Tootfinder

Pan Yay! Got the Ortleib panniers and wow are they nice. Bonus that my backpack fits nicely in one of them.
#biking #bikeTooter

I found out one of my neighbors has an Aventon Pace (either 500.3 or 500.2) and said he loves it. Good to know. He got it at Erik's Bikes, which is where I hope to get one at some point.
#biking #bikeTooter #ebike

Part of the bike lane "slalom course" on Hampton Avenue on my ride to work...
The freeway entrance ahead is closed but honestly I don't know what good putting these in the bike lane does besides get in my way.
#biking #bikeTooter

"la bicicletta ha un'anima, se riuscirai ad amarla come merita ti saprŠ dare emozioni che non dimenticherai mai"
––Mario Cipollini
#biking #cycling #bicicletta

One thing I wasn't ready for on the bike commute was the bugs. Riding next to the river in summer is wonderful, but now when I head home the bugs are out, and they are tiny little bastards that fly into my face and my arms and get stuck on me. I do not love it. Hoping this works.
#biking #bikeTooter

I went for a short ride today, and every now and then I would hear this weird “cling clang” sound, but I couldn’t figure out what the hell it was. I even stopped twice to investigate. It wasn’t constant though, just intermittent. Urgh!
Got home, took a photo, and then figured it out. Sigh…
#biking #bikeTooter

Good Morning #Canada
Checking my fake holiday calendar, and I see it's Go For A Ride Day. I guess that could include cars, trains, skateboards, horses, and your favourite human, but let's focus on bicycles. Some people say Canada is too big to have a cycling culture and that's why there's only 1 bike for every 4 Canadians. But those are the people who have never heard of cities... or are named Doug Ford. Only 6% of Canadians are active commuters, meaning walking or biking, but it's more prevalent in Victoria (18.7%) and Halifax (12.3%). About one-third (34%) of neighbourhoods across Canada have no cycling infrastructure but some municipalities have invested in high-comfort bike lanes (dedicated & protected pathways), including Montréal (360 km), Vancouver (246 km), Edmonton (226 km) and Québec City (190 km).
Here's some #StatsCan data on commuting by bike.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Biking #GetOutside
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/6203-bike-work-day-cycling-through-data

Another post talking about mapping all of my bike rides...
#biking

Mapping Bike Rides (Part II)
Tracking the tracks...

I have leveled up once again. I used to be really interested in geo/mapping stuff and this whole biking thing has rekindled that, and now that I need to figure out how to bike to places, I am mapping like mad!
I found a route from work to the shops to home avoiding busy streets, which I *never* thought I would be able to do, but I'm doing it now!
#biking

I cannot tell you how many squirrels have run out in front of me while biking this week, but the number is greater than 3 and it's only Wednesday.
Have you ever hit a squirrel or other animal on your bike?
#bikeTooter #biking

I wrote a post about my attempts to map my bike rides... (More posts on this topic are in the works!)
#biking

Mapping Bike Rides (Part 1)
Where have I been all this time?

Today's ride to work... I had to stop and adjust my DIY pannier bag and it's not great. (I forgot to attach the bungee that also locks in the hooks.) I may look at getting some Ortleibs since everyone seems to love those.
#biking #bikeTooter

Ohh, bikerouter.de is super cool!
#biking #bikeTooter

bikerouter.de
▶ Der wahrscheinlich beste Fahrrad-Routenplaner der Welt! Kostenlos und datenschutzfreundlich. Gravel, Rennrad, MTB, City, Long Distance, Trekking uvm.

I’m not saying I’m the first person to ride the entire length of the new protected bike lane on Lisbon but there’s a good chance I am… (I had to carry my bike across a dozen gaps because it’s not all connected yet!)
#biking #bikeTooter

I wrote up a post about using "Squadrats" to map out all of the areas I've rode my bike...
#biking

I did not make any good progress on my project to read GPX data with Python today. (Trying to read speed.) May need to just read it as XML.
There are a bunch of nerds who do Python and bikes though, so someone might have the code example I need.
#biking #bikeTooter

I got this bike 12 days ago and just hit 100 miles. If I can keep commuting to work that's about 13 miles each day of riding a bike instead of driving a car.
#biking #bikeTooter #ebike

I made some progress on mapping all the GPX files of my bikes rides for 2025... though it looks like I am still getting some walking data mixed in, so I'll need to fix that.
The cemetery paths are interesting! There are two paths I guess I never rode down in 2025. Weird.
#biking #bikeTooter

It's crude, but I separated all my bike ride GPX files from the huge pile of files and loaded them all into gpx.studio to show where I've rode my bike in the last 20-ish months.
#biking #bikeTooter #geo

First (real) ride on the new bike. So chuffed! Also, found a dollar on the way home so yeah, biking really pays off!
#biking #bikeTooter #mke

I guess I should have got a cargo bike. (Kidding!) I had to bring a few packages to work today so my DIY pannier got a test... seemed to work fine.
#biking #bikeTooter #ebike

I am using Strava now, but only because it's a way to get my data from Apple Health to flow to other places. Right now Wandrer and Squadrats pull data from Strava, and Strava gets the original data from Apple Health. The world is complex and silly sometimes.
#bikeTooter #biking

Today's ebike ride was 8.25 miles along one of my normal routes but I tried to avoid pedal assist as much as I could. In a 45 minute ride I probably used it for less than 5 minutes just to deal with a few hills along the way. I really want to get used to riding without assist for more of a "workout" on it, but also have the backup of assist for the hills.
#biking

Gosh, can you tell when I switched to an ebike and started riding to work?
#biking #bikeTooter #ebike

I did a 21 mile bike ride today. Along the way I saw a turkey, found a good pair of scissors, discovered Hidden Lake, and stopped to see Mama Rosa at Firefly Grove Park in Wauwatosa.
#bikeTooter #biking #mke

I did a 21 mile bike ride today. Along the way I saw a turkey, found a good pair of scissors, discovered Hidden Lake, and stopped to see Mama Rosa at Firefly Grove Park in Wauwatosa.
#bikeTooter #biking #mke

Probably not news to urban cyclists but parking lots are a game changer! Places I thought I could not bike to are accessible where parking lots are all connected, or right next to each other with a bit of grass between them.
#bikeTooter #biking

Secure bike parking at work… the ride in today was the fastest yet, despite the terrible winds! I attribute the short time to good luck in crossing busy roads and not having to wait multiple minutes to cross.
#biking #bikeTooter

The three things that make bicycle route planning most difficult where I live is freeways, railroad tracks, and rivers.
#biking #bikeTooter

Blah. Rain today so I did not bike to work. Not quite ready for that... I have to take the car tomorrow as well due to a doctor appointment. Hopefully I can bike on Friday!
#biking #bikeTooter

After 15 minutes of messing around with maps I've gone from "It's impossible to get there by bike!" to "Hmm, if I avoid the super-busy roads, cut through these parking lots, take a two mile detour... I think I can get there!"
#biking #bikeTooter

Today’s ride for Scrappy Hour was 7 miles out and then 7 miles back! The hills killed me. 😢
#scrappyHour #biking #bikeTooter

Over the weekend I came close to joining these two sections of where I've ridden my bike! The square on the bottom is where the bike shop is where I got my new bike a month ago. Might be a project for next weekend.
#biking #bikeTooter

Bikes with tiny wheels always look so weird to me. (I mean weird as a 6 foot tall adult. I rode 20" BMX bikes when I was a kid.)
Do these 20" bikes feel like riding a "normal" bike? Is it weird? Is it just me?
#biking #bikeTooter

I just learned about rain ponchos for cycling and... what?
#biking #bikeTooter

The view on the way to work along the Oak Leaf Trail is lovely at some spots...
(Though stopping for the photo I got attacked by bugs, which is not great.)
#biking #bikeTooter #mke

The current "bike to work" carry is a milk crate zip tied to a rear rack. I gave it a nice paint job and did a little cutout right behind the seat. There's a piece of foam in the bottom to prevent rattling (I toss my lock back there) and the bungee holds my backpack in place securely.
#biking #bikeTooter

Whooo! I should hit 300 miles on the new bike within 30 days of owning it.
#ebike #biking #bikeTooter

Well, I bought a bike. I also realized I don’t think I ever bought a bike for myself before! Most of my bikes were gifts, or built from random parts I’d bought, or pieced together from the dumpster. So this is sort of exciting! And after today’s ride I think an ebike is perfect for me. It’s not easy to ride with people 15 years younger than be, and with occasional knee & hip pain, pedal assist will save my ass.

This is a bit ancient (2013?) but some neat ideas here... I like the sliding potentiometer to sense when the brake cable is pulled.
#biking

jdeboi.com
Jenna deBoisblanc is a creative coder, teacher, and maker.

Today's ride on Hampton Avenue was much better! I just need to time it right. Wait for the light to turn green, wait until all the cars go through, then bike after them. I only need a gap of a few minutes to get past the gnarly part of the road.
The other tricky part is crossing Mayfair on the Menomonee Parkway. I actually get off the bike and walk it across there. No signals, not even for pedestrians so it's a rough one.

Today's bike ride to work was a bit rough when I got to Hampton Avenue. There's a 0.65 mile stretch between Mayfair and 124th that can be brutal. Last week wasn't as bad so I think I just need to time it a bit better with the oncoming traffic.
I actually got forced onto the sidewalk for a bit due to construction barrels, the super narrow "bike lane", and overly aggressive drivers.