Did you ride today?

[ravewoofer]

13.6 very hot and hilly miles. 87*F in the shade. First half of the ride was strong, although I nearly paid the puke tax at the 45 minute rest stop. Regained my composure , and soldiered on. Decent ride, but probably would have been better off making this a rest day.

Spin Thursday, trails Friday.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Taking a rest day today after spending the last 8 days biking 370 miles around the desert in SE Oregon with the gf. We crossed three mountain ranges, the Alvord desert, and went to 5 hotsprings. Absolutely rugged and beautiful landscape out there, biking through it feels like you're transported back to the wild West days. Might make a full trip report post later, have a ton of photos to go through still.
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Sounds like an incredible trip! I only dipped my toe in the water before my Surly Ogre got stolen years ago - never had a bike like that before or since.

So, questions...

How was the trip on a fully rigid bike? Does the suspension seatpost give you all the comfort you need? I'm considering maybe getting into something like this eventually, a bike I can ride some trails with and load up and sightsee on for a few days. Currently my newest bike is from ... I think 1984. so yeah, a modern whip might be on the horizon for me.

Is that a Brooks C17? How do you like it? I've been a B17 guy for a long time now, but the C saddles are less expensive so I've eyeballed them before.

 

[CarloniousFunk]

Sounds like an incredible trip! I only dipped my toe in the water before my Surly Ogre got stolen years ago - never had a bike like that before or since.

So, questions...

How was the trip on a fully rigid bike? Does the suspension seatpost give you all the comfort you need? I'm considering maybe getting into something like this eventually, a bike I can ride some trails with and load up and sightsee on for a few days. Currently my newest bike is from ... I think 1984. so yeah, a modern whip might be on the horizon for me.

Is that a Brooks C17? How do you like it? I've been a B17 guy for a long time now, but the C saddles are less expensive so I've eyeballed them before.

Bummer about the ogre, those are great bikes! My GFs bikepacking rig is an ogre and she loves it. Between the suspension seat post and the 29x3 tires I'm very happy with the ride. I have Cushcore in my tires and can run 10psi off road without worrying about my rims. The seatpost cuts out the jarring feeling from bumps and helped me with some lower back pain I'd get on long rides. I can now spend about 8-10 hours a day in the saddle on this bike pretty comfortably. Front suspension would probably be nice, but for remote bikepacking trips my personal preference is less moving parts = less stuff to go wrong.

I have the carved c17 on this bike and a b17 on a different bike, pretty similar feel. The b17 might be a little more comfortable but I like the c series seems more durable and doesn't matter if it gets wet and muddy or sits out in the elements overnight.

A nice hard tail or plus size tire rigid in my opinion are the ideal bikepacking bikes if you're looking to spend most of your time on dirt. I've done a lot of bikepacking on a gravel bike and always wished I had more tire. With the 29x3 I've never really found myself in a situation where I wanted less tire. If you're out to sightsee and enjoy some time camping, the couple extra mph you lose on pavement with the big tires are worth the comfort to be able to explore rougher roads and trails

 

[mostfrantic]

got one in before the rain hits Tennessee. @Cedarhill, Nashville area.

 

[CarloniousFunk]

Legs are still feeling heavy from a week of pedaling a 100+ pound bike but got out for some miles on the Singlespeed. 12 miles with +1600'. Put some cane creek ergon bar end things on, not sure I like them on this bike. Going to try them for a couple more rides, but will probably put them on the Prospector for bikepacking

 

[ravewoofer]

Legs are still feeling heavy from a week of pedaling a 100+ pound bike but got out for some miles on the Singlespeed. 12 miles with +1600'. Put some cane creek ergon bar end things on, not sure I like them on this bike. Going to try them for a couple more rides, but will probably put them on the Prospector for bikepacking
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That’s awesome. We don’t have that kind of elevation here in Massachusetts. Just finished an 11 miler with 500 feet of climbing. If I choose a particularly steep loop, it’s 15 miles and a bit over 1200 feet of elevation.
But that is an outlier.

I ride a flat 8 miler with less than 300 feet. It’s pretty technical, but really never need any of the larger cogs.

Today’s loop:

 

[jlm43]

Quick 10 mile ride while visiting the in-laws in Sorrento, ME. Across the bay is Bar Harbor and Acadia NP.

 

[jembourbe]

1:00:43, 15.51 miles, a massive 547’ of climbing. On the MTB but on paved pathways. It's swampy around here from all the rain lately

 

[ravewoofer]

Did a repeat of my May 19th ride, although this time the temperature was much more favorable. Maxed out at 72*F. We’ve had two days of rain so rocks and roots were a little slick. I had to search and ride the slow lines just like on a 26er.

On dry terrain, the 29er smokes the rough stuff. Much more preferable.

So, faster ride than heat prostration day, but still needed to back off speed on the slick stufff.

Not bad at all!

13.6 miles in the woods.

 

[CarloniousFunk]

Had a little rain/snow frosting yesterday that brought out that brown pow. made for some chilly but excellent riding. Knocked out 10 miles with 2k vert.

 

[ravewoofer]

Spanked the fastest pace of the season on this 11 mile loop. Temperatures in the low 70s, felt great! Bumped into a gravel rider on one of the flat trails. The guy was hauling on that bike. Most of what I ride is single track, so I don’t see the need as I like the technical routes.

Spin Saturday and Monday, trails next Tuesday.

 

[jembourbe]

25 miles with these fast freaks. I'm going to hurt for a day or two

 

[ravewoofer]

Rode the longest ride so far this season, about 14.25 hilly miles. One of my usual loops either an extra trail added.
My legs were a bit tired from a 30 minute Tabata workout yesterday, but somehow pulled the fastest ride of the year.

Spin Thursday, trails Friday.

 

[1FZj80]

The wildflowers are blooming. Been great weather this week.

 

[ravewoofer]

Got out early this morning to beat the heat. Supposed to hit 90•F today. Did my 11 miler today. I worked a bit on keeping up the rpms in some hilly spots, as sometimes it’s easy to just grind it in a high gear.
Fastest ride of the season! Result.

 

[Gerry McGerry]

First ride back since breaking my wrist, pretty happy with how it's healing.

 

[1FZj80]

Is that the Blue Mountains?

 

[1FZj80]

I did the Lake Tahoe ride with my son, his friend and a few neighbors. It's a chill ride that we just cruised and the weather was absolutely perfect. It is really the only way I will ride the Lake perimeter because the roads are closed to cars on the Emerald Bay portion and along the east shoreline. Got in ~74-miles and 4500-ft. climbing in about 4-1/2 hours.

 

[Gerry McGerry]

Is that the Blue Mountains?

Sure is.

 

[CarloniousFunk]

Just wrapped up a great 4 day loop (236 miles +18,000') from Tahoe up north into the Lost Sierra and back. Mostly dirt roads with some pavement to connect into a couple towns for resupply. Such a wonderful area to bikepack.