Weekend in Pictures

Good riding weekend. The bike above looks like an old Free Spirit (based on what's left of the decals). It's spent a good chunk of time in the river. This was picture taken on a trail that I used to ride almost daily about 15 years ago. It's behind Riverside Memorial cemetery. Back in the good old days you could take a trail from People's Park, pop up on Gov't Way for 1/4 mile or so, then back down through the cemetery and follow this trail out to Bowl and Pitcher. A really nice section of this was wiped out by the mountain of fill dirt to build the cul de sacs up there behind the mega church on Gov't Way. It's a bummer. There's a lower trail there, but it's super loose sand and in a pretty sensitive area. The other section, by the sisters is cut off as is the piece of trail across from the water treatment plant. You can still ride these trails, but you're trespassing and that's not going to make any friends for cyclists.

On the way back from 7 mile, we noticed that the southern approach to Maple Street bridge was blocked off. Sweet. My buddy and fellow BAB'er Bill has talked about the allure of riding the "forbidden fruit:" closing traffic for a day on a high-volume bridge and allowing cyclists to ride it. The concept never really clicked with me until yesterday as Mike, Jason, and I rode three abreast across the Maple Street bridge. It was great because it's such a bummer to ride with traffic. But cruising across the bridge in the middle of the day was inspiring some how. Bill's dream, by the way, is to grow SpokeFest into a ride that incorporates the closing of at least one major bridge for cyclists. It won't happen in the first year, but with a strong enough turn out and some support, it may work for next year.

That's Mike. Hauling across Maple on his righteous old Italian steed. We had a good time riding around town and riding trails out at RSP. Hot day. I had the salt deposit deal going on my shirt by the time I came home.

One missed photo-op yesterday happened when I spied a guy hauling a bike on an xtracycle. Jason and I caught up with him . I recognized him and his wife from the Master Bike Plan open houses. I'm about 90% sure her name is Nicki (I'm 100% sure that's spelled wrong) and I'm about 45% sure his name is Craig or Greg. Regardless of their names, they are cool folks and fun to chat with. They are looking forward to the FBC Prom ride on May 31st.

Speaking of which, Monday (tomorrow night) is this month's FBC Full Moon Fiasco. It should be a glorious night. Come one, come all to Pear Tree Inn at 8 pm. Be ready to roll by 9.

There's Tim. His daughter Ruby is sitting on his version of the companion carrier. He did a really nice hack with a nice padded, wide, sprung saddle and a million zipties. Sweet ride. Patty is looking on in the back ground.

Here's some synergy: Patty and Tim own Neato Burrito/Baby Bar. They are hosting the May 31st Prom Ride. There's even a Prom Decorating Committee. Tim is talking about turning away people that don't turn up on bikes. That rules.

Sunday morning. This lame camera photo shows a hill. In that hill is an amazingly wonderful descent that I've somehow missed in my time noodling around the High Drive trails. Wow. If I don't come home some day, check here first. This hill really tempts you to bomb. You can see most of the run from the top and it's got a series of turns and rollers that just encourages full speed descending.
That's Kevin. He's a British guy that just recently moved here from the UK. I met him on a Full Moon Fiasco ride. Note the On-One single speed.

I met up with Kevin and Joe at Polly Judd this morning after tooling around the trails. I followed Kevin back up. He's a typical single speeder in that he climbs quickly, it was a great challenge to keep up with him.

Joe, Kevin and I landed at the Scoop after our High Driving. Patrick and Elissa normally open up the shop at 11 on Sundays, but when we got there at 10:15, coffee was made and the cyclists started pouring in. A chunk of early morning ride cyclists came in after their loop out to Cheney. The 3 of us were there and as we sat, a couple women came in after a ride around the neighborhood.