2014 Cycle Stoke Thread

[contesstant]

Those pictures are gorgeous!

Mine is not quite as spectacular, but here's a nice shot of Snowbasin from my ride on Saturday

My clinic up there is this week. I have a friend who is doing a race at the same time, she is doing the 16 mile "expert" race. She is awesome!

 

[ski diva]

A different kind of cycle stoke: I just ordered the most fabulous looking bike saddle. The one I have is pretty bad. I'm hoping it's as cool as it looks.

 

[VickiK]

Terry saddle ^^^. Awesome. Hope it's comfy. My best cycling shorts are from the Bella line at Terry. I have the knicker length and want the shorter shorts. Pricey, though, and they never seem to go on sale.

 

[geargrrl]

Gulp, I just pre ordered
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/intrigue.1/18793/76204/

 

[VickiK]

Oh myyyyyy....

 

[contesstant]

Nice!!!!

 

[geargrrl]

Summer ain't over yet.
We just got back from biking in the Revelstoke area. O - M- G.. the finest alpine riding I've ever ever been on.

photos by my friend Kyle Funke: (nice to have a photographer along)

Find me:

 

[geargrrl]

another by Kyle

Me:

 

[Jilly]

I want his camera......I love BC!

 

[contesstant]

Oooooh those look SO fun! Not all climbing and rocks and switchbacks, just wide open meandering meadows. Heaven!

 

[abc]

Mohonk Mountain House carriage road cruising:

(trail head of Overcliff trail)

(North Lookout trail)
(Copes Lookout trail)


(the famous "Gunks" fold)

(Rt 44)

(Rt 299)

 

[geargrrl]

Gravel? Are you on a cross bike? Looks lovely .

 

[altagirl]

Gravel? Are you on a cross bike? Looks lovely .

I've ridden a few dirt/gravel roads on my road bike before. (Basically stretches for a mile or so between pavement) Not that I'd really recommend it, but it wasn't as bad as I expected, either.

 

[abc]

Gravel? Are you on a cross bike? Looks lovely .

Yes, I was on a cross bike.

 

[abc]

This was a mixed surface (road/dirt/gravel) loop, with a short loop of (relatively smooth) singletrack thrown in.

(the singletrack is entirely optional but as a "previous mtn biker", I just couldn't resist)

This is a very popular "mountin bike" destination, for beginner and family that is.

In the age before the popularity of cross bikes, most people would simply drive up to the hotel, unload their mountain bike and ride the endless trail network of carriage roads. Majority of riders I saw on the trail are still doing that, on mtn bikes.

With a cross bike, I can ride up from the village, ride the hotel's trail network, then cross over to the state park (Minnewaska) which has still more trails, then return to the village on a different road.

(the climb up from the village is about 10 miles, kind of boring to do on a mtn bike, but just right on a crosser)

Now some of my clubmates who has cross bikes saw my pictures and want me to lead it as an "official" club ride. So I'm going again tomorrow to scout a tamer version for the "masses", definitely WITHOUT the singletrack!

 

[abc]

This past weekend, our club did an "away weekend" ride at Frederick, MD. The event was actually organized by the Boys and Girls Club of Frederick as a fund raiser, which one of our member rode last year and found to be great fun.

It's was pretty hilly, 5100' for the Metric century of 62 miles. As we crested the hardest hill (13%), we came upon a few horses whose riders were wearing funny looking clothes looking vaguely familiar yet totally out of place...

For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating from the lack of oxgen to my brain after the long climb, then I realized it was a civil war re-enactment in progress!



Those were Confederate cavalry!!!

 

[abc]

Not so much a "stoke". But this year's D2R2 involves some "added challenge"... for some anyway!

 

[bounceswoosh]

@Xinga and I and the menfolk rode our mountain bikes at North Table Mountain near Golden today. My second mountain bike ride since the injury in March.

 

[ski diva]

My DH and I did a bike and barge trip along the Danube the first week of October, staying in a barge and biking along the river during the day. We covered four countries -- Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary -- saw some gorgeous scenery, and had a fabulous time. The terrain was pretty flat and we rode heavy touring bikes, so it was a little different than the road biking we normally do here in Vermont. Still, a trip to remember.

Here are some pics.

This is the barge we stayed on. It'd move along the river and dock at a designated place, then we'd meet it at the end of the day:



We relied mostly on bike ferries to cross the river. This is the "schnapps ferry." Yes, it sold schnapps to passengers crossing the Danube!



Biking through the vineyards in the Wachau Valley. Absolutely stunning countryside.





Lots of lovely, scenic roads. I'd do it again in an instant!

 

[contesstant]

OK, that bike and barge looks like a blast!