Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[kahn]

Urban Jungle…

View attachment 107086

African Sausage Tree : Kigelia africana
Newstead, Brisbane​

A long time ago, during the travel-the-world stage of my life, I became acquainted with Africa's 'sausage tree' from which the local people made their dugout canoes to venture out on the Rift Valley lakes. 'No hippos or crocodiles!' was their assurance. True?

The fruit can be eaten: just leave its preparation to someone with 'local knowledge' or suffer the consequences!

I doubt that I will ever again see those fascinating countries* with their inland seas, but the sausage tree growing beside the Brisbane River will always trigger memories as I ride by.
—————
* Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Moçambique.
Visited 1968 & 1970 : Right-click to open link without closing this page.

Now, that is one really strange tree.

From wiki comes this warning:

"The tree is widely grown as an ornamental tree in tropical regions for its decorative flowers and unusual fruit. Planting sites should be selected carefully, as the falling fruit can cause serious injury to people and damage vehicles parked under the trees. "

They do open with its laxative properties! I will stick to my oak trees although I guess it might prevent people from parking in front of my house.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Nice work if you can get it…

Scarborough Boat Harbour
Moreton Bay, Queensland
​

I wasn't the only one having fun on Friday morning. This trio from the Fisheries Department were actually being paid to have fun (aka checking other people's crab pots, which is why the centre official has a 'trailer' in tow).

A few minutes later, I spied another vessel puttering along. Did those on board appreciate the lack of wind as much as I did?

Both photos were taken from the low-lying land (Redcliffe Peninsula) in the centre of the photo in my previous post (above).

Deception Bay
Glass House Mountains* (~50 km distant)
Conondale Range (~80 km distant)​

* 'Glass House' because these remnants of ancient volcanoes reminded Captain Cook (May 1770) of the furnaces in which glass was made in Yorkshire.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

checking other people's crab pots

Is crab fishing illegal? Or?

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Is crab fishing illegal? Or?

Closed during the spawning season: which happens to be now!

I wandered outside and discovered that something was casting a shadow on the moon. Guess who never follows the news! Anyway, here's a photo taken a few minutes before the show was over. No colourful display at 8:30 pm.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Guess who never follows the news!

Neither I

Meanwhile, my Vado SL is waiting for the Sunday's gravel cycling ride. The new name of the bike is "Fearless". For those of you in Science-Fiction, "Fearless" was the name of the first Space light cruiser commanded by Madam Cpt. Honor Harrington (novels by David Weber).

Fearless with all imaginable mods

P.S. I gave Specialized Warsaw a call in expectation of my Saturday's demo ride on Creo SL E5. The salesman was ready to install gravel tyres on the e-bike for my convenience! I smiled and said "No need, thank you. Just charge the battery. I intend to try the Creo as a road e-bike, and a fast ride for them cookies to Góra Kalwaria by roads will do!"

 

[dodgeman]

I think your pic of the moon is sideways, the crater Tycho should be on the southeast corner of the moon. Maybe in Australia it shows up in a different location?

 

[Chargeride]

Had an interesting event yesterday, just pootling through the woods, descending a small hill and my left side handlebar sheared off at the mount.
immediate crash ensued, luckily its sandy ground.
quite a bruise on my leg though and snapped my goddam phone in half.
wasnt the end of the world as I use a cheap supermarket one for my rides.
always check for metal fatigue guys, when a major component fails, there is zero chance to save yourself.
i went from riding to flat on the floor in a tenth of a second.

hilarious one handed ride home though, I'll post the vid.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

left side handlebar sheared off at the mount

Sympathizing with you.
Time for a decent e-bike maybe?

 

[Chargeride]

youre determined to make me spend money

 

[RabH]

Neither I

Meanwhile, my Vado SL is waiting for the Sunday's gravel cycling ride. The new name of the bike is "Fearless". For those of you in Science-Fiction, "Fearless" was the name of the first Space light cruiser commanded by Madam Cpt. Honor Harrington (novels by David Weber).

View attachment 107265
Fearless with all imaginable mods

P.S. I gave Specialized Warsaw a call in expectation of my Saturday's demo ride on Creo SL E5. The salesman was ready to install gravel tyres on the e-bike for my convenience! I smiled and said "No need, thank you. Just charge the battery. I intend to try the Creo as a road e-bike, and a fast ride for them cookies to Góra Kalwaria by roads will do!"

So you are morphing into a roadie, so much for Mr Gravel Enjoy your cookie ride

@Chargeride I once set off down my hill which is a 10% gradient and had forgotten to tighten my bars properly after some adjustment, as soon as I went for the brakes my bars started to rotate at 30mph!!! Scared me half to death but I got away with it and lived to tell the tale! Having them snap like that is beyond scary, glad you weren't badly hurt!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

So you are morphing into a roadie, so much for Mr Gravel Enjoy your cookie ride

"It's no, nay, never, no, nay, never, no more!" Road cycling means riding the same circuit over and over to improve, the best in a peloton. It is the most boring thing the human race could invent Moreover, road cycling on a 25 km/h low powered e-bike would be utterly silly, at least for me While lower speed is acceptable on gravel rides, and gravel cycling means experiencing adventure together with your comrades!

I simply don't want to ride a Creo off-road on a November Saturday. I'm interested in Creo as an e-bike, and I'm curious how you ride a modern road bike. I rode my Chromoly road bike (with the old school shifters on the downtube) for the last time in 1996. The world has greatly changed since...

youre determined to make me spend money

I simply think you deserve some good things in your life

 

[kahn]

Closed during the spawning season: which happens to be now!

I wandered outside and discovered that something was casting a shadow on the moon. Guess who never follows the news! Anyway, here's a photo taken a few minutes before the show was over. No colourful display at 8:30 pm.

View attachment 107264

Nice photo, really nice.

Well, we were located in a prime viewing spot but, as usual, it rained all night and not much of anything is visible in our perpetual rain.

 

[kahn]

Had an interesting event yesterday, just pootling through the woods, descending a small hill and my left side handlebar sheared off at the mount.
immediate crash ensued, luckily its sandy ground.
quite a bruise on my leg though and snapped my goddam phone in half.
wasnt the end of the world as I use a cheap supermarket one for my rides.
always check for metal fatigue guys, when a major component fails, there is zero chance to save yourself.
i went from riding to flat on the floor in a tenth of a second.
View attachment 107266
hilarious one handed ride home though, I'll post the vid.

Sounds like you were lucky at being unlucky with minimal injuries or are more aches and pains showing afterward?

 

[Prairie Dog]

It was another cool day on the trails and we all donned an extra layer or two to keep warm. The temperature hovered around -5C throughout the entire outing. We decided to opt out of the final run at Heritage Ranch.

Despite my camera freezing up near the end of the ride, I did manage to capture footage as we carved our way along MacKenzie Bluff.

The lack of snow was evident on the Bluff section of the ride but it was a good day nonetheless. For me, the thought of riding outside in the fresh air is much better for my physical and mental well being than riding indoors on a trainer.

Near the end of the Bluff ride, we decided to divert from our typical route well above the river onto a different singletrack which required some delicate manoeuvring down a steep chute. Overall, it was a better and more pleasant choice riding in the treed cover rather than exiting out along the standard gravel double track.

Footage of our ride on MacKenzie Bluff prior to my GoPro freezing up.

There was slightly more snow on the trails at the MTB Park.

 

[kahn]

@Prairie Dog

Studded tires?

I was going to suggest wiping the frost off your gps (yes, I know it is glare) since that makes it look even chillier. 23F - toes would be gone even with my Lenz electric socks.

GREAT video. If only I were 20, 30, 40 years younger!

MY titanium components are a right hip!!!

 

[DiggyGun]

@Prairie Dog

Very nice video. Too near the edge in places for me.

Out of interest, what’s the piece of kit on your handlebars that I’ve circled In Red.

 

[kahn]

@Prairie Dog

Very nice video. Too near the edge in places for me.

Out of interest, what’s the piece of kit on your handlebars that I’ve circled In Red.

View attachment 107297

Speculate - a bell to warn off those bears that eat the slowest hiker, runner or biker.

 

[DiggyGun]

Speculate - a bell to warn off those bears that eat the slowest hiker, runner or biker.

Don't have much call for these in Buckinghamshire, England…

 

[Prairie Dog]

@Prairie Dog

Studded tires?

I was going to suggest wiping the frost off your gps (yes, I know it is glare) since that makes it look even chillier. 23F - toes would be gone even with my Lenz electric socks.

GREAT video. If only I were 20, 30, 40 years younger!

MY titanium components are a right hip!!!

We’re well past the shoulder season here and are usually accustomed to more snow on the ground than what we’ve received so far so it was somewhat of a coin toss when it came to tire choice. The ride would have been doable on standard knobby tires over the dirt sections but then one would be left at peril where patchy ice and sections of hard pack dominated. It certainly would have made for a riskier ride. The loss of another 16 studs yesterday was negligible in comparison. I have heated insoles reserved for much colder rides and a pair of thicker Wigwam socks kept my feet plenty snug on this day.

I’ve been truly fortunate enough in having good health over the years and feel extremely blessed to be able to ride with good friends who are all around the same age and we also form a pretty compatible group. I turn 61 next week and hope to keep riding for as long as my body and mind will permit.

The only bodily titanium that I can speak of is an implant screw post for a dental crown.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Out of interest, what’s the piece of kit on your handlebars that I’ve circled In Red.

It’s a Timber Bell. Some like their discreet Knogs but I prefer the classic look of the cow bell.

https://www.mtbbell.com/