Category: Cycling

New Bicycle Light for Riding after Dark

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/15 sec, ISO6400
 “Night Ride” Cedar Park, 2021

I’ve been enjoying evening rides lately, just cruising around in the cool night air, but my front light have a very weak beam, rated at something like 150 lumens. So I bought a new, more powerful light: the IPSXP 1000 Lumens Bike Light. I’m not sure it really puts out 1000 lumens, but it is a heck of a lot brighter than my old light (which I will keep as a backup). The extra power on the new light is great when traveling in places that don’t have street lamps, such as the bike path I went on tonight. Safer bike-riding is more fun!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/10 sec, ISO6400
 “Night Ride” Cedar Park, 2021

On tonight’s ride, I explored some shopping areas that I haven’t looked at very closely just to see what kind of shops are there. Nothing really seemed to interesting, but it was fun to pass by the wine bar and burger bar and smell the delicious food. I also rode past a small pond and the frogs were out croaking away. It was really cool! I really like night riding and I am looking forward to the summer when it stays light later into the evening.

I hope you had a great day! またね～

Morning Ride to the Sculpture Garden

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/1600 sec, ISO200
 “Gotcha Bird with Fish” Cedar Park, 2021

Today I woke up early and went for a 7:30 a.m. bicycle ride to check out the Sculpture Garden at the Cedar Park Recreation Center. They say it’s not about the destination, but the journey… but sometimes it’s really both! The sculptures on display at this time are really cool, and I especially liked the piece in the photo above entitled “Gotcha Bird with Fish” by Siri Dehipitiya. Isn’t it awesome?!

Speaking of birds, the “journey” over to the sculpture garden took me past the small ponds adjacent to the park, and I spotted a beautiful Great Egret just chilin’ in the morning sun. Super cool.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/1800 sec, ISO200
 “Great Egret” Cedar Park, 2021

Although it was only about 41°F / 5°C, the ride was super fun and relaxing because of the light traffic (being an early Sunday morning). I don’t usually ride this early but I think I should make it a habit. It’s a special way to start the weekend day.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/600 sec, ISO200
 “Morning Mango” Cedar Park, 2021

Please take a look at this morning’s ride if you have some free time:

Bicycle Ride to Relax

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“Sunset Glow” Cedar Park, 2021

Bicycles are kind of magical. They can be fun, push you to your limits, scary, and relaxing. People use them to commute, for exercise, to travel, for competition, and to simply go for joyrides. Sounds like a dream, right? I wish we lived in a world without cars… just bicycles, trains, and ships. And motorbikes. 😄

Anyways, here’s a video of a ride I took after work. A nice way to unwind and get some fresh air:

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!