Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Deleted member 18083]

After the Rain

Boondall Wetlands Bikeway, Brisbane
13 km; 6:55 am​

The Boondall Wetlands are not usually wet; the last few weeks have been the exception.

In my early retirement years our Thursday and Tuesday cycling group would hurtle through here on our road bikes. Dangerous? Most definitely! Ten COBWEBs – crazy old blokes with expensive bikes – zooming along nose-to-tail despite knowing full well that there might be a similar chain gang approaching from around the corner. Often it was as little as five seconds from first sighting the approaching mob, hopefully on their side of the thin white line down the middle of the bikeway, until actually passing – each preposterous peloton obeying the unwritten wetlands rule of never touching the brakes and keeping to a constant 30 km/h. In all those years, I had only one head-on collision (of which I have no recollection).

On this Thursday morning I had the wetlands all to myself but, on the way back, took the more 'sensible' route, riding alongside to Highway One.

 

[Alaskan]

How do you like the Sram e-shifter ?

The Sram AXS offers very precise, easily adjustable indexing and is super responsive, a significant improvement over the Shimano XTM8120 OEM unit that came on the bike. the shifting is quick and never misses. The app allows you to fine tune the indexing very easily. You just have to remember to recharge the battery. They claim the battery is good for 20 hours of riding. I carry a spare just in case but have not had to use it. I tend to recharge it every 5 or 6 rides but it could go longer. It has a cool impact absorbing clutch that allows it to take a hit from the side, pop inwards and then recover. IT has basically been set and forget for the past year, needing no adjustment with various cassette changes.

 

[rajron]

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & Santa Lucia Church

Rode to a unique town in the Metro Phoenix Valley ( Valley of the Sun; ) Guadalupe. https://www.guadalupeaz.org/
I was testing to see how far I could ride without having to purchase a new battery round trip was 35 miles and still had two bars left even with using Sport and Turbo on the way back.

 

[steve mercier]

The Sram AXS offers very precise, easily adjustable indexing and is super responsive, a significant improvement over the Shimano XTM8120 OEM unit that came on the bike. the shifting is quick and never misses. The app allows you to fine tune the indexing very easily. You just have to remember to recharge the battery. They claim the battery is good for 20 hours of riding. I carry a spare just in case but have not had to use it. I tend to recharge it every 5 or 6 rides but it could go longer. It has a cool impact absorbing clutch that allows it to take a hit from the side, pop inwards and then recover. IT has basically been set and forget for the past year, needing no adjustment with various cassette changes.

I had read that the battery lasts about two years, so I had assumed they were non-rechargeable batteries. Is it possible to use regular batteries?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I had read that the battery lasts about two years, so I had assumed they were non-rechargeable batteries. Is it possible to use regular batteries?

The shifter battery lasts long. The rechargeable derailleur battery has to be recharged Two different things.

 

[steve mercier]

The shifter battery lasts long. The rechargeable derailleur battery has to be recharged Two different things.

I understand now ,thanks.

 

[Alaskan]

I understand now ,thanks.

I have had the AXS for a year now and totally forgot about the shifter battery, as I have never changed it out. It uses two 2032 coin batteries.

 

[RandallS]

After the rain …
View attachment 84204

Boondall Wetlands Bikeway, Brisbane
13 km; 6:55 am​

The Boondall Wetlands are not usually wet; the last few weeks have been the exception.

In my early retirement years our Thursday and Tuesday cycling group would hurtle through here on our road bikes. Dangerous? Most definitely! Ten COBWEBs – crazy old blokes with expensive bikes – zooming along nose-to-tail despite knowing full well that there might be a similar chain gang approaching from around the corner. Often it was as little as five seconds from first sighting the approaching mob, hopefully on their side of the thin white line down the middle of the bikeway, until actually passing – each preposterous peloton obeying the unwritten wetlands rule of never touching the brakes and keeping to a constant 30 km/h. In all those years, I had only one head-on collision (of which I have no recollection).

On this Thursday morning I had the wetlands all to myself but, on the way back, took the more 'sensible' route, riding alongside to Highway One.

View attachment 84206

COBWEBs! Gonna steal that one!

 

[Deleted member 18083]

COBWEBs! Gonna steal that one!

Swap 'electric' for 'expensive', if appropriate.

The group that I'm joining this morning – we're heading up the rail trail – calls itself TOP Cyclists: 'Tyred Old People'. I think the British spelling emphasises the pun: sometimes one has to spell one's witticisms out to be understood.

 

[Chargeride]

Glad you are doing well, I have a close family member going through it right now and they always ask me not to talk about it, because they dont want it to be a conversation when its something they are living with and they want escapes not mulling over, which I have an annoying tendency to do and sometimes I over compensate with strangers and they might think Im indifferent.

Anyway back to cadence, the bbshd has a very basic PAS and just gives full power with an 8th turn of the crank, so in top gear I can toot along while turning the pedals at about 10rpm.
This is gloriously lazy but also problematic trying to keep a constant speed.
I just have to constantly click up and down the 10 assist levels.

The setup is finally giving me issues, probably 50% poor maintenance by me, lost a few teeth, bent the chain and jammed it inbetween the motor and chainwheel.
You can see the problem in this vid, it was totally stuck and had to be dismantled...always carry allen keys!

 

[Prairie Dog]

With a small window of decent weather, I thought it was a good time to change things up and hit the road instead of the trails.

The Blindman River is a quiet place to stop along the Trans Canada Trail towards the towns of Blackfalds and Lacombe. Hopefully things will start to green up over the next several weeks.

I was planning on riding the single tracks with friends today but mother nature had other plans.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

View attachment 84283

How many e-bikes do you actually own, Art? What's the bike you've ridden on that trip?

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church & Santa Lucia Church

Rode to a unique town in the Metro Phoenix Valley ( Valley of the Sun; ) Guadalupe. https://www.guadalupeaz.org/
I was testing to see how far I could ride without having to purchase a new battery round trip was 35 miles and still had two bars left even with using Sport and Turbo on the way back.

Rajron: Amazing photo! Regarding your Gazelle range, will you try to do a ride in the lowest assistance to test the maximum battery range as well? I can bet you could do 50 miles.

Developments
Saturday: A visit to my daughter Magda. Because of different location of my temporary flat, the distance one way is 17.7 km now (was 21). I can try alternative routes though.

Sunday: Expected to ride together with Anita; I need to teach her how to ride her Como 5.0 It could be an interesting experience (limiting my Lovelec to proper 25 km/h to not have any advantage over my friend).

 

[Prairie Dog]

How many e-bikes do you actually own, Art? What's the bike you've ridden on that trip?

I ride both the Trance and a Creo. The Trance has really allowed me to explore the local trails to a greater degree. The Creo has been my chief ride for longer road trips and I expect it will continue to serve me well in that capacity. This is only the second time this year I’ve been able to head out on the road with the Creo and it takes a bit of adjusting to the harsher ride compared to plush comfort of the Trance. I’ll have to be quite judicious in determining how much time I plan to be in the saddle for both bikes over the course of the spring/summer riding season.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

a Creo.

I've completely forgotten you owned a Creo!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I've completely forgotten you owned a Creo!

I did too for almost 6 months while it sat idle during the entire winter season. Guess I'll have no choice but to make up for lost time.

 

[Readytoride]

... 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.

Those last lines really resonated. I can only hope he is eventually found, if only to being closure to his family and friends...and to you as a witness to his search and rescuers attempts.

 

[RabH]

After a very wild day yesterday it was good to see the sun and even dry roads this morning, it was such a beautiful but chilly morning! I decided to take a chance and head down into The Clyde Valley which is a local beauty spot with many garden centres (they have only just reopened), thankfully they were still quiet and I had a blast riding through the stunning valley! This is one of the main garden centres but there weren't many cars in the car park at this time!

It really looked spectacular in the valley today with the wispy clouds!

Back at the top of the valley the views were pretty special also! The climb up to here is a real brute but no problem for a powerful e bike! I remember struggling up it many times in the past, I wonder if I could still do it on my analog bike...maybe I will be brave and try it again, or maybe not!

I had such a fun ride today which was very much needed, Sunday is looking much the same weather wise so hopefully a 50 miler will be on the cards!

 

[PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee]

With a small window of decent weather, I thought it was a good time to change things up and hit the road instead of the trails.
View attachment 84281
The Blindman River is a quiet place to stop along the Trans Canada Trail towards the towns of Blackfalds and Lacombe. Hopefully things will start to green up over the next several weeks.
View attachment 84282

View attachment 84283

I was planning on riding the single tracks with friends today but mother nature had other plans.
View attachment 84284

Love the color on that frame!

 

[Readytoride]

@RabH - Stunning scenery!! Amazing what a bit of sun does for biking photos. Thank you for your ride report which was entertaining. Not having that luxury riding here in NorthernVirginia today. It is all fog and light drizzle with some real honest-to-goodness rain marching in a bit later on. A day for staying indoors with the feet up, and the bikes parked in the garage. Sunday we're supposed to have thunderstorms so will be happy to hear of your adventures that day doing a half century from home.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Love the color on that frame!

Thanks PFL. The color is Battleship Blue which coincidentally is the same color as my lid. It looks like I'll be riding it more now that the Trance appears to be out of commission. I was all set to ride the trails this morning and it refused to power up. There is definitely an error code but I won’t know until I drop it off at the closest dealer on Monday. Certainly didn't expect this to happen on a two month old bike.