cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/898585

I haven't had my own bicycle in quite a while even though I used to ride one every day until I moved to the city. So when I saw that DB (Deutsche Bahn, one of Germany's train operators) offers a subscription in partnership with Brompton, I decided to try it out!

It's an annual subscription costing €41 a month that also includes insurance and an optional check-up after half a year. At the end of the subscription, you can choose to buy your own and get 50% of the total amount you paid for the subscription as a discount for your own Brompton (so around €250).

I've been meaning to get a foldable bicycle for quite a while now since my workplace is a bit further away and getting there requires me to take the train. Regular bicycles cannot be taken on to the train for free (or at all if there's no more space available).

I've tried it for a couple of days now and am really impressed! When folded, it's really tiny and you can take it with you basically anywhere you go (which also makes it being stolen much less likely). The ride is much smoother than I had expected and so is the handling. Despite having such small wheels, riding it is absolutely no problem for me and I can easily reach average speeds of 20 km/h.

It's definitely been a good decision and I am almost definitely going to buy my own Brompton using the provided discount in a year.

I cant even walk right now it hurts so bad, and my core/hamstrings are so tight. So here's a photo of our group ride meet up point while i rest.

BTW, is there an alternative to /r/velo?

I think it earned its retirement.

Drivers who view bikers as 89% human or less are nearly two times more aggressive in their driving behaviors.

I wanted to ask the community, since this is the first time I've ever experienced anything like this, so here it goes:

Last weekend I was part of a large local ride. I rode about 16 km to get to the venue, and the actual ride was another 44 km or so.

Less than halfway through the ride, I could feel my right foot getting crazy hot, like I was walking on hot asphalt, and I overheard another rider complaining of the same. On the second half of the ride, the heat went from my right foot to my left, and jokingly confirmed with the other rider that their left foot must also be getting hot.

Reading up on "hot foot", which is apparently common in long distance riders, I have to say that I'd be shocked if that's what was going on.

For starters, this ride wasn't nearly as long as my typical rides. I was wearing the same shoes I usually ride with, same high-viz athletic socks, same bike, same pedals, and I didn't overtighten any of my laces or anything like that.

Since it was a one-off, I'm not overly concerned, but I tend to be one of those "the more you know" type of people who would love to actually know what the hell was going on.

My assumption, at least during the ride, was that the sun + road riding was the culprit. These were, after all, roads I've never been on, so I have no way of knowing if it's just normal for those conditions.

Anyone else experience this? Any other explanation other than "your laces were too tight"?

I rode up from the Lago di Caldaro into the dolomites after having a nice swim. The area made me feel kinda weird because so many of the italians there speak german and i would just chat people up in german. Freaked me out a bit to do that. A total non issue for non german speakers and many german speakers will welcome this, but i didn't like it all that much, haha.

The climb was great, an old rail trail that serpentines up for several hundred meters at a mellow grade. Then i cycled through the Val di Fassa and i was shocked how touristy it all was. It was adventure playground after adventure playground, rafting here, ebike there, Gretl and Edelweiss - the fascinating rock formations of the Marmolada group almost felt like made of papier-machée as a backdrop for this strange adventure park. That was yesterday though, thank god it didnn't continue like that.

So earlier today i rode up Passo Fedaia. The traffic was fine, i think most traffic was roadies. Lots of roadies here. When i reached the pass there was Joy Division on the radio and that song stuck with me all day. Still does stick. Looooove, love will tear us apart..

Riding down the eastern side made me really happy that i came from the west. Those were some really nasty steep ramps i was going down to Caprile. So many roadies came towards me again from that side, riding up, much respect to those guys.

In Caprile i made a coffee break and then wanted to ride a bit up towards Passo di Giau, then make a break and cook up some spaghetti. The climb up has a relatively steep average, but it's all on quite even ramps. I was then looking for a spot in the shade to get cooking when i saw another guy on tour. I chatted him up, he came downwards. He wanted to cook something as well. He didn't care much for shade though, i guess riding down doesn't heat you up as much as riding up, haha. So we sat in the sun and cooked some pasta and talked.

His plan was going up Fedaia the hard way, after he'd finish his descend. I told him about the mean ramps, which are especially mean on the last bit. I then continued my way up the pass. I was mostly surrounded by trees, but the higher up i got, i got nicer views back onto the Marmolada group.

Reaching the pass (title pic), the north east side opens up so incredibly. You see different mountain groups, i was thinking to not post a picture from around the pass because it is such a weak impression. Really amazing. I texted my pasta buddy and he was also already 3km before his pass, what an animal.

I then rolled down to Cortina d'ampezzo, had a beer and checked in on a campsite. When i was setting up my tent, a very old man with a walking stick came up to me, my neighbour i guess. At first it seemed like he wanted to go past me, but he stopped and spoke to me. My italian is super weak but i could not really hear what he was saying, he had no real voice anymore. He made some gestures - cuts around his neck and chest. I said i know, but my italian is weak. He then communicated that he was also cycling when he was young. He was 'Champion' he breathed. I told him how nice that was. We gave each other thumbs up and he went back to his trailer. I felt like that was another reminder that i should really quit smoking.

I will try to say goodbye tomorrow morning to this man.

Does anyone know what is a good cycling computer? All I need is good GPS/mapping features that doesn't connect to my phone what so ever. I don't need fitness functions at all

Crossgeposted von: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/354963

https://www.brompton.com/beyond

Specs seem to be:

Beyond X: M6L in olive green with beige fork, stem and rear end, orange frame stickers, Schwalbe Racer Tanwall, Brompton Borough Backpack in olive green and saddle bag in olive green). No dynamo, only M handlebars.

There is a (GERMAN!) video with some info about this edition from the Eurobike fair.

Some high-res images can be found on the US campaign site.

Got my gravel bike and my first gravel ride already had the views to die for.

I need a universal nice bike hand gesture. A thumbs up or ok sign is just not enough for me. Do you have anything for that or have an idea that can be easily understood.

Yes this is because i just saw someone with a nice gravel bike and couldn't give more than a smile.

Started riding about 20 km / 300 m below Bormio. As my timing was again fucked up it was sunday again. So i thought i would not go up Stelvio but Gavia, because i figured it to have maybe half the traffic.

On my way to Bormio the was a road cycling race going on. I asked one roadie who was watching about Stelvio vs Gavia. He said if you have to choose one, then Stelvio. I thought alright then.

Sitting in a cafe in Bormio, watching the traffic going towards Stelvio i returned to the old plan and cycle Gavia instead. I started the climb at noon, full sun exposure, it's a north-south pass. When i had looked up the height profile it looked mellow, but i don't know what it was, i found it really exhausting. Maybe the sun or maybe that i basically only had some yoghurt, bars and a bunch of peaches until i reached the pass. Traffic was really ok for a sunday.

On the pass i saw the first two wild capricorns since i've been cycling in the mountains. Awesome, finally. I had a Cappucino and a beer and started the descend. Wow, absolutely amazing views. I stopped every now and then to take in the views. At one point i was taking a photo (not the title photo) amd i heard some cracking next to me. Two female capricorns climbed down some rocks to lick somw salt right next to me.

I had no idea they weren't scared of humans. I continued the descend, an absolutely beautiful narrow road down to Ponte di Legno, where i took a room, absolutely knackered. Feeling better now after the Pizza.

I thought the western shore of the lake would have a lot of annoying traffic, but there was a cycling path pretty much all the way that i rode. It's not for roadies or people in a hurry though, it is a bit meandering, and often shared with pedestrians, people going for a swim as it goes right along the lake shore.

The night before yesterday i did not take a room but a spot on a campsite with great lake view and 20 m walk to the lake. But like i worried, in deed a thunderstorm rolled in in the night. It was so stormy already when it wasn't even raining yet that i abandoned my tent, grabbed most of my stuff and hung out at the sanitary facilities to wait it out. I didn't feel safe in the tent, thought trees or branches could fall onto me. I also was sure that when the heart of the storm arrived, my tent will be gone. I had not set it up in the right direction towards the wind i could not change it anymore in the storm. Luckily when the rain arrived, the wind got weaker and half an hour later i felt fine moving back into my tent, it was still raining, flashing, thundering pretty good but the wind was on non storm levels again. I think the worst of the storm hit a few km left and right of my position, got lucky there. Few of my tent poles got bent by the wind but that was it, had a good rest of the night, tent stayed dry.

Yesterday i took the day off and laid around lazily at the lake all day, going for a swim every now and then. Now i am moving towards the dolomites.

Now im hungover as f**k and i have to ride back 😭

I love recreational cycling 100km or so at a time, but I'm completely fascinated with Randonneuring!

Has anyone completed a brevet of any length? Please share your experience going into it, and how the event ended up for you :)

I've been biking for a number of years, primarily single track XC or gravel riding. I do adventure racing, which is incredibly tough on the bikes, but am hoping to improve my bike life.

What are some of the important bike maintenance things that you all do?

What a day it was yesterday. Climbed up from the valley again to cross over a mountain to the Como lake. I rode up the wrong hill though and had to hike my bike along a hiking track with a small climbing passage for about 2km to get where i originally wanted to get to. This is where i wanted to get to, what a view it was on the city of Lugano and its lake:

I then continued a bit of regular gravel road that later turned into a single track mountain bike route, where the title picture was taken. Had to push my bike quite a bit on it too, was too steep and too many big rocks in parts, severly underbiked. I ended the day on a mountain ridge that is the border between switzerland and italy. There was a hiking refuge on there, where i had some beer and wine, cooked some spaghetti and then i camped next to an old on the ridge, right by the refuge:

Sitting now on the terrasse of the refuge, drinking a coffee, writing this post. There's a friendly and funny dog here, kiko, which is so nice. I'm gonna roll down to the Como lake now after the coffee, butit'ds just so nicr up here.

*edited inline images

I'll start with a couple of mine:

• Terry Barentsen (fast-paced urban rides, mainly in NYC)

• BCpov (MTB rides as well as some trail building stuff)

• Shifter (informative videos on various topics relating to cycle commuting)

• One Cyclist in Lisbon (pretty much what it says on the tin, lots of silly city cycling moments in his compilations and as well as longer rides outside Lisbon)

• Ed Pratt's Unicycling The World series (I know it's not a bike, but it touches on a lot of just cycle touring in general)

Does anyone have a recommendation for home gamer bike repair stands? I’d like to find an inexpensive one that stows away easily or otherwise doesnt take too much space. Since I only need it maybe once or twice a year I can do without the hard core bike shop level of durability. For my needs it just needs to hold the bike off the floor so I can do derailer adjustments.

Trying to prepare for the day where I'm out and I get caught in the rain.

Took the Grand Canyon 8 (2022 model) out for a ride on my local track near Rheden, The Netherlands this morning. I am pretty happy with the bike and it is such an upgrade compared to my previous one.

Where I live there are almost no bike lanes, not even the shitty painted ones. How dangerous is it to get on the road with all of the other cars?

I just got my new (used) bike, and I'm also a big music nerd and love to listen to music when I'm traveling. Do you personally listen to music while you're cycling, and in your opinion is it safe?

As the title says. I'm planning on doing my first century in July. Several +50km rides behind me at the moment and averaging about 100km a week since spring. How much food should I pack? Do you guys use sports drinks etc for hydration? Any surprises I shouls know comparing the ride to shorter ones?

Thank you in advance :)