2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

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I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
 
I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
Good luck with the surgery and I hope for you to have a speedy recovery. You will be back on the bike in no time
 
I did my second Mount Baker Climb yesterday, 48 miles from Glacier, Washington to Artist Point and back, with a 5,000 foot elevation gain. This ride started 45 miles east of our sea side town of Bellingham.

The last two miles we had to slip past the road barrier as it was closed so we had to dodge snow and rocky debris on the road It was perfect riding weather, a glorious day. My friend, Matt, was riding his Turbo Creo Expert. What a cool bike! I did bring along the second battery. At the end of the ride I still had 42% battery remaining. The Allant performed like a champ.

So happy I can do this.

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Beautiful ride! Shuksan looks glorious!
 
I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
I wish you all the very best, you have inspired many on here (including me) and will continue to do so I'm sure! :)
 
I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
Be sure to tell your PT what you want to accomplish. That may help determine your course of treatment. Good luck... stay strong.
 
Richard, you will be in our thoughts. May all go well with your recovery.

We know from your posts that you have a wonderful wife and family to support you.
David
 
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Line of clouds …
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Sandgate Beach, Brisbane
 
I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
With your strength, I think you will be surprised how well you will do. Plus...with an ebike goals are attainable! We will be thinking of you. 🙂🚴‍♀️
 
I am in Seattle today meeting with an orthopedic oncologist to discuss the removal of a soft tissue sarcoma from my left quadriceps. Unfortunately they also will have to remove my vastus medialis, a muscle that makes up about 30% of the quad. I have been riding through chemotherapy and radiation during the past several months since March. I have been riding very hard lately, using Eco mode as much as I can, putting in lots of miles. thank goodness for ebikes. My surgeon says all this riding will help accelerate the healing and recovery process. My riding is about to come to a grinding halt with the surgery on the 24th.

It will require 4-6 weeks of healing time before I can even begin physical therapy so I likely will not be riding again until November sometime. Being off the bike will be the worst part. I am not sure how strong a rider I will be after this with such a large muscle being removed. When I do get started back riding, I am sure I will be using turbo and sport mode a lot more until I regain strength. Just how far back I will be able to come remains to be seen.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and return to your bike! Keep us posted on how you're doing, please - so many folks are rooting for you!
 
The Apple Tree Land in the Summer

I'm so bored with riding in my neighbourhood... Perhaps a parallel can be drawn to my preference of craft beer: You are never bored with it, and it is rare to taste specific ale more than once. After having so many cycling adventures in different regions of Poland, it is hard for me to just ride around my home area. Yet you need to ride.

The incentive to ride out was testing the Giant Auto mode with the new 625 Wh battery, which I unexpectedly got on last Monday. The battery has no skid plate (expected in November...), so I reused my Fahrer-Berlin AKKU Cover, which is a thick neoprene mat with a Velcro tape - it fits the Giant battery perfectly! I went to the Apple Tree Land around Tarczyn, which I visited more than once last Winter.

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At my favourite stop in the Młochów Park. You can see the mat, making the bike even more stealthy. I noticed the new bike path past the park had been almost completed, making the ride there safer. Later, I rode in a forest thinking how unhappy I used to be when riding my Vado there...

1597212511310.png

In the Apple Tree Land. I admit I stole an apple there! These apples need a month more to grow up and mature; the apple harvest time actually begins at the end of August, with some Autumn varieties to be picked up later. The apple I ate was so juicy anyway! (To take this photo, I had to fall into a deep ditch first; the ditch was completely overgrown with weed!) :D


The wholesale price of apple is ridiculously low in Poland: Overproduction and trade ban from Russia make it possible to buy 1 kg of apple for less than 25 U.S. cents (11 cents for a pound). In 2014, I processed 60 kg (132 lbs) of apple to make wine. It was extremely popular among our friends: You could drink a 0.7 l bottle of that strong wine with pleasure and get really tipsy in half an hour :D

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The 2014 Tarczyn harvest. The farmer asked me what I needed the apple for and sold me a special variety grown in a very old orchard. The first bottles of young wine were tasted as early as November. The last ones survived until July 2015 when the wine was mature.

The camera battery went flat just after taking the apple photo. I continued the ride to discover... free raspberry! It is not apple only around Tarczyn and Grójec. It is pear, plum, cherry, raspberry, strawberry and so on. Raspberry is a delicate and expensive fruit here. There was the fruit plantation, and the fence was overgrown with the raspberry bush outside. I was delighted! Because of the diabetes, I would hesitate to buy a punnet of the fruit but I could eat fresh raspberry in reasonable quantity there! Just walking with the bike, picking the fruit and eating that. Oh my, how tasty that was!
---------------
The verdict: Don't use the AUTO mode on Giant e-bikes. It is useless. Only the fact it was the 625 Wh battery allowed me go back home still with pedalling assistance.

1597213826830.png

Ride map & stats. Notice the max speed: That's what you can get from unrestricted SyncDrive Pro motor on e-MTB riding upwind on the flat if you can pedal at cadence of 94 (my max is 110).
 
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I did my second Mount Baker Climb yesterday, 48 miles from Glacier, Washington to Artist Point and back, with a 5,000 foot elevation gain. This ride started 45 miles east of our sea side town of Bellingham.

The last two miles we had to slip past the road barrier as it was closed so we had to dodge snow and rocky debris on the road It was perfect riding weather, a glorious day. My friend, Matt, was riding his Turbo Creo Expert. What a cool bike! I did bring along the second battery. At the end of the ride I still had 42% battery remaining. The Allant performed like a champ.

So happy I can do this.

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My gawd, those mountains...I think you need to buy a third battery
 
:eek:We had a huge electrical storm during the night and it lasted almost 2 hours, when I woke this morning it was a little misty and very muggy! By the time I got ready the sun had broken through and it was very hot for 9am, now I had to really think about what route to take to avoid the floods and I thought I had come up with the perfect plan...maybe not then!

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It was actually about 3 feet deep! Time for a rethink, I actually had to head back home and use the roads with lots of traffic, thankfully they all behaved themselves! It was still an enjoyable ride despite the floods, I'm hoping tomorrow will be flood free, time will tell...Only 1677ft of climbing today, I think thats the least climbing I have ever done!

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Had a lovely week in Grasmere, Lake District UK.
Its an old cliche 'if you dont like the weather...wait 5 minutes', but in the Lakes its complete reality.
You can go out in 30 degree heat and come home soaked on a 1hr ride.

I rode smooth cycle trails and bridle paths which are ancient horse right of ways and its legal to cycle and walk on them as well.
Its not exactly a mecca for mtbs and I rode early so as not to give ...mostly, rather conservative walkers a heart attack and have them phoning the Queen for permission to set the wolves on me.

The wife says my bike is too aggressive looking and theres a lot of truth in that, so Im going to get a capable, but sedate emtb for pootling amongst a more understated crowd, my daughter wore some bright leggings one night and she might as well been wearing a MAGA hat, you get the picture...hyper polite, but very judgemental in the classic English way.

The bridle path in my video goes over the pass to the next dale and I presume horses were made of sterner stuff back in the day, because it nearly destroyed me, I didnt make it to the dale and found another trail back down from the top as it became just too difficult to stay on the rocky path.
I could have just blasted up the slopes but thats not the point and totally destructive as well, so I admitted defeat and will be back with a mid drive which I have been saying for years.

Grasmere, Ambelside and Keswick are simply stunning and I could make a video that would be indistinguishable from the Canadian wilderness with a bit of editing..
All construction is heavily regulated and the idea is an endless cuteness and eternal look on a cosy scale...its well worth a visit if you are in these parts.

Grasmere was the home of an old English post called William Wordsworth who started the romantic era of English lit and was born in the nearby, gloriously named Cockermouth, I managed to stop myself from putting the road signs in the vid.

I alai visited a tourist attraction cave which is just a small mining excavation and arrived alone and there was one very old looking rope to pull yourself up.
With no one around for advice I set up the slab and found it had about 4ft of stretch in a 20ft rope.
I survived to tell the tale but going back down was basically horrific.

If you watch the vid I warn you will have the Stereophonics in your head for a week.

Its so enthralling to see these bridle paths snake through the forests and small mountains on a map and then set off with no idea if its possible or not, I am pushing the limit though for an old idiot riding alone over ..shall we say unpaved roads, but thats the adventure thats come our way with ebikes.
Anyway..if you have a spare 12 mins, you can get an idea of the place from an ebikers pov.
I might make some maps of paths that are rideable rather than.
'What on Earth are you doing'.

 
The Apple Tree Land in the Summer

I'm so bored with riding in my neighbourhood... Perhaps a parallel can be drawn to my preference of craft beer: You are never bored with it, and it is rare to taste specific ale more than once. After having so many cycling adventures in different regions of Poland, it is hard for me to just ride around my home area. Yet you need to ride.

The incentive to ride out was testing the Giant Auto mode with the new 625 Wh battery, which I unexpectedly got on last Monday. The battery has no skid plate (expected in November...), so I reused my Fahrer-Berlin AKKU Cover, which is a thick neoprene mat with a Velcro tape - it fits the Giant battery perfectly! I went to the Apple Tree Land around Tarczyn, which I visited more than once last Winter.

View attachment 62068
At my favourite stop in the Młochów Park. You can see the mat, making the bike even more stealthy. I noticed the new bike path past the park had been almost completed, making the ride there safer. Later, I rode in a forest thinking how unhappy I used to be when riding my Vado there...

View attachment 62069
In the Apple Tree Land. I admit I stole an apple there! These apples need a month more to grow up and mature; the apple harvest time actually begins at the end of August, with some Autumn varieties to be picked up later. The apple I ate was so juicy anyway! (To take this photo, I had to fall into a deep ditch first; the ditch was completely overgrown with weed!) :D


The wholesale price of apple is ridiculously low in Poland: Overproduction and trade ban from Russia make it possible to buy 1 kg of apple for less than 25 U.S. cents (11 cents for a pound). In 2014, I processed 60 kg (132 lbs) of apple to make wine. It was extremely popular among our friends: You could drink a 0.7 l bottle of that strong wine with pleasure and get really tipsy in half an hour :D

View attachment 62072
The 2014 Tarczyn harvest. The farmer asked me what I needed the apple for and sold me a special variety grown in a very old orchard. The first bottles of young wine were tasted as early as November. The last ones survived until July 2015 when the wine was mature.

The camera battery went flat just after taking the apple photo. I continued the ride to discover... free raspberry! It is not apple only around Tarczyn and Grójec. It is pear, plum, cherry, raspberry, strawberry and so on. Raspberry is a delicate and expensive fruit here. There was the fruit plantation, and the fence was overgrown with the raspberry bush outside. I was delighted! Because of the diabetes, I would hesitate to buy a punnet of the fruit but I could eat fresh raspberry in reasonable quantity there! Just walking with the bike, picking the fruit and eating that. Oh my, how tasty that was!
---------------
The verdict: Don't use the AUTO mode on Giant e-bikes. It is useless. Only the fact it was the 625 Wh battery allowed me go back home still with pedalling assistance.

View attachment 62071
Ride map & stats. Notice the max speed: That's what you can get from unrestricted SyncDrive Pro motor on e-MTB riding upwind on the flat if you can pedal at cadence of 94 (my max is 110).
Those bottles do not look dodgy at all. :)
 
Finally got my Turbo back from bike hospital, new internal wiring, not an exciting story like Stefan throwing his bike across a fiery stream, damage occurred on the bike rack on back of holiday trailer as we went through a severe thunderstorm, so happy to get bike back went for an evening ride and put a branch through chain and bent derailler getting it out, but today finally a 2 plus hour ride about my neighborhood with many local farmers very close to harvesting so the roads will be busy for a few weeks, I actually used the neighbor's old Fargo pictured below to help me lift trusses and metal roofing
20200812_122920.jpg
for a horse shelter I was building
 
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