stompandgo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
I see pain.
Show us pictures of where you ride your ebikes!
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Had 80 minutes to ride this afternoon, and it was 15 miles of pure Coast Highway gold! Balmy 70°F, crystal clear air, cool sea breeze, light traffic, surprisingly few tourists.
North turnaround above Carlsbad State Beach in Carlsbad Village.
South Ponto Beach in south Carlsbad, just short of the south turnaround at La Costa Boulevard.
Between the turnarounds are 6 mi of rolling Coast Highway with wide bike lanes, few interruptions, and ocean views most of the way. Took the opportunity to test a new assist tuning — one a good bit peppier than I'm used to.
Whee doggies! Legs were feeling good, the carrot effect was in full force, and the breeze was slightly at my back. Did the whole 6 mi in ECO, mostly at 20+ mph (fast for me). The higher ECO tuning burned more battery than usual, but small price to pay for such a perfect ride!
North turnaround above Carlsbad State Beach in Carlsbad Village.
South Ponto Beach in south Carlsbad, just short of the south turnaround at La Costa Boulevard.
Between the turnarounds are 6 mi of rolling Coast Highway with wide bike lanes, few interruptions, and ocean views most of the way. Took the opportunity to test a new assist tuning — one a good bit peppier than I'm used to.
Whee doggies! Legs were feeling good, the carrot effect was in full force, and the breeze was slightly at my back. Did the whole 6 mi in ECO, mostly at 20+ mph (fast for me). The higher ECO tuning burned more battery than usual, but small price to pay for such a perfect ride!
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DaveMatthews
Dave's not here. Cheating since 2018
- Region
- Canada
Nice! I've bumped my assist levels and now use lower levels than I did before. Lots of fun experimenting!
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Made a silly rule when I got my 1st ebike, a 70 lb torque-sensing hub-drive: Lowest possible assist at all times. And I pretty much stuck to it.
To be fair, it prepared me for the lighter, lower-power, smaller-battery ebike I ride now. But why have a policy at all? If anything, I get better workouts at higher assist via the carrot effect.
Now that I'm finally past that rule, my riding's becoming increasingly bipolar all by itself. That means splitting most of my saddle time between OFF and SPORT. Never saw that coming!
The new trial tuning caters to that trend by moving SPORT farther from OFF and ECO and TURBO closer to SPORT. May keep this one for a while!
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DaveMatthews
Dave's not here. Cheating since 2018
- Region
- Canada
Similar to me. I used to hang around in level 3 (of 5) quite a bit, but now level 2 is maybe 25% less than 3 was stock. I mostly use 2 now and get a slightly better workout and an increase in range.
stompandgo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Jeremy, those pics are pure California. Beautiful.
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Got a break from the heat on Tuesday and was able to do a 42 mile ride on the D&H Trail. It's built on the ROW of the now defunct Jefferson branch of the Erie RR. It runs north past Ramboe & Stillwater Lakes and through Sinkhole Swamp.
Made the 1000' climb from Carbondale up to Ararat Summit. Beyond there, the trail turns to double track, ballast, mud and tall grass. There are plans to improve the trail another 20 miles up to the NY state line but nothing definite.
Made the 1000' climb from Carbondale up to Ararat Summit. Beyond there, the trail turns to double track, ballast, mud and tall grass. There are plans to improve the trail another 20 miles up to the NY state line but nothing definite.
Biplaneguy
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Short ride today up the old camp road past our cabin in NY. It goes to an abandoned boy's camp that closed in the late 1970s. There's this isolated stand of pines in the mostly deciduous forest. 120 years ago there were houses and farms here, now it's state park lands.
Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
What part of the state?
Biplaneguy
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Southern (Harriman).
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
Pigeons love to break the rules.
DaveMatthews
Dave's not here. Cheating since 2018
- Region
- Canada
Over the past few years I've experienced occasional bouts of knee pain. It's been a while, but Thursday night was bad, and Friday I got up to excruciating pain and very little mobility. Worst ever... I looked like a 90 y/o hobbling with baby steps.
Today was a little better with much reduced pain and slightly better mobility, so I forced myself onto the bike in order to beat my knees into submission (AKA stretch them a bit).
Went for a shorty around the hood...
Missed the open market by a couple of minutes as they were packing it up. Fresh fruit and veggies!
I guess we'll see how smart beating the knees up was tomorrow...
Today was a little better with much reduced pain and slightly better mobility, so I forced myself onto the bike in order to beat my knees into submission (AKA stretch them a bit).
Went for a shorty around the hood...
Missed the open market by a couple of minutes as they were packing it up. Fresh fruit and veggies!
I guess we'll see how smart beating the knees up was tomorrow...
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Made my usual mid summer ride on Pennsylvania's Pine Creek Trail this week. The days were hot & humid but I hit the trail early to beat the heat.
Work is progressing on the trail extension into Wellsboro with the 1.3 mile paved portion complete from the trailhead at the restored train station to Hilboldt Rd.
Work remains to be done with the trail tie in at Wellsboro Jct. though. When complete, it will add 2.3 paved miles to the existing 62 mile length of the trail.
Work is progressing on the trail extension into Wellsboro with the 1.3 mile paved portion complete from the trailhead at the restored train station to Hilboldt Rd.
Work remains to be done with the trail tie in at Wellsboro Jct. though. When complete, it will add 2.3 paved miles to the existing 62 mile length of the trail.
Nvreloader
Western Nevada
- Region
- USA
6zfshdb
You are missing out on some great riding in virgin areas,you need to adapt to one of these for those unused rail road rails
shown in your last photo.
I would love to ride the rails, but all of mine around here are HOT and in use.
Several versions of these bikes are made:
This Man Bikes the Railroad Tracks. Can he do that?
Nerf built his own rail bikes to facilitate his hobby of traveling along rail corridors.
www.goodtimes.sc
Rail Bike Conversion Is A Success, And A Failure
There is a long tradition of hacking transportation to work on the rails. People have done it to all kinds of things for many reasons. Some are for rail maintenance, others are simply to enjoy the …
hackaday.com
Check out this Rail Bike with Folding Outriggers
Check out this DIY rail bike rig with outriggers that fold in to ride the bike on roads or trails, then extend to ride on abandoned railroad tracks...
Your mileage would be GREATLY expanded, because of the grade.
Tia,
yrmv
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Tour de Carlsbad Stage 12: Double Peak
Just for fun, started my own solo Tour de Carlsbad about halfway through the recent 2025 Tour de France (TdF). Here's the 12th and final stage to Double Peak and back from 4 days ago. Never guess who won!
This was the toughest stage by far, with 2,983 ft of climbing over 30.0 miles. A TdF rider would probably call that 99 ft/mi average ascent rate (AAR) a false flat, but it was definitely harder than my usual hill rides (50-70 ft/mi over 10-20 mi).
The outbound leg climbed from home (140 ft ASL) to the top of Double Peak (1,646 ft) — a total gain of 2,090 ft in just 11.7 mi. No other ride from home offers a sustained AAR anywhere near this 179 ft/mi.
Of course, 179 ft/mi would also be a yawn to a TdF rider. Two iconic Category HC climbs from the 2025 Tour for comparison:
1. Mont Ventoux (above), Alps, Stage 16, 393 ft/mi over 13.2 mi
2. Hautacam, Pyrenees, Stage 12, 409 ft/mi over 8.5 mi
Having just watched all 21 stages of the TdF, gave myself the same pep talk for every bodily complaint on the Double Peak ascent: Ha, you call that suffering??
Still, managed most of the stage in ECO (40/60) and some in OFF. Just needed a little SPORT (60/80) and TURBO (80/100) on the final ~20% pitch to the top.
This was my 3rd climb up Double Peak. All 3 ended the same way — gasping for air in the only shade at the top.
Once you've summited Double Peak, you can't very well just turn around and ride back down — even in a race. You have to take in the famous 360° view. Annotated photo placards identify the many prominent landmarks visible in all directions.
It's like a who's who of SW SoCal geography from up there. The summit telescope isn't bad for a closer look at points of interest, but as usual, I brought good binocs.
West to Bataquitos Lagoon, the Pacific, and Catalina and San Clemente Islands.
South to San Diego and northern Mexico.
East to the crest of the Peninsular Ranges and beyond.
North and NE to the San Bernardinos and Palomar Mountain.
Viewing's best in the clear, dry air brought by Santa Ana wind events, usually in the fall. That's when you're most likely to see a razor-sharp Pacific horizon to the west. But this day, the marine (air) layer put a thick offshore cloud bank in the way.
Just to the east of Double Peak are Mt. Whitney (1,736 ft, left) and Franks Peak (1,688).
These 3 summits are the highest points in the San Elijo Hills, a large and prominent outcrop of roughly 160 million year-old metavolcanic rocks lumped under the name Santiago Peak Volcanics (SPV).
Erosion left these hills high above their surroundings — not because they were thrust up along faults, but simply because the highly resistant SPV rocks are harder to remove than the younger granites and sedimentary rocks around them.
In fact, SPV rocks hold up many of the prominent peaks in SW SoCal and adjoining Mexico — many of them visible from Double Peak. For obvious reasons, geologists call the metavolcanic rock making up this SPV boulder at the summit "greenstone".
SPV is easy to identify, even at a distance. No other rock type in SW SoCal has this color on fresh surfaces, and nothing else weathers to the telltale off-white patina seen here to the left of the green. More on Double Peak geography and geology here.
The rollercoaster route back to the ocean at South Ponto Beach added another 1,000 ft of climbing. Pulled into the driveway totally wiped but elated to have won this 1st Tour de Carlsbad. Fine by me that there was no podium to climb.
Just for fun, started my own solo Tour de Carlsbad about halfway through the recent 2025 Tour de France (TdF). Here's the 12th and final stage to Double Peak and back from 4 days ago. Never guess who won!
This was the toughest stage by far, with 2,983 ft of climbing over 30.0 miles. A TdF rider would probably call that 99 ft/mi average ascent rate (AAR) a false flat, but it was definitely harder than my usual hill rides (50-70 ft/mi over 10-20 mi).
The outbound leg climbed from home (140 ft ASL) to the top of Double Peak (1,646 ft) — a total gain of 2,090 ft in just 11.7 mi. No other ride from home offers a sustained AAR anywhere near this 179 ft/mi.
Of course, 179 ft/mi would also be a yawn to a TdF rider. Two iconic Category HC climbs from the 2025 Tour for comparison:
1. Mont Ventoux (above), Alps, Stage 16, 393 ft/mi over 13.2 mi
2. Hautacam, Pyrenees, Stage 12, 409 ft/mi over 8.5 mi
Having just watched all 21 stages of the TdF, gave myself the same pep talk for every bodily complaint on the Double Peak ascent: Ha, you call that suffering??
Still, managed most of the stage in ECO (40/60) and some in OFF. Just needed a little SPORT (60/80) and TURBO (80/100) on the final ~20% pitch to the top.
This was my 3rd climb up Double Peak. All 3 ended the same way — gasping for air in the only shade at the top.
Once you've summited Double Peak, you can't very well just turn around and ride back down — even in a race. You have to take in the famous 360° view. Annotated photo placards identify the many prominent landmarks visible in all directions.
It's like a who's who of SW SoCal geography from up there. The summit telescope isn't bad for a closer look at points of interest, but as usual, I brought good binocs.
West to Bataquitos Lagoon, the Pacific, and Catalina and San Clemente Islands.
South to San Diego and northern Mexico.
East to the crest of the Peninsular Ranges and beyond.
North and NE to the San Bernardinos and Palomar Mountain.
Viewing's best in the clear, dry air brought by Santa Ana wind events, usually in the fall. That's when you're most likely to see a razor-sharp Pacific horizon to the west. But this day, the marine (air) layer put a thick offshore cloud bank in the way.
Just to the east of Double Peak are Mt. Whitney (1,736 ft, left) and Franks Peak (1,688).
These 3 summits are the highest points in the San Elijo Hills, a large and prominent outcrop of roughly 160 million year-old metavolcanic rocks lumped under the name Santiago Peak Volcanics (SPV).
Erosion left these hills high above their surroundings — not because they were thrust up along faults, but simply because the highly resistant SPV rocks are harder to remove than the younger granites and sedimentary rocks around them.
In fact, SPV rocks hold up many of the prominent peaks in SW SoCal and adjoining Mexico — many of them visible from Double Peak. For obvious reasons, geologists call the metavolcanic rock making up this SPV boulder at the summit "greenstone".
SPV is easy to identify, even at a distance. No other rock type in SW SoCal has this color on fresh surfaces, and nothing else weathers to the telltale off-white patina seen here to the left of the green. More on Double Peak geography and geology here.
The rollercoaster route back to the ocean at South Ponto Beach added another 1,000 ft of climbing. Pulled into the driveway totally wiped but elated to have won this 1st Tour de Carlsbad. Fine by me that there was no podium to climb.
Last edited:
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
I could imagine a hyperlapse of that last shot, with the sun going down.
Such a beautiful place, an emtb wouldnt look right there, thats the perfect bike, well maybe a hipster on a beach cruiser
Such a beautiful place, an emtb wouldnt look right there, thats the perfect bike, well maybe a hipster on a beach cruiser
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
It would in case Jeremy wanted to cross that gnarly bank of rocks!
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Hipsters aren't allowed in this part of SoCal — not laid back enough. But they might be an improvement over another demographic commonly seen here on cruisers: 50-60 year-old men who really should have worn a shirt.I could imagine a hyperlapse of that last shot, with the sun going down.
Such a beautiful place, an emtb wouldnt look right there, thats the perfect bike, well maybe a hipster on a beach cruiser
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Chargeride
Well-Known Member
I have a brown head, neck and forearms, the test of me is dulux brilliant white.
No camera has the dynamic range to image me.
No camera has the dynamic range to image me.
6zfshdb
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northeast Pennsylvania
Those Wellsboro & Corning RR tracks are actually still in use. The trail is being constructed on the right side of the rails.6zfshdb
You are missing out on some great riding in virgin areas,
you need to adapt to one of these for those unused rail road rails
shown in your last photo.
I would love to ride the rails, but all of mine around here are HOT and in use.
Several versions of these bikes are made:
This Man Bikes the Railroad Tracks. Can he do that?
Nerf built his own rail bikes to facilitate his hobby of traveling along rail corridors.This kid made of very good useable folded model,Rail Bike Conversion Is A Success, And A Failure
There is a long tradition of hacking transportation to work on the rails. People have done it to all kinds of things for many reasons. Some are for rail maintenance, others are simply to enjoy the …
Check out this Rail Bike with Folding Outriggers
Check out this DIY rail bike rig with outriggers that fold in to ride the bike on roads or trails, then extend to ride on abandoned railroad tracks...bikepacking.com
Your mileage would be GREATLY expanded, because of the grade.
Tia,
yrmv
Those rail conversions do look like fun but like where you are, most are still in use around here. Too much $$ in scrap iron to leave in place after the RR goes belly up.
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