Your ride today....

[Gravity Aided]

Which Raleigh is that in the pic? Looks good.

A Technium 460, from 1986. I had a 440 some years ago, but like the 460, with indexed down tube shifters and finer brakes, much better. 6061 T-8 Aluminum main tubes, with Cr MO stays, fork, and headtube. All of the lightness with none of the vibration and sharpness of ride of most aluminum bikes of the era.

 

[Gravity Aided]

13 miles this day, to Towanda along old Route 66. I took the Schwinn Impact as the trail is still in need of some finishing touches, and the county roads are gravel between Towanda and Normal on my way home. Very nice ride, and I made a big old beaker of tea in the trailside at Towanda, waiting to see if the Union Pacific would come by and put on a show for me. About 5 minutes after I left town, a double-stack container train came through. Schwinn Impact performed well, as did my trusty old Trangia, although If I'd known it would have been so windy I may have opted for the Primus.
Here's a photo of the trusty old Impact, by a Burma Shave Sign. Sorry, but the rhyme is in installments, further up the road
https://www.flickr.com/photos/136312243@N03/22428094603/in/datetaken/
A beard that's rough
and overgrown
is better than
a chaperone
Burma-Shave
(Spread out over 6 signs)
This new trail will soon stretch to Lexington and Chenoa, and already runs to Shirley, on it's way to Funks' Grove, maybe next year, and will finish crossing the county at McLean. The idea is to have all of Route 66 paralleled by bike trail across the state. It's a huge draw, especially to tourists from Germany.
67F
Winds S 17
35% relative humidity
30.21 barometer, steady in the glass
Sunny

 

[Mireystock]

Well there's a coincidence, GA, I'm just re-reading a Bill Bryson book, and last night read a chapter where he was feeling nostalgic for the Burma Shave signs that he used to see by the side of American roads in his childhood !!
Thanks for that !

 

[Gravity Aided]

Well there's a coincidence, GA, I'm just re-reading a Bill Bryson book, and last night read a chapter where he was feeling nostalgic for the Burma Shave signs that he used to see by the side of American roads in his childhood !!
Thanks for that !

I've read some of his writing, and I think he captures things like that pretty well. So nice to see all that preserved. Dead Mans' Curve is now marked, as well as where Ferns' Cafe had stood.If on Route 66, you have to wait until Normal to get to a diner, Merry Anns', in Normal, or Shannons' Five Star in Bloomington. Both are old fashioned diners. (although Bloomington-Normal has the highest number of restaurants per capita in the U.S., supposedly.).

 

[Old jon]

A proper test for the windproof fleece today, the wind has been high, the outdoor temperature has stayed in single figures and I have been kept warm. A little too warm really, but it did not feel that way. When I got back home the sleeve cuffs were wet and so was the bottom of the jacket. My base layer had kept all that from my skin, lucky me.
A fairly standard ride for me these days, out through Hunslet to John o' Gaunts, the little video goes through Woodlesford, Garforth, Sherburn, Saxton, a right at Lotherton for Aberford, Barwick, Scholes and 36.2 miles was completed via Skeltons Lane, Red Hall Lane and my favourite whizz down Boot Hill.

 

[Goonerobes]

In a change to my usual weekday rides which head south or west into the New Forest & the tiresome southwesterly wind, which seems to have been blowing for months now, I thought I'd head north-east & make the most of a tailwind for a while & the shelter of the forest trees for the return leg.

After a fairly brisk exit of the forest I made my way up to Shootash before taking the A27, which although doesn't have the best road surface was quieter than I'd expected so navigating the potholes & broken bits was all reasonably safe. However, after passing through Sherfield English I took my eye off the ball at some temporary lights at Whiteparish & missed the turning which would have taken back across the busy A36 & i ended up on the A36, the main Salisbury-Southampton road with historically a poor accident record! Thankfully it has a meter or so of runoff beyond the white line of the road so although I wouldn't normally use this due to the cr@p that collects there it was a godsend for a couple of miles before I reached the sanctuary of the forest turning for the journey home & a not to unpleasant 33 mile round trip.

https://www.strava.com/activities/433843039

I think any one of us could have written the sign next to this creation that I spotted today outside a house at Landford!!

It must be true what they say about cows laying down as rain is indeed forecast for this evening.

 

[TeeShot]

A pleasant ride around the lanes near Knutsford this afternoon and to add to the wood carving theme on this thread I got two for the price of one today....

 

[Katherine]

View attachment 110148 A pleasant ride around the lanes near Knutsford this afternoon and to add to the wood carving theme on this thread I got two for the price of one today....
View attachment 110146
View attachment 110147

They're brilliant!

 

[NorthernDave]

Home at a sensible(ish) hour for a change and even more amazingly it wasn't raining!

So, a quick spin out into the countryside beyond Manston while Mrs ND sorted tea. A route I've done dozens of times before, but every time is different, especially after dark. I took the hybrid as the road bike was still waiting for the chain lubing (see Saturdays post - I lubed the chain when I got back tonight)

7.32 miles (or 11.8km if you prefer) in a touch under 31 mins at an average of 14.2mph - nearly as fast as the road bike, which is nice, especially as I got held up on two fast downhill stretches by idiot car drivers.

In yet another example of my incompetence when it comes to judging distances, I noticed when I'd got back in that this took me to 99.16 miles for the month...once more round the block would have seen me through the 100 mile barrier...but hey, at least I'm consistent at this.

PS - don't tell anyone but I've got a sneaky mid-week day off to myself on Wednesday and the forecast in the morning is dry with sunny intervals...

 

[Saluki]

Quick utility ride today. Up to the town, a bit of banking and then off to the Blue Cross rehoming centre to give them some money for a collar and long hound lead they had kindly let us take, the other day with a promise to return to give them a donation. It's a nice short ride up there and back. Only out for half an hour, but a short ride is better than no ride. Right?
Hubster likes the new tyres on his bike. They are supposed to go on my CX bike but Hubster's need is greater than mine at the moment. They will go on my bike when I've sorted out new tyres for him.
6.5 or so miles, nice and steady. Got back before the shower started.

 

[hedder2212]

ride to Cannock today to look at a workshop unit. a gentle 8 miles ride there.
GF tagged along and slowed me down big time. Wasn't raining on the way there but was damp.
After i looked at the unit i decided a quick nip over to Hednesford was in order as i haven't been there in quite some time. Nice bacon butty at my favorite cafe there and then a slow ride home. Two punctures on the way back, both on GFs bike.
Half way home and it started to chuck it down. GF hid under the first canal bridge she could find. I waited five minutes with her and then got bored.
So in true top gear fashion, i left her behind.

I got home, changed into dry clothes, made a nice cup of tea and had some cake.

Safe to say i think shes a bit annoyed with me

Tomorrow im challenging myself to ride to Lichfield and back.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

On the commute in to work this morning I decided to use the new cycle super highway up until one of the builders shouted at me that it wasn't open and to get off it (even though I wasn't the only one on it), then I got back on the road and got shouted at by the passenger in a white van about being on the road when there's whole "f'ing" lane for "you w*nker bike riders".
It was one of those mornings.....

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Forecast for today is poor, so went out yesterday whilst I could. Nowhere in particular, just a flat route as I was on fixed. Bagged a carving, outside The Red Lion in Goostrey. Called in at Jodrell Bank for coffee and a scone, the dish was turned upwards to catch the rain today.

.

@Katherine I don't know the origin of "The Frozen Mop" I suspect it's long been lost in the history of time, and before you ask I don't know the origin of The Red Lion either, I've never seen one in these parts and can't find anyone who has either!! Although there must have been a lot around at one time as I believe it is the most common pub name in the land.

 

[Elybazza61]

Standard commute this morning with a nice tempo;no pics as it was a bit dark at 6:15 in the morning


https://www.strava.com/activities/434229967

 

[Old jon]

Yesterday, my feet froze after the first hour or so, so last evening I went and bought a new pair of shoes . . .

Very trad I think. Today I wore them to ride to Otley and back, a mere 26.8 miles mostly underwater. Some poor waggon drivers' load had shifted



This is three bends from the top of Leeds Road. What does the bloke do when that happens? OK he stopped, rang his boss and waited. On a road that busy, how do you get all those bales of whatever stacked properly? I cannot have been all that interested 'cos I didn't hang around to video the exercise . . .