2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

Cycled around Liverpool to make another video,

It reminds me of the happy days during holidays when I visited Liverpool twice with my family...

 

[Readytoride]

The last two days have been wonderful for bike rides. The colder weather had had a change of plans and postponed its scheduled arrival, and so the beautiful weather of the past week took the opportunity to extend its stay a week or so longer, a decision that was welcomed with open arms from all the Virginia locals.

Wednesday on the local gravel roads riding 22 miles with my neighbor. The perfect chance to glide through a freshly washed countyside, the local trees still sparkling wet and dripping from over an inch of rainfall the prior night. The gravel roads were close to perfection - smooth, dust free, hard packed but not harsh, and quiet. Only one short spot enroute had been top-dressed with new gravel - for the remainder of the roads the going was a densely packed surface as close to pavement as one could expect. Our tires whispered over the hard dirt/gravel as we filled in the rest of the silence with a steady stream of conversation. It was a bike-and-talk ride from end to end.

My neighbor heading up a hill after we pulled off to the side to let a truck pass us. The road was scarcely wide enough for us and the truck thanks to a massively deep ditch on the truck's side where we met. He had stopped quite a distance away at the top to let us ride up the hill, but the slope was steep and long enough that we felt we would have held him up unnecessarily waiting for us. So we nicely stepped off to the side and waved for him to use the narrow road first. He did so, with a friendly wave back, carefully passing us with more than enough room that his off side tires came dangerously close to dropping in that tremendous rainwater carved ditch on the far side. Once he was on his way it was our turn to finish the hill. My neighbor didn't think she could restart on the slope, so instead rolled back to the bottom to give herself a running start. By then I was already at the top, camera ready.

At one point we stopped for a drink a water and to admire the view...which, as ancient as it is, never gets old.

Thursday, the following day, was a 25 mile solo ride for me. I managed to squeeze some "me" time between that day's schedule by opting to ride the faster paved roads in the county below me, just a few miles from my doorstep. Fast equaled more miles in my mind, the end goal - besides enjoying another perfect, jacketless day - was to keep conditioning for the upcoming Seagull Century Virtual Ride.

My ride took me through farming country, and so I stopped for a photo shoot with my favorite crop of corn. Throughout the year I've been snapping shots of my bike against the corn - from sprouting green shoots in the spring barely pedal high, to the stately and much taller summer green stalks that towered high over my bike. Now we come into the Fall, just prior to harvesting. The lush green stalks have shriveled into dry crackling dead ghosts of themselves. The corn, safely enveloped in a tight swaddle of husk leaves, is ripe and ready for the harvesters to strip them from the dead stalks and send them on their merry way to the livestock feed markets. By the time I've enjoyed another jaunt on these roads again, the field will be shorn clean of all traces of this year's corn and left fallow to wait out the winter until it is planted again in the spring. It will be interesting to see what the farmer plants next year - another corn crop, or a cover crop. From what I've been told corn can only be planted 3 years in a row before it exhausts the soil. A cover crop of legumes, which, once grown, is turned over and back into the soil, rejuvenates the land sufficiently for corn to be reintroduced again for another 3 years.

The amazing sky that kept me company for a portion of my ride. I had to stop and admire it at one point as it was so unusual, several rivers of clouds running parallel to each other in a true unbroken line from north to south, or from south to north depending upon your personal viewpoint. This was midday, and the light was so brilliant that my phone camera struggled with the contrast in the shot below facing the north running sky. (The other photo, facing the south running sky away from the sun, fared much better). In person this sky was breathtaking. Honestly. Take my word for it.

Closer to earth I noticed the wooly bear caterpillars had begun their annual march to find winter nesting places. In as much as they seem to include crossing every road they can find in their journey, with scant regard for the danger they place their cute soft squishy tiny furry bodies in when it comes to challenging a right of way with several tons worth of rolling vehicular traffic, it did give me an opportunity to catch a photo of them engaged in their annual cross county run. This photo was the third wooly bear I came across - the prior two I didn't have time to photograph before they would have, by dint of where they were in the road (ie: right where a tire would not miss them), been a splat on the pavement by virtue of the speeding approach of a vehicle heading up the road just as I stopped to take a picture. I ended up scooping said caterpillars into my hand and shortened their trip, and by default reduced their hazardous crossing considerably, by depositing them in a short no-frills airborne flight into the roadside foliage. Fortunately, the third wooly bear encounter was free of approaching cars, so I finally got my shot. This caterpillar also was privy to the free pick-up-and-local-flight to speed it on its way. I'm not sure how the caterpillars felt about their impromptu and completely unexpected interruptions to their earthbound travel as they had instinctively curled themselves into a defensive tight ball of furry angst the moment I touched them, which was a good thing in order to survive a sudden rise of four feet above ground and a whistling hurtle through the air to the relative safety of the roadside underbrush. I'm sure it would be a story they would tell the grandkids years later.

Anyway, about wooly bears: their coat colors have been used by humanity as the prognosticators of weather forecasting since the dawn of time. Something about the patterns of their brown and black fur patching. I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but apparently more of one color represents a cold winter, and more of the other color portends a warmer winter. All three wooly bears that I saw - and helped across the road to save them from certain death thank you very much - seemed to be in agreement towards the upcoming winter forecast, based solely upon their coat colors. But they were only 3 of billions, so somewhere out there I'm sure is one or two wooly bears with a dissenting opinion. I sincerely hope they don't include any road crossings in their journeys, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope in that regard.

Heading back with a lovely 24 miles already logged on my bike GPS, I pass my neighbor's house with the decorative stone pig that sports quite a variety of outfits through the seasons. The current theme is both timely and patriotic.

Today my neighbor and her friend and I will head out to enjoy a bike ride on the peaceful gravel roads. Her friend will ride my LaFree so all of us will be on ebikes and thus equally matched for speed and comfort regardless of fitness level. My neighbor is seriously considering purchasing the LaFree for herself as a second ebike. Its a nice step through that I know she'll appreciate.

 

[RabH]

A chilly start to the day as you can see below but it really was a beautiful day with no wind to speak of, 40 miles of pure cycling fun! I did join some busy roads today to avoid the slippy back roads but thankfully all the drivers were very courteous today!

Further on in my ride I came across this little cutie which was making funny faces at me!

This one was enjoying the grass and making so much noise, not sure if it was telling me to clear off!

I'm getting closer to 5,000 miles, only 104 miles to go but this weekend and next week isn't looking nice at all so it might be a while longer before I reach it!

 

[Chargeride]

A sad commentary on something the pandemic has wrought besides all its other medical and emotional wrongs - the heightened theft of bicycles.

View attachment 66947

This sign was off the side of the road at the end of someone's driveway. I had heard about the theft - the dad (who is an advocate for cycling in our county) had spent a great deal of time and effort to procure a bicycle (a Specialized) for his young daughter (note the training wheels on the bike photo) despite the scarcity of bikes in general all over the state (and beyond), and particularly the scaricity of kids bikes.

The little girl had apparently ridden her brand new bike just a few yards up the gravel road to see a friend, and - in the universal manner of young kids everywhere - had dropped said bike at the end of her friend's driveway to "go see" something the friend wanted to show her. In our affluent area and lightly traveled roads it is rare for things to go missing, but bikes are a highly desired commodity right now. Someone saw the bike, and by the time the young lady came back to retrieve her bike....it was gone.

There is nothing lower than bike theft, and nothing more cruel than to take a child's bike, especially a new one. From what I was told, the theft happened a week or so ago. Since the sign is still up, I gather the bike had not been found.

Poor kid. Poor dad. I hope it finds its way home.

I feel its treated as a bit of a joke by the police, almost like its your fault for leaving it or not locking it up with an armed guard.
I do believe thats one of the biggest barriers to people taking up cycling as a replacement for the car, just nip the shops they say.
You find yourself tearing around in a panic before Mr boltcutters comes along and its gone.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Today my neighbor and her friend and I will head out to enjoy a bike ride on the peaceful gravel roads. Her friend will ride my LaFree so all of us will be on ebikes and thus equally matched for speed and comfort regardless of fitness level. My neighbor is seriously considering purchasing the LaFree for herself as a second ebike. Its a nice step through that I know she'll appreciate

I'm so glad you will have the third e-cycling partner! How good it is for us, the lucky people owning multiple e-bikes, that we can share our steeds with friends!

If the weather matches the forecast promises, we'd set out with Jerzy for a 50-miler around Warsaw on Saturday. Jerzy (73) is a hard-headed traditional cyclist who vowed to ride his mechanical bike until he's completely disabled by age. He openly refused my offers to share one of my e-bikes with him! I must say I admire him.

The brand new Southern Bridge of Warsaw is near to its completion. Still, it is doubtful if we would be allowed to ride through it. We'll take our chances.

On July 11th, 2013, I went on a ride in Warsaw with my brand new (at that time) mechanical Romet Wagant bike. It was a unique chance as the Southern Beltway of Warsaw was just completed, the builders and security moved out but the traffic was not let in yet. It is a magic when you cycle over a brand new motorway and you and your bike just own it

 

[Mulezen]

Jerzy? Now where did I read that name (Kosinski)...apparently that’s what Poles name any hardcore individual

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Jerzy? Now where did I read that name (Kosinski)...apparently that’s what Poles name any hardcore individual

You are right Mulezen about Kosinski. Jerzy is the Polish version of George, referring to the same saint with the dragon

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Late afternoon selfie …

Brisbane Valley Rail Trail
Wanora, Queensland​

4.56 pm (sunset 5.48 pm)

Heading home on my Trek Powerfly after a short outing on the rail trail.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Late afternoon selfie …

Actual selfie requested, David!

 

[zzRider]

Why would you want to ride in a lush secluded forest, or on pristine beach trails under vibrant blue skies, when you can ride in this:

View attachment 43548

Yuck.

 

[rdowns]

, , and a ride in the rain. That beautiful bull had curly hair and was just lying there chewing his cud.

 

[Readytoride]

Easy Riders - The "Old Ladies On Ebikes" Version​

The cycling crowds can make way for newest cool ones in town - the Little Old Ladies On Ebikes gang. The three of us - my neighbor, her friend, and I set out yesterday late morning to enjoy an afternoon cruising the local gravel road loop.

To put it mildly...we had a blast. My neighbor's friend was introduced to my LaFree and it was pretty much "love at first pedal". She has a regular bike at home (she lives in the adjoining state), and visited my neighbor knowing full well we were going to go biking, so she had her helmet, gloves, biking shorts, etc when my neighbor dropped her off at my place (neighbor then rushed back home to get her ebike to join us - we live just 1.5 miles away by road, 1 mile as the crow flies). I had an extra helmet and gloves ready, but was very pleased to see she had her own. When she confessed that she hadn't ridden her bike at all this year, I adjusted the route I had in mind to just the 8 mile loop on the surrounding gravel road just so that she'd have fun, plus a touch of challenging hills to test her borrowed ebike's mettle, without dealing with sore anything by the end of the ride. I told her we could easily entend the route a few more miles depending upon how she felt towards the end. She agreed that that was a splendid thought.

I put the LaFree in highest assist, told her not to concern herself about it and simply leave it there, and did a quick demo of the uber simple internal hub gearing shift. Piece of cake. She was very interested in the Kinekt floating seatpost and the super comfy Serfas seat, and it didn't take more than a few yards pedaling up the road before she was swooning over both as The Most Comfortable Seat On The Planet. (I might add those are all her capital letters, not mine). She took off out of the driveway on the LaFree like it had rockets attached to it, grinning from ear to ear as she zipped past us like we were standing still. My neighbor and I both burst out laughing and rushed our Vados to catch her before we hit the top of the hill a quarter of a mile away where another neighbor (a former caterer who has always grown her own produce) was waiting for us to arrive for a tour of her gardens.

The garden tour took a full 40 minutes as both my cycling neighbor, her friend, and my gardening neighbor waxed poetic on the beautiful vegetables and flowers. It was fun and my cycling neighbor and gardening neighbor bonded as best friends in that short amount of time. Mind you, we'd only gone 1/4 of a mile, but it was hard to tear away from the gardens and the lively conversation. With promises to return to get some fresh-from-the-garden veggies, we finally said our goodbyes and began our cycling tour of the countryside in earnest.

I had to admit there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing someone having the time of their life on one of one's own ebikes. My neighbor's friend was in awe of the ease in which the LaFree did exactly what she wanted and how it climbed every hill like a mountain goat. She looked perfectly at home on the bike and at one point she whooshed past the two of us going uphill, grinning back at us as we laughingly hurried to catch her. We stopped a lot for me to give my "Local Tour Guide" speel for the various and sundry estates we passed, the people who lived there, which skeletons resided in which estate closets, stories, tales, and all manner of delicious gossip. Throughout we cruised the quiet roads, taking in the scenery and waving happily to the few rare cars (think it was 4 total) that all (I kid you not as it was *every* car) pulled off to the side of the road to wait for us to pass. Civility reigns in my locale. Either that, or it was the rare sighing of three old ladies on ebikes speeding down the road that had the motorists enthralled enough to stop and watch us zoom on by, all of us, including the motorists, sharing big grins and waves.

By the time we had looped 7 miles back to within a mile of my place, I asked my neighbor's friend if she wanted to continue and add a few more miles to our tour. The eager answer was yes. She said, despite not having ridden in a full year, she was so comfortable on the bike with nothing hurting - giving a big nod to the float and seat - and just having the time of her life because the bike made every hill so easy. She claimed that if she had ridden her own bike she would have quit halfway through since the hills were tough buggers and she would have been too sore by then. Nope, she was thrilled to keep riding. So...we did, adding an additional 5 mile loop that took on a challenging hill that had us in giggles flying up.

No question, my neighbor's friend is now an ebike convert. And totally, unashamedly, deeply in love with the LaFree. It warmed my heart to see my ebike so well appreciated, and to see how capably it carried it's rider through those miles, up and down the hills, and had power to spare for every pedal stroke. My neighbor was in heaven at the fun her friend was having, and all three of us vowed to start making a bike ride a regular thing each time the friend comes to visit.

Back home, with my ebikes tucked away, and my neighbor returned in her car to pick up her friend, the two left to head back to my neighbor's house with armfuls of veggies and herbs from raiding my garden (with my blessing and help loading their arms up with fresh produce). The friend had photographed the Kinekt box to ensure she knew what to order for her own bike. She said she had never felt so comfortable on a bike in her life and refuses now to go back to a solid seat post.

Next time I'll take some photos during our ride. It was the one thing I was completely remiss upon doing. Just having too much fun biking and gossiping, I guess. So here's some gratuitous shots of our route to share in case you are interested.

The photo below is less than a 1/2 mile from my farm - well within walking distance. A beautiful vista throughout the year in any season. And the first of the fun rolling hills on the local gravel road loop.

Deep shade is everywhere on this loop with the exception of a few long flat stretches where the open pastures and fafm fields cozy up to the roads and encourage one to stop and just admire the view.

 

[Cowlitz]

Easy Riders - The "Old Ladies On Ebikes" Version​

View attachment 67317
The cycling crowds can make way for newest cool ones in town - the Little Old Ladies On Ebikes gang. The three of us - my neighbor, her friend, and I set out yesterday late morning to enjoy an afternoon cruising the local gravel road loop.

To put it mildly...we had a blast. My neighbor's friend was introduced to my LaFree and it was pretty much "love at first pedal". She has a regular bike at home (she lives in the adjoining state), and visited my neighbor knowing full well we were going to go biking, so she had her helmet, gloves, biking shorts, etc when my neighbor dropped her off at my place (neighbor then rushed back home to get her ebike to join us - we live just 1.5 miles away by road, 1 mile as the crow flies). I had an extra helmet and gloves ready, but was very pleased to see she had her own. When she confessed that she hadn't ridden her bike at all this year, I adjusted the route I had in mind to just the 8 mile loop on the surrounding gravel road just so that she'd have fun, plus a touch of challenging hills to test her borrowed ebike's mettle, without dealing with sore anything by the end of the ride. I told her we could easily entend the route a few more miles depending upon how she felt towards the end. She agreed that that was a splendid thought.

I put the LaFree in highest assist, told her not to concern herself about it and simply leave it there, and did a quick demo of the uber simple internal hub gearing shift. Piece of cake. She was very interested in the Kinekt floating seatpost and the super comfy Serfas seat, and it didn't take more than a few yards pedaling up the road before she was swooning over both as The Most Comfortable Seat On The Planet. (I might add those are all her capital letters, not mine). She took off out of the driveway on the LaFree like it had rockets attached to it, grinning from ear to ear as she zipped past us like we were standing still. My neighbor and I both burst out laughing and rushed our Vados to catch her before we hit the top of the hill a quarter of a mile away where another neighbor (a former caterer who has always grown her own produce) was waiting for us to arrive for a tour of her gardens.

The garden tour took a full 40 minutes as both my cycling neighbor, her friend, and my gardening neighbor waxed poetic on the beautiful vegetables and flowers. It was fun and my cycling neighbor and gardening neighbor bonded as best friends in that short amount of time. Mind you, we'd only gone 1/4 of a mile, but it was hard to tear away from the gardens and the lively conversation. With promises to return to get some fresh-from-the-garden veggies, we finally said our goodbyes and began our cycling tour of the countryside in earnest.

I had to admit there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing someone having the time of their life on one of one's own ebikes. My neighbor's friend was in awe of the ease in which the LaFree did exactly what she wanted and how it climbed every hill like a mountain goat. She looked perfectly at home on the bike and at one point she whooshed past the two of us going uphill, grinning back at us as we laughingly hurried to catch her. We stopped a lot for me to give my "Local Tour Guide" speel for the various and sundry estates we passed, the people who lived there, which skeletons resided in which estate closets, stories, tales, and all manner of delicious gossip. Throughout we cruised the quiet roads, taking in the scenery and waving happily to the few rare cars (think it was 4 total) that all (I kid you not as it was *every* car) pulled off to the side of the road to wait for us to pass. Civility reigns in my locale. Either that, or it was the rare sighing of three old ladies on ebikes speeding down the road that had the motorists enthralled enough to stop and watch us zoom on by, all of us, including the motorists, sharing big grins and waves.

By the time we had looped 7 miles back to within a mile of my place, I asked my neighbor's friend if she wanted to continue and add a few more miles to our tour. The eager answer was yes. She said, despite not having ridden in a full year, she was so comfortable on the bike with nothing hurting - giving a big nod to the float and seat - and just having the time of her life because the bike made every hill so easy. She claimed that if she had ridden her own bike she would have quit halfway through since the hills were tough buggers and she would have been too sore by then. Nope, she was thrilled to keep riding. So...we did, adding an additional 5 mile loop that took on a challenging hill that had us in giggles flying up.

No question, my neighbor's friend is now an ebike convert. And totally, unashamedly, deeply in love with the LaFree. It warmed my heart to see my ebike so well appreciated, and to see how capably it carried it's rider through those miles, up and down the hills, and had power to spare for every pedal stroke. My neighbor was in heaven at the fun her friend was having, and all three of us vowed to start making a bike ride a regular thing each time the friend comes to visit.

Back home, with my ebikes tucked away, and my neighbor returned in her car to pick up her friend, the two left to head back to my neighbor's house with armfuls of veggies and herbs from raiding my garden (with my blessing and help loading their arms up with fresh produce). The friend had photographed the Kinekt box to ensure she knew what to order for her own bike. She said she had never felt so comfortable on a bike in her life and refuses now to go back to a solid seat post.

Next time I'll take some photos during our ride. It was the one thing I was completely remiss upon doing. Just having too much fun biking and gossiping, I guess. So here's some gratuitous shots of our route to share in case you are interested.

View attachment 67321

The photo below is less than a 1/2 mile from my farm - well within walking distance. A beautiful vista throughout the year in any season. And the first of the fun rolling hills on the local gravel road loop.
View attachment 67322

Deep shade is everywhere on this loop with the exception of a few long flat stretches where the open pastures and fafm fields cozy up to the roads and encourage one to stop and just admire the view.
View attachment 67323

That's the kind of biking I like, but I either have to ride with a bit of traffic to get there, or haul my bike there. A friend and I have a late fall/early spring area where three cars is a lot, but it had a major wildfire burn through. In fact, there may be more traffic as folks repair fences and rebuild houses and outbuildings. We'll find out.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Headless cows?

Kholo Road, Lake Manchester​

I came upon this mob, all munching away in the long dry grass, every one with its head down. Headless, legless cows!

Of course I stopped. The Homage was propped up whilst I rummaged around in the handlebar bag for the camera. All ready, I turned around. Every single last one of them was looking straight at me with enormous wide open eyes!

"Put your heads down and eat!" I hollered.

That spooked them. They turned tail and ambled off, choosing their route through the shorter grass of the creek bed.

Uncooperative beasts! Cowards!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Easy Riders - The "Old Ladies On Ebikes" Version

I love such stories!

Uncooperative beasts! Cowards!

Murderous, innit

Short of Fifty Miles, or Our Electro-Acoustic Ride

So it goes. The plan was I should ride the train to Jerzy's location, then we would circumnavigate Warsaw to make over 50 miles, and finally I was to return by train to my town. Not quite.

Jerzy lives in Warsaw suburbs (but it still is Warsaw) exactly on the opposite side of the city. It was long 80 minutes (total) travel by two trains to get to Warszawa Radość (literally: Joy). I hate wearing a face-mask: I feel like I suffocate in it and it makes me cough... There were many cyclist in the other train, and the dedicated "bike" car of the train was full of bikes. That was because of splendid weather: Sunny with 22 C temperature (70+ F's). And a very strong southerly wind.

Jerzy was waiting for me at the train station. I was respectful to my friend, the traditional cyclist, so I set the Trance E+ assistance to "It's 0.75 x You!" (I also had the 25 km/h limiter on to not ride too fast). Rode we off, and Jerzy just craved to show me the eastern part of the Southern Beltway of Warsaw (POW), still under construction.

We enjoyed the brand new -- freshly polished -- concrete surface of the new motorway. We were alone there, except of the construction workers, the security men, and occasional road cyclist.

My maiden ride over the new POW. I even locked the full-suspension out for more fun on the ride!

Nobody knows when the new motorway would be completed. Perhaps still this year, or maybe later.

We could not enter the new Southern Bridge. We had a chat with a security guard and he could not tell us the construction completion date. He only knew this side of the bridge would be opened first. (On one of his rides, Jerzy asked another security guard if he could be admitted onto the bridge. The answer was: "I can let you in provided you transfer your pension account to me, as I would be immediately fired if I did it!")

"And then I told him..." Jerzy is a great talker, a socially popular person. Bike-wise, I discovered Trance was using very little of the battery charge. That was because of low ride speed (average of 18 km/h or 11.2 mph for the whole Jerzy's trip) and we had a mighty tail-wind on that part of the ride.

We paid a visit to our close friend Jazza at her villa in Okęcie part of Warsaw (near to the airport). We had the second coffee on the ride there (we had had the first one at Mc Donald's where I also had a breakfast -- but no, that was tea in my case!)

"Officer! I swear it was just one coffee!" At a bar in the heart of Warsaw, in the former Jewish part of the quarter of Śródmieście (The City).

Now, that's interesting. The plan was to make a quite a long ride but Jerzy soberly assessed his position. He understood he would have to ride upwind (very strong headwind!) on his way home, and he physically might not be able to do that! That's what differs us -- e-bike Supercyclists -- from traditional bikers: We know our motor will get us home regardless of the weather. At some point, Jerzy asked to shorten the ride and that was what took us to the City. We said our good-byes at the bar and each of us headed home. It was so simple for me: I just had to switch the support to Active... (42% of the 625 Wh battery left!)

So my final plan was to ride home (instead of taking the train). It made me complete the 50 miles. Short of. 250 meters too short

Riding an off-road e-bike, I could afford taking it to its natural environment. Here, in the place I call "The Big Brwinów Marsh", which I avoid riding through with my other e-bikes. It is a great shortcut to my place but it is as off-road as it only could be Smooth, buttery ride with Trance E+.

Ride Map & Stats.

 

[Chargeride]

I love such stories!


Murderous, innit

Short of Fifty Miles, or Our Electro-Acoustic Ride

So it goes. The plan was I should ride the train to Jerzy's location, then we would circumnavigate Warsaw to make over 50 miles, and finally I was to return by train to my town. Not quite.

View attachment 67369
Jerzy lives in Warsaw suburbs (but it still is Warsaw) exactly on the opposite side of the city. It was long 80 minutes (total) travel by two trains to get to Warszawa Radość (literally: Joy). I hate wearing a face-mask: I feel like I suffocate in it and it makes me cough... There were many cyclist in the other train, and the dedicated "bike" car of the train was full of bikes. That was because of splendid weather: Sunny with 22 C temperature (70+ F's). And a very strong southerly wind.

Jerzy was waiting for me at the train station. I was respectful to my friend, the traditional cyclist, so I set the Trance E+ assistance to "It's 0.75 x You!" (I also had the 25 km/h limiter on to not ride too fast). Rode we off, and Jerzy just craved to show me the eastern part of the Southern Beltway of Warsaw (POW), still under construction.

View attachment 67370
We enjoyed the brand new -- freshly polished -- concrete surface of the new motorway. We were alone there, except of the construction workers, the security men, and occasional road cyclist.

View attachment 67371
My maiden ride over the new POW. I even locked the full-suspension out for more fun on the ride!

View attachment 67372
Nobody knows when the new motorway would be completed. Perhaps still this year, or maybe later.

View attachment 67373
We could not enter the new Southern Bridge. We had a chat with a security guard and he could not tell us the construction completion date. He only knew this side of the bridge would be opened first. (On one of his rides, Jerzy asked another security guard if he could be admitted onto the bridge. The answer was: "I can let you in provided you transfer your pension account to me, as I would be immediately fired if I did it!")

View attachment 67374
"And then I told him..." Jerzy is a great talker, a socially popular person. Bike-wise, I discovered Trance was using very little of the battery charge. That was because of low ride speed (average of 18 km/h or 11.2 mph for the whole Jerzy's trip) and we had a mighty tail-wind on that part of the ride.

View attachment 67375
We paid a visit to our close friend Jazza at her villa in Okęcie part of Warsaw (near to the airport). We had the second coffee on the ride there (we had had the first one at Mc Donald's where I also had a breakfast -- but no, that was tea in my case!)

View attachment 67376
"Officer! I swear it was just one coffee!" At a bar in the heart of Warsaw, in the former Jewish part of the quarter of Śródmieście (The City).

Now, that's interesting. The plan was to make a quite a long ride but Jerzy soberly assessed his position. He understood he would have to ride upwind (very strong headwind!) on his way home, and he physically might not be able to do that! That's what differs us -- e-bike Supercyclists -- from traditional bikers: We know our motor will get us home regardless of the weather. At some point, Jerzy asked to shorten the ride and that was what took us to the City. We said our good-byes at the bar and each of us headed home. It was so simple for me: I just had to switch the support to Active... (42% of the 625 Wh battery left!)

So my final plan was to ride home (instead of taking the train). It made me complete the 50 miles. Short of. 250 meters too short

View attachment 67378
Riding an off-road e-bike, I could afford taking it to its natural environment. Here, in the place I call "The Big Brwinów Marsh", which I avoid riding through with my other e-bikes. It is a great shortcut to my place but it is as off-road as it only could be Smooth, buttery ride with Trance E+.

View attachment 67377
Ride Map & Stats.

I feel in many of those pics he's saying.
Do you have to take a picture?

 

[Chargeride]

Drove to Sanbach, a very old and super cute town about 50 mins away near the city of Manchester, we were going to tour on the bikes but it rained non stop and the cobbles were slippy to the point of instant hospilisation.

Its a very upmarket area, but nothing of interest happened, heres the central square with some Saxon pillars.
My phone steamed up and ..well you can see.

I'll go back on a sunny day.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I feel in many of those pics he's saying.
Do you have to take a picture?

Haha! He likes to be photographed To make him gesticulate for the photo, I asked him on his opinion about a politician he hates

 

[Deleted member 18083]

The lily pond …

Kholo Gardens
Ipswich, Australia​

There's little to say about the lily pond at Kholo Gardens. It's a pleasant place to pull off the switchback roads surrounding where we live.

And it's the home to dragons… cute lizards with long tails. No photos of them (sorry!) but here's link to Wikipedia's photos of Australian water dragons. The photos in that link look like they posed not the slightest difficulty for the photographers. I'd better accept the challenge!

 

[Marci jo]

I love such stories!


Murderous, innit

Short of Fifty Miles, or Our Electro-Acoustic Ride

So it goes. The plan was I should ride the train to Jerzy's location, then we would circumnavigate Warsaw to make over 50 miles, and finally I was to return by train to my town. Not quite.

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Jerzy lives in Warsaw suburbs (but it still is Warsaw) exactly on the opposite side of the city. It was long 80 minutes (total) travel by two trains to get to Warszawa Radość (literally: Joy). I hate wearing a face-mask: I feel like I suffocate in it and it makes me cough... There were many cyclist in the other train, and the dedicated "bike" car of the train was full of bikes. That was because of splendid weather: Sunny with 22 C temperature (70+ F's). And a very strong southerly wind.

Jerzy was waiting for me at the train station. I was respectful to my friend, the traditional cyclist, so I set the Trance E+ assistance to "It's 0.75 x You!" (I also had the 25 km/h limiter on to not ride too fast). Rode we off, and Jerzy just craved to show me the eastern part of the Southern Beltway of Warsaw (POW), still under construction.

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We enjoyed the brand new -- freshly polished -- concrete surface of the new motorway. We were alone there, except of the construction workers, the security men, and occasional road cyclist.

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My maiden ride over the new POW. I even locked the full-suspension out for more fun on the ride!

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Nobody knows when the new motorway would be completed. Perhaps still this year, or maybe later.

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We could not enter the new Southern Bridge. We had a chat with a security guard and he could not tell us the construction completion date. He only knew this side of the bridge would be opened first. (On one of his rides, Jerzy asked another security guard if he could be admitted onto the bridge. The answer was: "I can let you in provided you transfer your pension account to me, as I would be immediately fired if I did it!")

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"And then I told him..." Jerzy is a great talker, a socially popular person. Bike-wise, I discovered Trance was using very little of the battery charge. That was because of low ride speed (average of 18 km/h or 11.2 mph for the whole Jerzy's trip) and we had a mighty tail-wind on that part of the ride.

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We paid a visit to our close friend Jazza at her villa in Okęcie part of Warsaw (near to the airport). We had the second coffee on the ride there (we had had the first one at Mc Donald's where I also had a breakfast -- but no, that was tea in my case!)

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"Officer! I swear it was just one coffee!" At a bar in the heart of Warsaw, in the former Jewish part of the quarter of Śródmieście (The City).

Now, that's interesting. The plan was to make a quite a long ride but Jerzy soberly assessed his position. He understood he would have to ride upwind (very strong headwind!) on his way home, and he physically might not be able to do that! That's what differs us -- e-bike Supercyclists -- from traditional bikers: We know our motor will get us home regardless of the weather. At some point, Jerzy asked to shorten the ride and that was what took us to the City. We said our good-byes at the bar and each of us headed home. It was so simple for me: I just had to switch the support to Active... (42% of the 625 Wh battery left!)

So my final plan was to ride home (instead of taking the train). It made me complete the 50 miles. Short of. 250 meters too short

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Riding an off-road e-bike, I could afford taking it to its natural environment. Here, in the place I call "The Big Brwinów Marsh", which I avoid riding through with my other e-bikes. It is a great shortcut to my place but it is as off-road as it only could be Smooth, buttery ride with Trance E+.

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Ride Map & Stats.

A sunny day, great friends, beverages, and bikes.
It doesn't get any better than that!!