Post your ride pics

[dcv]

Share sights from your rides here

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[Dirt]

@JimF22003 70542 wrote:

My tongue was hanging out like that for the whole ride… I’ve been inspired to de-commuterize my Specialized Tri-Cross (28mm tires, with rack etc.) and see how it compares to riding this stuff on the mountain bike. I remain skeptical after losing a few teeth on those washboards

There’s almost always a clean line through the washboards. I really only hit washboards yesterday when I was pulling out of line to pass someone or singing lounge songs that require extra vibrato that I’m incapable of producing on smoother roads.

When I ride at the back of a group, I can see how people filter to the best lines. Generally they do a good job. When riding in Idaho last summer, there were some long sections of washboards where there was no good line. I ended up placing myself 50 yards behind a large group, even though it was windy, because it made finding a good line safer and easier. I could tell when the group hit washboards because it would go from double paceline to 10 people spread across the road* instantly as people tried to find a smooth line. When the washboards are gone, the group squished back to double paceline.

* Note: These are open, back country roads we were riding on where you had 5 miles of good visibility to see if a car was coming and plenty of time to hear if a car or truck is coming from behind.

[Subby]

That was my first ever gravel ride and it was definitely different from anything I’ve ever done. I have a Kona Jake with 700×35 cx tires but I had to learn the hard way that you need to get the inflation right. I road the first few miles at 65 psi which was so bad it caused the bike to throw the chain (and I lost my rear blinky). When the group stopped the first time, I let some air out of the front tire. That made all of the difference for handling and I was able to ride the rest of the ride a lot more confidently. I still had some trouble with the washboard, but echoing Pete, I figured out you had to take a good line.

All in all it was such a great experience. The vistas are beautiful and the hills challenging. An extra 10 degrees Fahrenheit at game time and it would have been perfect.

Thanks Pete!

[Tim Kelley]

@Dirt 70517 wrote:

Freshbikes Gravel Grinder today. Amazing group of people. Clicking through the photos in the set gives you an idea of how big that group was.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrogringo/sets/72157638261453106/

Thank you!

Can one of the social butterflies with with photoshop (or MSPAINT) skills edit one of these group photos to label who everyone was on the Gravel ride? We weren’t being particularly social with all the cold, and I feel like I missed out on putting names and forum names with faces…

[americancyclo]

I had no idea so many forum folk were on the ride…

[PotomacCyclist]

Another picture of the Museum of Science Fiction video shoot on Sunday, although I didn’t take this one. (Credit: Save Sci Fi)

I think it might be an ion-powered bike.

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[cyclingfool]

“That’s not the iBert you’re looking for.”

[americancyclo]

@PotomacCyclist 70682 wrote:

I think it might be an ion-powered bike.

Those things are tricky in the trees.

[jnva]

This made me happy this morning on fairfax drive. Too bad it’s only about 1/10th of a mile long!
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[Dirt]

Wine acquisition

[Dirt]

Singing Opera

[Dirt]

Skreaminquadz on a muddy gravel grinder ride today.

[Greenbelt]

Ben is orange man on the retro-direct drive bike…

[dcv]

@Greenbelt 71230 wrote:

Ben is orange man on the retro-direct drive bike…

i don’t get the drivertrain, do you pedal backwards to go forward? SS?

[Dirt]

@dcv 71265 wrote:

i don’t get the drivertrain, do you pedal backwards to go forward? SS?

Basically the idea is you get one gear ratio when pedaling forward and another gear ratio when pedaling backward. It is a simple way to have different ratios. If I recall correctly, it comes from the early 1900s.

[vvill]

Yeah it’s SS, you have two freewheels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro-direct

[Author]

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