2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Cowlitz]

I met my goal of 2000 miles today. It turned over at a crossroads and one of the roads being named Johnson Creek made me look for a devil for some reason. Anyway, that story about Robert Johnson and the devil at the crossroads came to mind. Never mind. Now to get the brakes looked at. Meanwhile I'll start playing blues on my little ukulele.

 

[Chargeride]

Back into internet , Ive spent the entire time in the most vodafone dead zones imaginable.
Im starting to think its my phone, it wouldnt log on to any hotel wifi either.
Ive forgotten what to do when you wake up in the night and cant sleep, I think my brains actually changed since 2005, ended up browsing the gallery for an hour.

Heres a pic of my mate and my first insane ebike build

 

[reed scott]

Back into internet , Ive spent the entire time in the most vodafone dead zones imaginable.
Im starting to think its my phone, it wouldnt log on to any hotel wifi either.
Ive forgotten what to do when you wake up in the night and cant sleep, I think my brains actually changed since 2005, ended up browsing the gallery for an hour.

Heres a pic of my mate and my first insane ebike build
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My brain never wants to let me sleep. I have found that audio books, sermons, and such put me to sleep in minutes. Really works. Sounds like you need a new phone as well. /advice

 

[TLSmith]

November 1 Autumn Ride Along the Skagit River

On October 14, I was able to resume riding after the late August surgery on my left quad. That was sooner than I thought possible and most importantly there appears to be less muscle loss than anticipated. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to the doctors, and medical staff for their amazing care, and to the healing power of the universe in this uncertain time.

I have been able to ride almost every day since then, although there have been a few due to weather or pain that I have sat out. In the seventeen days of October I managed to ride 338 miles so the unavoidable conclusion is that I am back. I do have to work off the extra weight I put on being idled for six weeks but I am able to ride almost as strong as before and keep up with my roady friends on group rides just fine.

Yesterday, my friend Matt and I drove down to Skagit county and up highway 20 to Concrete WA. We continued on our bikes up 20 to Rockport and then up the Sauk River, crossing over and then down the south bank of the Skagit River. It was a perfect bluebird day with temperatures in the mid sixties, not a breath of wind, cloudless sky and crystal clear. I was riding my Trek Allant+9.9s while Matt was riding his Specialized Turbo Creo. 33 miles of gorgeous ride. Today looks almost as good. Tomorrow the rain starts for four days and then bitter cold is supposed to arrive. This may be the last warm and sunny day till spring. I plan to make the best of it (which of course means a bike ride).

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When I see your post I try to guess where they are before reading the captions. I was born in the thriving town of Concrete but grew up in Anacortes. Your pictures bring back some found memories. Thank you for sharing and hoping for a full recovery from your surgery.

 

[FlatSix911]

Sunset came early today with daylight savings time in effect... if you look closely in the far right of the second photo you can see the night lights for the San Francisco 49ers game at Levi Stadium.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Not forgotten …

Redcliffe Peninsula Rail Trail​

Australia's first submarine, HMAS AE1, had a short life. After 'steaming' from the UK to Australia, a record distance more than a century ago, the AE1 took park in naval operations leading to the occupation of German New Guinea. Whilst there, the submarine disappeared. There was no enemy action, no reefs, no foul weather… just gone without trace and without reason.

In 2017, one hundred and three years later, the Royal Australian Navy located the wreck at a depth of 300 metres. As a war grave, the wreck's location is classified.

In the photo, the rail trail can be seen below the clearance warning.

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

That is a very good mural!

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

Well, I'm off for the day! Gonna drain this sucker dry

 

[Alaskan]

Well, I'm off for the day! Gonna drain this sucker dry

Please provide a report on the new bike. It is one that has grabbed my attention...one seriously cool looking bike that has few direct rivals, perhaps only the Riese & Muller Delite Touring HS is one of the few. If you post it on a separate thread, perhaps a link here will help make sure we see it. Have a great ride

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Well, I'm off for the day! Gonna drain this sucker dry.

Remember to take your phone (aka camera) to share your adventures.

Have fun!

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

What a day! Amazing weather, traffic was on the lighter side thankfully. I have about 12 to 13 miles one way on the streets to get to the trails that I ride (Gwynn Falls, Druid Hill State Park, Jones Falls) Kind of a bummer that Strava crapped out on me, I don't really care that much, I know how much I ride! I've rode about 74 miles so far this week, so won't have to much to advise on yet, but a more in-depth analysis to come. One thing I have noticed is that the shifters shift very short. When I had the Allant, the shifts were normal, but now if I give the shifter a normal travel, I end up shifting two gears at least. So I have started giving them a light touch.

Can't wait til tomorrow, RIDE ON!!!!

 

[RandallS]

EBR local ride in Calgary yesterday, with @LouLouLePew, who is waiting on his MY21 Giant Explore Pro to arrive. As such, he rode his trusty Giant Cypress LX Analog bike.
We met for lunch and then a leisurely 45 KM round trip ride from Inglewood to Fish Creek Park, on Calgary MUPs along the Bow River.

As I've mentioned in other posts, I sometimes don't stop and take enough pictures, but here's a few anyways.
Here's the route, from Strava. We started from a Wine Store parking lot in Inglewood:

On our way south, a nice view over the Bow River.

LoulouLaPew (Louis) with his analog Giant. He is really looking forward tp his Explore Pro.

We met on these forums, and crazily enough, we lived not that far from each other in (Greater) Montreal, Quebec when we were younger.

Here we are when we stopped for a short break at Carbury Park, on our way back.

A bit of history of where we took our break.

We finished the ride doing some shopping in the wine store we'd parked at (Louis asked and they agreed that we could leave our cars there).

Looking forward to some more rides (this was #2 - the last one undocumented here).

Perhaps we can get some more Calgary area EBR members to join us next spring when we start up again.
The forecast is for some snow in the next few days... but you never know here...might get out some more although I got chased off my normal hill ride today.
That will be another posting...in another thread.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Thanks for sharing your ride on the local trails and in particular that wonderful view of the Bow River. I must try and get down there next year to explore the area and Calgary’s epic trail system. So much to see!

Might squeeze one more ride in tomorrow before the snow arrives here on the weekend.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

One thing I have noticed is that the shifters shift very short.

I expect your FS 9 EQ has the top-end Shimano shifter. It can downshift with one, two or three gears, depending on the travel you give to the lever. It is a very very good thing because if you need to stop and then restart your ride, it is proper to start in a low gear. What's even better, the upshift lever works both ways... Have you tried it yet?

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Constrained for now …

Schulz Canal, Nudgee Beach
10.25 am; 60 km​

For millennia humans have sought to control rivers. Here, the rocks next to the grass look like our latest effort. How long will they and the fishing platform endure? Other shallow comments…

• The tide was neither in nor out and I have no idea whether it was rising or falling. Landlubber!
• You tell where the Pacific Ocean is: just look for the cloud bank!
• Today's ride was an old favourite. There was no need for planning: just ride down to Pam's Café at Nudgee Beach and enjoy a coffee and salad sandwich while contemplating whether to take the long or short route back. Have I ever opted for the long way back?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I would like to see the list of your 100+ km rides David. Probably many hundreds of them? Sheesh... For me, riding 100 km is an exception and pride. For you, it's just riding for coffee

 

[Chargeride]

The wifes sister got married and I was dragged kicking and screaming into making the video, its a whole different ball game making a wedding video...
So I just videod everything and editing it is taking over my life....never again.
So my holiday vid had to be lashed together, musics a bit annoying...scenery is gorgeous, and the icing on the cake was the wife getting soaked on the beach in her walking gear.
So sweet I put it as the thumbnail.
Yes I melted another hub, my own fault, you cant ride slow with a hub drive, efficiency goes out the window and it just makes heat, it started making some pretty serious noises near the top, you can hear them at the start of the video, the end has a close up of the gears and there doesnt seem to be anything wrong, but it lurches under power and sounds like its skipping teeth
I'll see if new cogs fix it.
I actually love the performance and normality of the bike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You're a good videographer, @Chargeride!

 

[RabH]

Record Breaking Day

After a big letdown with the weather yesterday, 4 different weather apps said there was 0% chance of rain and I woke to pouring rain! Today was much better despite the mist and fog, light winds were very welcome and it was a nice 6C so no ice about! I had a route in mind but the fog to the east looked pretty bad so I headed south instead, I even got some sun so it was definitely the right decision!

In 2012 I cycled 5,349 miles on my standard road bike which was my best ever year, today I surpassed that and reached 5,361 miles with almost 2 months left to go, what a year it has been! The pandemic hit and I lost my job of 31.5 years so the cycling was my saviour and I have enjoyed every minute of it! I never thought I would ever come close to that mileage again after 2 viral infections which floored me for almost a year between them (2014 and 2016) but thanks to my amazing e bike life has changed for the better!

Here is a comparison between 2012 and this year, quite a difference in the number of rides! My average distance in 2012 was 72.28 miles compared to 40.92 this year, not too shabby for a 62 year old! Now that I have 2 batteries I might attempt a 250km 1 day ride next year, back in 2012 I cycled 154.8 miles which I later discovered was 1km short of 250!

 

[Alaskan]

Record Breaking Day

After a big letdown with the weather yesterday, 4 different weather apps said there was 0% chance of rain and I woke to pouring rain! Today was much better despite the mist and fog, light winds were very welcome and it was a nice 6C so no ice about! I had a route in mind but the fog to the east looked pretty bad so I headed south instead, I even got some sun so it was definitely the right decision!

In 2012 I cycled 5,349 miles on my standard road bike which was my best ever year, today I surpassed that and reached 5,361 miles with almost 2 months left to go, what a year it has been! The pandemic hit and I lost my job of 31.5 years so the cycling was my saviour and I have enjoyed every minute of it! I never thought I would ever come close to that mileage again after 2 viral infections which floored me for almost a year between them (2014 and 2016) but thanks to my amazing e bike life has changed for the better!

Here is a comparison between 2012 and this year, quite a difference in the number of rides! My average distance in 2012 was 72.28 miles compared to 40.92 this year, not too shabby for a 62 year old! Now that I have 2 batteries I might attempt a 250km 1 day ride next year, back in 2012 I cycled 154.8 miles which I later discovered was 1km short of 250!

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What an amazing accomplishment! People get all caught up in the e-mobility, green virtues of ebikes and rightfully so. However, the amazing health benefits of ebikes, while not altogether ignored, is a benefit yet to be fully appreciated and publicized.

Both of us are clear evidence that the fun, freedom, and pure pleasure of riding an ebike can produce astounding benefits of health and vitality.

I so enjoy the tales, photos and stats of your rides through the Scottish countryside, that you share with us in such a consistent and detailed fashion. Thank you for the time you spend in sharing your adventures. I, for one, greatly appreciate the glimpse you give us in to the beauty and charms of Scotland.