Might I suggest that it would behove you to invest a modicum of your hard-earned (or perhaps easy, for all I know) money in that marvellous object known as a dictionary, or big papery thing full of words. Should such a thing be beyond your means, it is possible to locate online versions of the same, to whit, www.dictionary.com, amongst others. Though it must be said that the online versions lack the musty smell which makes big papery things full of words a must-have. Furthermore, one's eye may casually glance at a word located next to the one for which you are searching, thus increasing one's vocabulary, oftentimes with archaic and sesquipedalian verbiage, which is my favourite kind.

Snafu, I'm pleased beyond words to see your return, so I won't mention it.

Rearguards,

R

Nice pootle.

This pic looks lifted right out of my back yard.

Nice back yard! Is it hilly where you live, Jur?


BTW, is your trip to the US clearing up any? You could be in these pictures in person, ya know? ;)

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/small013.jpg

Hilly... when God created the world all the left over hills were stored over here east of Melbourne.

The trip to US: We have heard nothing back once we submitted our quotes etc. Perhaps they were shocked...? Sometimes things are very urgent and decisions will take several months at least. ;) Anyway, looks like snow will be the least of my worries.

Aha, I see what you mean about the similarities. You'd feel right at home in Half Moon Bay (where I live).

Love them hills. Makes the rides more interesting and keeps me in better shape...

Rbrian: You are hereby enjoined to endeavour to eschew obfuscation in your writings henceforth..... :lol:

I am heading for the US again tonight, for Philadelphia and New York city, to speak at a university and to do a little pootling. I hope the weather will not be too cold to ride my Dahon Curve SL in. I have a 2009 Curve SL on loan to ride for the 10 days I am there so I am quite excited.

:)

The only thing I don't look forward to is the more than 20-hour-flight from Singapore via Qatar Airways. Sigh.

Lucky you mrbrown! I hope you will report back on your experiences with the '09 SL - and I'd love to see a few pix of my favorite bike on the mean streets of my favorite city!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/DSCN4074.jpg

Spring is here! A good excuse to take a ride along the local river bank trail in the bright sunshine!

It may be Spring over up north, but here in the southern hemisphere in Australia, its Fall. Celebrated that with a ride through the beautiful Swan Valley in Perth.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...arparksign.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...dwinetastg.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2.../LTFGrapes.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...TFTownHall.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...Roughroads.jpg

More info about my poodling in Swan Valley here:

http://lovethefold.blogspot.com/2009...an-valley.html

OnF :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI9t6REO1ZA

I shall post photos soon but here is a video of my little ride across the Williamsburg bridge on the Curve SL 09.

Oh and a big shout out to Neil Fein! Thanks for meeting up and having dinner with me. Too bad the rain got in the way of our riding plans but it was great to meet up and just chat too!

Thanks! It was great meeting you also. They need to move Singapore next to New Jersey, or the other way 'round.

I pootled around Manhattan and a bit of Brooklyn. I test rode a Brompton for a few hours and ran into Russell Simmons along the Hudson River Greenway. He was going really slow riding along with some blond chick. We kept frog-hopping each other due to the massive crowds. He called out something to me but I couldn't hear him with my earphones on, LOL. It was cool seeing a celebrity riding around town like a normal person on a big Dutch-style bike. :lol:

I see you've removed the rack and fenders from your Tokyo.

It's Hanami (Cherry Blossom viewing) season in Japan - and a perfect day for a pootle around the hills near my Yokohama home.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3301/...386abf.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3607/...1e1306.jpg?v=0

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Magnificent photos! Thanks for sharing it with us....

Yes, just for yesterday because there was no wet conditions and I didn't need to carry anything more than what was in my half empty seat bag.

I put the fenders and rack back on for my commute today in the rain today.

I had a nice little pootle today, 16 miles or so, 90% on a MUP, the old Deeside railway line. Started at my friend's house, maybe 200 yards to the start of the path, and then a little ride to Duthie park. Took a detour to buy some gloves for Tony, and then home again on the same path. It was a beautiful day, with no sign of the light rain the BBC weather website promised.

Anyway, onto the pictures:

There are signs like this at each of the old stations - you can see the platforms at some of them, but of course I didn't think to take a picture:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_083.jpg

Near the beginning of the ride, the old railway line goes under some bridges:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_076.jpg

A little further on, it goes over some bridges:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_077.jpg

Believe it or not, there is a superb view over the Dee valley here:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_078.jpg

A few miles of this:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_079.jpg

An amusing sign, banning motor vehicles over 7.5 tonnes. Motor vehicles are banned on this path anyway, and I'd like to see something that big fit through the narrow barriers - Tony struggled with his mountain bike!

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_082.jpg

Crossing the river:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_081.jpg

The view from the other side:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f.../IMAGE_080.jpg

I wonder why the bike is folded in pictures 2, 4.

Is is because it has no kickstand? Is it a common Brompton practice?

Kam

A Brompton doesn't need a kickstand - the first step in the fold is the parking position! And since it's just a quick flick to get into that position, it's little more effort than a kickstand.

Yes. That's a feature of Bromptons. It's just a quick flip of the rear wheel and it stands on its own.

Speedo

Very nice!

I have a kickstand on my NWT and I use it all the time but often it is in the way. For example, when turning the pedals after unfold to put the chain back on the chain ring.

I wonder if there are kickstand solutions for the NWT that don't interfere with the pedals.

Kam

Nice pics guys.

I thought I'd share just a few shots from a leisurely pootle in Madrid's Parque del Retiro. Most were taken with a cellphone, so quality is not great:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/...08c459cb84.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/...186aebfc5c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3380/...20b5b82953.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/...4c1cb9cfa7.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/...1062248acd.jpg

That looks like a lovely park - does Parque del Retiro mean retirement park?

Oh, don't worry about the quality of the pictures - they're better than my cellphone pictures.

[QUOTE=locke_fc;8703332]Nice pics guys.

I thought I'd share just a few shots from a leisurely pootle in Madrid's Parque del Retiro. Most were taken with a cellphone, so quality is not great:

[QUOTE]

Yes, but the compostion is excellent. However there appears to be a folding bike obsuring your last landscape photo!

I agree, your photography is wonderful. And I can't believe the quality of cell phone cameras now!

"El Retiro", as we call it, is probably the nicest park in Madrid, although there are quite a few to choose from. "Retiro" actually means "retreat", as it was originally built for king Philip IV to retreat from the Court. Here's another nice spot in the park:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/...b7eb2687dc.jpg

Thanks. This is by far the best camera phone I've had. It's only 3 mpx, but it takes really sharp pictures. Colours are sometimes a bit off, but I rarely try to fiddle with the settings. Nothing Photoshop can't fix, I suppose.

Just last Tuesday I went to see Electric Bikes West in El Segundo (the only brommie dealer in SoCal) to get some accessories. Andrea was really nice, cutting into her lunch break to talk to me about the accessories and the SoCal folder ride, plus she was really good about taking suggestions on what accessories to order and stock. I highly recommend them, folks. I did buy a carrier block and s-bag from them.

After the business with the shop, I went to the beach bike path to try out a little part of the next socal folder ride. We are going up from the shop to Santa Monica via the beach bike path, around 15mi one-way. Beach bike path was almost deserted because of the weekday, overcast skies, and strong winds, but it was fun to pootle along. I gave up after around 6mi because the headwinds were strong and I wimped out, and I found it easy to find a bus stop near where I gave up.

Vendetta showing off her new s-bag, stuffed with all the stuff from my old bag AND my old bag.

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The sea! The sea!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0256.JPG

Vendetta gets to watch my stuff...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0259.JPG

...as I go dig my feet into the sand and watch the waves

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0257.JPG

The sand dunes make for very interesting lines

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0265.JPG

Vendetta gets to play on the sand while her mommy cavorts in the waves. Yes, she got a thorough drivetrain cleaning afterwards!!!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0267.JPG

The sea! The sea! I found it hard to wrench myself from this spot.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_SdF0uuk3iUc/Se...0/100_0258.JPG

You and Vendetta had fun! It's raining here in Dallas so I wimped out. I do plan to ride tomorrow so I hope to have some good pics of my pootle.
Ernest

Best spring day yet, so I went for a morning pootle. Wish I had pictures, but I don't have a good camera. Took the bus to the Pentagon - my first try at using the bike racks on the bus. The Tokyo fits but the securing bar works best on the downtube, not the wheel as with full size bikes. Took the trail that goes up to the Memorial Bridge and Arlington Cemetery. Wow - I passed a full size bike for the first time. Went past the Netherlands Carillion and Marine Corps memorial to Rosslyn - this was a test of a possible commuting route - I work in Rosslyn. Then I tried the Rt. 50 trail - this is mostly service roads and parallel streets until after 10th St. - very unsatisfactory. Went down Fillmore to Walter Reed to the Four Mile Run trail to Shirlington. I wouldn't want to ride up the hill on Walter Reed, but down was FUN. Had a rest and a smoothy at Robeks, then rode home. All in all about 12 miles in perfect weather.