2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[PatriciaK]

Just under 10 miles today, according to Map My Ride, just over 11 according to the Giant app. Not sure which is more accurate... Perhaps I need to redownload Ride With GPS and use that for the average!

Half dozen great blue heron fishing along the shoreline - no pictures because they're skittish and fly off at the slightest provocation. But I did get this bald eagle, who seemed completely bored with my close presence.

We were riding on the old Navy Seaplane base, which was a hive of operations during WWII, but now it's pretty sleepy. Just a couple of military stores and some housing. It's the second weekend of crab season here, so folks were making good use of the old seaplane ramps

Looking back across the water, you can see (if you enlarge) the former hangars that now house the Exchange (department store), and, that bright white dot up in the hill is "Dolly" (as in Parton), the old (no longer functional) radar dome - aka "the tit on the hill" - sorry about that ... But that's what the sailors called it!

Also learned something I probably should have been aware of before it happened 2 hills away from home...

When the battery gets down to 3%, the PAS automatically defaulted to level 1 and stayed there. That was not enough to get me up both hills, so I ended up walking (using walk assist, which still worked, thank goodness!) Up the last one before home.

My DH had used my bike a couple of times between my last ride and this, and neglected to "fill the tank" when he got home. Privileges may need to be revoked !

 

[Dallant]

Hit 300 miles on my Allant +7 this morning. Beautiful day!

I’ve owned it since May 1 and doubled mileage the first two months and will likely double that by the end of this month. It doesn’t sound like much I know but coming from my health issues, I’m thrilled!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

A ride in the country #4 …

Evans Hill, Queensland​

We all know: when there's a fork in the road 'take it'…

And when you have a full-suspension ebike, you do the same whenever you see a gravel road! This road to a new housing development begged exploration. I doubt that it will stay unpaved for long… but what a view, clear to the Great Dividing Range. Let's hope that anyone who buys a plot here is well aware of the power of winter westerlies. This can be a very windy place!

We are looking southwest. The range on the right – there's a plume of smoke – is about 60 km away; furthest left is around 90 km to the horizon.

On the left of the photo, you might just be able to make out a shed with the road sweeping past on its way to Rosewood in the middle distance. Exhilarating! And when it's an ascent – fifty percent of the time – it's just the place to have a little assist. Seriously, places like this would be well beyond my cycling limit if were not for my ebikes.

And now it's time to be off again.

 

[McCorby]

A quick ride down to the Milwaukee lakefront.

Caught Mr. and Mrs. cardinal taking flight during a quick rest stop.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I passed 10,000 miles today which is something I would never have managed without the electric assistance, not bad going considering the bike is only 27 months old!

Congratulations and respect!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

I passed 10,000 miles today which is something I would never have managed without the electric assistance.

RabH
Well done! I look forward to each of your ride photo reports.
David

 

[PNWRich]

Just under 10 miles today, according to Map My Ride, just over 11 according to the Giant app. Not sure which is more accurate... Perhaps I need to redownload Ride With GPS and use that for the average!

View attachment 59087

Half dozen great blue heron fishing along the shoreline - no pictures because they're skittish and fly off at the slightest provocation. But I did get this bald eagle, who seemed completely bored with my close presence.

View attachment 59088

We were riding on the old Navy Seaplane base, which was a hive of operations during WWII, but now it's pretty sleepy. Just a couple of military stores and some housing. It's the second weekend of crab season here, so folks were making good use of the old seaplane ramps

View attachment 59091

Looking back across the water, you can see (if you enlarge) the former hangars that now house the Exchange (department store), and, that bright white dot up in the hill is "Dolly" (as in Parton), the old (no longer functional) radar dome - aka "the tit on the hill" - sorry about that ... But that's what the sailors called it!

View attachment 59092

Also learned something I probably should have been aware of before it happened 2 hills away from home...

When the battery gets down to 3%, the PAS automatically defaulted to level 1 and stayed there. That was not enough to get me up both hills, so I ended up walking (using walk assist, which still worked, thank goodness!) Up the last one before home.

My DH had used my bike a couple of times between my last ride and this, and neglected to "fill the tank" when he got home. Privileges may need to be revoked !

Is that Oak Harbor Washington? I’m in Kitsap and use to own on cabin in the San Juan’s. Waiting on my eBike and hope to ride up north including Whitney which I’ve been on many times with a car but not a bike. Another nice day here. Enjoy.

 

[PatriciaK]

Is that Oak Harbor Washington? I’m in Kitsap and use to own on cabin in the San Juan’s. Waiting on my eBike and hope to ride up north including Whitney which I’ve been on many times with a car but not a bike. Another nice day here. Enjoy.

Yep, it is!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

"I'm Riding in the Rain", or Agata's Kampinos Off-Ride Route

Bored, bored, bored! I messaged Agata: -- "Inspire me for a 60+ km off-road ride!" -- and a string of GPS coordinates began to flow from her.

The plan: Agata's Off-Road Route in the Kampinos National Park (KPN).

I knew it would be raining. I drove up Truskaw (one of the entry gates to the KPN) and the only thing I couldn't find were the water-proof trousers. I took a dry spare set of thermo-active pants with me. Of course, that would be the Monster (a.k.a. Giant Trance E+) ride.

I rode out in a drizzle that mercifully stopped after some time, and there even was some sunshine. The first ride segment was an "off-road heat-up". There are numerous wooden gangways over the swamps in that part of the KPN.

It never looks steep in photos. The dreaded thing about KPN is it is sandy. You cannot brake on a sandy descent because the rear wheel slips. Tree-roots up the ante. It was the first time I could hear the distinctive scream of hydraulic brakes.

The Cold War resulted in building a ring of anti-aircraft rocket battery military bases around Warsaw. These military based have been dissolved for many years now. Agata promised me seeing one. That Battery was inaccessible, however, and only an "urban explorer" would take the pain of getting in. With the abundance of mosquitoes, I gave up the idea. I lost my way and had to get back on the trail, so I could not see some "unique school" either Here: A nice bike lane. The roads around the KPN are full of such bike lanes. I didn't know (yet) I would return by the very same road...

The Fort VII of the Modlin Fortress in Cybulice. This part of Poland was incorporated into the Russian Empire 1795-1918. The Russian built an enormous fortress system in the "Vistula Land" (as the province used to be called at those times) in 1880's . During World War I, Russians found out fortresses was an obsolete and expensive concept so they left their fortresses in Poland around 1915, partly exploding them. I could also see the Fort VIII soon, nothing special really.

Piaski Grochalskie, or a micro sand-desert. My Monster said: -- "Oh, no, no, no! I wouldn't play that sort of games. I will gladly wait here for you, and you can explore the Sands by foot! I'm not into it!" It turned out that (perhaps) a fat bike could do there but not the 2.6" tyre e-MTB. The rear-wheel of the Trance was spinning uselessly in the sand! I escaped the desert instantly.

Passing over the Vistula flood-bank at the location Agata showed to me by GPS coordinates. You rather would need an off-road e-bike there because of all the mud after the descent. The Monster liked that!

There is an English term I could not find in my dictionary: It is about a stone pier running perpendicularly to the river flow to regulate it. Agata had promised I could walk up the middle of Vistula through such pier. Then I saw the terrain... and cried. Not my day, not after the rainfall, not to ride in alone there.

So I consoled myself by taking pictures of insects I was on a very good way and then -- suddenly -- that bastard Monster fell down between my legs! The scared bees escaped.

-- "You must go and see Batorówka!" -- Agata texted me. It turned out the Batorówka was a farm owned by some Hungarian, where you could get Hungarian lunch. Unluckily, it seemed the farm was not taking any visitors. The sign on the gate reads "Welcome!" in Hungarian. (Stefan Batory was a successful Hungarian King of Poland, hence the name).

So, I was taking pictures of various beasts instead of having a proper lunch there!

"See? I'm stupid, stupid, stupid! But beautiful, heheheheheh!"

Once, the Forest fed people and let them live there. Now, you see many abandoned homesteads in the Kampinos Forest. It is partly due to the KPN policy of buying out the properties inside the National Park to leave the space to the Nature. The only prosperous homesteads inside the park belong to foresters.

A place named "a tourist shelter" in a tourist map. It started raining again, so I had to put my rain-proof windbreaker on and put the rain-cover onto my helmet (it is integrated in the Abus Pedelec+ helmet). Just a couple minutes before, a large female beast (roe-deer, elk or a fallow deer) literally jumped from the bushes at the side of the trail and disappeared in the woods. No time to even start the camera!

After years of hesitation, I finally bought a good powerbank. The battery of my Huawei Honor 20 smartphone is good for 5.5 hours of "screen-on" operation but my rides exceed 6 hours total now. Besides, I always wear full gloves when it's raining.

The GPS navigation led me to a single-track running at the ridge of a hill. It was the part of the ride full of adrenalin. Sometimes I had to walk my Monster to avoid obstacles.

I'm a tourist, not an MTBer! I hate single-track riding!

Now what? I lost my faith in the GPS navigation, and I had an attack of panic because of the range anxiety. (The 500 Wh battery on Giant Trance E+ is a grim joke!) I told the navigation: "Take me the shortest way back to Truskaw!" And instead of riding the southern route, I rode the northern one, that was almost the same as the outbound one... It was raining. I don't complain: I love adventures! Riding a grass overgrown trail on an e-MTB is a pure pleasure!

Upon the return to Truskaw. I was wet but happy! The first thing I did was applying even more of mosquito repellent fluid. Then I changed my pants to the dry ones.

Only 3% battery left, and it was even not 40 miles in Eco mode! Oh, Giant... I'm waiting for the ordered 625 Wh battery now. The 500 Wh one goes as a spare. No serious touring possible with the original battery, not with my ill legs.

How it really was.

 

[Chargeride]

"I'm Riding in the Rain", or Agata's Kampinos Off-Ride Route

Bored, bored, bored! I messaged Agata: -- "Inspire me for a 60+ km off-road ride!" -- and a string of GPS coordinates began to flow from her.

View attachment 59151
The plan: Agata's Off-Road Route in the Kampinos National Park (KPN).

I knew it would be raining. I drove up Truskaw (one of the entry gates to the KPN) and the only thing I couldn't find were the water-proof trousers. I took a dry spare set of thermo-active pants with me. Of course, that would be the Monster (a.k.a. Giant Trance E+) ride.

View attachment 59152
I rode out in a drizzle that mercifully stopped after some time, and there even was some sunshine. The first ride segment was an "off-road heat-up". There are numerous wooden gangways over the swamps in that part of the KPN.

View attachment 59155
It never looks steep in photos. The dreaded thing about KPN is it is sandy. You cannot brake on a sandy descent because the rear wheel slips. Tree-roots up the ante. It was the first time I could hear the distinctive scream of hydraulic brakes.

View attachment 59156
The Cold War resulted in building a ring of anti-aircraft rocket battery military bases around Warsaw. These military based have been dissolved for many years now. Agata promised me seeing one. That Battery was inaccessible, however, and only an "urban explorer" would take the pain of getting in. With the abundance of mosquitoes, I gave up the idea. I lost my way and had to get back on the trail, so I could not see some "unique school" either Here: A nice bike lane. The roads around the KPN are full of such bike lanes. I didn't know (yet) I would return by the very same road...

View attachment 59157
The Fort VII of the Modlin Fortress in Cybulice. This part of Poland was incorporated into the Russian Empire 1795-1918. The Russian built an enormous fortress system in the "Vistula Land" (as the province used to be called at those times) in 1880's . During World War I, Russians found out fortresses was an obsolete and expensive concept so they left their fortresses in Poland around 1915, partly exploding them. I could also see the Fort VIII soon, nothing special really.

View attachment 59158
Piaski Grochalskie, or a micro sand-desert. My Monster said: -- "Oh, no, no, no! I wouldn't play that sort of games. I will gladly wait here for you, and you can explore the Sands by foot! I'm not into it!" It turned out that (perhaps) a fat bike could do there but not the 2.6" tyre e-MTB. The rear-wheel of the Trance was spinning uselessly in the sand! I escaped the desert instantly.

View attachment 59159
Passing over the Vistula flood-bank at the location Agata showed to me by GPS coordinates. You rather would need an off-road e-bike there because of all the mud after the descent. The Monster liked that!

View attachment 59162
There is an English term I could not find in my dictionary: It is about a stone pier running perpendicularly to the river flow to regulate it. Agata had promised I could walk up the middle of Vistula through such pier. Then I saw the terrain... and cried. Not my day, not after the rainfall, not to ride in alone there.

View attachment 59169
So I consoled myself by taking pictures of insects I was on a very good way and then -- suddenly -- that bastard Monster fell down between my legs! The scared bees escaped.

View attachment 59170
-- "You must go and see Batorówka!" -- Agata texted me. It turned out the Batorówka was a farm owned by some Hungarian, where you could get Hungarian lunch. Unluckily, it seemed the farm was not taking any visitors. The sign on the gate reads "Welcome!" in Hungarian. (Stefan Batory was a successful Hungarian King of Poland, hence the name).

View attachment 59171
So, I was taking pictures of various beasts instead of having a proper lunch there!

View attachment 59172
"See? I'm stupid, stupid, stupid! But beautiful, heheheheheh!"

View attachment 59173
Once, the Forest fed people and let them live there. Now, you see many abandoned homesteads in the Kampinos Forest. It is partly due to the KPN policy of buying out the properties inside the National Park to leave the space to the Nature. The only prosperous homesteads inside the park belong to foresters.

View attachment 59174
A place named "a tourist shelter" in a tourist map. It started raining again, so I had to put my rain-proof windbreaker on and put the rain-cover onto my helmet (it is integrated in the Abus Pedelec+ helmet). Just a couple minutes before, a large female beast (roe-deer, elk or a fallow deer) literally jumped from the bushes at the side of the trail and disappeared in the woods. No time to even start the camera!

View attachment 59175
After years of hesitation, I finally bought a good powerbank. The battery of my Huawei Honor 20 smartphone is good for 5.5 hours of "screen-on" operation but my rides exceed 6 hours total now. Besides, I always wear full gloves when it's raining.

View attachment 59176
The GPS navigation led me to a single-track running at the ridge of a hill. It was the part of the ride full of adrenalin. Sometimes I had to walk my Monster to avoid obstacles.

View attachment 59180
I'm a tourist, not an MTBer! I hate single-track riding!


View attachment 59179
Now what? I lost my faith in the GPS navigation, and I had an attack of panic because of the range anxiety. (The 500 Wh battery on Giant Trance E+ is a grim joke!) I told the navigation: "Take me the shortest way back to Truskaw!" And instead of riding the southern route, I rode the northern one, that was almost the same as the outbound one... It was raining. I don't complain: I love adventures! Riding a grass overgrown trail on an e-MTB is a pure pleasure!

View attachment 59181
Upon the return to Truskaw. I was wet but happy! The first thing I did was applying even more of mosquito repellent fluid. Then I changed my pants to the dry ones.

View attachment 59182
Only 3% battery left, and it was even not 40 miles in Eco mode! Oh, Giant... I'm waiting for the ordered 625 Wh battery now. The 500 Wh one goes as a spare. No serious touring possible with the original battery, not with my ill legs.

View attachment 59183
How it really was.

That is exactly my kind of ride, though I guarantee I'd be pedaling the last 5.

 

[RabH]

@Stefan Mikes What range does your battery show in eco mode when its fully charged? Mine shows 84 miles (135km) with the normal factory settings, I know riding the trails will use much more battery than road riding but 61km in eco mode seems really poor!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Stefan Mikes What range does your battery show in eco mode when its fully charged? Mine shows 84 miles (135km) with the normal factory settings, I know riding the trails will use much more battery than road riding but 61km in eco mode seems really poor!

Mine shows 136 km if it is fully charged. Recently, I see 98 or even 96% as the full charge.

The range estimates are for lightweight riders with strong legs riding in windless conditions on the flat road. I divide the range estimate in Trance by two and it gets me the road range under good conditions. Off-road riding kills the battery charge fast in my case, not saying anything about hills.

My Vado has the 600 Wh battery. When I ride out for roads, I know it guarantees 70 km range in "fortified" Eco mode (equivalent to Trance's Basic mode). Healthy people do with smaller batteries; I typically carry a spare. Just bought me an interesting Ortlieb Vario, which is a large backpack/pannier. It should be good for carrying the future spare battery in Vario either as a pannier (touring) or a backpack (trail). It is huge! The Giant battery is 46 cm long while the Vario is 50 cm tall.

 

[RabH]

Mine shows 136 km if it is fully charged. Recently, I see 98 or even 96% as the full charge.

The range estimates are for lightweight riders with strong legs riding in windless conditions on the flat road. I divide the range estimate in Trance by two and it gets me the road range under good conditions. Off-road riding kills the battery charge fast in my case, not saying anything about hills.

My Vado has the 600 Wh battery. When I ride out for roads, I know it guarantees 70 km range in "fortified" Eco mode (equivalent to Trance's Basic mode). Healthy people do with smaller batteries; I typically carry a spare. Just bought me an interesting Ortlieb Vario, which is a large backpack/pannier. It should be good for carrying the future spare battery in Vario either as a pannier (touring) or a backpack (trail). It is huge! The Giant battery is 46 cm long while the Vario is 50 cm tall.

Ok no problem Stefan, I was just making sure you were getting the full range from your battery!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

A ride in the country #5 …

Thagoona, Queensland​

Cornfields tend to pass without notice, especially when the crop is not as 'high as an elephant's eye'; but this cornfield – brown, not straw-coloured – had me puzzled. I'd never seen anything like it before, so there was only one thing to do on this 'beautiful morning'… Click!

Or was it millet?

 

[Anna]

Mine shows 136 km if it is fully charged. Recently, I see 98 or even 96% as the full charge.

The range estimates are for lightweight riders with strong legs riding in windless conditions on the flat road. I divide the range estimate in Trance by two and it gets me the road range under good conditions. Off-road riding kills the battery charge fast in my case, not saying anything about hills.

My Vado has the 600 Wh battery. When I ride out for roads, I know it guarantees 70 km range in "fortified" Eco mode (equivalent to Trance's Basic mode). Healthy people do with smaller batteries; I typically carry a spare. Just bought me an interesting Ortlieb Vario, which is a large backpack/pannier. It should be good for carrying the future spare battery in Vario either as a pannier (touring) or a backpack (trail). It is huge! The Giant battery is 46 cm long while the Vario is 50 cm tall.

Stephan I sent you a post that I don’t think you received. I rode the same hills last night... 11.4 miles. Full battery and tried leaving it in turbo most of the way. Battery ride Control display says I used 20%, the app says 21%. Seems a bit too ‘good’ but there you have it!

 

[Mulezen]

Sorghum? The corn around here is high as a female Indian elephant’s eye. Pictures tomorrow

 

[Readytoride]

It is become almost too hot to ride (temps - mid 90sF/mid 30sC), even in the mornings, resulting in my rides becoming sporadic at best, and nonexistent at worst. Indoor projects are now taking up leisure time, and the above ride was the last one I did before dropping the Vado off at the bike shop to have them install a longer hydralic brake cable for the left brake to accomodate my aftermarket riser stem. They told me their turnaround time was already out to 3 weeks, even with 4 mechanics working full time. I noticed that their formerly decimated store stock of bikes had been replenished a touch, but the place still looked like the aftermath of a fire sale. The new stock of bikes had been strategically placed at social distances to fill up all the empty retail space from what should have been tightly packed rows and rows of new bikes for sale. Apparently the incredible surge of bike sales (due to the Corona virus and stay-at-home orders) has not abated one bit. New bikes are still flying off the show room floor out the door the second the bike shops get stock in, and old bikes are being refurbished at a tremendous rate. Hence the very busy staff in the repair shop, and the 3 week turnaround time.

My LaFree looks very lonely in the garage by itself with no other bikes. At least it has the electric car to keep it company.


The lack of rain and incessant sun has dried up the lands, fields, and local streams and ponds. The corn fields are still growing, but starting to show signs of drought stress.

The heat hadn't stopped other cyclists from enjoying last weekend's sunny bright weather. I think I counted over 30 cyclists, including one touring cyclist who stopped me to inquire directions to Middleburg enroute to his destination in Rockville, MD. He had gotten himself somewhat lost on these roads, and already looked to be somewhat exhausted by the heat. I sent him on his way via the most direct route, to which he was extremely grateful. I doubt there will be any cyclists out this weekend as temps are expected to hit 100°F/38°C

"Making hay while the sun shines" has resulted in endless acres of hayed fields sporting 1,000 lb hay bales waiting for pick up and transport to commercial farm operations states away.

There was a bit of excitement last weekend with the convergence of Civil War reenactors gathering at one of the big estates down the road for a bit of reenactment fun. There were horses and mules and 1860s artiliary and wagons in abundance, not to mention an impressive army of men marching here there and everywhere, toting antique firearms and all dressed in vintage 1860s Confederate or Union military uniforms which, to preserve historical accuracy, were all woolen. In the July heat. In Virginia's oppressive, soul-destroying July heat.

The original Civil War troops were forced to march and fight in Virginia's July heat. The modern reenator does it for fun.

I'm sure they had a grand old time. A few cars still remained at the encampment when I swung by at the start of my ride, but by the time I swung by again on my final leg home, the field was completely empty, bereft of all life, human and animal. Only the tire tracks pressed into the dried grass on the parched, hot field were evidence that anything had even been there at all that week.

Right now the gravel roads are too dusty, and heat too oppressive, and the dangerously high temps forecast for the next week are all conspiring to keep me off my bike and holed up in the house with the AC.

Thus far, Mother Nature is winning, and I'm on a cycling sabbatical. I have a lot of sewing to do, making custom masks and clothing, etc. and other indoor projects, so I won't be kicking my heels with nothing to do while waiting for the temps to drop into reasonable cycling range. As soon as the weather does relent, I'll head back outside. Until then, I'll enjoy every one else's ebiking adventures.

 

[pmcdonald]

Wow, 49.4 mph... we may have a new record on EBR. I am not encouraging higher speeds, but do we have any others?

View attachment 58489

100% legit, totally not a reporting error.

Not many night rides now I'm back to regular work commuting. It's weird seeing the roads choked again, parks full of kids doing sporting training, people lining up outside pubs and nightclubs. Our district has one reported case, as we brace for a wave of fresh community transmissions from down south.

 

[RabH]

I had a free 2 hours this morning and for once it was dry, so I enjoyed a lovely 30 mile ride on very quiet roads! Tomorrow I'm hoping to do a 100km ride and all going well maybe a 100 mile ride on Tuesday, fingers crossed! My last 100 mile ride was in September last year so its long overdue...its been so long I need to remember to pace myself and save enough battery for the final climbs!

 

[Chargeride]

Sorry, I' m struggling to like it, except that its in a place called Thagoona..