Today's Ride

Sick Bird Rider wrote

^^^ That is one wild-looking bike. I can see rear suspension but is there front suspension?

There is a front suspension. It is a Girvin/ Noleen cross link which has taken some serious abuse with zero problems. The bike is a K2 Proflex that I bought about 12 years ago. It is a very cool design and pretty sturdy. The rear shock is attached to a carbon fiber swing arm that is crazy stiff. It is a great climber with very little bob. It is not designed for jumps and drops.  It is a great xc bike.

K2 Proflex

I rode this weekend.  Over hill and dale.  Sometimes fast, sometimes slow.  Sometimes up, sometimes down.  Sometimes there was a headwind.  Other times.....not so much.  Each time, when I was done, I got off my bike and put it away.



^^^^^^^  My first trip report.  How'd I do?

Would've been better with pictures

campgottagopee wrote

Would've been better with pictures

I rode one of these:




and saw some of these:



and lots of these:



Then I came home and had a few of these:

Isn't that strange, your rides are very similar to mine.

Ours as well. At the top of the 1k vert climb.

I rode one of these:




I dont believe you.  I dont see any mud or dirt.  

The grass needed cutting.


So I assembled my safety supplies (tool & first aid kit: check; bug shirt just in case: check; Deep Woods Off: check; pruning saw, also just in case: check).


And went for a bike ride instead.


There is an old logging road by my house. I went down it.


At times there was some hike-a-bike.


At times there were other obstacles. I was impressed that the ATVers seem to ride right over this.


If you ride on logging roads, you will inevitably see logs.


I came across a small stop sign in the middle of nowhere. Very strange.


Home is at the top of this hill. I did a loop from door to door. It was an excellent adventure.


Good ride. Time to have a beer and cut the grass!

did the bike commute thing friday for national bike to work day. 40.12 mi round trip, about half on rail trail (nor-bath and ironton rail trail). only stopped to take one pic of the old cement kilns that looked way cool in the early morning light

The Reservoir in early morning light from this weekend's ride.

gorgonzola wrote

Nice! They are almost organic and remind me of mushrooms or ...

Like the reservoir and SBR's road too.

My ride today was in support of rule number nine. A fairly pathetic (for me on this route) 17.8 MPH. Currently in the worst shape of my life, it is definitely time to step it up.

I have no idea how far today's ride was but I had a lot of fun, even though I almost died of exhaustion. Most of my usual bike forays are solo excursions, where I set my own pace, stop when I feel like it and go exploring. Not today. This evening I went on the infamous Tuesday Night Ride, loosely organized by the bike shop end of the company I work for. Tonight's event was enhanced by the presence of the Devinci bike rep, who opined later that when he goes riding with bike shop folks, everybody seems to step it up. Oh great. It was "hammer time."

We met at the shop and assembled a motley but pretty high-end crew of bikes. Everything from my humble hardtail to the Pugsley to the Devinci Dexter with a carbon wheel set that is worth more than my bike altogether.


The peloton sets out through town to get to the trails. I am am not in the rear-guard position by accident.


A rare flat open area before the tight, technical trails with everybody but me pumping up the hills. Although I did have a moment of glory when spandex guy in red lost it in a soft patch, couldn't unclip fast enough, fell over ungracefully and I pedaled merrily past him. I don't have any pics of the technical trails because there was no time to stop and smell the roses with this crew.


After the ride we re-convened, debriefed, went to the pub (good for the Devinci rep for buying the first round). Fellow greybeard, and bike shop manager, Glenn (center, in green, as usual) and I deked out from the hardcore crowd and took to some mellower trails for the last section. Thanks, Glenn, for taking pity on me. Great cross section of riders: in the picture you see (from right), Bob, our hyperactive alpine ski buyer; Donnie, our new bike tech and Pugsley fat bike rider; the aforementioned Glenn, Trevor the corrections officer and Jer, our local Fritos potato chip salesman. Also in the group were a retired police officer, the rep, a few young guys and a couple of uber-fit old guys. And me.


Would I do it again? Sure, but not if a bike rep is along for the ride!

riverc0il wrote

My ride today was in support of rule number nine. A fairly pathetic (for me on this route) 17.8 MPH. Currently in the worst shape of my life, it is definitely time to step it up.

I am happy to see you are not following rule 24.

I have a nice loop I can do right from my house, 50% hard road and 50% snowmobile trail. Takes me about and hour to an hour and a half (depending on my stops).....anway, it's a fun ride to Donut Pond.

Nice that you got out on the Tueday night ride, SBR...I'll have to drag my sorry butt (I ride a rigid one-speed) out next time you throw yourself on the grenade...

Probing the deep recesses of my memory, I recall the first Tuesday night rides in our fair burg started back in '91 or so, Bob was the originator when he was working at Schreiner's...

T.D.

On Friday, my physical therapist worked me over.  Saturday, we went for a road ride.

Well, it was quite a weekend. On Saturday, a wide range of activities were accomplished.

First, I glued the head back on a mannequin with PL construction adhesive. Long story but my wife owns a funky clothing store:


Then, I loaded up the truck, headed out of town, and checked in at the bachelor party I was invited to. The guest of honour had just been hooked up with his "ball and chain."


Not wanting to start drinking that early in the day, I headed up the road a bit and explored a place I had been wanting to ride for a while. There was a fair bit of logging road up and down:


Which eventually led down a big hill to this nice view of another big hill we hope to ski some day:


My objective was to see how far the ATV trail went up the river, in the general direction of the skiable hill. Bad ATVers had made an unrideable mess of things:


I rode (sort of) across the creek which had thwarted our late fall attempt on foot:


Only to discover that the ATV trail went another 50 feet and forded the river, which I did not feel like doing:


Back I went. Up the hill was less fun than down the hill:


I took an alternate route back and had to make two other creek crossings. Note the log bridge on the right. A few winters ago I skied halfway across this before all the snow fell away, revealing the stream beneath:


Eventually, I made it back to the truck. Almost forgot my front wheel after loading the bike.


Made it back the the bachelor party in time for a refreshing hot tub soak (accompanied by a really drunk guy), refreshments and FOOD (pic does not show the steaks and lobster tails):


The aftermath. Wet socks and shoes from the ride, and a wet tent from the sleepover. Had to go to work and rest up:

Hmm this report raises some serious Group W type of questions...

How did the mannequin get decapped?

Why would a man allow himself to be photog'd with a picture of his bride 2B as ball and chain?

...and...

What color are the toes of the woman on the audio intro of the vibey clothing store?

I'm not really a bachelor party kind of guy, but this one looked fun.  

Sweet pics (you know, most of them - the mannequin is kinda freaky) and report.

Another thing... I've actually never noticed the colour of your bottle cage before...

Lilac? Mauve? Lavender?

Not that there's anything wrong with that, however you may choose to describe it.

Just sayin'



TD