Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

Why does that bibiampol sign have a space between the first two letters?

Because it was a poor painter?
(I guess he made a typo and later corrected it).

 

[fooferdoggie]

a ride to a new expensive part of Lake Oswego. I found, these paths on google so routed a ride to them. a few of the path starts were stats so I found one that we could ride our tandem on. cool tunnel under the road I was looking for pennywise. I found at least 3 other tunnels on this path network. it was all paved with a lot of short steep climbs. too many doglegs a few we could not make the turn on the tandem and had to walk. the big forrest area only had a path we can ride along the edge. no bikes on most of the paths. a strage fountain in that really yuppie part of Lake Oswego. Plus a new sculpture at the start of the bike path. a gate going to the route through ha cool cemetery that someone was going the hard way to get into. you dont usually see a building with all rafters and nothing tying it together and a bunch pee bottles outside the portapotty.

 

[ActionJackson]

Bit of a clunky gimmick, but you can see the potential...would you use a laser projected gps?

Streamable Video

Watch this video on Streamable.

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It must be Stefan screwing around at night because it ends at an ice cream shop.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Scanned it

Found your bike.

Behind the shitty.
Is it a restoration?

thats it. wife was eating her chocolate cake so I was wondering around. here is the bike.

 

[mschwett]

today i took out my creo with new tires, expressly for off-road riding! 42mm reneherse hurricane ridge, tubeless, inflated to 35psi. very cushy, slow and smooth ride. lots of grip. much worse on tarmac than my GP5000, much better on dirt and rocks than anything else i've ridden

the full route, around 30 miles, 3,100 feet of climbing, and a much slower average speed than usual at 2:58 moving time. it's MUCH harder to get a consistent workout off road, since speed is limited often by my own skill, confidence, the terrain, etc. on anything but the fastest road descents i'm still pedaling at 200+ watts, which i certainly wasn't doing much of the time for this ride. average power around 25% less, and very uneven.

ready to go! the last time these tires will be clean.



it was a stunningly beautiful day, with the second day of the annual "fleet week" airshow causing big crowds to gather outside for the first time since the pandemic here in san francisco. some of my usual empty road climbs were parking lots for the cars, but not for me



up in the marin headlands, seemingly far from civilization, graffiti is present on one of the many obsolete bunkers in the area.



pretty easy riding here, with fantastic views.



this is a detached main barrel from the type of gun installed at these batteries, 68 feet long, firing a one ton 16 inch projectile more than 25 miles to protect the san francisco bay during world war ii. i don't believe any of these installations were ever fired in actual combat, but it's stunning to think that just 75 years ago it was considered a real threat that japanese battleships would attack the west coast of the united states. the batteries, forts, SAM installations (some nuclear! ) dotted around this area are quite interesting.



the riding got harder from here, with up to 15% grades, some paths carved with steps, rutted, big rocks, etc, as well as some nice long dirt ascents and descents. i believe this gentleman passing me is on a santa cruz heckler with 85 nM mid-drive.



back to the city, with the large crowds gathered. i didn't get any photos but there were numerous direct overflights of the blue angels during this section of the ride. incredibly impressive precision, shockingly loud.



i guess one has to clean a bike after every such ride? so much dust!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

would you use a laser projected gps?

https://streamable.com/0310bq[/URLe

My answer is "No".

People get easily excited with fancy solutions. For instance, Garmin Varia, while a $11 rear-view mirror is reliable and doesn't require charging.
I see no point in the HUD GPS navigation: My Wahoo serves me well, and my smartphone did GPS navigation even better before.

 

[ActionJackson]

For instance, Garmin Varia

You don’t see a need for Varia as you don’t ride on congested roads, otherwise you would realize how valuable that device is.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You don’t see a need for Varia as you don’t ride on congested roads, otherwise you would realize how valuable that device is.

You seem to forget my Vado is a moped that is not allowed to ride bike paths. On contrary, I ride congested roads very often, and that allows me getting through Warsaw much faster than traditional bikes can. Note the equipment that is mandatory on a moped is the rear-view mirror. How many ICE scooters or light motorcycles need Garmin Varia? (None).

This is my typical route when I just need to drink coffee together with my friend Jazza in Warsaw. I'm riding principal roads there. And the bike ban doesn't pertain to my Vado.
(I'm only not allowed to ride expressways and freeways).

My ride on Vado in detail, just on the 10th day of my Vado ownership

 

[ActionJackson]

This is my typical route

Yes I looked through Google Maps Street View through your city - reminds me quite much of suburbia in America. Huge wide streets and avenues. I’m actually envious . You should come to Tokyo and take a ride in traffic hehe - you don’t have time to look in the mirror to detect oncoming traffic from behind, because then you’ll miss traffic you are going to drive into . That’s where Varia really shines. It’s a fantastic tool, personally I think it’s the most useful safety device on a bike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes I looked through Google Maps Street View through your city - reminds me quite much of suburbia in America. Huge wide streets and avenues. I’m actually envious . You should come to Tokyo and take a ride in traffic hehe - you don’t have time to look in the mirror to detect oncoming traffic from behind, because then you’ll miss traffic you are going to drive into . That’s where Varia really shines. It’s a fantastic tool, personally I think it’s the most useful safety device on a bike.

Would you ride a Vespa in Tokyo? If yes, would you need the Garmin Varia?

 

[Deleted member 18083]

A change of ride location…

Almost every week I'll ride the northern section of the Moreton Bay Cycleway. Enough of that! I headed to the southern section of the bay for a change. Why had it been so long? I reminded abruptly!

As pleasant as many parts of this ride are, the southern section of the MBC (south of the Brisbane River and the Port of Brisbane) is constantly interrupted by urban sprawl and canal developments. After three hours I was hardly out of sight of my starting point! (Factor in coffee stops and photo opportunities.)

Anyway, here are some reminders of that short, but enjoyable, ride …

Moreton Bay Cycleway – Cleveland​

• To the left of my Homage is a housing development (pity it's there, but I must admit that it's the sort of place where I'd like to live!);
• To the right of the fig tree is an extensive preserved foreshore area (wading birds, mangroves and somewhere to moor a dinghy; good!).

Toondah Harbour, Victoria Point​

Redland Bay​

Grand View Hotel, Victoria Point​

The 'grand view' was behind the old (1851) hotel. Who in their right mind would want to sit on one of those daft bar stools right next to a busy street with the cars zooming by triggering off their Garmin Varia every few seconds?

And in case you're lost (new version featuring laser projection coming soon):

GPS Checker
Victoria Point Boat Ramp​

 

[CatKing]

 

[kahn]

Would you ride a Vespa in Tokyo? If yes, would you need the Garmin Varia?

NEED! Is quite different from USEFUL. Obviously, folks have biked along for years without it. Similarly, motorcycled and moped-ed without it. But that does not make it useless. Cars did not have EYE-SIGHT or whatever the sensors are called showing cars approaching on the left and right or a car or walker, walking behind your car. But they prove very useful safety devices. Now the Varia might be a tad less useful on a motorcycle or vespa since their inherent noise would probably drown out the audible beeps of the Varia-gps combo. But, again, USEFUL safety device. Needed, maybe not.

 

[kahn]

A change of ride location…

Almost every week I'll ride the northern section of the Moreton Bay Cycleway. Enough of that! I headed to the southern section of the bay for a change. Why had it been so long? I reminded abruptly!

As pleasant as many parts of this ride are, the southern section of the MBC (south of the Brisbane River and the Port of Brisbane) is constantly interrupted by urban sprawl and canal developments. After three hours I was hardly out of sight of my starting point! (Factor in coffee stops and photo opportunities.)

Anyway, here are some reminders of that short, but enjoyable, ride …

View attachment 103117

Moreton Bay Cycleway – Cleveland​

• To the left of my Homage is a housing development (pity it's there, but I must admit that it's the sort of place where I'd like to live!);
• To the right of the fig tree is an extensive preserved foreshore area (wading birds, mangroves and somewhere to moor a dinghy; good!).

View attachment 103121

Toondah Harbour, Victoria Point​

View attachment 103123

Redland Bay​

View attachment 103122

Grand View Hotel, Victoria Point​

The 'grand view' was behind the old (1851) hotel. Who in their right mind would want to sit on one of those daft bar stools right next to a busy street with the cars zooming by triggering off their Garmin Varia every few seconds?

And in case you're lost (new version featuring laser projection coming soon):

View attachment 103124

GPS Checker
Victoria Point Boat Ramp​

You folks have great trees!

 

[ActionJackson]

Would you ride a Vespa in Tokyo? If yes, would you need the Garmin Varia?

Scooters and motorcycles keep pace with traffic, so no you wouldn’t need a Varia in as much you don’t need it on a car. On a bike - unless you can pedal at 45km/h (uphill) you’re going to need situational awareness on your backside. That’s what Varia provides.

 

[dodgeman]

I’m not going to say the scenery around my house boring but compared to some these pics it’s pretty lame.

 

[fooferdoggie]

@fooferdoggie I was referring to the port a potty.
I'm interested in what is being built next to it.
I'm sure you and wife will ride there again and show how it progresses.
Your bike is amazing two pedaler and motorised you must have long range capabilities.

yopu mean that rectangle box looking thing? not sure mayve I can get a better look when I go that way again. we go that way at least once a week. we get about 50 miles on a battery on the flats. but hills can knock the battery down to about 30 miles with 2000 feet of climbing.

 

[mschwett]

Scooters and motorcycles keep pace with traffic, so no you wouldn’t need a Varia in as much you don’t need it on a car. On a bike - unless you can pedal at 45km/h (uphill) you’re going to need situational awareness on your backside. That’s what Varia provides.

the varia is an interesting device. i saw it said by someone somewhere that everyone who has one thinks it’s essential and everyone else thinks it’s useless - until they get one.

my wife got me one as a gift a few weeks ago from my list of “cycling things i might like to try!” and i’ve used it on a few longer rides. it excels on rural roads, where, for example, one might be going uphill at 10mph on a narrow road where a vehicle could be moving many times that fast. the alert occurs far before anyone could possibly see such a vehicle in a mirror (or hear it), and the rate of closure diagram on screen gives you a very intuitive sense of how long you have to get out of their way. i found i could relax a bit from “listening” for traffic behind me, which is a bit less effective these days in a place where tesla makes the best selling car! in the city proper, it seems less useful since it’s essentially constantly going off.

the rear light which changes it’s pattern and brightness as a vehicle approaches is also an interesting feature, certainly catching a driver’s attention more than a fixed pattern.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Biggest Grocery Shopping I Dare To Carry On My Vado SL

There is a single place where I can buy Carrefour branded coffee capsules for my Nespresso: Podkowa Leśna Shopping Mall. It is exactly a 15-km round trip (the trip takes me around 43 minutes, and I am independent of traffic jams). I could probably put more load on the SL rack but why to take a risk...

A day without driving a car is a better day.
A day with only mild wind is magnificent.
Turbo mode on the return way is OK
(Ooh, how much do I hate grocery shopping!)

Talking about traffic jams: I managed to overtake a DHL van at a roundabout shown here. The jam kept the van for such a long time I could reach the bike path with no other car following me, as everybody was still stuck in the town!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Tempted?

Fernvale, SE Queensland​

It's "official", the local bakery has won twenty-five medals for its pies. Really? Judging by the number of motorcyclists who stop at the Old Fernvale Bakery, there must be some truth behind the claim.

Resisting temptation, I pedalled on towards, but not into, the hills surrounding Fernvale. Maybe, I should have been less cynical. The pies were guaranteed 50% fat-free, weren't they?