Perfect commuting weather!

The cool morning temperatures and low 80's in the afternoon make for perfect bike commute weather...and to underscore that point there was someone else rolling to work this morning.  The only question is where are the rest of you?    

An evening with Grant Petersen.

The Sundance Bookstore and the Reno Bike Project put on a really nice evening last night.  Everyone gathered at Sundance around 5pm.  We then all took a nice little bike ride around downtown, Idlewild park, and down our "Bike Boulevard". 

Down California Ave.

Some traffic calming along Idlewild Dr.

Through Idlewild on the bike/running path.  Grant and Mr. Clark in tow....

Along our BBINO (Bicycle Boulevard in Name Only).

Rather ironically it does become a functional Bike Boulevard when you put 30 bikes in a group and the cars just can't pass you willy nilly!  

Grant giving a very interesting history lesson.

Once back at the bookstore, Grant gave a nice talk about the history (last 40 years) of cycling as he's seen it.  The main lesson was that a good basic bike is all you need.  Something with a little bigger tires than the "racer" main stream dictates.  Then the key is to just ride your bike.  It's not about how many miles or how far you ride, it's for transportation, recreation, or whatever makes it work for you!

It was nice to meet the man behind Rivendell. I had envisioned him as a bit of a crusader against the "spandex" culture of bicycling.  Turns out he's just a regular guy who thinks more people would enjoy bicycling regardless of what you wear and what you ride.  Good words to live by!

Reno Balloon Bonanza!

The dog and I headed out for a run this morning around 6:15.  We knew we were in for a treat before we even made it off the first block....the "whooosh" of large propane(?) burners could be heard from over by Rancho San Rafael Park.  By the time we were a couple miles into the run around the park we started to see balloons rising!  Here's a couple pics I snapped when I got back to the house.

They certainly aren't award wining photos...but you get the idea!  So head out to Rancho this weekend and go see some balloons up close an personal!

Darth Vader is back this year!!

Rivendell Bikes - Grant Petersen - Sundance Bookstore - Music - Bike Ride!!!!

Just in case you forgot.....tomorrow night at 5pm all the things listed in the title (and perhaps your wildest dreams) will be coming true.  So get down to Sundance Bookstore and join the Reno Bike Project and all your favorite bicycle bloggers for a evening of literature, bicycles, music and more!

Uneventful commutes.

It's amazing how many of my commutes are just uneventful.  My memory might not be that good...but I seem to remember having some negative interaction with drivers on a pretty regular basis.  In some ways it fueled this blog with interesting posts I suppose.  So either I'm mellowing out as a cyclist (pretty likely) or drivers are getting the hang of sharing the road with cyclists (I hope so).  Either way, I'll take the mellow morning rides!

Here's a pic or two from an uneventful roll down Mill St.

Not even busy today.

 

By the way...get those lights tuned up...it's getting dark earlier every day!

Bicycle crimes make the national news!

Sorry about the commercial you have to watch....but the story is pretty good.  And it's never a bad thing to see awareness of bicycles in the mainstream media (regardless of the circumstances).....

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bicycle Weekend Bonanza!

Wow...this weekend turned into a bicycle extravaganza for me.  I guess I'll just lay it out as it happened via pictures.  It includes in no particular order....bike repair, rib fest, and mountain biking.

The Fargo has had some type of "hickup" in the drive train the last few days.  I cleaned the chain and it had no effect.  I was hoping for a stuck link as an easy solution.  Next on the list was the rear hub had a bit of slop...so I tore it apart.

After re-tightening the rear axle assembly, I decided the cassette was in need of a cleaning.

Based on the caked on grease and dirt I'd say I should have done it sooner.

With the drive train repaired it was off to ribfest with the Cuter Commuter and her husband.  I didn't even realize the 3 foot PSA billboard was in the shot.  

Rib Fest was crowded....shocking!

One of the 1/2 slabs we split....we opted for Nitro sauce since we all like hot and spicy.  Turns out we were a bit in over our heads on the spicy!

A second 1/2 slab....we opted just for the hot sauce this time.  And a little "sauce" to wash it down!

After a while we were sick of the crowds (and full of ribs)....so we headed back to Reno via East.4th St.  Swayed by my bad influence we ended up stopping off at Pigeon Head Brewing.  As you can see...they are bike friendly!

The beer was darn good too!  I really liked the Rye IPL and team Cuter Commuter enjoyed the Pilsner.  The pigeon head was out and about while we enjoyed our beer.  Not sure exactly how many beers you need to drink before you ask for the pigeon head!

Needless to say...I didn't make it home until rather late in the evening.  Sleep was elusive however, since the phone was ringing.  More plans for biking were made for relatively early the next morning!!

By 9am, bicycles (of the mountain flavor) littered the trailhead parking lot below dry pond.

Climbing on great single track was the name of the game.

And more climbing.....

Streams were forded!

Until we notice the fantastic new bridge about 50 ft away!!!  Thank you Forest Service and TAMBA!!

Dry pond (x2)...we went up and over from Thomas Creek to Jones Creek...up to the wilderness area....then back up to dry pond and back down Thomas Creek. 

The only reason we made it up and over Dry pond twice was because we had "carrots" dangling in front of us....well, back at the car anyways!

P.S.  If you've never ridden here....this is the map for the loop (or out and back in our case).

Ok, that's enough for one post....  Hope you spent some time in the saddle this weekend!