I "Road" My Bike Today...

Got some pavement/asphalt pedaling in today. Started at the Whittier Greenway path to the San Gabriel River. Up past the Whittier Narrows Dam to the Santa Fe Dam and a little beyond to the bass of the mountains, and back. I've never ridden the bike path to the end and it's been on the bucket list for sometime. Well, Check! Boring? maybe, but it was really quite peaceful. What made this interesting for me was the bike I manipulated for the road. But first, here's some awesome assphalt scenery.





Funny how the bike path just comes to an end. I guess you jump on the highway from here but that's for another day. I have yet to do any actual climbing in the mountains on the road.


Lately I've been riding the '90 Bianchi and have been hating feeling all the bumps, cracks and other junk you run over on a skinny wheeled ridged bike. So I morphed the Trance into a road bike. Big chainring and 1" slicks. Man I tell ya, I love it. So plush, like riding on a cushion of air, well because it is. The 1 x 9 gearing (48 x 11/32 gives me a wider range than the Bianchi 2 x 7 (52/40 x 13/23). The slick tires reduce the OD wheel size to 25". I have read and seen pictures that you can mount 700c road tires to a 29er rim and it will fit on a 26" bike no problem. Something I may do in the near future. But for now I'm pleased. Oh, and the Trance comes in at 24 lbs, one pound lighter than the '90 Bianchi.

 

I like it! I have a thing for old road bikes, but that's pretty cool... I've mounted my wife's hybrid tires (700x40) on the hardtail, but I haven't taken it out for any distance yet. Maybe tomorrow...

So, is this the new thread for road rides?

 

It is now. I like it.

 

Love the title as well!

 

Yep, me too. I make sure I give the Domane some love and toss on the spandex at least one day every weekend. It's definitely a different ride than mountain biking, but any time on the bike is a good time.

 

I just realized I don't ride the road bike enough. Sure, I ride it to work and back, but that's just to keep the blood pumping during the week. I need to do this one again soon...anyone wanna go along?

 

OK Greg, no excuses now. Time for us Loop'rs to do a road ride. I love the big ring look!

 

Grrrreat idea Grego! Nice post AND Thread Idea!

 

But... I think we should still slip the occasional asphalt report in Herz's thread. His reaction usually livens it up a little.

 

That's where mine will be tomorrow. Otherwise only 3 people will see it.

 

You could drive down to the OC for one of those long rides...

 

I ride the roads often. Will post some up.

 

Jennifer and I "road" our bikes today. An easy out and back then pedaling around on closed roads in Thousand Oaks. Today was their Spokes in the Oaks celebration. It's their version of Cyclavia. We didn't stick around for the entertainment but there were several booths and food trucks and some live music. It's been awhile since we've ridden with CVC.

 

I did two rides on asphalt today, for a total of EIGHT miles. I think I exceeded 4 feet of elevation also.

All of that to spend almost $600 to repair the truck. At least I didn't have to make the sick wife transport me.

 

I rode in the icky dirt this morning, then I got a piece of assphalt this evening with a quick 17.5 miler in the dark.

 

Road the roadie yesterday. Quick ride from the house to Back Bay and back with a stop at Jamba Juice for breakfast. Perfect riding weather.

 

Did our LBS annual No Shave November ride w/ my son and Wife. It's has many options all connecting to the SART then on to H.B. The boy and I started in Moreno Valley, he was hoping to do the whole 120 I planned to do 75. We met everyone at the shop and off we went. 50 or so started here we picked up 40 more on the route including my wife. She was waiting at the Honda Center this being her 1st organized ride. She was planning on 28 miles made it to the beach and decided to get a lift back to the truck. The boy decided the soreness in his rump was enough so we rode the 13 miles back to the truck that was parked at the Honda Center and called it a day. 75ish miles each and big smiles all around. 75 miles being the most either of us have peddled. PR baby

 

We had some friends from the U.K. visiting Vegas this week so we decided to drive out and meet them for a couple of nights. I did a quick search and saw that there was a popular route through Red Rock Canyon, so I loaded up the road bikes and brought them with us. It was a fun ride. Only a little under 25 miles, but a pretty decent climb and some great scenery. It was a great break from the craziness that is the Las Vegas Strip.

 

Carbonlegs posted about that ride before... Thank you for bringing it up again, and putting it on my radar for our next Vegas trip!

It looks like a ton of fun...

 

Perfect day for riding today. Did a run down Laguna Canyon and back up PCH. Did the climb up Newport Coast. It's always a leg burner.

 

You should have come along with me, pperelle - it was fun. I posted it over in "I rode my bike today."

 

I did see you post that ride up. I would like to try that sometime. I've only ridden my motorcycle on GMR. My wife usually rides roadie with us and I would need to consult a good divorce attorney soon after the ride if I took her on a ride like that!

 

I did a some of climbing yesterday-

 

That you did. Well done!

 

Put 30 miles behind me tonight. Then stopped and had some BBQ.

 

This thread looked lonely, so I thought I should post up a ride. Did a loop in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. It's a fun loop with a bit of climbing. Perfect riding weather yesterday. The best part is the breakfast at the Yellow Vase with an ocean view at the end.

 

I got a ride on the road bike today. Nothing special, but it was fun. I'd never gone up the SGRT past Centralia before, and then hung a right at Beverly and rode Turnbull Canyon Road. Also a first. Quite a fun morning.

 

It looks like a couple stiff climbs in there! Will you have your mountain steed back next weekend? Would you be up for an insane epic in the mountains?

 

Next weekend is Christmas Decoration Time. In the interest of domestic tranquility!!

 

And for anyone listening...Turnbull Canyon is a fun place to ride the MTB, but Turnbull Canyon Road is one of those deceptive climbs that you're forever thinking "the top is just around that next curve - I can't see any more mountain rising beyond it."

I thought that at least six times on the climb, and then you round the curve and there's more. It's not horrible - roughly 1,000 feet in 4.5 miles - but it's kinda cruel. Which makes it great.