With temperatures in the 40s (F), it doesn’t exactly feel like a usual New Year’s Eve here in Vermont. In the photo above, it doesn’t look like a typical idyllic Vermont mid-winter scene; more like our usual muddy March. Still nice to get out for a ride on the last day of the year though. … Continue reading "Last Ride of 2022"
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Stormy weather expected for the next couple days, so I got out for a Greg-style ride on the shortest day of the year. I think the solstice here is officially at 4:47 PM, so I’m a few hours early. Note that long shadow above.
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In the spirit of posting a photo that highlights a daily ride, I offer the picture above. Like many of you, the weather here in Vermont has not been very conducive to lots of riding. It’s frequently been chilly, windy and rainy, although not any snow that has accumulated as yet. Today is looking to … Continue reading "Thanksgiving Survivors"
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The photos (feature photo plus the ones below) are from a ride a couple of days ago, right at the transition of the Challenge from Part 1 to Part 2. The feature photo shows the lights at the local ball field. I happened upon the above sign at the same park, which sounded pretty strange … Continue reading "Lights, Some Bends, and Something Strange"
Read MoreJust a couple of lamps from the nearby Retreat Farm.
Read MoreJust a few photos from this afternoon’s ride.
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I’m going to try to sneak in one last Great Outdoors post. Hopefully the Czars will allow it, since these photos are actually from a ride I did on June 29th and 30th. I decided earlier this week that I needed a little bit of a getaway road trip, so I headed on over to … Continue reading "Erie Canal – One Last Great Outdoors Post"
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This morning I realized it’s been over four months since I last put out a cycle365 post. How did that happen? Well, it has been kind of a busy four months, filled with various family events and activities, as well as a couple of health issues thrown in for good measure. So, I’ve been a … Continue reading "Has It Really Been Four Months?"
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This is admittedly not a very attractive photo, but February isn’t exactly the most attractive month around here. And after my poor showing in last month’s challenge, it’s time to get back in the game. So in the photo above, you will see a Parking Lot, containing Motor vehicles, and also a Puddle on the … Continue reading "It’s February — Time To Get Back In The Game"
Read MoreTesting, testing…
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So, I’ve been a bit absent from the challenge so far this month. I had made the decision at the beginning of the month to cut back on cycling for December, and get in more time walking, hiking and just a tiny bit of trail running. I rode only nine days this month, and on … Continue reading "Last Ride of 2021"
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I headed out first thing today for an early Thanksgiving morning ride down to the river. It was a chilly 22F/-6C as I headed out the door. This area is called Retreat Meadows, which I’ve featured before in winter, populated with ice shanties. No shanties yet, but there was a thin film of ice on … Continue reading "Thanksgiving Morning Ramble"
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These photos are actually from a ride two days ago, on Saturday, which was the day after our heavy rainstorms. The day started out extremely foggy. I wish I’d taken a photo out the window at 7AM, because the fog was so dense, I couldn’t see the trees just a few feet from the window. … Continue reading "Foggy Morning"
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Today was supposed to be the Vaya’s turn for a ride but as you can see, it’s huddled inside sadly looking out the garage door. You might possibly remember a photo that Rich posted yesterday that looked remarkably similar to the one above. That’s because Rich was nice enough to send his weather our way. … Continue reading "And The Rain Headed East"
Read MoreI woke up Sunday morning feeling extra refreshed from that bonus hour of sleep, so decided it would be a great day for an early morning ride. It was a beautiful clear, sunny morning but cold, with the temperature around 29F/-2C. I decided the best plan was a mostly gravel road ride up on the … Continue reading "Sunday Morning Ride"
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Like many areas in the US, we got our share of rain the last few days. The rain finally came to an end yesterday, and I was able to get out on a decent ride (yes, this ride was actually in October). We were able to escape any real flooding in this area, but the … Continue reading "Water in Abundance"
Read MoreI’m sure you all remember a few months ago, we had the face challenge. I really enjoyed all the faces that people found, but I never really got into a groove finding my own. I just couldn’t seem to see those faces when I was out and about riding. So today, I was very happy … Continue reading "Better Late Than Never"
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Just for fun, I decided to make a quick one night visit over to my son’s house before the end of summer. When I was there a few weeks ago performing cat sitting duties (remember that meet-up with Team Anderson?), I was really impressed with the number and quality of the rail trails in his … Continue reading "New York State, One More Time"
Read MoreNo no, not that kind of streaking. This isn’t the 1970’s after all. I’m talking about the consecutive days of riding kind of streak. I haven’t mentioned this up to now, not wanting to jinx things, but the last day that I didn’t ride was back on April 27th. That makes today’s ride day 120. … Continue reading "Streaking"
Read MoreFriday was scheduled to be my last day at my son’s house, so I decided before I left to take one more ride on the local rail trail before heading home. Just north of Millerton, NY, I see a couple of touring cyclists approaching me, riding some sort of interesting looking small-wheeled bikes. They look … Continue reading "You Just Never Know Who You Might Run Into"
Read MoreYou may all remember about a year ago, I wrote a post about going to visit my son’s house in New York State to take care of his cat while he was on vacation. That was a pretty unusual getaway. First, of course, there was the pandemic. There were travel restrictions in place between New … Continue reading "New York, New York (State)"
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I’ve been following lots of bike journals the last month or so, and it’s been exciting to finally see people getting out and about. It inspired me to want to get away from home for at least a minor adventure, so I decided to head up to northern Vermont for a two day, one night … Continue reading "Two Days on South Hero Island"
Read MoreThis morning I decided to take a ride up to Newfane. I thought my old town might be a good hunting ground for items on the list(s). I was right. Here we go! Just a quick story to kind of relate those last two photos together. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we lived in … Continue reading "Progress Is Being Made"
Read MoreI’m finally getting around to do some more scavenging. Here’s just a few round 3 items.
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You all are putting me to shame with all the success you’ve been having with the scavenger hunt challenge. I’m feeling like I really need to get to work to get back on track. But this post has nothing at all to do with the challenge. As the title says, this post is about taking … Continue reading "Taking Care of Unfinished Business"
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Only one find today, this discarded tire and wheel out on the trail. I can’t quite figure out how it got here. This trail isn’t accessible by motor vehicle.
Read MoreIt was an absolutely beautiful day for riding here today, sunny and calm with temps in the mid-70’s F. Lots of blue skies with a few puffy white clouds. Perfect. I only found one scavenger item today, although I have some thoughts on how to get a few more soon.
Read MoreI’m thinking this month is going to be fun, doing lots of scavenging. Here’s just a few to start out. Note that there’s two different bikes, since these photos were taken on two different rides. Rich, thanks for a great challenge idea.
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Got out for a nice little ride today that included the West River Trail and passed by the Marina, a local restaurant that sits at the confluence of the West River and Connecticut River. It’s a popular spot not only for dining, but also putting in your boat or kayak for some water fun. No … Continue reading "No Sounds, Maybe a Little Kodachrome"
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Today was a beautiful day weather-wise, with temps close to 70, no wind to speak of, and just a few puffy clouds in the sky. The weather for the next two days calls for cold and rain, with a winter storm watch in place for tomorrow night. So, today was definitely the day to ride. … Continue reading "A Bit More Water"
Read MoreSo, I almost decided not to ride today. The temperatures are pretty comfortable, but that wind that Greg showed us a day or so ago has made it’s way east, strong enough to rattle the windows in the house. But, I decided I should at least do a little ride around the neighborhood. Once out … Continue reading "Peepers"
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First of all, I’ll confess that the picture above was actually from a ride two days ago. I feel sorry for the folks that live up that hill and have to battle the mud to get to and from home each day. I did ride today, but just a casual couple of miles through the … Continue reading "It is Spring, Right?"
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Spring in Vermont is affectionately(?) known as Mud Season. It’s the time of year when many of our unpaved roads turn into brown soup for a couple of weeks, filled with ruts big enough to swallow small cars (and presumably bicycles as well). It’s tough to find much in the way of Kodachrome-worthy images. In … Continue reading "Mud Season"
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Today is New Bike Day! This is my brand new Salsa Fargo, which will hopefully allow me to tackle even more of our chunky gravel roads. Because of the current pandemic-induced global bike shortage, I ended up buying this bike from a shop up in northern Vermont, about 180 miles away. So today was mostly … Continue reading "New Bike Day!"
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First off, I’ll state the obvious and say that the feature photo above has nothing to do with the cycling I was doing today. It is a nice reminder however, of the much warmer place I was four years ago about this time, Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, Georgia. Jumping back to 2021, January here in … Continue reading "Ah, February"
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We’re expecting a winter storm this afternoon and into tomorrow, followed by a few days of very cold temperatures, so I decided to get out for a short and chilly ride before the snow starts. I just did a ride into town and back, total of about eight miles, but stopped to take a photo … Continue reading "A Quick Ride Before the Snow"
Read MoreYesterday dawned as a cold, blustery day here in Vermont, with a few inches of new snow from overnight. I decided to skip the bike ride today and instead managed to get out for two walks. I thought this would be a good chance to show off some winter scenery. The first was a walk … Continue reading "A Walking Day (and Some Wintery Photos)"
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I’ve gotten out for rides the last couple of days, doing what’s become my standard ride this winter, up and down Route 30 near my house. A little repetitive perhaps, but at least it’s getting outside, and at least it’s riding a bike. I stopped at an old favorite spot, the viewing platform under the … Continue reading "Just a Few More Polygons"
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The last couple of days, I’ve pretty much stayed off the pavement and instead explored some of the local gravel roads. Along the way, I came across a few polygons. Darn! I just realized there’s not a bike in any one of these pictures. Oh well, I promise I was sitting on a bike when … Continue reading "Icy Gravel"
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I’m somewhat pleased with myself that I’ve been able to get out for a winter ride three out of the first five days of the New Year. Yesterday was a nice sunny day and quite pleasant to ride. Today unfortunately, was damp and cloudy. That first picture below was taken today. As you can see, … Continue reading "My First Polygon"
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Went out for a chilly 25 degree (F) ride this morning and noticed this collection of donated food at a local farm stand. Ride today: 12.3 miles
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I thought it might be nice for those of you currently experiencing warm weather, either in the southern hemisphere or in the southern part of the northern hemisphere, to see what you all are missing. The hill coming out of my neighborhood is still a bit sketchy for bike riding, so the last couple of … Continue reading "Snow"
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You may have heard that the East Coast is receiving just a little bit of snow today. I don’t think even my studded tires are going to do the trick. I guess sometimes the ‘bicycle in daily life’ means the bicycle has to stay in the garage for a day. This might be a day … Continue reading "Time for a ‘no ride’ day"
Read MoreLast winter, we headed south for a few months to escape the worst of the cold weather. We had planned to do the same this year. After much discussion though, Marilyn and I decided that given the pandemic and the dire predictions of what the next few months might bring, we just weren’t up for … Continue reading "Winter Preparations"
Read MoreAfter a fairly sleepless night last night, obsessively checking my phone for election updates every hour or so, I decided I needed to get out on my bike for some stress relief. The last couple of days have been sunny, but cold and very windy here. I’ve managed short rides, but they’ve been challenging. Today … Continue reading "Election Stress Relief Ride"
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I had commented in one of Greg’s posts a few days ago that I loved getting some early snow before Halloween, but that it rarely happened here. Well, 2020 has spoken one more time to tell us that it’s an unusual year. During the height of the snowfall this morning, we had about 3 inches … Continue reading "First Snow"
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Yesterday was a cold and rainy day here. Just an all-day rain. I did sneak out for a two mile ride around the neighborhood just to keep my current streak alive, but it was just too wet to have my phone out for even a single picture. Today however, is a gorgeous fall day with … Continue reading "Pretty dead leaves (as in dead leaves that are pretty, not just pretty dead)"
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As I’ve mentioned a few times in previous posts I, like many people, have been riding the same old routes all spring and summer, sticking nice and close to home. Yesterday, I decided I was really in the mood to get away and do something a little different. In other times, I might head over … Continue reading "Head North!"
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The feature photo is of the Scott Covered Bridge, one of same bridges you’ve seen before. If you look real close, my bike is located at the exact center at the far end of the bridge. This weekend is Adventure Cycling’s Bike Travel Weekend and Bike Your Park Day. So, I decided it would be … Continue reading "Bike Your Park Day"
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Did a mostly gravel ride today, and noticed that these downed trees on the trail form something of a natural arch. And, I even remembered to include the bike in the photo. On another note, smoke from the fires out west have reached the east coast. We’ve been having some really bizarre looking sunrises and … Continue reading "An arch, or at least something arch-like"
Read MoreI’ve been really impressed with all the arches everyone has been able to find. I’m really becoming convinced that here in New England (or at least my little corner of it), builders are much more into angles than curves. On my ride yesterday, I looked carefully at every house I passed, and there was nary … Continue reading "More looking for arches"
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When Scott put forth this month’s Arch challenge my first thought was, “This should be easy!”, but as I’ve looked around the last few days, there seems to be a lot fewer arches in our local architecture than I thought. So, maybe not so easy. Today is a rainy day. It rained quite heavily all … Continue reading "In Search of an Arch"
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Back a few weeks ago, I headed over to New York State to watch over my son’s house and cat while he was away. It was great to get away (despite being without power for two days), but there was a downside. According to Vermont’s current travel restrictions, when visiting a county in a neighboring … Continue reading "Finally back out and about"
Read MoreThis post is really just an excuse to follow up on my last post. If you remember, I was staying at my son’s house taking care of his kitty, and taking advantage of the local rail trails near his house. As the time I submitted that last post, I was scheduled to be there one … Continue reading "It’s Nice to be Home"
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So here I am in the great state of New York. The last few days, I’ve been doing some house and cat sitting for my son while he and his partner are off on vacation. This is the first time I’ve ventured out of state since mid-March. My son’s house is located in Dutchess county … Continue reading "Change of Venue"
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Today’s ride took me on a route that’s one of my favorites, since it has a little bit of everything. It starts out on a quiet two lane paved road, then jumps on to a busier state highway, then onto nice gravel, followed by some miles on the West River Trail, then in through town, … Continue reading "A little bit of everything"
Read MoreOur area generally tends to get quite a bit of tourist traffic during the 4th of July holiday, and that seems to be true this year despite the pandemic. So, I’ve been riding pretty much that same 16 mile close to home route every day for the last week or so. Some people might find … Continue reading "There’s always something different"
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Every ride starts out on my BLUE bike, and almost always from my BLUE-doored garage. And by the way, I live in a neighborhood called Hillwinds, which unsurprisingly is on the top of a hill. So this song seems appropriate. And the classic line, which is very appropriate for all cyclists…“Hey, let’s be careful out … Continue reading "Starting out Blue"
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I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had a bit of a break from cycling earlier this year, so I’m still in the process of ramping back up to my pre-break mileage. Today’s ride was exciting, since it’s my first ride over 30 miles since sometime late last fall. The ride goes north … Continue reading "Building up the miles"
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Today’s ride took me from Brattleboro up to Newfane and back, a ride totalling about 24 miles. To tie this in to the Challenge theme, we have a bit of history with Newfane, since we lived and worked there from 2002 to 2016. Here’s the story. Back in 2002, our family was living in Raleigh, … Continue reading "Brattleboro to Newfane"
Read MoreMy entry into the Trike category of the June Challenge. Actually one of the few pictures I have of my early days. 61 years later, I’ve made it to two wheels. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back to three someday. Tried to get the same pose, but didn’t quite make it.
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Alrighty, here we go with my first attempt at a challenge. After much searching, I really wasn’t able to come with then and now photographs that showed both me and a bike. So, this is going to be mostly a story, with a couple photos that hopefully capture the time vibe, and of course keep … Continue reading "June Challenge – to Jekyll Island, then and now"
Read MoreSo, I’ve been following along here on cycle365 for awhile, but decided it’s about time that I leap into posting. It’s been a little while since I’ve used WordPress, so bear with me while I get my feet wet. Let me start out with a little bit of an introduction. My name’s Bob, and my … Continue reading "13 Mile Daily Loop"
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