2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

Wolumen, Horses (Vado Ride)

As I lent Jacek my Trance E+, I hadn't brought him a charger. Looking for a pretext for a Sunday longer ride, I offered my brother I would bring him Trance-related stuff to the Warsaw Wolumen market. Wolumen (located in my original home neighbourhood) was established in 1970s as a flea market. Later, you could buy stolen goods there, electronics, computer programs, and now it is a major market in organic food, although electronics is still on sale. (Jacek has been selling electronics for many years on every Sunday there). Nothing to show in pictures really. Yet it was a good workout for me, especially as almost the entire distance from my place to Wolumen can be taken by bike paths nowadays!

Bemowo is a residential quarter of Warsaw that took the space of a former military airfield. Boring, huge, airy.

A notable place next to the Automobilklub Polski in Bemowo: Warsaw Motorcycle Bazaar. If one wants to sell or buy a used motorbike, that's the place to go. (The main part of the market is located in the grounds of a current sports airfield (you can see an airplane in the pic).

Boring, boring, boring route but the pleasure could be taken from riding bike paths fast. Cold wind was spoiling the pleasure a little.

Over 90% of the route led through bike paths.

Ride data. I rode the whole way in Specialized Mission Control/Smart Control mode. That's a great invention! Unsure whether you can achieve your trip on a single battery? Activate the Smart Control, tell the app you want to ride for 60 km with 20% battery left at the end and just enjoy the pedalling! Your speed will depend on how strong you can pedal (I hate riding in the city though; the junction lights make the ride slow...)

Since my gf leaves on Tuesday, we went (or, drove) out for a good Polish dinner to a restaurant located in large stables in Kanie in the afternoon. The name of the stable is "Pa Ta Taj" (read: pah-tah-tay - the sound of horse hoofs in gallop).

Surprisingly, very few neighbourhood restaurants serve Polish food. Here, pork Polish style with buckwheat groats and shortly fermented cucumber.

The little equestrian girl asked me to help her carry a saddle to the storage room.

Brix with a mare named Akcja.

Beautiful mares.

My e-cycling adventure began in August last year. I was so disabled at that time I couldn't rise my left leg as shown now! Viva e-bikes!

 

[RabH]

After a weekend of 50mph winds it was good to get out in perfect conditions today, 40 miles of pure enjoyment, I was fully expecting to be back at work today so this more than made up for my disappointment! The rest of the week is looking promising (possible rain tomorrow) so I'm hoping to get out every day if I don't get a call from work...

I was cycling along the beautiful Clyde Valley and this monster machine caught my eye, it was towering over most of the garden centre buildings!

After a lazy weekend I really put the hammer down today to get a proper workout, 17mph average isn't too shabby with over 3,000ft of climbing, it was a very up and down day as you can see from the elevation profile!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

17mph average isn't too shabby with over 3,000ft of climbing

Ouch!

 

[RabH]

Ouch!

It didn't hurt much!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Gently down the river …

Brisbane River, Hamilton.
Looking upstream towards Brisbane Central.​

It was a warm spring day; so I rode down the river from the southwestern suburbs and then turned around and rode back again.

Well, that wasn't as exciting as Charge Ride's friends riding across the wilds of Wales!

——> Ride
——> Photo

 

[PaD]

It didn't hurt much!

But your motor supports cuts out at around 16mph and still you avarage 17mph over 40 miles. Pretty good in my world

 

[Latitude]

Sorry to go offtopic again, but forget that last embn posting.
They have excelled themselves with this utterly epic 4 day emtb trip across the Welsh mountains.
The camerawork..the scenery..two middle aged men living the dream.
Ive done a bit of this on bike and on foot, but just leave 30mins spare to soak up what we can dream of.

Can’t begin to imagine a trip like that. Stunning in every respect!

 

[Readytoride]

On playing hookey, heading South and heading North, and horse sports in the time of Covid.

I played hookey today. Spell check keeps trying to change the word to "hockey", but that isn't right. I didn't play hockey. I played hookey. The definition of which is "skipping school or work, 'an unjustifiable absence without an excuse', being a truant without explanation." It is an Americanism first recorded around 1848. Even the great Mark Twain used the word in his writings. And so will I.

I played hookey all morning and for a full 41 miles. And it felt great!

It was a perfect morning with perfect temps, the perfect time to ditch the endless To Do List which just seemed to get renewed bigger and longer each day. I was done with devoting my entire day to projects, to work, to obligations. It was overdue time for some "me" time. Time to escape. And I had just the bike and just the roads to be my accomplices. I packed my drink bottles, yelled goodbye to hubby (wherever he was), and made my escape on two fast wheels.

I got less than 1/2 a mile down the road, turned the bike around and went right back home. No, it wasn't guilt taking me back. It was the cold air. And I had forgotten my jacket. That needed to be rectified or I would have been frozen within 2 miles. (I know- exaggerating. But it was chilly. And the wind was blowing, too. Take my word for it.)

Back on the road I made fast tracks to escape my county and disappear into my favorite haunts on the roads of the county south of us. To facilitate my flight is a lovely gravel road that parallels a major highway. This road has been pretty much left to its own devices, having existed in its same sleepy, treelined road bed for centuries, reminiscing eons of horses and carriages passing by, marching soldiers bearing guns and traveling under different flags, of foxhunters jumping the flanking stone walls, horses and hounds in full pursuit of the wily red fox. The mountains leaned heavily on the countryside, their lofty presence notwithstanding being a bit overwhelming as the old road kept a steady path right to the foot of those ancient hills. Imagine my surprise to see an orange sign far into the distance, plopped right in the center of this gravel road, the sign warning of work ahead.

The work, it appeared, was to bring a modern improvement to a century old bridge that has arguably seen better days. I came upon the road crew as they were discussing some anomaly they had not expected when they began digging up the old bridge. Off to the side a pair of steel girders waited, the "improvement" soon to be installed, I suspected, as whatever it was that was keeping the bridge upright was now at the end of its supportive life.

I stayed to chat with the guys for a bit (they were happy to play a bit of hookey to stop and chat with this lady cyclist), and then left them to get back to work. Those new girders weren't about to replace themselves.

The paved roads returned at the end of the gravel road and within minutes I was flying along with no agenda other than to enjoy the open, quiet byways. I wanted to escape so I headed as far south as I reasonably could, admiring all the splendid scenery laid out around me like a banquet for my eyes - the vineyards, the cattle pastures, the fields dotted with beautiful Thoroughbreds, the woodlands with slow streams and impenetrable foliage.

At one bridge high over a wide creek I stopped to take a photo of a herd of cattle enjoying the cool water.

One of those cows had lost her calf. I knew that because said calf had decided to play hookey and slip through the fence next to the road. It had parked itself in the middle of the road a bit further along, goofing off as any truant would. It caught sight of me and froze, watching me with growing trepation as I pedaled closer.

It scurried off the road as I approached, and tried to blend into the roadside brush, hoping I wouldn't notice it. That big white face looking over a black shoulder was a dead giveaway that this was a calf, not a shrub, but I pretended it was a shrub, much to the relief of the calf. As far as I was concerned this dead quiet road was the perfect place for the calf to enjoy a bit of hookey, and so I pedaled on, leaving the youngster to the joys of a bit of escape from parental scrutiny.

At one point I passed a derelic house. A small roadside dwelling that once had been someone's pride and joy, a refuge, a place of hearth and family. Once, a very long time ago. It now sat abandoned with broken windows and unlocked doors, the roof buckling under the age of years and weather, the walls no longer keeping in the warmth of a family hearth. The chimney was cold now, the gaping wood walls allowing the winds and the rains and the enveloping trees to intrude.The fieldmice and owls were the only ones now seeking shelter within the crumbling walls. It was a reminder of the past, and of the future, a time capsule built by people now long dead, their legacy still standing, albeit barely, alongside an ageless gravel road.

The roads carried me on, amusing me with interesting views, some thoughtful, some frivolous, some memorable, some too common to be anything but forgettable as soon as my bike passed by. Over the miles the winds shifted around me, sometimes in front, sometimes behind, and always showing their creative mettle with an inspired choreography gusting into the nearby grasses and leaves to encourage all to dance and bow in perfect unison. At one point enroute I saw a close group of Canadian geese standing thoughtfully at the edge of a still pond in a quiet field out of the wind. They stood shoulder to shoulder, silently contemplating, I'm sure, the inevitable journey they would soon embark on. I wondered if they had been meeting to discuss logistics, and I caught them as they paused their planning to simply think about the exhaustive effort the journey would take. Their dispirited expressions certainly belied the fact that this annual trip organized and orchestrated by Mother Nature was something they would look forward to. I left them to their thoughts and dropped my head into the wind, pedaling on.

At 30 miles I realized...i didn't want to stop. I was tired of being the responsible adult. I wanted to keep playing hookey and not go home. So I headed north, back on the paved roads letting my bike do what it does best. At one point I realized I was staring down at the road, doing what so many cyclist do when they are deep into their own heads as the miles roll beneath them. I was back in familiar territory so the scenery was less compelling, although no less beautiful. I stopped to talk to a lady out walking three dogs not of her own. She has a dog walking service, and business has been booming with folks working from home and wanting someone else to walk their dogs. She had two Wheaten terriers with her, as well as a Rhodesian Ridgeback, all three of which were happy to sit and take a breather while she and I talked. I did not chat with her for too long, but I'm sure the dogs enjoyed their respite eitherway.

I had passed a horse show venue enroute, and slowed to look at the rows of huge tents for next weekend's big show. The tents were massive, meant for portable stalls, banquets, and participants. There was sign on the fence, blaming the new zero spectator rule on the current pandemic. I was amused by the hurried correction of a misspelling of protocol (poor editing left the word as "protocal"). There would be no heartfelt applause this year for the winning horses and riders, no vendors, no crowds. The stands would be empty, as would the fields where years before there would have been endless rows of parking. Not this year. Not in this pandemic. The horses would still jump the jumps, the riders sole goal being 8 perfect fences. There is too much money involved in this horse sport, and so much has been lost to cancelled shows when the pandemic first hit. So they will hold their show, and the riders will come. But not the crowds. Not this year.

I let the roads carry me on, eventually looping back to the gravel roads for a slower, more contemplative ride. I was nearing 40 miles and, while I was more than willing to keep riding, my battery was nearing the end of the road. I had about 10 miles still left in electrons, but duty was becoming increasingly more insistent that I return home. There was always tomorrow it promised - with even better weather forecast.

Another day to play hookey again. Why not. I'm game. And my bike will be fully charged.

Count me in.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I played hookey today. Spell check keeps trying to change the word to "hockey", but that isn't right. I didn't play hockey. I played hookey. The definition of which is "skipping school or work, 'an unjustifiable absence without an excuse', being a truant without explanation." It is an Americanism first recorded around 1848. Even the great Mark Twain used the word in his writings.

❤

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Welcome back after long Forum breakdown!

 

[Chargeride]

Went for a quick hours blast around the woods and beach.

This trainer aircraft is parked in RAF Woodvale near my house and it seems to be a bit of a toytown RAF base, the runway used for years for model aircraft and car racing, classic car shows and skill trials, but they they found it was made with asbestos, so its official use only now, though that does include a pilot training centre and little Cesnas fly over the woods all day.
My friend used to show his pulsejet off there and it could do 150mph!


Going on to the beach there was quite a large film crew there and in the distance surrounded by security was some horse based filming going on, I saw the horse and rider and they were both strangely kitted out in bright pink and black.
No idea.

The area gets used a lot for filming..especially war or scifi movies.

Merseyside road transformed for filming of Sky drama's second series

Road closures and diversions will be in place while the cast and crew are filming

www.google.com

I went and chased the seagulls....well because I can, you get to know the sand and finding the hard stuff comes naturally, but certainly you can get in trouble out there, such a shallow angled beach, the sea comes in at 15mph in some parts and if you run into mud trying to escape it, you are in serious shxx straight away.

I rode up the beach, which is going south, for a mile or two and then cut into the pine forest for a blast around the trails and got lost as usual..only been coming here for twenty years.

Redrum the 3X winner of the Grand National...our most famous horse race used to train here...and I love the fact that its murder backwards, you'll find horses on it and in the woods everyday.

I count my blessings to have such space out my front door, no matter how bad things get, within 5 mins of setting off I'm alone in nature and letting the bike take me deep into woods, I have a big grin on my face which lasts all day.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Great story, @Chargeride, and the photos are very interesting! Now mine, quite shabby compared

Who Needs A Car, Really?

Sometimes, in the late evening, I find I'm missing a Drug that I can only buy at the gas station store in our county city, Pruszków. A Bad Habit. Specific Brand. Why should I drive? The only quick decision to make was: Vado or Lovelec? Oh, I had to test the new CatEye AMPP 1100 headlight and the Lezyne KTV Pro 75 tail-light Add to it super-fast Marathon E-Plus tyres, the Rock Shox Paragon Gold RL suspension fork, and... and... a no-brainer!

Riding 5.9 km (3 2/3 mi) took me twelve minutes. Driving a car would take about the same time. It was 15 C (60 F), no wind. I could take my goggles but luckily regular optical glasses did their work OK.

CatEye makes excellent LED, rechargeable Li-Ion battery headlamps. Here, the AMPP 1100 in the mid-beam setting, 800 lm. I could probably do with 400 lm low-beam but why to take risk?

Hwy 719 is almost empty at night, contributing to fast, safe ride. The blacktop quality is excellent there.

Not bad as for a low-powered Class 1 e-bike, eh? By the way, it was not as warm as 19 C reported here...

P.S. I almost rode a black dog over. The CatEye light made the dog visible quickly enough.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

I'm not normally a violent bird …

Australian Magpie​

Just feed me now and I'll give your ebike back.

 

[Chargeride]

Great story, @Chargeride, and the photos are very interesting! Now mine, quite shabby compared

Who Needs A Car, Really?

Sometimes, in the late evening, I find I'm missing a Drug that I can only buy at the gas station store in our county city, Pruszków. A Bad Habit. Specific Brand. Why should I drive? The only quick decision to make was: Vado or Lovelec? Oh, I had to test the new CatEye AMPP 1100 headlight and the Lezyne KTV Pro 75 tail-light Add to it super-fast Marathon E-Plus tyres, the Rock Shox Paragon Gold RL suspension fork, and... and... a no-brainer!

View attachment 65453
Riding 5.9 km (3 2/3 mi) took me twelve minutes. Driving a car would take about the same time. It was 15 C (60 F), no wind. I could take my goggles but luckily regular optical glasses did their work OK.

View attachment 65454
CatEye makes excellent LED, rechargeable Li-Ion battery headlamps. Here, the AMPP 1100 in the mid-beam setting, 800 lm. I could probably do with 400 lm low-beam but why to take risk?

View attachment 65455
Hwy 719 is almost empty at night, contributing to fast, safe ride. The blacktop quality is excellent there.

View attachment 65456
Not bad as for a low-powered Class 1 e-bike, eh? By the way, it was not as warm as 19 C reported here...

P.S. I almost rode a black dog over. The CatEye light made the dog visible quickly enough.

I just bough a cheap chinese ebay light that runs direct off the battery and I set it up to run overnight to see how much it drained.
10pm 54.6v
8am next day..54.4v
5 quid it was, thought its fallen to bits and taped and glued together now.
Yes..I'm scrooge.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I just bough a cheap chinese ebay light that runs direct off the battery and I set it up to run overnight to see how much it drained.
10pm 54.6v
8am next day..54.4v
5 quid it was, thought its fallen to bits and taped and glued together now.
Yes..I'm scrooge.

Off-topic: Did you realise the Supernova M99 Pro headlamp cost US$500? Yet, Specialized delivered it free as the part of the conversion kit from the old BLOKS display to the new TCD-W in Euro Speed Vados. My respect towards Specialized greatly improved!

 

[Chargeride]

Read a review.
Its certainly the ultimate ebike light, interesting feature of improving the approaching speed 'look' of the light to observers.
Amazing for free...

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Peering out to sea …

23 km, 8.30 am
Shorncliffe Pier, Moreton Bay​

With just 23 km covered, the morning clouds had yet to disperse. Would it rain? The Bureau of Meteorology had predicted 40% likelihood of some precipitation, but the clouds lifted and the wind decided to take a day off. Perfect riding weather!

On the right (southern) horizon you can see the low outline of Moreton Island and still further away the almost ever-present clouds over the warm waters of the Pacific. (Compare this view with that on the next page taken two hours later!)

The tides, of course, simply kept to their own timetable. (More on that later.)

(Placing the cursor over a photo will reveal its time and date. GPS data is embedded in most photos, allowing their precise location to be checked.)

 

[RabH]

Well the rain did come yesterday so I waited until today, it was dry but very windy! Lots of climbing once again but the bike did most of the work this time! I even managed a bit of off road, well about 200 yards! I spotted a road I had never ventured up before and decided to have a look, at first I thought I had found a little gem until I was greeted with this!

Its steeper than it looks in the photo...I noticed paved road at the top of the climb so off I went but I had no choice but to turn back as it was much worse over the brow of the hill...back down we go (very gingerly) and yes I did stay in the saddle (only just) It almost looks flat there, the camera really does lie!

The road started like this, that's why I thought it was going to be a gem...on checking when I got home its the road to nowhere!

Lets just say I won't be giving @Chargeride a run for his money! Not the most scenic route today but still lots of fun, even with a 30mph easterly wind!

 

[Chargeride]

I'm getting a reputation here, back to chill rides.
Its amazing how flat the camera makes a hill, Ive had videos that make a steep hill look like its going down not up.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Its amazing how flat the camera makes a hill, Ive had videos that make a steep hill look like its going down not up

True.