Ridin': Lots of Water

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Ridin': Last 95F Ride

Glad I could help Randy, and thanks
Thanks Jerry!

Well It's been weirdly really hot yet with a few days break (normally mid 70's)
So they said today would be our last day in the 90's (95F with heat index 98F)so I had to go to the beach

They said the winds are picking up the smoke from the Yosemite fire,
Mixing with the smoke from the Kootenay National Park fire in Calgary,
And dropping it right through the Twin Cites
I feel bad for all the people these fires have affected and hope they are done soon

So more hazy shots of Lake Nokomis but lots of people enjoying the "closed" beach
I love ripping around the lake and getting super hot then diving in the cool water, Ahhhh!

As I sat in the lake I thought about how the lake will be too cool to lay in in another month
And how in just a few months it will be frozen over and I'll be able to ride across it again
But for now it's absolutely perfect!

It's supposed to be in the low 70's by Wed, which is also nice riding weather
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[Skipton]

Re: Ridin': Last 95F Ride

Two more great pics Steve! The Spaceliner looks great on the beach!

It hit 100 here on Tuesday :shock: Just got the 70's today... So nice.

Keep Riding!

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Ridin': Rewind; Nick's Bday 9Jun

Thanks Skipton! We had the same drop here now too. Glad you're enjoying it

Alright so I'm finally getting caught up with my "Rewind" Rides
This one goes back to June9 when we got an invite to Nickinator's Bday party

On the way to Nick's we saw a big group ride

Because it Nick's Day, he got to do his favorite thing, bike work, And very nicely too

We first checked out Nick and his Mom's awesome collection :shock: :mrgreen: 8)
Then sat around and had some great food
Eventually we had to start riding all Nick and his Mom's cool bikes, I got to ride the Elgin wahoo!

So the girl's decided to sit this one out so it was just the boys
Nick on his Mom's gorgeous Goodyear HP,
Tim on a cool bike he picked up earlier in the day (for $100) and got ridable
and RustyK on Nick's Monark Firestone Imperial Super Cruiser

We rode around the neighborhood, Nick using the HP's siren,
and the rest of us honking our horns, like a bunch of 10 year olds saying "Look at me!"
Some onlookers just stared like "What?!", Others laughed and waved :lol:

We all (the guys maybe a little more :lol: ) had a great time
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[Nickinator]

Re: Ridin': Rewind; Nick's Bday 9Jun

It was a fun day, thanks for coming out Steve!

Darcie

 

[MplsCoaster]

Re: Ridin': First Freezin' Ride

Thanks for the great party Darcie

So I haven't posted for a long time
Been crazy busy at work and cranked out many dozens of tests in the last few months
For just about every test, I write up a summary which is kinda "post-like"
So I've been a bit burnt out on posting lately

Decided I need to get back on the wagon and this was a good transition to start with
It was 32F (freezing-literally) tonight and I just got a new headlight for night riding
It's surprising how much colder my face and hands got, riding in mid 40's to low 30's :lol:

I was getting kinda bummed out as we left summer, went to fall (and less light) then quickly into dark, cold winter
So I'm going to back track with a few pics from the last few months
I've been riding just not taking pictures as much

Low light weeknight ride a couple of weeks ago

Last bit of direct sunshine on some colorful leaves

So back about a month ago, I took a ride by the shores of the Mississippi (Warm sunshine!)

Nobody in the cool water of Lake Nokomis at the end of Sept

Reworked my Shelby again
Put the Chukker wheels/Nexus 3spd, Tioga tires, French fork (lots of neg caster) and favorite handlebars
Like the way it looks but It still doesn't come close to the Spaceliner ride, oh well :roll:

I'm starting to get jazzed about riding in the snow again,
but I'll ride the Spaceliner as long as I can

It's good to be back
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[aka_locojoe]

Re: Ridin': Rewind; First Freezin' Ride

Good photos. Especially the leaves and the night shot.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Thanks Randy!

Took advantage of the 50F weather and took out the Shelby
It not too bad a bike after all, kept it in 3rd gear (calc'd 52:14)
and had to stayed out of the saddle most of the time :lol:

Stopped on Lake street bridge where I can brace the camera

I have to work on the 3 speed Nexus hub though,
it doesn't give me much confidence wailing on it like that
Seems to freewheel a bit forward then wind up to stop :?

Got a new Resist Nomad 700x45 for the Spaceliner
Looking forward to riding that again

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[MplsCoaster]

Got to ride in the snow for the first time this season
Only got about a 1/2" and slushy but still kinda fun
Took out the aluminum winter bike with summer gearing and Country Rock tires
(Sorry about the bad phone pic but you get the idea)

Also got to be thankful for Thanksgiving!
Got a new Resist Nomad 700x45mm tire back on the back of the Spaceliner
Can tell it has more drag but rides a lot better and more stable
You even see the ice starting on the river

It's supposed to be below zero (f) next weekend
so more of the lakes and creeks should be freezing up more solid
More fun to come, the winter season starts in Mpls

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[user 135]

Winter is starting here also. We have had some snow and more is predicted this weekend. We won't have the below zero temps though.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Good to hear you got some snow too Clancy and without the subzero temps
Skipton's been out in the stuff now too I see

We finally came out of the deep freeze
It's been about -5F with -20F wind chills for 10days

Got the snow tires on and 52 22 gearing (9 days ago )
4"of snow is now packed and temps at ~18F, yeah!!
Sorry about the OOF Jerry

The bike is just perfect for this stuff so I went out looking for holiday shots
This one had blinking lights and music plus a candle foglight

I think I need to drop the tire pressure a bit more
but was able to ride no handed (to keep them tucked in and warmer LOL)
This tree was perfect with the snow naturally placed

Got in about 5 miles before my hands started hurting
Have to get some new gloves so I can stay out and play longer

Thanks for Looking
Steve

 

[jerrykr]

Good to hear you got some snow too Clancy and without the subzero temps
Skipton's been out in the stuff now too I see

We finally came out of the deep freeze
It's been about -5F with -20F wind chills for 10days

Got the snow tires on and 52 22 gearing (9 days ago )
4"of snow is now packed and temps at ~18F, yeah!!
Sorry about the OOF Jerry

The bike is just perfect for this stuff so I went out looking for holiday shots
This one had blinking lights and music plus a candle foglight

I think I need to drop the tire pressure a bit more
but was able to ride no handed (to keep them tucked in and warmer LOL)
This tree was perfect with the snow naturally placed

Got in about 5 miles before my hands started hurting
Have to get some new gloves so I can stay out and play longer

Thanks for Looking
Steve

wow, we could not wait for ours to melt! nice views of your neighborhood. love the bike!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks cold...

Luke.

 

[Skipton]

Looks like fun Steve!

The snow and cold made it here also..... Low single digits with highs in the teens past few days.
Keep riding, Keep having fun!

 

[MplsCoaster]

Thanks Jerry!
I kinda missed building something this fall but glad it was all done and ready to go exactly the way I want it

Not too Cold Luke. How is your summer going?

Glad you got some snow to play in Skipton!

It was a perfect winter night for riding
~32F, a low wind, and a couple more inches since the last time
Picked up some new gloves on the way home and they worked out great!
Did my 8 mile river ride and the roads were a bit mushy

Was going at an easy pace on river road and out of nowhere a fat tire Surley whips by me (?!)
I've been waiting a while to race one of these so I took off after him
I was trying to stay in the saddle to get traction but I was bouncing off it with the easy gearing LOL

I caught up with him and he had to get out of his saddle a few times to stay in front of me , He turned off after only a quarter mile but I tried to keep a faster pace (in case another one was lurking out there)

Stopped on the bridge because it was so cool up there with downtown in the background
You can kinda see how the warm temp packed the snow on it

Finished up the ride and cruised through the neighbor hood for a nicely lit house.
I liked this one

So happy we are getting so slightly warmer temps and am able to get out to enjoy them

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[jerrykr]

wow, this thread page starts out with people swimming, and now your tires are 6 in. deep in snow!

Thanks for posting these "cool" pictures!

 

[gcrank1]

You are 'hard-core', Steve! Almost tempt me but they have thrown down a huge bunch of salt on the roads here already and a good chance of freezing drizzle tonight. Do you have a heated garage with drain to be able wash those bikes off after each ride?

 

[Skipton]

Steve I thought the red from your taillight was from the Christmas lights at first.

Looks like a fun ride... 30s always feel so good
after single digit cold.
Keep riding!

 

[MplsCoaster]

Thanks Jerry! Yeah, MN is the land of 10,000 extremes LOL

Thanks GCrank. Riding in that stuff takes a lot of "Cabin Fever" to get out in, LOL.
The bike is so light that I take it down the basement and let is melt by the washer tubs/drain

I couldn't agree more Skipton! This December was 11th coldest in MN history, Arghhhh!

But there have been a few bright spots to the many subzero days we've gotten recently
Last Saturday, it got freakishly warm (46F!) so I had to get out for a ride before it plunged back down in the -15F to -20F again (?!)

The roads were mostly packed snow but the bike trails were only wet and slushy, Action Shot!

Rode the streets over to Lake Hiawatha and the sunshine felt really good

Got out on to the lake but it was tough going because the snow was so sticky.
Sometimes the snow would pack on the tires and just stop the bike cold , check out the front tire...

On way to Lake Nokomis, I saw that the fat-tired Surleys had been on Minnehaha creek recently,
even with some open water (?!)

Got out of the Lake Nokomis ice rink for the first time this year.
It wasn't too bad if I rode super steady

It is really beautiful out on the lake on a mostly sunny day!!

I took off for the center of the lake and it was tough going.
Tried to shift my weight past the back of the seat and pull up on the handle bars to get the most traction and not sink the front tire in the soft snow

Shameless Selfie of a happy man

Riding from the center back to shore got brutal and I had to stop often.
Back on the bike trail, it was a lot easier so I took Minnehaha Creek bike trail home
(the creek was even a little more open here so no riding ON it this time), Losing sunlight

Stopped once more when I found enough sunlight but crazy hard to ride it the soft stuff
but anything for a good shot ...

Well I really pushed myself and I paid for it,
I torqued my back while riding in back of the seat and yanking on the bars, Owww!
But it's healing up pretty quick and we're back in the deep freeze again anyway (wind chill of -30F ?!)
so I have some time to heal

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[pick]

And I thought it was cold down here! You & Skipton are the most hard core riders I know! Always enjoy your pics & adventures.

 

[Skipton]

Looks like fun Steve,

Some great photos!

Here it was 50! On Saturday
Then quickly back to lower teens. 11F on the ride home last night with snow. We should have 6-10 inches on the ground by the end of today.

And I thought it was cold down here! You & Skipton are the most hard core riders I know! Always enjoy your pics & adventures.

RIGHT ON!