Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[PatriciaK]

My upcoming Italy bike tour buddy is back from her haunted east of the mountains, and we're riding again !

Started out on the paved trail next to the highway - safe, but noisy with the Friday traffic heading to the ferries for a weekend off the island.

When we left the trail for the rural roads of central Whidbey, we came upon this "family" taking a break from plowing to greet passers by:



This shot is overlooking the prairie where farming has been the way of life since the mid 1800s:


For Dodgeman :



The red barn used to belong to the family of my ride buddy - she was happy to see it looking so well kept up!

Looking West to the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains:


Our bikes:



And, our ride:



Another glorious day!

 

[Mulezen]

The pictures are from the last few rides. I'd driven past the propeller for many years but didn't realize the beauty of the thing until I stood in front of it. Hawks (raptors) have long interested me. Years back after noticing in a tall oak (the mexican's chicken coop nearby) a Red-Shouldered Hawk family I posted Ted Hughe's fine poem Hawk Roosting for anyone passing. This hawk on the wire's name escapes me but is a smaller, more delicate killing machine. I witnessed this species from my deck glide down my pasture then a hundred yards past turn and vector towards my feeders at great speed ultimately crashing into the thick cedar where a life and death struggle rustled the branches.
Hawk Roosting excerpt

My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot.

 

[DiggyGun]

Tried a new Anglian Water reservoir yesterday. This time, Alton Water, near Ipswich in Suffolk

The ride was pretty enough but with some steep hilly bits in places. However, the water was hidden most of the time by the tree line.

Similar to the other reservoirs, there are signs of a water shortage as you can see that the levels are quite low.

Had the usual two picnic stops with some very nice views.

Found some more Blackberry bushes and, lots of them. Ended up picking about 2.5kg of fruit.

Before the ride, I changed my bar ends as I found that I’ve been getting some discomfort recently. Going from the Ergon GP3 to the GP5. Much bigger and quite comfortable, offering more hand positions.

Came across these cobwebs glistening in the sun, which made for a nice photo.

Plus some Highland Cows, which I’ve not seen in England before.

Due to the dry weather all the grass was brown and dusty. By the end of the ride, the bike had quite a covering of dust.

Albeit a nice ride, it was a long way for a day, being about 110 miles. Might do as part of a holiday if in the area, but for a day trip with the price of fuel at the moment, probably not.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bikeless Somewhere In Tuscany...

Warsaw Modlin – London Stansted – Pisa International. Quite a trip.

At an azienda in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy.

No Italian azienda could survive without a swimming pool!

Too small a car to transport bikes!

A Tuscan supper.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Bikeless somewhere In Tuscany...

Quite a trip.

Quite a trip, indeed! And that food!

Enjoy Włochy: do the Italians know your name for their country?

 

[tomjasz]

Ah yes. About that man with big knees who played the flute
Let anyone pronounce "Gqeberha" (formerly, Port Elisabeth, South Africa)

Let anyone pronounce Polish names. My cousin Przybylski!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Enjoy Włochy: do the Italians know your name for their country?

Nothing wrong with the ancient Vlach or Vallachian meseems "Italian" is even stranger in Hungarian. Anything Italian involves Olasz (read O-las) in Magyar

Let anyone pronounce Polish names. My cousin Przybylski!

Pshee-beel-ski

 

[Deleted member 18083]

BYO soup spoons…

Another dreadful start to what should have been an idyllic morning. The usual culprits: too many cars (99%, including my little fuel miser, with no passenger accompanying the driver).

I had left home thirty minutes later than normal and therefore, because of the increasing traffic resulting from tradies going to work, arrived at the ride's start one hour late. Grumble, grumble!

Well, as I started one hour late, my hot chocolate stop should come one hour early! I needed it: now! After just three kilometres I pulled off the Kedron Brook Bikeway and took a break beside a pond which was essentially the same dimensions as the pool at Brix—she is with you?—and Stefan's azienda. It wasn't quite as clean; in fact, it was disgusting with who knows what pond life lurking in its murky silt.

This was the ideal refreshment spot for my soon-to-arrive avian companion who came equipped with its own pair of soup spoons and immediately set about searching the muck for delicious titbits. Yummy!

Appetite sated, it was gone almost as soon as it had arrived—not once acknowledging my presence. (I was right next to you, bird!)

Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia)
Beside Kedron Brook Bikeway​

Anecdotes:

• Birds of the World—sorry, there's a paywall guarding the website—describes the Royal Spoonbill's habitat as 'freshwater wetlands including swamps, flooded pastures, lagoons, sewage works, pools and shallow parts of lakes and reservoirs'. This species isn't fussy about the restaurants it frequents!
• The arterial road dominating the map, Southern Cross Way, takes its name from the first aircraft to fly the Pacific. In 1928 the Southern Cross landed immediately to the south of where I was taking my recuperative break beside the Kedron Brook… and there it can be found, in pristine condition, the best part of a century later.

 

[DiggyGun]

Some more cows for your delight.

This time the Infamous Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

a pond which was essentially the same dimensions as the pool at Brix—she is with you?—and Stefan's azienda.

Aye, Sir! The pool is the only way for surviving the afternoon heat!

 

[Chargeride]

Bikeless Somewhere In Tuscany...

View attachment 131361
Warsaw Modlin – London Stansted – Pisa International. Quite a trip.

View attachment 131362At an azienda in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy.

View attachment 131363No Italian azienda could survive without a swimming pool!
View attachment 131364Too small a car to transport bikes!

View attachment 131365
A Tuscan supper.

The brother in law has just bought a place in Tuscany, 40k he paid for it.
Its 3 rooms in the absolute middle of nowhere.

 

[Chargeride]

So a trip to the Lakes on the bikes with my friend ended outside his house, all packed up and the starter motor expired.

The registration plate on UK vehicles is such an insight into British snobbery.
We put the year a vehicle is produced on the plate, for the sole reason it lets everyone know how new your car is, and to push new sales.
They decided yearly wasnt enough and now its every six months, so that van is 2014 and the 6 means it was registered after june that year.
Does anyone else do that with car plates?

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Does anyone else do that with car plates?

Q : Queensland
J : Jen
D : David
72 : Married on 3 August 1972.
Z : Filler. Just remember to pronounce it 'zed'.

Don't even think of fitting a bike rack to your car unless it has its own registration plate!

These are from Jen's car (now sold); my rego is QDJ72Z. The registration numbers are our property and can be reused or, heaven forbid, sold.

Stars (below QLD) : Southern Cross
Salvat Itiner = Safe Journey

What you will never see on our roads—well, I haven't in over fifty years—is a car with a registration plate from another country.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hi,
Just wanted to tell you what I saw on our restaurant car ride of yesterday's evening (Italian restaurants open 7-7:30 pm).

The local roads here in Tuscany are narrow, steep, full of switchbacks and they are sometimes made from gravel. Driving in medieval cities located on top of hill such as San Miniato is challenging! Narrow streets lead between ancient townhouses, require sharp turns, handling inclines and declines, riding through gates, switchbacks, just name it.

I could see a man riding a premium e-bike up very steep hill like a boss! Not many e-bikes here but when you see one, it is a good bike!

 

[dodgeman]

In the United States unless you get custom plates the numbers and letters tend to be random. They are really more after your money for yearly registration.

 

[Nvreloader]

But, You can also get Vanity Plates is several sizes = 2x4" = 3x6" = 4x7"
or the standard Lic plate size of 6x12",
with just about anything you want to have printed on them, such as this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TGSNY6N/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?
going on the front/back? of the Wart Hog.
Don

 

[dodgeman]

Barn of the day. I see a name and year on barns once in a while. I never know if that is when the farm was purchased, the year the barn was built, or one and the same. I did 16 miles, about 3 of which was on loose gravel. I’m not taking that road again soon, my bike just isn’t meant for gravel.

 

[Chargeride]

Another hot day, went on a beach pub bike crawl with the missus.

They are usually banned, but for some reason they were allowing sand yachts and kites on the beach.

Plus there were these awesome animal kites.

A few in the beach bar and ended up in the local Italian.

 

[fooferdoggie]

rode though a car show today.

 

[PatriciaK]

Yet another gorgeous day on the island!

We began with a "group" ride, said group consisting of me and my tour buddy on our La Frees, a friend of my friend on her traditional road bike, and my PM on his GOKW (God Only Knows What) Chinese kit-converted Schwinn .

Took one of our well-traveled routes, which is mostly water-view rural roads, with a smidge of scary highway-side riding to keep us on our toes . PM peeled off just short of the halfway point to go help a friend build chicken coops , and the 3 of us ladies soldiered on.

I had assumed the friend of friend would be riding an ebike also... No. The route was quite hilly, and without the assistance we were enjoying, she began to flag around 2/3 of the way through. She also decided to take her leave and head home.

And now we were two. I had a couple of extra miles on my ride since we had picked her up along the way, so near the end of the ride we split up - me heading back through town to my home, and she the opposite direction to hers.

No pics today, so I'll throw a couple from recent rides along the same route in here, just to break up the text:





Here's the ride - our longest yet!



And, the hills...



I'm knackered !