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Thread: September rides

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394

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    Well, I am not giving up my 700X25 Silque an time soon! It's the most awesome bike I've had. I also have 700X25s on my Guru, which used to be more of a workhorse bike for me, when my other bike had 23s. It has one lower gear and a rack, but not really better on the dirt. I've ridden the Guru only 3 times this season, as I tend to bring my clothes to work on the days I drive, and just carry a little sack pack and ride the Trek. The Guru feels smooth as only titanium can, once riding, but there is something about the geometry that that feels awkward when I start off. This was a totally custom bike and I feel terrible it's never ridden, but maybe in the fall, I will ride it more. My choice is going to be between a cross/dedicated gravel type bike, of which there are hardly any that will fit me and a mountain bike. I had a really nice full suspension Norco mountain bike, but it was certainly too big for me, at 15 inches. I really need a 13 inches. There are still 26" WSD mountain bikes that come in extra small, but I am not going to spend what I spent before. Well, I have time to dream.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Boise Idaho
    Posts
    1,162
    Kicked off the month with a fun 3 day trip. We had a loose plan to reach an area in the Jarbidge Desert called the Arch. We picked our route thinking it was feasible as long as the "roads" that show on the map were there... HA. Missed a major turn on day one (hate to confess it was probably my fault as I was in front as we climbed out of the Bruneau Canyon) Actually in hindsight it was not a bad thing as we would have been even more challenged with finding water. Saturday night found us camped by Dead Horse Spring. Not much water but it wasn't covered in scum, nor was it muddy. We double filtered and crossed our fingers. Some Antelope came down in the morning to drink and they all seemed healthy . Continuing off course, Sunday we found an intersection with an actual sign. We could see a few trees and bushes so we rode to that area and hiked in, hoping for water in the creek - no such luck. We opted to backtrack about a mile to an old, fallen down ranch outpost. This time there really was a dead horse in the corral - Yikes. There was water pooled in the stream bed so again we double filtered and crossed our fingers. Glad we stopped because that was the last water we saw until we recrossed the river on Monday. Late Sunday afternoon found us battling tumbleweeds and in wander/wonder mode - as in where the heck are we anyway! Off in the distance I see 3 ATV's, usually I cringe at the sight but the desert spirits were looking out for us as the ATV's were on the "road" we needed to get back to the truck without having to retrace our steps. We have decided to invest in spot tracker, this part of the desert is so remote it would be a challenge for someone to find us if something went wrong. Happy to say my Surly ECR performed the best. I have gotten really comfortable with the handling and trusting the bike on descents. The Bike Hermit did a blog post on our website Here are a couple photos Click image for larger version. 

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    Sky King
    ____________________
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    Surly ECR "Eazi"
    Empowering the Bicycle Traveler
    biketouringnews.com

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Geez, Sky King, I would have been freaking out.
    Didn't do the group ride today, as it was raining at the time I had to leave (it was along the coast on the north shore, about anhour away), both at home and at the ride start, with mist and spot showers predicted for the rest of the day. The ride was not cancelled, but I doubt it would have been a good day to ride by the ocean. We've had so much sun and heat, I am enjoying the damp, cloudiness. I walked to the gym, did the power lifting class i missed on Labor Day, and walked home, a total of 3 miles. I may commute tomorrow, will definitely ride Friday. Saturday is the Ghost Bike Memorial service, so we are riding about 5 miles to a group meeting place, about a mile to the service, and then not sure what afterwards. Then we are driving out to Amherst, staying at our friends' and doing a 50 mile charity ride on Sunday.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  4. #19
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Wow, Sky, me getting "turned around" back in the woods on our county land seems like small potatoes compared to your ride in the desert. Still, it has convinced me that I should be using a GPS, riding solo like I do. Didn't even know there was such a thing as a Spot Tracker, but sounds like a great idea for me, too.

    Would love to send some rain to anyone who needs some. Had 3" in a few hours, yesterday, and much of my MTB trails look more like a lake.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    Quote Originally Posted by Sky King View Post
    Kicked off the month with a fun 3 day trip. We had a loose plan to reach an area in the Jarbidge Desert called the Arch. We picked our route thinking it was feasible as long as the "roads" that show on the map were there... HA. Missed a major turn on day one (hate to confess it was probably my fault as I was in front as we climbed out of the Bruneau Canyon) Actually in hindsight it was not a bad thing as we would have been even more challenged with finding water. Saturday night found us camped by Dead Horse Spring. Not much water but it wasn't covered in scum, nor was it muddy. We double filtered and crossed our fingers. Some Antelope came down in the morning to drink and they all seemed healthy . Continuing off course, Sunday we found an intersection with an actual sign. We could see a few trees and bushes so we rode to that area and hiked in, hoping for water in the creek - no such luck. We opted to backtrack about a mile to an old, fallen down ranch outpost. This time there really was a dead horse in the corral - Yikes. There was water pooled in the stream bed so again we double filtered and crossed our fingers. Glad we stopped because that was the last water we saw until we recrossed the river on Monday. Late Sunday afternoon found us battling tumbleweeds and in wander/wonder mode - as in where the heck are we anyway! Off in the distance I see 3 ATV's, usually I cringe at the sight but the desert spirits were looking out for us as the ATV's were on the "road" we needed to get back to the truck without having to retrace our steps. We have decided to invest in spot tracker, this part of the desert is so remote it would be a challenge for someone to find us if something went wrong. Happy to say my Surly ECR performed the best. I have gotten really comfortable with the handling and trusting the bike on descents. The Bike Hermit did a blog post on our website Here are a couple photos Click image for larger version. 

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    I have been to the town of Jarbidge, which had a year-round population of 11 at the time, and I doubt it has grown in the past few years. A group of us drove there from Elko in two vehicles, one of which kept breaking down. The map tells me you were north of there, but I imagine it's all pretty similar. I'm glad you made it out safely! It is worlds away from the crowded cities and suburbs that many of us are used to.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Columbus, IN
    Posts
    216
    Quote Originally Posted by Sky King View Post
    We have decided to invest in spot tracker, this part of the desert is so remote it would be a challenge for someone to find us if something went wrong. Happy to say my Surly ECR performed the best.
    I own a spot that I use when hiking/hanging out around Moab, and I will take it on long bike rides in Southern Indiana where cell phone reception might be spotty. I've owned mine for 4 years now, and never needed it but it is reassuring to look at the blinking lights knowing its transmitting somewhere when I send a message (mine you can only send a preprogrammed message, but I do that to save GPS coordinates).

    I've had one friend (not bikers) use theirs for rescue when they got lost and had no water and then it's worth every single penny. I also pay for the optional (its not very expensive) insurance where they'll pay for the charge of emergency services if you're billed for them.

    The device and the annual service is totally worth the peace of mind.

    North Woods Gal - I think they have new spot devices that may communicate with your phone, I'm not sure, but I have an older device that doesn't help me get home, but can signal that I need help and can send signals to family about where I'm located. I also use my Garmin Edge 800 and it's helped me find my way home when I've taken a wrong turn, but I didn't quite need to call for help yet :-)

  7. #22
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Thanks' girls.

    Speaking of GPS units, what is everyone using? I'm not digitally challenged, but I don't want anything complicated and loaded with options I won't use. Just need something to track my movements, save way points and so on. Just hate that "I'm lost" feeling. Very rewarding when I come out on the good end of things, but really takes away from enjoying my ride. Thanks.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    4,516
    The Wahoo Elemnt was recommended to me recently. Curious to hear what others have to say!
    Most days in life don't stand out, But life's about those days that will...

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I finally rode today, but a number of things conspired to make me wait until after lunch, when it was 88 degrees and humid. I am happy with the 12 miles I did, but it made me realize how much I hate the heat, and humidity even more. The most exciting thing that happened is that they are filming a movie on the trail DH and I hike on, about a mile from my house, and we saw all of the signs, pointing the crew down the dirt road to get there.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  10. #25
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    I rode almost 20 miles after work last night. Was hoping to ride Wednesday but we had thunderstorms so I had to postpone to Thursday. It was hot, I was dripping sweat at the end, but I'll take a September heat wave over winter cold any day.

    Last Saturday I did 41 miles in Virginia, in a rural area around Warrenton. It was a nice route, some roads I'd ridden before and some that were new to me. The ride leader says he likes to do variations of it in the winter, so I'll keep an eye out from them. Afterwards we had lunch near the ride start. There's a cluster of buildings on land that was purchased by federal government back around WWII and used by cryptographers (or something like that), and now they're a brew pub, small cafe, produce market and museum about the Cold War. We got food from the cafe and brought it to the brew pub for a nice post-ride lunch.

    Then on Monday our bike club had our annual century ride. I helped at a couple of rest stops, taking leftovers from one that closed early to another one that was open later, then driving to a third stop to help out until it closed, then driving back to the ride start by way of the final rest stop while picking up route-marking signs along the way. It was a long day but perfect weather and lots of fun. We did run out of food at one rest stop, and at the post-ride picnic were already talking about how to keep that from happening in the future. The ride is in an area that is not close to any grocery stores so it's not easy to get things on the fly when you start to run out.

    Tomorrow is one of my favorite rides of the year, the Civil War Century. I'm doing the metric as usual. I'll be riding with someone from work and will be on the lookout for some bike club friends who will be doing a longer route. The food is always great at this ride, fresh fruit from local orchards and ice cream from a local dairy. I'm looking forward to it.

    - Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
    - Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
    - Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle

    Gone but not forgotten:
    - Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
    - Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    I am getting a bit nervous about going to the ghost bike memorial service tomorrow. I did not know the man that was killed, but feel compelled to join the huge group of cyclists that are attending. This accident occured just about 5 miles from where I live. Glad I will be surrounded by people I know.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

  12. #27
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    north woods of Wisconsin
    Posts
    1,110
    Crankin, by all means go if you feel you should. Can't imagine there would be any problems with that many people. No guarantee, of course, but seems unlikely.

    As for me, doing 4 or 5 hours of heavy physical labor on the trails around our house and then finish the day with about hour of riding on them. That usually nets me about a humble 5 miles, but I'd estimate about 70% as being up and down with a fair number of steeps and humps that require me to stand on the pedals to crest, plus the trail is rough enough to require standing on the pedals to absorb the shock or risk having my teeth shake loose. Lots of quick braking and hard accelerating. The see saw ride, tight turns, tricky spots and hills take their toll. Very physical type of riding. Has me wheezing and panting for air when I push hard. Very few catch my breath kind of spots along the way. In other words, typical mountain biking for our area.

    Hope to work up to two hour workouts when I'm done with the trail work. Lots of work for sure, but the trails will be doing double duty for my cross country skiing in winter.
    Last edited by north woods gal; 09-09-2016 at 05:02 PM.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Traveling Nomad
    Posts
    6,763
    Yesterday we had the pleasure of riding the historic Union Pacific rail-trail in Utah. We started in Coalville, where we were staying in an RV park, rode north to Park City, rode around the city, had ice cream, and rode back. The trail is mostly gravel, so we took our mountain bikes. The last three miles into Park City are paved. The trail is a very gradual climb into Park City, and PC itself is hilly. The great thing is that once you're there, you know you have mostly downhill on the way back. We did have to contend with northwest winds over 20 mph sustained, and at times they were in our face or even at our sides and tough, but on the way back, we flew through a long ENE section, downhill, which was most enjoyable!

    The day was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and 50s through 70s. Low humidity, of course, and even some gorgeous early fall foliage. Hardly anyone else on the trail on a weekday. 47 miles total.

    Attachment 18150 Attachment 18151 Attachment 18152
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  14. #29
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    532
    Wonderful photos of your ride, Emily! That is a nice trail, especially starting & ending in Coalville to catch the downhill coming back. It's so nice to see all the signs of fall.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Concord, MA
    Posts
    13,394
    Looks beautiful, Emily. Another place I haven't seen.
    North Woods, I am not nervous about going to the service because of anything to do with the people or the fact there will be tons of cyclists. I am just worried I will be too emotional. We have a hilly ride in Amherst, MA area tomorrow, so right now I am trying to decide if we should just ride home after the ceremony, or ride into town for Ag Day/farmer's market, or over to our former town, where they are also having an ag fair we never got to during the years we lived there. I don't want to do too much, as it's hilly where we will be riding tomorrow, and I have never ridden in that area, so there's a bit of unknown nervousness, along with weather forecast that is kind of iffy. But, it's a charity ride, we paid for it, so we are going, even if it rains.
    2015 Trek Silque SSL
    Specialized Oura

    2011 Guru Praemio
    Specialized Oura
    2017 Specialized Ariel Sport

 

 

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