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

[Chargeride]

Not sure really, somethings moved, the shaft isnt bent or the frame.
Maybe I thought the shaft had pushed through, but its not moved out the otherside.

I stood on the crank with the bike on the floor and bounced a few times and now it clears, which doesnt seem right at all.
As usual the thread in the crank is goosed to use a crank extractor, going to use a puller later

 

[Chargeride]

View attachment 210402
Our last podium at Sudovia Gravel (before the race has even started!)

I cant read Polish, I presume that says ' worlds largest bike helmet' or something.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Searing hot day, lathered up in factor 50
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No idea what this contraption is.
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A lot of the ride was under gorgeous tree canopy
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The one advantage of our rainy weather
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Very hilly area though, big descent around this corner
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This is a bridleway through a farm
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Tractor blocking the path
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Led to a fantastic steep, technical descent
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So much of this area has been bought up by the middle classes
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Its got quaint nailed.
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Got very dreamy in the heat
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Tuxton Hall
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This seems rather obvious.
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Driver blew the horn and we waved like kids
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One of those smelly gravel riders chased up the dirt track hill and then tried to loseus on the way down
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The place was preparing for evening diners, but strangely was reducing the tables with wet paint signs
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Disapproving look from someone wearing those pants
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Reservoirs everywhere
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Dan swapping out his range extender
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And the weirdest thing ever, I picked the bike over a fence, put it on the floor but let it gently fall onto to grass.
Got back onand the crank was bent under the frame, it could just about scrape past the protector
Got it home, laid it on its side and put my weight onthe crank whichbent it back.
Something weird going on, will remove it tomorrow,
View attachment 210401

Why do so many of your rides remind me of this movie?

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Chargeride]

Im gonna use one to bend the crank straight.
nooooooo!

 

[DaveMatthews]

Why do so many of your rides remind me of this movie?

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Loved that film!

 

[Chargeride]

They remade it in 2004 and loads of young people think thats the original.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Times They Are A-Changing

It was the most beautiful gravel ride I've ever had. It was my fastest gravel race ever. It was also dangerous: a friend of mine ended up in a hospital with severe injuries (a spill in loose gravel while cornering at a high speed on a descent).

I came up 28th of 90 finishers overall on a 102 km/+1500 m up rally, and 5th of 10 on the eRide100 e-bike race.

It was my best effort ever and the maximum what my Vado 6.0 could give my weak legs. The route was fabulous!

I've decided to give up e-gravel racing being totally happy and fulfilled at the age of 65. I may come back to the gravel racing as a photographer.

A big big change is occurring right now. It is called "gravel e-bike". Fancy relatively young strong riders on lightweight but powerful e-bikes. Given the riders' strength, they ride with no motor assistance above the 25 km/h speed restriction and only allow the motor to work on the climbs. It took the eRide winner below 4 hours to complete the race (11th overall). The first four eRide places were taken by such younger people riding proper gravel e-bikes!

I'm glad about the change. E-bikes have been embraced by the gravel cycling community; they are now hip and a fun to ride. I've been the first gravel e-biker in Poland and an e-bike ambassador for several years now. I can happily retire now

Expect a report with nice pictures soon.

I'm setting off to define an extremely steep Strava E-Bike Segment in Szelment, Sudovia, Podlachia, Poland now. It has already been ridden by many riders this weekend on Bosch gravel e-bikes. Bosch E-Bike is a sponsor and they did a marvellous work to convince the riders of Sudovia Gravel 2026 to try sporty gravel e-bikes. Kudos to them!

A fun-fact. Out of the 10 e-bikers on the rally nine rode Bosch E-bikes and there was a single guy riding a Specialized. Guess who

One of many stories from the ride
It happened that I rode together with a disabled person, otherwise a strong e-biker riding a full suspension Scott e-bike. We entered a very steep descent full of loose gravel. He overtook me. I admired the roar of his downhill tyres and the "smoke" his wheels produced. It was like he actually "smoked my Vado"! I rode at a high speed, too. Then I realised I might crash there. If that happened, I would be dead or worse! Started delicately pulling the brake levers... We are not immortal!

 

[RabH]

Time for another big ride with perfect cycling conditions making it an easy decision, I decided to get out early (6.45am) while it was cooler! Its a couple of months since I visited Callander so that was my plan today, I just wasn't sure which way to go but eventually decided to make my way out to Denny and take on the big climb up to the Carron Valley! I had a 20mph headwind to contend with up the climb also so it was a tough one! Earlier I got a bit of a shock when I was flying down the big descent into Glen Village and came across 2 big cows who decided the fields were getting boring so they ventured on to the road... Not what you want to see when you are doing over 40mph down a descent...

Anyway I got to the top of the climb at Carron Valley and stopped for this photo of the River Carron!

I was looking forward to the ride along the valley now, there are some climbs but its mostly descents and lovely smooth roads for the most part!

Carron Valley Reservoir soon came into view!

This descent is just amazing, despite the 20mph headwind which slowed me right down today!

Love this part also!

The final part of the descent is just incredible, I decided to enjoy it without stopping for photos this time! At the end of the road I turned west towards Fintry and then north up the climb to Kippen, I had this lovely view of the Campsie Hills from the northern side on the way up!

At the top of the climb I stopped for some photos of the mountains to the north!

This road is just amazing also!

The descent down into Kippen is just sublime and I had a 20mph tailwind helping!

After passing through the village with all the annoying speed humps the final descent more than makes up for it, although I had 2 cars in front of me and they were holding me up...I should have stopped and waited for them to clear on the twisty descent but it was still a total blast! I was now heading north towards Thornhill and stopped for photos of the Sea King helicopter and the Twin Pioneer aircraft in the village!

The Twin Pioneer has seen better days sadly...

From Thornhill I continued north towards Callander, it starts with a tough 2.5 mile climb and then a cracking twisty descent! Many cyclists were flying down the descent while I was on the climb and when I got to the top there was a big gathering of cyclists stopped in a parking bay, I got the impression they were doing some kind of time trial but I'm not sure as they didn't have any numbers on their jerseys!

I stopped for this photo on the way down!

Ben Ledi near Callander!

Another view of Ben Ledi from the bridge in the centre of Callander!

From Callander I was forced to use the main A84 road for 10 miles, thankfully most of the traffic was heading NW while I was heading SE! I was glad to get off the A84 near Blair Drummond Safari Park, I was now heading south on a much quieter road! After a couple of miles I turned east towards Stirling on the A811, its a main road also but way quieter than the A84! I made my way through the city without any issues, being a Sunday it was pretty quiet! I was now heading east towards Fallin on the A905 and had a nice view of the Ochil Hills to the north!

I stayed on the A905 until Airth where I took the back road to Letham and then south to Carronshore, then into Falkirk where I headed west for Bonnybridge! I stopped for this photo of the canal near Bonnybridge!

I then passed through Allandale and was heading for Castlecary when I spotted a back road which I have never used before, signposted for Walton (no sign of John Boy or Mary Ellen sadly...) In fact I never saw anybody all the way up this awesome little back road! I stopped for a snack break after this big climb and took this photo looking back down the hill!

What a great little road it is, I will be using it again for sure as the road through Castlecary is awful...of course the camera makes it look flat!

From the top I could see the Ochils and Campsies to the north but the view was limited due to the trees!

I had a rough idea where the road would take me and my instincts were spot on as it brought me out at the back road to the village of Arns! What a road this one is, a long gradual climb on lovely smooth tarmac!

I stopped for this colourful photo on the way up!

Then there are some nice big descents before the road eventually flattens out and its smooth all the way!

At the end of the road I turned south up the climb to Upperton and 100 miles appeared on my gps! I stayed on the back roads all the way to Caldercruix where I joined the main road to home, I was very tired when I gort home but totally buzzing after a fantastic day of top drawer road cycling! I got 40 miles from my first battery which was good going considering it was mostly headwind and climbs, 52 miles from battery 2 so I had a full battery for the last 20 miles and made the most of it...

 

[JGcycle]

A pic from the turn around point of today's 17km ride:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Sudovia GRVL 2026: The Most Epic Ride I Have Ever Experienced!

Sudovia is a small region of Podlachia in Poland located in the most northeastern corner of Poland near Russian Kaliningrad exclave and Lithuania, north of Suwałki and by the infamous Suwalki Gap. This tiny region is totally unique: consisting of only high and very steep hills (made from sand by a glacier); there's nothing flat there, just steep climbs and descents. Picturesque, with forests, deep lakes, pastures and farming land. Sudovia has the biggest number of gravel roads in Poland, and it is the "champagne" gravel. There are many perfect asphalt roads, too. Meanwhile, the region is largely unknown to most Poles and often confused with nearby Masuria (the latter being a part of the former German East Prussia, while Sudovia was Russian by the end of WW1 then Polish before WW2).

9:15 on Saturday 23rd of May 2026. A next starting group of 15 leaves Szelment. That was the Classic race, 180 km with 2,500 m elevation gain. The other formats were Ultra (500 km/5,450 m elevation gain) as well as a 3 stage Staged Race. Finally, there was Ride100 (102 km/1,500 m elevation gain) including eRide100, both being a rally not a race

I was brought there in a car by Pawel a graphic artist who rides a carbon gravel bike. My own choice was the Vado 6.0 for extreme climbs. Pawel initially wanted to ride the Classic. I told him: "Pawel, I am familiar with the area. Trust me, your friend: you are not ready for that difficulty level" and he fortunately listened to me (he later thanked me for telling him off!)

Five minutes to the start of the Ride100 Group 1, the 10 people strong pack of e-bikers. Nine Bosch E-Bike and one Specialized/Brose. Of those, only two were classic e-bikes while the remaining eight were e-gravel, a new thing!

My competitors were cagey at first. I led the whole rally for 8-10 km. Then a gravel e-biker went forward and soon disappeared up front...

By a natural selection, I was selected for riding together with Piotr. His upper limbs are disabled (but you wouldn't believe what he can do using his arms!) He is a powerful rider, a way stronger than I am but...

The Bosch E-Bike GPS Navigation...
...is a piece of garbage Bosch can make excellent e-bike motors and systems but the company is not Garmin, Wahoo or Hammerhead and it will never be Piotr had loaded the GPX course into his Bosch navigation, and it failed. It had always failed for him So, he was forced to choose me as his navigator. Gawd, we rode fast and dangerously! We, however, had to stop to ingest some energy gels, and to inhale some nicotine We were just after the steepest climb en route and needed to rest for several minutes as well.

Julia (white helmet), Women 1st, 4 h 8 min 3 s, 18th overall!

It took my friend Alfer an hour and sixteen minutes to catch up with us. (He was 12th overall on the finish line).

Missing The Pit-Stop
As we rode through a town of Rutka-Tartak, I didn't notice the pit-stop, haha! So we passed it and saved many precious minutes that way! I swapped the battery at the 60th kilometre (it was allowed by the rules that time), just before a violent Marianka Climb.

Piotr betrayed me. He joined a fast group and accelerated beyond my skill. Well, well, well. Now, I was free to stop, take pictures, eat energy gels and smoke cigarettes Here, a stop at the Lithuanian border in Poszeszupie (a pagan name, @Chargeride! Many villages have Lithuanian names there).

The most beautiful area full of hills, woods, lakes, cows and horses...

...as well as fantastic roads! Unfortunately, I hear of two severe crashes of racers who had forgotten they had brakes... Oh my, 60 km/h is the speed you get on a flat handlebar bike in high mountains or in Scotland, aye @RabH?

I caught up with Piotr who sadly pedalled slowly with no navigator... "ALLEZ!" I shouted at him Now, he could ride fast again!

A Bad Joke On A Rider In Blue
'I somehow dislike the man in blue' I remarked to Piotr 'Mug 'im!' We entered a long 11% forest climb, I went TURBO and high cadence while Piotr turned his legs into TURBO As I zoomed by the Man in Blue, I smiled at him and said 'Sorry for the bad joke!' He later passed us as we stopped for another Gel Communion and I raised my thumbs up! Later, I had a chat with the Rider 665 and we liked each other A fine, ambitious rider!

We were riding side by side at the virtual finish line, and I let him win on the physical one

I was so happy and felt fulfilled!

28th of 90 overall, 5th of 10 on the e-bike rally, 4 h 33 min 56 s gross time, SUB 5 (below five hours) 12 more riders withdrew from the rally!

I eventually won against Piotr by two places...
Why? The BBTracker measures the time at the Control Points. If you have passed all Control Points first of two riders, you win. Piotr was penalized with 13 seconds for riding behind me! (That's life!)

A rally not a race

My friend Pawel on the finish line, 60th, 5 h 24 min 57 s. Congratulations, Pawel! You made it!

The main organiser Paweł Kuflikowski working with an axe to prepare a bonfire for the public!

The real reason for which I participated in the rally

The bonfire.

The next morning, I set off to Szelment again for two reasons, explained later. The place name could be misread for Wołowina (Beef)
Pawel had christened the place "Wyoming"

Bosch E-Bike Competition!
Bosch E-Bike had brought four Raymon Norza Pro carbon gravel e-bikes in different sizes for the public use. The competition was to climb for 310 metres on the cobbles to the top of Jesionowa Góra (Ash Tree Hill) with the max grade of 20.6%! The winner riding a Bosch e-bike identified by Strava Ride Segment would win a prize. Yes, that was the traditional Ride Segment. I decided to create a proper E-Bike Segment

At the top of Ash Tree Hill. I failed to record the ride on my first climb! So I walked my Vado down the hill and made the 2nd attempt IT HURT

The grade was -- well -- just a grade. But those darned cobbles! (a view from the half of the hill access road)

An owner of a premium guesthouse, Aga, happens to bear the same last name as mine She had spotted me on Facebook Sudovia event and invited to join a new family What a fun!

Oh my, the breakfast! No wonder Aga's guesthouse is full despite any lack of advertising!

As I said, I'm done with gravel racing. Now, it is the time for gravel cycling tourism!

 

[Chargeride]

Your gravel roads are incredibly neat, who maintains them!

 

[Chargeride]

So latest update on Garys motor, they have said its not viable to repair and they can get him a new motor for 690, theres still no reply from Specialized on the battery.
We decided last night that we wont be buying Levos anymore and Bri and Gary are going to sell theirs as soon as they get a suitable Avinox powered bike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Your gravel roads are incredibly neat, who maintains them!

It is the local communities such as boroughs. We fully benefit from the EU membership. (Poland is becoming the net payer to the Union budget). Our VAT money go to Brussels and the local community may ask for money for roads. Local construction companies are the beneficiary.

Killer soft gravel on a steep descent. You better slow down there!

A trail inaccessible by a car (a singletrack above the Black and White lakes).

"Only eighty kilometres to go" (nervous laughter)

I will repost Pawel's vid as soon as it is ready!

So latest update on Garys motor, they have said its not viable to repair and they can get him a new motor for 690, theres still no reply from Specialized on the battery.
We decided last night that we wont be buying Levos anymore and Bri and Gary are going to sell theirs as soon as they get a suitable Avinox powered bike.

Sad to hear that. Regarding the Avinox, "there is an old Polish proverb that says": The uncle has traded a good axe for a walking stick