2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

Just to change the derail: Any rides you could boast of? I admit I haven't watched the latest vid from Charge yet but need to make a mega shopping on this cold night, riding my big Taiwanese/German Vado!
 
Ok, I’ll get us back on track today with a couple pictures of the mountains of Western Illinois. 😀. I rode 14 miles today. A couple of pictures of harvest time. The old John Deere still working by running a grain auger.
IMG_2025-09-29-132227.jpeg

IMG_2378.jpeg
IMG_2379.jpeg
 
1759169085377.png


It was a nice morning today but I had things to do that couldn't wait so didn't get out until 10.45am, with rain forecast around 2pm I had to decide whether to make it a shorter ride or just go with a long one and get wet! I chose the latter and got wet... 😂 Thankfully it was only light rain though so at least it wasn't a soaking and with light winds the temp was just perfect! I made my way down the back roads to Allanton and headed NE on the A71, a very nice road with not much traffic at this time of the day thankfully!

1759169668421.jpeg

1759169679500.jpeg

I passed through Breich, West Calder and Polbeth with no problems until I reached Livingston and things started to get busy, but I was soon on a quieter part again just before Kirknewton which was my turning point! I had a distant view of the Forth bridges from Kirknewton!

1759170062018.jpeg

I would soon be riding alongside the Pentland Hills when I turned SW at Kirknewton, the wind was forecast to be from the NE but as I passed the airfield the windsock was showing a SW wind and it was picking up now!

1759170142488.jpeg

1759170155211.jpeg

I was now on the awesome A70 but heading SW directly into the wind with a lot of climbing ahead, I stopped many times for photos along the way!

1759170414399.jpeg

1759170525591.jpeg

1759170545557.jpeg

1759170566782.jpeg

1759170580780.jpeg

1759170600423.jpeg

1759170619047.jpeg

The final part of the climb at Harperrig Reservoir!

1759170484826.jpeg

1759170640418.jpeg

1759170655234.jpeg

1759170666215.jpeg

Looking back down the hill with the Forth Estuary way in the distance!

1759170709764.jpeg

I stopped again at the western side of the reservoir for a snack and a break and took another few photos!

1759170974390.jpeg

1759170986267.jpeg

1759170995695.jpeg

I continued SW on the A70 and as I reached the junction for Harburn I decided to take the back road through the village to get out of the wind, if I had stayed on the A70 it would have been a lot more climbing directly into a strengthening wind and a good possibility of rain! The decision to take the Harburn road really paid off with little to no traffic and a cracking road for cycling as I turned SW to take the road to Addiewell, I freewheeled down the big descent at 44.3mph! As I arrived in Addiewell at the 43 mile mark I felt the first drops of rain, it never stopped until I was close to home!

I made my way west to Fauldhouse and used the back road to Shotts and on to Hartwood where I turned north up the big climb towards Kirk of Shotts, turning west part way up to take the amazing back road to Hareshaw! The rain was still light so it wasn't really a problem and it wasn't cold so I was really enjoying this excellent back road! From Hareshaw I was going to head directly home but I decided to extend my ride to make it a 70 miler, a mile or so from home the roads were all dry so that was a nice bonus to finish my ride!👍 My mileage is now 5678 for the year believe it or not...😂 What a great day once again, despite the inclement weather!
 

Attachments

  • elevation_profile439.jpg
    elevation_profile439.jpg
    24.2 KB · Views: 0
  • trip-337828215-map-full439.png
    trip-337828215-map-full439.png
    556.9 KB · Views: 0
So, as a genuine Zargonian, I rode to two stores and returned with a giga shopping load :)

1759177744804.png

While looking for English Mustard, I met the incredible Alfer :) The story of our improbable encounters deserves a Sci-Fi novel :D Ironically, the background is for cured meat while Alfer is a vegan :D

1759177925249.png

After 7 years, Nestle could eventually understand introducing Nescafe Gold Blend with added finely ground coffee was a mistake. The decision to introduce the Blend was already made in 2015 but the instant coffee no-one wanted found its way to the shelves in Poland in 2018. As I had been a Nescafe Gold drinker for at least 20 years, the change spoiled my quality of life. Now, the original Gold can be bought, it is (I think) the first batch, as the Blend was on the shelves yet on September 14th this year! (The German version of Gold has the clear word "ORIGINAL" on the label). The Blend was replaced by Barista, and the share of finely ground coffee was increased from 3 to 5% there to make the coffee even more disgusting...


The shopping ride was 11 km.


1759178759231.png

For your distraction: a pack of wild boars in Warsaw suburbs :D The leader is nicknamed Marble :)
 
Last edited:
Back