Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[kahn]

Chargeride, in the Conservatory, with a fat bike?

Are we playing Clue?

It would have been a candlestick or lead pipe. Speaking of which, I remember when my set had an actual piece of lead or solder. It was flexible and you could bend it. Boy, would the Consumer Products Safety Commission have fun with that these days. Of course, all of those pieces were small and could be swallowed by a toddler! UNsafe at any speed! But I also remember playing with liquid mercury as a kid!

 

[RandallS]

Wanted to go for a Christmas morning ride, but at -26C, i applied some common sense and had another cup of coffee.

So my word for my ride today = NO...

 

[DiggyGun]

It would have been a candlestick or lead pipe. Speaking of which, I remember when my set had an actual piece of lead or solder. It was flexible and you could bend it. Boy, would the Consumer Products Safety Commission have fun with that these days. Of course, all of those pieces were small and could be swallowed by a toddler! UNsafe at any speed! But I also remember playing with liquid mercury as a kid!

I remember playing with Mercury as well, rolling it round in the palm of the hand.

I also remember getting the slipper for coming last in cross country during the PE lessons. Until I learnt, not how to improve, but how to cheat.

School is not as much fun these days…

 

[kahn]

I remember playing with Mercury as well, rolling it round in the palm of the hand.

I also remember getting the slipper for coming last in cross country during the PE lessons. Until I learnt, not how to improve, but how to cheat.

School is not as much fun these days…

Yes, we'd create our own amalgams by rolling a silver coin or penny in with the mercury. Ah, the fun old toxic days!

 

[chunk]

And these, in Buster Brown shoes. They emitted high level, poorly shielded x-rays to view your feet while wearing your new shoes to assure a good fit. That was a nice toy to keep the kids occupied while mom paid for the new shoes.

 

[kahn]

And these, in Buster Brown shoes. They emitted high level, poorly shielded x-rays to view your feet while wearing your new shoes to assure a good fit. That was a nice toy to keep the kids occupied while mom paid for the new shoes.
View attachment 110124

Oh, boy, maybe that's why my feet are cold sensitive. They were treated to repeated doses of those dastardly xrays. And, yes, I do remember those contraptions.

 

[Anna]

Good (Christmas) Morning!

The reason for the Xmas Eve flat in my Vado SL explained: I managed pinching the inner tube during the tyre swap, only the puncture manifested itself only now...

My feet froze today… Stefan I shall copy your technique… heavy boots rather than covers. Merry Christmas and a Great cycling New Year to all.

 

[Art Deco]

My feet froze today… Stefan I shall copy your technique… heavy boots rather than covers. Merry Christmas and a Great cycling New Year to all. View attachment 110136View attachment 110137

I thought you were in a mild weather area, Anna. That's not looking very mild...

 

[DiggyGun]

Funny you should say that. I just recently bought a GoreTex Beanie Skull Cap and it’s great.

This is the one that I got View attachment 109652

The only thing I need to sort out now is cold hands. I’ve got some GoreTex Windstopper / thermal gloves. But on their own they’re not quite warm enough. So I’ve ordered a pair of GoreTex Lobster style mittens in a larger size so that I can wear them over the first pair of gloves.

These are the GoreTex mittens I was referring to.

 

[Anna]

I thought you were in a mild weather area, Anna. That's not looking very mild...

Sierra mountain range.

 

[Art Deco]

Sierra mountain range.

Nope, not mild.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Wanted to go for a Christmas morning ride, but at -26C, i applied some common sense and had another cup of coffee.

So my word for my ride today = NO...

Better keep the coffee flowing there Randall. Just sayin.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/extreme-cold-warnings-issued-across-alberta-1.6298381

 

[PatriciaK]

Oh, come on what's a bit of 15-18F (-9C for those living in primitive regions!) temps and snow?

Yes, I'm planning on hunkering down, too. With luck I'll be able to cross country ski around Greenlake like last year.

Nothing so far in Kirkland... We'll see what it looks like in the morning ! Actually, it's a bit of a let down so far!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Latest news

We have had a wonderful Christmas party with Renata, Jacek and one of their sons Sebastian.

Sebastian and Jacek recollect the old days when the father was always consoling their younger son by buying him more and more of Lego

Before that, Jacek took care of my big Vado and also tried to repair the rear wheel of Vado SL. Well... I swear I wouldn't be swapping tyres on my e-bikes by myself anymore! My inept actions eventually led to damaging the whole expensive and hard to buy tyre! (I rode for a while on flat tyre).

Now, it is the Second Christmas Day morning with -10 C outside. I need to convince my brother we don't need any longer ride than one hour...

@Anna think of heated soles for your boots, too!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

...and it was 2 hrs 22 minutes outside and 1 h 43 min of net ride We did 30 km offroad in snow & ice including a hilly singletrack More on it: later.

Atomic (2nd Christmas Day: Ice & Snow Trail Ride) - Stefan M's 30.0 km bike ride

-7°C. With Jacek.

www.strava.com

 

[BlackHand]

Nothing so far in Kirkland... We'll see what it looks like in the morning ! Actually, it's a bit of a let down so far!

You were saying? I think Kahn's plan for skiing around Greenlake is going to work out better than my plan to bike to church and then do a short ride after that.

 

[PatriciaK]

That's more like it...

 

[redzed]

Latest news

We have had a wonderful Christmas party with Renata, Jacek and one of their sons Sebastian.
View attachment 110173
Sebastian and Jacek recollect the old days when the father was always consoling their younger son by buying him more and more of Lego

Before that, Jacek took care of my big Vado and also tried to repair the rear wheel of Vado SL. Well... I swear I wouldn't be swapping tyres on my e-bikes by myself anymore! My inept actions eventually led to damaging the whole expensive and hard to buy tyre! (I rode for a while on flat tyre).

Now, it is the Second Christmas Day morning with -10 C outside. I need to convince my brother we don't need any longer ride than one hour...

@Anna think of heated soles for your boots, too!
View attachment 110174

Wesołych i zdrowych świąt and another 10,000km in 2022!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Got up at 8 a.m. with no after-effects of the Christmas party. Which was strange as we had been drinking the "Russian Standard Gold" vodka and Polish Żubrówka (Bison Vodka) by midnight I attribute lack of hangover to all that delicious food served by Renata! Yet, a look at the outside thermometer (-10 C) made me worried a little. Will we survive the ride? I woke Jacek at 9 a.m. and we were set at 10:22. (It was only a tad less than -7 C at that time).

Jacek was riding his Giant Trance E+ on 2.6" Ice Spiker Pro tyres, and my ride was the Speed Vado 5.0 modded to the low geared version, on 2" Marathon Winter Plus rubbers. We both were wearing skiing apparel, and I was grateful to Jacek for lending me a pair of Gore-Tex skiing gloves (my brother is a skier, and he owns tons of skiing clothes!)

Upon entering the Kampinos National Park (KPN). Majority of our route was off-road. When we rode paved roads, those were covered with hard-packed snow covered with a layer of ice. To my surprise, I preferred the icy roads to off-road paths covered with frozen snow. The reason is, studded bike tyres are designed for riding ice but are not good for snow really (just manageable).

At the beginning of the Palmiry Road, which was glistening because of ice. It was the easiest ride segment for me!

A short stop at the Palmiry Memorial Site. No hikers, no cyclists! (Yes, some people appeared in the KPN just after noon). Just after, we had to clear a nasty segment of the Palmiry Rd. paved with rough cobblestone. As the cobbles were almost completely covered with snow, riding there was easier than ever!

I did never subscribe to MTB riding for that day! And it was only worse because my brother inadvertently got onto a hilly MTB singletrack soon after! (I survived although I had to walk my Vado uphill twice: too icy).

The icing on the cake: Visiting the former Warsaw Pact Atomic Warfare Command Centre (secondary). The facilities were created in 1980s and completely bulldozed in 2017. A Nature reservation was created, and the underground structures are bat habitat nowadays.

The reservation is also for rare plant species (ones that grow on sand).

The only remaining overground structure now sports a bat mural.

Soon afterwards we got out of the national park. Both I and Jacek were surprised how close the atomic command was not only to the civilisation but also so close to Jacek's place (and it was his first time there!)

The handlebar remote on my Vado stopped working! Therefore, I set the Eco assistance to 50/50% and it was appropriate for the whole ride, leaving a lot of charge in the battery. Yet, our average speed was pretty low (as you might expect from a Winter off-road trip).

The day before: Jacek replacing a worn 11t cog in the cassette of my Vado.

 

[kahn]

You were saying? I think Kahn's plan for skiing around Greenlake is going to work out better than my plan to bike to church and then do a short ride after that.

I don't think there is quite enough. I probably do have one or two pairs of "rock" skis out of my almost 20 pairs (not kidding) of cross-country/telemark skis. But shallow snow is also really rough on the elbows and wrists as the metal tipped poles hit the underlying pavement.