2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Saratoga Dave]

Ah yes, the intrinsic beauty of winter... can’t wait!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ah yes, the intrinsic beauty of winter... can’t wait!

I hear they have it even worse in Canada, eh?...

Szczecin (Stettin) Poland, 2010. A viral meme.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I hear they have it even worse in Canada, eh?...

Szczecin (Stettin) Poland, 2010. A viral meme.

It depends on where you live here. I've seen incidents such as that occur on the Cdn west coast (Metro Van/Van Isle) where many vehicles are ill prepared for the conditions. The snow may not stick around long out there so people prefer to get by with summer or all-season tires. Here on the prairies, we know what old man winter can throw at us so dedicated snowies are the norm around here for up to 6 months. If fact, I'm taking one of our vehicles into the shop today for its annual changeover to studded tires as we are expecting snow this week.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/weather/alberta/red-deer

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It depends on where you live here. I've seen incidents such as that occur on the Cdn west coast (Metro Van/Van Isle) where many vehicles are ill prepared for the conditions. The snow may not stick around long out there so people prefer to get by with summer or all-season tires. Here on the prairies, we know what old man winter can throw at us so dedicated snowies are the norm around here for up to 6 months. If fact, I'm taking one of our vehicles into the shop today for its annual changeover to studded tires as we are expecting snow this week.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/weather/alberta/red-deer

Very interesting information! Thank you!
NB: In Europe, studded car tyres are only allowed in Norway and are subject of an extra tax if used in cities. Countries with mild winter (e.g. UK, Denmark) use all-season tyres while winter tyres are used where the climate is harsher.

 

[Chargeride]

I actually drove through them. There is The Stranglers song called "London Lady" with obscene lyrics referring to the shape of the Tunnels. I wanted to understand the words better... And understood them (There is a line reading: "Have you ever been to Liverpool?")

Never heard of that..will give it a listen

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Never heard of that..will give it a listen

You have been warned

 

[Chancelucky2]

I confess, this thread is easily my favorite thread on the site: a cross between e-bike porn and travel photos from around the world. Today's ride off the Tennessee River in Knoxville may not actually count, because I did it on my road bike. I'd recently had a shop help me lower the gearing on my 80's Bianchi which might be an interesting discussion of its own. If you think of riding an e-bike in eco mode as being the equivalent of a gear or two or a tailwind, just lowering the gearing on a much lighter regular bike gets you surprsiingly close in feel though at a lower speed (I'm thinking about the Creo SL here). Anyway, this is Keller Bend Road which is where a bend in the Tennessee River wraps around a steep hill. It leads into an unpaved park/road which I would have loved to explore, if only I'd brought my e-bike and its more gravel friendly setup.

 

[Chargeride]

I actually drove through them. There is The Stranglers song called "London Lady" with obscene lyrics referring to the shape of the Tunnels. I wanted to understand the words better... And understood them (There is a line reading: "Have you ever been to Liverpool?")

Yes, very 'No more heroes'.
There is an old derogatory saying in Liverpool about sausages, the tunnels and ladies of questionable fidelity, but I wont repeat it here.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

There is an old derogatory saying in Liverpool about sausages, the tunnels and ladies of questionable fidelity, but I wont repeat it here.

Ah! So it goes older than The Stranglers! Very interesting!
(I apologise everyone for disrupting the thread).

 

[Sierratim]

Rode the trail that loops around the local Empire Mine State Historic Park. This is just one of several trails that are open to equestrians, cyclists, and hikers in the park boundry.

The Empire Mine was a hard rock gold mine that operated for 100 years ceasing its last operations in 1956. By then it had become the oldest, deepest, and richest mine in California. The mine's under ground workings included 367 miles of tunnels that yielded 5.8 million ounces of gold. The wealth yielded by mines like the Empire shielded Grass Valley and Nevada City from the deprivations of the Great Depression. The superintendent's 'cottage' is a mansion by most standards. It's grounds are a favorite wedding venue.

These buildings aren't seen by most park visitors being several miles from the main entry and accessible only on a rough gravel trail;

These twin concrete structures were originally equipped with heavy steel doors. Their arched concrete roofs have curved vents at each end. These held the explosives used daily in the mine. They were far enough away to not damage any other mine assets if something went wrong. The vents were intended to release the explosive force saving the structure in case of a mishap...

The trail took me by the equipment yard inside the park proper. Since I didn't want to pay the entry fee, I took a pic over the stone wall;

The tank on the left was a steam pressure tank that would drive the piston engine directly behind it. Its large steel wheels would drive belt pulleys that would power any number of mine operations from the mine hoists to the hammer mills. These steam powered machines were prevalent in the area consuming huge amounts of firewood. Our local hills are heavily treed now, but at the peak of steam power they had been denuded for shoring timbers and firewood. To the right is the steam engine replacement, a piston compressor driven by the 'new' Pelton water turbine. This system was so efficent it replaced all the steam powered equipment is just a few years.

Photos from the Mining History Museum show what the local forests were like at the peak of steam power;

This is today with most trees being less than 150 years old corresponding to the conversion from steam to water power.

Much better!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Great story, Tim!

 

[Chargeride]

I went back to carry on the ride from my last video, its a circular cycle friendly path, mostly built on an old coastal train track thats been converted to a multi use path, with views over the river to Wales.
Sounds lovely
What a souless, depressing ride, started with miles of huge concrete sea walls, then run down seaside towns, with people who look like theyd given up ,wandering around the vast muddy sand flats.
I guess you can adjust your expectations to find interest in any landscape, but this had me slipping into melancholy quickly followed by get me the fxxx out of here.
I stuck with it and I suppose you could admire the starkness , there is an island miles out with houses on it, but with the tide out it looked like some derelict outcrop from a Starwars planet.
Eventually I found a closed restaurant that was on the waters edge and surrounded by hundreds of boats in various levels of decay, , maybe it would look better in black and white with a French narration of the futility of existence.
I did find a trendy little cafe around the corner which picked me up in a sort of mask wearing, everyone looking at each other with a 'please kill me' look...way.

To cap it off it rained on the way back, my battery expired a mile from the van and I had to pedal a DH bike with 200mm, non lockable suspension into a 20mph headwind.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow, which will have the sole effect of making your pictures look 10X better than usual.
The video will need a warning about depression.
This blurry image is all the authorities will let me show.

 

[Mulezen]

Took a nice crisp ride today and in deference to the stalwart Euros I won't complain about the morning nip. Running past Old Harris' farm I was disappointed to see no cows, I thought I'd have to ride to the rear of my place to get the obligatory bovine photo...but then I smelled cow, looked into the shade and had a crowd to admire my bike. I don't know what these 'palm fronds' are but I've wondered the whole summer. The flower garden has delivered since the spring. IDK about this late corn.
David...I enjoyed your parrot shots. Read a book years ago about the squadrons of escapees inhabiting San Francisco environs.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

I've had a shop lower the gearing on my 1980s Bianchi which might be an interesting discussion of its own… Just lowering the gearing on a much lighter regular bike gets you surprisingly close in feel [to an ebike].

CL …
I think there are more than a few of us who have swapped a 'much lighter regular bike' for an ebike. It's one of the best way of keeping going. My stock response to questions about ebiking is that it takes then years off my age (rather than continuing to struggle on a 'regular bike' and taking ten years off my life – slight exaggeration, I know!).

Here's a bit of off-topic Bianchi bike porn from when I returned to serious cycling a while back…

Left : Bianchi's big day out (October 2010) – 250 km around Port Philip Bay, Melbourne-to-Melbourne.
Right : Bianchi when very new (2006) – I'd yet to remove the stickers on the wheel rims!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

David…
I enjoyed your parrot shots.

Mule Zen…
Here is panel from another section of the non-continuous noise barrier. (I keep wanting to type 'sound barrier' but that might give the wrong idea; even encourage Rab to greater exploits!)

Click this link to get an idea of the length of each separately-themed section – birds, other animals, history, community and flowers…

Banksia flower
Redcliffe Peninsula Rail Trail

 

[Chancelucky2]

CL …
I think there are more than a few of us who have swapped a 'much lighter regular bike' for an ebike. It's one of the best way of keeping going. My stock response to questions about ebiking is that it takes then years off my age (rather than continuing to struggle on a 'regular bike' and taking ten years off my life – slight exaggeration, I know!).

Here's a bit of off-topic Bianchi bike porn from when I returned to serious cycling a while back…

Beautiful Bianchi! I'm now at the 2 year point with E-bike ownership. I knew it would lead to me riding more, but it's also caused me to ride my non e-bikes more. I look back at some of the arguments about getting an e-bike and far too often, the anti-e-bike folk treat it as an either or sort of thing. I've found it to be very much a both and proposition. The e-bike helped me get back into good enough shape to ride my regular bikes longer distances and up bigger hills. For much of the pandemic, I've been riding the same local bike trails, albeit very good bike trails. Riding the same trail on different bikes helps keep it from getting too routine. Today, I made the mistake of taking a couple very traffic laden and poorly maintained Knoxville roads on the Bianchi. I wound up cutting the ride short because of that. On the e-bike, I would have kept going or just spent more time looking for an alternate route because of the option of using higher power modes.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Lonely pigeon …

Mount Marrow, SE Queensland
14 km; 7.50 am​

A morning ride from home…

 

[Chargeride]

Now I feel bad slating off a bit of coastline ,dont post when angry I guess.
I am lucky to live by the sea and Im sure given a sunny day, not under lockdown, it would be a kids paradise to run on endless sand
and explore the concrete sea breaks.
Just a lick of paint would be nice, if you show you care then people will respect... I'm off again.

Its just a bugbear of mine, so many places could be turned around with the smallest of gestures, I guess sometimes there just isnt even enough left over for that and an army of lawyers awaits anyone who'd dare to have a go themselves.

These are Victorian holiday towns, presumably they had a different view of what constituted a vacation panorama.
Bracing wind and salt air, bathing while fully clothed was the order of the day.

Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone

Yes I'm a miserable git.

 

[RabH]

After 3 rainy days it was great to wake up to a lovely windless morning, perfect cycling conditions made for a very enjoyable 41 miles! At least I can pick and choose my cycling days while I am jobless! Mostly quiet roads today which is always a big plus, I did have one idiot in a van trying to pass me at the top of a hill on a blind bend...thankfully he pulled back in or it could have turned very nasty as a car appeared from the other direction!

I did shake my head when he eventually passed but didn't bother to comment, he got me on a good day! I tried out my new tyres today, they had good reviews so we will see how they do once they are broken in properly, they seem very grippy for a new tyre so first impressions are pretty good! A lot of people said they were difficult to fit which surprised me as I fitted them with my bare hands! Maybe I'm just super strong! Schwalbe Marathon Original GreenGuard Rigid Road City Tyre https://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-m...email&utm_campaign=orders&utm_content=product

 

[Art Deco]

Now I feel bad slating off a bit of coastline ,dont post when angry I guess.
I am lucky to live by the sea and Im sure given a sunny day, not under lockdown, it would be a kids paradise to run on endless sand
and explore the concrete sea breaks.
Just a lick of paint would be nice, if you show you care then people will respect... I'm off again.

View attachment 68655

Its just a bugbear of mine, so many places could be turned around with the smallest of gestures, I guess sometimes there just isnt even enough left over for that and an army of lawyers awaits anyone who'd dare to have a go themselves.
View attachment 68656
These are Victorian holiday towns, presumably they had a different view of what constituted a vacation panorama.
Bracing wind and salt air, bathing while fully clothed was the order of the day.

View attachment 68657

Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone

Yes I'm a miserable git.

Interesting that the very next post is @RabH who rides empty roads all the time, and seems to prefer them. Empty beachs and neglected paint have their own type of beauty, when you are in the mood for them, of course. Hope things improve for you soon.