March In Like a Lion Rides

[north woods gal]

Come to think of it, Emily, I think riding a cruiser might be fun in a retro kind of way. Would bring back memories for me, for sure. Okay, okay, I'm not going to buy another bike, at least not right, now.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, I have a friend who travels out of the country a lot, to do research for her job and/or doctorate. If she's going to be someplace for a while, she will buy a bike there for transportation and then give it away when she's done with it. Currently she's in Brazil for almost a year so the bike she bought is for fun as well as getting around. Sometimes buying a temporary bike is a great solution.

Yes, we did that in Mexico. People are always coming and going in Playa del Carmen, so used bikes are easy to sell (or give away). We were able to sell both our cruiser bikes (that we bought new when we first arrived) very quickly there. Of course we sold them for much less than we paid, but considering rental prices, the six months we got out of them was a deal, and they were inexpensive to begin with by our typical standards.

[emily_in_nc]

Come to think of it, Emily, I think riding a cruiser might be fun in a retro kind of way. Would bring back memories for me, for sure. Okay, okay, I'm not going to buy another bike, at least not right, now.

Yes, my 83-year old mother even said that it made her smile to see my photos and that that was the only type of bike she'd ever ridden. She wished she had gotten to ride one as an adult.

[north woods gal]

Gloomy dark day, today with highs still hovering around that 40 degree mark. May just work some ice patches on my trails and call it good. We're supposed to get rain, tonight, but it could just as easily come down as snow. We'll see. Praying that it rain, though, because riding pavement is the only riding I can do, right now. Ice on the trails is really bad. In fact, the melt ice has pretty much shutdown all the snow sports in the area, now, even though we still have a foot snow cover. Not safe for skis or snowmobiles, either.

May ride into town to get a bike computer and thicker handlebar grips for the ECR. Did use a bike app on my phone, yesterday. The app works, okay, when it doesn't shutoff on its own, which it does too often to be trusted. If I don't catch it while riding, then all my data acquired is useless. In truth, I could get by without any computer, since I know all the distances on all my road routes, anyway, but was hoping to get some data on the ECR for comparison sake.

The stock grips on the ECR are the standard skinny stuff. Not too comfy feral day used not meaty enough for my tastes.

[Sky King]

Northwoods gal. You know how much i love my ecr. Here is the song i made up riding in arizona. The tune is king of the road.

Riding my ecr, hit the backroads and we go far.
I may not go real fast, but there are days i will kick your ***!
29plus is my deal, and the jones bars keep it real.
We're a team, a surly team.
Kings of the road.

Of course i cant carry a tune so only sing when on my bike.

[north woods gal]

Northwoods gal. You know how much i love my ecr. Here is the song i made up riding in arizona. The tune is king of the road.

Riding my ecr, hit the backroads and we go far.
I may not go real fast, but there are days i will kick your ***!
29plus is my deal, and the jones bars keep it real.
We're a team, a surly team.
Kings of the road.

Of course i cant carry a tune so only sing when on my bike.

Love it! It would worker fat bikes, too. You know, your posts about your adventures with the ECR have been rolling around in my head for a long time. You were so right about the ECR. My thanks. I only wish I had gotten one, sooner.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sheila. Those look very nice. I think the gold trim would look great on the beige ECR.

[north woods gal]

Okay, despite all the talk about the ECR, I took its sibling, my Pugsley, for a ride, today. Didn't want it to feel neglected.

Started the day trying to get rid of some ice on my trails, but it was hopeless. Threw in the towel and decided grab the Pugsley and see how crazy I could get. Okay, what bike can ride on slush snow, hard-packed snow, some ice, deep mud, run gravel and still do just fine on pavement? Yup, my good pal, my Pugsley. Most of the 12 miles I logged were pavement, but some of it was on the safer sections of my trails which now alternate between the mud, ice, snow and so on. Another half mile section was on a local gravel road that is now snow free, but very wet and mushy with the gravel. Also went out of my way on the pavement to ride in the deep sand and gravel on the shoulder when I could find some. In other words, a very typical go wherever I want to go Puglsey ride.

Fully expect the ECR to be such a pal, too. Just not quite ready to get it all covered with mud, yet.

[Crankin]

In order to get all my stuff done in preparation for guests and a holiday, I did ride today, but <10 miles. But... it felt like spring! I waited until the sun came out and it was 51 degrees. I was dressed right, although if I had been out longer, I would have been warm.
There's still too much snow in my backyard to take my bike out of the basement door, so I had to bring it upstairs and take it out the front door. It's staying there, because I am going to commute tomorrow. I even brought my clothes in on Tuesday.

[north woods gal]

Have some maybe heavy snow moving in on Friday. Oh, well, this is the north woods, but had a beauty of a day, today, with a temp at 50 degrees. Took the ECR out for a quick 15 mile spin, again, and just fell in love with it, again. The ECR really makes me feel like I could just point it west and keep riding all the way to the Pacific. Wouldn't that be fun!

Did ride my trails, yesterday, to stay in trail shape. Lots of mud and slush, now, but still some ice. I'll take the mud and slush, anytime, over the ice, though. Lots of fishtailing and I did spin out half a dozen times in the slush and mud. The nice thing with the mud and slush is that you get plenty of warning when you start to spin out, so I managed to plant my feet and no falls. With ice, you get zip for warning. You go down, instantly.

[rebeccaC]

Some warmth for this thread Back to our normal 70’s here. Rode Caryl Rd on my way home from today’s work in Oxnard. It always gives me a hour or so of a good climb, descent back down to my car and a good way to clear my mind. There is something about this road, maybe the past frequency of my riding it and knowing it so well, maybe the changing nature of the plants/trees (I’m patiently waiting for the huge wild geranium show, the start of it should be soon.) or maybe just its relaxing way after a day’s work with grad students.


I always welcome the relaxed/peaceful moments that roads like this one gives me

[emily_in_nc]

That is some gorgeous terrain, rebecca! Roads look a little rough, but I'd put up with that for the scenery and lack of traffic. Truly idyllic!

[north woods gal]

Plus one on that beautiful country. I think that would be the prefect road for the ECR.

[rebeccaC]

Yeah the road isn’t all that perfect but for my bikes being paved is more perfect than other isolated farm roads in the area. I’ve also known where the rougher sections are for quite a while now and can see any changes on the ascent to consider on the descent back down. My 26/1.5 tires help too. The times of year they harvest the lemons are the only days when I wouldn't ride it because of traffic. I very seldom see any cars/trucks. It’s kinda the perfect shorter ride to do after the days i work up there and before the 45+ minute drive home on pacific coast highway.

[Crankin]

First commute of the year today. As I was getting ready, DH commented it takes me longer to get ready than to ride there. Probably true, but I always feel better. I had a short day, so less traffic on both ends. There was a section of the street my office is on that had gigantic crater pot holes. The holes are not new, but since our storms in the past month, they grew. I was nervous, as avoiding them would mean not just getting in the lane, but going into the opposite side of the road!. As I turned the corner, I was thrilled to see the pot holes had been filled yesterday, when I don't work. Otherwise, I was seriously considering going through some parking lots, risking getting hit by a 90 year old, going to the doctor, but that will be avoided.
It was only 40 when I left, so I thought the clothes I had brought in to wear were not warm enough, so I wore my merino cycling dress and a base layer with winter commuting tights, exchanging them for regular tights when I got there. I also wore a Terry commuting jacket that is very cool, but too warm for temperatures over 50 or so. Thankfully, it was cloudy on the way home, so I ditched the head cover and it was fine. I know it's only 5.6 miles round trip, but it's worth it for my good mood. And, I have to walk about 1/2 a mile rt to a corporate cafeteria, across the street when I ride, so that's more activity.