Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[kahn]

View attachment 125605
Hey there, big guy!

I know the feeling....

 

[DaveMatthews]

I'll play!

 

[Cowlitz]

It's been a cool, damp spring and the flowers appreciate it. It's just started raining again now. I've ridden this route a lot, but it was very pretty today.

Now out to turn off the sprinkler system.

 

[CodyDog]

Nice banana bike, er I mean SL! Ha!

Thanks Mike.

 

[BlackHand]

It's been a cool, damp spring and the flowers appreciate it. It's just started raining again now. I've ridden this route a lot, but it was very pretty today.
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Now out to turn off the sprinkler system.

Gorgeous lupines and so green there.

The rhodies are about done blooming here, but still lots of stuff blooming in random spots. Took a 40 mile ride up to Everett then back down through Mukilteo to Edmonds on Sunday.
Was surprised by the lupine in an undeveloped lot along the Mukilteo Speedway.

The wildflowers in Harborview park above Mukilteo were really nice.

Obligatory lighthouse & ferry picture - note the couple having an animated discussion about their inability to fly a kite together. They didn't appear to notice the sailboat just offshore moving under engine power with its sails down.

I also spotted this nurse tree and had to stop and take a picture. Nurse logs and stumps are common in forests around here, but you dont often see a standing nurse tree 25-30 tall with a young tree of that size growing out the top

I really like riding this little stretch of Olympic View Drive. As long as you get up to the 25mph speed limit, cars will back off and let you ride until you get through the park at least.

 

[kahn]

Gorgeous lupines and so green there.

The rhodies are about done blooming here, but still lots of stuff blooming in random spots. Took a 40 mile ride up to Everett then back down through Mukilteo to Edmonds on Sunday.
Was surprised by the lupine in an undeveloped lot along the Mukilteo Speedway.

The wildflowers in Harborview park above Mukilteo were really nice.
View attachment 125673
View attachment 125677
Obligatory lighthouse & ferry picture - note the couple having an animated discussion about their inability to fly a kite together. They didn't appear to notice the sailboat just offshore moving under engine power with its sails down.

View attachment 125675
I also spotted this nurse tree and had to stop and take a picture. Nurse logs and stumps are common in forests around here, but you dont often see a standing nurse tree 25-30 tall with a young tree of that size growing out the top
View attachment 125676
I really like riding this little stretch of Olympic View Drive. As long as you get up to the 25mph speed limit, cars will back off and let you ride until you get through the park at least.
View attachment 125679

Nice flowers and water.

We did Olympic View last week. We use to do it fairly regularly on regular bikes but now my friend does not like it. So she throws her bike in Turbo and leaves me trailing behind as a target with my Creo's Turbo somewhat anemic in comparison. We've taken the bus from Seattle to Everett and pedaled back. Once along the Interurban (too urban) and once out to Snohomish and then home.

 

[BlackHand]

Nice flowers and water.

We did Olympic View last week. We use to do it fairly regularly on regular bikes but now my friend does not like it. So she throws her bike in Turbo and leaves me trailing behind as a target with my Creo's Turbo somewhat anemic in comparison. We've taken the bus from Seattle to Everett and pedaled back. Once along the Interurban (too urban) and once out to Snohomish and then home.

Olympic View reminds me of the roads I cycled as a teenager - winding, tree-lined(deciduous even!), and no shoulder. All it's missing is the occasional Amish buggy and empty beer cans every 100 ft in the ditch. Mel and Mia's in Perrinville just caddy corner from the USPS is a nice mid-ride stop for tea or coffee and a good pastry.

The Interurban is not very exciting for sure. But I'll take it over riding in the bike lane along the Mukilteo Speedway any day though.

 

[kahn]

Olympic View reminds me of the roads I cycled as a teenager - winding, tree-lined(deciduous even!), and no shoulder. All it's missing is the occasional Amish buggy and empty beer cans every 100 ft in the ditch. Mel and Mia's in Perrinville just caddy corner from the USPS is a nice mid-ride stop for tea or coffee and a good pastry.

The Interurban is not very exciting for sure. But I'll take it over riding in the bike lane along the Mukilteo Speedway any day though.

I will keep that STOP in mind. We stop at the Walnut Street Cafe in Edmonds. Can't beat their Potato Biscuit. Ah, Mukilteo Speedway. When I visited a friend on Whidbey I got permission to park in the Chamber of Commerce's lot. I did not realize how far up the hill it was from the ferry terminal. Down down down. And of course, UP UP UP (pre e-bike) and the way back with tons of traffic and I had to attempt the left turn to get to my car. Not that much fun.

 

[PatriciaK]

Y'all are making me itchy to get my La Free back (loaned to a friend while we were away) and get out riding on Whidbey! As soon as I don't need my electric socks to keep my toes warm, since it's Jun-uary up here !

 

[tomjasz]

Some bears lately have been running through the suburbs further towards Richmond VA. They are relatively young coming down the river drainages from the hills in the west. I read an excellent book about bears in New Hampshire where the author maintained a friendship with a bear (after saving her as a cub) for 15 years and counting. He was no scientist but he is now after some ground breaking papers. The ethics, the counting ability (he’d fairly regularly give her a sleeve of a dozen Oreos…when he shorted her he heard about it). Scientists from China came to see how he interacted with bears and have adapted his methods.

When I was a lineman fueling for an FBO in Missoula there was an article by a local scientist studying grizzly bears that went of the rails and attacked, yes, and even ate a camper. It turned out the animal tranquilizers like those diverted to the illegal human market that made kids whacky were doing the same with the bears.

The users of the tranquilizers for bears were creating psycho bears. Nice...

 

[tomjasz]

When I was a lineman fueling for an FBO in Missoula there was an article by a local scientist studying grizzly bears that went of the rails and attacked, yes, and even ate a camper. It turned out the animal tranquilizers like those diverted to the illegal human market that made kids whacky were doing the same with the bears.

The users of the tranquilizers for bears were creating psycho bears. Nice...

Roger May, 23, male

June 25, 1983

Wild

Gallatin National Forest, Montana

May was dragged from his tent, and eaten at the Rainbow Point campground, northwest of Yellowstone National Park. The bear was captured and killed with an injection of poison.[179][180]

 

[Mulezen]

who would have ever thought PCP made bears crazy

 

[fooferdoggie]

we got a warning Jonson creek could flood. I did not go by this one house where I saw it was 1" from flooding we went the opposite way as I had not seen these places when it's high. looks like it was 1' down from earlier we had 1.25" of rain since yesterday afternoon.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Friends,
I was on an unusual trip today. Let me have a rest and I promise I will tell you an interesting story later!

I honoured my buddies who completed a 219 km gravel race with a Metric Century. I actually rode to Grójec in Mazovia to cheer so many of my buddies participating in the race!
Some of them took 7th, 8th, and 10th place among 200 competitors!

 

[Mulezen]

Pictures are from this week's rides...all still local until I regain confidence in my hands to load the bike and launch for terra incognito. Plenty to see though around here. One ride I crossed the big east west road (Rt 250) and traveled into horse country. One little farm had two small colts, one of which was very curious. If I had a cargo bike I could have taken it for a ride. And the haying continues...I've always loved the randomness of the the hayfield, generally I see the round rolls...but I've noticed one farm making higher quality horse hay in square bales creating beautiful patterns, mathematical as required by the drainage folds. Ephemeral art.

 

[MartsEbike]

A few photos from my recent rides....

Pegsdon Hills Nature Reserve, this whole area is just a cycling delight.

Strange rare breed sheep! Look at those horns!

Worth riding up the hills for views like this....

The Grand Union Canal. Slightly jealous of the people that live on these boats... so peaceful.

Rainbows are everywhere these days.... They've all copied Wigginton

The Bridgewater Monument on the Ashridge Estate. It had been decorated for the Queens jubilee.

Ashridge House.... worth a visit if you're in the area.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

As A Fan Of The Mazovian Gravel 200 Race...

...I woke up on the last Saturday morning and started wondering. Each race competitor was given an electronic GPS tracker, so I could cheer my buddies by just watching their "dots" online. On the other hand, the day was gorgeous and I craved for a ride. What to choose? Easy! Ride to Grójec' race control point and cheer my buddies in real life!

My Vado has been in operation for 2 1/2 years but was actually built five years ago. Still in the mint condition! Here, at a short stop 18 km away from the start, in the Młochów Park. I was speeding to Grójec to be able to intercept my mates who started very early in the morning from Radom. The tailwind was my ally! With the 45/45% assistance and the wind I was riding up to 40 km/h, and it was 46 km/h on some slight descent!

I was navigating towards a well-known ice-cream & cake shop in Grójec, as it was nearby the Race Control Point (I didn't know the city very well).

As I was tracking my buddies online, I also had to find a shooting point with a good visibility and lighting. The guy in the yellow jersey is Paul, a Polonized Welsh guy whom I met on my Graveloza rides. Paul took the 10th place in the 219 km race! And he is over 50!

Gravel cyclists do not ride in the peloton. "A group" is the maximum they can accept! (Solo racing is the norm).

Unlike roadies, gravel cyclists are a merry and smiling folk!

And then! Can you envision any roadie stopping at your sight, and suggesting going to the restaurant together? It is how the gravel cycling works here. Yes, some guys and girls do really compete. The majority is in the "adventure cycling" though. Stopping for having fun and even for the overnight stay is pretty usual here. (The redbeard here is Przemek The Gravel Man, the guy who had attracted me to gravel cycling).

At the Grójec Pit-Stop.

So we (three riders and I) went to a restaurant:

The Polish Cold Soup. The ambient temperature was 29 C, so the soup taken right out the fridge was just delicious!

It has become fashionable to serve Italian pasta in huge plates. The portion (seemingly small) was of a decent European size.

Any participant had to cross a very high overpass with complex ramps.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire (From gravel into a bumpy dirt road). The return ride was longer, picturesque, and technically more difficult with many gravel and dirt segments. Note: I was riding through our Orchard Land. There is hardly anything except of orchards there!

Only orchards!

At a place familiar to me from many past rides. After the 302-day long Battle of Verdun (France, 1916), the village owner returned home and renamed the place to Werdun.

At a mobile café/bike store/bike service point by the S8. A new type of business! (The place name is Przeszkoda, or Obstacle)

The ride map.

Necessary to mention the last weekend also involved the 553-km Mazovian Gravel 550 ultra-marathon (my friend Staszek The Roadie successfully completed it) and an easier event called Gravel Folks (That Woman and her boyfriend completed that, too). All in Mazovia!

 

[kahn]

A few photos from my recent rides....

Pegsdon Hills Nature Reserve, this whole area is just a cycling delight.


Strange rare breed sheep! Look at those horns!


Worth riding up the hills for views like this....


The Grand Union Canal. Slightly jealous of the people that live on these boats... so peaceful.View attachment 125781

Rainbows are everywhere these days.... They've all copied Wigginton


The Bridgewater Monument on the Ashridge Estate. It had been decorated for the Queens jubilee.


Ashridge House.... worth a visit if you're in the area.
View attachment 125785

What do people do with all that space? Back then there was no bike machine or peleton or nordic track and no home audio/video theater!!!

Then again, how do those boaters live with so little space. Oh, well, there must be a happy medium.

 

[MartsEbike]

What do people do with all that space? Back then there was no bike machine or peleton or nordic track and no home audio/video theater!!!

Then again, how do those boaters live with so little space. Oh, well, there must be a happy medium.

Yeah it's crazy really. The grounds of Ashridge House today are some 5,000 acres. In its heyday when Kings and Queen's stayed there, they would have also owned most if not all of the surrounding farms. I don't think they done much with it as such, but ownership was status and power.

The boaters are amazing. They might not have money, they might not have the latest things, but the boat people have definitely found something special. I'd love to own one myself, take a few friends out on it, sailing it down the canals, stopping off at the many pubs dotted along the route. Get the bbq out of an evening, fishing rods in the water, crack open a few beers while chatting away with friends and it's bliss. I ride my bike along the canal towpath sometimes and I see others doing just this... and yeah, jealous! It seems such a chilled out lifestyle.....

 

[BlackHand]

The Polish Cold Soup. The ambient temperature was 29 C, so the soup taken right out the fridge was just delicious!

I don't think I would be a good candidate to be Polinized as I just really don't care for beets. Might have something to do with the fact that I only ever knew beets from a can as a child and my innate distrust of any vegetable that is sweet.

Cucumbers on the other hand are my favorite, so maybe there would be some hope for me after all.