Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Chargeride]

I spoke to my friend, the crew were up in Scotland and the last diehard acoustic rider picked up his new ebike on the way.
Its one of the ultralight bikes with only a 350wh battery , because he thinks ebikes are cheating and always wants that..Im working harder than you'.

Straight away he puts his fancy carbon wheels on it, at the end of the first day hes looking a knackered and the big climb at the end finished him off.
Hes a bit confused so one of the lads has a go on it, the motors not kicking in, he hadnt transferred the wheel magnet and just ignored the errors because he didnt understand the screen anyway.
6 hours of riding with a turned off ebike, while the rest were quite often in turbo.
Im impressed.
Hes not in this pic because theyd stopped to wait for him.
What a gnarly bunch.

 

[kahn]

The Coastal Path …

View attachment 127665

Sunshine Coast Coastal Path
Queensland​

The full name of the walking and cycling trail running along the sand dunes next to the Pacific Ocean is the Sunshine Coast Coastal Path: why use three words when you have the opportunity to use a few more?

Be that as it may, a ride along the track is a delightful experience. The beach beside the trail has real waves rolling in from who knows how far away (Fiji, Tahiti?)—a novelty for me, given that my coastal rides are usually beside still waters in the lee of the huge sand islands that dominate the southern of the Queensland coast.

Some locals were determined to plunge into the icy water—I've just checked from the safety of the internet: 21ºC—but I kept to the path, stopping for photos and, more importantly, a chilli-spiced dark chocolate milkshake at Peregian Beach. (Put it on every chocoholic's bucket list!)

Compared to our Puget Sound that temperature sounded warm which also sent me to the internet. Very interesting and not so warm:

National Center for Cold Water Safety - What is Cold Water?

coldwatersafety.org

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Kahn, I bet there are surfers around the world who are as interested in their pastime as we are in ours. I checked surf-forecast.com and came up with the following chart for brave Queensland surfers: six degrees difference between winter (now) and summer.

 

[Readytoride]

What a gnarly bunch.

Truer words never spoken.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

White Trousers Left In Płock...

The exhausting professional tour seemed to be over: The last part being three days of training with a customer in Płock, and Friday meant a long car ride to Cracow to serve yet another client. Returning by a train today. As I and the driving colleague were wearing shorts and T-shirts because of a heatwave, I didn't inspect my baggage carefully enough on leaving Płock. And it seems that I left my new elegant trousers at the hotel (the hotel manager does not know whether the pants have been found by one of the maids or not yet).

When I get the confirmation the clothes are there...

...that would mean my longest e-bike ride ever! Perfect weather with almost windless conditions. Just to collect lost trousers in Płock? The reason for a ride as good as any!

 

[kahn]

White Trousers Left In Płock...

The exhausting professional tour seemed to be over: The last part being three days of training with a customer in Płock, and Friday meant a long car ride to Cracow to serve yet another client. Returning by a train today. As I and the driving colleague were wearing shorts and T-shirts because of a heatwave, I didn't inspect my baggage carefully enough on leaving Płock. And it seems that I left my new elegant trousers at the hotel (the hotel manager does not know whether the pants have been found by one of the maids or not yet).

When I get the confirmation the clothes are there...
View attachment 127733
...that would mean my longest e-bike ride ever! Perfect weather with almost windless conditions. Just to collect lost trousers in Płock? The reason for a ride as good as any!

You have a lot of pluck planning that extended ride to Plock.








* Just in case the definition is way down the list:

"2. Resourceful courage and daring in the face of difficulties; spirit."

 

[Mulezen]

I spoke to my friend, the crew were up in Scotland and the last diehard acoustic rider picked up his new ebike on the way.
Its one of the ultralight bikes with only a 350wh battery , because he thinks ebikes are cheating and always wants that..Im working harder than you'.

Straight away he puts his fancy carbon wheels on it, at the end of the first day hes looking a knackered and the big climb at the end finished him off.
Hes a bit confused so one of the lads has a go on it, the motors not kicking in, he hadnt transferred the wheel magnet and just ignored the errors because he didnt understand the screen anyway.
6 hours of riding with a turned off ebike, while the rest were quite often in turbo.
Im impressed.
Hes not in this pic because theyd stopped to wait for him.
What a gnarly bunch.
View attachment 127706

They look like volunteers in the forests of Ukraine

 

[kahn]

@Stefan Mikes

Borshch is official Ukrainian!

UNESCO declares borshch protected Ukrainian heritage at risk from Russian invasion

Ukraine claimed victory in an age-old culinary dispute with Russia on Friday after the United Nations' cultural agency placed a traditional beetroot soup on its list of protected Ukrainian cultural heritage. Paris-based UNESCO announced in a statement that it had placed borshch, a rich crimson...

news.yahoo.com

 

[Chargeride]

White Trousers Left In Płock...

The exhausting professional tour seemed to be over: The last part being three days of training with a customer in Płock, and Friday meant a long car ride to Cracow to serve yet another client. Returning by a train today. As I and the driving colleague were wearing shorts and T-shirts because of a heatwave, I didn't inspect my baggage carefully enough on leaving Płock. And it seems that I left my new elegant trousers at the hotel (the hotel manager does not know whether the pants have been found by one of the maids or not yet).

When I get the confirmation the clothes are there...
View attachment 127733
...that would mean my longest e-bike ride ever! Perfect weather with almost windless conditions. Just to collect lost trousers in Płock? The reason for a ride as good as any!

I have a feeling

They look like volunteers in the forests of Ukraine

Mike, the bald headed guy leaning forward is only 55, he is farmer, so that might explain things..he looks about 75.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Stefan Mikes

Borshch is official Ukrainian!

UNESCO declares borshch protected Ukrainian heritage at risk from Russian invasion

Ukraine claimed victory in an age-old culinary dispute with Russia on Friday after the United Nations' cultural agency placed a traditional beetroot soup on its list of protected Ukrainian cultural heritage. Paris-based UNESCO announced in a statement that it had placed borshch, a rich crimson...

news.yahoo.com

What if borscht is made only with beetroot (the clear, or Polish borscht?) Will we Poles be deprived of that? Because the other variety was always "Ukrainian" here!

P.S The fate of my trousers is unknown yet. In the worse case, I will at least eat lunch at "Karczma" anyway!

 

[Chargeride]

Weve only just got Dave back and now weve lost Stefans trousers.

 

[Mulezen]

It sure took Stefan awhile to find they were missing. Just how does he get around without them?

 

[DaveMatthews]

Weve only just got Dave back and now weve lost Stefans trousers.

I just got home from a ride and now I'm panting.

 

[Chargeride]

Stinking hot day, wifes away climbing a mountain in Wales Pen Y Fan, so I went on a solo pub crawl/bike ride up the coast on Friday.
Now the felled trees have been cleared after the storm, I actually like the look of the result, it got a bit of a Rainforest vibe.

Its funny how change can be unsettling, but its also the spirit of life.

So I bought the great British snack from the Fish and chip shop near the Railway station after a few ciders in the Beerstation next door, which I keep calling the Babestation for some reason connected to late night tv in the triple channel numbers.
Scooted down the beach and scoffed it on a high dune....pure bliss.

Rode up the beach past the crowds and lifeguards at Ainsdale, Ive posted the monument on the roundabout before, but never looked into it.
Turns out it celebrates two 1930s Transatlantic flights to New York that took off from the beach because there was no runway long enough for a plane with that much fuel.
They filled the wings with pingpong balls for bouyancy in case they had to ditch.
Even Amelia Earhart was consulted for the trips , the second trip being sponsored by an American newspaper who wanted the very first pictures of George VI coronation.
www.lancashirepast.com/2018/08/18/early-transatlantic-flights-via-southport/

Jumped the train back to Freshfield from Birkdale, bikes travel free and it perfectly hugs the coast, dropping me off right by the dunes.

Found a random huge tree stump deposited on the beach, it totally looked like a meteorite from a distance.

My confidence with drone is coming along nicely and soon I'll actually use it properly.

All round a great day, I stayed out till 11pm and of course its still light here in the UK at that time, sat outside a pub, but then had to ride home in warm rain.

Heres a vid of me climbing round the back of a dune to scoot down the front, a little bit happy from ciders.

 

[Chargeride]

I just got home from a ride and now I'm panting.

Angry face for that joke

 

[DaveMatthews]

Angry face for that joke

Success!

 

[Twin Valley]

Another ride close to home today (to earn happy hour) with a long weekend as part of our Canada Day (Friday) combined with our American neighbor's July 4th weekend (Monday) best to stay away from major highways. Snapped a picture of the prickly wild rose bushes which is a hardy perennial shrub brightening up the countryside across our province at this time of the year. Apparently, in the thirties (even before my time) the students of Alberta got to vote for what our provincial flower would be and that is what they chose.

 

[fooferdoggie]

got a nice ride in 15 miles to get to the mountain ride. wife's shoulder could not handle the whole distance to the top the road was once paved but its is worn down to corse rock a lot and the ride on the tandem is rough.
the Amtrak train on this bridge was fun lots of shaking my wife was a bit worried but hey it was not a freight train right? rich part of town and the grocery store has this Muti stall unisex bathroom pretty cool really. our annual blues festival is back my wife wants to go but I dont want to sit around for ours.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Coastal Banksias…

Sunshine Coast Coastal Path
Queensland​

Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia)​

I'm sure to let my absence of botanical knowledge show:

1. new bud
2. full bloom
3. withered flower from last year
4. immature seed case exposed
5. seeds appear
6. seeds dispersed.

And from a neighbouring environment (on the inland side of the dunes), a species evolved for that niche, the swamp banksia (Banksia robur)—flower midway between stages 1 and 2 above:

Swamp Banksia (Banksia robur)​

 

[Chargeride]

got a nice ride in 15 miles to get to the mountain ride. wife's shoulder could not handle the whole distance to the top the road was once paved but its is worn down to corse rock a lot and the ride on the tandem is rough.
the Amtrak train on this bridge was fun lots of shaking my wife was a bit worried but hey it was not a freight train right? rich part of town and the grocery store has this Muti stall unisex bathroom pretty cool really. our annual blues festival is back my wife wants to go but I dont want to sit around for ours.View attachment 127795View attachment 127796View attachment 127797View attachment 127798View attachment 127799View attachment 127800View attachment 127801View attachment 127802

Thats a serious bit of kit, just oozes being built properly.
Disc and rim brakes on the back.