. I'm not sure what the ratio was of their membership vs other riders, but me and and my friends are not members.

This was my first multi-day tour, and it was nice to have that experience without having to pack up gear each morning and set up camp each night. The ride was opened up to 300 riders this year, and it sold out in 2 days!

[indysteel]

Thanks, mzone. I really like that there are multiple routes each day. We'll have to give it some serious thought!

[cosc]

My husband and I finished up our fourth and last segment of the transamerica this summer. We started in Florence Oregon and ended in Yorktown Virginia. So many wonderful and beautiful experiences. The tough times are quickly dissipating and I'm looking forward to our next tour. We were unsupported so I depended on my dh when the going got rough. I'll try to load a few pics of our trip.Attachment 16562Attachment 16563

First pic in Kansas

Victory Monument pics in Yorktown, Virginia

Bottom pictures: Missouri over the bridge into Kentucky after a small section of Illinois

Rolling Missouri hills

I tried to get these few pics orderly but as you can tell I didn't succeed.

[cosc]

My son and I had a great time on Ragbrai this year. Last year I did it by myself so it was fun to have DS along!

Weather was very nice -mostly in the 80's after last year's 100's.

The day before Des Moines stop it was estimated to have 35,000 bikers on the road.

Ragbrai is indeed a spectacle, to see and experience.

Milage was much lower than last year, so I enjoyed Iowa hills, corn, soybeans, food, bicyclists and Iowa folks more than ever.

Amazing how that many bicyclist can coexist on one road.

Here is a handful of my pictures:

Left to right pictures:

Racks of bikes filled both sides of the street

3 blocks solid with bicyclist as they came into my favorite town -Pella

We took our pictures with the Dutch girls in Pella

Dutch windmill in Pella

Giant bike in Fairfield