Category: Cycling

Enjoying the Warm Weather With a Bicycle Ride

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/2900 sec, ISO200
 “Kites” Cedar Park, 2021

This afternoon I took advantage of the warm weather to go for a long bicycle ride along Brushy Creek Regional Trail. When I ride on this busy path, I wear my mask 95% of the time. Of course I want to be safe during this COVID-19 pandemic, but also, it helps with allergies (as my brother reminded me). Besides wearing my mask, I also held my breath most of the times I passed by people. By riding on the relatively busy trail, I’m taking a risk, but I think wearing a mask, wearing glasses (yes, there’s a study that says this helps with safety), keeping socially distant when possible, and also holding my breath when passing people, I think the chance of catching COVID-19 is very small.

That being said, it was nice to see a lot of bicycles on the trail, from little kids to older folks. I even saw some teens cosplaying and wearing elf ears! The weather was very nice: low 70s, cloudy, with a gentle breeze. It was really cool to see kites flying above the park! By the way, it wasn’t as ominous as the photo above looks – but it’s just too fun to play with the post-processing in Adobe Lightroom. 😄

I’m happy that I live close enough to this trail that I can bicycle from my house and be there in 10 minutes or so. But even if I didn’t live close, it’s easy to access the trail by car at many points along the route.

At the eastern terminus of the trail I took a photo with my bike. Several years ago, I took a photo at the same place, so I thought it might be nice to do so again.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO320
 “End of Trail” Cedar Park, 2021

I recorded this ride on my GoPro, so please join me (virtually) on the trail if you have time:

I hope you had a great day!

The New Old Bike

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/150 sec, ISO200
 “Decals and Racks” Cedar Park, 2021

Yesterday I put the new decals on my old bike, and today I went for a ride in the 84°F sunshine. Of course I had to stop and take a few photos to post here and on the Kona Bikes group. 😀 I like how the decals look, although if I had to do it again, I’d place the large logo about a centimeter farther toward the bottom of the tube. The front badge is the logo Kona used until about 2016, so I guess you could say my bike is a 2000 model, branded as a 2016 model. The current badges have the K inside a little shield, but I couldn’t find that version for purchase anywhere. If one turns up, I’ll consider replacing.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/110 sec, ISO200
 “Front Badge” Cedar Park, 2021

I also installed some front racks on the forks. These are Axiom Journey DLX Low Rider racks, and allow you to put panniers on the front. I don’t have any yet, and they aren’t necessary at the moment since I have my rear panniers, but the racks were cheap and look really cool, don’t they? Someday I’d like to do a multi-day bicycle tour, and when that day comes around, I’ll be all set. In the meantime, I’ll just keep enjoying my neighborhood bicycle rides, like the one I took today. For some reason, I had more fun riding my bike today that I usually do. Maybe it’s the weather, or maybe the decals and racks make me a little proud of how Mango looks? 😄

Please take a look if you have a few minutes to spare:

I hope you had a good day!

Bike Decals

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/35 sec, ISO3200
 “Bike Decal” Cedar Park, 2021

I bought some new decals for my bicycle and today I was deciding where to position them. They are surprisingly easy to apply! 😀 For a while now, my bike, Mango, has only had one small Kona sticker on it so it will be nice to put some modern Kona logos on it.

Sunny Day

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO200
 “Sunrise” Cedar Park, 2021

The sun came out today to signal that things are getting better in Texas. The snow and ice started melting and I took advantage of the warmer afternoon to ride my bicycle a bit. I’ve missed the sun so much.

“Snow Ride” Cedar Park, 2021

If you’re not able to go out, please come with me for a virtual ride around the neighborhood:

I hope you had a good Friday!

おやすみ！

A Visit to the Little Free Library

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/350 sec, ISO200
 “Icy Library” Cedar Park, 2021

With plenty of layers on, I rode my bicycle to the Little Free Library at one of our neighborhood elementary schools. I didn’t find anything interesting, but it was a fun bicycle ride. I liked how the ice froze on the library’s “porthole”. We don’t see that often!

If you have some time to kill, please check out the bicycle ride video I made, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. 🙏

I hope you had a nice day!