Today's ramble.

[Mike]

The weather here in Portland has been beautiful lately. Downright exceptional over the past three days while I was at work. I woke up this morning and it was cooler but could tell it would burn off. My wife is out of town and we have a puppy so I can't get away for all day rides but I did get in a 3hr ramble passing through Forest Park twice. When I first entered Forest Park and ended up taking Fire Rd 1 which I had never ridden before. It's quite steep in parts and so I just dismounted and just walked a few sections which was fine. I was on my Hilsen and one area where it doesn't do so great is steep scrabbly climbs. I guess I could have "muscled" up the climb but that just didn't seem fun. I exited Forest Park and headed up to Skyline on the pavement and took that for a little ways before dropping back down into Forest Park via Saltzman and made my way down to Hwy 30 and across the St Johns Bridge and back home, stopping for tacos and ice cream along the way. 

It was just a really great ride. I was on my Hilsen with platform pedals and wearing some Musa shorts and an LL Bean seersucker/hiking shirt I recently purchased on sale. The shirt worked well except for on descents where it tends to flap in the wind a bit too much for my taste. I guess I could tuck it in and the problem would be solved. 

After spending so much time focused on randonneuring for the past couple of months it was really nice to just get out for a ramble. I'll do some variation on the ride tomorrow and the next day. When my wife returns I'll hopefully get out for an overnight camping trip.

Here's a photo set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335973@N00/sets/72157630519177722/

--mike

[PATRICK MOORE]

Beautiful setting and the Hilsen looks like the perfect bike for the jaunt.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/qhDAgqpCyEMJ.
> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
> rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.



--
"Push back against the age as hard as it pushes against you."

Flannery O'Connor

-------------------------
Patrick Moore, Albuquerque, NM, USA
For professional resumes, contact Patrick Moore, ACRW
http://resumespecialties.com/index.html
-------------------------

[Joe Bernard]

I guess I could have "muscled" up the climb but that just didn't seem fun.

 

Grant has a new entry on the Blug which addresses this: Sometimes we ride our bikes in certain ways, and in certain conditions, which may qualify as exercise/endurance/accomplishment, but fun they are not. I finished a ride a few days ago that ends in a long steep climb, and as I was grinding away in low gear at a walking pace, having no fun at all 'cause I was tired, it dawned on me, "Why am I doing this?" I finished the hill on foot, stretching my legs and looking around. It was fun.

 

Joe No thanks, I'll walk" Bernard

Vallejo, CA.

> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com.

> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Peter Morgano]

Jealous, while I roast in hellhole NYC.  It was 80 riding around at 11pm last night, bl

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/qhDAgqpCyEMJ.

To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

[Mike]

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012 4:03:00 PM UTC-7, Joe Bernard wrote:

I guess I could have "muscled" up the climb but that just didn't seem fun.

 

Grant has a new entry on the Blug which addresses this: Sometimes we ride our bikes in certain ways, and in certain conditions, which may qualify as exercise/endurance/accomplishment, but fun they are not. I finished a ride a few days ago that ends in a long steep climb, and as I was grinding away in low gear at a walking pace, having no fun at all 'cause I was tired, it dawned on me, "Why am I doing this?" I finished the hill on foot, stretching my legs and looking around. It was fun.

 

Joe No thanks, I'll walk" Bernard

You're right Joe. Sometimes is it's best to use your two-step gear. I'm gonna read Grant's post now.

[cyclotourist]

I'm going to escape to beautiful Minneapolis-West to escape this, so keep that good weather for another two weeks!!!

--mike

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/qhDAgqpCyEMJ.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.

--
Cheers,
David
Redlands, CA

**
“I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.”

[Tony Lockhart]

Mike......Absolutely amazing. Those trails seem so serene and calm. I really wish places like that existed in LA. BTW, checked out you flickr photos and the bike looks great.

[PATRICK MOORE]

Not at all. Sometimes it is fun to push yourself, particularly on
hills. You can't make a valid general statement like that below --
it's simply not true universally speaking.

I don't give a flying fuck about exercise and endurance, and my
endurance is laughable, but I do, repeat do, and I repeat it in all
sincerity, that I DO enjoy pushing myself, at times, particularly up
hills. If cycling held no challenges, I'd give it up and take up
walking.

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 5:03 PM, Joe Bernard <joer...@gmail.com> wrote:
Sometimes we ride
> our bikes in certain ways, and in certain conditions, which may qualify as
> exercise/endurance/accomplishment, but fun they are not.

[Joe Bernard]

Read it again. I didn't say climbing/endurance is never fun. I said sometimes we bike in ways that are not fun because we have other goals for that type of ride even if it's not fun that day. My point is that in bygone days I would have stuck that climb out because, well, that's what you do: Keep pedaling. On this day I realized, A). I'm not having fun, and, B). walking might be nice. It was.

[PATRICK MOORE]

OK, sorry that I misread. As long as I can push myself (lightly) on climbs.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
> To view this discussion on the web visit

> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/jrZE3z5AOioJ.
> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.

> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

> For more options, visit this group at
> http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.

[Joe Bernard]

For the record, I had already climbed a long fun time. It was the last super-steep part I walked. Yesterday I rode the whole thing 'cause I felt like it.

> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com.

> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[3wheelin]

Nice story Mike....i was wondering what tires you have on the Hilsen,
and how do they work on those trails/pavement?

[Michael_S]

Every summer I see Mike's and others pictures of beautiful green forests and wonderful rides and I think I should move to Portland... and then winter comes and I change my mind.   

and maybe I'm in the minority but I wish Grant would talk less about the low carb diet and just ride.

~mike

Carlsbad CA.

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:28:44 PM UTC-7, Mike wrote:

[Andy Smitty Schmidt]

Pretty much every time you post a trip report, Mike, I add another place to my list. Even if it's a place I've been I feel like your pics capture something I missed when I was there. 

--Andy

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:28:44 PM UTC-7, Mike wrote:

[Mike]

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012 4:17:29 PM UTC-7, 3wheelin wrote:

Nice story Mike....i was wondering what tires you have on the Hilsen,
and how do they work on those trails/pavement? 

I'm running standard Schwalbe Marathons 700x35. I really like them for all around riding. I wish they hadn't stopped making them. They were replaced with the Marathon Green Guards which are probably great for touring but for these kinds of rambles they're a bit much and a bit sluggish on the road. At some point I'll try 40mm Supremes or Duremes.

--mike