Sum up 2014: Autumn rides

This year we made several rides through the surroundings and, 

of course, taking a lot of photos.

In the beginning of October we cycled to Muenchenbernsdorf, a small town nearby.

We overnighted with friends and drove back home the next day.

Here is the route on GPSies 

All in all we covered 53km, not that bad for two lazy cyclists with a heavyweight velocar, a child on the rumble seat and lots of luggage.

Solitary forest roads

 Shortly before we arrived Niederpoellnitz

Are such obstacles able to rise the mood of cyclists?

In this case: Yes

Finally in Muenchenbernsdorf:

Take a break

In the central "city"

On our way back at afternoon

In this years "golden" November we had another nice Sunday afternoon ride in the forest.

As long as I can remember, it was the first time I weared just a T-shirt outside in November.

This little house in the forest should be made of gingerbread

Amelie is now able to ride her own little bike at age 3.

She learned balancing the bike within an hour or so.

Kai

Sum up 2014: Netherland

In spring 2014 we visited Marlies and Olaf in the Netherlands.

They are living near Utrecht.

Olaf shares the same interest in building velocars, velomobiles and other unique bikes.

 He operates a blog about his creations and a HP also

Can't say, why I forgot to mention this trip in my blog.

Maybe I lost overview, in which forum I had posted and in which not.

Anyway, here are some impressions from this very interesting visit.

Amelie and me in the "Vrijwiel"

 Visiting Kamerik

The two velomobiles are also build by Olaf.

My  not yet ready build velocar in front of Olafs workshop

Vrijwiel rulez !

Size comparison:

The Vrijwiel is much more compact.

"Sundays Odd Bikes Ride" 

Back at the workshop for a cup of coffee

Olaf is a prolific bike builder.

Most bikes used on this ride were build by him.

I forgot to take a picture of his lawn mower bike.

Thanks to Marlies and Olaf for this very interesting weekend.

Kai

Nuvinci at stokers side

Today I'm the best husband of the world.
I have installed the Nuvinci N360 on my wifes side of the Velocar.
A few moments before we came back from the first test ride with this new configuration.
With the previously installed 7speed cassette my wife has frequent problems pedalling steep uphill passages
The Nuvinci changes the whole thing in a very positive kind of way.
Much wider range, especially important on ascents.
With the 42/32/20T crankset the range increases to 756%.
Even with the often mentioned lower efficiency of the hub, compared with other shifting systems, being able to keep a proper cadence makes for far better uphill performance.
For the given circumstances (slow, heavy velocar) the Nuvinci is great.

The new configuration from behind: 

Left: Alfine11    Right: Nuvinci

The old cassette gearing on the stokers side

In front of the wheel (right in the pic) one of the jackshafts can be seen

Have a nice Sunday afternoon!

Kai

Critical Mass Leipzig

Two days before the CM I have made the foldable windshields.
I found out makrolon is a tricky material to work with.
Two times I cracked the material while drilling.
Luckily this happens at the corner of the wind shield.
I rescued my work by cutting away the cracked area and turned the former trapezoidal shape of the wind shield into a halfmoon style.

At Friday we joined the CM in Leipzig.
We had trouble to arrive in time due to several traffic jams at the Autobahn.
But we made it to the meeting place half an hour before the start of the ride

Here are some photos, as always:

Meeting at the Augustusplatz

Underway

What toilet brushes are good for

One of the cargo trikes carries a sound system.
Very chilling to ride at a slow pace and listen to some good music.
A must-have for my velocar !

  This was shortly before we made a final round through the shopping zone

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of this part of the ride

Finally we were back at the Augustusplatz and the ride ended with several circles around the artificial pond in front of the opera and the mandatory bike lift.

 My bike lift was a bit odd, I needed a helper at the front of the car

Sorry, no better photo available...

My pedal car in a test ride

View of the Leipzig Opera

Cheers,

Kai

Ruegen 2014

We visited Ruegen this year again.

Here are a few impressions:

 Between Altenkirchen and Dranske

 Very small port of Kuhle

 Kite surfers in the very shallow waters of the Wieker Bodden

Port of Wiek

 On the ferry of Wittow

 Mainland of Ruegen with view on the Wieker Bodden

 Stupid obstacles, intended to prevent car drivers from using cycle paths.

The truth is, they mainly prevent cyclists from using cycle paths.

 The ferry on the way back

 This photo was taken by a very friendly guy from Dresden, who was intersted in our velocar.

We talked for nearly an hour.

 I had to roll the tandem on it's side, to show him the construction of the drivetrains and frame.

I gave him my blog account, but forgot phone numbers.

In front of the two lighthouses of Cape Arkona

The left lighthouse is recently in use, while the right - called the Schinkel-Tower, named after it's builder - houses now a museum.

Both are in use as vantage points.

We climbed the platform on the left tower, 169 steps from the ground.

 

The is a last years photo for comparison.

 View to the north

 

The south

 The tandem from above

 The south east

 Stop at a vantage point on the north shore of Wittow

 The shore littered with rocks, which are very slippery when wet

 Chalk formation

Time to cycle back