Post your mountain biking pics here

derekhski

Member
Its been surprisingly dry in the Portland (area) Oregon. Got another couple of weeks of Cyclocross in.

Me at the Oregon State Championships, CAT4 35+ masters....

My daughter and our dear friend, Pro(?) rider for Speedvagen being a great mentor / ambassador/ roll model to the girls that bike.

Riding the hill, when all the boys are pushing...

Will have some Mountain bike adventures in the Spring and Summer, thanks for tolerating my posts, and not being angry "that's not a mountain bike"..
 

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OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Done virtually no biking on the central coast. Rode Montana de Oro perhaps 3 times. What are your favorite trails?

We used to camp along HW 1 at Arroyo Laguna to windsurf. Now a lot of that area is taken over by elephant seals.
Love the flowy nature of MDO, used to ride West Cuesta Grade a lot, frequent trips to Santa Barbara to shuttle Paradise road. Cerro Alto is a wicked climb if want a workout (out near Morro Bay on the way to Paso) with an even more wicked decent (think FAST).

When pressed for time I rode Irish hills a lot and Johnson ranch. Good XC style trails with enough baby head sized rocks to keep it technical and interesting.

But by far my go to was back side of Madonna. Could ride out of my garage, up and down anytime I had an hour to spare.
 

derekhski

Member
Raced, Rode, the High Cascades 100 in Bend, July 18th.... It was a covid adjusted course, with time trial like format, timing started at 9 miles, and end at 85. I pedal till 96.6 where my pickup crew was. This was a super great event, it hammered me with 9000 feet of climbing. my timed section took 11:34,,,,, I fought a lot of demons after a bout of 5 flats in the timed section, had another 3 from mile 88 - 96, which I rode into the car park on a flat (little pilot error on the flats, lost a tire boot) Scheduled to race the Sisters Stampede rescheduled to September 6, 2020
Bikes are Cool, Bikes are Fun, they make smiles happen.
 

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derekhski

Member
Got in a great Gravel ride this last weekend. Meet a couple friends up in Ellensburg WA. We took one vehicle to the Western end of the Palouse trail, Rattle Snake Lake, near to North Bend WA.
https://palousetocascadestrail.org/index.html
This is a super fun ride, and can be as long or as short as you would like. We rode 80 miles from Rattle Snake to Ellensburg. Its all railroad grade, and includes the 2.2 mile long Snowquamlie Pass tunnel. Lights are highly recommended, its dark, dark, and cool/cold inside, but super fun. The trail starts on the moist west side and ended for us in the dry grasslands of Middle Washington.
There is a trail side BBQ and Pub in Cle Elum, our 50 mile point, and the two pints, made for a nice final 30 miles into Ellensburg. If you are local, or ever out this direction and like a good ride, with the pleasure of little or no road surfaces, this is honestly a great one.
 

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aksotar

2017 4x4 144 Cargo
out of curiosity, anyone here have any experience with ebikes and charging via house batteries, an inverter and solar ? I just ordered a Turbo Levo Comp and plan on doing that..
 

RVBarry

2023 AWD 170 DIY CamperVan
out of curiosity, anyone here have any experience with ebikes and charging via house batteries, an inverter and solar ? I just ordered a Turbo Levo Comp and plan on doing that..
Hi, different bikes have different charging systems... Possibilities:
A. Dumb 36VDC charger brick with intelligent charger built into bike or battery pack
B. Dumb 48VDC charger brick with intelligent charger built into bike or battery pack
(there are more voltages than 36 & 48, but same principles)
C. Fast/smart charger, dumb bike/battery

Dumb chargers can be recognized as only having a 2-conductor wire to the bike.
Smart Fast chargers will also have at least one pin for temperature monitoring.

A & B can easily be accommodated with a DC-DC boost converter of sufficient amperage. (read the label on the brick for output volts and amps).
Here's a 12 to 48VDC 3A boost converter:
These would be much more efficient than using an inverter.
A switch or Anderson plug should be added so it's not leeching power when idle.

C may not be easily solvable, unless one is willing to dissect the charger and replace the AC-DC stage with a boost converter.
 

aksotar

2017 4x4 144 Cargo
Thanks... I have a Magnum 2012 inverter and plenty of battery and solar....
I was planning on using their AC brick, was just curious if anyone has been doing this and any info, tips/advice...
 

Massabusa

Sprinter Enthusiast!
Thanks... I have a Magnum 2012 inverter and plenty of battery and solar....
I was planning on using their AC brick, was just curious if anyone has been doing this and any info, tips/advice...
Yes- I have used my 2000 watt? inverter and stock aux battery to charge my 2019 Turbo Levo- with the supplied 120VAC Specialized charger. No issues.
I left it plugged in overnight- and it was charged fully when I got up- and I didn't try to quantify anything- so- no idea how long it took, etc.
My usual 15 miles/2 hours in New England riding would leave the state of charge on the Levo @ 70%?
Lots of variables but it sounds like you won't have issues.
Specialized does sell a 12V charger with cigarette plug-may be more efficient, but likely slower? but might be adapted for full time van duty easily.
I only had the opportunity to try it 2 X- as I crashed the bike October 1 and seriously damaged my shoulder...
No more riding for me for a while- ortho doc says maybe next June after surgery in December...
So maybe you can let me know anything else there is to know...

IMG_3908.jpg
 
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GHansen

Dangerous, yes, but mainly to himself
@Ed463, great photos thanks for sharing. I love the hills of south-central Italy. Last year my wife and I visited Casacalenda, a tiny hill town in Campobasso district just West of Termoli. Her great-great-grandfather emigrated from there to America in the early 20th century. No one in the town spoke English but thanks to Google Translate we managed to track down a distant cousin, who invited us back for a longer stay. Covid-19 foiled our plans but we'll get back there soon.

Are you living in Italy?
 

Ed463

Active member
@Ed463, great photos thanks for sharing. I love the hills of south-central Italy. Last year my wife and I visited Casacalenda, a tiny hill town in Campobasso district just West of Termoli. Her great-great-grandfather emigrated from there to America in the early 20th century. No one in the town spoke English but thanks to Google Translate we managed to track down a distant cousin, who invited us back for a longer stay. Covid-19 foiled our plans but we'll get back there soon.

Are you living in Italy?
Yes we live there. Not full time we travel (well did until Covid) in the Sprinter a few months of the year and head back to the UK for July and August, too hot in South Italy for people with our DNA:)
We're further south than Casacalenda. Montalbano Jonica. Virtually no tourists, apart from 6 weeks a year when Italians return to visit family. Very few expats, which suits us just fine! And very welcoming friendly easy going locals. Oh and cheap,/excellent fresh food and wine.
 
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