Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[kahn]

A cut down version of one of my urban adventures as the headwind was more than I wanted to deal with. So I cut out about a mile of waterfront trail that ran straight into the winds. So 20.1 and 900 feet. But the surf was up (g) and there were the usual Planes, trains and automobiles.

 

[Chargeride]

a plane on a train, heading for maine?

 

[Prairie Dog]

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After a week of horrid weather it was good to get out again, it was around -2C when I set off but the roads were dry (at first)...a few miles to the east and even the main roads were sketchy! I think that is the slowest I have ever ridden downhill for a very long time! Mostly straight roads due to the conditions and I made it home in one piece! The local loch was looking nice in the morning sun!

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My bike looks very lonely down there!

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Lovely cloud formation at 1000ft up!

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Its supposed to be above zero tomorrow and dry so I might get out again, hopefully in safer conditions! I did enjoy my ride today but hopefully tomorrow will be a much better cyclibg day!

@Prairie Dog I'm glad you and your mate weren't hurt, loved your video!

Nice! I never thought that I would say this but that pullout where your bike is parked pretty much represents the same amount of snow that we’ve seen up to now.

 

[Prairie Dog]

A cut down version of one of my urban adventures as the headwind was more than I wanted to deal with. So I cut out about a mile of waterfront trail that ran straight into the winds. So 20.1 and 900 feet. But the surf was up (g) and there were the usual Planes, trains and automobiles.

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Cool shots. My initial thought regarding the plane was that it was on its way to the metal scrap heap. Just goes to show how little I know.

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/bnsf-mrl-move-10000th-boeing-737-fuselage/

 

[kahn]

a plane on a train, heading for maine?

Only make it to Maine if it is not a MAX!

 

[kahn]

Cool shots. My initial thought regarding the plane was that it was on its way to the metal scrap heap. Just goes to show how little I know.

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/bnsf-mrl-move-10000th-boeing-737-fuselage/

Yes, anything but scrap. A few million dollars on those trains.

It was always fun and/or interesting to be driving on Houser and sharing the road with big locomotives and piggy back airplanes. I worked in that city for centuries but not for Boeing.

A bit more trivia:

Trains on streets as opposed to crossing or running parallel is called "street running"

Street Running - Trained Eye Northwest

trainedeyenw.com

And here's with a fuselage

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@kahn: Thank you so much for the "Boeing Story"!

 

[kahn]

@kahn: Thank you so much for the "Boeing Story"!

I never worked there and due to my job, I was on their enemies list! But plenty of friends worked there in all kinds of capacities. Their footprint in Renton is shrinking a bit more every year. But I recall watching from the office window as the 757 took its maiden flight.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I never worked there and due to my job, I was on their enemies list! But plenty of friends worked there in all kinds of capacities. Their footprint in Renton is shrinking a bit more every year. But I recall watching from the office window as the 757 took its maiden flight.

First of all, I didn't know very much about the Boeing manufacturing facilities (it was "oh, somewhere in Seattle WA") Now, I could see the map with Everett, Renton, and Houser Way S, and it turned out to be very interesting to me The PNW is a very interesting area for me, one of the magical "world ends"! And you people grow the best hops in the world (The Cascades!) and brew the best beer there!

I was quite excited to read novels by Neal Stephenson, some of recent set in PNW, including Seattle and British Columbia.

 

[RabH]

Nice! I never thought that I would say this but that pullout where your bike is parked pretty much represents the same amount of snow that we’ve seen up to now.

We had a few inches which then melted and froze, followed by heavy rain and storm force winds! We got lucky due to the wind direction but the north of Scotland was hit hard and some are still without power after 7 days...

I'm sure your snow will hit with a vengeance soon!

 

[kahn]

First of all, I didn't know very much about the Boeing manufacturing facilities (it was "oh, somewhere in Seattle WA") Now, I could see the map with Everett, Renton, and Houser Way S, and it turned out to be very interesting to me The PNW is a very interesting area for me, one of the magical "world ends"! And you people grow the best hops in the world (The Cascades!) and brew the best beer there!

I was quite excited to read novels by Neal Stephenson, some of recent set in PNW, including Seattle and British Columbia.

When I moved here in 1975 my mother felt the exact same way "World Ends!" But both parents came to love visiting our very temperate climate and beautiful scenery. Ah, yes, Yakima hops. Also mint, in case you need to know. And onions. Oh, did I forget asparagus. Orchards and wine, too.

Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon - I'd like to hear that former with a Polish accent since even in English it is hard to enunciate! (g)

And back to biking - actually, I've done very little biking in that area. Some years ago. I prefer north central Washington or the North Cascades from our side to the other side.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon - I'd like to hear that former with a Polish accent since even in English it is hard to enunciate! (g)

I seem to have read everything from Neal Stephenson. The novel related to the PNW is the "REAMDE" (literally!), a 2011 book.
NS has also mentioned the cult of good coffee in that book.

P.S. @Mr. Coffee is a Cascadian.
One of my favourite Ale styles is Black IPA, or Cascadian Dark Ale.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Muddy river…

Twin Bridges
Brisbane River near Fernvale​

With the river level dropping, someone had wondered whether they might get across the twin bridges and then thought better of the idea and reversed (with difficulty; right of photo!) to safety.

I kept well away, knowing that going further would see me slip-sliding on the mud and landing on my backside (how embarrassing!). And it was no easier further downstream…

Savages Crossing
Brisbane River near Fernvale​

 

[Chargeride]

OK, now its crocs, this is becoming emtbs most dangerous paths.

 

[RabH]

Much safer for a ride today, all the ice was finally gone! Back down to the Clyde Valley which is a must to avoid in icy conditions due to the water running down from all the hills, I got caught out years ago and will never make that mistake again! I didn't even realise there was black ice that day until I stopped for a snack and couldn't stand up...

Anyway all was fine today and I had such a good ride, roads like this certainly help! Today I was climbing it though but its still a very enjoyable climb on an e bike, not so much on a standard bike!

Yesterday I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it, not if you value your life...I have approached the bend further down at almost 35mph before and wouldn't fancy hitting black ice at that speed! You get the impression its an s bend but it actually turns 90 degrees and has a steep drop, great fun when its dry!

Not many photos today as I was pushed for time, I think I have posted many duplicates anyway as its one of my favourite rides! Sunday is looking nice but might be icy again, I have a route in mind if it is which will keep me away from the dangerous roads! Next week isn't looking very promising though but c'est la vie...they get it wrong many times so I will take it as it comes! I need just over 200 miles to hit 5,000 for the year, it should be achievable depending on conditions!

 

[ActionJackson]

last derail,
what do you think about this?
warning, slightly confrontational..
I can actually see both sides of the argument if you imagine other factors not presented in the clip.

That’s why God gave us 2A. I always carry in .

 

[kahn]

Muddy river…

View attachment 108488

Twin Bridges
Brisbane River near Fernvale​

With the river level dropping, someone had wondered whether they might get across the twin bridges and then thought better of the idea and reversed (with difficulty; right of photo!) to safety.

I kept well away, knowing that going further would see me slip-sliding on the mud and landing on my backside (how embarrassing!). And it was no easier further downstream…

View attachment 108489

Savages Crossing
Brisbane River near Fernvale​

But looks like a beautiful day - weatherwise.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

But looks like a beautiful day - weatherwise.

It's what happens here: the floods come later! In the case of the far west of Queensland (usually very dry), the occasional rain can take weeks to flood the regions downstream.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Today’s ride was all about testing out winter gear/clothing as the temperature dropped to -20C wind chill this morning. Heated gloves, socks, boot insoles, winter helmets and various layers of natural and synthetic clothing all receiving the thumbs up of approval from our foursome. Two of us were wearing IceTrax on our boots which were put to good use on one steep icy section of trail where even our studded tires couldn’t dig in.

Unfortunately, the colder temperature played havoc with electronics as both my GoPro and phone froze near the start of the ride and so I have only one pitiful photo to submit.

Ian from Manchester, UK (pictured in front of me) rode the entire outing on his standard MTB shod with just knobby non-studded tires and, for the most part, he was able to keep with us. Speaks volumes for his riding prowess but also for it being the first time riding his bike in winter conditions.

On the bright side, I didn’t lose a single stud and it was a stellar ride as we consecutively rode all five trails without incident to either bodies or bikes.

 

[RabH]

Today was just stunning for early December, around zero C and bright sunshine! I was hoping to do 50 miles but ran out of time, they had closed the road I was intending to take and I had to take to the slippy back roads! Thankfully they had put salt down because the main road was closed but there were still some very sketchy parts where I had to get off the bike...you can see the ice on the left here which is where we have to ride! Thankfully the road was very quiet, love a Sunday ride!

Further on the ice was right across the road and extremely slippery, definitely time to push.... Some nice views to the south along this route!

I finally got back on to the main road and had to stop when I spotted the reindeer!

I was heading north now and you could see remnants of the snow which hit during the week! It was probably pretty deep here as its around 1100ft elevation!

The Campsie hills in the distance are covered in snow now, I won't be cycling over them until Spring at the earliest!

No more riding until Thursday at least, we have a yellow warning in place for snow on Tuesday and heavy rain tomorrow! I'm so glad I managed to get out today, it was a really fun ride despite the icy conditions! Nothing like @Prairie Dog 's -20C windchill I did ride in -10C windchill many years ago, that wasn't much fun...especially on a standard bike on the open roads!