Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[dodgeman]

I rode 12 mikes yesterday, it hit 50 degrees. This pic is out my front window today, 4 above tonight, 2 below tomorrow, Fahrenheit that is. No tiding for a few days.

 

[Nomad]

I rode 12 mikes yesterday, it hit 50 degrees. This pic is out my front window today, 4 above tonight, 2 below tomorrow, Fahrenheit that is. No tiding for a few days.

View attachment 110729

WHAT come on just throw on some Ice spikers and goggle with tear offs and your ready to roll!

 

[Art Deco]

@David Berry ... another year, another new thread or not ?
Your call, but 4600 picture heavy posts is a lot.

 

[kahn]

Is that you chill'n at the park or some poor guy that got stood up!

I did wonder if there was actually someone tucked in there - a snow mummy!

 

[Chargeride]

omg, got in at 3am.
Couldnt face a ride today, but incredibly warm weather, I went out in a tshirt last night and walked a mile home at 3am, it had sweat stains when I got in!
I would write off any snow, but our weather can 180 in a few hours.

I would call our covid strategy 'dontworryaboudit', all the bars rammed, not a mask in sight and Im not even boosted.
If I stop posting..you know why .
Heres to a great 2022 and a new thread?

 

[kahn]

Someone let us know when a new thread is created or if this is continuing.

 

[Mulezen]

Dave B. Is the local sheriff so we await his commands

 

[PatriciaK]

@David Berry ... another year, another new thread or not ?
Your call, but 4600 picture heavy posts is a lot.

Also, let's try to remember to post thumbnails in lieu of full size pics . This was requested last year by one of the admins...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

New Year 2022 Ride

I woke up on the Mieczysław name-day (1st of January in Poland) with hangover. I could vaguely recollect the online party, during which I made promises such as I would ride to @Jerzy Bańkowski to give him a can of excellent craft ale, that I would continue the ride to meet Dorota and Rysiek etc. You know what alcohol can doto some people, haha! I felt terrible in the morning. I could cancel my promised visits but... "Na kaca najlepsza jest praca!" (Hard work is the best cure against hangover) Several minutes past ten I was pedalling from Pruszków. As always, the moment when I actually start riding means all problems are over; I forgot hangover for good very soon. And the pedalling was so easy I reduced the assistance! Oh yes, that was a strong tailwind. I already knew the riding day wouldn't be that easy... Anyway, two hours after the ride start I met Jerzy at his place. The can of ale got successfully transferred to him!

The apartment block in which we lived with @Brix in November. The lawn covers the newly finished tunnel of the Southern Beltway of Warsaw. At last!

Newly completed bike path along the Beltway allows cyclists to ride for long distance safely and conveniently. It was 40 km from Pruszków "Junkyard by the Tank" to Jerzy's. I think the completed bike path system extends for some 10 km, and it includes both sides of the Southern Bridge.

I've been waiting for a long time to see it completed...

After an hour spent with Jerzy, I asked Rysiek if the married couple would still like to see me I knew it would be the hard part because of the wind. On the other hand, the perspective of starting the new year with a metric century ride was tempting...

I have ridden from the southernmost part of Warsaw to the northernmost one! It would be a nice experience if not strong and cold headwind that was slowing my Speed Vado down to 18 km/h! And I had to economize on the battery. (I actually swapped the battery some 2 km before reaching Rysiek's). Here, the National Stadium, which is a covid hospital now. One of the towers of the beautiful Poniatowski Bridge can be seen at left.

Well, visited Rysiek and Dorota, and naturally I had to be riding home at dark. The excellent lighting of my Vado helped a lot. The temperature was dropping and the wind was blowing... I discovered my warm roadie bibs stopped to be adequate... almost.

The night ride.

See I have almost "circumnavigated" Warsaw!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Starting a new thread at the beginning of the year can cause confusion. Let's avoid that. For many of us this is a 'quiet time' and it takes a while for ride material to become available; however, there are rides to remember and stats from 2021 to reveal.

My understanding is that the number of pages in a thread will not slow down the loading of a chosen page: that depends on the data to be loaded for that page (a different issue).

Remember:

• You can always click the "1" or "<<" at the top of the current page to find a table of contents for the entire thread.

• The table of contents on the very first page of this thread looks like this:

 

[Bubba zanetti]

It’s been very cold. I was going to venture out but a car accident this summer and broken ribs gave me pause. Still, it’s oddly beautiful at -17c.
Looking south above the Columbia River, which is steaming due to the cold

 

[RandallS]

Jan 1 means ride 1.
After lunch we hit -12C, so I got dressed into appropriate attire and headed out.


The ride stats - note the comment about phone.
Handlebar mounted devices tend to not agree with sub zero temperatures.


The route itself - red from Strava and Blue drawn in by me (approximation at best).



Some MUPS are cleared by city Parks and Rec department but not much cleared up on Nose Hill itself.


Where the light was flat - I really had to concentrate on my line, as it was getting difficult to stay on the packed "walking lane".
Sunglasses came off and goggles (amber lenses) were employed. They stayed on as the temps were dropping a bit.

I have copied @DaveMatthews and @Prairie Dog with the neoprene calf wraps - works well to protect (and maybe insulate a bit) the battery.
Also, my Christmas rear light worked well. I was wondering if the saddle rail clamps would remain tight or not but first test was passed with flying colours.



Tomorrow heading out again, but that will be with Louis (formerly @LouLouLePew but I don't think he's on EBR anymore) and there will be an adult beverage or two involved.
As he rides skinnier (but studded) tires on his Explore Pro, we'll have to stick to paths and roads.

 

[Art Deco]

Starting a new thread at the beginning of the year can cause confusion. Let's avoid that. For many of us this is a 'quiet time' and it takes a while for ride material to become available; however, there are rides to remember and stats from 2021 to reveal.

My understanding is that the number of pages in a thread will not slow down the loading of a chosen page: that depends on the data to be loaded for that page (a different issue).

Remember:

• You can always click the "1" or "<<" at the top of the current page to find a table of contents for the entire thread.

View attachment 110754

• The table of contents on the very first page of this thread looks like this:

View attachment 110757

OK, Thanks. Since this is going to be a multiyear thread, I expect BIG numbers ... not a dinky 4 or 5,000 posts ...

 

[Prairie Dog]

Jan 1 means ride 1.
After lunch we hit -12C, so I got dressed into appropriate attire and headed out.

View attachment 110790
The ride stats - note the comment about phone.
Handlebar mounted devices tend to not agree with sub zero temperatures.

View attachment 110788
The route itself - red from Strava and Blue drawn in by me (approximation at best).

View attachment 110798

Some MUPS are cleared by city Parks and Rec department but not much cleared up on Nose Hill itself.
View attachment 110789 View attachment 110792 View attachment 110793 View attachment 110794 View attachment 110795

Where the light was flat - I really had to concentrate on my line, as it was getting difficult to stay on the packed "walking lane".
Sunglasses came off and goggles (amber lenses) were employed. They stayed on as the temps were dropping a bit.

I have copied @DaveMatthews and @Prairie Dog with the neoprene calf wraps - works well to protect (and maybe insulate a bit) the battery.
Also, my Christmas rear light worked well. I was wondering if the saddle rail clamps would remain tight or not but first test was passed with flying colours.

View attachment 110796 View attachment 110797

Tomorrow heading out again, but that will be with Louis (formerly @LouLouLePew but I don't think he's on EBR anymore) and there will be an adult beverage or two involved.
As he rides skinnier (but studded) tires on his Explore Pro, we'll have to stick to paths and roads.

Looks like another great day up on the Nose. I expect tomorrow will be much warmer for the both of us before temps once again begin to plummet at the start of the week.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Jan 1 means ride 1.
After lunch we hit -12C, so I got dressed into appropriate attire and headed out.

View attachment 110790
The ride stats - note the comment about phone.
Handlebar mounted devices tend to not agree with sub zero temperatures.

View attachment 110788
The route itself - red from Strava and Blue drawn in by me (approximation at best).

View attachment 110798

Some MUPS are cleared by city Parks and Rec department but not much cleared up on Nose Hill itself.
View attachment 110789 View attachment 110792 View attachment 110793 View attachment 110794 View attachment 110795

Where the light was flat - I really had to concentrate on my line, as it was getting difficult to stay on the packed "walking lane".
Sunglasses came off and goggles (amber lenses) were employed. They stayed on as the temps were dropping a bit.

I have copied @DaveMatthews and @Prairie Dog with the neoprene calf wraps - works well to protect (and maybe insulate a bit) the battery.
Also, my Christmas rear light worked well. I was wondering if the saddle rail clamps would remain tight or not but first test was passed with flying colours.

View attachment 110796 View attachment 110797

Tomorrow heading out again, but that will be with Louis (formerly @LouLouLePew but I don't think he's on EBR anymore) and there will be an adult beverage or two involved.
As he rides skinnier (but studded) tires on his Explore Pro, we'll have to stick to paths and roads.

Nicely done sir!

 

[Prairie Dog]

My ride to kick off the new year was uneventful. The plan was to join a small group of friends for an outing along the local trails but the organizer got cold feet and decided to cancel due to the below average temperatures. It was -15C at the time which to most locals isn’t considered extreme so I was a bit puzzled at the decision to nix the ride. Not to be deterred, I headed out regardless for the sole purpose of conducting a bit of trail recon for my brother-in-law who is planning to drive up from Calgary and ride with me on Sunday.



Not many out and about today with the exception of a handful of skiers. I must confess that that there’s definitely no shortage of XC runs within our park trail system. Great to see that it's just as much a family outing.

Even the local skating pond was deserted. I suspect that will all change once the warmer conditions return tomorrow.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Wow! It looks really cold in other parts of the planet! I'll have to load the bike in the truck and drive up to the local ski resorts to experience what it's like to ride in the white stuff. Looks like a ton of fun! New Year ride along the California coast was amazing as well! Happy New Year to everyone!!

 

[fooferdoggie]

at least something today looks good.not as much as last year but my wife has been out of the loop a lot.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

2021: The Year of Group Rides and Friendships

Many of us e-bikers are "lone wolves"; it is because it is still not easy to find e-biking peers, and often traditional cyclists do not accept us riding with assistance when they need to fight solely with their muscle power. Okay, David Berry rides with his Tyred Old People and Richard Alaskan has been admitted to a road cycling club; still, such situations seem to be rare. And yes, I had many rides together with my brother Jacek in 2020 because I used to share my e-bikes with him. Yes, I rode often with @Jerzy Bańkowski, a long time trusted traditional cycling friend. The real breakthrough happened on February 28th, 2021, a truly winter day, with snowing, cold and strong wind. Before I will tell you the story, I need to focus on the importance of the social media: Facebook and Strava (especially as many of you are against them!)

There is a FB cycling fan-page for Warsaw cycling enthusiasts called Zarowerowana Warszawa (or, Biked Over Warsaw). A person who I call Przemek The Gravel Man announced a group ride there. I contacted him, and we met on a train to Warsaw on that Sunday. When more people came to the ride, they asked Przemek what I was, to which he honestly replied: "I don't know the man; we've just met on the train" And so it began.

Ania the Roadie (left), Staszek The Roadie (center). Przemek was taking this photo. I got enchanted with the sense of camaraderie within that group! They carried my heavy Vado onto an overpass (I felt ashamed). Ania was fascinated with my gear, like, the heated shoe insoles and socks. And when we had to cycle for many kilometres upwind, the group was drafting behind me. Out of sudden, it turned out a Metric Century was an easy and so natural distance! (There were more group rides with the Merry Gang afterwards).

My brother Jacek organized a two-day "Heritage Ride", when we were tracing our ancestors to five generations back (Holy Cross and Lesser Poland voivodships). The trip ended with a broken rear hub in the Giant Trance E+.

Then there was June 13th, 2021. I announced a group ride on that FB group. A female by the name of Justyna was the only person to join me and Jacek on a ride around the Kampinos National Park.

When we started our ride, I was leading the pack to determine the speed at which we would be riding. I could hear a soft voice from behind "Could we ride a little bit faster, please?" And it has turned out that the natural speed for That Woman was 30 km/h. Upwind! Justyna turned out to be a raw cycling diamond that just needed to be cut properly and put in a medallion...

Just a week later (6/19/21), on a group ride with @Jerzy Bańkowski, Justyna and Adam. It was an exceptionally warm day!

6/27/21. Famous "Wycinka Wolska Ride", or the best group ride of 2021! Here, Ania The Roadie, Jacek, Justyna That Woman. (I actually rode for 156 km on that day).

7/24/21. At the farthest point of my first (and only) Imperial Century Ride.

Vacation 2021 was split into the SW Poland/Czech Republic mountain trip with Jacek, and my solo rides in SE mountains of Poland (August 2021).

Six days of adventures with my brother, and a lot of Czech lager and Pilsner beer drunk together! Epic climbs!

Five days of riding in demanding mountains, with some trips in Slovakia.

Przemek The Gravel Man (left) has managed to attract me to group gravel rides. (With a properly set up Vado SL, I am now in shape to be riding with his groups to my utmost satisfaction! Full power Vado is just too heavy for that kind of rides). And yes, the gravel buddies fully understand the benefits of e-bikes!

I mentioned the role of Strava earlier. Yes, it is important. We all see the achievements of other friends, and are trying to match them. Also, my new riding buddies look to my Strava achievements and the results they find there made them convinced I am a right person to ride together with them!

2021 was the most eventful cycling year of my life. Not sure whether I would find so much time for e-biking in 2022! I wish you the best rides in this new year!

 

[DiggyGun]

2021: The Year of Group Rides and Friendships

2021 was the most eventful cycling year of my life. Not sure whether I would find so much time for e-biking in 2022! I wish you the best rides in this new year!

@Stefan

Nice write up of your cycling year