2023 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[Chargeride]

As much as I like staying at my dads, theres nothing to do whatsoever once it goes dark.
Bored, so made short vid.

 

[Deleted member 57338]

went to town today (westminster, md) about 12 miles each way. got new brake pads for my bikes (just an excuse to go somewhere). used my "road/utility" bike for a total of 26.3 mi (42.3 km) and 2562 ft (780 m) of elevation change.
my camera does not make things look as beautiful as they really are.....cool, cloudy and breezy today, rain expected.

some rolling hills in the Carroll County countryside.
this is my utility bike. a giant Rincon frame that was new, old stock pulled from an LBS's dungeon.

 

[Chargeride]

Greenhouse survived 70mph winds, so said to dad I'll be going home, theres another one coming on thursday!!!

 

[BlackHand]

@Chargeride
This how I do Doom Bar , although I'd love to combine both sometime.

Pics taken in October 2019 in the "Ye Olde Greene Manne" in Rickmansworth (near Watford).
Friends were showing us where they grew up (in MK now) , and it was our last pub lunch on that trip - headed home to Canada the next day.

View attachment 150639 View attachment 150634 View attachment 150635

Interesting, just 2 days ago two of my coworkers had a lively debate about whether a pub needs to include mushy peas if they claim to serve 'British style' fish and chips.

 

[RandallS]

Interesting, just 2 days ago two of my coworkers had a lively debate about whether a pub needs to include mushy peas if they claim to serve 'British style' fish and chips.

Was at a pub here in Calgary on thursday, and had some wonderful fish and chips. But, alas, no mushy peas - just normal peas.
Fish and chips were extremely good.

Back to thread subject, lest I get crap for a thread highjack.

Went out yesterday, with summer tires on, and did some paths and roads. Nose hill, my normal riding area, is too messy at present unless you go out early.

I went left and stuck to paved bike paths and quiet roads, If I went through the tunnel up onto the park, it would have been a sloppy mess. Perhaps another day soon...

This is an east facing area. Most of the open southern slopes are clear, but dry is a ways away at this point and we are forecasted for more precipitation this weekend.

As described - riding on my summer rubber. I have two wheelsets, so it's not a big deal to put my winter wheels with ISPs on when conditions require.
There were a few places where I had to navigate some ice, and one where I dismounted to be safe.

Lot's of this - it was a very pleasant day.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

CentrumRowerowe.pl: The Grand Opening Ride

CentrumRowerowe.pl (Bike Center) is the largest online cycling store of Poland. It is your first choice when you are looking for bike parts or accessories here. The owners of the successful Bydgoszcz based company decided to open their first brick-and-mortar store in Warsaw on the April Fool's Day! I could not miss such an opportunity to set off for a ride with my Vado 6.0, even if the day was pretty rainy!

Dadelo SA (the owner) has the ambition to become the Polish cycling equivalent of the American Guitar Center! The store is located in a popular shopping area near to the Warsaw Chopin Airport.

The company has understood the e-bike is their future. You can find a big offer of e-bikes from Haibike, Orbea, Ridley, Hercules (a German brand for city e-bikes), Unibike (Polish brand for budget e-bikes) and several more. Here, nice Hercules city e-bikes with Bosch motors. You can also see a bike path for demo rides. The first visitors were actually buying bikes! Just as the store opened!

Carbon e-MTBs from Haibike (Bosch motors). Top: a FS Trail e-MTB. Bottom: FS All Mountain e-MTBs.

Traditional gravel bikes and MTBs were well represented by products from the Polish 7Anna capital group: respected brands such NS Bikes or Rondo.

Orbea Rise, a lightweight e-MTB equipped with Shimano EP8 RS motor.

I was shocked at the sight of a Ridley gravel e-bike. It was totally stealthy! I could see a slim battery in the downtube but could not locate the motor! The sales assistant checked the bar-code and the database to inform us the Ridley was equipped with the 250 W Fazua Evation 2.0 motor. The motor is so tiny it is hard to even spot it!

A sexy Orbea gravel bike.

The Parts Department was extremely well stocked.
Top: A cabinet with Garbaruk cassettes (the price of around US$250 each). The world famous Garbaruk is a Ukrainian company manufacturing in Nowa Huta, Cracow, Lesser Poland province, Poland.
Bottom: Cranksets and chainrings from Shimano and SRAM.

I was stunned. Just stunned. Tools? Everything. Clothes, helmets? Everything. Dadelo did a good job! Judging by the long queue to the checkout and people leaving the store with their new bikes, the new store is condemned to be a big success, sending the nearby Decathlon packing

I made this photo for fun. The background includes the ugliest of Warsaw churches, nicknamed "The Lemon Press" My Vado being supported by a garbage can. All in the most posh neighbourhood of Warsaw, Wilanów (Villa Nova). There is a phrase we laugh at with my friends: "Is that bike good enough to be ridden in Wilanów?" Well, if you own an extremely expensive or weird bike, that's the bike good enough to be ridden in Wilanów!

I took a long ride for a lunch at the cycling-friendly META Bar (The Finish Line Bar) in the south. The pizza is baked there in a wood fired stove, it is rich and delicious! (Or, I was very hungry!)

On my favourite return course through the Kabacki Forest. The hardpack avenues were muddy on that rainy day. To my surprise, the Specialized Electrak tyres (slicks) held very well in the mud, with little occasional slipping.

I needed to buy a CR1620 battery, and a pair of tweezers. I bought the battery on the outbound leg of the trip, and the tweezers on my return.
Here: The Swedish Square, Janki (pronounced Yankee). The home of IKEA of Poland since 1993.

Ride Map. 72 km (45 mi) ridden on the day.

 

[Chargeride]

what an awesome bike shop, everything just looks 'too expensive for me' though.

Im such an uncle scrooge.

Oh and c'mon Poland.
Bydgoszcz
I presume its pronounced Bedoss or something

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I presume its pronounced Bedoss or something

If the Polish person were aware you were a foreigner and tried to help you, they would probably understand you. Though the actual pronunciation is different

 

[Rás Cnoic]

CentrumRowerowe.pl: The Grand Opening Ride

CentrumRowerowe.pl (Bike Center) is the largest online cycling store of Poland. It is your first choice when you are looking for bike parts or accessories here. The owners of the successful Bydgoszcz based company decided to open their first brick-and-mortar store in Warsaw on the April Fool's Day! I could not miss such an opportunity to set off for a ride with my Vado 6.0, even if the day was pretty rainy!

View attachment 150788
Dadelo SA (the owner) has the ambition to become the Polish cycling equivalent of the American Guitar Center! The store is located in a popular shopping area near to the Warsaw Chopin Airport.

View attachment 150789
The company has understood the e-bike is their future. You can find a big offer of e-bikes from Haibike, Orbea, Ridley, Hercules (a German brand for city e-bikes), Unibike (Polish brand for budget e-bikes) and several more. Here, nice Hercules city e-bikes with Bosch motors. You can also see a bike path for demo rides. The first visitors were actually buying bikes! Just as the store opened!

View attachment 150790
Carbon e-MTBs from Haibike (Bosch motors). Top: a FS Trail e-MTB. Bottom: FS All Mountain e-MTBs.

View attachment 150791
Traditional gravel bikes and MTBs were well represented by products from the Polish 7Anna capital group: respected brands such NS Bikes or Rondo.

View attachment 150792
Orbea Rise, a lightweight e-MTB equipped with Shimano EP8 RS motor.

View attachment 150793
I was shocked at the sight of a Ridley gravel e-bike. It was totally stealthy! I could see a slim battery in the downtube but could not locate the motor! The sales assistant checked the bar-code and the database to inform us the Ridley was equipped with the 250 W Fazua Evation 2.0 motor. The motor is so tiny it is hard to even spot it!

View attachment 150794
A sexy Orbea gravel bike.

View attachment 150795
The Parts Department was extremely well stocked.
Top: A cabinet with Garbaruk cassettes (the price of around US$250 each). The world famous Garbaruk is a Ukrainian company manufacturing in Nowa Huta, Cracow, Lesser Poland province, Poland.
Bottom: Cranksets and chainrings from Shimano and SRAM.

I was stunned. Just stunned. Tools? Everything. Clothes, helmets? Everything. Dadelo did a good job! Judging by the long queue to the checkout and people leaving the store with their new bikes, the new store is condemned to be a big success, sending the nearby Decathlon packing

View attachment 150796
I made this photo for fun. The background includes the ugliest of Warsaw churches, nicknamed "The Lemon Press" My Vado being supported by a garbage can. All in the most posh neighbourhood of Warsaw, Wilanów (Villa Nova). There is a phrase we laugh at with my friends: "Is that bike good enough to be ridden in Wilanów?" Well, if you own an extremely expensive or weird bike, that's the bike good enough to be ridden in Wilanów!

View attachment 150797
I took a long ride for a lunch at the cycling-friendly META Bar (The Finish Line Bar) in the south. The pizza is baked there in a wood fired stove, it is rich and delicious! (Or, I was very hungry!)

View attachment 150798
On my favourite return course through the Kabacki Forest. The hardpack avenues were muddy on that rainy day. To my surprise, the Specialized Electrak tyres (slicks) held very well in the mud, with little occasional slipping.

View attachment 150799
I needed to buy a CR1620 battery, and a pair of tweezers. I bought the battery on the outbound leg of the trip, and the tweezers on my return.
Here: The Swedish Square, Janki (pronounced Yankee). The home of IKEA of Poland since 1993.

View attachment 150800
Ride Map. 72 km (45 mi) ridden on the day.

Those Rondo bikes are gorgeous with their twin tip chipset adjustment so you can give the forks a slacker angle for rough stuff etc. They have a new rear triangle suspension thingy as well. Be interesting if they start making e bikes. They’ll probably use that Fazua 60 motor or the TQ to have a sleek lightweight e gravel bike.

I’d love to test an Orbea Rise they look such fun.

Fantastic bike shop to have fairly locally to you! Especially if they let you try out some of these bikes in the future. Expecting The Stefan Report on them all!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Those Rondo bikes are gorgeous

How have you heard about the brand?
I do not intend to buy any new ebike but am tempted to test the Fazua Ridley at the inner bike path of the CR store. What I could notice was any e-bike in the showroom was fully charged and ready to ride! (I was playing with the Mahle X35/X20 remote on a Ridley road e-bike to see how that famous control worked).

Magda Easter Meeting (Rainy, Cold, Windy) Ride

I had an appointment with my daughter at her Social Care Home for 14:00 on Sunday. Actually started pedalling my Vado 6.0 at 12:59! Not much time left to do 20 km, especially as the wind from North and icy rain were slowing me down. As the Vado is really a good and powerful e-bike, I reached my destination at 13:48, and I had to wait for several minutes before a railway barrier in pouring rain!

Together with my daughter in the cosy Meeting Room.

We tried to eat one of the Easter Bunnies together It is a lot of chocolate, and we both failed!

A riddle for you:
Summer time and winter time?
Central European Time and British Time?

My trusty Roadrunner Honestly, that was the thing to carry me through the rain, wind and cold relatively fast and without excessive effort!
It occurred to me yesterday: I realized almost all parts of my original 2017 Vado 5.0 were replaced either by Specialized on warranties or by myself. Basically, it is a new Vado 6.0! The Best Buy of my life!
The remaining original parts are:

1. TRP Zurich brakes with rotors
2. Specialized stem
3. The cranks
4. The derailleur, shifter and the cable
5. The original battery
6. Front fender
7. Kickstand
8. The rear wheel (to be replaced soon).

Everything else (including the frame and motor) was replaced!

I regret I did not take the selfie in the full clothing with my blue sailor's jacket black because of the rainwater Take a look at my bibs and shoes!

I love cycling and am not afraid of bad weather. However, with 1 C, wind and icy cold raining, I had to do a rescue stop at a Żabka (Little Frog) convenience store to warm up. I also made some shopping (Because of Palm Sunday, the stores in Poland were untypically open). Upon entering my flat, my bad foot was terribly aching from hypothermia! (All good now).

A lovely day despite the weather!

 

[PatriciaK]

Always happy to see Magda's smiling face ! Worth the rain and the cold, I'm sure!

 

[BlackHand]

Finally had a decent month of riding thanks to spring weather and a bit of a schedule change. 325 miles for March nearly all of it during commutes - I try to vary every commute a bit and get in at least a couple extra miles on the way home before dark.

A shot from Phinney Ridge looking down into Ballard.

You never know when you'll turn down a random street and be surprised.

Richmond Beach has a couple streets that are fun descents.

The downside of urban riding: the bus lane doubles as a bike lane but I don't normally use this route for obvious reasons. Now I can cross this stretch off my list having done it at least once.

Obligatory sunset/ferry/mountain pics

 

[Deleted member 57338]

Went for a long trail ride at patapsco Valley State park yesterday, April 2, 2023. Started at McKelon area and went thru to Daniels dam and back. Mostly intermediate single track with about 2mi paved surface and 4mi gravel. chilly at 38f/3.3c and quite blustery.
27.8mi/44.7km distance
4740ft/1444m elevation

Usual crossing of N Branch of Patapsco to be challenging. Winter/spring rains usually transform this area annually.

DANG! got my feet wet already!

daffodils by the river

Historic place

Dam at Daniels

Brunch time and solar gain for the body.

The Woodstock Inn...now a reputable establishment?!!

The abandoned quarry, where as teenagers, we were often chased by authorities for trespassing. It is now a highlite along the trail.

I swear there is more water here than before!

bout 5hr ride including breaks. avg speed was 5.5mph (break time included) cause if I pause my app, I usually forget to restart it. Thanks for your time and hopefully your interest as well.
NAPTIME!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

How have you heard about the brand?
I do not intend to buy any new ebike but am tempted to test the Fazua Ridley at the inner bike path of the CR store. What I could notice was any e-bike in the showroom was fully charged and ready to ride! (I was playing with the Mahle X35/X20 remote on a Ridley road e-bike to see how that famous control worked).

Magda Easter Meeting (Rainy, Cold, Windy) Ride

I had an appointment with my daughter at her Social Care Home for 14:00 on Sunday. Actually started pedalling my Vado 6.0 at 12:59! Not much time left to do 20 km, especially as the wind from North and icy rain were slowing me down. As the Vado is really a good and powerful e-bike, I reached my destination at 13:48, and I had to wait for several minutes before a railway barrier in pouring rain!

View attachment 150824
Together with my daughter in the cosy Meeting Room.

View attachment 150825
We tried to eat one of the Easter Bunnies together It is a lot of chocolate, and we both failed!

View attachment 150826
A riddle for you:
Summer time and winter time?
Central European Time and British Time?


View attachment 150827
My trusty Roadrunner Honestly, that was the thing to carry me through the rain, wind and cold relatively fast and without excessive effort!
It occurred to me yesterday: I realized almost all parts of my original 2017 Vado 5.0 were replaced either by Specialized on warranties or by myself. Basically, it is a new Vado 6.0! The Best Buy of my life!
The remaining original parts are:

1. TRP Zurich brakes with rotors
2. Specialized stem
3. The cranks
4. The derailleur, shifter and the cable
5. The original battery
6. Front fender
7. Kickstand
8. The rear wheel (to be replaced soon).

Everything else (including the frame and motor) was replaced!

View attachment 150828
I regret I did not take the selfie in the full clothing with my blue sailor's jacket black because of the rainwater Take a look at my bibs and shoes!

View attachment 150829
I love cycling and am not afraid of bad weather. However, with 1 C, wind and icy cold raining, I had to do a rescue stop at a Żabka (Little Frog) convenience store to warm up. I also made some shopping (Because of Palm Sunday, the stores in Poland were untypically open). Upon entering my flat, my bad foot was terribly aching from hypothermia! (All good now).

A lovely day despite the weather!

How have you heard about the brand?

I heard about them back in 2018 or so. Their front forks flip chip made headlines in a lot of the bike review sites. They were the first to do it & a lot of big companies have copied them it seems. They seemed to be a small, high tech & innovative company. And I just realised that the ‘rear triangle suspension’ I mentioned is similar to that new Sirrus frame from Specialized! Looks like both companies were working on this idea separately.

The radical new Rondo Ruut ditches its seat tube to add suspension

Move over Specialized, Rondo's revamped Ruut has an interrupted seat tube

www.bikeradar.com

And here’s one of the reviews from 2019 or so:

https://advntr.cc/rondo-ruut-al/

 

[PatriciaK]

Finally had a decent month of riding thanks to spring weather and a bit of a schedule change. 325 miles for March nearly all of it during commutes - I try to vary every commute a bit and get in at least a couple extra miles on the way home before dark.

A shot from Phinney Ridge looking down into Ballard.
View attachment 150860

You never know when you'll turn down a random street and be surprised.
View attachment 150861

Richmond Beach has a couple streets that are fun descents.
View attachment 150862

The downside of urban riding: the bus lane doubles as a bike lane but I don't normally use this route for obvious reasons. Now I can cross this stretch off my list having done it at least once.
View attachment 150863

Obligatory sunset/ferry/mountain pics
View attachment 150865
View attachment 150866

Nice to see some sun in Seattle!

 

[RabH]

It was a nice day yesterday but my legs were still feeling my tough 500th ride so I decided to wait until today! It was pretty much the same weather as yesterday but with even more sunshine! Spring didn't last long though, it was back to frost again so I waited until midday and then set off into a chilly SE wind! Thankfully it was only around 15-20mph so nothing bad, I headed north to Lennoxtown to tackle the climbs over the Campsie Hills and this time it would be a clockwise loop as I did the anticlockwise route the last time! At Lennoxtown I stopped at the Whitefield Pond for a couple of photos before starting the climb!

Just before starting the big climb I stopped to grab photos of this awesome mural commemorating the awesome Scottish climber Robert Millar (who is now called Phillipa York and a journalist)

I could have done with his climbing legs today but the assistance made up for it This route is extremely popular for cyclists, I would never go near it at the weekend! Today I had it all to myself and I was loving it!
This is part way up the climb at around 800ft!

Another mile or so and I was nearing the top of the climb at just over 1100ft! Some of the road is smooth like this...

The not so smooth part a short time later!

I was now on the descent proper and managed 41mph with the breeze at my back, it would have been much faster but the road was badly potholed and not worth taking a risk!
Almost at the bottom now!

As soon as you reach the valley its straight into a climb again and once again the road has some lovely smooth tarmac like this but some pretty rough parts also... The road continues on with twists and turns and ups and downs for around 5 miles before its time to tackle the Campsies at the eastern end, called the Tak Ma Doon road!

A couple of miles further and more lovely smooth tarmac to enjoy and with conditions like this it was just cycling heaven!

The road runs alongside the Carron Valley Reservoir which was looking very healthy with the water as high as I have seen it for quite some time, some fishermen were braving the chilly wind but the sun sure helped!

I reached the turning point and it was time to tackle the climb up the Tak Ma Doon road, thankfully its much easier from this end as its a real brute of a climb from the Kilsyth end! This is the view from the bridge which takes you over the River Carron!

I loved this little log cabin at the foot of the climb!

I started up the climb and passed the Faughlin Reservoir which is a popular fishery, only wildlife around today!

I then reached the ford in the road which was flowing pretty quickly today before continuing the climb which reaches its peak not long after this! I decided to lift the bike over the ford today rather than risk hitting a rock under the water....

This is way steeper than the photo suggests but I soon reached the top and got a very welcome surprise, they had laid new tarmac (not before time as it used to be very rough) for over a mile and it made the descent an absolute thrill I shot past a roadie on the way down which surprised me, I guess he wasn't keen on going fast on that gorgeous new tarmac...what a waste!

I arrived in Kilsyth and used pretty much the same road I used on the way to the hills, nothing much to report from there other than the car drivers were well behaved which was probably due to the lovely sunshine! I passed a play park at Auchenstarry and it was absolutely mobbed, the schools are on holiday for Easter... a 2 week break! We got 3 days off school at Easter back in my day...not bitterI arrived home very contented but a little tired after all that climbing, I could probably have picked an easier route but I'm a glutton for punishment!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Those Rondo bikes are gorgeous with their twin tip chipset adjustment so you can give the forks a slacker angle for rough stuff etc. They have a new rear triangle suspension thingy as well. Be interesting if they start making e bikes. They’ll probably use that Fazua 60 motor or the TQ to have a sleek lightweight e gravel bike.

@Rás Cnoic: One of my gravel cycling buddies (incidentally, a salesman in the CentrumRowerowe.pl) owns a Rondo Ruut AL2 (2021), and wrote an honest review for that bike after 10,000 km ridden. In short:

Pros

• An excellent frame
• Full carbon fork
• TWIN-TIP chipset
• SRAM Apex 1x11 drivetrain
• Bosses for three water-bottle-cages and/or toolbox, for handlebar bag, for a rear rack and for the rear mudguard
• Quality painting
• Tubes filled with a Styrofoam insert, so the inner cables are silent.

Cons

• Mechanical disk brakes with not the best routing of the rear brake cable
• Wheel rims apt to crack at the spoke nipples
• Sunrace cassette (the owner swapped the failed cassette for a SRAM one, no issues afterwards)
• A heavy FSA crankset and the bottom bracket axle diameter of only 19 mm (the owner has replaced the bottom bracket insert and the crankset).

The reviewer said if he could revert his purchase decision, he would rather buy a carbon fibre Rondo bike with hydraulic disk brakes and better wheels.

A stock photo.

 

[Taylor57]

Finally had a decent month of riding thanks to spring weather and a bit of a schedule change. 325 miles for March nearly all of it during commutes - I try to vary every commute a bit and get in at least a couple extra miles on the way home before dark.

A shot from Phinney Ridge looking down into Ballard.
View attachment 150860

You never know when you'll turn down a random street and be surprised.
View attachment 150861

Richmond Beach has a couple streets that are fun descents.
View attachment 150862

The downside of urban riding: the bus lane doubles as a bike lane but I don't normally use this route for obvious reasons. Now I can cross this stretch off my list having done it at least once.
View attachment 150863

Obligatory sunset/ferry/mountain pics
View attachment 150865
View attachment 150866

Who is the gal walkin down the street? Interesting mid day outfit!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

@Rás Cnoic: One of my gravel cycling buddies (incidentally, a salesman in the CentrumRowerowe.pl) owns a Rondo Ruut AL2 (2021), and wrote an honest review for that bike after 10,000 km ridden. In short:

Pros

• An excellent frame
• Full carbon fork
• TWIN-TIP chipset
• SRAM Apex 1x11 drivetrain
• Bosses for three water-bottle-cages and/or toolbox, for handlebar bag, for a rear rack and for the rear mudguard
• Quality painting
• Tubes filled with styrofoam insert, so the inner cables are silent.

Cons

• Mechanical disk brakes with not the best routing of the rear brake cable
• Wheel rims apt to crack at the spoke nipples
• Sunrace cassette (the owner swapped the failed cassette for a SRAM one, no issues afterwards)
• A heavy FSA crankset and the bottom bracket axle diameter of only 19 mm (the owner replaced the bottom bracket insert and the crankset).

The reviewer said if he could revert his purchase decision, he would rather buy a carbon fibre Rondo bike with hydraulic disk brakes and better wheels.

Interesting! Especially the wheels cracking at the spokes. That’s bad. I know gravel bikes get more abuse then road but still. Anyway this is a much nicer thread then discussions about non e bikes I don’t even own(!) so I’ll head off now. Back to great journeys & lovely pics of countryside!

 

[BlackHand]

Who is the gal walkin down the street? Interesting mid day outfit!

Well I didn't stop to ask their name or profession, but this stretch of Aurora Ave does have a certain reputation and has for as long as I've lived here:

Seattle adopted a policy of not arresting the sellers, only buyers. Not uncommon to see 10 or so workers out at 7:30 in the morning, some of them just in a thong.