Machka 

Just wondering if anyone else here is transporting themselves by human power ... you know ... car free?


@Roody, @tandempower, or others ... have you been walking or cycling or skating or snowshoeing, or skiing, or canoeing to get places??

Tell us about your most recent human-powered trip somewhere.

Machka 

Today ... 5.25 km of walking. The walking part of my commute has increased because we have been temporarily moved out of our building into another. But the bulk of that walking was back from another lecture at the university.

Fortunately it was really nice out there today ... bright sunshine and warmth.

Machka 

I've ended the first quarter of the year with 218.31 km of walking.

I've also had a pretty good March when it comes to cycling ... best month for distance since last March, coming in at 409.33 km.

enigmaT120

I had a nice ride last Saturday. My wife didn't feel like doing anything so I dug out my Rocky Mountain and headed up farther into the coast range. I was searching for some roads on my BLM map that led up to the crest of the range, then looped around a mountain, and I could come back on a road I already knew. I made it almost all the way up there, but could not find the roads on my paper map. There are a bunch of new logging roads that dead end, and I explored way too many of them; they are not on my maps. And the roads that I was looking for on my map were not out there! I guess they've been closed off. I have 3 different map programs on my Android tablet. I htought I had the Google Maps downloaded for that area but I was wrong. I had to go back home the same way I went up, though much faster. It was a nice day for riding though; just slightly chilly when I stopped to study maps, but comfortable when I was moving. I only averaged between 7 and 8 mpg, partly because of stopping. Max speed was 33 mph, and that was a little too fast for those roads so I doubt I kept it up for very long. I have good dirt tires on that bike but that loose gravel can get nasty. And it was 29 miles for the day. I was tired when I got home.

The start, right after a locked gate. The bottom sign says "No motorized vehciles beyond this point" or something like that.


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr

Some pictures of the Black Rock Mountain Bike Area. I didn't ride on their trails but the road I was on goes through that area.


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr


The bike, back home, after being hosed off and allowed to dry:


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr

This climb seemed to go on for ever. It was near the crest of the coast range. Pretty typical scenery, lots of clear cuts and young timber stands:


Rickreal Road ride by enigmat1201, on Flickr

After I got home I did put the Google Maps on my tablet, and was able to figure out which way I should have gone. But I gave up when I got to an intersection with 4 roads branching off and it was mid-afternoon. That's where I turned around. Google Maps doesn't have most of these roads either, but the satellite view is very good for seeing roads that the map doesn't know about.

Machka 

April has been good for walking so far. I've reached an annual total of 254 km now.

April has been decent for cycling too. On our recent hub-and-spoke tour, we covered 115 km.

jade408

Today I worked from home, instead of my usual transit commute.

In the afternoon, I had an errand to do. Biked over to the copy store to print something out. This seems silly but my last ink cartridge dried out. I do not remember the last time I got a cartridge and likely printed a 5 or fewer pages a year. It makes more sense to not get the ink cartridge based on the amount I print. So I needed to print something for an errand tomorrow, so I just went to the copy store.

I was getting stir crazy at home, so I packed up my messenger bag pannier with my laptop, and headed to the coffee shop after the copy store. I ordered some lunch and set up shop there for the rest of the afternoon. After I finished work for the day, I went home, dropped my computer off, and headed downtown to a networking happy hour. Hung out there for a couple of hours and biked home.

That was my pedal-powered day.

I have to say, getting the dynamo light on my bike is such a game changer. I am still working on the rear light (it'll go on a new bike I am building). But my new front light is really bright, and it really takes away the "friction" for me riding my bike. I can pedal and not worry about the lights being charged.

The next point of friction is a pannier bag that looks like one I would carry off the bike. The laptop friendly bag I have isn't quite right, I have my eye on an etsy tote that looks more suitable!

no1mad 

Did my usual 2.x mile walk home and almost twisted/sprained an ankle in some grass.

MikeRides

Walked a little over two miles along the river with the dog in the rain, ironically I haven't been on the bike in a week since I refuse to bike in this weather.

Machka 

Sunday -- we accidentally did a 11.7 km hike today.

We were planning to go canoeing, now that we've got our canoe, but it was too rough out there. So then we decided to go for a little walk instead. The original plan was to drive to the start of the trail, and then to hike the 6 km return trip. But as we left the house, we decided we could probably walk there.

Before we knew it ... 11.7 km done!


At the beginning of the hike part of the walk ...

2manybikes

70 miles. Almost got blown over it was so windy.

Photo of my bike.......

cyclokitty 

I rode my bike to a nearby shopping centre for some supplies from the hardware store. Then, went to the grocery store and bought a package of sheep's milk feta cheese in brine. I actually wanted goat milk but muddled it up. Still, I have feta cheese for tonight's salad. I also scored on a canister of coconut macaroons that were in the Passover food sales bun. Yay!

In total I rode 10km. An interesting fact: I've taken the bus to the same mall and it is quicker riding there on my bike. And that is taking a more zig zag route through the side streets rather than the straight line bus route. I figure the money I saved on the bus fares paid for more than half of my feta cheese purchase.

Zedoo

I went to the outer burbs and saw new McMansion construction.

enigmaT120

How long ago was the ride?

cooker

is that a ghost bike?

2manybikes

Are you saying I need to clean my bike?

2manybikes

Just a decoration in someones yard.Probably flowers in it in the summer.

Machka 

This week ... lots of walking ...

-- part of my commute to and from work
-- between the uni and work
-- from the allergist to work
-- doing the rounds of optometrists
-- doing a little shopping
-- and a walk down to our beach.

Total so far this week (Monday-Friday) ... 16.9 km. But there is a bit more planned today.

Machka 

Saturday -- Rowan and I did a 48.65 km bicycle ride today, from home. A hilly ride. According to Rowan's newest toy, our route climbed 937 metres. According to the formula: (937/48650)*100 = 1.93 or in other words, for me ... very hilly. I've been handling 1.2 maybe 1.3 rides OK, but this is a bit of a step up from that.

The other thing about this route is that if I were commuting to work, this would be the route I would ride. Riding it today reconfirmed why I take the bus!! Nice to know that I can do it ... but it is challenging and would be time consuming.


The day was overcast and chilly, and we ended up in a couple showers toward the end. One was on quite a steep descent which was a little alarming.

This week, I got a new merino jersey, and I wore that ... very comfortable. Almost tempting to get another. But I also wore my Ground Effect waterproof-breathable jacket. I had gained a bit of weight over the last couple years, and could no longer zip it up. However, about 2 months ago, I started focusing on weight-loss and as of today, I've lost 10 kg ... and I can wear my Ground Effect jacket again.

Rowan did the ride on his Merlin. First time he has ridden the Merlin in a long time, but he wanted to ride it again ... in memory of coasting, a Road forum friend who passed away a few days ago.

gerv 

Same drill here. I do 5,000 miles a year rarely riding outside city limits. While it's very utilitarian, my rides are a lot of fun.

Roody

Ditto. 5,000 miles a year for more than 10 years now. I had planned a "Carfree Century" for this June, but my recent health problems have left me off the bike for the foreseeable future.

2manybikes

81 miles yesterday. Windy at the start, but the wind died down after dark. About 50 F much of the way.

Machka 

I was wondering about that. Are you still able to walk ... or no exercise at all?

Machka 

Last week (week of Apr 20) ... lots more walking with cycling on the weekend, as usual.

-- part of my commute to and from work
-- between the uni and work
-- from the allergist to work
-- doing a little shopping
-- and a walk down to our beach.

Total (Monday - Friday) ... 19.55 km. This brings me to 308 km of walking for the year so far.

And some of that shopping was me on the hunt for low calorie items to make low calorie French Toast. And I was successful! I don't think I've ever made French Toast before, and wasn't sure I could pull off a low-cal version, but I did ... and it was yummy!! We had it for breakfast/brunch both Saturday and Sunday.

All this exercise + my focus on eating low-cal for the past couple months = 10 kg lost.

2manybikes

Sorry to hear, Roody. Good luck going forward.

gerv 

Sorry to hear this Roody. It's a bit depressing to go through a period where you can't do the activities you enjoy. I hope your future has some good news!

But while you are waiting, I wonder if you could see this derailment as an opportunity to get into some new things. There's a lot of stuff out there waiting for you to discover