Do you have any good cycling themes songs in mind? Let me know! Collecting a small playlist to enjoy on the road, only has 18 tracks so far.
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/6a9da3ef-b6e3-4275-a1ce-b19db2b75ebe
Not all actually relate to cycling, a few there that just work really well for riding :)
Die Runde entspricht der Runde, die meine Frau am 20 März diesen Jahres gefahren war (die türkisfarbene Track in der Karte), während ich via Winnen weiter fuhr. Diesmal sind wir die Runde bis zum Walnußbaum und dann zurück über Lengsdorf gemeinsam und ganz gemütlich gefahren. Ein heftiges Gewitter war angekündigt, deswegen wollten wir nicht weiter raus und rechneten damit, ggfs. frühzeitig umzudrehen. Zwischendurch gab's zwar bedrohlich wirkende Wolken und ein paar einzene Tropfen, jedoch sah es aufgrund der Windrichtung so aus, als ob uns das Regenfeld knapp verfehlen würde. Und so war es dann auch, es war eine schöne Fahrt und wir sind trocken und bei sonnigem Wetter nach Hause gekommen. Da ich aufgrund eines Magen/Darm-Problems zwei Tage gefastet hatte (nur Tee und wenig Dinkel-Zwieback), haben wir darauf verzichtet, zum Abschluss in Poppelsdorf im Eisladen am Botantischen Garten vorstellig zu werden. Sicher ist sicher. :-)
Das folgende Bild zeigt, wie überflutet Teile des ohnehin wasserreichen Kottenforst derzeit sind. Zum Glück sind die meisten befestigten und insb. die asphaltierten Wege im Kottenforst erhöht angelegt, sonst bekäme man beim Wandern oder Radfahren schnell nasse Füße. Was man hier sieht, ist normalerweise trockener Waldboden. Der Forst ist durchzogen mit Entwässerungsgräben und div. Tümpeln und Teichen, da aber unter dem Waldboden ansonsten eine dichte Lehmschicht den Abfluss verhindert, steigt der Wasserstand bei längerem Regen oder Starkregen schnell flächendeckend an. Ein Kuriosum habe ich in einem Ausschnitt vergrößert und rot eingekringelt: eine Warnung vor Zecken, soweit ich das erkenne kann, die im Moment wohl nur schwimmend erreichbar wäre.
Kottenforst unter Wasser
Über Land auf dem an die L113 bzw. den Fliesweg hinter Flerzheim anschließenden asphaltierten Feldweg
Klatschmohn kommt immer durch. Irgendwo in Lüftelberg
Das Jägerhäuschen, welches vor ein paar Jahren restauriert und dann neu angestrichen wurde, hat sich ganz gut gehalten, jedoch sieht man rundum wieder Feuchtigkeitschäden durchkommen, die mich befürchten lassen, dass es nicht die letzte Überholung gewesen sein wird, wenn es langfristig Bestand haben soll.
#hausrunde #bonn #radfahren #cycling #fahrrad #rennrad #fitnessimalter #kottenforst #jägerhäuschen #klatschmohn
Oben Kottenforst, links die Reste der alten Eiche, rechts Blick auf einer der kleineren, gut gepflegten Weiher, ein kleines Naturdenkmal.
Unten auf der westlichen Seite am alten Poppelsdorfer Friedhof hoch (im Trog, der mit 10-15 Prozent ansteigt), links ein wohl regenbedingter kleiner Erdrutsch, rechts und weiter oben ein paar Blumen
Ich hatte eigentlich meine mittellange Standardrunde fahren wollen, weil sich der Wetterbericht dann aber wieder mal umentschieden hatte, habe ich bei Villiprot abgekürzt und bin dann nur noch einmal am Friedhof lang hochgefahren, um mich wenigstens ein bißchen anzustrengen.
#hausrunde #bonn #radfahren #cycling #fahrrad #muskelmotor #kottenforst
Buying a gravel bike last summer is changing how I ride somewhat. I used to pretty much never do "routes", to go out just purely to ride some particular route through. I've always been an A->B or leisure rider, cruising around town for hours. These days I more and more go out also to do a route I've done many times again, trying to get better results on it.
What next, tight cycling wear and a road bike? :P Is this my midlife crisis?
Broke a record today on a nice route I've rode few times this year, up the hills of Herttoniemi, then through Viikki and Pasila to Hermannin rantatie using the fabulous new cycling "baana's". A new average speed record for 20km of 24.96km/h (beating 24.44km/h over 21.77km to Kontula and back), with a max speed of 44.19km/h (going down along Viikintie).
Hopefully tomorrows service fixes the clicking noise that happens currently a few times per rotation. The last thing that hasn't been checked/changed is the bottom bracket, which will be replaced tomorrow. Embarrassing overtaking other cyclists 😅
Did a new test run last Sunday with my partner, this time with pretty much a full load of gear I'm planning to take with me on my bikepacking trip in approx one week. Even had medicine, toothbrush and all pretty much everything - had it not been for work I could have just wondered off and started the trip now :P
One week! This was probably the last test run I'll have time for. Based on the previous tests, I found an additional second hand bag for the rear rack - smaller than the main one but enough to share weight on both sides of the bike and provide enough extra space. Happy now I can leave my backpack at home. I'm still thinking whether I need a small frame bag, for tools and snacks. May just see how it goes, can always visit a bike shop on the way.
This time I wanted to practice setting up the tent in rain conditions, ie without getting the inside part of the tent wet. We didn't plan for rain, but a little bit appeared anyway. Following a video tutorial, I'm going to give myself a grade of 4/10 on graceful setup of the tent with the rainfly on. I think the next time will be smoother, so good valuable practice.
Right now I'm worried about a few things:
Apart from actual gear, I'm also worried about my route somewhat. Kind of last minute I switched the direction to be from Switzerland to the Netherlands, rather than the opposite. This way it will be gradual descent rather than a gradual climb towards the south. While doing this I added a few countries, because why not! Now my plan is to start from the border of Germany and Austria, ride to Lichtenstein and then through northern Switzerland through Zürich and on-wards to Basel. From there it would be northbound towards the Netherlands (via Belgium and Luxembourg).
Since my boat arrives and leaves from Travemünde, obviously I'm not going to ride to the southern border of Germany or back from the Netherlands, with only three weeks. I was planning on using trains. But guess who didn't bother to actually look at reserving bike places on trains in time? Somehow slipped my mind, focusing so much on gear and stuff. It was fun to find out that train places on long distance trains in Germany are booked sometimes months in advance. My choices ended up being: 1) use local trains which don't need bike reservations and zig zag towards the south or 2) use a train of some ungodly hour which still had free spaces.
I chose the latter, which means when my boat arrives to Travemünde at 9pm, I'll be riding to Hamburg during the night to catch the 4am long distance train towards the south, and hopefully getting even a few hours of sleep. After a few more changes closer to the destination, I should be at the border of Austria around 3pm, hopefully not entirely sleep deprived. The next days will then be the most challenging parts of the route I've planned, with the worst climbs being around 200m upwards (based on Komoot). I have absolutely no idea if what I'm planning makes sense, but I know it will be challenging :) Slow and steady I guess for these days. Hopefully the views will be nice.
Nearing the end of the route the challenge will be getting back to the boat in time. Will probably need to leave a few days for that, if no good train options seem available, then it will have to be zig zagging on regional trains. I have no idea how far I'll make it along the route, so reserving spaces on any train may be challenging. May just reserve a few possibilities, one from the Netherlands (best case) and one somewhere lower south (the "didn't quite make the route" -case).
I'll be attempting to write something every day, feel free to follow my fedi account posts at https://jasonrobinson.me/streams/tag/jasontravels/ or my Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jaywink, for updates :)
Ps. The bull is one gorgeous animal from the Haltiala farm in Helsinki <3 Such a majestic creature.
Second gear test for upcoming #bikepacking ride, yesterday to Vuosaari. This time also setting up the tent for the first time!
The last test and recent rides have been useful in the sense that I realized I simply can't have a backpack on my back for three weeks while trying to do long daily rides. I already occasionally suffer from shoulders being tense due to weight on the backpack while riding, so probably not a good idea for longs rides over many weeks.
So, new plan, don't buy a frame pack and instead buy a rear rack and a pannier which converts into a backpack, thus allowing leaving the backpack at home. Due to time being limited, options were limited to local shops, which basically meant a combo of Ortlieb's Quick Rack + Vario PS QL2.1 26L. The Quick Rack is simply amazing, literally can be attached and detached in seconds. The Vario PS is very functional. It does the job of being both a pannier and also a backpack. This is a difficult thing to achieve and given that Ortlieb have done a good job. However, it's somewhat ugly and uncomfortable actually wearing as a backpack. But hey, we're going riding, not walking, right?
This ride told me I do need another pannier, if I'm going to skip the frame pack and backpack, otherwise the single pannier is just going to have too much weight in it. Basic model panniers are available second hand quite well luckily so hopefully wont need to buy that one new.
Setting up the tent was really easy! At least without rain pouring down 😅 I do love the functionality of the MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2. Also got to test my Klymit inflatable sleeping pad and the super awesome FLEXTAILGEAR mini-pump, which also functions as a light for the tent. Really nice find.
Didn't stay the night, just set up camp and then packed up again. Maybe one or two more tests and hopefully then ready to go :)
Did a first gear test ride today, a whole 55km! Almost everything, at least the larger items, didn't pack things like toiletry, chargers, cables etc random small stuff. Went really well. Had to adjust the seat pack a few times to avoid it hitting the tire on bumps. Not sure if it's the model or the shape of my bike but there isn't a lot of space between the tire and the bag, so not much possibility in strapping heavier stuff on top. The sleeping bag strapped on top seemed fine as an addition though.
Fork bags were filled with tent (without poles), sleeping mat and pillow. At the front a handlebar bag for my camera and also strapped in front of that an action cam, which I had trouble mounting on the handlebar in a way that the camera bag wouldn't be included in the videos. Didn't seem to jump around too bad but will need to check out the videos.
Backpack had too much stuff, though once I get a frame pack most of that is planned to go there, like the tent poles and the bike lock. Hopefully I can get everything out of the backpack except the laptop and medicine + other "important to keep on you" -things.
I am unsure where the waterbottles will go to once I get the frame pack. Probably one on top of the top bar as I have a strap on mount. The other possibly strapped on to the sleeping bag in the back or a fork bag in the front, will need to see. If all else fails, there is the backpack.
I forgot to weight things, will need to do that for the next test ride. Sanna rolled perfectly, didn't even notice the extra weight that much. Probably the long uphill sections will be the places it will become apparent.
Three weeks and six days until my first ever proper #bikepacking trip starts! Feeling nervous 😰 Haven't had any tests with equipment yet and actually #cycling in the last few weeks has been a bit of a pain due to the dust, but I think my lungs are now starting to recover, yay. Just in time for #Kilometrikisa starting. Btw, we have an #Elokapina team this year too, wink wink any rebel riders out there who've missed the memo!
I've got most of the gear over the recent months. Just a frame pack (Ortlieb 6L, looking at you, assuming it fits my frame..) to fetch from somewhere, as I haven't spotted one second hand. Tent, sleeping pad and sleeping bag I managed to buy second hand, some other things like a Garmin and the fork bags not.
One of the biggest investments was actually on the bike itself. I had been considering whether to jump to #tubeless before the trip, and then decided to do so when taking the bike into spring service! Unfortunately due to my bike not having tubeless ready rims it ended up being a bit expensive (hello Fulcrum Racing 6 DB rims), but also wow the difference is like night and day. I read about "smoother rolling", but still my reasons to get tubeless were more about not needing to worry so much with punctures. Now I realize I was wrong, the improvement in how the bike rolls - no wait, flyes, was why I needed tubeless. What I am now worried about is the maintenance burden ironically, like how to deal with a leaking tire on the road. Apparently it's good to carry a spare tube anyway to slot in in an emergency? Tips welcome from bikepackers who have done long tubeless trips!
One of the other great things I added to the bike, with a much less amount of money, was the #SQLab Innerbarends (411 model 2.0). Given I have a straight bar, I wanted some bar ends to give different positions. Quite accidentally I ended up looking at the innerbarends from SQLab and the reviews seemed really positive, so I ordered some. And they are simply fantastic! Since installing them I think I've spent much more time with my hands on them than on the normal grips. Slightly lower riding position and a more central grip, obviously some of the benefits that I would imagine drop bars would give - but this way I keep my straight bars for better handling (and more space for gadgets :P).
Next: installing the fork bags and testing out different options on how to mount the tent and sleeping bag onto the bike. Then as many test rides as possible and setting up the tent in random parks to get used to that. Calendar looks like I wont be able to do any long overnight rides before the trip like I planned, but oh well.
Wooo, more kilometers during March so far than any other month before 2023, including best cycling season months 🤩 Building up some strength for the upcoming three week trip end of May. Had a really nice 40km ride today in a cloudy but not too cold (2C) Helsinki.
Need to start testing longer rides soon, with some equipment. Any tips for good places within a 50km range around #Helsinki?
Ein akustischer Nachtrag zur Tour am vergangenen Mittwoch. Hier habe ich meine beim Radfahren aufgezeichnete, rot gefärbten Track durch die Effelsberger Bach und Sahrbach genannten Bäche ergänzt, die schließlich in die Ahr münden. Der linksseitige, von Scheuerheck durch Effelsberg führende, blau dargestellte Bach heißt Effelsberger Bach, das längere Stück zwischen Scheuren oben und Kreuzberg am rechten Rand der Karte ist der Sahrbach.
Gut sichtbar ist hier auch das Radioteleskop Effelsberg und der Umstand, dass der Effelsberger Bach an der unten im Tal liegenden Teleskopschüssel vorbeifließt.
Meine Tour verläuft zwar über einen geraumen Teil in der Nähe des Sahrbachs, aber erst vor Kirchsahr und bis Binzenbach fährt man genügend nah an einem weitgehend naturbelassenen Teilstück entlang und kann sich daran erfreuen, den Bach beim Straßenfahren plätschern zu hören. Siehe das nachfolgende Filmchen, aus der Hand gefilmt und nicht "entwackelt".
Video vom Sahrbach (11 MB)
Karte mit den ESRI-Tiles texturiert, Track aus einem Garmin Edge 1030, Sahrbach aus den OSM-Daten extrahiert, mit einem eigenen Add-on via Blender dargestellt und mit Cycles gerendert.
Das traumhafte Wetter gestern wollte genutzt werden, wir haben kurzerhand eine im letzten Oktober gefahrene Runde wiederholt, jedoch bin ich dann über Todenfeld, Scheuren, Burgsahr, Winnen usw. weitergefahren, während sie via Lüftelberg, durch den Kottenforst und über Lengsdorf zurückgefahren ist, durch einen zusätzlichen Schlenker im Kottenforst immerhin auch runde 50 Kilometer Fahrstrecke, mit 270 Höhenmetern.
Links oben ein Blick zurück entlang der L113 zwischen Vollmershoven und Flerzheim, rechts der besagte Walnußbaum gleich hinter der Brücke über die A61. Leider noch ohne Blätter. :-)
Der Sahrbach ist dort, wo er noch naturbelassen und ungefasst durch die unbebaute Landschaft fließt, wundschön anzusehen und derzeit, wenn viel Wasser von den umliegenden Hügel und Wiesen herunterkommt, auch schön anzuhören, wie er sich neben der Straße windet und plätschert.
Das Hotel Eifelstube zwischen Binzenbach und Burgsahr sieht immer noch so desolat aus wie direkt nach der Flut.
Ihre Tour in Türkis, meine in Rot.
#hausrunde #bonn #Rheinbach #Winnen #radfahren #cycling #fahrrad #fitnessimalter #muskelmotor
