Category: road rides

  • Cold Men Laughing

    The first cold weather ride of the year. 34 degrees at the start, which made us almost give up after 20 minutes of riding. After laughing hysterically about how cold we were, we forged on and had a great 17.5 mile ride.
  • Ride out to Strouds Run

    Since Monday is my night to work, I often have the afternoon off. Assuming the weather cooperates and I’ve done all my chores, I have about 2.5 hours to do something fun.   Rainy days, I play video games.   On this sunny afternoon, I went for a bike ride.

    The World Voyageur overlooks Dow Lake
    The World Voyageur overlooks Dow Lake
    Students practice their strokes in Dow Lake
    Students practice their strokes in Dow Lake

    The temperature was around 62 degrees.   I was fairly comfortable in shorts and my fluorescent long-sleeved Performance Century jersey.   I did have to unzip it a bit once I got to Second Street.   The route was as follows:

    Grover parking lot to Bike Path to Currier Street, up Second Avenue (big hill) , across Columbia and out to Strouds Run State Park.   Ride around the parking lot loop, back to Columbia, down Madison, left on East State Street, Right on Hope, Bike Path back to Grover.   Total mileage was 16.8 miles, with 70 minutes of actual ride time.   Add 10 minutes or so for pictures, stop-lights, etc. The route map and details are below:

    An absolutely gorgeous day to be on the bike. This is a great ride for folks who want to work some hills in, without getting too far away from town. I’ll definitely do the ride again soon.

  • Guder had a flat tire

    Chris and I had a great ride on Saturday morning. The last 15 miles, Chris rode on a slowly leaking tire, so we had ample time for him to get an upper body workout pumping the tire. Other than that, it was a very wonderful morning for a ride. 54 degrees at the start, slightly chilly, but a gorgeous day.

    Some pictures of the ride are below, which mostly entail Chris pumping up his tire.

    Route Details:

  • The sky is falling

    I rode the Fox Lake Loop today. I haven’t been doing much riding lately, so it was extra special to get out on the bike today. All was going well until a stick fell out of a tree and hit me right on top of the head. I suppose there’s another good reason for wearing a helmet.

    Today’s route:

  • Lunchtime Ride

    The weather’s been beautiful lately, and after yesterday’s 5-mile ride with my 5-year-old son, I was craving some more time on the bike. I brought my bike to work and rode ~7.7 miles in around 27 minutes. I was able to leave my office, do the ride, get a shower, and get back to my office in around 58 minutes. I rode my Yukon with the Serfas Drifter 1.5″ tires. I think tomorrow I may try the ride with my Forte VersaTrac 2.0″ tires to see if there is much of a difference in speed and effort. The Drifters are great tires, but I’m looking to get on the trails soon, and the inverted tread may not work so hot on the loose stuff.

    Here’s the route: