Weekend Riding

I did get two enjoyable rides in over the weekend before my injury on Monday.  Tim planned both of them.

Saturday

The first was a road ride on Saturday.  This ride was just Tim and I.  He was trying out some new handlebars on his Rawland Sogn.  I was riding my Rawland rSogn.  We took a mildly hilly route through part of Jefferson Forest.  It was a good day on the bike.  We didn’t push the tempo too hard.

The morning started with some light rain, but it moved out, leading to a beautiful day.

I was nearly at the end of the ride when my rear tire flatted.  Rather than fix it on the side of the road, Tim walked with me back to the coffee shop, and gave me a ride home.  The bike is still sitting in my office with a flat.  I should fix that soon.

I got 36 miles in on Saturday.

Sunday

Sunday brought a ride with some off-road stretches.  Patrick joined Tim and I for a “camp coffee” ride.  No camping was involved, but we brought coffee-making supplies and stoves along for the fun.

I rode my Fargo.  Patrick rode his Fargo.  Tim rode his Mukluk.  This meant all three of us were riding Salsa bikes.  That’s unusual.

We rode city streets to Indiana.  Once there we rode a few paths before diving into diversions near the river.  These weren’t paths, but muddy tracks that usually dead-ended near the river.  Tim’s 4″ wide tires meant he did well here.

After enough dead-ends, we back on roads for a bit to get to an old railroad grade that I’ve ridden before.

Tim turned-off downhill to check out a spot for coffee.  Patrick and I continued on to check out a railroad bridge.  We turned back to join Tim.  We found the wrong “path” to get down to him.  It would still get there, but it was much steeper and muddier.  I didn’t realize that and went down first.

Riding down the steep section was thrilling, but relatively safe, and it was straight.  Then there was a steep uphill to slow me down, which it did.  What I didn’t count on was the uphill being so muddy and slick that I couldn’t even walk up the last few feet.  I had to cut through the brush – after falling and getting muddy.  Patrick walked and avoided the mud.

We rejoined Tim and started our stoves.  Three cups of coffee were made and consumed in the woods.  It was pleasant.

We continued on across two defunct railroad bridges.  I’ve been across them before – once on the rSogn even.  Tim and Patrick elected to walk while I rode down the middle.  Tim wrote lies about the event on his blog, but that’s okay, he made a more interesting story than I did.

We headed back to town.  Tim and I rode with Patrick toward his house (he lived the farthest), but I turned back after a bit – as I had a busy day planned with Diane.

I arrived home with a terribly muddy bike that I had to hose down in the back yard.

I rode almost 28 miles for this ride – much of it difficult off-road.

Spreading the Love

Diane’s sister’s birthday was over the weekend.  Diane and I went out for a drink on Saturday with her and her fiancée.  We were a bit silly, but I was designated driver, and kept us safe.

They came over again on Sunday to pick up her (their?) birthday gift – an old yellow Sears-branded tandem bicycle.  It’s a cruiser style bike – single speed with coaster brake.  I bought it from Asher and Denis, since they now have a better tandem.

I fixed it up a bit.  It needed grips, tubes, and rim strips.  I cleaned and lubed it.  I added a bell – because I like bells.  The four of us rode the two tandems down to Four Pegs for a beer.

I wish I had taken pictures of the tandem, but I failed to do so.

Monday

Yeah.  Monday.  Work went by quick.  I rode the Big Dummy to and from work.  It really wasn’t a bad day.  We went to volleyball – then my Achilles tore.  Oh well.  Game over.

In any case, last weekend was a great weekend.  Maybe that’s why I’m still in a decent mood, even with the torn tendon thing going on.