The "I sometimes break a sweat" thread

[Doohicksie]

and then tonight (Monday) I got another 24 miles in on the fixie.
 

That's the JFK Memorial that opened up a few years ago.  He spent his last night in the hotel visible in the top left corner of the picture.
 

Sundance Square Plaza in Downtown Fort Worth.  ESPN broadcasts from there when there's a big game at AT&T (Cowboys) Stadium, or sometimes just for their College Game Day coverage.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Robin Egg

[JJFIVEOH]

Nothing in March yet, you're slacking!

[Doohicksie]

Nothing in March yet, you're slacking!

Disgraceful, idn't it?

 

Between the wet weather and work, I simply haven't had the time to ride. Until tonight.

 

It's been raining all week and the forecast called for the rain to hold off for this evening. Before setting out I checked the weather and there was zero chance of rain until late at night.  So I set out to join my Wednesday night group.  A mile from my house, the drizzle started.  It was 60 degrees and I was wearing a Merino wool jersey so I was warm enough, but.... wet.  I considered cutting the ride short, but pressed on.  Four other people were similarly enthusiastic and we set out.  Due to the drizzle we cut the ride short, a little over 10 miles.  With my ride to and from (and a little riding around my neighborhood) I managed to get in 30 miles.  When I got home I was pretty wet but luckily I wasn't chilled.

 

Not sure if I've posted this bike.  I used to ride it much, much more when I regularly commuted to work.  Now it's my rain bike due to the great fenders.  I had to stop for the train anyway so I decided to snap a pic.

 

Oh, and this is as good a place as any to mention... I'm now down to 219 lb. and since New Years have gone from a 40 to 36 inch waist.  Yay me!

[MattPie]

I picked up a nice double bicycle trailer for the kiddo last weekend at a consignment sale. With the nice weather this week, I'm hoping to get her out in it tonight for a little to see how it goes. Hopefully everyone involved will be happy!

[Sabres Fan in NS]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

[bcsaberks]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

Wow!  Beautiful area.  Hope to get there some day.   

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Wow!  Beautiful area.  Hope to get there some day.   

 

I hope you do.

 

NS is beautiful ... the exact opposite of Toronto (where I'm from originally) and Montreal (my wife's home town), although Montreal is awesome.

[biodork]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

Very pretty!  Reminds me a lot of Maine (Acadia National Park).  Love that rocky coastline.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Very pretty!  Reminds me a lot of Maine (Acadia National Park).  Love that rocky coastline.

 

It is the exact same rocky coast line that comes from Maine through NS and then ...

 

We love that part of Maine.  We were married on the lawn of an old estate in Bar Harbor.

[biodork]

It is the exact same rocky coast line that comes from Maine through NS and then ...

 

We love that part of Maine.  We were married on the lawn of an old estate in Bar Harbor.

Very nice!  That part of the world is beautiful, for sure.

[Stoner]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

Envy.

[Weave]

Envy.

 

Sarcasm font.  Noice.

[Doohicksie]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

 

Awesome scenery.  Very nice.  I can see why you'd want to live there.

 

Wow!  Beautiful area.  Hope to get there some day.

We spent our honeymoon in NS.  It was gorgeous.

 

 

Another drizzly day, but I managed to get almost 23 miles in this afternoon in between waves of rain.  Even with the drizzle it was very comfortable, about 60 degrees.  Only downside is I got a flat.  I aired the tire up and made it home, but now I've got a flat to fix.

 

At the bottom of the bridge:

 

At the top of the bridge:

 

This bridge goes over the tollway that goes over the rail yard.  It's kind of like the bridges over the train tracks along Broadway (such as Harlem Road).

Oh, and I'm up to 25 lb. lost this year.

[Stoner]

Sarcasm font.  Noice.

Same font as always. I am truly envious.

[JJFIVEOH]

My wife and I often hike out at Prospect, NS ... it is about 1/2 hour form our home.  We are working towards living out in Prospect (our favourite place) year round.

 

The link below describes the high trail, but we usually hike the lower trail ... right along the coast.  It is spectacular.

 

http://halifaxtrails.ca/index_files/HighHeadTrail.htm

 

We go out often year round ... it is cold always (summer and winter), but rarely has snow that close to the water.  A storm was coming in and the sea was very rough.

 

About a 5 km (4 mile roughly) hike one way.  It was cold, but a great workout.

 

Cool looking neighborhoods in Halifax! Trees everywhere you look. 

 

Awesome scenery.  Very nice.  I can see why you'd want to live there.

 

We spent our honeymoon in NS.  It was gorgeous.

 

 

Another drizzly day, but I managed to get almost 23 miles in this afternoon in between waves of rain.  Even with the drizzle it was very comfortable, about 60 degrees.  Only downside is I got a flat.  I aired the tire up and made it home, but now I've got a flat to fix.

 

At the bottom of the bridge:

 

 

At the top of the bridge:

 

 

This bridge goes over the tollway that goes over the rail yard.  It's kind of like the bridges over the train tracks along Broadway (such as Harlem Road).

Oh, and I'm up to 25 lb. lost this year.

 

Keep those 40" pants,  just in case.  :P

 

Ditch those bias plys and get some radials. 

[Doohicksie]

Keep those 40" pants,  just in case.  :P

 

Oh I plan to.  I am a yo-yo dieter and I know it.

[Doohicksie]

Roads were wet when I started and the skies didn't look too hot, but it stayed dry on this ride (for a change).  Because of the wet roads the breakfast ride I sometimes ride on Saturdays was canceled so I did my own thing for 36 miles and got home just before the Sabres game started.

 

A weeee hill.

 

Looking from the Lancaster Ave. bridge across Trinity Park toward Downtown Fort Worth

[JJFIVEOH]

Nice. I like pictures of places where other people live. That looks like an old bridge.

 

Here's a couple of mine. Nice sunset, and the amphitheater across the way with the American flag..... getting ready for The Donald tomorrow! I'm so tempted to go just to watch the train wreck.

 

Only did 16 miles, ran out of daylight and didn't leave until after the Sabres game.

 

[Doohicksie]

Nice. I like pictures of places where other people live. That looks like an old bridge.

I figured 1950s when they rechanneled the river below. Turns out it was built in 1938-39, and rehabbed in 1999.  Trinity Park below the bridge is actually mostly inside the levee; if the river overflows, the park is designed to be submerged while nearby buildings will be safe.

 

Downtown Ft Worth is surrounded on the north and west by the Trinity River, and the south and east by major rail lines.  Every way to get into downtown involves a bridge or a tunnel.  Some of the bridges over the river are pretty cool. 

 

Many are historic; this one from a few pages back is actually quite recent (2013).  The construction was interesting in that they built the supports while the old bridge was still there.  The arches were fabricated nearby and then were moved to the supports.  Only after that was the old bridge demolished and then they hung the decking between the two rows of arches.  The bridge was closed a total of only 5 months.  Some pics of the construction are here.

I think I'll make a point going forward of highlighting more of the bridges.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Robin Egg

[JJFIVEOH]

That's a cool link.

 

Nice trail system near that Lancaster Avenue bridge. Trails on both sides of the river?

[Doohicksie]

In that area, yes.  The trails along the river are shown in this map.  Some stretches have trails on both sides, some only one, and in some cases the two banks are not very well connected.  But you can ride out for miles in several directions from downtown on the trails.  They are for the most part safe, although the trails that go east go through some kind of sketchy areas (safe for a group or during the day, wouldn't ride them alone at night).  Crime along the trails is really pretty rare though.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Robin Egg

[Doohicksie]

On tonight's ride:  32 miles and a tunnel on my crappy 2-speed frankenbike.

 

The Jennings Avenue Tunnel is one of the entries to Downtown Fort Worth from the south side.  It features a blind curve which makes it all the more exciting.

 

 

 

 

...and there's Downtown

The tunnel goes under I-30 as well as about a half dozen train tracks.

[JJFIVEOH]

That's pretty cool. The arched walkway (I know there's a name for it) is a nice touch. Won't see tunnels like that being built any more. 

 

One of these days, if I don't move to a city that has them, I'm going to go on vacation to one of these cities that has turned their old railways into trails. I was in Montana a long time ago and they were working on a big system around Glacier area. 

[Doohicksie]

I think the lack of hard winters helps keep some of this infrastructure from decaying like it does up north.

[MattPie]

That's pretty cool. The arched walkway (I know there's a name for it) is a nice touch. Won't see tunnels like that being built any more. 

 

One of these days, if I don't move to a city that has them, I'm going to go on vacation to one of these cities that has turned their old railways into trails. I was in Montana a long time ago and they were working on a big system around Glacier area. 

 

Philly has a pretty extensive rail (and other) trail system, which makes sense since this area had tons of train lines during the golden age. when complete, the Chester Valley Trail and Schuykill Trail could take me almost the entirety of the 50 miles into Philly; the only part I know isn't covered is the 9 miles from my house to Downingtown. The Schuykill Trail is planned to be 140 miles from Philly To Hanmburg, PA.

 

Another long-distance trail is the C&O Canal Towpath and Great Alleghany Passage, which combined connect DC and Pittsburgh (300+ miles). That's some serious stuff.