Ridin': Lots of Water

[pick]

Mother Nature has been really rough on you guys this year! Hang in there summer is coming sooner or later.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Great shot!

 

[MplsCoaster]

Awesome Winter's Day
Thanks Pick!
I'm just happy that really cold part of winter is over.
Summer is months away but all easier now

Thanks Luke!
You made it worth getting my feet soaked LOL

So it seems like we're done now with our 2.5 month's of subzero weather,
my bad cold is almost gone, and my Step Son is in remission.
On top of all that good news, today was absolutely awesome!
It was mid20's with lots of sun and low wind, these are the great days of MN winter!

Got my bike out for the first time in almost 2 weeks.
We've had about a foot more of snow since my last ride
but it's starting to compact and melt.

About 4-6" of packed ice and snow with some slush on top on the side streets.
The ruts are going to be brutal this year (action shot )

It was like riding a bucking bronco but the sun felt warm and the air was nice and clean.
Headed out for only a short one today.
Tried the walking path at the community garden but it was tough.
One wrong bump and I had to put my foot down which sunk in about 5" and almost tipped over LOL

Had to show a pic of the snow depth and the brilliant blue sky

Only got so far on the walking path, then had to walk...
Some of the snow emergency routes are clearing up now the temp is to a point where the salt works, Yeah!!
Got a little no-handed riding in but only on these streets

Headed down to Longfellow park to see how the ice rink was
and got all the way around on the much less-slippery ice
Thought it was great someone rode their bike to the rink to go skating.
Who needs a kickstand when there are ice chunks around LOL

Overall a great ride and for only a short one,
I got sweaty just keeping upright LOL
Next few days are going to be above freezing,
so I going to have to find that snap-on fender again soon.
Good days ahead!

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[MplsCoaster]

Massive Meltdown
Thanks Luke!

We're had a massive meltdown last week (3 days above 50F)
This was my alley (on Mon) with 6" water and icebergs

So I got a slow, wet ride in on Tuesday (without my camera )

By Thursday, there was enough snow gone
that I switched over to my Bontrager Connection tires,
swapped the 22 rear gear to 18 and headed out
Much easier to go no-handed

Had a lot of water and sand on the road (salt didn't work in subzero stuff)
but it was great to finally get some speed back into my riding
There is one of those strangely disappearing snowmen in the background LOL

The river is even starting to break up so no more riding on the lakes, oh well...

Inevitable Wetness LOL

It's supposed to cool down again next week but nothing where I can't ride
so I'm really happy about getting more rides in from now on

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[Skipton]

Steve,
Looks like spring might just come after all!
It's always surprising to me how I can over dress for anything above 30 degrees

The longer daylight sure helps make it feel better also.
Keep Ridin and having fun!

 

[MplsCoaster]

More Cold and Colds

Thanks a lot Luke, Pick, and CCR!
Skipton, you are so right about over dressing,especially when you get used to bundling up
or you remember the first ride where your hands went numb LOL
I agree, the longer days sure help
If nothing else, it's easier to see the ruts, potholes, and puddles

I got my 3rd separate cold in the last 3 weeks last weekend. Finally had to just stop the endless cold medicine and went cold (pun intended) turkey last Wednesday. So I was just stuffed up when the weather turned "nice" (45F but 15mph cold NW wind) on Thursday and had to get out there.

Pumped up the tires to 60psi and with the harder gearing (faster speeds),
no-handed riding was pretty good (with the wind at my back LOL)

Did my whole 8 miler River Ride but had to sop and blow the old schnozzola a few times, so snapped a few

The March sun felt warm and the clean air help flush out my sinuses,
which got me in a better mood.
I like this pic, the bike looks kinda tough

Looking forward to enjoying the sunshine on my face without having a cold NW wind stinging

We had subzero wind chills again this weekend and it was kinda bumming me out.
But next week should be in the 30's at least and 40's by the weekend.
The only thing good about it is that the snow is melting slower
and we've drop a level in flood danger

Thanks for Looking
Steve

 

[aka_locojoe]

I should feel guilty for cursing what heat we've had here already while you haven't even thawed out yet. I'm dreading the Summer temperatures. I am thankful we don't have that frozen or wet mess all winter like you do. Ours is gone as fast as it came each time.
Good to see you still making the best of it.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Spring is coming, slowly...

Don't feel guilty Randy,
I don't when it's scorching down your way LOL
At least you got some snow to play in and share pics

Last weekend we had subzero WindChills again and Tuesday was -6F WC too

But a snowstorm from the south blew in some rain/snow mix (34F) on Thursday so I had to get out
It was so dark grey at 6pm the lights came on (and looked kinda cool)

These kind of days you look for any kind of color, all I could find was brown LOL

Headed down to Minnehaha Falls to see how fast it was thawing, Major flow but lots of dirty ice

I know Kingfish likes frozen falls so I got one more shot, Not so glamorous this time of year but kind a cool still

The Big news: We got to 60F today(Sunday)!! Yeah!!!
Had to get out after some spring chores
Everybody was smiling and laughing
We've still got a lot of snow on the ground but the warmest weather yet!
Lots of families out and super happy to see lots of little kids with training wheels,
Hello Next Generation!!

Took out the Eliminator and it was great!!
Had that song "Happy" in my head the whole time LOL

They say next week we are getting more cold and snow/rain
but it Spring will get here sooner than later and nothing subzero

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[kingfish254]

Thanks for the frozen falls photos. Those are too cool. The closest we get to that was as a kid we would leave the sprinkler running on a bush during one of the handful of nights there was going to be a hard freeze (low of 25 ).

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Talkin' with a guy today, and noted it felt like Autumn outside not April.
Spring's supposed to have some sunshine going on...
Been riding a little myself tho...

Carl.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Spring Came Kinda...

That's a great story Kingfish, Thanks!
Great to hear you are getting out in spite of the "Fall" weather Carl, I totally agree

Well thought I'd get one more post in before BONINE and the mayhem starts
I've been swamped at work and worn out at the end of the day
But have been getting out when I can (in between multi inch snow dumps, cold, and rain )

So this is about 3 weeks of riding
Still had quite a bit of snow on the ground a few weeks
but got the Country Rock tires and harder gearing on the aluminum bike

And another big snow storm on the horizon...

Got through that snow dump and it melted pretty fast so I finally got the Spaceliner out ,
And IT WAS GOOD!

Tried out the Shelby but it just isn't a racer that I can book on with the Nexus 3 speed on it

More rain and a little more snow and then got the Spaceliner out again, yeah!

Finally got over to Little Guy's place to get Mag Ray for a new paint job.
It rusted and he's not into the rat rod look just yet...
Got to see him flying on it and it made me really happy!!!

The neighborhood kids really like it too
So as I'm loading it up, he grabs the chopper and just absolutely cranks on it

Last Saturday was really nice and I got my Wife out on the newly refit Eliminator

Minnehaha Park was a total party atmosphere with plenty of other bikes and people

Got the Royce Union gone through and thought I'd shake it down before I try to sell it at the swap meet (It's such a stylish bike that it will hurt when it's gone)

Been getting more bikes done and refit the Shelby back to single speed, heavy gearing, favorite tires, The French fork, and new Velo Orange aluminum handle bars.
I rides much better, fast and low rolling resistance even with Big and Littles
It was a lot more fun but I might part with this one too for the right price...
Not as good as Randy's pic but at least it's got a plane in it LOL

Got to the Beach (Nokomis) but no sun bathing or any other kind of bathing with "Ice Out" happening just a few days before

Okay, all caught up for now.
Got a few more crazy weeks at work then some time off, Yeah!

Thanks for Looking
Steve

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Pretty obvious just how much you love the Spaceliner!

Luke.

 

[kingfish254]

Pretty obvious just how much you love the Spaceliner!

Luke.

Can't blame him!!!!
Love the white tires on the eliminator!

 

[5speed]

have you ever been on the nakomas bike shop ride?every monday nite 6pm meet 7 pm ride

 

[Skipton]

Great pics Steve all your bikes look fantastic... Hope the warm weather gets there soon!
Enjoy the time off work.

 

[jerrykr]

Wow, quite a bit of change in scenery in this thread. Still love looking at all the pictures, and glad you can finally get the family out with you (they must not be as bike crazy as you?). Ha!

We had a "cold snap" last nite. Nearly had a frost! whoa! I heard the heat come on for about 30 seconds (we had windows open). You don't have to feel sorry for me, it will be in 80's today and maybe 90 this weekend. Slow Spokes ride on Sunday, and can't decide which bike to dust off. Yeah!

 

[MplsCoaster]

Path Racing

Can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.
Still been riding but not as much as I want.
I'll catch up on the last few weeks


Thanks Luke, the Spaceliner is a lot of fun
Glad you like the white tires KF

5Speed, I heard of the rides at Nokomis Bike shop but haven't gone. I
t's kinda tough to make plans after work sometimes.
Sounds like you enjoy them, post some pics if you want

Thanks Skipton! We've jumped right into summer at 80F today
Enjoyed your ride pics of your new 29er, too cool

Yeah Jerry, big changes seemed to skip fall last year too.
No, they aren't quite as bike crazy as me .
I suppose that 30F is now a blast from the past.
Your hot now aren't you?

Okay so I've got the Shelby into good shape now and got some actual path racing in.
Not sure how serious the competition was but I'll take it
I like when I see this:

First riders were in great shape but maybe doing more of an easy ride (when I past them)
Second guy was working really hard at it but I got around him okay
Third guy was hard to catch up but even easier when he came up for a "back" break LOL

Fourth rider was a different thing, I past her with "On the right" like always and then she caught up at a stopped street crossing. She had down shifted so sprinted up a short steep hill but I yanked hard and caught back up near the top of the hill. She turned around and then started riding in the middle of the two paths, weird. Then at the top she unclipped her left shoe and stuck it out, weirder. I thought she wanted to stop or turn left so I gave her a lot of room. Then she reclipped and bolted a right turn right in front of me, . She took a wide turn into the bike path so I took a short turn into the street to finally get past her. She came out of the bike path and almost hit me as I went by. She yells "Jeez!". I'm thinking, what?! and then, Get out of the way already.

So I booked across the bridge and started feeling kinda crappy. This is supposed to be fun not rude and I felt like maybe I was a jerk. As I rode home, I thought about an ex-girlfriend that later road raced and used "strategies" (tricks) when she was doing so well to keep others behind her.

When I got home, I explained it to my wife and she thought she was messing with me too. ICK!! Where is the good sportsmanship and friendly competition (that I found before several times with other roadies in this thread)

So it kinda soured path racing in general
but now at least I'm trying to make sure I'm not being a jerk or risky when passing.
And I still like the new setup on the Shelby a lot more now

Sorry about the rant but maybe others got stories about this stuff, good or bad.
Or if they think I'm way off base...

So the week before I was wailing on the Spaceliner (not really path racing though).
I'd been running the chain a little more loose (about 3 weeks) so it wouldn't rattle over every bump (still not sure what that is yet). About 6 miles in, the chain came off on a monster hard climb and I wiped, Owww! Luckily I wasn't going too fast. Skinned up my knees and embarrassed myself pretty bad (and ended up with some nasty bruises later). Put on the chain, walked up the hill then started out again, just a little more mellow LOL. Took this pic after about 10 minutes cause I wasn't going to let it get me down.

BTW, I tightened my chain on the Shelby before I started racing it (and it rattles now too, Arghhh!)
Anybody got an idea what that is? The brake lever is tight, it happens when pedaling and coasting but not lightly braking.


So about 3 weeks ago it was cold and rainy still but I found a window to ride. Saw these flowers in the grass and they were the only color I saw that day. The Spaceliner almost blends into the background on days like that.

So caught up now until today (Memorial Day). Got a great ride in (and some better path racing) but this post is already too long so I'll save that one for a bit.

Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[MplsCoaster]

Lots of water

Well time to update some rides
Starting back on Memorial Day, May 25th and it was 85F and humid Wow! We had snow a few weeks back

Headed over to cool old Tangletown water tower that I had heard about
These are the "Defenders of Good Health" built back in 1932

Interesting how you can get back lit shot in the middle of a sunny day

Minnehaha Creek was at a high level (then, now it's flooded over it's banks)

Caught up with a group of roadies. They were lollygagging at about 16mph so I passed them (safely)

Couldn't figure out why I was getting an average mph so no, I'm not flying into the lake LOL

Stopped at one of my favorite beaches and went for a swim. Water was really cold but it felt great

It was weird to see all the flowering spring plants when it so warm out

Stopped to take some pics of Hiawatha and Minnehaha for Funkme's build (just above Minnehaha Falls)

The Falls were raging at this point (since ~5" more of rain in the last week it's even crazier)

A week later and I took the camera with on a weeknight ride. Been taking the Shelby with the Garmin to see actually how fast I'm going. Figured out how to get live speed vs average, duh

The week after and I'm still riding my Shelby?! It seems easier than my Spaceliner but the gear inch is higher. Shelby is 95.6 and the Spaceliner is 90.5. I've also got to tune up the Spaceliner a bit after the wipeout last month. I was able to keep up the 19.5 mph no handed so I'm pretty happy.

On Jun10th it was in the 80's again in between some heavy rainfalls. Lots of the lake paths look this way in low spots

And a dip in the lake, Ahhh!

A funky looking tree

The rain held off on the 12th and started riding a longer route to get in a little better swim suit shape for VA beach LOL. Beautiful (and windy) day on Franklin Ave bridge

Going a little farther down the Mississippi River gave me some new pic places LOL

You can really see how high the river is lately, there is supposed be an island that those trees in the middle of the rive are standing on

Been keeping up the 10.5 miles vs the 8 miles lately but haven't been taking pics and took off the speedometer. Too much looking at speed, not enough diggin' in LOL

Thanks for looking
Steve