Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[mojoe]

At the very end of September, I received my ICE Adventure. In the first 4-1/2 weeks, I put 700 miles on it. It is just so much fun to ride, and so comfortable. Here it is, with lots of options over the stock model (including an extra battery). I fly an American flag, because people notice it more.

It was about 40F when I took this picture, hence the gloves in the seat.

I put the rear camera on mainly to have video in case someone hits me, or comes too close (I hope I never need it). The front camera (mounted up high) will only be used when I ride someplace interesting. I set it to 1 fps, so each minute of video is one hour. That way, I can capture an entire day of riding, without having a very long and boring video.

Here is a link to a test video from the front camera, made the same day as the picture above. It had snowed the day before. I did about a two hour ride around town, on the usual bike paths and roads. I stopped at a few local parks for water and bathroom breaks I downsampled the video to make it much smaller.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1zqg8lr58y2ysv8/Test%20Ride.mp4?dl=1

When I do my Rail Trail trip in the Spring, I'll be able to have a condensed video for each day, without having huge video files. Both cameras are powered from a USB battery bank that is in the zippered compartment in the top of the seat.

 

[Chargeride]

Ive been away for the annual take the toddler to see Santa Claus holiday park.
The internet was atrocious, couldnt even load the forum.
Made a nice break from the interwebs tbh.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I was finally able to get out for a ride despite the over abundance of wintry ground cover. With the ambient temp hovering just above freezing, little to no wind and not even a wisp of a cloud in the sky, I wasted no time and headed out on the beast to Maskepetoon Park about 10km from my home.

I've been admiring all of the trip submissions depicting lush green landscapes and trees that still have retained their foliage that it had me questioning my reason for living in such a hostile environment. It must have something to do with the beauty of the natural surroundings that I’m constantly reminded of every time I ride on days like this. The singletracks that I normally head out to were still covered in knee-deep snow so I had was forced to stick to the pathways and I’m truly grateful for the local crews who plow them. I might add that they do a fine job too.

Most of the trails branching out from the MUPs are not winter maintained which made it slightly challenging to keep the studded tires in the narrow channel of hard pack as they seemed to have a mind of their own.

One of the few souls I spotted today who was also taking advantage of the mild weather and ample snow.

The Maskepetoon Park lookout with a view above of the partially frozen Red Deer River.

A few images from Maskepetoon Park. These mild conditions should remain consistent over the next few days at least which is welcome news to those who are anxious to head out to the mountain resorts.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I was finally able to get out for a ride despite the over abundance of wintry ground cover. With the ambient temp hovering just above freezing, little to no wind and not even a wisp of a cloud in the sky, I wasted no time and headed out on the beast to Maskepetoon Park about 10km from my home.

I've been admiring all of the trip submissions depicting lush green landscapes and trees that still have retained their foliage that it had me questioning my reason for living in such a hostile environment. It must have something to do with the beauty of the natural surroundings that I’m constantly reminded of every time I ride on days like this. The singletracks that I normally head out to were still covered in knee-deep snow so I had was forced to stick to the pathways and I’m truly grateful for the local crews who plow them. I might add that they do a fine job too.

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Most of the trails branching out from the MUPs are not winter maintained which made it slightly challenging to keep the studded tires in the narrow channel of hard pack as they seemed to have a mind of their own.

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One of the few souls I spotted today who was also taking advantage of the mild weather and ample snow.

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The Maskepetoon Park lookout with a view above of the partially frozen Red Deer River.

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A few images from Maskepetoon Park. These mild conditions should remain consistent over the next few days at least which is welcome news to those who are anxious to head out to the mountain resorts.

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Serene... and peaceful.

 

[Chargeride]

Nice tune, weve got loads of snow, well it would be if it was 20 degrees cooler.
Its called rain.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Nice tune, weve got loads of snow, well it would be if it was 20 degrees cooler.
Its called rain.

Judging by the weather forecast, it is the time to install the spiked tyres on my Vado SL...

We Poles had a French prince by name of Henri de Valois as the first elected King of The Republic of Both Nations. After a short stay on the Polish-Lithuanian throne, he decided the Polish weather was a tad too harsh to his taste, so he escaped back to France soon to become the King Henry III. At least he learned what the sewage, hot and cold water taps as well as dining forks were while in Poland, and he took those inventions to his home country

I'm serious!

 

[Chargeride]

People still moan about our seperate taps in the UK, we must have stolen them as well.

 

[fooferdoggie]

a great ride in Forrest park in NW Portland 7 miles of climbing. its a old paved road thats pretty much gone. its a rough ride with so much rock. so a bit harsh on the tandem. my garmin fell off and I had to go back and find it and the through axle on back came loose.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Serene... and peaceful.

It certainly was and I couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

Nice tune, weve got loads of snow, well it would be if it was 20 degrees cooler.
Its called rain.

Believe me, there were many days that I wished our long winters would stay as mild as it was on this day. Unfortunately, we have to take the good with the bad. Rain…well that’s another kettle of fish.

a great ride in forrest park in NW portland 7 miles of climbing. its a old paved road thats pretty much gone. its a rough ride with so much rock. so a bit harsh on the tandem.

Looked like a nice route in a very posh area of town. Glad to see that you were able to recover your Garmin as that would have been somewhat of an expensive setback to the day. Was that that the head unit or Varia?

 

[fooferdoggie]

Looked like a nice route in a very posh area of town. Glad to see that you were able to recover your Garmin as that would have been somewhat of an expensive setback to the day. Was that that the head unit or Varia?

the head unit. it sometimes gets bumpede and turned a bit but all the vibration took care of it. I have lost the radar before.

 

[Chargeride]

Major bike upgrade, changed the front pads.
Cleaned the disc with Vodka.

 

[Mulezen]

And then what did you do with the Vodka?

 

[fooferdoggie]

And then what did you do with the Vodka?

after he cleaned the rotor with it? man talk about recycling.

 

[mojoe]

This was from two weeks ago, about 11am. I was riding a residential part of town, near a city park. I've seem them here before, so it must be a regular hangout. There was a fourth, but it walked across the road before I could get my phone out.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Cleaned the disc with Vodka.

Were I you, I would have cleaned the rotor with an automotive brake cleaner, and drunk the Vodka instead Vodka contains as much as 60% of Water, making it a hopeless cleaner!

 

[fooferdoggie]

on the bike pat in the dark and the wind testing out my light.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

People still moan about our seperate taps in the UK, we must have stolen them as well.

Have you ever been to Buxton in the Peak District, Charge? If not, I recommend you stay at the Old Hall Hotel there

The place is claimed to be the oldest hotel in Britain (hosting Mary the Queen of Scots, for example). The hotel is so old its equipment and facilities are as archaic as the inventions brought by Henry III of France and then imported to Britain

On the other hand, Buxton is the home of Buxton Brewery, one of the best craft beer breweries of Britain! Believe it or not but we drove from Wales to Buxton just to enjoy the ales & stouts at the Buxton Brewery Taproom! (It is Books-ton not Bucks-ton!)

We tried Billionaires and King Slayer. I did not notice the Sesqui Axe as it was around midnight already!

Now, a question to the British members of this Forum: How difficult is it to rent a classy e-bike in England, Wales or Scotland? Let us say the cost does not matter? I'd love to explore places such as Peak District, Lake District or Scotland on e-bikes!

 

[Chargeride]

Have you ever been to Buxton in the Peak District, Charge? If not, I recommend you stay at the Old Hall Hotel there
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The place is claimed to be the oldest hotel in Britain (hosting Mary the Queen of Scots, for example). The hotel is so old its equipment and facilities are as archaic as the inventions brought by Henry III of France and then imported to Britain

On the other hand, Buxton is the home of Buxton Brewery, one of the best craft beer breweries of Britain! Believe it or not but we drove from Wales to Buxton just to enjoy the ales & stouts at the Buxton Brewery Taproom! (It is Books-ton not Bucks-ton!)

View attachment 140283
We tried Billionaires and King Slayer. I did not notice the Sesqui Axe as it was around midnight already!

Now, a question to the British members of this Forum: How difficult is it to rent a classy e-bike in England, Wales or Scotland? Let us say the cost does not matter? I'd love to explore places such as Peak District, Lake District or Scotland on e-bikes!

Yes, Ive visited Buxton a lot, its only an hours drive away, a leftover of the days when the North of England was where all the money was made.
Its quite a surprise to fund such grandeur in what appears to be a very rural area.
As I joked at the time, thats quite an itinerary for one day, Snowdonia to Buxton.
Id say youre looking at minimum of 60 pounds a day plus a 100 deposit, but of course its going to be an EU spec 16mph restricted, though in a hilly area thats irrelevent, 16mph up the hill, 50mph on the way down!

I dont say bookston, with my accent it sounds very scouse to pronounce it that way, buckston is a posher way if saying it

 

[RabH]

I grabbed an opportunity to get out today, after Sunday's perfect ride it was never going to come close but I made the most of it and had a nice ride! It was frosty this morning so I decided to go for a walk at Callander Park and then have an early lunch and get out on the bike, the roads were filthy after days of rain yet again but at least there wasn't a howling wind and the temp was now around 9C! No photos today as I wanted to just ride without any distractions and enjoy mainly quiet back roads!

I headed east into a 15mph breeze to Breich where I would turn south to Carnwath, some of the roads were pretty greasy though but I was still enjoying the ride as these roads have very little traffic! I then took the road from Carnwath to Carluke where I would have the breeze behind me and these roads were nice and dry, although this road is a main road and pretty busy at times! At least the drivers were all very courteous today and gave me lots of room, this road is so good in both directions and is just so much fun to ride! I reached Carluke with 40 miles covered and then turned north to head for home, my plan was to cover 50 miles and I knew I still had 15 miles to go so it worked out well!

I got home with a very dirty bike but very satisfied with my ride, I was just as filthy as the bike but what a great ride in the conditions! The next 2 days will bring yet more rain so thats why I was so determined to get out today!

 

[Chargeride]

Took the little one to the holiday park where he gets to see Santa and we get to stuff our faces and get excited by flashing lights and playing penny falls in a pub.

So we rode up Blackpool front, and waited for it to go dark, nothing more exciting than fairground rides at dusk on a pier.

Blackpool is one of the most derided seaside towns in the UK, because of drug problems and a stereotype of, sometimes earned, run down, past its glory days, excessive drinking and fighting, rowdy pubs and outrageous outfits on brides and grooms to be....in other words its fantastic.

The camera isnt catching the gorgeous sunset in the background.

Incredibly warm weather for November.

The tower used to have a full multi colour lightshow and a laser on top that could light the clouds above our house, 30 miles away as the crow flies/

With all the noise it s very easy to not hear the trams coming and wandering onto the rails is very easy to do, my fat tyres just cruise over them, but the missus nearly fell off as her wheel got stuck in the rut.

This display sweeps through the colour spectrum with pulsating bands rising up, and is very mesmerising to watch

This is the old school classy pier for the more refined tourist.

Practically had it to ourselves which says a lot about the ratio of the upmarket visitor.

Heres Santa at the holiday park, the little one was very underwhelmed