And our traditional last question: your week in a photo.
Q8. What did you see this week? Reply with a photo if you'd like. Cycling related or not is fine. Tell us about it!
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes #BikeNite44_2026 cc @bikenite
@ascentale @bikenite A8: I'm super excited for Game 7 of the WNBA finals here in San Francisco. I went by the Chase Center before Game 5 when I was getting a vaccine booster nearby so here's hoping the Valkyries can win a championship tomorrow! #BikeNite
Oct 30, 2026, 11:59 PM@ascentale @bikenite #bikenite q8 three days of conference at the MCG, about 17km each way there and back on the fixie. Saw that the morning commute traffic on the Gardiner creek trail is up near capacity
Had a few exploration detours on the way home and came across this statue of Molly (Ian "Molly" Meldrum)
Oct 31, 2026, 12:09 AM@ajft @ascentale @bikenite Q8
This week I saw TWO "bunch" bikes -- bakfeit concept but designed for babies with electric assist.
@geonz but also can carry adults!
Oct 31, 2026, 12:58 AM@kimu That's awesome! T did say it was totally adaptable. Both that I saw were carrying kids -- a 2 month old (the pic) and a toddler respectively.
@geonz they seem to market heavily towards families with little kids. We just happen to have recently purchased one for carrying me around!
Oct 31, 2026, 2:38 AM@kimu I approve :)
Oct 31, 2026, 2:03 PM@geonz @ajft @ascentale @bikenite I wonder how many babies have electric assist in the first place?
@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8: Had an errand to run after work, which put me on the estuary shuttle a little later than normal, as we were crossing, we crossed paths with a hot tub boat, out for a sunset soak.
@saltbaygull @ascentale @bikenite There is such a thing?!?!?! LOL. hot tub boat...
@ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite yep, there’s a small fleet of casual rental boats, some are just cute lil electric boats, then more recently they added the hot tubs!
@saltbaygull @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite good use for a few big pontoons
@autolycos @saltbaygull @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite I'd be concerned about shifting ballast in a heavy sea 😬😃
@FourT4 but we gotta do hurricane research! @saltbaygull @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite
@FourT4 @autolycos @saltbaygull @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite I suspect these are not specced for ocean crossings
Oct 31, 2026, 4:54 PM@saltbaygull @ascentale @bikenite We sailed by both the shuttle and the hot tub boats after fleet week. It’s fantastic that the shuttle exists!
Oct 31, 2026, 12:05 AM@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8: It was a busy week and except for doctor's appointment, I so far did no cycling besides commuting. So here's a picture from last Friday when I took the scenic route on the way back from the LBS.
@xtaran @ascentale @bikenite Nice G Line 😀🚴♀️❤️
#BikeNite A8. Ah, the festive spirit of Halloween, invoking the death and destruction of fossil fuel vehicles and two people kliled by a car accident. How festive /s Although... maybe a message there.
@ascentale @bikenite
#BikeNite44_2026 A8:
We were in the Bay Area for our niece's wedding last weekend.
We saw the Pacific Ocean, Coastal Redwoods and the Golden Gate Bridge.
#BikeNite
Oct 31, 2026, 12:29 AMRE: https://rouge.eu.org/@jfparis/117532284386215463
@ascentale @bikenite A8: This week I am attempting to build a new wheel with a dynamo for my pub / shopping bike. Very happy with the result
Congratulations.
Donf forget to de-stress after all the tightening - I am always so keen to ride that I tend to rush past this stage
Oct 31, 2026, 10:16 AM@MatthewNewell
That's the plan for today as I don't have rim tape in hands anyway
@ascentale @bikenite
Oct 31, 2026, 4:12 PM@MatthewNewell
It looked beautiful but the lacing was completely wrong.
Can you see the problem?
@ascentale @bikenite
I cannot but lacing is something I follow the book as I have no instinctive feel for it.
Although, truthfully, the only thing I noticed is that none of my wheels have that much thread showing when taut. I normally have to tighten till the weird spoke screw driver no longer works - then a few turns of spoke key
Oct 31, 2026, 6:27 PM@MatthewNewell
Left flank to right offset instead of left offset
@ascentale @bikenite
Damn! That's a take it all apart and start again.
Oct 31, 2026, 9:01 PM@MatthewNewell @ascentale @bikenite Yes indeed. This is now done. Not too unhappy with the result.
Busy next week so I shall mount it next weekend I guess
Nov 3, 2026, 12:26 AM@MatthewNewell @ascentale @bikenite Thanks again for sharing the pointer to Roger Musson's book.
Third attempt at tensioning and this time it is much better.
Initially I was following the park tool video ("wind all the thread in") and that's pretty bad advice especially if that is the first time you measure spoke length and build. They also forget to mention the 2 possible types of offset (that resulted in me rebuilding the whole thing).
They really pooped the bed on that video
That's disheartening as I, amongst many others, rely on those Park Tools videos. Will watch with a little more caution next time.
A8: On today's second ride, I was ambushed by The Ghoul Scouts, fundraising.
So no net calorie deficit today...
@ascentale @bikenite A8 #BikeNite44_2026 #BikeNite From our Tuesday ride to appts in Monterey. Took a lot of bike advocacy effort to get that rack (not optimal design or placement, but better than none); type "Bonifacio" in browser FIND window for a lil history in https://bikemonterey.org/bike-buzz-january-2018.html and https://bikemonterey.org/free-bike-racks-lockers-repair-stations-or-skateboardscooter-racks.html.
A8. City of London as the mist lifted this morning.
@Pionir @ascentale @bikenite
A8. Lovely!
Here's Mountain Grove, Ontario, before the fog lifted the other morning.
@ascentale @bikenite A8. Our local annual Halloween ride was last night, so it was great to see a lot of folks who I haven’t seen in a while + so many creative costumes. The best was someone who dressed as a Waymo & really committed to acting like one (I didn’t get any photos of that though!).
Oct 31, 2026, 1:21 AM@ascentale @bikenite I went out on a train trestle I'm probably not supposed to be on ^_^
Nov 2, 2026, 7:03 AM@fullywoolly @bikenite oof, yeah, those make me nervous. I hope they patch them over soon.
At least you were close to Woodinville Bike?
@moira It was pretty close to home too so I just tried going home in the daze. I did take it in the next day though fully expecting needing a new derailleur and maybe wheel but it was just the hanger.
Q8 Here’s a falconer hawking his wares (well, hunting pigeons) at Balboa Park BART station!
#BikeNite A8: I was at the #EastbridgeLibrary, had lunch at a set of outdoor furniture with some really cool art engraved in it. I know nothing about it; should have asked a librarian...
More or less on my bike route into the city, but I took the bus this time.
@bobjonkman @ascentale @bikenite Those are very cool!
@ascentale @bikenite
A8. I met these friendly folks on one of my rides this week. #Bikenite
@ascentale @bikenite #BikeNite A8. New bike week. No picture yet. I rode it to work and back just under 40 miles. The ride there went over the 520 bridge on Lake Washington. The route home recommended the longer flatter way which I happily took. Much more familiar, more straightforward, and less cars. My bike was very heavy though. Hard to pick up the rear end heavy. The ebike boost was a bit lacking and comfort adjustments need to be made. It definitely beats sitting in traffic though!
@fullywoolly happy new bike week!
@FourT4 thanks! I wish I hadn't felt so rushed so I could have stopped to take a picture in the morning and evening for that matter.
@ascentale @bikenite a8. Some gallows humor:
@dgodon @ascentale @bikenite Ooof
@dgodon @ascentale @bikenite @ai6yr TRUTH though!
@ascentale @bikenite #bikenite44_2026 #bikenite A8, visited the kids in Brooklyn NY this week. Did some sprint intervals on a citibike on the Williamsburg bridge trying to keep up with the fixie riders. Dropped like a rock🪨 🤪
Took pictures of cool street bikes while wandering around on the sidewalks.
@RayKuntz @ascentale @bikenite love that Peugeot! :blobfoxaww:
@ascentale @bikenite A8: tonight my boyfriend joined me for Critical Mass in Toronto. We ended up at city hall, Nathan Phillips Square, doing laps in the square while people danced
@ascentale @bikenite A8: this answer comes with a video, too!
@cargot_robbie @ascentale @bikenite Woohoo!
Great! That's how it's done!
(both #BikeNite A8 and #CriticalMass)
A8.
Last week trik-ing at the adult day program. Cool weather, hence the cover. Smiles all round. #CyclingWithoutAge is such a great program. Folks who don't get out and about get to feel the wind and sun.
Oct 31, 2026, 6:50 AM@ascentale @bikenite A8. Being back home, I’ve ridden every day (after much needed rest on Sunday). Wednesday was a honey run. A one hour ride to a farmers market to get a bottle of vanilla honey, before they shut down until March. That was fun until a car nearly ran me over as we were both turning right on a residential street. (No photo, but I did submit video to the Sunnyvale police).
Thursday I decided to go see what the recent rains had done to the Guadalupe river. I forgot to check the tides, so I turned around. November and December
King tides plus the El Niño driven Kelvin waves should make this look tame. But there are ways around! #BikeNite
@ascentale @bikenite A8.
Contrast. Yesterday.
7am down by the river
10am looking out towards the coast
10 degrees of temperature swing and several km of visibility.
Oct 31, 2026, 7:54 AM@ascentale @bikenite While this is Day 153 of anti-corruption protest in Tirana, the tactics changed on Oct 13, thanks to some spontaneous vandalism by high school and young university students. They started pulling things up to use to throw at the windows of government ministries and then to use as barricades to keep the cops out (who had already long been violent with peaceful protestors, using night sticks, water cannons, and "blue water" going back months).
Some of what was around to pull up was steel fencing and large cement planters used to create protected cycle lanes in various spots. This is a comparison shot of Bulevardi Dëshmorët e Kombit, the main boulevard outside the Prime Minister's office and the Parliament. This is the road that the protest is most often on, going back months.
You can see on the left that after the protestors repeatedly used the cement planters as barricades that the gov't simply removed them. On the right, you can see remaining planters further down the boulevard where protestors do not usually congregate.
Luckily, there are still those low steel bars bolted in. In other cases, the steel fences are gone but the bolts that held them in are still there, which means drivers are in the lane all the time, yet cyclists have to be careful of their tires and also not to fall because those bolts would rip you up.
