Rides 2015 — add yours

[Danneaux]

Aw, glad you got out and about Tony; enjoy it for those who can't. If nothing else, it gives hope and sustenance to see such fine weather.  Sunny days here after freezing nighttime temps; supposed to top out near 21°C by the afternoons, but with rain due middle of next week.

Take care!

All the best,

Dan. (...who is working on all kinds of bikie projects this weekend...instead of mowing the lawn, as he should do*)





* Backyard has a 2.4m tall fence. Neighbors won't see if that lawn is cut or not, making it easy for bikie projects to take priority. 

[nztony]

Dan

I've been getting a little bit brave and even been doing a little bit of gravel off road riding, something I would never ever had done in my road riding/track riding in the 1980s. After 12000kms and only two punctures, I now have excellent faith in my 2.15 Marathon Mondials.
 
I rode down to the shoreline of the curving bay and rode to the far end and around and back to the main roads.


Fitztroy Bay, near the entrance to Wellington Harbour, New Zealand.

Ride: http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/4204227

Regards
Tony

P.S. I'd rather be out on the bike than mowing lawns, hence I pay someone to do mine once a month.

[Danneaux]

My! I am enjoying this thread. Such a treat to get this little window on others' worlds and to see their bikes out in the "wild".

All the best,

Dan.

[rualexander]

In contrast to Tony's sun-dried New Zealand landscape, some pics from the last two weeks rides here in green and damp old Scotland.

[nztony]

Rualexander,

Particularly love your first shot of the misty landscape, and on closer inspection the two cyclists riding through the shot really make an interesting photo great. I don't say that because this is a cycling forum, but because they add interest regardless our our cycling interests.

If this was the photo sharing website Flickr, I would had it as a Favourite.

Tony.

[John Saxby]

Super photos as always, Rual; and thanks, Tony, I missed the cyclists first time round, captivated by the outline of the dark knoll in the mid-background.

green and damp old Scotland

... looks pretty good right about now.  X-country skiing on Monday, and there's still a metre or more of snow in the hills across the river.  Melting rapidly in the city, though, so I may get a bike on the roads in the next week or so :-)

[rualexander]

Super photos as always, Rual; and thanks, Tony, I missed the cyclists first time round, captivated by the outline of the dark knoll in the mid-background.
 ...

Thanks John, the 'dark knoll' is Loudon Hill, site of one of Robert the Bruce's victories in his campaigns against the English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Loudoun_Hill,  another historical note is that Alexander Fleming of penicillin fame was born and grew up at a farm a couple of mile from Loudon Hill.

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Rual.  So rich in history--so many landmarks have their stories, don't they?  Loudon Hill makes a dramatic contrast with the surrounding countryside.

[Andre Jute]

 
Lovely sunny, only slightly chilly ride to Kilmacsimon Quay today. Photo of a stream beside a lane through a little forest on the return journey by my pedal pal Helen.

[John Saxby]

Lovely photo of sun on green, Andre (thanks, Helen!), he said, with an envious sigh. Looks, well, gentle.

On the other hand, chez nous, I've spent the last few days preparing for 2015 rides with our daughter Meg, who's just returned to resettle in Canada after five years in Berlin.  Radying the various bikes and planning summer rides is an act of faith, really, born of a defiant belief we'll one day use the bikes on summer rides... As a non-welcome for Meg, this spring is the latest I can remember -- still a lot of snow on the ground, and tonight the temp will be -15.  Three years ago exactly, I was working on a project in Zimbabwe, and the temp here in Ottawa was 25, 3 degrees warmer than in Harare on the day.

Tomorrow is s'posed to be sunny and cold, so who knows?--if the roads dry before they freeze, I might be able to take the Raven for a wee ramble.

[Andre Jute]

Hotter than Harare? Nowhere is hotter/sweatier than Harare!

I did actually say today that, at the end of the summer, on a day like today we'd stay inside as "too cold"; it was about 10C. But at the end of a miserable winter you become stir-crazy, and it becomes easy to convince yourself that any day that looks bright is a great day for cycling, never mind minor details like low temperature and high wind.

[John Saxby]

Mar 21, 2012: in Harare, cloudy/rainy, 22 degrees; in Ottawa, sunny & warm, 25 degrees, like a late-May day. 

Pressure systems are all messed up, the crows are indignant & the geese nowhere to be seen. Just checked the forecast, and the high tomorrow is due to be -8!  DSMG, sometimes I feel that we'll live on a cold planet for the rest of our days, like characters in The Left Hand of Darkeness ... maybe I'll wait 'til mid-afternoon bef venturing out on my Raven.

[JimK]

A bit better here, but still tomorrow's high is forecast to be 32F, the low tomorrow night 16F. I may get brave next week and take off the studded tires... I have been out riding a few times, but conditions are not very conducive!

[Andre Jute]

Mar 21, 2012: in Harare, cloudy/rainy, 22 degrees; in Ottawa, sunny & warm, 25 degrees, like a late-May day. 

May that become the norm!

Pressure systems are all messed up, the crows are indignant & the geese nowhere to be seen.

I'll be taking that. [When you do it, it is stealing, when I do it it is un homage.]

Just checked the forecast, and the high tomorrow is due to be -8! 

A bit better here, but still tomorrow's high is forecast to be 32F, the low tomorrow night 16F.

I feel for you guys. It's actually possible to ride here today, 8C with an SSW wind of only 11kph, intermittently sunny...

...but my bike needs to have the Rohloff's oil changed, the factory lube still on the chain given its 3500km visual check in good light, and a general nuts and bolts checkover, the sort of small thing that went by the board in the last few years while I was recovering from surgery. A good clean will have to wait for another day, as it can take all day to do the job right.

[JimK]

Just getting out on short rides these days... can I get myself in shape to take advantage of the warmer weather that will surely be coming...