Today's Ride

[2manyoranges]

That’s the bike of a Sith Lord….it’s dark on the Other Side….

 

[al-onestare]

Today took the snake for its first proper cyclocrossesque bashing in its current config, I ve settled for flats and pointy things instead of anything drop

Other night took the “Satsuma” out for first autumnal night/disco lights ride with a mate who I ended up having to lend a beam till he gets some “proper” lights for the job

The later pics are after the first 15 mins of climbing into the fells looking back

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Great to see The Snake out and about. How'd you find it?

Lights on

Lights off

Very still, fairly mild 13 degrees with a slight chill in the air. Misty in parts. Great to get the miles in before a busy end to the week.

 

[PercyInglesFlyingCircus]

Great to see The Snake out and about. How'd you find it?

Lights on

Lights off

Very still, fairly mild 13 degrees with a slight chill in the air. Misty in parts. Great to get the miles in before a busy end to the week.

I don’t have much experience with road bikes or anything much not mtb related

I mean I have rode the odd road/cyclo bike here n there

It came in to the workshop around the same time a modern Jake came in but I couldn’t resist the classic Kona colours and decals - it’s not technically fully mine yet ahaha I don’t own the frame forks or wheels yet so the manager let me take it out for one last proper blast before I have to splash out, but I ve been looking for a rigid fast off road 29 thing to play with for a little while

It’s basically bl@@dy fast as f@@k and held up very well off road so I am pretty impressed with it, not much flex at all and you can feel all the power transfer right through it when you stick the burn on

so yeh thumbs up all round : )

 

[Nabeaquam]

Cold and a fine stinging sleet today, perfect day for a bush ride. Cold feet with two pair of wool Sox and windproof riding shoes. I wore insulated gloves, two flannel shirts, insulated light jacket and a heavy windbreaker.
This is a connector trail I built years ago. The next weekend the ATV folks had found it and flagged it. Now it’s an ATV trail, even over stumps I went around on my bicycle. The atv folks made two detours as the trees were too thick and big.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Today I took a ride into “Grants Farm”, an abandoned squatters subsistence farm. Grant bought the timber rights and thought the land went with it. He lived there with his sister until about 1950. They raised potatoes, apples hops etc. The Forrest Service, who owns the land, let him live there with his built on the ground ramshackle barn and house. When he died the Forrest Service tore it all down. In the last five years the apple trees have died or quit producing, as have the hop bushes. It’s nothing but a woods opening now and you have to know how to find it.

Hop bushes.

Apple tree in the remains of their field.

 

[2manyoranges]

Today I took a ride into “Grants Farm”, an abandoned squatters subsistence farm. Grant bought the timber rights and thought the land went with it. He lived there with his sister until about 1950. They raised potatoes, apples hops etc. The Forrest Service, who owns the land, let him live there with his built on the ground ramshackle barn and house. When he died the Forrest Service tore it all down. In the last five years the apple trees have died or quit producing, as have the hop bushes. It’s nothing but a woods opening now and you have to know how to find it.

Hop bushes.
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Apple tree in the remains of their field.
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Great story - great pictures

 

[moonlite]

Cold and a fine stinging sleet today, perfect day for a bush ride. Cold feet with two pair of wool Sox and windproof riding shoes. I wore insulated gloves, two flannel shirts, insulated light jacket and a heavy windbreaker.View attachment 789100View attachment 789101View attachment 789102View attachment 789103View attachment 789104View attachment 789105
This is a connector trail I built years ago. The next weekend the ATV folks had found it and flagged it. Now it’s an ATV trail, even over stumps I went around on my bicycle. The atv folks made two detours as the trees were too thick and big.
View attachment 789106

Gorgeous colours!

 

[2manyoranges]

The stories of lost farms and homes are always interesting, I think. When I was in my teens in Wiltshire there were fields in which you could still see and walk on bronze age hut foundations. One place from my youth which still is in my mind is Poltesco Higher Mill in Cornwall - a tiny water mill built in the 19th century. When I was 16, I found the mill in a mass of brambles and trees, and was astonished to find all of the mill machinery intact inside the building - complete yet being overtaken by nature. The mill leat was dry and full of debris and decay was setting in to everything. You can imagine the smell of leaf mould, the dark and damp, huge hanging masses of spiders' webs, intrusive brambles, bindweed. Set in a dark, damp and cold valley with overhanging trees, It was clear that a few more decades would see the roof collapse and the whole thing fall into complete ruin. I was astonished and really pleased to later find out that a miller had taken on the restoration and returned the mill to working order. In 2013 a new farm tenant did amazing work all over the estate, including more restoration work. instead of going the way of 'Grants Farm' it now is a fascinating working mill...

 

[moonlite]

The stories of lost farms and homes are always interesting, I think. When I was in my teens in Wiltshire there were fields in which you could still see and walk on bronze age hut foundations. One place from my youth which still is in my mind is Poltesco Higher Mill in Cornwall - a tiny water mill built in the 19th century. When I was 16, I found the mill in a mass of brambles and trees, and was astonished to find all of the mill machinery intact inside the building - complete yet being overtaken by nature. The mill leat was dry and full of debris and decay was setting in to everything. You can imagine the smell of leaf mould, the dark and damp, huge hanging masses of spiders' webs, intrusive brambles, bindweed. Set in a dark, damp and cold valley with overhanging trees, It was clear that a few more decades would see the roof collapse and the whole thing fall into complete ruin. I was astonished and really pleased to later find out that a miller had taken on the restoration and returned the mill to working order. In 2013 a new farm tenant did amazing work all over the estate, including more restoration work. instead of going the way of 'Grants Farm' it now is a fascinating working mill...

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Fascinating story -- well told! Good to know it's been restored.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The stories of lost farms and homes are always interesting, I think.

I remember coming across a crumbling tennis court in the middle of the woods deep in Algonquin Park. The gilded age barons had built a mansion which they abandoned when times got tougher.
There are a few lodges, cabins, and hotels too. The forest has taken back most of the land now