Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Mulezen]

Since resuming riding in July I’ve attempted to post a few times w/o success. My dialup internet connection coupled with a new camera (Canon Powershot) had me at a loss to post pictures. These pictures were taken recently including the horse today. This farm is owned by my mailman and his family. His wife keeps ten rescued mustangs hence the silhouette. Apparently she is serious enough about the subject as to have testified before Congress. The two flags, if you can make them out, is a display from a confused patriot. I found ‘Three Square Meal’ to be a mouthwatering name for a farm.

 

[Mulezen]

My home range. I hope to take in a few more distant trails soon.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Be brave, Dad!
We're right behind you…

Borallon, Queensland
15 km on map​

 

[reed scott]

Be brave, Dad!
We're right behind you…

View attachment 104134

Borallon, Queensland
15 km on map​

View attachment 104135

It's good to be the herd bull. They never eat you. Yeah, someday one of your boys will take over but then they'll just put you in another pasture to live out your days in ease. You don't really care about those heifers that much any more anyway.

No son, we're going to WALK down there and .......

 

[kahn]

As if we needed any more evidence that the world's turning upside down… but stop stressing, your lost cloud turned up over our rail trail just as I was finishing Tuesday evening's ride.

• Photo taken at 5:43 pm; sunset 5:59 pm – hence, the colour of the cloud (the world's not on fire!).
• Brisbane is 153ºE and our time is based on 150ºE: so, the sun sets (and rises) early – effectively twelve minutes of 'daylight-losing time'.

View attachment 104124

What a wonderful picture of a wonderful cloud. Such three dimensional depth.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

SL Range Extender Test & Artezan Samiec Alfa Imperial Stout Ride

We had a single warm October day (spoilt by a strong SW wind) here. I rode to one of our Decathlon sports stores to buy some winter cycling clothes on Wednesday. Actually, my intention was to test the range I could get from a Specialized SL Range Extender battery if I used 2/3 of the maximum assistance of my Vado SL. (A realistic estimate would be 30 km from the 160 Wh battery).

At the best local bike path of the neighbourhood. It starts at an "adult playground" where you can, for instance, play chess on a concrete table, and then it extends along a very small river, among fields, ponds and fallow land. Hardly any pedestrian can be met there, and it is paved with smooth asphalt. The bottom photo includes the Moszna Smoke Stack (next to my block of flats), and it is visible from the distance of 11 km there.

After I finished the battery test, I went back to my flat for a while to change clothes to something more suitable for the warm weather, and then rode to the Artezan Brewery in Błonie.

Artezan, a craft beer brewery, is located in one of the buildings of a former electronics factory MERA. Artezan is now fighting for survival in the grim times of pandemics, when people buy far less of expensive beer and do not frequent pubs too often.

Artezan has been one of the pioneers of the Polish craft beer revolution since 2012. In 2015, they established their own brewery in Błonie. Interestingly, the same industrial park hosts a competing establishment, Browar Błonie, that brews more traditional beer.

At the Artezan taproom (that is only open on weekends).

Before 2019, RateBeer.com was a respected (and independent) beer rating service. (The service stopped to be trusted after being bought by AB InBev, the owner of Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois and other garbage). In the golden years of RateBeer, Artezan's Samiec Alfa (Alpha Male) Barrel Aged Imperial Stout was listed among 100 best world ales of all times for several years in row. It is still brewed annually in a small batch. The other beer here, "Chcesz ciasteczko?" (Wanna Cookie?) is raspberry infused, barrel aged Imperial Milk Stout. It's delicious!

Only 58 km this time. "Pod Kominem" (Under The Stack) indicates my block of flats.

A reflection: Before e-bikes, Warsaw seemed so distant city to me! A car ride meant getting stuck in traffic jam and experiencing issues with finding a parking space. A commuter train? A long walk to the station, 40 minutes on the train and then taking Warsaw public transportation meant you actually avoided getting to and from our capital city! E-bike has shortened the distances significantly! The time spent on the travel is not that important (and it often takes the same or less compared to other means of transportation) but riding e-bike is so much fun, it is good for your health, and actually you want to go for a ride! Fancy that, a ride to a brewery for four bottles of ale! Before e-bikes, I would have waited until given beer became available in the local specialist store, and then would drive to the store (and that short driving seemed so boring...)

 

[Chargeride]

Yes..if you google maps a destination its quite often quicker by bike than train, and even for 200 mile journeys, outside of the SE commuter belt the trains are barely used because they are so inconvenient.
Even including the massive train use in London, trains are only 2% of travel in the UK..and we invented the passenger train.
Ive started making my vid on the workds first passenger line and station.
It was quite a spectacle, but now is left to decay and boarded up.

Anyway, sneaked onto the coastal path this morning, had the whole thing to myself...simply stunning.
Its 200ft to the sea straight down from here.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Even including the massive train use in London, trains are only 2% of travel in the UK..and we invented the passenger train.

In Poland, especially in large urban areas, railways are bike friendly. It often makes sense to transport your e-bike for say, 100 km from where you live and do the ride in the part of the region you have never been to. I could do that myself on the coming Saturday...

I could just transport my Vado by Mazovian Railways to Łochów, and start riding there. Yet, my brother wants to join, and he lives far away from any train station. Therefore, we need to transport our e-bikes by car, which I deeply regret.

(We want to see the Castle Liw, which is far away from Warsaw. In warm season, Liw is a popular destination for long distance Warsaw roadies).

 

[RabH]

I finally caught a break from the incessant wind and rain, it was still a little windy but after the 45mph winds yesterday it was way better today! It was frosty when I set off with a blue sky which made a lovely change, October hasn't been very kind and after tomorrow the weather is set to deteriorate once again! I'm hoping to grab another 50 miler tomorrow before the rain returns...

I decided to try a road I have ridden many times but always in the same direction due to the amazing descents it offers, time to get a workout up those big climbs! When I arrived at the foot of the climb I could see loose gravel and discovered the local council had been surface dressing one of my favourite roads...sigh! At this point I was very glad I was going up as it would have been lethal on the way down! This photo doesn't do the hill justice, its very close to a 20% gradient! You can see the loose gravel...

I noticed this lovely view part way up, usually I'm flying down and miss the view!

Not a bad view at the top either, the bridges are a good 10 miles away as the crow flies!

Now it was time to attempt the corkscrew descent which I wasn't looking forward to with the loose gravel, brakes on all the way down...

The corkscrew from the other side, its very exhilarating when there is no loose gravel...

As I was passing these highland cattle there was a magpie perched on the one on the left, by the time I got my phone out it was gone...at least it didn't attack me! We Scots have them well trained @David Berry

It was so good to get out again, I'm already looking forward to tomorrow and hoping the weather forecasts for the coming days are incorrect!

 

[DiggyGun]

Nice ride around the villages of North Buckinghamshire. The sun was shining brightly at Addington.

 

[Bubba zanetti]

Gorgeous Fall day here in the Kootenay’s.

Columbia River near Trail BC

 

[kahn]

SL Range Extender Test & Artezan Samiec Alfa Imperial Stout Ride

We had a single warm October day (spoilt by a strong SW wind) here. I rode to one of our Decathlon sports stores to buy some winter cycling clothes on Wednesday. Actually, my intention was to test the range I could get from a Specialized SL Range Extender battery if I used 2/3 of the maximum assistance of my Vado SL. (A realistic estimate would be 30 km from the 160 Wh battery).

View attachment 104157
At the best local bike path of the neighbourhood. It starts at an "adult playground" where you can, for instance, play chess on a concrete table, and then it extends along a very small river, among fields, ponds and fallow land. Hardly any pedestrian can be met there, and it is paved with smooth asphalt. The bottom photo includes the Moszna Smoke Stack (next to my block of flats), and it is visible from the distance of 11 km there.

After I finished the battery test, I went back to my flat for a while to change clothes to something more suitable for the warm weather, and then rode to the Artezan Brewery in Błonie.

View attachment 104158
Artezan, a craft beer brewery, is located in one of the buildings of a former electronics factory MERA. Artezan is now fighting for survival in the grim times of pandemics, when people buy far less of expensive beer and do not frequent pubs too often.

Artezan has been one of the pioneers of the Polish craft beer revolution since 2012. In 2015, they established their own brewery in Błonie. Interestingly, the same industrial park hosts a competing establishment, Browar Błonie, that brews more traditional beer.

View attachment 104159
At the Artezan taproom (that is only open on weekends).

View attachment 104161
Before 2019, RateBeer.com was a respected (and independent) beer rating service. (The service stopped to be trusted after being bought by AB InBev, the owner of Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois and other garbage). In the golden years of RateBeer, Artezan's Samiec Alfa (Alpha Male) Barrel Aged Imperial Stout was listed among 100 best world ales of all times for several years in row. It is still brewed annually in a small batch. The other beer here, "Chcesz ciasteczko?" (Wanna Cookie?) is raspberry infused, barrel aged Imperial Milk Stout. It's delicious!

View attachment 104163
Only 58 km this time. "Pod Kominem" (Under The Stack) indicates my block of flats.

A reflection: Before e-bikes, Warsaw seemed so distant city to me! A car ride meant getting stuck in traffic jam and experiencing issues with finding a parking space. A commuter train? A long walk to the station, 40 minutes on the train and then taking Warsaw public transportation meant you actually avoided getting to and from our capital city! E-bike has shortened the distances significantly! The time spent on the travel is not that important (and it often takes the same or less compared to other means of transportation) but riding e-bike is so much fun, it is good for your health, and actually you want to go for a ride! Fancy that, a ride to a brewery for four bottles of ale! Before e-bikes, I would have waited until given beer became available in the local specialist store, and then would drive to the store (and that short driving seemed so boring...)

I really like STOUTS. Especially, if thick and rich.

Question: How do you pronounce ł Looks like an L. Why the slash - to distinguish between number 1?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Question: How do you pronounce ł Looks like an L. Why the slash - to distinguish between number 1?

It is more or less the English W. Ł (uppercase) and ł (lowercase). If I wanted to transcribe "water" to Polish, I would write it "ŁOTER". ŁĄKA (meadow) is something you would have probably transcribed to "won-kah". "Błonie" would be "bwoh-nyeh".

While our W is just English V. Like Warszawa (Vahr-sha-vah)

 

[kahn]

While you folks are posting nice colorful foliage pictures, I'm planning on heading out the door at 6:30am to try raking leaves into my neighbor's free large bin. And, yes, it is still quite dark out there!

But a little color on yesterday's 15 mile bike ride. Looking at Puget Sound from Sunset Park.

And between rain and wind storms I did rake this morning....

 

[dodgeman]

Took a nice 25 mile ride from Moab Utah to a place outside of town called Giant Dinosaur Park. In this case it’s more about the journey than the destination. We visited and paid to get in the dinosaur park a few days ago, they have a museum and several life sized exhibits. The ride is a nice paved path and had a elevation gain of 1900 feet. The one pic is the foot bridge over the Colorado River.

 

[RabH]

Another beautiful day and another glorious ride, it wasn't as cold as yesterday and the wind was a bit calmer so it was perfect riding conditions! If I combine yesterdays ride with today it would be 101 miles with 7,500ft of climbing, I sure felt it into the wind on the way home today! I will have a full week to recover now if the weather forecasters are correct...

The local fishery was looking nice in the morning sunshine!

The Campsie Hills to the north were also looking very nice, the clouds to the north of them were looking a bit nasty though!

Thankfully those clouds remained to the north and although the roads were pretty wet after overnight rain, conditions remained very favourable! My bike was absolutely filthy when I returned home though, mainly due to house building which seems to be escalating around these parts!

The Clyde Valley was looking gorgeous as always, I have photographed this particular part so many times but it always looks different as the seasons progress!

Further on and the beautiful views remained, the Pentland Hills to the south also had those nasty clouds forming around them!

Two wonderful cycling days, I can't wait to get out again no matter how long it will be! Cycling sure is the best medicine ever invented and e bikes are the icing on the cake!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Jacaranda Time …

@David Berry: Are jacarandas flowering yet?

Borallon, Queensland​

It's been a tough October for jacarandas: no sooner have they flowered than heavy rain, even hail, has come along and knocked the flowers off! Here's one tree, not far from home, that struggled through the turmoil.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Here's one tree, not far from home, that struggled through the turmoil.

That's always such a beautiful view! Sorry to hear about the weather.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm just checking in. @Stefan Mikes what happened to Powerfly Lee?
I came across a post that he was struck by a car? The report was not clear

As far as I know, his front tyre blew up, making his crash the most unfortunate one with serious injuries (but he had his helmet on). Some time ago, he reported on Strava he had left the hospital, and was undergoing intensive physiotherapy. I hope he would rejoin us here when ready for that.

Looking at Puget Sound from Sunset Park.

Kahn, for some reason, I find the PNW one of the most attractive U.S. regions! I have been to Vancouver etc and liked it there, too!

 

[kahn]

As far as I know, his front tyre blew up, making his crash the most unfortunate one with serious injuries (but he had his helmet on). Some time ago, he reported on Strava he had left the hospital, and was undergoing intensive physiotherapy. I hope he would rejoin us here when ready for that.


Kahn, for some reason, I find the PNW one of the most attractive U.S. regions! I have been to Vancouver etc and liked it there, too!

Vancouver is very similar to Seattle. Lots of waterviews and hilly topography making it interesting. Although, their downtown is flatter than Seattle's. Lots of forests, actually, almost endless forests and nearby mountains. I do find our Desert Southwest amazing with its red rocks and carved canyons.

I've never been really east of Austria or Germany except Greece many years ago and a number of trips to the Dolomites for hiking and cross-country skiing. And a very memorable trip cross-country skiing in Norway a few years ago.