2026 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[Aushiker]

Perth is infamous for being rather windy, and today was such a day. 58% of my 56km ride was into a headwind. As I like to stay in eco mode, it hurt me a bit. Ah well, hopefully Tuesday's ride will be more pleasant.

Rode past our local "White House" [Italian influence typical of the area] ...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I need decent, mild winter rainproof gloves. I see these are sold here for AU$27 (€15.52). Looks like I have found a pair of gloves.

Bear in mind the 2XL size barely fits my big hands. Please choose the size bigger than you would expect for your hands.
P.S. I'm surprised how many good European products are available in Australia! On the other hand, we greatly appreciate the Australian Knog brand. Jacek's team has won Knog tail-lights for their relay race!

I gave my brother a Garmin 540 as a reward for the race. He is a long time user of Garmin Edge 530. The first thing he noticed was the USB-C charging/data port, "Wow!" and then it was only better. The 540 is so much superior compared to the 530 it is hard to imagine! (@DaveMatthews!) OTH, Jacek passed his cadence sensor as a gift for Tommy, We will make Tommy a serious cyclist!

Something you all might be interested in. Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus tyres 50-622 are extremely heavy (1250 g per tyre). Those tyres allowed Jacek to win the relay race for his team. However, he could immediately notice how slow those tyres were! He was actually struggling with any climb with his Marin DSX3 bike! Still, given the black ice, it was the tyre for the win The next competing team lost on bad timing: they set off for the race during a snowfall... making them 10 hours slower!

A funny story:
"Jacek, why did you name your team Plan C?"
"Well, I was chosen as a substitute rider for the competing team. As they really didn't want me, I chose riders for my own 3 people team, and I called it Plan B. Then, I found a horse willing to ride in the 4-piece team. So that became Plan C"
I'm so proud for my brother! He planned everything, directed everything, and rode for 6 hours on black ice at night for the team win!

 

[Aushiker]

On the subject of British bacon, this popped up in my Twitter feed ...

Scientists demand cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in UK

Successive governments criticised for doing ‘virtually nothing’ to reduce risk in the decade since cancer link found

www.theguardian.com

 

[Rás Cnoic]

On the subject of British bacon, this popped up in my Twitter feed ...

Scientists demand cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in UK

Successive governments criticised for doing ‘virtually nothing’ to reduce risk in the decade since cancer link found

www.theguardian.com

Typical. Mind you think it was also the guardian that reported that coffee is now yet again very good for you with 3 cups providing maximum protection from all kinds of getting older ailments. It's like top trumps this.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Snowing, snowing, snowing...

The parking lot at our block of flats... I had to walk my Vado some 100 m to the main street.

The access road to Little Frog convenience store...

Can you see the snowflakes on my Wahoo? -3 C is not dramatic but it still requires wearing "frost" clothing. (I forgot taking a balaclava for today's ride. A big mistake!)

Don't be mistaken though: the roads themselves were cleared and black. Bike paths were cleared but too carelessly to safely ride them.

 

[stompandgo]

I would never ride in that slop by choice. Stay safe out there.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I would never ride in that slop by choice. Stay safe out there.

Just to be clear: I walked my e-bike through the slop. Only riding with traffic on clear surfaces.
Once, I rode into the parking lot covered with wavy ice. The outcome was six weeks of pain. Never ever again!

 

[Chargeride]

Looks like theyve finished removing the carpark from the beach and laid down the new one near the road entrance, I will miss the sandy bumpy path, the new car park looks generic supermarket complete with arrowed seperated pedestrian walkways.
The whole idea of a beach is to get away from exact rules and elf and safety.

The bit about the Red Squirrels is hilarious, I havent see a Red squirrel in here for thirty years

They use the massive tree stripper, we just want to know why they harvested during very wet conditions.

Hopefully the rain will smooth these out, if they bake in the sun riding them is teeth rattling

They got the Welsh to do the dirty work.

The machine just leaves thousands of shredded branches everywhere

And turns the paths into mud pits

This poor little pooch was clearly lost and just kept running up and down, it was impossibe to get hold of him and I could see an identity collar, I rode around looking for an owner
but couldnt find anyone.

Im used to having the place to myself, but it was a saturday and there were a few hundred people on the beach.

That shape on the horizon is a cruise ship, the atmosphere was crazily magnifying it, looked like it was a 1000ft high to the naked eye

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Looks like theyve finished removing the carpark from the beach and laid down the new one near the road entrance, I will miss the sandy bumpy path, the new car park looks generic supermarket complete with arrowed seperated pedestrian walkways.
The whole idea of a beach is to get away from exact rules and elf and safety.
View attachment 204438

The bit about the Red Squirrels is hilarious, I havent see a Red squirrel in here for thirty years
View attachment 204439

They use the massive tree stripper, we just want to know why they harvested during very wet conditions.
View attachment 204440

Hopefully the rain will smooth these out, if they bake in the sun riding them is teeth rattling
View attachment 204441

They got the Welsh to do the dirty work.
View attachment 204442

The machine just leaves thousands of shredded branches everywhere
View attachment 204443

And turns the paths into mud pits
View attachment 204444

This poor little pooch was clearly lost and just kept running up and down, it was impossibe to get hold of him and I could see an identity collar, I rode around looking for an owner
but couldnt find anyone.
View attachment 204445

Im used to having the place to myself, but it was a saturday and there were a few hundred people on the beach.
View attachment 204446

That shape on the horizon is a cruise ship, the atmosphere was crazily magnifying it, looked like it was a 1000ft high to the naked eye
View attachment 204447

I watched your video, thanks for posting! As I said in a comment, a forest damaged by woodcutters is the worst terrain to ride any bike.

This image reminds me of a winter ride I once had with my brother on a "military range" near Warsaw. We lost our way and were riding "tank roads" I think you might do there on your fat bike!

 

[Aushiker]

This photo does not capture the drama of the day, but each time the back wheel got clogged like this, it brought the bike to a stop. I had to clear the mud as best I could, move forward about 10 metres, and rinse and repeat. There were gaps between the 'mud holes' for want of a better word, such as in the photo, which allowed me to ride a bit.

I was fortunate in that a water pipe ran alongside the road, with taps at regular intervals. That was a break as I had never seen that before. I also found an abandoned chemical container that I used as a water carrier. That made the cleaning a bit easier.

This was over a section of road which was quite a few kilometres long, and IIRC I had to do around four or five mud clearances. This was on top of riding 90 kilometres fully loaded for the day. What made it worse was that I turned onto this road via a pipeline track, not the highway intersection, where I had presumed there would be a 'road closed' sign, as there was one at the point where I left the road. Whoops.

To top things off, the next day, having ridden a further 75 kilometres, I damaged my Achilles heel, which brought my bikepacking ride to an end. I hope to finish it this July, all going to plan.

 

[Aushiker]

Where the fatbike, a custom-built Salsa Mukluk, excels and where it does not.

Barker Inlet - Day 2-07 by Andrew Priest, on Flickr

Not so much (yes, I rode down, well, fell down more like it)

Track, What Track? by Andrew Priest, on Flickr

Where it becomes a long, hot slog ... [yes someone stole the floodway]

Someone Stole the Floodway - {Day 04-10} by Andrew Priest, on Flickr

 

[stompandgo]

What a great looking bike.

 

[Chazmo]

This photo does not capture the drama of the day, but each time the back wheel got clogged like this, it brought the bike to a stop. I had to clear the mud as best I could, move forward about 10 metres, and rinse and repeat. There were gaps between the 'mud holes' for want of a better word, such as in the photo, which allowed me to ride a bit.

I was fortunate in that a water pipe ran alongside the road, with taps at regular intervals. That was a break as I had never seen that before. I also found an abandoned chemical container that I used as a water carrier. That made the cleaning a bit easier.

This was over a section of road which was quite a few kilometres long, and IIRC I had to do around four or five mud clearances. This was on top of riding 90 kilometres fully loaded for the day. What made it worse was that I turned onto this road via a pipeline track, not the highway intersection, where I had presumed there would be a 'road closed' sign, as there was one at the point where I left the road. Whoops.

To top things off, the next day, having ridden a further 75 kilometres, I damaged my Achilles heel, which brought my bikepacking ride to an end. I hope to finish it this July, all going to plan.

This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, “My Cousin Vinny.” “Ya’ got mud in your tires.”

That’s quite a mess o’ mud to slog through, @Aushiker . I’ve had some experiences like that on my Fättie although it was never mud that ended up slowing me down. In one case, the battery fire that resulted from the mud getting into the battery did, but that was only for a few minutes. No harm done except the battery was ruined.

 

[Chazmo]

Looks like theyve finished removing the carpark from the beach and laid down the new one near the road entrance, I will miss the sandy bumpy path, the new car park looks generic supermarket complete with arrowed seperated pedestrian walkways.
The whole idea of a beach is to get away from exact rules and elf and safety.
View attachment 204438

The bit about the Red Squirrels is hilarious, I havent see a Red squirrel in here for thirty years
View attachment 204439

They use the massive tree stripper, we just want to know why they harvested during very wet conditions.
View attachment 204440

Hopefully the rain will smooth these out, if they bake in the sun riding them is teeth rattling
View attachment 204441

They got the Welsh to do the dirty work.
View attachment 204442

The machine just leaves thousands of shredded branches everywhere
View attachment 204443

And turns the paths into mud pits
View attachment 204444

This poor little pooch was clearly lost and just kept running up and down, it was impossibe to get hold of him and I could see an identity collar, I rode around looking for an owner
but couldnt find anyone.
View attachment 204445

Im used to having the place to myself, but it was a saturday and there were a few hundred people on the beach.
View attachment 204446

That shape on the horizon is a cruise ship, the atmosphere was crazily magnifying it, looked like it was a 1000ft high to the naked eye
View attachment 204447

Dang, Charge. Riding through that must’ve been difficult.

 

[Base]

its these Harvesters who create these enormous piles of wood. Have been working with them years ago. Very efficient to get the logs out. They do indeed create some tracks in the fields. One would want to cut down the trees when the is less tree sap in them and the least chance to demolish frees growth underneath it. So usually one would try to schedule logging in the winter.

We also used to cut down trees in the winter, very nice to work in just in your chainsaw protection pants and a t-shirt around freezing point cause you would not sweet as heavily as when its more spring temps. Also used horses to drag the logs out of the woodland. Harvester is way easier, although in very delicate nature they are not used that often.

 

[Chargeride]

They used these.

The wood seems to be worth 40 pounds per cubic metre, and thats before everything.
Im reading if you cut and the price drops, you can literaly lose money.

 

[RabH]

I finally got 2026 underway after 2 weeks of truly awful weather, we finally got a milder SW wind that brought heavy rain yesterday and melted most of the ice! It was a pretty gusty wind around 30mph so I decided to enjoy a tailwind to start my ride as I headed NE towards Shieldhill, where I flew down the big descent into Glen Village at 44mph! That sure blew the cobwebs away!

I then made my way east towards Linlithgow but turned south to take the road to Whitecross, another nice descent but this one was into a cross/headwind and the wind was really blowing here!

I passed through the village and joined the road to Linlithgow where I had a view of the Viaduct lit up by the sun!

I arrived in Linlithgow to find a big line of cars so I opted to take the back road into town and it worked out perfectly as I bypassed all the traffic, I then decided to head up past the canal in the centre of town and stopped for a couple of photos of the narrowboats!

Then it was time to tackle the big climb up towards Beecraigs Country Park, after the climb its a lovely twisty descent before the road ramps up again! I stopped part way up for this photo looking NE!

I then had a descent down into the valley and stopped for this photo before taking on the big climb up to Kingscavil!

At the top of the climb I stopped for a break and a snack and grabbed this photo looking down the valley, the Ochil Hills were barely visible way in the distance!

I then turned south on the back road which leads to the amazing rollercoaster Burnhouse Road, I stopped for this photo looking SE with the Pentland Hills in the background!

The road starts with a climb and then a twisty descent and as I turned the corner I saw chunks of thick ice down the hill, luckily it was only at the side of the road with a little in the centre so no issues!

Then it was a steep climb up to Burnhouse Road, one of my favourite roads with lots of ups and downs to enjoy, I grabbed a few photos on the way!

I finally got a view of the Ochils to the north!

Then some lovely views of the Pentlands before the big descent!

I caught a nasty crosswind near the bottom of this descent so I made the decision to skip the steep part down into Dechmont as its very exposed!

Another stunning view of the Pentlands at the top of the next climb!

I then turned west to take the back road to Torphicen, I love this little farmhouse near the turn!

The back road to Torphicen is another cracking road with many ups and downs and twists and turns, I also had another very nice view of the Pentlands here!

Then I had the big dipper, a mountain biker was coming up in the other direction and he was battling a strong headwind!

This is followed by some big climbs on amazing twisty roads!

At the end of the road I turned west for Torphicen and stopped for this photo looking north before enjoying the big descent down into the village!

I then decided to go down the Avon Gorge road to take the road up to Standburn, the road plunges down into the valley and passes over the River Avon before ramping up towards the roundabout where I turned west for Standburn! Another big climb followed by lots of ups and downs, you can see the elevation profile image below and get a picture of what kind of ride it was! This is my bread and butter and why I love cycling so much, I just love roads like these! After passing through Standurn I turned south to take the back road to Avonbridge, it starts with this cracking descent!

Down in the valley the road runs alongside the River Avon, I stopped for a couple photos along the way!

I then arrived in Avonbridge and continued west towards Limerigg, yet another big climb! I passed the Black Loch in Limerigg and it was still partially frozen over and very choppy due to the strong wind!

From here I decided to head north down the awesome descent into Slamannan and then west on the back road to Longriggend, from there I made my way south into Caldercruix and turned west for home! I arrived home just as it was starting to get dark around 4.30pm, what a fantastic day that was and it was very much needed after being off the bike for 2 whole weeks!

I got to try out my new heated gloves for the first time on the bike and I am very pleased with my purchase, it was 8C today with a feels like temp of 3C so I just used the low setting until I turned into the wind on the way back! I then switched to the middle setting and after almost 4 hours the batteries dropped by just 1 bar, they have 4! When I got home I still had 3 bars remaining after almost 5 hours, very impressive indeed! This is the first time this winter I have had warm hands for the whole ride!

I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow but it depends on the weather, its going to be a rainy morning but the afternoon is looking more promising...time will tell and with lighter winds I hope its possible!

 

[Aushiker]

Gentle ride today - 35 km exploring a little further east and a bit of the Canning River.

 

[Chargeride]

The way to go?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The way to go?