Memorial day Weekend ride reports, please [Archive]

Steve in SLO

05-24-2015, 07:41 PM

It's been one of those weekends where I have thought more about riding than actually doing it.
I did not get out yesterday, since I was working on my truck and had a $.50 part break in a hard to get to part of the motor, which extended my father – son project for over two hours, and exposed my son to some creative mechanical techniques and cursing, so riding was a no-go. Of course no one in town stocked the part, so we had to wait until today to finish the project.
After we were done this morning, I texted my regular riding buddies only to find out that one had gone whale watching, while the other got a new puppy. Avoiding the obvious activity for the day (playing with the new puppy) I went on a 30 mile ride up to our local reservoir. It was a nice morning, with temperatures in the mid 60s and a tailwind all the way out. I saw a moderate amount of riders and motorcyclists on the way, but few cars. I stopped to take a picture of the old war horse in front of what was a very dry reservoir. It is going to be tough here in California unless we get some rain this next season.
Tomorrow I plan to do a 30 mile ride with about 3500 feet of climbing in it. This is locally been dubbed as the "rip your legs off" ride.
That's what I got. I hope you're having a great weekend and would love to hear about your rides.

Matthew

05-24-2015, 07:54 PM

Got in 44 great miles with a couple friends that took us by a few state parks in the Muskegon area and a glimpse or two of Lake Michigan on Saturday. A few decent hills mixed in and great weather. Sunday I rode with a friend from Chicago. She is in her mid sixties, rides a beautiful Colnago with Super Record EPS 11 speed and can hold her own with men much younger than her. We headed south towards Holland, Michigan along Lake Michigan. Got in 37 mostly flat miles and beat the rain that eventually showed up. So far two great days of riding. Hope to do a 70 miler on Monday but it appears Mother Nature has other ideas. Not going to slog for three plus hours in the rain! Sorry I don't have pics to provide.

guido

05-24-2015, 08:05 PM

Did a Metric Century today on the GR up to Brookline NH and back with a friend from work. Beautiful day edging on a bit warm towards the end. Sorry no pics!

christian

05-24-2015, 08:33 PM

Rode from Millwood, NY to Yorktown NY and back with the family. 14 mile round trip on the North County Trail.

Ivy rode her 1983 Trek 620. Matty (6) rode his 2014 Trek Superfly 20. Alexandra (4) and I shared our new-to-us Cannondale road tandem. Fantastic time for everyone. In Yorktown, we stopped for ice cream.

http://www.christianedstrom.com/vsalon/iPhone/Camera_Roll/IMG_2113.JPG

BumbleBeeDave

05-24-2015, 08:38 PM

. . . in the Adirondacks, doing the Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club's "Alternate Plan B" ride for 64.5 miles. Lots of beautiful sunshine, stunning scenery, and mostly empty roads. Then driving around to do some photography afterward. You can see a map of the ride at: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7969783

BBD

Seramount

05-24-2015, 08:57 PM

nothing epic...just my usual in-town loop for about 35 miles.

we had some severe t-storms last nite...saw some serious tree damage...one gigantic oak was ripped out by the roots.

guessing there was a micro-burst in that area.

gotta get going 'early' tomorrow if I want to ride...more rain storms forecast for mid-day.

kramnnim

05-24-2015, 09:08 PM

Drove to Mount Airy, NC for a solo century...3 climbs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and lots of wandering around in between. ~9950' of climbing. Beautiful day to be outside. Only saw one other cyclist...

Stopped at the grave site of the original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. Kind of a weird place for them to settle down...probably not a lot of Asians in rural NC in the early 1800's...

https://scontent-atl1-1.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/l/t51.2885-15/11296861_1496207813953976_1457200874_n.jpg

milkbaby

05-24-2015, 09:21 PM

Broke up with my gf and we're getting out of our house lease, so yesterday was riding 30 miles looking for a place to move to and just getting out of the house for the afternoon.

105 miles on Sunday because I have plenty of free time now. The physical suffering crowds out the emotional suffering. It was hot, ended up with my skin caked with salt from dried up sweat. Convenience store stop at 40 miles:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/24/053b1ab7c9e04acf6f14737315f6efd7.jpg

Debating on 80 miles tomorrow, 40 on a group ride to my club's Memorial Day picnic then 40 solo to get home... Or maybe just riding some miles solo. It's nice to ride a bicycle. :)

mg2ride

05-24-2015, 10:09 PM

No pics but a great day. Did 40+ miles with some friends and my baby boy.

Helped that my baby boy is a 18 w/o crew kid that has 1 hell of a motor.

tigoat

05-25-2015, 05:10 AM

Rode 102 miles on Sat and 100 miles on Sun. Getting ready this morning to do another 63 miles today to celebrate Memorial Day. Sorry I have no picture to contribute.

bironi

05-25-2015, 05:20 AM

keevon

05-25-2015, 08:51 AM

Had a great 70 mile ride south of Pittsburgh yesterday. Headed out the Mon river to Mingo Creek park, one of my favorite destinations. Pic is on Bunola River Road, which was partially closed due to a landslide.

MattTuck

05-25-2015, 09:52 AM

Broke up with my gf and we're getting out of our house lease, so yesterday was riding 30 miles looking for a place to move to and just getting out of the house for the afternoon.

Sorry to hear that. Good luck with it.

For me, I have been visiting family friends, so was able to fit in 30 or so yesterday around my parent's house. All the old roads from my childhood. Rode significant parts of my elementary school bus route and many of the roads that my friends and I used to bike around town to get pizzas, go to the tennis courts in summer, etc.

I live in a pretty hilly place now, so I'm not sure if it is that, or I'm just bigger now, but the hills around my hometown seem to get smaller every year.

Matt-H

05-25-2015, 10:10 AM

Rode an absolutely gorgeous route from my house to my son's soccer tournament in the Delaware Water Gap. Highlight was hugging a beautiful ridge on a quiet rolling road for about 35 miles. Great day for a 60 miler and watching some soccer. Going to do some hills in Bucks County today.

tiretrax

05-25-2015, 12:58 PM

Sorry to hear about the break up, Milkbaby. It's no fun, but probably for the best. Better than being in for 20 big ones before it happens.

Like Seramount, it's been raining here for the better part of a month. The roads are slick with mud, soil, and grit. I did get 25 miles in on Saturday before the rain. I was awaiting a delivery this morning, and now, the sky has opened up again. But, I'm glad we're no longer in drought conditions. I wish some of this rain would originate in California.

Seramount

05-25-2015, 01:30 PM

gotta get going 'early' tomorrow if I want to ride...more rain storms forecast for mid-day.

like it when a plan comes together...got out for another 36 miles this morning and as I turned down the street to my house, it started to rain...

perfect timing.

crownjewelwl

05-25-2015, 01:45 PM

christian - what time were you out? i was on the bridge in the am the other day

how do you get your daughter on the tandem???

scho74

05-25-2015, 01:57 PM

first time on a strider. walked for now, but she'll get it soon!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5331/17430172233_5953a54f9a_b.jpg

bcroslin

05-25-2015, 02:03 PM

After years of talking about it we resurrected the holiday training ride here in St Pete. We rode from downtown St Petersburg over the bay to Davis Island near downtown Tampa and back. Great ride with good people. Happy Memorial Day.

velotel

05-25-2015, 02:22 PM

OtayBW

05-25-2015, 02:52 PM

Got a 50, 70, and 50 in this weekend - just around here locally. Nice time...

gomango

05-25-2015, 05:00 PM

My son has been out and about on his Della Santa this last week.

Just returned today from a trip to the Canadian border to go fishing at our cabin.

I ran the bike over to the shop and ran it through the wash.

Doesn't look half bad at this point.

FWIW He's taking this on our trip around Lake Superior this summer.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7677/18093970372_f2a7688599_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/tyUk1q)DSCN6669 (https://flic.kr/p/tyUk1q) by gomango1849 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/36270004@N06/), on Flickr

I'm taking my Bilenky if I get the new front wheel built in time.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8855/18098428471_633d0327f7_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/tzibfc)IMG_2274 (https://flic.kr/p/tzibfc) by gomango1849 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/36270004@N06/), on Flickr

oldpotatoe

05-25-2015, 06:18 PM

But a really nice 3 hours or so with my buddy. Boulder to Lyons, the Fruit Loops, Hygiene for a cafe, then back. Cool, calm, great. Gotta get outta Boulder on Bolder Boulder day... Let the runners have it.

Geez, really love this thing...it's hailing right now, btw. Really like the Moots but Geez...

spiderman

05-25-2015, 06:45 PM

Rebuilt the DW and it did not disappoint.
Was a real challenge to piece it back together
But used parts from each fixie I have ever built.
40 easy miles with my wife and another couple
Saturday and then some great miles with trubaby
The rest of the weekend.

christian

05-25-2015, 07:05 PM

Mountain bike ride with kid 1 in the am.
Solo MTB ride in the late am.
And this after dinner...

http://www.christianedstrom.com/vsalon/iPhone/Camera_Roll/IMG_2120.JPG

Peter B

05-25-2015, 07:39 PM

Rural ramble

Dead Man

05-25-2015, 07:55 PM

STP training ride with a teammate up Larch Mountain... didn't take a single pic, but that's what happens on training rides, I guess

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/30b338de-597f-4831-adfe-b87150fbd7e9_zpsl1zbfver.png

christian

05-25-2015, 08:02 PM

christian - what time were you out? i was on the bridge in the am the other day

how do you get your daughter on the tandem???

I think you were out earlier than us. We rolled out around 11 and returned around 1:30.

As far as the tandem, she climbs up by herself - I rotate the pedals (by hand) to 12 and 6, she puts her left foot in the cage, grabs the bars and seat, and swings herself up. Then she snugs up her toe straps and tucks them in. Then - and this is the best part - she rotates the left pedal around to 11 so I get a good start. Good little stoker!

Today I ordered pink Fizik bar tape for me and pink ESI grips for her. Her bike, so her decision. I'm not suuuuperstoked. :)

texbike

05-25-2015, 08:45 PM

A series of bad iPhone pics from the weekend -

1. Our "Matty" after an 11 mile, muddy ride (his longest yet!).
2. Daughter and friend on a hike at the greenbelt near our house.
3. Son playing in the water on our hike on the greenbelt.
4. A 3 foot Rat Snake seen on a rainy ride (I helped it across the road and it climbed up a tree!).
5. Mom and baby deer in our yard.
6. Live music out on the Lake during a break from the storms last night.
7. Our backyard turning into the Everglades after 4 inches of rain this afternoon.
8-10. Crazy clouds at sunset to top off our crazy weather today.

Good times!

Texbike

benb

05-26-2015, 10:46 AM

Semi disappointing long weekend for me.

I did get in one family ride towing my son in his burley trailer Monday.. only about 12 miles but we were out several hours stopping at a playground, parade, etc..

I wasted a bunch of time friday and saturday trying to make the canti brakes on my All City Space Horse stop worth a dime (particularly the front brake). I finally gave in and ordered some Tektro CX9 Mini-Vs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can still use my big tires & fenders with them. The cantis had gotten so bad I hurt my fingers on my left hand braking hard on a ride in the middle of the week last week.

The other flip side is my son (2 and a half) got his first bike with training wheels.. so there were like 5 rides where he was riding and I was running/walking after him trying to keep him on the sidewalk. That was fun. He's had a balance bike for a long time, his balance is nowhere near good enough to start riding without training wheels but unfortunately he's totally lost interest in riding the balance bike. I hope it doesn't set him back as he is WAY enthusiastic about bikes already. We go out with him and he rides about 1/2-1 mile on the sidewalk already, stopping along the way to make mischief and cause trouble.

Dead Man

05-26-2015, 10:53 AM

Kids. Love them. Love developing them, investing myself in them. But man.. sometimes I really miss the long-dead days of living selfishly..

My family left for Idaho at 4am yesterday morning, so I had Memorial day to get a good hard ride in... and the rest of the week with no kids/wife, I intend to get at least short/hard rides in EVERY DAY. Maybe not today, though.. little sore from yestedah.

Off topic, but upsetting.... wife reports she had a full rear-tire-shread blowout about 20 miles from her brother's house in Idaho yesterday afternoon. Apparently the speed limit is 80 over there, and that's what she was doing. Said she can't believe she was able to keep the van from wiping out. Once her brother got there to help (he's a sheriff's deputy with some rank, and was able to code it out to her right then and there), he discovered her front tire was also badly sliced, but just didn't blow out. She obviously hit something, or was hit by something... thank God Almighty that front didn't blow out.

6 kids and my wife in that van. Man, I sure hate having all those eggs in one basket. We need to figure something out, going forward... one unfortunate event, and I lose all of them. As an infantryman, I know better than that- never group your force such that one hit can wipe everyone out.

modernfuturist

05-26-2015, 11:07 AM

Was able to get out twice during the long 3 day weekend.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5349/17825715640_7ee9377445_b.jpg
Saturday, did a short ride with one of my favorite trails in the Marin headlands

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8786/18110613661_3912cbb919_b.jpg
On Monday, did a longgg ride out to the west side of Tomales Bay

sandyrs

05-26-2015, 12:12 PM

I was on Cape Cod for the weekend. I didn't have the time or desire to do any really long rides, just a couple quick ones to keep the legs in good shape for some upcoming racing.

https://igcdn-photos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11324892_1598577320418917_1732657690_n.jpg

https://igcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11326506_1393458930983758_865118862_n.jpg

https://igcdn-photos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11372454_435975436584386_2007142489_n.jpg

Keith A

05-26-2015, 01:27 PM

Did the usual group ride hammer-fest on Saturday and it's really starting to feel like summer down here and I felt cooked at the end.

Monday, I decided to ride a different type of machine and here's a picture my daughter took of me with her phone. BTW, I'm glad I opted out of the group ride on Monday as there was a crash and several people went down. Among the damage there was one broken hip, separated shoulder, broken/fractured ribs and a bike destroyed in the crash.

josephr

05-26-2015, 01:42 PM

finally got my new mtn bike finished and first run on Sunday -- 23 miles at Oak Mountain State Park....here's a pic before it got dirty!

AngryScientist

05-26-2015, 02:09 PM

jersey shore cruisin this weekend. fun times.

head wind all day though.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-603KAXKZ_Xs/VWTAGj7efSI/AAAAAAAACDI/l11LJUJZuvU/s940/1.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t2YjMra9ulU/VWTAGFo1anI/AAAAAAAACDA/57erOgCW2Dw/s940/IMG_0794.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Z4KTmLtn_U/VWTAGRl0T6I/AAAAAAAACDE/gFkPcYZrhxQ/s940/IMG_0796.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gPQZCDDIt9g/VWTAHM3iZEI/AAAAAAAACDU/iX8yvlOtejo/s940/IMG_0798.JPG

Paid In Full

05-26-2015, 04:21 PM

I tooled around Groton on Sunday and did a nice loop in the New Haven area on Monday. I was shocked how empty the roads were, made for great riding and photo opportunities!

sloanfiske

05-26-2015, 04:58 PM

No photos, but 65 miles solo on Saturday in Northern Westchester on a beautiful spring day. Croton on Hudson/Teatown/North County Trailway/Croton Reservoir/Hudson River.

FL_MarkD

05-26-2015, 05:50 PM

No epic distance or speed, but a great ride on Sunday to Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg FL. The Suncoast Cycling Club and St. Pete Bike Club joined along with some from the Ride 2 Recovery and others to pay our respects. A silent, two by two ride through the cemetery. All of the graves marked with American flags by the local scout troops.

A very moving experience.

Then 100 or so riders joining for some photos at the flag pole.

Great way to spend the morning.

Mark

sandyrs

05-26-2015, 06:55 PM

No photos, but 65 miles solo on Saturday in Northern Westchester on a beautiful spring day. Croton on Hudson/Teatown/North County Trailway/Croton Reservoir/Hudson River.

That's the good stuff. Love riding around there when I'm visiting family.

rides2slow

05-26-2015, 07:38 PM

pzung

05-27-2015, 06:03 PM

Did a couple rides. One ride was up Montebello in Cupertino. The temperature difference was 10C at the top and 25C in the valley below. Crazy!

fiamme red

05-27-2015, 09:17 PM

I tooled around Groton on Sunday and did a nice loop in the New Haven area on Monday. I was shocked how empty the roads were, made for great riding and photo opportunities!

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697901153&stc=1&d=1432674976Very nice! Which road is that?

Paid In Full

05-28-2015, 07:38 AM

Very nice! Which road is that?

That's Downs Rd., I believe in Hamden. Not captured in that photo were the wild turkeys, and the brightest Oriole I have ever seen. What a road!

fiamme red

05-28-2015, 08:42 PM

That's Downs Rd., I believe in Hamden. Not captured in that photo were the wild turkeys, and the brightest Oriole I have ever seen. What a road!Thanks! I've ridden quite a few times around there, but have never been on Downes Rd. Looking forward to including it next time I do a ride out of New Haven. :)