Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

Another training ride - a shortish one for me, but cycling buddy lives almost 5 miles from where we met, so she's got some on me today! Will have to make that up later this week!

Taking a day off tomorrow, then meeting a new ebike friend for coffee and this same ride again with us on Wednesday... The beginnings of a riding group, perhaps 🤞?

More pretty Cascade mountain view scenery:

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Bike shot - we'll be adding an Aventon on Wednesday 😉:

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And, the ride:

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A little weather change tomorrow - cooling off considerably - so happy to have seized these gorgeous days!
 
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Well, you can call it, but it won't come...😉 That is definitely a grizzly. The shape of the head, the ears - - very different from a polar bear. Not to mention its neighborhood.
Sadly, the polar bears may be nearing extinction. I've heard they have started to hybridize with grizzlies, so maybe more white ones will start to show up (in the far north, of course).
 
This morning was slotted for a bike ride as to not waste a rare perfect day in among an endless parade of heat/humidity/storms which are typical for summer in the mid-Atlantic region.

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The Gazelle sporting its new set of lilac panniers, lending a gentle brush of color to soften the hard steel gray and burnt black color scheme

I'm still dialing in the Gazelle to ensure the bike is a perfect fit for me and my style of riding. Today was a 14.5 mile test ride including gravel roads, paved roads, flat surfaces, tough hills, and potholes filled with yesterday's late afternoon rain. The scenery was icing on the cake.

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A winery on the mountainside.

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Fields waiting to be hayed.

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A conversational stream meandering the easy way across a cattle field and through a oversized drain pipe under a rural road to continue an exploration of the fields on the far side.

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A mountainside brewery as seen from a distance

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The skies just couldn't be any prettier when framed by old stone walls and grassy summer fields.
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The roadside day lilies adding a splash of hot orange to the day's cool palette of greens, grays, and blues.
 
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What, its built in camera is insufficient. Got that unit sitting idle now for too long. I should see if its batteries are still good.
I wasn’t serious as you might have guessed. ;) I suppose anyone who mounts a GoPro to their drone is more intent on capturing better resolution, dynamic range and stabilization produced from an action cam compared to the drone camera.

I have enough to worry about without the added weight of a heavy camera strapped to the drone. I'm not even sure my mini would even get off the ground. :rolleyes:
 
In Płock...
... or the most ancient of the capital cities of the Duchy of Mazovia.
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The Romanesque Cathedral of 1144.

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The Vistula is wide here.


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Flowing through many cities to reach the Baltic Sea in Gdańsk.
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Co-leading a training for an oil company.

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Me and my Hungarian colleague have standardised on traditional Polish food here 😊
 
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In Płock...
... or the most ancient of the capital cities of the Duchy of Mazovia.
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The Romanesque Cathedral of 1144.

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The Vistula is wide here.


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Flowing through many cities to reach the Baltic Sea in Gdańsk.
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Co-leading a training for an oil company.

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Me and my Hungarian colleague have standardised on traditional Polish food here 😊
They were using red brick in the 1100s, I never knew
 
Pretty much the same ride as Monday, but cloudy and drizzly:

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Italy tour buddy with her La Free and new friend with Aventon Pace 500 - the core of our spankin' new riding group! Note low clouds in the background... No mountain views today!

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Yours truly:

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Not the prettiest day in the world, but great to be out riding!
 
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The ride last week, the missus dropped me off and I rode through a bit of the Bowland Forest national park, which strangely has practically no trees in it .
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The road skims around one the mountain bike trail centre and then climbs up to a high point that gives a panoramic view of a featureless farmland landscape, but has a majestic size that is unusual in England.
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In the distance you can see the mountains of the Yorkshire Dales National park.

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I met up with her to climb Ingelborough, which is only 2300ft, but starts at not much above sea level and still looks quite impressive.

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The path is actually very steep and straight away I was digging deep even using full power, being able to see the top at all times is psycholigically defeating for me and Im such an impatient person that even my fast pace wasnt enough and I quickly decided I wasnt going to make it.
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The bike conked out, mainly because I was pushing it too hard, Im not sure if some overheat protection in the controller kicked in, but it was completely dead and the weather started to take a turn, clouds darkening and rain squalls moving in.
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As you can see it got pretty nasty looking very quickly and there were two huge lightning strikes only just over a small hill from where I was.
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The missus was nearly at the top and there wasnt much point in waiting any longer, so I rode down, met a proper old Yorkshireman biker who showed me a different way down.

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The sky then turned black and an Indian monsoon level of rain came down, I rang the wife and she actually sounded a bit concerned, but there were plenty of people on the trail and it was still warm, so I left her to it and scoffed my butties in the van, when the rain stopped I walked up to meet her and drowned rat didnt describe it.
All in a good day, dramatic but warm weather, great views and the bike had fixed itself by the time I got home.

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Pretty much the same ride as Monday, but cloudy and drizzly:

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Italy tour buddy with her La Free and new friend with Aventon Pace 500 - the core of our spankin' new riding group! Note low clouds in the background... No mountain views today!

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Yours truly:

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Not the prettiest day in the world, but great to be out riding!
Seattle was merely gray and I passed since we hiked Wallace Falls yesterday and I did Golden Gardens the day before.
 
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