2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Deleted member 18083]

Peaceful …

Brisbane River at Wivenhoe Pocket​

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Out west from Schenectady today along the Mohawk River in NY. It seems there may be a drought story in the Northeast that for some reason no one is talking about. This is the river at Amsterdam. That wall over on the left is a sea wall that the river normally is is right up on. We had very little snow this winter so no appreciable runoff from the Adirondacks in the spring, and scarcely any rain since. I hate to think what this might look like in August.

The long non-winding road, the newest section of the Canal trail between Schenectady and Amsterdam. There’s only 3.5 miles now that needs to be ridden on a highway, and there are two convenience stores in that stretch, so that’s a fair trade, I think. Hot day, but a good 45 mile ride.

 

[PatriciaK]

Trying to take advantage of our little sunny warm weather break (summer doesn't really come to the PNW until mid-July), we took the bikes up to Anacortes, WA, USA, for a short ferry ride to Guemes Island. We had planned to do a just under 10-mile loop around the sleepy, rural, nearly traffic-free gem of a rock in the water.

The ferry is a tiny little boat, so masking and social distancing were required

Once we disembarked, that masks came off, the helmets went on, and we commenced a lovely ride! There were deer scampering along the side of the road, hawks and ospreys on the hunt for mice in newly-mown fields, charming homes and roadside art, and sapphire sparking water lapping the shores.

It was perfect, until a little over 3 miles into the ride. Then:

Uh-oh. That's the road! The water looked to be at least 8 inches deep - deep enough to get my motor wet, even if we rolled up our pant legs and tried to walk the bikes through.

So, around we turned and rode back to the ferry landing to continue on a different route.

We stopped for a picnic lunch outside the Community Center

Then continued our circuit

On the north shore, we stopped by a beach for the views of the San Juan Islands and Mount Baker.

And even ran into Sasquatch!

He wasn't shy, at all!

After paying our respects, we wound around the west shore back to the ferry dock.

It was a terrific ride, but turned out to be almost 17 miles, thanks to the detour around the flood. Thank goodness for my La Free! Guemes is quite hilly - my husband had been trying to convince me to ride it for years, but, my knees and I flatly refused. It was a real joy today, though! My biggest problem was going slow enough so as not to lose him on those hills!

Another goal today was to run the battery down to about 3 percent so we could give it good full charge, as recommended periodically by Giant. My husband rode for almost two weeks before I got home, and we've been on several sub-10-milers since, but the battery just kept holding in there. Success today though - we're down to 5%, and a short local ride in town should take care of the rest.

All in all, a wonderful ride!

 

[Mulezen]

I was struck by the contrasting situations in your post versus Saratoga Dave above

 

[PatriciaK]

I was struck by the contrasting situations in your post versus Saratoga Dave above

I haven't even checked the Cascades snowpack for this year yet! So far, it's nice and green here ☺.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Brightening up a bleak winter ride …

Woody Point on the Redcliffe Peninsula​

Friday's ride will have to count as this year's Winter Solstice Ride – as close as I could manage.

Not only was the day short, the weather was miserably cold – meaning low twenties – and a bit blustery with the sky resolutely grey and threatening. There was no rain but that didn't stop the melodramatic pretence of an approaching storm.

And then this mural on a seaside villa. I loved it!

 

[RabH]

Brightening up a bleak winter ride …
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Woody Point on the Redcliffe Peninsula​

Friday's ride will have to count as this year's Winter Solstice Ride – as close as I could manage.

Not only was the day short, the weather was miserably cold – meaning low twenties – and a bit blustery with the sky resolutely grey and threatening. There was no rain but that didn't stop the melodramatic pretence of an approaching storm.

And then this mural on a seaside villa. I loved it!

View attachment 56042

The mural is incredible! Low 20's is cold? It was 16C here and I thought it was hot!

Yet another ride today, 3 in a row! I ventured on to some busier roads just for a change of scenery, the traffic is really picking up now after our lockdown was eased slightly yesterday! Back to the quieter roads next time, they are so much more enjoyable! The gorilla still has his mask on, hopefully it will be removed soon as the virus is very much on the wane!

I'm rapidly closing in on 10,000 miles, currently 9,573 in a little over 2 years, my average distance is almost 52 miles so its safe to say I'm getting my money's worth! What a fantastic time I have had with this amazing bike, it still rides like new and puts a smile on my face everytime I sit in the saddle! I hope it continues to bring me much enjoyment in these difficult times, I'm really looking forward to much longer rides when this virus is finally gone!

 

[Chargeride]

Peaceful …
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Brisbane River at Wivenhoe Pocket​

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Mate..crocs, every puddle has one in OZ.

 

[Chargeride]

Sorry to keep going off topic, but Ive changed ideas to make a vid of my local canal, as in bottom of the road local.
You can ride on the towpaths for hundreds of miles and most have been refurbished.
It has an amazing history..started in 1771 to provide transport from the port to the cotton mills, everything was going fine until the US independence scrap kicked off and that halted it for 10 yrs.
It finally took 46 years to build by hand and was still being used commercially up to 1980.
Im interested to find the bit where it stopped and started while we were fighting yankees.
Just waiting for a sunny day.

 

[PatriciaK]

Another nice day, another nice ride! When the sun is out, there's just no place like Whidbey Island!

Eleven miles today - a perfect little hour or so break from the chores. Saw several deer, bald eagles, and there must have been hundreds of tiny yellow finches flitting about in the bushes on the side of the road!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Friends! Almost no ride today (not counting a 10 km grocery shopping ride) but other e-bike related things have happened. Our new Forum member @Archie has got the Giant Explore E+ 0 Pro for his wife! It was not an easy thing to buy the bike (especially in the size S) because the market is ravaged but the bike was available online in Germany. We used some time to prepare the bike for riding and Ania was on her first e-bike ride!

Ania let me demo-ride her e-bike. It's marvellous!

Potential future ride group I may let Archie ride one of my e-bikes temporarily!

Congratulations to Ania and especially to Archie who turned out to be a loving husband! (Archie owns no e-bike yet).

 

[PatriciaK]

Friends! Almost no ride today but other e-bike related things have happened. Our new Forum member @Archie has got the Giant Explore E+ 0 Pro for his wife! It was not an easy thing to buy the bike (especially in the size S) because the market is ravaged but the bike was available online in Germany. We used some time to prepare the bike for riding and Ania was on her first e-bike ride!

View attachment 56107
Ania let me demo-ride her e-bike. It's marvellous!

View attachment 56108
Potential future ride group I may let Archie ride one of my e-bikes temporarily!

Congratulations to Ania and especially to Archie who turned out to be a loving husband! (Archie owns no e-bike yet).

Enjoy, Ania!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm rapidly closing in on 10,000 miles

RabH you're an example for me!

 

[Archie]

Thanks Stefan for professional help Wife's impressions from the first ride are enthusiastic
Maybe I will have the opportunity to enjoy the e-bike soon

 

[steve mercier]

Good choice enjoy Ania!

 

[RandallS]

Went for my first Century ride of the season (Metric Century I know, lol) discovering the harbour in Owen Sound is a perfect 50.2kms from my home in the area. Normally the harbour is empty these days, used mostly for launching small personal boats and such, snapped a quick photo of the large ship that was there right now.

4 batteries and 4 bottles of water this trip. Hoping to be back up over 150km rides by the end of July and will upload more photos of my travels.


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Are you on the Bruce, or Collingwood or??? Looks like a great place to bike.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Quiet spot by the river …

Brisbane River, near Fernvale, Queensland​

In all its 161-kilometre length the old Brisbane Valley Line (now Australia's longest rail trail) did not cross the river once. Yes, you can spy the Brisbane River quite often but an excursion must be made to see it up close. The nineteenth century rail surveyors must have known a thing or two about the river's changeable moods!

This photo was taken when I diverted from the rail trail near Fernvale, the first village up the line.

 

[steve mercier]

Good choice enjoy Ania!

That is the basically the same bike my Sister in law has. She put Schwalbe Marathon plus on as those stock tires are flat prone. My son in law had the same Crosscut tires on his Giant Explore and he got 2 flats in his first two rides. Now he has the marathon plus also.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

That is the basically the same bike my sister-in-law has. She put Schwalbe Marathon plus on as those stock tires are flat prone. My son in law had the same Crosscut tires on his Giant Explore and he got 2 flats in his first two rides. Now he has the marathon plus also.

I, too, think that Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are 'the way to go'. Flats ruin ebike rides!

I use the MTB version (57-584) with 40 mm Panaracer Flataway Kevlar liners glued to the inside of the tyre; and, just to make doubly-sure, Tannus Armour and sealant-filled tubes.

And one more thing: Marathon Plus have refective sidewalls – an important safety feature – which just happen to show up rather clearly when a photo is taken using fill flash…

Welcome Ania and Archie. We look forward to sharing your ebike adventures.

 

[pmcdonald]

A friend and I rode out to the tip of the breakwall at the mouth of our cities harbour. A boat - likely an empty coal freighter waiting to be filled - was motoring in on the horizon. Two tugs were waiting in the river mouth opposite us. One had it's searchlight on, lazily panning it around. It made for a slightly surreal and unusual scene.