Velocipede Salon Ride Reports May 23-May 29--Swallowed Bugs are Protein

[htwoopup]

42 miles on a beautiful spring day in Southern Long Island NY. Stopped at the LBS and swapped out the awful stem (wrong rise and length) I had on the new to me 'Zetti.

Rode to Hecksher Park so the middle 22 miles were alternate 6K laps of hard/easy intervals.

Mosquitos and other bugs were out in force in the wooded section you ride through to get to the park on a bike from the nearest town.

My glasses look like my car's windshield after a long summer evening drive. And I swallowed so many big ones that just flew into my mouth that I think I will skip lunch.

During the second hard lap I heard a buzzing and was almost hit but what I thought was a drone.

On the next easy lap, I saw what it was about and discovered a whole new to me world when I stopped by when I was done with the intervals and about to leave the park...not drones but pre-drone drones....

IMG_0469 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

These guys are pretty serious and clearly spend some time at their passion (kinda an exotic handbuilt seen in the wild)....

IMG_0470 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

IMG_0471 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

IMG_0472 by Jon Mandel, on Flickr

A great ride, a great workout, a great day on a great bike and I got to see a side of people with a passion for crafting things that are not top of mind to me.

[DCT]

Incredible day in GTown. Nice spin to Bedford, NY.
My legs are toast but it's too nice out not to ride.

[riceburner]

Drove down from CT to meet up with my New Jersey buds for a ride in the Sea Bright/Sandy Hook area. Pegoretti, Litespeed, Waterford and Cannondale in attendance. Rode along the shore a bit, visited some of the historic military sites with a late lazy lunch at the Rum Runner which now is pretty fancy compared to the old days. All in all a nice chill day a few weeks before it gets crazy down there.

[ElvisMerckx]

I've seen this guy before, but today I stopped to snap a pic in the sunshine.
6-Foot Black Racer by Elvis Merckx, on Flickr

[turkish]

Two hours in the afternoon.

[Todd Amunrud]

Finally took a picture of my wife riding.

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[SlowPokePete]

Out on the lake instead of the bike this afternoon.

Cormorants, although most seem to have left - I counted twenty in early spring - ducks, geese, and a beaver who swam alongside me for a bit.

Changing skies, caught in a bit of rain at the end...



Looking east...



Looking west...



and north...





Surf and Turf for dinner...



SPP

[Thad Pasquale]

This weekend a group of us took the opportunity to head to southern Taiwan from Taipei to ride the east side of the Southern Cross Highway (HWY 20). This is an interesting road here because a Typhoon around 10 years ago basically sheered off the top of the mountain on both the east and west sides. This is good for us cyclists as you can ride up on each side to the road closure (and for the more adventurous even attempt to evade the authorities and try to pass the construction/slide areas to complete east to west journey- or vice versa). They do work on it, and the gov't once and awhile makes a statement about progress, but many believe the two sides will never be joined by tarmac again. This is my first ride on this road from either side and its quite interesting. Taiwan is a wonderful place for cycling, but some of the popular routes have become overrun with tourists, mainly from China. This means hordes of tour buses through areas like Toroko Gorge, etc.

The weather weekend looked disastrous. There was a large slow moving low pressure system that was dumping rain all over the island, but we had arranged for everything and we were going to attempt it regardless. Someone said that it would either be a disaster or spectacular, but likely not both. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but I thought it was spectacular. There was literally no on one the road but for a few construction vehicles going up to the top to deliver construction supplies. No tourism industry has taken foot, I think because the other similar areas are more accessible, I'm not complaining. We had the road to ourselves and could really relax and take in the breath taking views. The weather was perfectly atmospheric and the promised deluge never came.

The ride was about 60km, the first 10km pan flat as we rode out of the village we stayed in. At 50km to go it slowly rises out of a river valley, dipping a bit before the real climb starts with about 30km to go. The grades at that point are quite manageable 4-8%, but climbing for 30k straight is a struggle for me. Total elevation gained was about 2150m This has been my favorite "travel to" route so far here. So few seem to care to bother with it, but I think its a must do for anyone who comes here to ride.

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[bigbill]

I umpired a youth baseball double header. I did the 9-10 year old league which has had teenage umpires all season. I had to set some ground rules with the coaches pretty quick after one came up and started yelling at me about a call. After that guy apologized for his behavior, it all went pretty well. I'm a 51 year old retired naval officer, I'll call a good game but don't push my buttons. Maybe I'll ride my bike sometime this week.

[thollandpe]

Got out for a ride with the big kid yesterday. Which is nice.



Nice because he's broken both of those looooong femurs. Before and after of the latest:


Before.


After. The doc had never used that long a titanium rod before. And my son managed to break that lower screw before it healed completely.

[Tom]

TH: Holy S--t that's two scary pics and it isn't even my son.

BB: I bet you can be, how shall we say, polite yet firm given your military background when the numbies start barking. That would be amusing to see. When my wife's godson played ball our side of the field was all the parents laughing and cheering and their kids all had smiles on their faces... and even though they were the fat kids and the spaceouts watching butterflies facing the wrong way in center field they won a lot more than the other teams. Funny how that works.

Oh, yeah, ride reports. No turtles yet but more on the avian too slow on the draw theme I flushed a couple woodcock out of a muddy spot by the side of the road. Thought it was them and then I saw the snout. A slow level 32. One recovery method you shouldn't try because it doesn't work is laying awake stewing about work until minutes before the alarm goes off so it wakes you from the only sound sleep you got, roll out of bed muttering curses, drink two cups of black coffee so you can at least focus on the middle distance and go ride. Not totally effective. Should have got up, put the lights on and done a midnight ramble.

[dutchess]

I partook of a mid-morning ramble myself. Lots of freshly bloomed flowers for the camera in my phone to misrepresent along some nice trails through the woods.

[Tamu8104]

Had a long weekend so went for a ride Monday. It's been one of the wettest springs that I've experienced here so my attempts to get off the roads resulted in about as much pushing and wading with the bike as riding it. Still was a blast to be out, even in the rain.

[dbh]

Haven't posted much, but played hooky yesterday on what was perhaps the best day of the spring so far in the Boston area. From Cambridge, I rode 60 miles out to Acton and back on the Ebisu stopping at Walden Pond along the way and sidetracking a bit via the Battlefield Road Trail.

Ebisu at Walden Pond
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[Saab2000]

My newhire class at my new airline had the amazing fortune of having a couple other cyclists in it, including fellow V-Salon member Will Outlaw, who builds frames and posts here in the builder's forum. We have all laughed and learned new airline stuff together and today we went riding! We started in Mendota and finished there and cruised nearly out to Shakopee along the Minnesota river along some trails, some of which were nearly impassable with sand on my Independent Fabrication with its 'narrow' 33mm or so tires. I let some air out and ended up with about 40-45 PSI and I wish I had larger tires for the sandy parts.

I rarely stray from the paved roads and almost never ride the Indy Fab in its natural environment but today was one of those rare days. Everywhere that was firm was perfect with this bike.

The beer drinking and eating lasted longer than the ride..... But it was all good. Getting to know these guys is fantastic. I need a fat bike....

[Will Neide]

Finally getting back into a routine of riding.

[xjoex]

We had our visitor over again, which was good as the brown dog was getting a little surgery today. So the black dog had a friend to keep her company.



Snuck in a ride.


-Joe

[steamer]

A good ride. PERFECT weather. A couple new roads.

[dogrange]

Work trip to Osaka, no riding for 5 days.



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[fletcher]

Seven Mile Hill


View from top of Seven Mile


Primitive structure with refined object.




Climbing up to Rowena Crest


View from Rowena Crest


Sunset on the Columbia River Gorge