Show us pictures of where you ride your ebikes!

Yes, re the motels. I just used Google maps every day, zoomed in on an area 50 or so miles out and showed the hotels. Stayed in all second and third tier joints, and every one of them was fine. Actually, the most alarming appearing of all of them - in Fairport, which turned out to be next to Saks Thai restaurant - was the most comfortable. Every one owned or operated by an Indian family of some description, and the people couldn’t have been nicer. Only difference this year will be extending the range more past maybe 60 miles or so.

The corridor between Cohoes and Schenectady is pretty active every day, but it is a very wide, paved and excellently maintained bike path all the way to Amsterdam now, with a short mile and a half on rte 5 near Rotterdam Junction. I ride it all the time. You can’t believe how many more ebikes there are now than a couple of years ago. Excellent bike shop in Cohoes and a pretty good one at Schenectady, both within a quarter mile of the route.
 
Saratoga Dave said:

eBiking the Erie Canal, by David Lundgren

Completing the Canal, Little Falls to Tonawanda
bicyclelife.topicwise.com bicyclelife.topicwise.com

This was so good that I intend to do it again this spring, backwards this time, taking the Amtrak train out to Buffalo and keeping the pedals going till I see my house again in 380 or so miles. Same story, credit card by myself, just tooling along, but paying more attention and enjoying the moments better this time. More like 60 -80 miles a day this time, bigger battery and a bike that has damn near no drag when powered off.
Click to expand...

Good read Dave. I concur with your opinion of Utica, other than the Saranac Brewery there isn't much left there of redeeming value.

Think about pedaling along the Niagara River along Niawanda Park toward Buffalo this time even if you don't make it all the way to downtown Canalside. It's an interesting ride and offers some good views and interesting sites from old industrial areas and Canada views along the Niagara River. You go far enough you'll see where the Erie Canal used to enter the Black Rock Canal by the circa 1900 International Railroad swing bridge. Kinda cool.
 
BillH said:
Good read Dave. I concur with your opinion of Utica, other than the Saranac Brewery there isn't much left there of redeeming value.

Think about pedaling along the Niagara River along Niawanda Park toward Buffalo this time even if you don't make it all the way to downtown Canalside. It's an interesting ride and offers some good views and interesting sites from old industrial areas and Canada views along the Niagara River. You go far enough you'll see where the Erie Canal used to enter the Black Rock Canal by the circa 1900 International Railroad swing bridge. Kinda cool.
Click to expand...
What about the Comets? Come on man ,get thee to a hockey game.
 
So Steve, you have motivated me to actually do this again this Spring, backwards as stated, starting at Canalside. Mapped it out last night, seven biking days, 349 miles Canalside to our house. Probably early May or whenever the first good weather window opens across the whole state. Fifty to sixty mile days so I can spend time looking around along the route and see some of the places I blew by the first time.

Now that I’ve done it already, I can be a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. The first time I was always driven to finish the day’s ride, for no logical reason at all. Range anxiety was a problem the first time as well. This bike has a 500 Wh battery and can be easily ridden across most of the state with the power off anyway, once you get to cruising speed. I routinely do that on flat terrain or tailwind days anyhow.

A little bigger set of panniers ought to be all I need. And I get to go back to Saks in Fairport again.
 
Saratoga Dave said:
So Steve, you have motivated me to actually do this again this Spring, backwards as stated, starting at Canalside. Mapped it out last night, seven biking days, 349 miles Canalside to our house. Probably early May or whenever the first good weather window opens across the whole state. Fifty to sixty mile days so I can spend time looking around along the route and see some of the places I blew by the first time.

Now that I’ve done it already, I can be a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. The first time I was always driven to finish the day’s ride, for no logical reason at all. Range anxiety was a problem the first time as well. This bike has a 500 Wh battery and can be easily ridden across most of the state with the power off anyway, once you get to cruising speed. I routinely do that on flat terrain or tailwind days anyhow.

A little bigger set of panniers ought to be all I need. And I get to go back to Saks in Fairport again.
Click to expand...
looking forward to your report.
 
I have posted a similar but not identical pic to another thread. A genuine, operable Warsaw Pact T-55 tank at "The Junkyard by the Tank" in Pruszków. In olden days, another tank, IS-2 used to stand in the very centre of the city as a WWII memorial. It was later transferred to the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. The owner of the site bought a surplus T-55 from the Army and put it here, making it the most famous junkyard in Poland :D
1580403899099.png


One of "pedestrian-bike lanes" now widely found in Poland. According to EU directive, the paving is to be replaced with tarmac in some future. All new bike lanes are made of blacktop now. I've always admired those senior ladies riding acoustic bikes under any weather conditions. They used to be faster than I when my legs became bad... Once I met a well-to-do elderly lady riding a city e-bike near to that very spot. Note a brand new train stop, built not even a year ago. Village of Parzniew.
1580404201864.png
 
Saratoga Dave said:
So Steve, you have motivated me to actually do this again this Spring, backwards as stated, starting at Canalside. Mapped it out last night, seven biking days, 349 miles Canalside to our house. Probably early May or whenever the first good weather window opens across the whole state. Fifty to sixty mile days so I can spend time looking around along the route and see some of the places I blew by the first time.

Now that I’ve done it already, I can be a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. The first time I was always driven to finish the day’s ride, for no logical reason at all. Range anxiety was a problem the first time as well. This bike has a 500 Wh battery and can be easily ridden across most of the state with the power off anyway, once you get to cruising speed. I routinely do that on flat terrain or tailwind days anyhow.

A little bigger set of panniers ought to be all I need. And I get to go back to Saks in Fairport again.
Click to expand...

There are also plenty of bike shops right along the canal path between Brockport and Fairport. Places I know of:
Brockport: Bicycle Outfitters
Spencerport: Sugar's Bike Shop
Henrietta: REI (directly on the canalway trail)
Pittsford (Shoen Place): Towpath Bike (plenty of good eats/refreshments at Shoen Place)
Fairport: RV&E Bike and Skate

I've personally done business with Sugar's, REI, and Towpath. All three have given me good service.

Other places of note:
Bushnell's Basin: Cross the canal bridge and there are some good food options here including an Abbott's Custard
Brockport: The coffee shop and pizza shop right on main street by the canal are places I've frequented.
Spencerport: There is a good ice cream shop, pub, and diner located right in the village center.
Henreitta: There is a DiBella's Subs in the same parking lot/Costco complex. Good eats to be had there.
 
On very strong winds, or, how I do hate road SPD pedals even more :)

Since strong winds were forecast for today (but there was surprisingly high temperature for the season, +8 C), I rode out on my Vado. I had pretty light clothing on me but a windbreaker was the must. Plus the electrically heated socks (I'm surprised how good these are!) Part of the route was a several kilometre long stretch of wet, muddy and bumpy unpaved road (under reconstruction to blacktop now) but that part was just fine. I was even more happy when I discovered I could manage the main intersection in Grodzisk Mazowiecki in dense traffic while using the road SPD pedals!

Trouble started in the farthest segment of the route. First, the wind was so strong my bike used to slow down to 20 km/h in the Sport mode; after direction change it blew from the side and the gusts were so strong it was hard to control the bike! What worse, it started raining, it was freezing drizzle. I stopped at the place where I wanted to take some pictures.

The wind was so strong my bike could not be stabilised; only placing it perpendicularly to the wind direction helped. My cheeks were frozen at times, the scarf helped. After taking two shots I clipped my left foot in the pedal... and banged on the ground! It was the wind that knocked me over! One more reason to hate the SPD system. Luckily, nothing wrong happened, even the Mirrycle miraculously folded instead of being shattered.

1580505518099.png

In the case a fatal road accident killed a vulnerable person, Polish families often set up a cross as a memorial and often treat the place as it were a grave of their beloved one, hence the flowers.

1580504663960.png

Snowboarding helmet, tubular scarf, goggles and good gloves: Your friends on windy & wet ride. Plus, the e-socks ;)

As I continued the journey, I managed to create some traffic jam on Road 579. I could not ride faster than I could against the headwind and the Turbo mode only let me reach 30 km/h. The road was very busy and a big truck could not overtake me. I took the escape by turning to the village of Żukówka. I told you before Żukówka had one of the worst borough roads in the neighbourhood. The vibrations and water made the 3M tape in the smartphone mount unstick and my smartphone fell on the ground. The screen symbolically smashed but that very smartphone already got a far stronger hit in the past and is still usable.

1580505279034.png

You can see some potholes here. Actually, the Żukówka road is far worse than that. Smartphone already tucked in my pocket. And I was able to re-stick the holder back to the case later.

Despite all the trouble, I came back home with a big smile on my face! Such as healthy ride!

1580505590041.png

Not exactly a hurricane :) Yet the wind howled sometimes.
 
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Ah, Steve! These shoes are so warm! And I see some benefits; your foot is always in the same position on the pedal; and it is a big incentive for carrying riding on as you avoid stopping!
 
Stefan Mikes, sorry you had a minor crash on your Vado. Glad there were no injuries. And some cheers for Mirrcycles!

I had a similar experience with my Vado shortly after purchasing it.

For many years I used spd pedals and cycling shoes on my non-powered bikes. Loved them! Great for hills, wind and efficiency. So of course I slapped them on the new ebike. On one of the first few new rides I was entering an intersection and a car came from behind trying to make a right turn. As I jammed on the brakes, my right foot didn’t release from the pedal and down I went. A couple Good Samaritans stopped to verify that only my pride was injured. It’s embarrassing to have witnesses!

Upon reflection a couple factors came to mind as to the cause. I wasn’t used to the weight of the bike. At super slow speeds if I allowed the bike to get more than 20 degrees from vertical then gravity takes over. Also the disc brakes were new and very sensitive. Not accustomed to stopping so quickly.

The best lesson was the realization that sps pedals are not needed! There’s a great motor and battery on the bike that annihilates any hills or wind and greatly extends the cycling range. So off came the pedals and the cleats (still use the shoes) and they’re collecting dust in the basement.

No more crashes for you.
Cycle on!
 
Marci Jo, thank you so much for cheering me up!

I agree that the SPDs are not necessary with an e-bike. They are not hopeless, either. Practice makes perfect. However, when and if it snows, I'm instantly replacing pedals in my Vado with some large Bontragers and intend to ride in mountain boots. So far, it would be a pity to let such good and warm (and expensive!) shoes go to waste....

1580518505398.png

1580518603589.png


I must tell you @Marci jo that e-bikes have changed my life for better. I cannot stop smiling, so happy I am! With different illnesses developed over last 5 years, I wouldn't even dare to ride an acoustic bike on weather as we have here now. I am so happy that I was even skylarking after all those minor disasters :) :)

1580518860782.png


All the best to you! I hope this winter will be over soon.
 
That was a wonderful day...

+12 degrees Celsius (54 F), absolutely uncommon for February 1st in Poland. Merciful winds. I changed the pedals to flat Bontragers and rode out on my Vado to meet my friend Jerzy in Warsaw. However, the practical range of my Vado now is only 45 km, so I had to take the WKD commuter train to Warsaw.

1580579618657.png

In 1925, there was parcelling of large estates in Poland. Mr Stanisław Lilpop, a Warsaw entrepreneur and the co-owner of industrial empire in Warsaw, had his land parcelled out. Predicting the future, Lilpop donated a strip of his land to the State, with the intention of building electric railway there. The WKD (Warsaw Commuter Rail) started fully operating already in 1927. That was also the beginning of the garden-city of Podkowa Leśna (Horseshoe-In-Woods) with the WKD main station in the very centre of the town. Recently, the railway rolling stock has been replaced with money paid by Switzerland as the EU participation budget. (Original railway was a British investment).

1580580344151.png

Poland supports cycling at many levels. The Mazovian Railways let you transport your bike free of charge at any time. The WKD offers free transporting of bikes on weekends, as there is no rush on its trains.

1580580544352.png

I met Jerzy at Decathlon Ostrobramska. Riding there from the very downtown of Warsaw (8 km in 18 minutes 44 seconds including stops at red lights) was just a fun! Saturday traffic in Warsaw is still dense, yet drivers respected me. Riding to the right-bank Warsaw (Praga) was downwind and downhill. What a pleasure to cross the Poniatowski bridge and reach the George Washington Roundabout at 47 km/h! Jerzy (73) is an avid acoustic bike rider. He did 7000 km in 2019. We both bought reflective windbreakers on this day :D

1580581451205.png

Having had coffee together with Jerzy, I was to decide what to do next. There was still plenty of juice in my battery! Quick calculation: Aha! If I rode via principal roads, there would be enough range to get home! So I rode straight home. Here, at the dusk in far Aleje Jerozolimskie (Jerusalem Avenues). If a Warsawer says "Aleje" (Avenues) he or she thinks of this long street extending as far as Pruszków. Far part of the Aleje is the home for high profile businesses. I have to add I have used as many bike lanes as I could (which is technically illegal for Class 3 e-bike here but nobody cared).

1580582081730.png
 
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