Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Twin Valley]

As I sat comfortably wrapped up in the latest detective thriller and occasionally

peaking out our cabin window wondering if spring will ever arrive my 12 year old grand-daughter kept dropping hints that it would be o.k. for a bike ride this afternoon - after all she had just received her first brand new mountain bike and was anxious for a spin - youth won out and I'm glad it did as we soon warmed up pedalling up the first hill and it was great to get out even though she did have one crash - I'm sure there will be a dandy bruise in the morning but she didn't let the fall get her down ...

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Pidgin meets Bird of Paradise …

Unless you live on the western side of the Pacific, it's unlikely that you've heard of Air Niugini.

Today's seaside trip yielded no photos so, with 5km to go, I diverted from the Moreton Bay Cycleway along a difficult gravel path beside the Southern Cross Motorway (more on the Southern Cross, an aircraft, sometime in the future). Maybe, there'd be a chance to photograph some birds in the flooded Kedron Brook Wetlands. Disappointment!

And then, just a few kilometres away, this big white bird flew in from Port Moresby (PNG / Niugini).

The old Boeing (first flight + 1991 = 'old'?) rumbled in low and slow (orange line) as it approached Brisbane Airport's #2 runway. I let the pelicans, spoonbills, ibises, lapwings and stilts get on with their own lives and shot (black line) the very much easier target of the Air Niugini plane.

Air Niugini Boeing 767 : P2-PXV
Brisbane Airport : BNE
​

New Guinea, the world's second largest island, is the home of the birds of paradise, a stylised version appearing on the tail of the aircraft.

New Guinea is also an island of many languages spoken by people effectively isolated from one other by the rugged terrain. Over the last hundred years an English-based pidgin became the most effective means of communication between those with no shared language. Today New Guinea Pidgin is an established creole (pidgin that has become a first language or 'mother tongue') known as Tok Pisin ('talk pidgin'); the myriad local languages are known as Tok Ples ('talk place').

The eastern half of the island is Papua New Guinea which is commonly known as Niugini or, simply, PNG. The western half of New Guinea has been made part of Indonesia – not a pleasant story.

Trivia (for those who know about these things) : What is that little flappy thing hanging from the fuselage beneath the tailplane? Waste water vent? Something that's come loose? An air brake (surely not!)? A gadget to discourage pilots from dragging the plane's backside along the runway?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Air Niugini Boeing 767 : P2-PXV

What a great shot!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Alongside the gravel bike trail …

Pied Stilt​

Little Egret​

Royal Spoonbill​

 

[RabH]

Another beautiful day for cycling, I think saving the lamb on Sunday is paying off We had an easterly wind today which was a change from the constant southerlies lately, as I was heading east I had a headwind to contend with for almost 20 miles! I'm glad I took both batteries as I emptied the first after 30 miles as my legs were still tired from Sunday's ride, I was using level 2 and level 3 assist into the headwind! I started on the cycle path today and timed it nice for the train passing!

Then I went past the Black Loch which was looking nice in the morning sun!

Now I was heading for the Beecraigs Country Park which means a huge climb and some lovely descents where I hit 43mph today! The views up there are awesome, always worth the climb!

What a fun ride that was, I hope our weather makes its way to you guys on the other side of the Atlantic! Go save a lamb or 2! I can't wait to see all your stories and photos! I will let my pictures do the talking today...

@David Berry I follow Missionary Bush Pilot on Youtube, he flies in PNG! I'm in awe of anybody that flies in that terrain, it really is amazing!

 

[RandallS]

Rode 20km on Monday, post Covid fatigue makes the shorter rides the norm for now, but I am improving.


It was cool and windy but I enjoyed getting out.

Then Tuesday... pics are from this morning...

To quote a certain Elizabeth in the UK, "We are not amused"...

 

[Marci jo]

The old Boeing (first flight + 1991 = 'old'?) rumbled in low and slow (orange line) as it approached Brisbane Airport's #2 runway. I let the pelicans, spoonbills, ibises, lapwings and stilts get on with their own lives and shot (black line) the very much easier target of the Air Niugini plane.

View attachment 120620

Air Niugini Boeing 767 : P2-PXV
Brisbane Airport : BNE​

Trivia (for those who know about these things) : What is that little flappy thing hanging from the fuselage beneath the tailplane? Waste water vent? Something that's come loose? An air brake (surely not!)? A gadget to discourage pilots from dragging the plane's backside along the runway?

First some aircraft terminology to bore you:
The back part of the aircraft is called simply the tail section or officially "empennage", which is a fancy word for tail section.
It consists of:
- Horizontal stabilizer. Controls the pitch of the aircraft, meaning nose up or nose down.
- Vertical stabilizer. Keeps the aircraft steady along its vertical axis. The official movement is referred to as "yaw". And holds the rudder which helps the aircraft turn.

Now your question. Your last option is right:
The "little flappy thing" is called a skid plate.
It is to prevent a tail strike, which occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground. This can happen, in both takeoff where the pilot rotates the nose up too rapidly, or in landing where the pilot raises the nose too sharply during final approach, often in attempting to land too near the runway threshold.
A minor tail strike incident may not be dangerous in itself, but the aircraft may still be weakened and must be thoroughly inspected and repaired if a more disastrous accident is to be avoided later.

And none of this is at all related to ebikes!!

 

[Chargeride]

I thin

Rode 20km on Monday, post Covid fatigue makes the shorter rides the norm for now, but I am improving.
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It was cool and windy but I enjoyed getting out.

Then Tuesday... pics are from this morning...
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To quote a certain Elizabeth in the UK, "We are not amused"...

I think it was Victoria.

 

[RandallS]

I thin

I think it was Victoria.

Perhaps (historians can't agree) but we've certainly heard it from Betty...
and now me... again.. about this time every year...

We have one more typical event and that's appropriately, the Victoria Day long weekend (~May 25th) where we typically have spectacularly bad weather.

It is what it is - I am going golfing today anyways...heated driving range with work colleagues.
I had 3 full rounds played by this date last year - all that snow is just slow release moisture now.

 

[RabH]

A very blustery day today but also a very enjoyable one, the first 20 miles or so were into a 35mph headwind! Was I glad when I reached my turning point My first battery started with 83% charge and I had to swap it after 22 miles, thats how strong that headwind was...my second battery had 80% and I still had 56% left when I got home, what a difference! It started off with the sun beating down and it was very pleasant despite the wind, I used a familiar route over the hills with the tv and radio transmitters, the winds up at almost 1000ft were crazy! I caught a sheltered part for this photo!

Not so sheltered here, I placed the bike near the fence in case it blew over and it did right after the photo

No lambs caught in fences today!

Back on one of my favourite roads today and thankfully it was pretty quiet until a few trucks passed me further down the road, giving me lots of room which was most welcome!

I spotted this nice water fountain when I stopped!

The good weather is set to continue but its going to get a little colder again, I hope the winds die down a bit though! At least you can still enjoy a windy ride with an e bike, lots of these rides wouldn't be happening on a standard bike...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have just lent my Vado SL to Jacek for a week, as he was excited to try yet another e-bike, and so different to the full power ones he could ride so far! I'm excited to hear about his experiences with that unusual "just-a-bike" as Jacek is capable to pedal unpowered. (The e-bike is so compact it could fit his car without removing the front wheel!)

I was surprised his Garmin could fit the Wahoo mount (how's that possible?!)

Despite of bad weather, we're going to set off for a longer ride tomorrow morning. His plan is to make another "Heritage Ride" as we want to visit more places related to our ancestors (me riding the big Vado). The loan I made makes me live for a week without my "everyday bike" as I cannot keep the big Vado in my flat. I don't care!

Hopefully the trip succeeds, and I will have something to report here!

 

[Cowlitz]

View attachment 120889

A very blustery day today but also a very enjoyable one, the first 20 miles or so were into a 35mph headwind! Was I glad when I reached my turning point My first battery started with 83% charge and I had to swap it after 22 miles, thats how strong that headwind was...my second battery had 80% and I still had 56% left when I got home, what a difference! It started off with the sun beating down and it was very pleasant despite the wind, I used a familiar route over the hills with the tv and radio transmitters, the winds up at almost 1000ft were crazy! I caught a sheltered part for this photo!

View attachment 120891

Not so sheltered here, I placed the bike near the fence in case it blew over and it did right after the photo

View attachment 120892
View attachment 120893

No lambs caught in fences today!

View attachment 120894

Back on one of my favourite roads today and thankfully it was pretty quiet until a few trucks passed me further down the road, giving me lots of room which was most welcome!

View attachment 120896

I spotted this nice water fountain when I stopped!

View attachment 120897

The good weather is set to continue but its going to get a little colder again, I hope the winds die down a bit though! At least you can still enjoy a windy ride with an e bike, lots of these rides wouldn't be happening on a standard bike...

I have been faithfully watching The Sheep Game on Youtube. I have learned that if you come across a sheep on her back, you need to go flip her over or she will die. Apparently it is one of the ways sheep try to kill themselves (humor as it is said that sheep are born trying to die).

 

[Chargeride]

I took the parents up to their favourite haunts in nearby Lancashire, they cant drive anymore and I thought I could use it as a recce for bike trails.
They didnt let me down and we visited some of the most gorgeous villages with cute cafes built into centuries old buildings, ebikes everywhere, motorbikes and sidecars, vintage motorbikes, classic cars.
Beautiful sunny day, gutted I wasnt there on the bike.
Got a ton of places to visit though.
This is one of them, Stonyhurst College, Tolkien wrote a lot of the Lord of the Rings while staying here with his son.

Watch m8djpo | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

I'll be back on the bike soon.

 

[Marci jo]

I have just lent my Vado SL to Jacek for a week, as he was excited to try yet another e-bike, and so different to the full power ones he could ride so far! I'm excited to hear about his experiences with that unusual "just-a-bike" as Jacek is capable to pedal unpowered. (The e-bike is so compact it could fit his car without removing the front wheel!)

Oh no! Jacek has the SL.
Do you think you’ll get it back? He might like it so much that he might decide to keep it.

 

[Mulezen]

Today was my longest ride of the year as I get my legs back (21m). At my drive's entrance I stopped to switch on my rear light and heard in the pines across the street the heavy drumming of a Pileated Woodpecker in. After I shoved off the bird's pterodactyl profile swooped through the arc of my mirror. The recent gentle rain and temperature jump has the fields shooting six inches over night. I went past the old Harris place the first time in a long while. The home burial plot goes back as much as 150 years which is long by US standards. There were no fresh graves and his fences looked good but didn't see his herd. They were probably hiding from the sudden strong sun. None of the vehicles in front of his home-place, tractor or vehicle looked capable of running so I supposed he was off somewhere. The Harris graveyard probably goes back a hundred and fifty years and I suppose its unkemptness is appropriate contrast with the Spring blossoms on the sunny side of the street,

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Oh no! Jacek has the SL.
Do you think you’ll get it back? He might like it so much that he might decide to keep it.

He'd lose his e-MTB in such a case
First impressions of Jacek:

• The frame is too small for him. He can ride the SL with the seat-post all the way up, with his head below his butt! It gives him a true aero riding position
• Therefore, he could complete his test ride at an excellent average speed
• For some reason. his Garmin 530 cannot show the charge level of the Range Extender, (which is strange).

If everything goes well on our ride of today, I intend to borrow his Trance E+ and go on a gravel-cycling group ride for Sunday. That's gonna be fun, as the full suspension Giant is simply too easy to be ridden in the forest!

 

[fooferdoggie]

14 mile round trip to a grocery store just to ride. a few things for my birthday meal tomorrow.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

my birthday

All the best to you (and your wife) on every single day, and with no occasion!

 

[Chargeride]

14 mile round trip to a grocery store just to ride. a few things for my birthday meal tomorrow.
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Remember kids..Hell is hot.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Remember kids..Hell is hot.

Early seventies Chevy?

I was driving a Kombi camper back then.