2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

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Stefan Mikes said:
It looks it is the time to invest in decent platform pedals and MTB cycling shoes @RabH ... Glad you came away in one piece!
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I have good platform pedals and good MTB shoes already, it was just stupidity on my part...just a moments lapse of concentration...

I only have the pins on one side of my pedals so its possible I put my foot on the wrong side, I will fit pins to the other side also to make them safer! Thanks for your concern Stefan! :)
 
Saratoga Dave said:
You gotta admit that once you get wet enough in a good rain like that, it’s kind of fun riding in it. Something very yahoo/yippee about blasting through a good rain!

Your bike still stays clean, though... I don’t know how you do it!
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It was clean rain! ;) It looks clean in the photos but it certainly wasn't when I got home, its spotless now though!:D Riding in rain is fun for sure as long as it isn't cold also...
 
Most of my bike miles have been done while commuting. I have a job that allows me to work from home during this pandemic, so I haven't been doing any commuting. This means I've been sneaking in rides when I can. The nice thing about having a bike with a full set of lights is being able to sneak in a night ride. Very little traffic and no worries about sunburn. This was after one of my 7 mile "go full tilt" night rides just before I put my bike away.

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Saratoga Dave said:
You gotta admit that once you get wet enough in a good rain like that, it’s kind of fun riding in it. Something very yahoo/yippee about blasting through a good rain!

Your bike still stays clean, though... I don’t know how you do it!
Click to expand...

The only thing I care about, in the rain, are my glasses so I can see. Otherwise I don't mind getting wet. It is just water. I'll dry.
 
Coffee with Jazza (A Fast Vado Commute to Warsaw, Afternoon Traffic)

The early afternoon meant riding my e-Trance to the garage to collect my car from a repair. The quick release Fox thru-axle is very practical: It takes only several seconds to remove or replace the front wheel and putting my Monster into my station-wagon is very easy. Soon later, I rode the Monster to the local pharmacy, as there was no chance to park the car in the downtown.

Yet I needed a longer (and pleasure) ride that afternoon/evening. I gave my friend Jazza a phone call and yes, she told me she had already started admitting guests under the condition of social distancing (fine for me!) We have been friends with Jazza for the past 17 years. Now she lives in a very nice house with a garden in a residential quarter of Warsaw, at a very good distance for Vado with a single battery.

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I travelled light only wearing a backpack. This time, I decided to move with the traffic on main roads, and to move fast. The downwind part was just terrific. I had the Smart Control on and was at Jazza's place in an hour (so slowly only because I was hungry and had to stop at a gas station to buy and eat a sandwich). Often, one hour driving is not enough to get to Jazza's, especially during the afternoon traffic jams.

The drivers were cooperating nicely. Since there are many bike paths around, it is unusual to see a cyclist in the far Aleje Jerozolimskie or in Łopuszańska Street; I am banned by law from the bike paths and have to use the roads with the Speed-Vado. There was only one driver, a young woman who honked at me; I admit I verbally attacked her (she must have heard that as she drove with an open window). I should have honked back at her instead. Sorry!

I need to add the Smart Control was very efficient and left me with 72% battery when I entered Jazza's garage. Jazza has a nice dog (a bitch), 10-months old Bernese Mountain Dog, Frezja. Frezja is already a large beast (sorry for not taking pictures) and she's so sweet! Coffee was good, we had a nice talk with Jazza after all those months of lockdown...

Electronic gremlins attacked my Vado on the way back. "Error motor" twice, "No battery" message four times. I simply ignored that; I'm normally a good-humoured person and the gremlins must have eventually understood that :) (I guess the erratic behaviour had something in common with the Smart Control, which I disabled). The way back was upwind but I found out I had so much of the battery left I could ride in the Turbo mode all the way! Oh my! 40 km/h (25 mph) or more! Upwind! It really is a guilty pleasure to overtake a road cyclist at 45 km/h when the poor bastard reaches only 30 km/h while fighting the headwind 🤣

Ah. I was able to determine the peak power of the Vado with the Specialized 1.2s motor: It was 666 Watts! (37 V * 18 A) :D

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Ride stats & map.
 
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I rode around Brant Lake in the Adirondacks today, as I have many times. It is about 13 miles. The sky looked pretty menacing during most of the ride, and at about the 12 mile mark it started raining. I sped up and outran most of it for the last mile.
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Stefan Mikes said:
The Road Reconnaissance on Rivers Bug and Liwiec

My brother was busy on Saturday; the weather forecast promised thunderstorms; yet I felt I must ride out, even alone. I prepared myself to travel light: No spare battery but water-resistant clothes in my pannier were necessary.

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I actually started and finished my ride at Point 13. That's where my close friends live yet they were not at home on Saturday. Just thought it could be a good start point for the travel.

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"Traffic jams don't pertain to me" :) River Bug (pronounce "boog") is a big river, one of these that define Poland. It is the frontier river that used to form our eastern border with the Soviet Union after WW2 and now "across the Bug" means Belarus and Ukraine. Here, the Bug bridge in Wyszków is seen.

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The 15th km, the main square in Wyszków. Poland has changed a lot since 1989, and especially after our accession to the European Union. Roads in Poland are surprisingly clean now; it is a rare case a cyclist gets a flat tyre nowadays here. Ugly and boring Polish cities such as Wyszków now look nicely, due to improved infrastructure, new paint and flowers. A gardener was actually working when I was there!

Just back there in 1993, Wyszków was made the symbol of an intoxicated town by Elektryczne Gitary (Electric Guitars) in the song "Wyszków tonie" (Wyszków's Flooded), lyrics of which compared the Bug-flooded Wyszków to alcohol-flood. Not anymore.

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A 1944 Soviet howitzer, 122 mm calibre in Wyszków.

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The area on Rivers Bug and Narew (called collectively "Bugo-Narew") is extremely popular for recreation. Not that far from Warsaw, the beautiful, woody and healthy area attracts holidaymakers. Kayaking is very popular on the Bug, with many places where a kayak can be rented. Here, the Bug in Wyszków.

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The Bug is an unregulated river where floods occur frequently. Here, the river in Kamieńczyk, one of popular holiday destinations.

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Water-gauges in Kamieńczyk. "44" means 4.40 m water level and that that's the emergency. Over 4.4 m means a flood (maximum level measured is 6.50 m).

View attachment 56232
I stopped in Loretto (more on that later) and sat on a bench in a tourist shelter. I sensed a thunderstorm approaching. And the thunderstorm came in few minutes. I, and another cyclist who rode in completely soaked there were waiting for perhaps an hour until the thunders weakened. It was pouring! I put my waterproof outfit on meanwhile. Here, equestrians riding during the rainfall.

View attachment 56233
There is a Virgin Mary cult location in Italy called Loreto. In 1929, a Warsaw priest Ignacy Kłopotowski who was an avid cult follower bought land here and the place was officially renamed to Loretto (with double "t"). The sanctuary is huge, only I could not picture the size properly. There is the sanctuary, a monastery, and a nursing house in Loretto.
From that moment on, it started pouring again. I rode out. My waterproof clothes worked!

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"Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me!" :D

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I had a rare chance to take a photo of a flying stork and then -- in those backwoods! -- a car emerged and spoiled the photo...

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Due to the fact I don't have a full command of my new camera yet, I was able to delete several nice pictures: A beautiful horse, a historical mill, or my brother Jacek washing my e-bike :(


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The ride stats.
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The amount of times I do that, in fact Ive actually paid for recovery software and it works great for getting deleted or corrupted pictures back off SD cards.
The free programs were mostly rubbish, so I shelled out 50 quid, which is epic for me and its worth every penny...especially when one half of the family Miami videos got corrupted and it rescued the lot.
 
Been off the bike for a bit after the controller failed...OK I dunked it and on inspection it revealed that the pcb was all furry with rust, so cleaned it up with penetrating oil and all good.
Browsing this forum seeing all the gorgeous scenery got me back out in the wildsish...as best as we can do in our crowded little Island, though I do live in a quiet but.

Took a ride over the fells to a lovely local reservoir, started off sunny and halfway way through it turned torrential and Im like , here we go..controller going to pop.
Ive have never seen weather change so drastically in the UK and then go back again.
I actually ditched the bike for a bit and hid it in the woods because I was starting to churn up the steep wet paths and I dont like to do that, and tbh it was easier to walk.
The fell paths are footpaths but it seems thats gone by the wayside and there are loads of mtb tyre tracks on nice wide solid paths...so if you cant beat em..etc.
Saw some rock climbers a few deer and lots of ducks, beautiful part of England and only 35 mins from my front door.
As usual I made a vid, if you got a spare 4 minutes and want some melancholy, give it a watch.

 
Chargeride said:
The amount of times I do that, in fact Ive actually paid for recovery software and it works great for getting deleted or corrupted pictures back off SD cards.
The free programs were mostly rubbish, so I shelled out 50 quid, which is epic for me and its worth every penny...especially when one half of the family Miami videos got corrupted and it rescued the lot.
Click to expand...
No program I know of can retrieve deleted ARW (Sony RAW) files.
 
Chargeride said:
Been off the bike for a bit after the controller failed...OK I dunked it and on inspection it revealed that the pcb was all furry with rust, so cleaned it up with penetrating oil and all good.
Browsing this forum seeing all the gorgeous scenery got me back out in the wildsish...as best as we can do in our crowded little Island, though I do live in a quiet but.

Took a ride over the fells to a lovely local reservoir, started off sunny and halfway way through it turned torrential and Im like , here we go..controller going to pop.
Ive have never seen weather change so drastically in the UK and then go back again.
I actually ditched the bike for a bit and hid it in the woods because I was starting to churn up the steep wet paths and I dont like to do that, and tbh it was easier to walk.
The fell paths are footpaths but it seems thats gone by the wayside and there are loads of mtb tyre tracks on nice wide solid paths...so if you cant beat em..etc.
Saw some rock climbers a few deer and lots of ducks, beautiful part of England and only 35 mins from my front door.
As usual I made a vid, if you got a spare 4 minutes and want some melancholy, give it a watch.

Click to expand...
Nice shots...your island does not look crowded in that video but rather serene and pastoral and fresh and verdant!
 
Stefan Mikes said:
And you are a long-distance runner!
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That will be the last 100 km ride for a while.

Once again the Homage, a beautiful but seriously flawed ebike, is kaput. I've lost count of how many times this bike has suddenly stopped in the middle of a ride! Error Code 532 this time.

Breaking down seems to be what my Riese & Müller Homage does best – especially when it is ridden on the rough tracks that its Control Technology suspension was designed to smooth out!

To me appears that piggybacking a second battery on the loose-fitting lid of the primary battery compartment was a catastrophic design blunder. Why didn't R&M position the downtube battery's cover on the side like most other makers do? Or put the second battery on the pannier rack?

I think it's time to pay Giant, Specialized or Trek a visit.

Distance ridden on the Homage: 17,600 km.
 
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Stefan Mikes said:
The early afternoon meant riding my e-Trance to the garage to collect my car from a repair. The quick release Fox thru-axle is very practical: It takes only several seconds to remove or replace the front wheel and putting my Monster into my station-wagon is very easy. Soon later, I rode the Monster to the local pharmacy, as there was no chance to park the car in the downtown.
Click to expand...
I can get my bike in my car (Toyota Auris Hatchback) without removing the wheels, I just have to drop the back seats down which takes about 5 seconds and it fits perfectly! I'm really kicking myself today, its a perfect day for cycling but my thumb is really tender today after yesterday's spill so I will need to rest it! :(
 
None of my bikes can be put into the Renault Megane estate car without the front wheel removed ;) These e-bikes have wide handlebars...
Going on-topic:
The coming Sunday should mean a metric century loop in the Lesser Poland, the Cracow area. The region there is pleasantly hilly; my friends completed that route a week ago riding hybrid mechanical bikes. My Vado should be as good there :)

1593684702300.png

The outward route was planned as "MTB-style" although the terrain is not that hard there.

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The return route, planned in "road bike-style". The total elevation gain will be 900 m, or almost 3000 ft. I'm excited!
 
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