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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Bicycle Thread

Reminds me I saw a ghost bike in front of the Fire Dept. across the street about a month ago. That your handiwork, vel?
 
The Monday thread was getting all bikey. I'm coming over here to post pics of some of the fleet. This was a dumpster freebie frame that I rattle-canned and set up fixed/free.
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...and this was a Japan-made Trek that was free at the bottom of somebody's driveway. I rode it fixed for a couple of seasons adn then turned it back into a 10-speed roadie and sold it. I miss it.
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I like the look of old headlights, but they just don't get the job done like modern LEDs. Someone should make a kit that would replace the existing bulb with an LED and put in a port for a rechargeable battery pack.
 
Doohickie said:
I like the look of old headlights, but they just don't get the job done like modern LEDs. Someone should make a kit that would replace the existing bulb with an LED and put in a port for a rechargeable battery pack.
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I had gutted that one and popped a candle in it for fun- but it was easily big enough inside to pull apart an led flashlight and use that instead- I just didn't get to it.
 
I wouldn't say I have New Years Resolutions; it's more of a case of New Years Revertions. I'd like to revert back to behaviors I've gotten away from. One is watching what I eat better. I've done this in the past but let it get away. Another is riding bicycles more. Less than 2000 miles for me last year is an all time low since I started riding again in 2008. My last isn't really a revertion, it is a resolution. I'm going to try to be kinder this year.

So far in the first two days I've had two rides. I've noticed several changes along routes I'm familiar with. For instance I don't remember this vegetated sign being here

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And I'm pretty sure that banana is new.

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With today's ride I'm 3-for-3 this year and up to 50 miles. I'm pretty sure this will slack off when I go to work Monday, and if the weather gets crappy, but I might as well ride when I can.

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After neglecting the bike for a week I rattled off another 17 miles tonight. I checked out a new bar where I heard a friend was working, looks like it might become a regular haunt. It's like a big living room with craft beers.

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Besides the bartender I know, a friend from my neighborhood was there (left) as well as my friend that owns a brewery (right). He just announced plans for expansion.

But oh.... ride... bike, I should include a bike picture.

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It was a gorgeous night for a ride- 57 degrees, low hanging clouds- almost, but not quite, foggy.
 
Those are definitely phat.

About a week ago I decided enough is enough and it was time to start counting calories and exercise more (again). Getting more miles in on the bicycle, did 26.7 miles today. Some pics from my ride:

Airfield Falls. This is about 10 miles from my house. This is a hidden gem of Fort Worth. It's along the Trinity Trails (this is creek is a tributary to the Trinity River), about a quarter mile in from the nearest parking. On the walk over to the falls is a butterfly garden (which had a lot of winged visitors today), then this little waterfall. As you can see, it's at most wading pool depth and kids young and old enjoy getting their feet wet. There's no admission, but I think because it is not publicized, you can't see it from the street, and you actually have to hike in from parking, it keeps the crowds out. This is a typical turnout for a warm day.
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Looking downstream a bit (bicycle in the same location)
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Looking back at the falls from the bridge visible in the last picture.
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A Really Great Blue Heron, painted on one of the floodgate controls along the Trinity River levy.
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Some kayakers on the Trinity River just north of Downtown Fort Worth.
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The West 7th Street Bridge. This bridge was built on the cheap, designed by TXDOT, with the concrete arches prefabricated just beyond the levy. The arches and their supports were installed while the old bridge stood, then the old bridge was torn down and the crossbeams and roadway installed. The road was closed only 5 months to take down the old bridge and build up the new one. This is becoming a signature bridge for Fort Worth, used as one of the local scenery shots whenever a national event happens here. It was used in a recent Kia commercial.
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The Phyllis J. Tilley Memorial Bridge (pedestrian bridge, foreground) and the Lancaster Avenue Bridge (beyond). On the other side of the Trinity River is Trinity Park, one of Fort Worth's two featured parks.
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About 11 miles of today's ride were on the Trinity Trails, the rest on local streets.
 
Today I did 37 miles. That's not outstanding, even for me, but considering how much I haven't been riding until recently, it was respectable. I stopped riding regularly when we bought our house two years ago. One bike in particular has been neglected: My commuter bike. I know because it's had a flat tire since we moved in. So I took it out today for the first time since we moved into this house.

Along the way I decided to shoot some pics of murals and sign art along the Hemphill corridor, a street that was recently restriped with bike lanes.

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COVID really messed up my riding. I usually commute by bike about 7-8 months out of the year. This spring, between working from home and not wanting to use the shower at the office, bike commuting really fell flat, then finishing grad school in June and the wave of trying to accomplish three years of put-off house projects after that killed weekend pleasure riding. I'm getting back out there a bit now, but my rides are often in the 15-20 mile range as that's what I have time for. Lots of steep dirt roads i can loop in within that range though

Today is the second day in a row I have ridden to work. I'm trying to make it more of a regular thing into December, if I can. Trying to lengthen those weekend rides and I may try to get an overnight in before it gets too far into the fall.
 
Yep, I hear ya. When we bought our house, home projects displaced riding time. The cycling has pushed its way back in as part of a weight loss plan.
 
Trying to beat the heat. I meant to get up early Friday, Saturday and Sunday and get rides in before the temperature got unbearable. I had limited success. On Friday I rolled out at 8:20, a little later than I wanted, and got a bit over 25 miles in. I had some other things to do so I didn't want to ride too long. The mural is Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who was murdered in Fort Hood, Texas (RIP).
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Saturday I didn't roll out near early enough. I didn't get going until 10:30. I barely survived 23 miles; by the time I got home it was 97 degrees. This was at the highest elevation of my ride (you can tell because they put the water towers at the high points).
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Today I got going by 8 am and cranked out 43 miles. I thought about stretching it out to 50 but it was just getting too hot (98 when I got home). I rode all that way to ride the 6 mile path around Marine Creek Lake on the NW side of Fort Worth. It's a very nice (read: shady) and popular area.
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All together, a pretty successful weekend on the bike.
 
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My 13 yr old and I during our ~14 mile ride across town yesterday and the first pic is about 2/3 of the first half of the round trip:

(this is the rail trail segment)
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And back at the house 2.5 hours later:

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Doohickie said:
You have a bitchin' ride, dude. It's righteous.
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I'm rocking a 70s era Columbia 3sp townie and my son has a full size trike (with heavy off road knobby tires on the rear wheels).

I was really proud of his determination to do the ride. Thankfully for him it's mostly flat riding and the 'end' was a county park that houses our local miniature railroad org's layout.

Though, he was petering out toward the end with about 1 mile to go, but he pushed through.
 
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Doohickie said:
Have you been shopping yet? You may find bike store stocks depleted.
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kms said:
If you wait, you might be able to pick up a newer, used bike at a decent price. Some folks will lose interest in their new jobs.
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We have a good bike shop on the island that yeah, sells their bikes they rent so I likely will get one of those
 
I didn't ride since Friday, partly because a little home project I did this weekend and partly because we had a solid day of rain that ended Wednesday afternoon. Finally got on the bike Wednesday night. Rode 17 quick miles. At this point I can get to downtown from my house, 7 miles, in about a half hour. There are several stretches on my ride where I'm either in bike lanes or on streets where I literally won't encounter a car for miles. Fort Worth has a pretty good system of neighborhood feeder streets that don't have much traffic but go on uninterrupted for a mile or two or three at a time. Not fast enough for cars but they're like superhighways for bicycles.

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Maybe you're getting bored with my bicycle posts, but this is kind of a big one. For the first time this year, I rode 50 miles.

I helped pay for this tower when my son attended Wesleyan from '09 to '13. (I can only assume that some of those tuition dollars found their way into the building fund.)

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I rode 50 miles the last time I rode before I broke my foot. I hope to be pedaling by October.

I feel like I could ride a short distance now, but I'll follow the doctors orders.
 
I could ride that routinely but we bought a house two and a half years ago. Home projects bit into my cycling time, and I also put on some pounds. When I finally decided to get serious about weight loss I made sure cycling was part of that..... down 14 pounds in a month and a half.
 
60!

Airfield Falls... from above the falls.
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A rest break in Quanah Parker Park. This was the point where I paused to decide if I was going to just take the shortest root home or go for my age (57). As it turned out the route I picked took me all the way to 60 miles.
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Today I rode part of the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail across the Eastern Continental Divide down to the Mason and Dixon Line. It wasn't a long ride, but was as far as I can go until my foot heals completely. I wanted to ride this section before the trail owner closes the Big Savage Tunnel for winter.
 
kms said:
Today I rode part of the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail across the Eastern Continental Divide down to the Mason and Dixon Line. It wasn't a long ride, but was as far as I can go until my foot heals completely. I wanted to ride this section before the trail owner closes the Big Savage Tunnel for winter.
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Trail owner? Is it privately owned?
 
jsk1983 said:
Trail owner? Is it privately owned?
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A non-profit owns the section from Pittsburgh for about 70 or 80 miles. Volunteers maintain the trail. The trail enters a state park, and I think that the park maintains it. One county maintains the section through the county. I'm not sure who maintains the section in Maryland, and I'm not sure who owns it. It's a successful partnership.
 
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