sunday rider

Keep takin' pics of this bike 'cause I keep ridin' it on the weekends - at least the Woodside ride so far. The 2nd Sand Hill Rd. hill is really an aerobic workout for me - heart in mouth almost to the top and lookin' down to see no shift levers! It gets easier every week but not much - gonna take a lot of work to get comfortable on this ride on this bike...

Popped a spoke on the commuter bike last week so am on the Masi 3V today. We'll see if the gears are low enough to take the hill. It rode so much rougher than the Raleigh Pro downhill this morn! Must get that spoke replaced and wheel trued soon...

day before easter ride

Took the direct drive out for another woodside ride the day before easter. Finally got comfortable on it towards the end of the ride on Mountain Home Rd.

Til next time "Have a Nice Ride"...

flickr meetup and paradise loop ride

After a few attempts finally met fellow flickrite Adrienne Johnson who's handle is busbozo on the flickr site. She has a very cool Batavus Socorro high end city style bike that's been tastefully personalized. You probably won't see many of these bikes in the good ol' USA. She brought along husband James and we all rode the Paradise Loop through Mill Valley, Larkspur, Corte Madera and Tiburon. It was a beautiful windless sunny day and we took our time enjoying it with a stop for paninni sandwiches in Tiburon. Click here for her flickr pic and comments. Thanks for a great ride, Adrienne & James!

Until next time, "Have a Nice Ride"

cold ride...

The Gitane direct drive begged me to take it on a ride yesterday so how could I resist? Drove down to Woodside ~ 10am and did the usual loop - Sand Hill Rd. was not quite as challenging this time but almost! Still huffin' and puffin' but at least I knew what to expect this time. Almost getting comfortable riding this thing now - ya just gotta go with it... As you can see from the pics spring has sprung but that afternoon storm was still pretty cold. Til next time...

"Have a Nice Ride"

stylin'

no pics from the fairfax to olema (on the cross marin trail) ride saturday so here is a pic stolen from: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/bik/1080738001.html "Have a Nice Ride"

1st direct drive ride w/paul

Got a break from the rain yesterday (Saturday) so decided to finally take the direct drive Gitane out for it's maiden voyage. I wanted to find out if I could navigate it through a whole Woodside ride and be able to make it up the hills with the 47 - 16 gears it now has. It did real well up until Sand Hill Rd. west of hwy 280 - that climb almost made me dismount & walk but my ego wouldn't permit it so my legs and knees are talking to me today...

Paul met me behind the Pioneer Saloon and brought along his old Shogun touring bike - what a cool machine! You don't see hand pin striping and decorating along with a cool old Shimano 600 Arabesque group and paint and accessory contrasting like that in any new bike - someone put some thought into building this one...

We headed through Woodside on the usual CR Woodside ride going out Kings Mtn. Rd. to Tripp Rd. out Portola Valley left on Alpine, right on Old Arastradero, Old Page Mill Rd., north on Foothill Expy., west on Sand Hill Rd. then back to Woodside on Mountain Home Rd. Very pleasant ride - Paul actually had fun on a couple stretches and I hope he'll make it a regular event. His bike needs a few things - tires, tubes, chain and a rear wheel truing but it is basically very sound and looks and rides great. I took a couple phone pix on the ride itself and I'll have to post those later.

Until next time, "Have a Nice Ride"

Bob's Big six ohh b-day ride and party

Bob's birthday ride is always a fun time every year, but this year was a bit more special since it was the big 6 ohh. I rode to the Edgewood and 280 park-n-ride to meet Greg, Dave and James in Greg's vintage bike hauler and was a bit concerned having brought my fendered commuter bike that won't fit on my rack. Fortunately it fit on Greg's roof with at least 1/16" to spare - whew. After a pleasant ride to the Mill Valley heliport we met the gang, did some introductions as we had some new riders, and proceeded on the usual route across the flats and up Camino Alto. I broke away early and Stephen passed me about 2 seconds later - guess that 350 mile fully loaded ride to Morro Bay he just completed put him in great shape - never could catch him. We paused at the top to catch our breath then descended like batz outta hell - what a blast! In Larkspur we took the nice paved bike/hike trail then under 101 and behind the mall in Corta Madera - this is where Stu and Ramie broke away on the flats on their CoMotion tandem like a rocket! I tried to keep up but, oh well... Once we hit the 1st small climb on Paradise Dr. the scenery became very nice and we all slowed down and spread out to enjoy it at a more civilized pace. Meeting for a rest stop at the firehouse was a welcome break. From there the ride and view became very nice and I slowed down even more. We met in Tiburon for some photo ops and our last break to enjoy views of the bay and the cool Marin Co. ambiance. The last part of the ride through the quaint neighborhoods and bike trail along the water was quite relaxing and Greg let me draft the last 1/2 of the flats back to the van. Then it was off to Bob's place high on a Mill Valley hill for a great party thrown by his lovely wife Rita and daughter Nicole. What a spread! And I'm talkin' 'bout the endless delicious food AND all the vintage bikes in Bob's garage. The stars of the show this year were the salmon and tuna and of course the birthday cake with Bob's L'Eroica likeness on it AND the Rene Herse on the work stand. A GREAT time was had by all and a huge THANK YOU goes out to Rita and Nicole for making Bob's 60th one to remember forever!

more pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericm/sets/72157614312113162/