2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Twin Valley]

Today's ride took Charl and I along the "Old Coach Trail" that lies between Invermere and Radium along the Columbia Valley in the East Kootenays. I assumed the old coach trail referred to the horse pulled stage coaches but was surprised to read the trail was built in the 1930's for the "tin lizzies" or model T's that were used to meet the passengers from the boats on the north end of Lake Windermere and transfer them to the Radium Hot Springs. The trail was fun to ride and a few single track spots for me to zip off and meet up with Charl at various spots. Whipping up and down those trails has me feeling like a 16 year old instead of the 66 year old my better half often reminds me that is reality for me - e-bikes the great equalizer!!! Unfortunately, for that apparently aging body access to those hot pools is non-existent with Covid. The rain clouds approaching from the west mountains caught us and we were well drenched before getting back to the vehicle. But it is a

welcome rain for the very dry countryside.

 

[fumbduck]

After owning this NCM Moscow Plus Ebike for a couple of weeks now, today I took it for my first off road trial. A 17 kilometer track around nearby Lake Manchester here in South East Queensland (Australia). The bike performed very well but there were some very steep sections. On one steep downhill section it was outright scary, I was trying to go down slow without locking up the brakes on this gravely rutted track and nearly lost it a couple of times. I didn't want to go down too fast since I couldn't see what was around the bend and also because there were fist size sharp edged rocks on the track which could easily stuff a tyre. All went good on that section but I did have a spill later on a steep uphill climb. I was in the lowest gear with PAS on level 5 pedalling as fast as I could but having trouble to get the right weight balance. The rear started skidding but the front wheel was also lifting. In hindsight maybe a lower PAS setting would have been wiser. Anyway the front wheel lifted off the ground so I lost my steering and started to fall to the left near the top of the climb. Fell onto the side of the track in taller grass so all was good. The whole 17 km trip took a bit over an hour and was quite a workout.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Poor Jacek, is he under pressure to get the fender situation straighten out?!

Oh, he is so easy-going person, and he loves working on bikes. It was hard to me to recognise my Trance after his overhaul. For instance, he reworked the Topeak Tetra Rack M2 the way it has got properly stiff, and he put some protectors on seat-stays so panniers cannot damage the frame and stay on the rack as if they were glued to it. He made a neoprene "skid-plate" for the new battery that came without the rock-guard, etc.

When I was on the ride back, he texted me:
-- Bro, you don't replace any chain yourself anymore. You did it wrong on the Lovelec!

Which reminded me, I left some items at Jacek's garage, including the thing I promised to @RandallS Hopefully, Jacek can drive up to me and bring these several objects here. And to replace chains in the Vado and Trance.

He's a really amazing person. On Monday, he made several rides with the Trance just to discover he made a metric century completely unawares of it...

 

[Chargeride]

Riding an abandoned railroad bed today.
View attachment 66473View attachment 66474

I like the bike, nearly bought one of aliexpress for the wife.
It would fit in her car ..it is a folding one?

 

[Chargeride]

Today's ride took Charl and I along the "Old Coach Trail" that lies between Invermere and Radium along the Columbia Valley in the East Kootenays. I assumed the old coach trail referred to the horse pulled stage coaches but was surprised to read the trail was built in the 1930's for the "tin lizzies" or model T's that were used to meet the passengers from the boats on the north end of Lake Windermere and transfer them to the Radium Hot Springs. The trail was fun to ride and a few single track spots for me to zip off and meet up with Charl at various spots. Whipping up and down those trails has me feeling like a 16 year old instead of the 66 year old my better half often reminds me that is reality for me - e-bikes the great equalizer!!! Unfortunately, for that apparently aging body access to those hot pools is non-existent with Covid. The rain clouds approaching from the west mountains caught us and we were well drenched before getting back to the vehicle. But it is a View attachment 66509View attachment 66510welcome rain for the very dry countryside.

So confusing, I was at Lake Windermere last week....the one in England.

 

[Chargeride]

Englands Lake District is sort of a crazygolf version of mountaineering, the mountains arent that high, but they look the part and everyone can climb them for views comparable to anything on the planet, plus you get to be back in a cosy cafe within a few hours.
It just oozes tranquillity and a connection with the old ways.
Little bit posh and sometimes all the hippy camper vans in the campsites are actually glampers in 40K vehicles.
It does attract Europ...sorry continental Europeans and outside of covid you can sit and watch mororbikes from every corner of Europe drive by, there was even 5 Russians staying in our hotel with inpossibly gorgeous girlfriends.

I made this vid superchill, because thats where I like to be thesedays.
A quick rattle over the rocks..and then sit back to admire the fruits of my labour in a timeless Landscape.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You know how to make videos, Chargeride!

 

[Readytoride]

18 miles yesterday riding with my neighbor on a loop of our local gravel roads. The skies overhead were hazy at a high altitude, apparently yet again from the western states fires smoke being carried east by the prevailing winds. Not a problem breathing-wise, just robbing the sky of any semblance of blue.

Midway home our ride and conversarion was interrupted by a growing roar overhead, loud enough to shake the ground. We stopped our bikes to look up, surprised to see a four plane formation going past overhead. Four very loud WWII vintage dual prop military airplanes...followed in not-so-hurried fashion by a lineup of other vintage WWII military planes, all practicing for today's flight over Washington DC of 65+ vintage war planes in honor of the 75th anniversary of V-E day (1945). The planes all take off just west of our area and fly directly over our farm at a low altitude enroute to DC.

It was an amazing sight to see. We kept stopping enroute home to watch the singles, pairs, and groupings of identical make planes as they intermittently rumbled through the sky just over our heads. It made me imagine what an early 1940's citizen of western Europe, out cycling a bike along the dirt paths between farm fields enroute to a town or back to home, would have felt back then when the war was in full eruption all around. The noise was tremendous, and the sight of those planes was stomach clenching. Found out later my other neighbor was taking a riding lesson in her ring at the time, and her Thoroughbred got a bit bug eyed at all the planes rumbling overhead. She said it made the lesson a tad "exciting".

The main event today per a newspaper article:

There will be a flyover of World War II-era war planes September 25 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of V-E Day.

Organized by the group Arsenal of Democracy, at least 65 planes will begin to take flight starting at 11:30 AM. The plane formations will be interspersed in two-minute intervals and will represent major World War II battles, ultimately ending in a missing man formation, which honors dead or missing service members.

As for the route: The group will fly from Virginia over the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial, continue along Independence Avenue and over the National Mall, and then will circle the World War II Memorial and continue back to Virginia.

The event was originally scheduled for May 8, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. This site will livestream the event online.

The flyover commences over our area in Loudoun County Virginia at about 10 AM, so I plan to get in a quick morning gravel bike ride before parking myself on a lawn chair in our big front field with its massive view of the open skies to spend the next two hours watching the old planes fly low and loud directly overhead. And when I say overhead, I mean head tilting back looking directly up at the underbellies of the planes going over our house and front field. We enjoyed the same event 5 years ago, and since the planes are charting the same flight path again this year, I will have the best private front row seat for the flyover.

 

[RabH]

Wishing you well in your search! Biking has often been a good outlet for me during times of stress.

Thank you Dallant, biking has got me through a stressful time for sure!

An extra layer was needed today, it was only 3C when I set off but thankfully yesterdays bitterly cold wind had gone so it didn't actually feel that cold! By the time I got home it had warmed up to 10C, it felt warm now! Another dry day so a little bit of cold didn't bother me in the slightest, it was such an enjoyable ride once again! After Sunday the weather isn't looking very promising, hopefully they have got it wrong again! No photos today, I just wanted to ride my bike with no distractions!

 

[rdowns]

Passed 400 miles this morning. Woke up to my first flat. When the bike shop added air it sealed right up from the slime. Should have tried that myself. Mickelson Trail, signs of fall everywhere.

 

[rdowns]

Sunday we made it to the ocean on the Olympic Discovery Trail. We've been doing 13mile segments of it each weekend, starting from the Old Blyn Highway. Ride about 13 miles, have a bite of lunch, and ride back to our starting point (and truck). We did skip the part between the Elwha River and Lake Crescent because we didn't want to ride on the highway to Joyce. And we also skipped the section from Sappho to almost Forks on hwy 101 for the same reason. Without a doubt, the most gorgeous part is from Lake Crescent through to the Camp Creek trailhead across from the Klahowya campground. The next part of the trail from there is on shared road, but there is very little traffic, so it is not unpleasant, but the forest is not so beautiful. And you end up at 101.

Anyway, last Sunday we parked at the corner of 101 and hwy 110, which is the main road to La Push. Being the main road to the Quilleyute Nation, it had more traffic than we wanted to put up with on a Sunday, so at about 3 miles along we turned right and got onto the Quilleyute Rd, which goes past the Quileyute Airport to the Mora Road. Almost no cars at all, nice views, rolling ride. Go right on the Mora Road, and enjoy the trees of the National Park. We zipped in to the Mora campground, one of my absolute favorite campgrounds. Gorgeous forest, and every campsite secluded and private. Rarely full, and Sunday afternoon there were only a handful of campsites occupied. So we had lunch there. Then we rode on to Rialto Beach, also a favorite beach. (first pic) On the return drive, we stopped by Lake Crescent at the lodge View attachment 66365

Even though we skipped some parts, I figure we did do what we did twice (there and back, every time), so I consider that we rode all the way across the Olympic Peninsula and I am amazed. Never thought I could have done that!
(OK I'm doing this from my phone and the photos won't display correctly - - sorry)

We were in that area last year. I love it there.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Englands Lake District is sort of a crazygolf version of mountaineering, the mountains arent that high, but they look the part and everyone can climb them for views comparable to anything on the planet, plus you get to be back in a cosy cafe within a few hours.
It just oozes tranquillity and a connection with the old ways.
Little bit posh and sometimes all the hippy camper vans in the campsites are actually glampers in 40K vehicles.
It does attract Europ...sorry continental Europeans and outside of covid you can sit and watch mororbikes from every corner of Europe drive by, there was even 5 Russians staying in our hotel with inpossibly gorgeous girlfriends.

I made this vid superchill, because thats where I like to be thesedays.
A quick rattle over the rocks..and then sit back to admire the fruits of my labour in a timeless Landscape.

Chargeride, how do you make the video so smooth, even though you're clearly going over rough paths? Your handlebars are shaking but the camera is steady. How you do dat?? Where is your camera mounted, and what kind is it?

 

[Adventum]

It’s So Peaceful in the Country

-- recalling jazz singer Julie Christy’s lovely song by this name. And I have to agree with this thought as experienced in yesterday’s ride through rural Fauquier County in Virginia. Readytoride of this forum planted the seed that grew to a plan, that blossomed into a venture through her familiar haunts.

I stitched together a map from a shortened portion of one of her lengthy road/gravel experiences. Readytoride endorsed my plan via e-mail, adding a recommendation for a lunch tavern. Armed with this information I had no trouble coaxing friends to join me on a day’s exploration via auto starting at Upperville. The bike ride was only fifteen miles, but our delight in rolling through the exquisite countryside was well worth the expedition’s efforts in organization and travel.

I had a secondary mission—to take pictures in keeping with popular format subjects in this forum—cows, fences, signs, food, odd discoveries. This is my report.

Immediately on leaving the starting village we encountered scenery just as Readytoride has portrayed in her descriptions of rides through horse country. The fields and farms were manicured as if prepared for real estate showings.

Miles of fencing in traditional rock walls or horizontal rails and planks kept in the livestock, mostly horses.

Food farms often were laid out in carefully managed rows as if handiwork of designers.

From the start we discovered this is e-bike terrain. It’s rolling country. Hill after hill, after more hills, called for mucho shifting and stepping through Tour-Sport-Turbo. We appreciated continuously managing the e-bikes without intimidating effort. A very long downhill sweep on smooth, winding pavement ended in in a tiny village called Delaplane. There, we found a few seemingly abandoned buildings, some labeled “Antiques” and “Country Store,” with no people in sight anywhere. At this stop we encountered a problem: we couldn’t find the junction to the gravel road route 623 in spite of signs purporting to point to it. From four Googling cell phone map consultations, and much discussion, we backtracked a bit to find the return gravel route 623.

Here was the oddest find of the day. An immense barricade of old railroad ties greeted us, as if built by craftsmen who constructed the stone walls we had encountered.

Oh, mustn’t forget cows...

and signs…

and eateries and plates of food!

This was a day to remember. We will be back.
_________________________________________________________________________

I will add a note regarding Readtoride’s latest posting. We too, in the adjacent county below her Loudoun County, were treated to airplanes practicing formation flying at low altitudes overhead. We witnessed only fleeting views since we were mostly pedaling among trees during the excitement. We could only speculate what the droning above was about.

I pedaled into DC this Friday morning to take up station to watch the flyover. I then learned that cloudy, rainy skies caused cancellation of the big event. Tomorrow is to be rescheduled.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Suburbia …

Diamantina Boulevard, Ipswich, QLD​

My Friday evening ride was a quick reconnect with my R&M Homage which, a few hours before, had been released from its latest prolonged hospitalisation (five weeks this time). All went well.

As I rode back along the rail trail shafts of sunlight were beaming down from behind the clouds which, in turn, were behind the houses lining the rail trail. Backyard fences are scarcely photogenic, especially the sides that the residents hardly ever see! I pedalled on to where I would have a less obtrusive foreground. The numinous shafts of light had faded but, fortunately, the main access road to the housing estate didn't intrude.

This suburban view is typical of many new developments around Australian cities. In a few decades from now, the bush in the background will most likely have been 'developed', too.

The concrete path in the distance is a new cycleway to the local school – still too new for the concrete to have become a dingy grey.

Today's Trivia: Diamantina Boulevard is named after Lady Diamantina Bowen, the Contessa di Roma, from the United States of the Ionian Isles. Let that put the other 'United States' in its place!​

​

Judging by the number of places named after her, Diamantina, wife of Queensland's first Governor, must have been a hugely admired person!​

​

(Gotta love the way suburban husbands turn their garages into workshops and then have to park their cars outside!)

 

[Cowlitz]

There's always something worse. Right now, my next door neighbors have SIX cars. They've bladed out an extra spot in their yard but must fit a couple or three on the street, and they aren't the best parkers.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

from the United States of the Ionian Isles. Let that put the other 'United States' in its place!

I didn't know such a state had existed before you told us!
P.S. Good to hear your Homage is with you again!

The recent news from my side: Jacek came to me after work on Friday, and he replaced chains in both Vado and Trance. Good it was him, as I can see chain replacement for modern 11 or 12 speed cassette was not that easy as it seemed!

 

[Chargeride]

Chargeride, how do you make the video so smooth, even though you're clearly going over rough paths? Your handlebars are shaking but the camera is steady. How you do dat?? Where is your camera mounted, and what kind is it?

Its a gopro hero8 running hypersmooth2.
It works great in sunlight but you can see some motion blur under tree canopy.
There is a higher mode as well, but it crops too much.
They are 300 quid to buy, probably cheaper now the 9 is out.
Im holding in in my mouth over rough tracks

 

[Chargeride]

T

You know how to make videos, Chargeride!

Thanks, I'll not be bombarding you with them as often now..the rain cometh and got to repair the house.

 

[Cowlitz]

I didn't know such a state had existed before you told us!
P.S. Good to hear your Homage is with you again!

The recent news from my side: Jacek came to me after work on Friday, and he replaced chains in both Vado and Trance. Good it was him, as I can see chain replacement for modern 11 or 12 speed cassette was not that easy as it seemed!

Can Jacek move here? We could use a good bike mechanic.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Holy cow, Dave, that cycle path looks more like a ski jump than a ride to school. There’s gonna be some tough kids in that neighborhood.