Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Deleted member 18083]

Before the rain…

Esk Railway Station
Brisbane Valley Rail Trail​

We made it home, but only just in time. My companions didn't wait to be included in the photo.

Rain has been pouring down for three days – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday – but, intrepid ebikers that we are, our group will take on the upper sections of the rail trail during April. The further away, the longer the car trip. Of course, distances must be doubled for each day's outing.

It's Wednesday, and it's pouring with rain. Enough!

 

[steve mercier]

Wow Stefan, some great rides to keep your mind off the hardships, keep it up!
Finished my monthly Gran Fondo yesterday, beautiful day except for the 13 mph headwind, grrrrr hahaha

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I'm loving the range of this battery, 69 miles and I still had 29% left!!!

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That is a solid ride !

 

[Mulezen]

Stefan. I met two graduates of the academy (I believe) in Columbus, Ohio in 1970...Waldemar Baszanowski (sp) and ZIelinski...Olympic champs in weightlifting.

 

[PatriciaK]

Beautiful 10.64 miles on the Flow this morning! Rode the Bicentennial Greenway, paved asphalt trail with several pretty bridges and not-so-pretty (but manageable) major road crossings. Greensboro, NC, has miles and miles of paved trails, but none seem connected so they're mostly out and back.

Front suspension fork: over the tree root bumps and bridge approaches! Didn't know what I was missing until the Flow arrived .

Still getting used to the cadence sensing - discovered this morning that PAS 1 is never going to go more than about 6 mph on the flat, and much slower on any hill. Used mostly PAS 2 on those, with a couple of PAS 3 on the steeper inclines to keep up the speed (and I use that term with some irony, since I'm mainly a 6-8 mph comfort zone kind of gal ).

Also discovered this morning that Espin "solved" the ubiquitous bent chain guard issue by no longer having a chain guard on the bike. Don't know why I didn't notice before, since it was on my mind as something to watch out for. Not a big deal, but I won't plan on riding with my bell bottom pants on .

Obligatory bike photo taken at the Leonard Community Center, about 1/3 of the way along the route.

The only wild life encountered were these Canada Geese, which can be quite dangerous when their goslings arrive! Stayed a safe distance away, just in case.

So happy I got this bike !

 

[RandallS]

Weather gone from 23 degrees C to about 2 over night, it tried to snow today and I decided to just chill and recover from yesterdays too much to drink Easter.
Bacardi and lucozade...dont ask.

Made the vid of the Liverpool football stadiums, they are two of the most famous teams in the UK and most people arent aware they are only a quarter of a mile apart.

Liverpool is the richer club, but Everton always sells itself as the peoples club, the rivalry is real but never fisticuffs, though they are known as bitter blues and I can verify theres a lot of truth in that.
You can see from the old pics I put on the end ,the massive changes in the area on the hill, they knocked down the slums and moved everyone into the country.
Entire towns were built by 60s architects who made the weirdest, souless, sprawling communities with no pavements and immense roundabouts/rotararies, the biggest one is about 120 metres across, you keep finding people walking down the road.
The scooter is the one they are allowing in a few UK cities, hundreds of them, looks pretty high quality and you see them easily climbing quite steep hills, I might hire one for a spin.

One swear word at the beginning, nothing bad, just a warning.

I get chills whenever I hear "you'll never walk alone" like that.
My first "real" football coach was from Liverpool, and for evermore I've been a Reds fan (casually).

Great video - as always!

 

[RabH]

I woke to a beautiful crisp morning with light winds, yesterday was very much different so I wasn't going to sit around! 30 very enjoyable miles round our local roads with virtually no traffic so it really was a blast! I wasn't going to take any pictures as its a route I have covered many times in recent weeks but I decided to take a few while I was stopped for a snack! 1,064 miles now covered so I'm getting back on track but hoping the weather doesn't turn nasty, tomorrow is looking awful but after that we have a few nice days before the rain returns!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It's Wednesday, and it's pouring with rain. Enough!

There's been snowfall in my area... Enough!

Waldemar Baszanowski

I recognize that name very well!

Developments:

Tuesday.

A volunteer brigade formed of seven of my friends totally cleaned rubble upstairs and got rid of the most of damaged or worthless things both up- and downstairs! Some objects of value to me were recovered. Tygra got a decent burial. It is worthwhile to mention two members of the cleaning brigade were Ania and Janek, my recent riding mates! (I also used to ride with Makenzen and my brother Jacek, also visible here -- Jacek's kneeling).

Got my first shot of Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday.

At my social flat. As you can see, I can keep Lovelec here Who can spot the CrankBrothers logo on the chair?

 

[steve mercier]

There's been snowfall in my area... Enough!

I recognize that name very well!

Developments:

Tuesday.
View attachment 84158
A volunteer brigade formed of seven of my friends totally cleaned rubble upstairs and got rid of the most of damaged or worthless things both up- and downstairs! Some objects of value to me were recovered. Tygra got a decent burial. It is worthwhile to mention two members of the cleaning brigade were Ania and Janek, my recent riding mates! (I also used to ride with Makenzen and my brother Jacek, also visible here -- Jacek's kneeling).

Got my first shot of Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday.

View attachment 84159
At my social flat. As you can see, I can keep Lovelec here Who can spot the CrankBrothers logo on the chair?

Glad to see you have another place to crash. How did the fire start?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Glad to see you have another place to crash. How did the fire start?

From hot cigarette ash thrown into a garbage bag...

 

[steve mercier]

From hot cigarette ash thrown into a garbage bag...

Bummer! Stefan your luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bummer! Stefan your luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

I shouldn't have been doing cleaning of my house in the first place

 

[Alaskan]

Sorry no photos. Not pausing for photos or much of anything else. It has been an unusually cold spring with temps still in the 40s (low single digit in celsius) with at least 6 out of ten days being quite rainy.

I have been trying to build back power in my legs after being laid up and off my feet for almost four months after surgery on my leg in August. I have been riding hard, mostly in Eco, on the new Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 as of late. I am finally starting to notice some results with some bulk coming back into my legs and having greater power and endurance on rides. Regaining fitness and building back lost muscle is further complicated by ongoing chemotherapy, which benches me for 5 days out of every fortnight. But I am getting it done and my oncologist is gobsmacked. I am going to beat this blasted thing or die trying.

The Neo rewards the effort with speed and agility, such a fun ride.

Today I put a 48 tooth front chainring on the bike to squeeze a bit more top end performance. It came with a 44 tooth and I have been riding with a 46 tooth. With that chainring the smallest 11 tooth cog enables me to ride on a flat road, with little wind, at 25 mph with a cadence of 70 which I can sustain for 15 or 20 minutes before easing up and letting my heart rate drop a bit. I am hoping that the 13 tooth will be the top flat road gear and that the 11 will become useful on the downhills. It has been pouring down rain today but tomorrow promises sunshine so I will report on how the bigger chain ring worked out.

It has become evident that if I keep this bike in Eco mode, on not too hilly roads, my range is between 80 and 90 miles on a 500 watt power tube, with a decent average speed in the 16-17 mph range. This bike has made a firm believer out of me when it comes to the benefit of keeping weight down and riding in a more aero ride position. I am also liking the multitude of hand positions enabled by the drop gravel bar.

Here are the last two days rides. Monday's ride had lots of climbing so the average speed was lower. It still lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face to ride even when there is more of a fitness mission involved and less lollygagging.

 

[PatriciaK]

Sorry no photos. Not pausing for photos or much of anything else. It has been an unusually cold spring with temps still in the 40s (low single digit in celsius) with at least 6 out of ten days being quite rainy.

I have been trying to build back power in my legs after being laid up and off my feet for almost four months after surgery on my leg in August. I have been riding hard, mostly in Eco, on the new Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 as of late. I am finally starting to notice some results with some bulk coming back into my legs and having greater power and endurance on rides. Regaining fitness and building back lost muscle is further complicated by ongoing chemotherapy, which benches me for 5 days out of every fortnight. But I am getting it done and my oncologist is gobsmacked. I am going to beat this blasted thing or die trying.

The Neo rewards the effort with speed and agility, such a fun ride.

Today I put a 48 tooth front chainring on the bike to squeeze a bit more top end performance. It came with a 44 tooth and I have been riding with a 46 tooth. With that chainring the smallest 11 tooth cog enables me to ride on a flat road, with little wind, at 25 mph with a cadence of 70 which I can sustain for 15 or 20 minutes before easing up and letting my heart rate drop a bit. I am hoping that the 13 tooth will be the top flat road gear and that the 11 will become useful on the downhills. It has been pouring down rain today but tomorrow promises sunshine so I will report on how the bigger chain ring worked out.

It has become evident that if I keep this bike in Eco mode, on not too hilly roads, my range is between 80 and 90 miles on a 500 watt power tube, with a decent average speed in the 16-17 mph range. This bike has made a firm believer out of me when it comes to the benefit of keeping weight down and riding in a more aero ride position. I am also liking the multitude of hand positions enabled by the drop gravel bar.

Here are the last two days rides. Monday's ride had lots of climbing so the average speed was lower. It still lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face to ride even when there is more of a fitness mission involved and less lollygagging.

View attachment 84182

View attachment 84183

It sure looks like you're beating that blasted thing - congrats, and keep riding!

 

[Mulezen]

Great focus Alaskan. The Allant is a fine carrot isn’t it. Thanks for the update. The bad weather is insult to injury. Here in Va the great weather is insulting me in my sling

 

[ChezCheese:)]

There's been snowfall in my area... Enough!

I recognize that name very well!

Developments:

Tuesday.
View attachment 84158
A volunteer brigade formed of seven of my friends totally cleaned rubble upstairs and got rid of the most of damaged or worthless things both up- and downstairs! Some objects of value to me were recovered. Tygra got a decent burial. It is worthwhile to mention two members of the cleaning brigade were Ania and Janek, my recent riding mates! (I also used to ride with Makenzen and my brother Jacek, also visible here -- Jacek's kneeling).

Got my first shot of Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday.

View attachment 84159
At my social flat. As you can see, I can keep Lovelec here Who can spot the CrankBrothers logo on the chair?

It looks like there is no insulation in that wall... Is that true? With Polish winters!

 

[Bob H]

Sorry no photos. Not pausing for photos or much of anything else. It has been an unusually cold spring with temps still in the 40s (low single digit in celsius) with at least 6 out of ten days being quite rainy.

Just keep going and don't look back. Really glad to see you doing well.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It looks like there is no insulation in that wall... Is that true? With Polish winters!

True, and not quite. The majority of the walls are insulated. The picture shows a small segment of the front wall that held large windows. As the windows formed perfect insulation themselves (covering majority of that wall section), it was not that bad. I agree the design could be better but the house was built still under the old regime when availability of construction material was poor. (The fact the top floor and majority of the roof actually survived the fire indicates how good builder my Dad was under those hard times).

It has become evident that if I keep this bike in Eco mode, on not too hilly roads, my range is between 80 and 90 miles on a 500 watt power tube, with a decent average speed in the 16-17 mph range. This bike has made a firm believer out of me when it comes to the benefit of keeping weight down and riding in a more aero ride position. I am also liking the multitude of hand positions enabled by the drop gravel bar.

It is not only because the Topstone is such a good e-bike but also because it is you Richard riding it! Fight the illness!

 

[Bob H]

The picture I've attached is from a Ped/Cycle bridge across the North Saskatchewan river here in Edmonton Canada. On my ride yesterday, I was stopped just before the bridge by a Fire truck and Ambulance on the bike path. This area is a favorite place for people to walk their dogs and let them play in the river in the summer - not now!!! It turns out someone let their dog off leash and the dog wandered out on the ice. Another man came along with his dog and decided to go out on the ice to rescue the dog. He went through the ice and was swept downstream under the ice. As you can see from the photo, this portion of the river is still mostly ice covered. What you can't see is that the current is very fast as spring runoff from the mountains is flowing through. The fire crew had inflatable rafts and people in survival suits but they couldn't locate the person.

The route I had chosen took me downriver along the north bank for several miles. The fire department had more rafts and crew in survival suits ready at several locations downriver just in case. Within a few minutes they had a helicopter overhead as well. However, after 4 hours the search was called off and the person is presumed dead. This is a sad story but one that seems to happen every year. The river is so dangerous at this time of year but people take these chances anyway. By the way, the dog got to shore and survived. I, like a lot of other people, stood on the bridge for a long time hoping to see something so the rescue crews could do their jobs but no luck. After riding downriver a few miles, I cut the ride short and went home. It is just so sad to see a life lost trying to do a good deed. He took his dog for a walk and didn't come home - terrible shock for his family.

 

[steve mercier]

Sorry no photos. Not pausing for photos or much of anything else. It has been an unusually cold spring with temps still in the 40s (low single digit in celsius) with at least 6 out of ten days being quite rainy.

I have been trying to build back power in my legs after being laid up and off my feet for almost four months after surgery on my leg in August. I have been riding hard, mostly in Eco, on the new Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 as of late. I am finally starting to notice some results with some bulk coming back into my legs and having greater power and endurance on rides. Regaining fitness and building back lost muscle is further complicated by ongoing chemotherapy, which benches me for 5 days out of every fortnight. But I am getting it done and my oncologist is gobsmacked. I am going to beat this blasted thing or die trying.

The Neo rewards the effort with speed and agility, such a fun ride.

Today I put a 48 tooth front chainring on the bike to squeeze a bit more top end performance. It came with a 44 tooth and I have been riding with a 46 tooth. With that chainring the smallest 11 tooth cog enables me to ride on a flat road, with little wind, at 25 mph with a cadence of 70 which I can sustain for 15 or 20 minutes before easing up and letting my heart rate drop a bit. I am hoping that the 13 tooth will be the top flat road gear and that the 11 will become useful on the downhills. It has been pouring down rain today but tomorrow promises sunshine so I will report on how the bigger chain ring worked out.

It has become evident that if I keep this bike in Eco mode, on not too hilly roads, my range is between 80 and 90 miles on a 500 watt power tube, with a decent average speed in the 16-17 mph range. This bike has made a firm believer out of me when it comes to the benefit of keeping weight down and riding in a more aero ride position. I am also liking the multitude of hand positions enabled by the drop gravel bar.

Here are the last two days rides. Monday's ride had lots of climbing so the average speed was lower. It still lifts my spirits and puts a smile on my face to ride even when there is more of a fitness mission involved and less lollygagging.

View attachment 84182

View attachment 84183

How do you like the Sram e-shifter ?

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

Took a little trip, down the mighty Mississipp! hahahaha

A new record for the fat bike! Pedal Power baby

All cleaned up!
Off to Giant Foods for some eats, later taters...