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

[Stefan Mikes]

The languages of Europe.
When as an Englishman I get the,' you English are so lazy, you never learn another language', I reply 'oh yeah, hows your simple slavic polish?'

When Im feeling arsy, I say ' you only speak English cos we made it compulsary'.

Its not a friendly joke

You are not really correct English has become the world language since the end of WW2 when the United States gained the worldwide leadership. At the peak of the power of the British Empire, the European elites spoke... French. That era ended in 1939.

Take my discipline, process engineering. It was all invented by Americans! Craft beer? Americans. Electric and bass guitar, rock'n'roll? Americans. The automotive industry? Americans

An anecdote: As we stopped by the beautiful Orthodox shrine in Werstok, Marek mentioned: 'It is the church of Muscovy'. I looked at him and said: 'You must be wrong. Says here The Autocephalic Orthodox Church of Poland. Meaning, this church is independent. And look at the inscription at the front of the church: it is all Greek, not Cyryllic!'

 

[Chargeride]

I think it really became the world language when the internet took hold and that prerty well ended any chance of chinese languages taking hold because keyboards.

 

[Chargeride]

. At the peak of the power of the British Empire, the European elites spoke... French

Yes they did, so did our Royalty, and to this day manu of the French have a chip on their shoulders the size of Luxembourg about the rise of the common language.
When I say I get called lazy, I will admit its almost entirely the French and they will stand there purposely pretending not to understand your English or French in shops , railway stations and bars because they are doing their bit to regain the French honour in the most French way possible, petty dummy throwing.

You have to be English to understand it, and we dont even reciprocate the misery, French people in England are met with smiles and succesful attempts to understand poor English.

Can I av ay boor of sop?..
A bar of soap, sure third aisle.

In France ..
Do you sell soap?
Shrug
Soap, clean, start mimicking someone washing under their arms.
Looks at other ship assistant like theyve met someone from Pluto.
Soap..noh
So-ap
You go and find the soap and put it on the counter.
Ahhhhh....soap.
Smug smile like theyve just helped Napolean crush Wellington.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It is a lot of truth in what you just said, Chris. I only had a very short stay in France but was met with the attitude of not speaking English by local people. However, the French travellers abroad suddenly realise they can speak English Let me tell you a lovely story from my past.

It was 1990. I was travelling to then West Germany for scientific work. My whole English knowledge was what I learned in the school and at the University. Yes, I had an episode of speaking with an American during the riots of 1982 in Warsaw but I was completely blocked on the speaking side when travelling by train. Also, I had an aching tooth (it was fixed in Germany soon) so I was absolutely reluctant to speak!

It was the West Berlin Zoo station. An American by name Kyle and his French girlfriend (cannot remember her name) entered my compartment and greeted me. I was silent and appeared rude.

-- Sind Sie ein Russ? -- she asked
-- GOD FORBID! -- I raised from the bunk, insulted -- I'm Polish!

Enough to say we didn't sleep that night: all the night spent talking! Needless to say, the French girl spoke perfect English The couple managed to unblock me totally! When I reached Duisburg, I could speak pretty good English and even started learning some German
-----------
Come to Poland. Many people, especially the young ones will speak good English.
Come to Hungary. Nobody will speak English. They will help you with gestures and smiles.
Come to Italy. People do not speak languages there except some.

P.S. I listen to your English in your videos; we would have no issue to communicate. London? They do not speak English I learned at school!

 

[Chargeride]

I would like to add that I love the French, they have the most incredible country, a fantastic attitude to work and life, they do take pragmatism all the way to letting the Germans walk in, but it all works out for them.
They stick together, embrace love, pain and sorrow in a way we Brits wouldnt dare, but just stop being so miserabul.

 

[JGcycle]

A pic from the turn around point of today's 23km ride:

 

[RabH]

I would like to dedicate this ride to my dear mum who passed on this day in 2008, she was a special lady!

We finally had a fully dry day for the first time in weeks, well not fully dry as there was a very light shower this morning on my drive to Falkirk for a nice morning walk with my sister! On my way to Falkirk we were blessed with a truly stunning view of the Ochil Hills, I had nowhere to stop the car so couldn't get a photo sadly!

I set off just after midday in perfect cycling conditions, a very pleasant 15C and a SE wind around 20mph! I just had to head towards Falkirk in the hope of getting that incredible view of the Ochils, I was out of luck but they still looked pretty special! I had an early view of them near Longriggend with just 6 miles covered!

A few miles later near Shieldhill I had this view of the mountains to the north!

I then enjoyed the awesome descent down to Glenn Village, 43mph today at the steep part near the bottom and it was partially into the wind! Another nice view of the Ochils from here!

From Glenn Village I passed through Lionthorn on my way into Falkirk, where I took the back road to Bonnybridge! Another fantastic descent and another cracking view of the Ochils on the way down!

I passed over the canal in Bonnybridge and stopped for a couple of photos and a snack!

From Bonnybridge I made my way to Denny where it was time to start the 3 mile climb up to the Carron Valley, the climb starts at Stoneywood and ramps up at Fankerton!

I had some help up the climb with the wind today, the climbing wasn't finished there though as I turned north towards Stirling over the Campsie Hills! A photo of the Carron Valley before starting up the climb!

The first part of the climb is a short but sharp one, the road was resurfaced earlier this year so it was a joy to ride on the smooth tarmac!

At the top of the climb I stopped for some photos of Loch Coulter and the descent I was looking forward to shortly, yet another view of the Ochils also!

No smooth tarmac on this part of the descent but its in decent condition!

A roadie was making his way up the climb, as he passed me he commented about how steep it is and said he swears it gets steeper everytime!

This descent is just incredible and was the main reason I chose this route, this is the final part of the descent into Stirling! This is actually looking back up the hill!

I stopped for a couple of photos on the way down!

The sun was shining on this part of the Ochils, I didn't get much sun today but I wasn't complaining as the temp was just perfect!

From Stirling I turned SE on to the A9 through Bannockburn, this can be a busy road but I got lucky today and only saw one truck! I think my mum was watching over me and keeping me safe! I was on the A9 for 9 miles and didn't have any issues with impatient drivers, I passed through Larbert and arrived in Falkirk again where the climbing was about to begin again! I was feeling strong after struggling a little at the start of the day, so I decided to tackle the big climb up through Redding and Brightons and then through Maddiston! A short descent followed before I turned SW for Standburn, another big climb on fresh tarmac thankfully!

The road here is full of ups and downs all the way to Avonbridge, where the climbing starts again up to Limerigg!

The Black Loch at Limerigg was a little choppy today, the wind was a little stronger now but nothing crazy!

From Limerigg I was heading towards Caldercuix, a nice gradual climb here and the wind was helping me a little!

I decided to turn before Caldercruix and take the back road to Forrestfield, it was directly into the wind but mostly downhill on smooth tarmac!

At the end of the road I turned west for home with 6 miles to go, arriving home just before dinner time with 67 miles covered! 1 mile for every year I have lived on planet earth... Another awesome day on the bike, looking at the weather for the remainder of the week this may well be my last outing unless I decide to brave the wind and rain again...

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Charles Bronson had his horse farm in Brownsville, (technically, West Windsor), and his gravesite has a great view of My. Ascutney.

No disrespect to Bronson, but at first glance, I thought his grave was a fancy golf tee.

 

[Chargeride]

I rode an bit of coast today that I have skipped because it simply nondescript, sort of left to farmers and local interests, it started with a few miles
of maze plantations, no fences or signs, so I just rode through it

The path led directly through the middle of a golf course without any announcement, slightly surprised golfers

The back into areas of derelict farms and beautiful houses all sharing the same space

Finally kicked me out on a place called Knotts end on sea.

Real forgotten by time vibe, full of retirees just chillin, I bet they dont speak to each other for hours

There a long raised cycle path and usually there is a bit of a beach, but the tide was very high

Miles and miles of well maintained house, all with roof conversions so they can see over the sea wall

I had to do a few miles on the busy road because of the high tide, I really dont like this one bit

Turned off onto this bridle way, a bit flooded and full of thousands of sheep, the empty desolate feeling was creeping in

The road was completely flooded

After realising it was too deep to traverse, I realised there was a track on top of the sea wall, I presume these are long term occupation mobile homes.

So remote and around the corner two random people sitting off, there is just nothing here but farms and caravans.

I'm trying to get to a small lighthouse and a tiny Abbey, the whole place feels like it saying 'go home son, nothing here for you

More random people, who look like they might have been weathered by the elements here for decades

All this way and the Abbey was in the middle of a field full of cows and calves, this bugger had his/her eye on me, every time I tried to pass through the gate I got the
dont think about it snort, there was no one around for miles so I admitted defeat, not just the cow , but the isolated foreboding, the sea lapping against the concrete slabs just to my left
I retreated and bought an ice cream in a nearby campsite shop.
I shared my cow story the the shop keeper.
Oh don't mess with them if they've got calves.
I felt she was saying ' now go home, you've learnt your lesson.'

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I retreated and bought an ice cream...

Always a good option when the going gets tough. Coffee and a cheese Danish also works.

My 3-year return to cycling's kept me under 90 kg for the first time in decades. Hard to understand given the frequency of rides that couldn't possibly have had a negative caloric baIance.

Addendum: Did the math. To my surprise, my average ride burns 2 Danishes. So that's how the weight stays off!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I shared my cow story the the shop keeper.

"Them murderous cows!"

My 3-year return to cycling's kept me under 90 kg for the first time in decades. Hard to understand given the frequency of rides that couldn't possibly have had a negative caloric baIance.

You've got a "fitness e-bike"

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

You've got a "fitness e-bike"

Started to say, doesn't matter what kind of bike it is if you take in more cheese Danish calories than the ride burns.

Then I thought, better check the numbers. Per AI, cheese Danishes run 200-300 calories each. And per the Specialized app, most of my rides burn 400-1000 calories each. If these are the same calories, that averages out to 2 Danishes per ride!

I usually limit myself to one Danish per ride with a coffee stop. Thanks for helping me realize that this is totally unnecessary!
;^}

 

[JGcycle]

A couple of pics from today's 31km ride:

 

[Chazmo]

Couple of shots of Fättie preening, plus look at the odometer (lower right) in the last picture. Yow! Not bad for a year and a half (and a couple of months of downtime)...