Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Cowlitz]

I rode the Rad to Safeway. Two bad things about the Radmini. The throttle control is where the shifter is on the Gazelle and since I'm used to the Gazelle, well.... The Rad sticks out and attracts attention. I didn't feel like conversing much this morning.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

The black swans photo, clearly you reproduced the famous Loc Ness Monster photo….

Nice job old man!!!
-BB

We can do white (and very noisy) as well!

These rascals flew in for Sunday breakfast a few minutes ago, perched right outside where I am now, and then screamed and screeched to be fed! As usual, I obliged. (Don't even think of hand-feeding them!)

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
6:15 am Sunday (That's not fair!)
​

 

[Stefan Mikes]

View attachment 111884

Juvenile Pied Stilt
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I hope you at least stopped the bike?

 

[kahn]

I rode the Rad to Safeway. Two bad things about the Radmini. The throttle control is where the shifter is on the Gazelle and since I'm used to the Gazelle, well.... The Rad sticks out and attracts attention. I didn't feel like conversing much this morning.

How the heck can they make these bikes for $1500???? How is it hefting 65-70 pounds?

 

[kahn]

We can do white (and very noisy) as well!

These rascals flew in for Sunday breakfast a few minutes ago, perched right outside where I am now, and then screamed and screeched to be fed! As usual, I obliged. (Don't even think of hand-feeding them!)

View attachment 111898

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
6:15 am Sunday (That's not fair!)
​

Great photo of an incredible photogenic critter! WOW.

 

[Cowlitz]

How the heck can they make these bikes for $1500???? How is it hefting 65-70 pounds?

I don't heft it. I ride it.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

KPN Small Loop (with Jacek)

I transported my Vado to the easternmost parking lot of the Kampinos National Park (KPN) this Saturday's morning. Lubed the chain, re-inflated the tyres, and after 5 km ridden I encountered my brother. Those HiVis clothes! How they stand out! I could see Jacek from 300 metres! And we rode straight into a strong WNW headwind. Well. What is the headwind for full power e-bikes? Nothing!

I demanded a stop at a small store in Stara Dąbrowa, one of popular cyclist stops. That store only accepts cash payments. I think they are missing the network coverage there!

Wilków Connecting Road. It was a tragedy! Deep frozen ruts made the ride very dangerous! Jacek actually thought I would collapse at some point!

Yours truly, after we left the Wilków Connector.

In Kampinos, the village that gave its name to the National Park. It was up to +2°C and sunny for the whole trip. We continued our ride through popular road-cycling side roads.

At some point -- when we were riding downwind -- we spotted two roadies. Jacek is a "single battery ride" believer so he had to economize on the assistance, still, we caught up with those guys. (When approaching them, I warned Jacek: 'DON'T OVERTAKE THEM" ) While riding, I engaged one of them in a friendly talk, just to see my brother could not control himself, and spurted to the front of the group!

-- Oh well -- I said to the roadie -- It looks my brother cannot wait for dem cookiez at the Klimatyczna! -- and I followed Jacek

At the Klimatyczna Cafe in Leszno. We learned that a popular road-cycling club (going by a self-ironic name of Grupetto) had just left the cafe!

And we made friends with the owner, Ms. Ewa. Ewa has some family ties with road-cycling, so she decided to make her cafe specifically cycling-friendly!

I would have rather expected sudden death than meeting That Woman Who Beats Me and her mentor en route! I was just changing our route plan in Zaborów when the Hawkeye Jacek exclaimed: "It is Justyna riding there, isn't she?!" And yes, it was Justyna and Michał What a coincidence! I and Jacek first met Justyna at that very place!

Truskaw Connecting Road was almost as bad as the Wilków Connector... Yet, the forest paths turned out to be fantastic! It was dry inside the forest, and the sand was frozen. No issue to ride there, only I'd welcome some suspension...

 

[m@Robertson]

So I did my normal 6:30 am Saturday ride to the bakery to stand in line with the other diehards for baked treats. While in line I hear there is a tsunami warning. 7 ft swell with 1-2 foot waves on top of that. And its supposed to hit within a few minutes. AND we're right at a very high tide right now. So usually I go down to the water and munch a fresh croissant or berry danish at the water, but *clearly* the water was quite high (that 7 ft surge was in progress). Rather than being out on the point I picked a more sheltered spot, but dang... even with about a 15-foot embankment down to the water I still got splashed. Unusual to say the least. After I finished my snack I rode to the point - the place where Monterey Bay ends on this side and its just the Pacific from there - and the cops had already closed off all the beach parking and were kicking people out in prep for closing the road. Big waves were rolling in.

Worst case some people got a little wet. I had to forego my remote beach run I was planning later today as I am certain there wouldn't be a beach today... Nothing close to the difficulties the people of Tonga faced today, I am sure.

 

[Readytoride]

Heard the entire West coast was under that tsunami warning. Satellite video of the underwater volcano explosion was amazing.

Glad you heeded the warning.

 

[kahn]

Heard the entire West coast was under that tsunami warning. Satellite video of the underwater volcano explosion was amazing.

Glad you heeded the warning.

There were even warning for Puget Sound which is generally removed from the ocean other than the "entrance" between the US and Canada. I did not watch the news so I don't know if Puget Sound actually was affected.

 

[mschwett]

a chilly ride today, temperatures around 0C. the roads have been clear of snow for a while, but unfortunately the shoulders and bike lanes were frequently wet and icy, plus lots of traffic. the conditions plus hardly any sleep the night before and a few cocktails made this not the most enjoyable ride, but nice to have a change of scenery!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

It turned out to be a non-event for us (diagonal green stripes)

Note how most of the Queensland coast was never threatened (horizontal green stripes) because it is protected by the Great Barrier Reef.

 

[PatriciaK]

There were even warning for Puget Sound which is generally removed from the ocean other than the "entrance" between the US and Canada. I did not watch the news so I don't know if Puget Sound actually was affected.

WA not so much, says Seattle Times...1.1' waves and a 1' surge in Neah Bay.

 

[BlackHand]

It was a FABulous day !

I'm glad so many fellow Washingtonians were able to get out and ride in the nice weather break we had.

Planned to ride today after a few hours at work, probably doing the BGT along the lake. Had the battery all set to charge, clothes set out, etc - then about 10:30 last night my son noticed a smell downstairs and I go down to find raw sewage erupting out of our downstairs toilet. Had a tsunami warning of our own and spent several hours keeping it mostly contained to the bathroom.

Spent all of today dealing with that and trying NOT to think about just how much e-bike one could buy with what it costs to fix 45ft of old root-infested sewer lines.

On the bright side I can always ride, and flush, another day and it's just money. Plenty of folks in our country have lost a lot more in recent weeks.

 

[kahn]

I'm glad so many fellow Washingtonians were able to get out and ride in the nice weather break we had.

Planned to ride today after a few hours at work, probably doing the BGT along the lake. Had the battery all set to charge, clothes set out, etc - then about 10:30 last night my son noticed a smell downstairs and I go down to find raw sewage erupting out of our downstairs toilet. Had a tsunami warning of our own and spent several hours keeping it mostly contained to the bathroom.

Spent all of today dealing with that and trying NOT to think about just how much e-bike one could buy with what it costs to fix 45ft of old root-infested sewer lines.

On the bright side I can always ride, and flush, another day and it's just money. Plenty of folks in our country have lost a lot more in recent weeks.

I just had my sewer clean-out moved from the basement (a periodic mess) to the outside and also had the line lined with some type of plastic sleeve (that hardens after insertion). And, yes, there were a couple of e-bikes in there!!!! Oak tree roots in my case. Good luck.

 

[dodgeman]

My ride from yesterday, not exactly an e bike.

 

[Mulezen]

^Mine’s orange…the high visibility keeps it from collision with ebikes…the damn things are everywhere

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A Weird Arc

My thought on the day before was to transport my Vado pretty far westwards to gain from the forecast westerly wind. In the morning, I transported my e-bike to Płochocin PKP, the nearest train stop on our main westwards railroad and took a train to Sochaczew. To discover the strong wind actually blew from SSW... Meaning strong headwind on the first segment of my long Sunday ride! It was 0°C, gloomy, windy, and it felt very cold.

After some 24 km of SSW ride, I reached the Bolimów Forest. The gravel fire-roads are of a model quality there! I was experiencing many peculiarities of the route as created by RideWithGPS on that day. For instance, why didn't the route planner direct me through the most obvious and excellent path? (That error added -- I guess -- 4 km extra to my ride).

Becoming hungry, I welcomed a tiny family grocery store in Puszcza Mariańska with delight! Not only I got me some grub but also bought some delicacies for later there! I only missed a warm beverage at that point. And... eating outside in the cold is no fun! (I shudder to think what @Chargeride would say about this photo!)

The next segment led directly to Mszczonów. That RideWithGPS again! Instead of routing me to Mszczonów, the app has invented a weird triangle, adding several km extra, with the peculiarity it was a rail trail. Good thing, however, was I could find a large petrol station by Highway #50, so I could have a large warm coffee with a pączek there!

On yet another rail-trail past Mszczonów. Unlike in Australia, there is no fence along the railroad but rather a very deep ditch instead.

At the southernmost tip of my trip. I regretted I could not continue riding that perfect asphalt forever! Additionally, I finally had tailwind for the rest of my travel from that point on!

A short stop in Żabia Wola (Frogsville). Just 25 kms to go! And what is 25 km for an e-biker? Nothing!

See my route in the shape of a weird arc, actually connecting two stations on the same railroad only to make at least a metric century on an e-bike It was too late to discover I was close to making 70 miles on that Sunday!

 

[PatriciaK]

WA not so much, says Seattle Times...1.1' waves and a 1' surge in Neah Bay.

The only thing I noticed here on the island was a pretty high tide, though it was so foggy yesterday we didn't bother heading over to the west side to check out the shore facing the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

 

[DiggyGun]

Yay, got out and had a ride today.

After having the tuition for the rear wheel removal and the replacement inner tubes yesterday, we decided to get out into the fresh air.

The fog had lifted and not too chilly, we got out for a nice ride around the North Bucks countryside.

Came across these two old military Land Rovers in Adstock. Wonder what their history would be…

Our route today.