Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[RabH]

I caught a break in the weather today, it was 3C with no ice around so with 98 rides in the bag I decided to get out for a ride in the morning and another in the afternoon! Yesterday we had 45mph gusts, today it was much calmer so that was a bonus! I had to choose my routes wisely after days of heavy rain and it wasn't long into my first ride when I encountered my first flood, luckily the path at the side of the road was fine so it was just a short ride on the path before returning to the road! At least it was dry in the morning and I enjoyed a nice ride out to Westfield, on my way home I was flagged down by a van driver who warned me about a big flood ahead where 2 cars were almost submerged! Thankfully there is an alternative route which only added a couple of miles, ironically the route I took is known for bad flooding and it was fine today...

On to the afternoon and it was looking like it would rain at any moment, just a few miles in and I could feel it on my face! Luckily it wasn't heavy and even though it never stopped for the whole ride I was nice and toasty despite the temp only being 4C, proper clothing and heated gloves saved the day! Nothing like @Readytoride 's warm temps, that's like our average summer temps I'm glad you got a chance to get out before the turn of the year, sorry about your friend's misfortune though! I managed a flood free ride thankfully, there was so much debris on the roads though so it was my lucky day! It just shows you can have a fun ride in the rain even in winter, I'm so glad I managed to get my 100 rides in for the year! I ended up covering 5,807 miles so a pretty good average of 58 miles for the year! No photos today, it was a very murky day and I didn't see any decent photo opportunities...

I hope everyone will have a good year in 2023, I'm sure glad to see the back of 2022!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Friends,
This thread has 402 pages now, and David Berry is not with us anymore (sadly).
What are we doing for the 2023?

Besides, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Good point. I’d go with starting a new one.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Good point. I’d go with starting a new one.

Please do. Mention the year, and add "& Maps" to the thread title!

 

[Mulezen]

Friends,
This thread has 402 pages now, and David Berry is not with us anymore (sadly).
What are we doing for the 2023?

Besides, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Stefan…I hope your daughter (and you) had a happy Christmas…as far as the thread goes I will be unhappy to see David’s wonderful photos shelved…but understand its time for a new beginning.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Could always just use this one, but no worries.

Show us pictures of where you ride your ebikes!

Pictures of my last commute ride to the workshop for 2022. I will ride thru here again but not to work. Workshop duty will commence 9 Jan 2023. Life is good, I have a chiropractor re alignment appointment and touch up painting to do on my upstairs rental unit. We was gonna go to the Bay Area...

electricbikereview.com

 

[Readytoride]

Good point. I’d go with starting a new one.

Go for it, Dave! We'll see everyone on the new thread in 2023.

 

[Rome]

I can always retreat here to read and watch you alls wonderful story telling, photos and videos.

 

[Chargeride]

Happy new year to you all, its 5 mins to go, here in Blighty

 

[Rome]

Happy New Year!!!! Wish everybody da best for the coming years. Stay in good health and keep yourselves tuned up and your ebikes as well.
9 hours to 2023 here in Hawaii.

 

[Viking1]

Christmas cheer

Haven't been able to ride at all in the past few weeks with our winter weather, especially the recent weather taking almost all of our expansive county, including neighbors Canada and Mexico, into the deepest freeze and deadliest cold in decades. Bone chilling doesn't even come close to describing this Arctic "bomb cyclone" that swept in the other day to plunge us all in the bitter cold.
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But the weather is only temporary. As soon as any bit of warmth appears (which will be next week when the warm weather rushes back in to give us balmy springtime temps just perfect for riding) I will gleefully be back on the roads with a shiny new Christmas present I have for the upcoming 2023 rides - a new 2023 Gazelle C380+ 28mph Class 3 carbon belt drive ebike.

And the best part is...the new ebike is a result of me holding the winning ticket at my bike shop's Christmas raffle!!!!

The shop held a raffle this winter to support a local non-profit that aids the area poor by providing financial help, food, and clothing. The raffle ran from November to December for ticket buying. I purchased 12 tickets to the tune of $200. And then I kept my fingers crossed. Really tightly. For two solid months.

The winning tickets were pulled at 2pm on Christmas Eve for each of three prizes offered. At 2:01pm my cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID, and felt my heart leap. There could only be one reason the store would call. The store owner was on the other end, and the first words out of his mouth were "I'm about to make your Christmas very special."

Anything else he tried to say was drowned out with my screams of delirious delight. I kid you not I was actually dancing around the room, screaming and laughing my head off, rupturing the poor guy's ear drums. I do remembering him laughing at my very vocal glee, and when I finally calmed down enough to actually hear what he had to say, he verified I was the winner of the ebike.

OMG!!!!!

I am still on Cloud Nine. My husband (who is still recovering from Covid which he picked up for free at a celebratory party we attended almost two weeks ago) is thrilled as well. A big plus is the new bike's battery is identical to my current Gazelle's battery - giving me now a third battery to use for the metric century, and full century, rides. I had already decided i would be buying a third battery this winter so I could at least give @RabH a run for his money in the 2023 ride distances. Now instead I will have not only an extra battery, but a whole new bike, thanks to winning the raffle!!

What a great ending to my cycling calendar for 2022!!! Come on 2023! I am soooo ready!!!

Woo hoo!!!!!!
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Awesome!! That is my bike shop as well. We are limited on space and I did not sign up for the raffle. Great bike for sure! Congrats!

 

[DaveMatthews]

Hippo New Beer folks!

 

[Rome]

2022 bye .

 

[Chargeride]

My first look I thought that was a battery going up.

 

[Chargeride]

How highs the water Mamma

Well, we can put the ebike in a homemade boat
'Cause that's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the charging points
Two feet high and risin'

Well, the pedals disappear with every stroke
Bikes in water up past her yoke
My drone is stuck in the willow tree
Three feet high and risin'


Hey, come look through the window pane
Stefan is coming, gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain
Four feet high and risin'


Well, the trails are washed out north of town
We got to head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water goes down
Five feet high and risin'

Its hasnt stopped raining and Im bored.....can you tell.

 

[Twin Valley]

How highs the water Mamma

Well, we can put the ebike in a homemade boat
'Cause that's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the charging points
Two feet high and risin'

Well, the pedals disappear with every stroke
Bikes in water up past her yoke
My drone is stuck in the willow tree
Three feet high and risin'


Hey, come look through the window pane
Stefan is coming, gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain
Four feet high and risin'


Well, the trails are washed out north of town
We got to head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water goes down
Five feet high and risin'

Its hasnt stopped raining and Im bored.....can you tell.

When famous American poet, Robert Frost, was living in England near the beginning of the 20th century he penned "The Road Not Taken" that my elementary teacher made me memorize some 60 years ago when I was goofing off . . . kind of sounds like your poem less the drones and e-bikes - I shall be telling this with a sigh, Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference - so maybe you need to find a new path out of the rain - I don't know maybe Portugal or some other warm climate with inexpensive beer or wine . . . speaking of divergent roads I notice the rest of the group has moved to a 2023 thread, I got suspicious when Stefan hadn't posted for a week

 

[Chargeride]

yes, I forgot it was a new year.
Just checking ...you do know its a Johnny Cash song.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I just couldn’t pass this up this opportunity on my way home today. For a Sunday, I expected the place to be packed but much to my surprise there were fewer skaters on the ponds than I thought there would be. I kept away from the busier north half of the ponds where most seemed to be gathering around the main pavilion.

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A video tribute to Vince Guaraldi, one of my all-time favorite pianists and composers.

@RandallS – Vermillion Lakes would be a good place to take this show on the road.

Memorable Places to Skate in Banff National Park

www.banfflakelouise.com

I had to re-watch that 2021 video again @Prairie Dog!

I am now advocating these of my friends who ride in the winter to invest in studded tyres. February has always been the most harsh month for Poland. The month's name "luty" actually means "harsh, severe".

 

[Mulezen]

yes, I forgot it was a new year.
Just checking ...you do know its a Johnny Cash song.

A Cash song derived from Appalachian Mountain music…the line I remember from that traditional “Daddy’s grave just went below the line”
And…in the 50s I recall my mother (several times) cooking breakfast for Johnny…and my grandfather in the living room complaining about his long hair

 

[Dewey]

Trail maintenance!