Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

The tree that cannot stand upright…

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Cottonwood Tree
Moreton Bay Cycleway
For cottonwood trees, especially those beside the Moreton Bay Cyelway, only one thing in life is certain: they're going to fall over.

Kids love them: who needs a playground with a safety 'lawn' of recycled shredded rubber and plastic 'equipment', when there are toppled-over cottonwood trees aplenty beside a beach lapped by the gentlest of waves? Just climb!

Dare one add that they make passable picnic tables, too?
Dave, here in the US, black cottonwood trees have fragrant leaves. You can catch a whiff of their perfume when you walk under them (they're always tall and straight - - at least the ones I've seen, not crooked like the one in your photo - - but also if you scrumple a leaf, you can smell this very pleasant flowery smell. Do cottonwoods there have fragrant leaves?
 
I spent Friday biking all over Amsterdam on a rented ebike. Biking on a workday in that city is a contact sport. At any given intersection large and crazy-small, you can expect to be crowded in with a dozen other bikers, with differing levels of speed, skill and patience just like on the road with cars. Cars, bikes, pedestrians and rail lines coming at you from all directions as the city is not laid out in a modern grid. Doesn't even have traffic rings in the portion of the city I saw. Everyone is riding around on what we'd consider to be a rolling piece of junk, but bikes there are just tools to get from A to B and not status symbols.

Open this pic in a new window and zoom in. This is the central train/bus terminal. The line of bushy trees center-right are double-decker bicycle racks.
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I somehow managed to take this pic from our lunch/cafe table at the only time there was no traffic. Typically you'd see up to 30 bicycles stacked up in any direction. When the light changes off they all go, replaced by another swarm in moments.
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Amsterdam is a city of canals, used like streets. Lots of residences on the water in fact.
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A pedestrian bridge with zillions of bikes lined up. Typical. Some places have signs specifically excluding bicycle lockups but this ain't one of them.
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An all-day ebike rental only cost me 20 Euro. Used this one just off the Centraal train station. Run by an Australian expat and the bikes were in good mechanical order. Which I was thankful for as smooth shifting (10 spd IGH) was a godsend. Came with a full battery, air in the tires and an absolutely essential lock. Used a front hub motor.
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Another fine Whidbey ride yesterday!

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Taking the day off to get some chores done (will make a short grocery/wine run with the bike trailer), then back on the saddle tomorrow ...

Here's a shot of some sculptures at the trail head where I waited for my tour buddy - I think they're referencing the basketry skills of the Coast Salish people who were here long before we were:

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That's it, time to get busy!
 
Went to a new place today. Irchester Country Park in Northamptonshire.

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It turns out that this place was formerly an Iron Ore quarry that closed in 1941. This went for a long seam of 60 miles all the way through Northamptonshire and into part of Leicestershire.

The park is built on the Limestone spoil that was on top of the Iron Ore.
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As requested, our first picnic stop was, Tiger Rolls with Cajun Chicken, Tomato and Radish, Potato fries, and, Bovril to drink.
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The second picnic stop was un-scheduled as Mrs DG wanted an ice-cream.
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Third picnic stop was a bit more healthier with Apples, Bananas, Apricots and Yoghurt and Fruit Biscuits, with Black Coffee.
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The routes were a bit short, so we planned to go round a few times, but couldn’t really as the place was packed with kids. However, we had to cut the ride short as Mrs DG hurt her wrist and we are now in A&E waiting for it to be looked at.
 

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Went to a new place today. Irchester Country Park in Northamptonshire.

View attachment 130252It turns out that this place was formerly an Iron Ore quarry that closed in 1941. This went for a long seam of 60 miles all the way through Northamptonshire and into part of Leicestershire.

The park is built on the Limestone spoil that was on top of the Iron Ore.
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As requested, our first picnic stop was, Tiger Rolls with Cajun Chicken, Tomato and Radish, Potato fries, and, Bovril to drink.
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The second picnic stop was un-scheduled as Mrs DG wanted an ice-cream.
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Third picnic stop was a bit more healthier with Apples, Bananas, Apricots and Yoghurt and Fruit Biscuits, with Black Coffee.
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The routes were a bit short, so we planned to go round a few times, but couldn’t really as the place was packed with kids. However, we had to cut the ride short as Mrs DG hurt her wrist and we are now in A&E waiting for it to be looked at.
Hope the injury is minor.

Had to look up Bovril. I might like it. I like salty. On long backpacking trips I would take a variety of miso soups. Breakfast and dinner.
 
It coulda been worse. There were no watermelons to buy today at Wally World, or much of anything else so I wasn't too loaded down with groceries.

My bike broke down. I climbed on to get going after pushing it across the intersection of doom and there was a clunk and the pedals stopped. The chain had jumped off the front sprocket. I messed with it, got hands all greasy but it was wedged solid between a knobby bit and a rivet. Pushed to the mini mart to get some water--we're having a heat wave and it was already 87 degrees. Pushed it next door to Harbor Freight to see if a big screwdriver would push it off. Nope. Pushed it on home about a mile.

I am now cooled off after sitting in front of a fan in my cool house. Time to phone a bike shop, I guess. I think the crank will have to come off unless they have a special hooky doodle thing to pull on a chain without bending other bike parts up.
 
It coulda been worse. There were no watermelons to buy today at Wally World, or much of anything else so I wasn't too loaded down with groceries.

My bike broke down. I climbed on to get going after pushing it across the intersection of doom and there was a clunk and the pedals stopped. The chain had jumped off the front sprocket. I messed with it, got hands all greasy but it was wedged solid between a knobby bit and a rivet. Pushed to the mini mart to get some water--we're having a heat wave and it was already 87 degrees. Pushed it next door to Harbor Freight to see if a big screwdriver would push it off. Nope. Pushed it on home about a mile.

I am now cooled off after sitting in front of a fan in my cool house. Time to phone a bike shop, I guess. I think the crank will have to come off unless they have a special hooky doodle thing to pull on a chain without bending other bike parts up.
Thats happened to me a few times, but I could loosen the chainring from the crank.
 
Perimeter ride today up on my normal place - Nose Hill.

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Some flowy bits from the south end.
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Some bike posing pics:

Looking east

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Looking south:

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And looking ... heck, I can't remember.

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Nice day, not too hot. Still enjoying my audiobook "The Glass Key".

Yesterday was a longer ride: Put my bike on my rack when the wife and I went to Chiropractor appointments, and she took the car home.
I hopped on my bike and went over to visit with Louis (a former EBR member) who is recuperating after knee replacement surgery.

To his place in an area called Lakeview - very nice. My Garmin malfunctioned (well, user error) and I lost a bunch of the ride.

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And from his place, back to mine:

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All told, about 50 kms with ~450m of ascending.
A LOT more roads than I am used to, but quite a few designated with bike lanes.

The route along the river is on a pathway that is usually packed with bikers, and Bow River itself gets a fair amount of recreational use too.
These two photos are from last Friday, when it was a beautiful day too! I was heading NW and it was very quiet for a Friday.

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Thats happened to me a few times, but I could loosen the chainring from the crank.
It happened to me on the above pictured Creo a number of times. A lot more number of times. Each time the chain would get nicely wedged in between the chainring and the motor housing. Besides being a greasy mess, I was able to extricate it without ruining the chain. But it took a lot of tugging and moving the chainring and more tugging. Most of it may have been user error. I probably did not align the chain with the proper teeth or forgot to engage the clutch after fixing a flat. But the worst day, when I bailed and got rescued, it must have happened about ten times, on uphills and flats. Apparently, a little spill I took on a previous ride bent the derailleur hanger. Live (fortunately) and learn! I now have a chain guard on there to hopefully prevent such jumping and I try to avoid FALLING!
 
Thats happened to me a few times, but I could loosen the chainring from the crank.
There is a bump and a rivet that it is truly stuck in. I wrestled with it, and said magical words, but nothing worked. It is stuck.

I do think the chain was too loose, although a so called bike expert said it was OK, since I probably wasn't riding off bumps and jumps. I'll ask questions tomorrow. I do know how to adjust chainsaws so can bikes be much different? :)
 
There is a bump and a rivet that it is truly stuck in. I wrestled with it, and said magical words, but nothing worked. It is stuck.

I do think the chain was too loose, although a so called bike expert said it was OK, since I probably wasn't riding off bumps and jumps. I'll ask questions tomorrow. I do know how to adjust chainsaws so can bikes be much different? :)
Just don't confuse them and put that chainsaw between your legs! o_O
 
Perimeter ride today up on my normal place - Nose Hill.

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Some flowy bits from the south end.
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Some bike posing pics:

Looking east

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Looking south:

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And looking ... heck, I can't remember.

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Nice day, not too hot. Still enjoying my audiobook "The Glass Key".

Yesterday was a longer ride: Put my bike on my rack when the wife and I went to Chiropractor appointments, and she took the car home.
I hopped on my bike and went over to visit with Louis (a former EBR member) who is recuperating after knee replacement surgery.

To his place in an area called Lakeview - very nice. My Garmin malfunctioned (well, user error) and I lost a bunch of the ride.

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And from his place, back to mine:

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All told, about 50 kms with ~450m of ascending.
A LOT more roads than I am used to, but quite a few designated with bike lanes.

The route along the river is on a pathway that is usually packed with bikers, and Bow River itself gets a fair amount of recreational use too.
These two photos are from last Friday, when it was a beautiful day too! I was heading NW and it was very quiet for a Friday.

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Nice! Nose Hill sure has greened up since I was there last but those epic views of the skyline remain etched in my hard drive. 👍
 
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