Rides 2014 -- add yours

[jags]

i do that as well matt never works though
mind you i have to say i can get over most hills but in the last few months i'm having bi g problems with back and foot pain,once i rest a while i'm ok until the next hill, so if i can pick a route that has as little hills as possible i'm away in a hack

matt your photos of your part of the world are only fantastic, you would get a job with the scottish tourist board no problem.

jags.

[JimK]

I haven't been out much on the bike lately, just too many other things going on! But still, I squeeze in a ride when I can.

Right by where I live, the routes are rather constrained. One barrier is the Esopus Creek. It must have had a lot more flow before it was dammed to form the Ashokan Reservoir and its water diverted to quench the thirst of New York City! There are rich farms along the creek but not too many bridges. One bridge nearby, on Wynkoop Rd in Hurley, is now out. I rode by today to take a look - the old bridge is just totally gone. A local fellow was there with a camera, looking at the empty space. He said the plan was for the new bridge to be finished in three months. Rats - there is a nice farm stand on the other side of that bridge!

When I worked on the 2010 I needed to explore some of the back roads in that area. I tried to cross the Esopus in Marbletown using Fording Place Rd. The road quickly degenerated as it neared the creek so I turned around and went down to Tongore Rd instead, the next bridge across. Today I decided to see whether I could get across on my bike. 

Nowadays I am riding in Teva sandals on VP-191 platform pedals. A good set-up for today's ride! There is a Road Closed sign and the road just disappears into the river. But it is indeed a good fording place. I didn't try riding across - the rocks at the creek bottom were rather lumpy. But the footing was fine and the water maybe 8 inches deep at most.

Fun to pioneer new routes, right close to home!

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/436532512

[Andre Jute]

Where I rode, and stopped to admire and capture the flowers.

Andre Jute: Carpet of Flowers, Mishells, June 2014, Watercolor in custom sketchbook, A5

[JimK]

That is such a great way to deepen an experience, to paint like that!

An old friend of mine from high school is involved with this magazine:

http://www.outdoorpainter.com/

and here is one of my pen pals:

http://toutparisfrancais.blogspot.fr/

[Andre Jute]

What weird and wonderful -- and talented -- people you know, Jim!

[John Saxby]

Wonderful watercolour, Andre.

Here's a source that you might enjoy, as well as the many photographers who post on the Thorn forum:

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

This comes from my friend David, in Amsterdam, who modestly describes himself as a sketcher.

[jags]

great stuff andre .

[Andre Jute]

Thanks, Jags. It's a phenomenon familiar to you, the verge outside a farmer's house, where his wife completes with the farmer's wife next door. This is just past a beautifully clipped and square topped hedge too low to keep in even lazy sheep, but running for more than half a mile by bike computer: pure ostentation!

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/

This comes from my friend David, in Amsterdam, who modestly describes himself as a sketcher.

Super link, John; thanks. I have a sketch for a painting of a very odd cloud formation that'll happen the next time I'm stuck indoors. I'm a sketcher too -- a painter needs more time than the ten minutes I'm willing and able to give to any item; tell you friend David to come join the other sketchers at http://www.sketching.cc/forum3/viewforum.php?f=2 (And your Paris friend too would find a welcome there, Jim.) BTW, I haven't forgotten your friends at Prince Albert; it's just that my first attempt at painting them was a disaster because I chose the wrong colour of Mi Teintes paper, which then fought the dioxazine violet which is essential for some of the flowers there, and the mountain too.

Forecast miserable, squalls have fallen and will again, wind gusting, but the sun shines on and off so I'm off to ride while I can. If this is the summer, somebody can stick it.

[JimK]

Yesterday was a delightful ride, 36 miles to New Paltz & back, almost entirely on rail trails.

http://www.wvrta.org/
http://www.traillink.com/trail/d--h-canal-heritage-corridor-%28ow-rail-trail%29.aspx

The glitch at the end, half a mile from home: my first flat since I got the Nomad three and a half years ago. A nasty 5 mm gash right through the tire carcass. Seems like that's the end of that tire. It wasn't actually bulging when I put in a new tube but looking from the inside of the tire, that gash is quite apparent. The flat happened at the 28/209 intersection, a cloverleaf with lots of traffic and nasty stuff along the edge of the road.

So this morning I replaced the dead Supreme with a Dureme. Then this afternoon I went out for a short spin, a bit of exploration. Jockey Hill Rd got so steep and with the loose gravel I just couldn't pedal up, the back tire would just spin. The Dureme doesn't have enough grip on gravel! I only walked about 20 yards though. Plenty of crazy rough stuff the rest of the way, but just not that steep again.  

http://www.fatsinthecats.com/?p=1009
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/448086540

It is really grand fun to have a tough bike like the Nomad. That's why I call mine "Fearless". I was really pounding the mechanism along that trail and everything holds up perfectly.

[David Simpson]

... I replaced the dead Supreme with a Dureme. ... The Dureme doesn't have enough grip on gravel!

Jim --

Are you saying that the Dureme has worse grip on gravel than the Supreme?  Or just that the Dureme has worse grip that you were expecting?

I am very curious, because I do a fair bit of trail riding on gravel, and got the Duremes over the Surpremes because I thought they had better grip on gravel.

- Dave

[JimK]

That was my first time up Jockey Hill Rd so I have no basis for any comparison. I expect the Dureme really does have better traction on gravel than the Supreme. I don't know that I would have expected the Dureme to meet the challenge of that little stretch of Jockey Hill Rd. I imagine most folks riding through there have deep knobbies, full suspension, etc.! I might try the Mondial next. But most of my riding is much much less technical. Mostly it's on nice smooth asphalt! I demand a lot from my equipment, to behave well on the road and yet still handle such crazy rough terrain!

[Andre Jute]

I demand a lot from my equipment, to behave well on the road and yet still handle such crazy rough terrain!

In the main I find it a pain to keep several bikes ready to ride, keep most of mine on the third floor of my house in a dismantled state, and ride one favorite bike all the time. But sometimes I eye a really rough trail and for a moment understand the people who have a different bike for every purpose...

[Andre Jute]

Having been up all night last night with a sick book I'm helping a protege knock into shape, I was just about to go to sleep this morning when one of my pedalpals called to go cycling. I didn't take any photos, using my sketchbook instead, but here's a photo my pedalpal Helen took. Superb, isn't it?

[Danneaux]

Yes, Andre, Helen did a very nice job composing and taking that photo. A pleasure to see.

All the best, 

Dan.

[jags]

yip it sure is Andre only class.


anto.