Photos from your rides.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

JoshDad, that picture of you(?) riding up that canyon on that narrow road betwixt the big rocks, that's the kind of fairy tale scene riding I live for. Beautiful. Those are all amazing pictures, thank you.

James, I love your stories from your time here in the Shenandoah Valley, and your insight into the area's history. Thank you.

Here's one from the Cow River this morning. Because it was MOOOOOOOdy.
You can see the Lonely Tree of Skyline Drive slightly left of center, as the mountain dips and becomes obscured by the fog.
Meaningless unless you know what it is, cool if you do! (It's basically the arboreal Northstar of the area: No matter where you are, if you are north of Skyline Drive from even a **great** distance away, you can almost always find that tree on the horizon and follow it to the National Park!)

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

Thanks, Mike. That’s my buddy. Not only is the riding near Nice epic, but as an American (and a Californian in particular) my sense of geography is skewed. When we were facing a few days of rain that threaten my cycling trip, my buddy Padraig casually suggested going to “Switzerland or Spain for a few days.” That blew my mind. It seemed like a real endeavor.

But Nice to Switzerland or Spain is actually much closer than San Francisco to San Diego. America is huge. Everything in Europe is smaller. The streets. The houses. The cars. And perhaps the people as well.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Everything in Europe is smaller. The streets. The houses. The cars. And perhaps the people as well.

Indeed.

Here is another photo from my recent trip to the old country.

What an amazing place to ride bicycles.

"Difficult descent" - Not for an experienced underbiker on 25's and rim brakes

[Baron Blubba]

I did this today. It wasn't really fun, but I wanted to see if I could do it, after coming pretty close a few times earlier this year.
Here's a picture of me and my bike at the end. Cinderblubba.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

And here are some nice scenes I captured during the cool down. Anyone know what kind of tree this is? It looks like it's got pine cones on it, and the texture and shape of the foliage resemble a fir, but it's obviously not evergreen.

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

I love this little multi-use path that runs along a mile stretch of river in Front Royal. Nice playgrounds, dog parks, and the library does this thing where they sequentially put the pages of a book at little pedestals along the walk. They change the book each month or so. You can read a cute kids' book and enjoy a nice constitutional surrounded by cute (and not cute) dogs and cute (and not cute) old folks feeding the squirrels, all at the same time.

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

I did this today.

wow. 20mph average over 80 miles is pretty damn impressive there!

[NHAero]

You rock, Mike!
But was it not fun because you made 20 mph?

Originally Posted by Baron Blubba

I did this today. It wasn't really fun, but I wanted to see if I could do it, after coming pretty close a few times earlier this year.
Here's a picture of me and my bike at the end. Cinderblubba.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

And here are some nice scenes I captured during the cool down. Anyone know what kind of tree this is? It looks like it's got pine cones on it, and the texture and shape of the foliage resemble a fir, but it's obviously not evergreen.

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

I love this little multi-use path that runs along a mile stretch of river in Front Royal. Nice playgrounds, dog parks, and the library does this thing where they sequentially put the pages of a book at little pedestals along the walk. They change the book each month or so. You can read a cute kids' book and enjoy a nice constitutional surrounded by cute (and not cute) dogs and cute (and not cute) old folks feeding the squirrels, all at the same time.

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

[NHAero]

Hallowe'en tomorrow!
My local small farmer likes to build tableaux a few times/year out by the road....

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

And perhaps the people as well.

Depends in what dimension you're measuring. Likely true in girth, but I believe that the country with the greatest national average height is The Netherlands.

[Baron Blubba]

Originally Posted by NHAero

You rock, Mike!
But was it not fun because you made 20 mph?

Sometimes I ride so hard that it doesn’t hurt so good, it just hurts. And when one is riding that hard, the scenery and atmosphere, while still somewhat appreciated, go largely unappreciated. I don’t ride like this often, not anymore (25 year old me would do it all the time) but every now and then I try to challenge myself with some pie in the sky goal and voila! I’ll do this route again this week at a smell the roses pace to make up for it.

[merckxman]

Splash of colors have mostly faded but what's not to like about late October temperatures in the 70s and still riding in short sleeves and shorts. Crazy!

[Baron Blubba]

After burying myself yesterday (just in time for Halloween), I had dead legs today (just in time for Halloween), so rode 50 miles on Skyline at a leisurely pace and stopped to take a gazillion pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.

This is the south-facing side of Dickey Hill. I've been wanting a fall picture just like this for a long time, but usually am zooooooming down the hill and don't want to stop. Today I did, and here's what I've got to show for it. I love how the trees look like they are spilling off the mountain like paint, coloring the valley.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here is the same shot, 2.5 hours earlier, a little after sunrise.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

Climbing with the sun.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

A few "If these don't make you want to drop everything and go ride, you're in the wrong part of the internet" pics.
[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

I'm amazed and enraptured by the way we trust our bikes to not only stay upright at 40 miles per hour, but also to maneuver with unfailing reliability. This magical gyroscopic science is one of the coolest things about riding a bike, and one of the reasons I'm so in love with the activity.

[morrisericd]

Pretty good Halloween display!

[NormansCay]

IMG_3199.jpg

80 degrees today in DC. Had a nice long lunchtime ride through Rock Creek Park.

[bironi]

Originally Posted by morrisericd

Pretty good Halloween display!

That is not your Casper the Friendly Ghost Halloween display.
Did you develop a bike shimmy riding past?

[Gman79]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

That's gorgeous.

Thanks.

Found this road just a few weeks ago.

[Baron Blubba]

What makes a perfect ride? I think there are lots of different kinds of perfect rides. Earlier this week I wanted to ride as hard as I could to accomplish a certain goal. The weather, traffic, and to a certain extent my body, all cooperated perfectly to help me accomplish that goal. It wasn't the most fun ride, but it was perfect in a serendipitous alignment of forces sort of way. Today was a different type of perfection: Pure fun from start to finish. The weather was *perfect*, the wind was a-gustin' but almost always felt like it was being friendly, the drivers were also friendly, the light was dramatic, the roads were sublime, the colorful leaves and Halloween decorations are still showing, I felt good enough to make an effort that felt rewarding but didn't hurt, and the course was challenging enough and long enough to feel challenging and long, but not challenging or long enough to cause any trouble. The scenery had a sense of adventure, new and different stuff all over the place, and man, just a *perfect* ride. One for the ages. And to think I almost went back to bed and skipped today altogether.

Here is the route, for anyone in the area that wants to try it. You can skip the first and last 6 miles, just park at the bridge parking lot at around that point. The route can easily be extended into a century, heading out to and circumnavigating the Cedar Creek/Belle Grove area. If anyone wants that version, pm me.

I didn't take a ton of pictures, because was too 'busy' feeling the moments and letting them be, but I did find this family still rocking the most amazing Halloween costumes...

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

...and also some beautiful open roads to inspire I Need To Go Ride ASAP lust in my fellow Paceliners.

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]

Check out the fiery foliage on these little trees!

[IMG]Untitled by Michael Lock, on Flickr[/IMG]