And our last question of the week:
Q8. It's photo time. It is starting to feel springlike in Northern California, though this may be temporary. What did you see this week? Cycling related or not is fine. Tell us about it!
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
@bikenite @ascentale A8. I can't put my delight into words at seeing this on Wednesday. Back to grey and drizzle now. #BikeNite
@ascentale
A8: 5 years ago I was riding my mother in law bike in the snow in Helsinki, Finland
Holding to those memories to avoid depressing with the rain
@bikenite
@MatthewNewell @ascentale @bikenite I think you were standing a few metres to my right when you took that photo! 😂 #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite @MatthewNewell even more 🇬🇧 in the crowd! #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite A8 - Following an illness I’m back on the bike and at Search and Rescue. Completed the Fitness Test on Tuesday which I was pleased about. #CSAR
@ascentale @bikenite A8. When I was in the smaller town of Pogradec, I saw upright cargo trikes used by city hort workers. Here in Tirana, they seem to be used more by people who make a living picking recyclables & valuables out of public trash bins.
You can see the woven plastic bag which is the shape of the cargo box. These bags can have their edges pulled up very high, extending the capacity of the cargo trike. These are all acoustic trikes...I've never seen one with e-assist. #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite A8. Early for spring, but my monarch hatched! I was disappointed I didn’t get to witness it, happened much faster than I 5hought it would. And they reopened the bay trail around shoreline in Mountain View. I’ll take any positive news I can get. #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8 We saw this beach firsthand for the first time in an embarrassingly long time! Friends and family who are landlocked are usually surprised we don’t get on the beach more.
We love walking barefoot in the water! And every time we do, and experience again what good medicine that is, we’re reminded to do it more often—as we used to.
What made us stop that formerly frequent habit? We were knocked down on 3 separate occasions by off-leash dogs—on this beach where leashes are required. The dog owners were not at all apologetic or caring. 😞 Third time caused an injury that put a halt to our beach walks for a long time.
In contrast, we’ve never been knocked down by a dog while biking. 😊
We do like dogs and have owned and dearly loved several. We just don’t like irresponsible dog owners.
@ascentale @bikenite A8 #BikeNite since I am in Greece, cats. Google photos album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dfcmTttwCo5rNnoE8
Q8. This week I experienced a beautiful, spring-like day at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Hulst, the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Day two was less spring-like but it didn't affect an amazing weekend.
I saw lots of friends and met someone new I had previously only known through Mastodon 🙂👋
#BikeNite #Cycling #Hulst2026 #CX #Veldrijden #WKVeldrijden #CycloCross
@DurableAce @ascentale @bikenite Hi Mark, great to meet you too.
@ascentale @bikenite the afternoons feel amazing up near Sacramento but the mornings? Well…
(I do like the cold and fog though!)
@whack @ascentale @bikenite I love the fog!
Especially in contrast to what that area is like in summer! #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite A8. #BikeNite Not a photo from this week, but my brother has been scanning slides from my parents' collection and he just posted this scene from 1986, when we went to his graduation from UCSB. I only vaguely remember being there, but I definitely remember a massive amount of bikes in front of one of the dorms (Francisco Torres).
@ascentale @bikenite A8: This past week has been tough, but today I found an unexpected mood-brightener. Look at this book! I found it in a children’s shop, and the illustrations are so charming and the story so heartwarming that I bought a copy for a friend who has two little kids (she’s struggling too)
The girls ride bikes into the forest at night and find all kinds of delightful magic (as one does in the US, right???)
Part of a series of books, the kids always ride bikes.
A8. Two photos from last week.
The first is Trail 65 at Ft. Ord National Monument. It is one of the best single track trails out there for hiking or biking. It has great wildflower displays in the spring (or -- this year -- in the winter).
The flowering shrub is Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum), with a bit of Ceanothus in the back.
John C. Fremont was an "interesting" character....
@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8: Last year I rode ~2500km on my new #BromptonElectricGLine and I'm quite happy with it. I feared that I'd no longer use my 16" #Brompton, but especially in the past few months, I noticed situations where I prefer the smaller and more lightweight 16" Brompton, e.g. on train journeys and generally everywhere where I have to pull or carry it for longer distances.
Here's a recent selfie with the 16" Brompton in a multilayered window of some university building.
@bikenite @ascentale @bikeboston.bsky.social was fed up with the state of our bike lanes, two weeks after a snow storm, so we spent the afternoon fixing a few blocks that #Boston has ignored
@ascentale @bikenite a8. On my lovely ride along the Seattle waterfront today I noticed a new "Fentanyl Free America" billboard from DEA.gov. Kinda creeped me out as the current administration (or even prior ones to a lesser extent) doesn't give a shit about fentanyl and seems to just use the panic to attack its enemies and US allies. Rest of the ride was lovely :)
@ascentale @bikenite These new ones are so low profile that they barely qualify as suggestions let alone prevention. Bah.
@ascentale @bikenite A8: DINOSAUR SKIN
actual, from a specimen from a dig in, uh. shit. Montana?
Technically this is fossilized _impression_ of dinosaur skin. But... dinosaur skin.
@ascentale @bikenite @moira probably a fossilised imprint from a bike crash. #BikeNite
@cainmark @ascentale @bikenite Honestly that was the coolest part to me, because SOFT TISSUE HOLY SHIT
here are some ribs, too, they are not soft tissue but still ^_^
A8. Bicycled on the Root River Trail towards Housto as far as could before the snow got too deep.
#BikeTooter #Bicycling # #RootRiverTrail #Minnesota #MNastodon
@ascentale @bikenite
A8.
It's very winter here in Ontario, not biking weather but it's super pretty. Kiddo got this photo on the way home from the city today.
#BikeNite
@silvermoon82 @ascentale @bikenite
That's what it looks like here too. The sky was so thick with clouds and snow that my solar panels barely collected any energy at all.
@ascentale #BikeNite A8 we've had a nice week of fake spring in #Portland and I had a ride yesterday with someone new to #pdxBikes, as part of the @bikeloudpdx Bike Buddy program. Totally forgot to take a picture until I saw this view of Mt Hood on the way home.
A8. Very busy this week. Photo of the conditions of most of my bicycle usage this week, in the dark (w/light!) to and from classes. Probably overkill (to and from the parking lot), but it really speeds up my commute, much better on the feet than all that cement, and no traffic so kind of fun to be able to go flying down a street at speed without feeling like you're going to be gored by vehicles. #BikeNite
jealous of all the folks ridin
yes i could get out there. but...
"Chicago’s streak of sub-freezing days came to a merciful end Friday morning when the mercury finally hit 32 degrees for the first time in 20 days.
..
The deep freeze peaked — or cratered — Jan. 23-24, with highs in the single digits & lows of minus 11 & minus 10 degrees below 0. Those were actual air temperatures; wind chills made it feel more like minus 20 or minus 30."
@rustoleumlove @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite brrr! same weather we’ve been having here in the Hudson Valley. I don’t think it’s been above freezing for 3 weeks now. And this weekend we’ll have it even colder than it has been, since we’re going to have a lot of wind. Next week’s forecast is still below freezing….
@rustoleumlove @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite Hello, Anne Good day and how is the climate over there??
@bikenite @ascentale
#bikenite A8:
Daily, I take "bike lean" photos. Since last September, the occasional photo on my otherwise trusty phone would be out of focus. At first I thought I was doing something wrong, or had the phone camera app settings wrong. I finally figured out that the wide angle/macro lens on my phone was defective. I got a replacement phone yesterday and today's wide angle photo was in focus. Yay!
@bikenite @ascentale @MartyCormack that's cool, I do "skies while cycling" every ride shooting straight up.
@ascentale @bikenite A8: What I didn't see this week (well, yesterday) was the road due to freezing rain collecting on my glasses. I had to stop three times over 15 miles to thaw and wipe my glasses. Anyone know if Cat Crap would have helped with this? #BikeNite
@josh @ascentale @bikenite oh yikes
congratulations, you have found the worst weather, you can go home now
xD
@moira @ascentale @bikenite WELL I COULD GO HOME IF I COULD SEE
@josh @ascentale @bikenite
I was in a situation like that a couple of weeks ago, riding to a concert. Before I went home, I used the liquid hand soap in the washroom to coat my goggles, inside & out. My ride home was definitely better (yes, it was blurry).
But probably something oily like Vaseline or baby oil would work even better.
I have tried spitting in them (like swimmers goggles). :nonono: frozen spit glob bad.
@NNN @ascentale @bikenite Didn't they use vaseline on lenses for shooting soap operas? Not sure I need that drama. 😉
@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8 seen an upsurge in the number of yoof on high-power electric trailbikes on the bike paths and roads; had a least three close calls, a near head-on with a wheelying rider who was watching a train not where he was going, a speedyboi overtaking someone focusing on the overtake, not on me heading towards him, and a very close high speed overtake by one yesterday. The backlash against them is washing over onto legal e-bikes and "all youse bike riders are the same" attitudes
@ajft @ascentale @bikenite WA has a bill that will start to distinguish these e-motos from e-bikes and begin the process of having stricker requirements around the former. Hoping it passes. e-motos could be good alternative for motorcycles or cars, but shouldn't be allowed on bike trails/lanes and should have to get a drivers license of some sort. Too dangerous for young kids.
More info at https://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2026/01/22/bike-and-trail-orgs-cities-and-high-school-students-unite-around-wa-bill-to-clarify-difference-between-e-bikes-and-e-motos/
@ascentale @bikenite @ajft
#bikenite That's a problem here as well and our state bike advocacy group has a legislative agenda initiative to legally define e-motos, so e-bikes are protected against regulations intended for the former. But our advocacy day at the Minnesota Capitol was cancelled due to safety concerns with the DHS/ICE occupation here.
@ascentale @bikenite Saw the first tulip of the year!
![ajft [SEC=&8212;haha]](https://mediacdn.aus.social/accounts/avatars/108/394/830/721/852/594/original/e8be0d5b3695c8a6.png "ajft [SEC=&8212;haha]")
