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

[Stefan Mikes]

That is a typical symptom of a derailleur hanger out of alignment. You may be able to tune some of it out, but I would check that first.

The derailleur has worked perfectly all the day.

 

[stompandgo]

Cheers again, all. Gonna end up about a 35mi. day. Just stopped for lunch. Some pix from the ride in Holden (first 2) and Sterling (last pic), Massachusetts...

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I miss Central MA.

 

[stompandgo]

Today started unusually warm for this year, high 40's, but the forecast showed declining temps as the afternoon wore on. I decided to head out to Nauset Beach in Orleans. 40 mi., mostly Eco on the way out but Mid on parts of the way back. There was a stiff 10-15mph headwind from the northeast on the way out which got the legs working and my blood flowing. It did get progressively colder as I got closer to the ocean, and also on the way back. It was 43 degrees when I got back home. I did get a bit of a tailwind, but I was pretty cooked.

I only took one picture, because I only stayed for 10 minutes at the beach. The northeast wind was onshore, which dampened the waves.

 

[Chargeride]

Bit windy, bins have been knocked over.
Daves finally having a go.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Bit windy, bins have been knocked over.
Daves finally having a go.

Howling around the house here. Cat hiding in the kitchen. Heading down to Cornwall for a blowy walk on Fistral beach tomorrow, see the giant surf and if any surfers are risking it. Or if the waves are breaking big and short.

 

[Chargeride]

I might get up early and go the beach, finally recovered from a bit of binge drinking.
Take some pics, havent been to Fistral for 15 years.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I might get up early and go the beach, finally recovered from a bit of binge drinking.
Take some pics, havent been to Fistral for 15 years.

Do you time your cycling and drinking recovery days to coincide?
;^}

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Szpularnia | Wheeltop EDS OX2.0 Is (Almost) Perfect! | A Solo Gravel Ride

As I got up early in the Saturday morning, I experienced a little revelation. You see, I'm not a bike mechanic, so I need to learn all the time. Suddenly, I could fully understand how any derailleur should work! "The derailleur guide pulley must be perfectly aligned with the respective cassette cog for each gear". So simple. Armed with the new knowledge, I had my Wheeltop electronic derailleur calibrated to pinpoint accuracy! Now, I could prepare for a longer ride. I checked Google Maps. Szpularnia restaurant in Żyrardów should operate on Holy Saturday. I let Komoot plan "gravel cycling" routes and set off at 11:47.

I was wearing more lightweight clothes (temps of 10-12 C) and had to counter strong headwind all the way to Żyrardów. The vision of Pork Chop with potato and sour cream cucumber was driving me against all odds!

No, I was not taking a train! Ah, the derailleur... Fast, crispy, quiet and precise shifting, why ask for more? I liked the current gear display on my Wahoo as well. Any flaw? Yes! The shifter has developed some rattle in rough terrain. Well, I can live with that! (And I think I know how to fix it)

There were asphalt roads and bike paths for approximately half of the outward leg of the trip. Eventually, I rode in terrain... There is a phrase I often use. If "gravel" is actually dirt, I call it "engraver" (Corrupted for "gravel") So yes, that was Mazovian Engraver See the sand? And that headwind in open fields...

Later, I could find perfect gravel fire-roads in Dąbrowa Radziejowicka landscape park

It is when you enter a city by gravel roads

Szpularnia was closed for the whole Easter time! (I corrupted this photo to make it offensive towards the restaurant staff) Well. "Ye Goode Olde McDonald's" was the only choice for a lunch!

See how headwind depleted my e-bike batteries! Fortunately, the return leg of the trip was with tailwind

I was shocked on my way back. I know my larger neighbourhood as full of perfect asphalt roads! However, Komoot could find any gravel or dirt road for 16 km from Żyrardów!

I wouldn't venture riding this dirt road during a hot and dry Summer: the road would turn into deep sand! (Been there, done that).

A landmark: A Buddhist centre in Grabnik. (While there are pretty many Buddhists in Poland, their centres are scarce).

I stopped in a nature reservation in Chyliczki...

...where I met a bird photographer. We had an interesting chat (the man uses a Sigma Sport 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto lens on a Canon mirrorless camera).

I returned home on the fumes! (3% left for the main battery and an empty Range Extender). Yes, I had another RE as a backup but didn't use it

Ride Map.

A Chinese Not Necessarily Crap E-Bike!

As I was riding through Opypy, I was overtaken by a young man riding an interesting Chinese e-bike:

• Fat e-bike
• No throttle
• 25 km/h speed restriction
• Looking nicely

The only flaw was a very loud hub-drive motor producing a strong hum Well, I simply drafted behind the man

 

[Chargeride]

I didnt mean to start drinking, but they do put bike racks outside the pub.
Which is bordeline entrapment if you ask me....m'lud.

 

[Chargeride]

Szpularnia | Wheeltop EDS OX2.0 Is (Almost) Perfect! | A Solo Gravel Ride

As I got up early in the Saturday morning, I experienced a little revelation. You see, I'm not a bike mechanic, so I need to learn all the time. Suddenly, I could fully understand how any derailleur should work! "The derailleur guide pulley must be perfectly aligned with the respective cassette cog for each gear". So simple. Armed with the new knowledge, I had my Wheeltop electronic derailleur calibrated to pinpoint accuracy! Now, I could prepare for a longer ride. I checked Google Maps. Szpularnia restaurant in Żyrardów should operate on Holy Saturday. I let Komoot plan "gravel cycling" routes and set off at 11:47.

I was wearing more lightweight clothes (temps of 10-12 C) and had to counter strong headwind all the way to Żyrardów. The vision of Pork Chop with potato and sour cream cucumber was driving me against all odds!

View attachment 208194
No, I was not taking a train! Ah, the derailleur... Fast, crispy, quiet and precise shifting, why ask for more? I liked the current gear display on my Wahoo as well. Any flaw? Yes! The shifter has developed some rattle in rough terrain. Well, I can live with that!

View attachment 208195
There were asphalt roads and bike paths for approximately half of the outward leg of the trip. Eventually, I rode in terrain... There is a phrase I often use. If "gravel" is actually dirt, I call it "engraver" (Corrupted for "gravel") So yes, that was Mazovian Engraver See the sand? And that headwind in open fields...

View attachment 208196
Later, I could find perfect gravel fire-roads in Dąbrowa Radziejowicka landscape park

View attachment 208197
It is when you enter a city by gravel roads

View attachment 208198
Szpularnia was closed for the whole Easter time! (I corrupted this photo to make it offensive towards the restaurant staff) Well. "Ye Goode Olde McDonald's" was the only choice for a lunch!

View attachment 208199
See how headwind depleted my e-bike batteries! Fortunately, the return leg of the trip was with tailwind
View attachment 208200
I was shocked on my way back. I know my larger neighbourhood as full of perfect asphalt roads! However, Komoot could find any gravel or dirt road for 16 km from Żyrardów!

View attachment 208201
I wouldn't venture riding this dirt road during a hot and dry Summer: the road would turn into deep sand! (Been there, done that).

View attachment 208202
A landmark: A Buddhist centre in Grabnik. (While there are pretty many Buddhists in Poland, their centres are scarce).

View attachment 208203
I stopped in a nature reservation in Chyliczki...

View attachment 208204
...where I met a bird photographer. We had an interesting chat (the man uses a Sigma Sport 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto lens on a Canon mirrorless camera).

View attachment 208205
I returned home on the fumes! (3% left for the main battery and an empty Range Extender). Yes, I had another RE as a backup but didn't use it

View attachment 208206
Ride Map.

Can you charge the battery from your bike?

 

[Chargeride]

Anyway the toilets broken again.

 

[mschwett]

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An epic ride on my epic bike to celebrate it turning 8 years old!

My bike turned 8 years old on Tuesday and with a nice forecast today I decided to do a long ride to celebrate it! Its hard to believe its 8 years old already, I still remember my first ride like it was yesterday! I did question my sanity this morning though when I had to push my bike out of my street due to ice all over the road, it was just a case of sticking to the main treated roads until it all melted! It was -1C when I set off with little to no wind for a nice change, of course it was going to be windy later though! I made my way down to Lanark and stopped for some photos near Lanark Loch, you can see it wasn't very warm...

,,,


What a brilliant ride that was, I was a little worried about the ice at the start of the day but it worked out welland I had one of my best ever rides! Very fitting to mark my bike's 8th birthday, I have now covered 45295 miles from 778 rides which is an average of just over 58 miles per ride! It has been 8 years of cycling brilliance, I'm so glad I took the plunge back in 2018! I slipped up today though, I should have done another 5 miles and I would now be on 2000 for 2026! I traded my Galaxy S23 in for a Galaxy S25 and I'm very impressed with the photo quality! I will sleep like a baby tonight....


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fantastic ! i bet you are the single rider globally who rides the furthest on that particular model of bike how many miles does it have in total? must be a lot, 8 years on.

the scenery around you is interesting to me, some it looks very familiar to northern california, and some of it completely alien, particularly the dark flat hills (tinto?), of course the types of trees, an the waterways. but the rolling green and gold/beige hills and country roads could easily be 50 miles from here rather than 5000!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I didnt mean to start drinking, but they do put bike racks outside the pub.
Which is bordeline entrapment if you ask me....m'lud.

Pouring a little drink of Captain & Coke in your honour now

Charge, I've realised our off-road would be similar to yours in England, only it should rain more here I was so lucky to ride dry and hard terrain yesterday!

Can you charge the battery from your bike?

Pardon me?

 

[Chargeride]

The battery for the derallieur, can you charge it from the bike?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The battery for the derallieur, can you charge it from the bike?

4 hours net ride time, 7 hours outdoor have used 5% of the derailer battery Why should I? The battery is good for 80 hour rides! I said: "It's a shiznit" My brother's SRAM derailer battery gets depleted after 3 long rides...

 

[Chargeride]

If the battery fails, does it return to the highest gear, or stay where it conked

 

[Stefan Mikes]

If the battery fails, does it return to the highest gear, or stay where it conked

It stays there.

The derailleur has an accelerometer. When you shake the bike, the derailleur wakes up. If stationary, it falls asleep.

If you need, you can turn the derailleur off for a long term (using the app). To wake the device up from the long sleep, you need to connect the charging cable.

The shifter is powered by a CR2032, and the coin battery lasts for many months. You can check the status of both by the app or from a bike GPS computer such as Garmin, Wahoo or Hammerhead.