New 2013 year

BH Neo City Electrical Bike

I bought BH Neo City bike this October. The plan is to completely switch to bicycle commute. It is solidly built as a city commuter bike; the design is well thought through.  Here is some technical info:

1. There  are a couple of smart features in the way how the motor is powered, unique for BH bikes: 1) no power when the breaks are applied; 2)  no power unless the pedals are engaged. The bike has 3 gears in front and 8 in the back; the switching is smooth.

2. The coasting speed is 21 miles per hour, limited by my maximum comfortable cadence speed (Electrical coasting is disabled - the bike does not go unless one pedals). I can go as fast as 30 mile per hour downhill. The speed on up-the-hills is slower, about 15-17 miles per hour. It takes about 35 minutes from door to door for my 11-mile commute.

3. The single charge is good for about 20 miles, much less than the spec (50 miles), pretty much regardless of the level of assist (see below). However, my commute involves a relatively large climb; this may be a factor.

4. Charging time is about 3- 4 hours from a complete discharge.

5. The bike is ride-able without charge; the average speed that way ~ 10 miles per hour.

6. It is light for an electrical bike; I can fit it into the trunk of my Toyota 4R; probably too heavy to mount it on the roof (and the wheels are not on quick release).

The 17’’frame is too small for me; however I took this as a compromise to let  all the family members ride it. I am 6’2”; my wife is 5’5’’. The sit has a long adjustable post on a quick release.

7. The ride can be done in a normal civilian attire and does not require bike shoes. There is no need in shower after the ride.

As a comparison, I also commute to work on a regular bike once a week. I am an experienced biker; however because of the hills, my average commuting speed is only about 13 miles/hour.  I have to wear a bike attire and need a shower after the ride.

8. The bike has fenders and rides very well in rain. It has a front and back lights powered by a generator, which makes it ride-able at night. This feature turned out to be useful because occasionally one has to ride without the battery power.

The bike has a detachable control panel, which shows the battery level, the speed and allows to select the level of the electrical assist (5 levels of assist or so).

There is a bike rack as well; I do not use it much but ~ 5-10 kg load can be easily carried on it.

9. The charging device is light, ~1 kg, and I carry it to work every time.

Problems with this bike/downsides: 

1)   The control panel is too small and I cannot see what is on it when I ride.

2)   Although the levels of assist are variable, I can hardly feel the difference; the response is very non-linear. Neither does it affect the battery life much.

3)   It is very hard to take the wheels off; I still do not know how to take off the back wheel. When I was fixing the flat in the back wheel, I ended up using a patch because I could not take the wheel off.
A nice movie about the bike is at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6DHFqh_Prw.

Luzhniki

Dimitrovskii Sobor, Vladimir

Pokrova na Nerli, Bogolyubovo

Temecula ride photos

Temecula bike ride

Lyuba and I went to Temecula for a 47 mile ride on a tandem bike. The photos will follow. It was very scenic, as usual.   The moving average was 13.5 miles/hour.
The website tracked our times as well.  I found it interesting that, according to the website , Lyuba made it  20 minutes before me.  :)  However she was always behind me, honest :)

Иван Бунин

Я помню первое стихотворение которое привлекло мое внимание. Мне было наверное десять лет. Это был "Листопад" Бунина.
Я нахожу удивительным что ничего не изменилось в моем восприятии через двадцать, тридцать, и сорок лет. Бунин по прежнему мой любимый писатель и поэт.

Смелость высказать последнюю, запредельно-конечную правду и в тоже время оставаться классиком -

Тот факт что мои интересы не менялись сорок лет прощает другие увлечения моей молодости, ныне забытые.

Все-таки, стоит жить.

Egyptian monument at Hyppodrome in Istanbul

(View from the widow of the hotel)--- it was very hot and humid. Ramadan in Istanbul was very interesting and unusual  to see- an island of calm in turbulent Middle East.

Chora Church in Istanbul

The Last Judgement: Christ, Adam and Eve. This is 14th century fresco,  painted not long ago before Constantinopole  was taken by the Turks

Istanbul, Hagia Sophia

late life discoveries (between 40 and 50)

1. Johaness Brahms
2. Astor Piazzolla
3. Tchaikovsky (Violin Concerto, 2nd and 3rd Piano Concertos, Symphonies)
4. Cuban music, Latino music in general
5. Icelandic Sagas
6. Mexico
7. Long distance bike riding
8. Barcelona
9. Istanbul
10. Island of Gotland
11.Death Valley
12. Sierra Nevada
13. Arizona in general
14. Teaching children
I will think some more...

Ensenada on the day of the race

Another Rosarito-Ensenada race

The weather was perfect. Finished in 3 hours 3 minutes; moving average speed 17.0 miles/hour, slightly slower than the last year. Was not tired; did not cramp--- the body expects now to go for 100 miles, not for 50. It was held on Cinque de Mayo this time but I did not see so much of celebration. More riders, high 4000? Beer and fish tacos; cocktail campechano (delicious!) --- as usual.

Lake Cachuma, Central California

This is an artificial water reservoir located between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, somewhat inland, off 154 freeway.

Wildflowers 2012

I am back from Wildflowers bike ride. 98.3 miles, 6475' elevation gain.   The ride is very scenic, passed many wineries and farms. Old oak trees everywhere-- the landscape is a blend of California and what I would associate with Oregon. The weather was perfect;  not cold or hot, no winds neither. All the hills are evenly distributed  over the ride and are not very steep. However, there was a cumulative effect. I was very tired at about 80 miles mark. I did not cramp this time, just suffered from overall exhaustion.
The race was very clearly marked and well organized.  There were 4 water stations and one lunch break.
It took about 8 hours to finish; the average moving speed was between 13.1 mile/hour (Garmin watch) and 13.6 miles/hour (bike odometer).
And yes, there were some wildflowers, but not too many.

Предвыборное

Обама - мать,
Сумей за нее постоять!

Nalbandyan at Indian Wells 2012

Solvang

I am back from Solvang 100 mile bike race, did it for the first time. The weather was good overall but  it was very cold in the morning. Many  riders were wearing long sleeves and long pants.Strong headwinds bothered us on the portion of the route. It was not hot in the afternoon but hot enough to take the jacket off. Contrary to what I had heard from others, I did not find the climbs in the end of the route to be very difficult.  There was a very long climb at ~75 mile point  that was not very steep and then two very short climbs around 85 miles in the race  that were quite steep.  Cramping was 'under control' but I had a couple of scary moments by the end of the ride.
The race was very well organized and the route was clarly marked. There were about ~5000 riders overall (on all the three routes, which included 50, metric century and 100 miles).
Because I did not practice and did not have enough sleep the previous night, I allowed myself a lot of slack, incuding 4 lengthy water stops.  My average moving speed  was 14.7 miles/hour, not great. With the water stops, my total time was about 7.5 hours.
Note: Housing in and around Solvang are difficult during the day of the race!  The hotels were all booked up. We had to stay in Santa Barbara, 1 hour away.  This was hard, keeping in mind that the race started at 7 am.
The race was quite scenic, in particular the last third of it, starting from the town of Foxen. Old oak trees  are very beautiful. The very end of the race goes throgh the vineyards in Solvang.

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

Aya Sofia, Istanbul

Bikeriding in Ventura

Ventura, heading North on 1

Lake Poway (near San Diego)