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

A pic from today's 23km ride:

20250920_124648_cr.jpg
 
Chargeride said:
Thats a lovely town, ice sailing in the winter.
Click to expand...
No idea if they do it, although it's possible.
Chargeride said:
Also a Fifedom of the Teutonic Knights, which sounds cool.
Click to expand...
Historically it is correct. Mikołajki were Nikolaiken in East Prussia. A nearby town of Ryn (Rhein) is a way more Teutonic than Mikołajki. A legend says a group of Teutonic Knights reached the place by lake Ołów (Lead, as in the metal name) and loved it, as it resembled their Rheinland (River Rhine) :)

1758404411622.png


I came as the last 7th e-biker (4 men, 3 women) so no podium for me :) In the general classification, I came 49 of 69. An exciting day, wonderful weather, gorgeous landscape, somewhat tiresome ride. I was surprised how many climbs were there in Masuria!

Need to sleep. Will report later. You wouldn't guess who got the eSprint silver (and the man could have even won the race). An inspiring story, later!
 
Last edited:
Great Lakes GRVL Race: Full Report

There were only four racing formats this year:
  • Lakeland GRVL: a hyper marathon (1,104 km or 686 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Ultra (479 km or 297 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Classic (165 km or 102 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Sprint and Bosch eSprint (94 km or 58 mi).
As we went down to Jacek's car to finally prepare our bikes for the race, I was met by an unpleasant surprise: the front wheel of my Vado SL was flat! I don't know what I would do without my brother, as he did an instant repair (I only had to inflate the wheel).

1758476045236.png

Before the Classic race mass start. There were 217 riders in the starting list. The man at the left is Paweł Kuflikowski, one of the two main organizers (he is the promoter of e-bike racing!)

1758476158885.png

My brother Jacek in the bunch of other riders.

1758476240508.png

The law of Poland allows groups of up to 15 riders travel without any limitations. That's why almost any gravel race of Poland has "starting groups" of 15, which are released in time intervals such as 5 minutes. The mass start is quite unusual as it requires the assistance of the police. This time, the city's authorities and services were gladly cooperating to the full extent, so the mass start of the Classic race (neutralized for the first 3.3 km) was possible.

1758476455423.png

Sector 1: "Horses", or the riders expected to achieve the average speed of at least 30 km/h on the race.

1758476570758.png

Sector 2 (ladies) followed by Sector 3 (all other).

My Competitors On The eSprint

1758476713704.png

Piotr riding a Scott SUV e-bike (Bosch CX). As you can see, he has no hands. He was helped by the family and friends, so his e-bike has the stump holders as well as brake, shifter and e-bike remote levers that can be operated with just the stumps! (He compensates his disability with very strong legs!)

1758476947042.png

Agnieszka K riding a Winora full power e-bike, Bosch CX, 750 Wh battery. She is as strong as she needs no e-bike really!

1758477025833.png

Agnieszka A riding a KTM Macina Gravelator SX Prime. It is a Bosch SX gravel e-bike with a 400 Wh battery that weighs around 14 kg.

1758477152727.png

Magda K and Sebastian B, both riding Decathlon Rockrider e-MTBs. Brose C motor.

I didn't take a photo of the sixth e-biker, Bartosz P riding a TREK e-Caliber (Fazua) lightweight XC e-bike. (I didn't take any photo of my Vado SL in the racing configuration if that matters, either) :)

The eSprint (and Sprint) Race
1758477395785.png

The only photo from the race. Bartosz P smoking me at 23rd km, 53°52'44.9" N 21°43'45.1" E. We just passed a big farmstead that was split in two by a public gravel road! (The farmer was aware of the race and kept his doggies away, haha) :) See the road surface: it looks like sand but even if this was so, the sand en route was rare and shallow, so I had no issues riding it. There is a third (traditional) rider in the background: I kept the man at bay for 45 km, that is, to the pitstop! :) Trust me, he really tried catching up with me :)

At that point, Bartosz already had a 9 minute advantage over me!

The Highlights

1758477895030.png

  • Just after entering the terrain, we met washboard gravel. I only lost 2 minutes total to fix the front SKS Speedrocker mudguard (that went loose) but the racers were losing their water-bottles en masse there! Some riders got tyre flats there, too.
  • It was followed by a historical damaged cobblestone :)
  • I was racing with all my power. Already before reaching the pitstop I felt I was not that strong on the day!
  • The battery set (Main Battery + 1st Range Extender) became weak around 50th kilometre. Just coincidentally, 54-60th kilometre meant the hardest climb! I crawled at 8.7 km/h against a 10% grade incline! Later, I could coast at the speed up to 44.7 km (almost 28 mph) so I could continue to the 68th kilometre, where I applied Range Extender #2.
  • The location known as Świnie Oko (Pig's Eye) meant the interval ride: climb/descent and so on. I could use SL Turbo for climbing and coasting for descending.
  • Later, premium gravel roads marked a fast ride towards the finish line. There was a very dangerous crossing with the main road. The approach was perfectly marked with a reflective paint and signs, and there was also a firefighter to stop the traffic!
  • The entry to Mikołajki was leading through a terrific winding and extremely steep asphalt downhill path ending in the lake :) Trust me, anyone except maniacs used their full braking power to descend there :D
Bosch eSprint Results and Comment
I personally believe e-bikes are not for young and strong people who boast how little e-bike battery they used on the ride and typically ride in OFF mode using the assistance for climbs only. Having said that, the biggest KUDOS to Piotr Raczkowski (the man with no hands) who came in the second, just 3 minutes behind the winner! ❤️ I came in last in eSprint and 49th of 68 overall. I'm still proud I finished the race!

I congratulate all my competitors though! They make e-racing grow!

1758479098539.png

The female eSprint podium: 1. Agnieszka K (Winora full power), 2. Magda K (Decathlon full power)- at the left, 3. Agnieszka A (KTM low power) - at the right. The man is the Mayor of Mikołajki.

1758479257978.png

The male eSprint podium: 1. Bartosz P (TREK low power), 2. Piotr R (Scott full power, at the left), 3. Sebastian B (Decathlon full power).

1758479350497.png

My brother Jacek (61 yo), 40th of 195 who finished, Classic Race.

1758479398613.png

The finishers, from the left: Jacek (Classic race), Jakub K (4th in Lakeland hyper marathon), my mate Marek S (20th of 69 in Sprint). Note: Jacek stopped drinking totally (for better racing performance). He has a bottle of 0.0% finisher beer in his hand!

1758479551881.png

This is how Jacek packs his car for travelling with bikes. Note a board for thru-axle he made himself!
 
Last edited:
Stefan Mikes said:
Great Lakes GRVL Race: Full Report

There were only four racing formats this year:
  • Lakeland GRVL: a hyper marathon (1,104 km or 686 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Ultra (479 km or 297 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Classic (165 km or 102 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Sprint and Bosch eSprint (94 km or 58 mi).
As we went down to Jacek's car to finally prepare our bikes for the race, I was met by an unpleasant surprise: the front wheel of my Vado SL was flat! I don't know what I would do without my brother, as he did an instant repair (I only had to inflate the wheel).

View attachment 199783
Before the Classic race mass start. There were 217 riders in the starting list. The man at the left is Paweł Kuflikowski, one of the two main organizers (he is the promoter of e-bike racing!)

View attachment 199784
My brother Jacek in the bunch of other riders.

View attachment 199785
The law of Poland allows groups of up to 15 riders travel without any limitations. That's why almost any gravel race of Poland has "starting groups" of 15, which are released in time intervals such as 5 minutes. The mass start is quite unusual as it requires the assistance of the police. This time, the city's authorities and services were gladly cooperating to the full extent, so the mass start of the Classic race (neutralized for the first 3.3 km) was possible.

View attachment 199786
Sector 1: "Horses", or the riders expected to achieve the average speed of at least 30 km/h on the race.

View attachment 199787
Sector 2 (ladies) followed by Sector 3 (all other).

My Competitors On The eSprint

View attachment 199788
Piotr riding a Scott SUV e-bike (Bosch CX). As you can see, he has no hands. He was helped by the family and friends, so his e-bike has the stump holders as well as brake, shifter and e-bike remote levers that can be operated with just the stumps! (He compensates his disability with very strong legs!)

View attachment 199789
Agnieszka K riding a Winora full power e-bike, Bosch CX, 750 Wh battery. She is as strong as she needs no e-bike really!

View attachment 199790
Agnieszka A riding a KTM Macina Gravelator SX Prime. It is a Bosch SX gravel e-bike with a 400 Wh battery that weighs around 14 kg.

View attachment 199791
Magda K and Sebastian B, both riding Decathlon Rockrider e-MTBs. Brose C motor.

I didn't take a photo of the sixth e-biker, Bartosz P riding a TREK e-Caliber (Fazua) lightweight full suspension e-bike. (I didn't take any photo of my Vado SL in the racing configuration if that matters, either) :)

The eSprint (and Sprint) Race
View attachment 199794
The only photo from the race. Bartosz P smoking me at 23rd km, 53°52'44.9" N 21°43'45.1" E. We just passed a big farmstead that was split in two by a public gravel road! (The farmer was aware of the race and kept his doggies away, haha) :) See the road surface: it looks like sand but even if this was so, the sand en route was rare and shallow, so I had no issues riding it. There is a third (traditional) rider in the background: I kept the man at bay for 45 km, that is, to the pitstop! :) Trust me, he really tried catching up with me :)

At that point, Bartosz already had a 9 minute advantage over me!

The Highlights

View attachment 199795
  • Just after entering the terrain, we met washboard gravel. I only lost 2 minutes total to fix the front SKS Speedrocker mudguard (that went loose) but the racers were losing their water-bottles en masse there! Some riders got tyre flats there, too.
  • It was followed by a historical damaged cobblestone :)
  • I was racing with all my power. Already before reaching the pitstop I felt I was not that strong on the day!
  • The battery set (Main Battery + 1st Range Extender) became weak around 50th kilometre. Just coincidentally, 54-60th kilometre meant the hardest climb! I crawled at 8.7 km/h against a 10% grade incline! Later, I could coast at the speed up to 44.7 km (almost 28 mph) so I could continue to the 68th kilometre, where I applied Range Extender #2.
  • The location known as Świnie Oko (Pig's Eye) meant the interval ride: climb/descent and so on. I could use SL Turbo for climbing and coasting for descending.
  • Later, premium gravel roads marked a fast ride towards the finish line. There was a very dangerous crossing with the main road. The approach was perfectly marked with a reflective paint and signs, and there was also a firefighter to stop the traffic!
  • The entry to Mikołajki was leading through a terrific winding and extremely steep asphalt downhill path ending in the lake :) Trust me, anyone except maniacs used their full braking power to descend there :D
Bosch eSprint Results and Comment
I personally believe e-bikes are not for young and strong people who boast how little e-bike battery they used on the ride and typically ride in OFF mode using the assistance for climbs only. Having said that, the biggest KUDOS to Piotr Raczkowski (the man with no hands) who came in the second, just 3 minutes behind the winner! ❤️ I came in last in eSprint and 49th of 69 overall. I'm still proud I finished the race!

I congratulate all my competitors though! They make e-racing grow!

View attachment 199796
The female eSprint podium: 1. Agnieszka K (Winora full power), 2. Magda K (Decathlon full power)- at the left, 3. Agnieszka A (KTM low power) - at the right. The man is the Mayor of Mikołajki.

View attachment 199797
The male eSprint podium: 1. Bartosz P (TREK low power), 2. Piotr R (Scott full power, at the left), 3. Sebastian B (Decathlon full power).

View attachment 199798
My brother Jacek (61 yo), 40th of 195 who finished, Classic Race.

View attachment 199799
The finishers, from the left: Jacek (Classic race), Jakub K (4th in Lakeland hyper marathon), my mate Marek S (20th of 69 in Sprint). Note: Jacek stopped drinking totally (for better racing performance). He has a bottle of 0.0% finisher beer in his hand!

View attachment 199802
This is how Jacek packs his car for travelling with bikes. Note a board for thru-axle he made himself!
Click to expand...
A 1000km !!!!
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Great Lakes GRVL Race: Full Report

There were only four racing formats this year:
  • Lakeland GRVL: a hyper marathon (1,104 km or 686 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Ultra (479 km or 297 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Classic (165 km or 102 mi)
  • Gr8 Lakes GRVL Sprint and Bosch eSprint (94 km or 58 mi).
As we went down to Jacek's car to finally prepare our bikes for the race, I was met by an unpleasant surprise: the front wheel of my Vado SL was flat! I don't know what I would do without my brother, as he did an instant repair (I only had to inflate the wheel).

View attachment 199783
Before the Classic race mass start. There were 217 riders in the starting list. The man at the left is Paweł Kuflikowski, one of the two main organizers (he is the promoter of e-bike racing!)

View attachment 199784
My brother Jacek in the bunch of other riders.

View attachment 199785
The law of Poland allows groups of up to 15 riders travel without any limitations. That's why almost any gravel race of Poland has "starting groups" of 15, which are released in time intervals such as 5 minutes. The mass start is quite unusual as it requires the assistance of the police. This time, the city's authorities and services were gladly cooperating to the full extent, so the mass start of the Classic race (neutralized for the first 3.3 km) was possible.

View attachment 199786
Sector 1: "Horses", or the riders expected to achieve the average speed of at least 30 km/h on the race.

View attachment 199787
Sector 2 (ladies) followed by Sector 3 (all other).

My Competitors On The eSprint

View attachment 199788
Piotr riding a Scott SUV e-bike (Bosch CX). As you can see, he has no hands. He was helped by the family and friends, so his e-bike has the stump holders as well as brake, shifter and e-bike remote levers that can be operated with just the stumps! (He compensates his disability with very strong legs!)

View attachment 199789
Agnieszka K riding a Winora full power e-bike, Bosch CX, 750 Wh battery. She is as strong as she needs no e-bike really!

View attachment 199790
Agnieszka A riding a KTM Macina Gravelator SX Prime. It is a Bosch SX gravel e-bike with a 400 Wh battery that weighs around 14 kg.

View attachment 199791
Magda K and Sebastian B, both riding Decathlon Rockrider e-MTBs. Brose C motor.

I didn't take a photo of the sixth e-biker, Bartosz P riding a TREK e-Caliber (Fazua) lightweight full suspension e-bike. (I didn't take any photo of my Vado SL in the racing configuration if that matters, either) :)

The eSprint (and Sprint) Race
View attachment 199794
The only photo from the race. Bartosz P smoking me at 23rd km, 53°52'44.9" N 21°43'45.1" E. We just passed a big farmstead that was split in two by a public gravel road! (The farmer was aware of the race and kept his doggies away, haha) :) See the road surface: it looks like sand but even if this was so, the sand en route was rare and shallow, so I had no issues riding it. There is a third (traditional) rider in the background: I kept the man at bay for 45 km, that is, to the pitstop! :) Trust me, he really tried catching up with me :)

At that point, Bartosz already had a 9 minute advantage over me!

The Highlights

View attachment 199795
  • Just after entering the terrain, we met washboard gravel. I only lost 2 minutes total to fix the front SKS Speedrocker mudguard (that went loose) but the racers were losing their water-bottles en masse there! Some riders got tyre flats there, too.
  • It was followed by a historical damaged cobblestone :)
  • I was racing with all my power. Already before reaching the pitstop I felt I was not that strong on the day!
  • The battery set (Main Battery + 1st Range Extender) became weak around 50th kilometre. Just coincidentally, 54-60th kilometre meant the hardest climb! I crawled at 8.7 km/h against a 10% grade incline! Later, I could coast at the speed up to 44.7 km (almost 28 mph) so I could continue to the 68th kilometre, where I applied Range Extender #2.
  • The location known as Świnie Oko (Pig's Eye) meant the interval ride: climb/descent and so on. I could use SL Turbo for climbing and coasting for descending.
  • Later, premium gravel roads marked a fast ride towards the finish line. There was a very dangerous crossing with the main road. The approach was perfectly marked with a reflective paint and signs, and there was also a firefighter to stop the traffic!
  • The entry to Mikołajki was leading through a terrific winding and extremely steep asphalt downhill path ending in the lake :) Trust me, anyone except maniacs used their full braking power to descend there :D
Bosch eSprint Results and Comment
I personally believe e-bikes are not for young and strong people who boast how little e-bike battery they used on the ride and typically ride in OFF mode using the assistance for climbs only. Having said that, the biggest KUDOS to Piotr Raczkowski (the man with no hands) who came in the second, just 3 minutes behind the winner! ❤️ I came in last in eSprint and 49th of 69 overall. I'm still proud I finished the race!

I congratulate all my competitors though! They make e-racing grow!

View attachment 199796
The female eSprint podium: 1. Agnieszka K (Winora full power), 2. Magda K (Decathlon full power)- at the left, 3. Agnieszka A (KTM low power) - at the right. The man is the Mayor of Mikołajki.

View attachment 199797
The male eSprint podium: 1. Bartosz P (TREK low power), 2. Piotr R (Scott full power, at the left), 3. Sebastian B (Decathlon full power).

View attachment 199798
My brother Jacek (61 yo), 40th of 195 who finished, Classic Race.

View attachment 199799
The finishers, from the left: Jacek (Classic race), Jakub K (4th in Lakeland hyper marathon), my mate Marek S (20th of 69 in Sprint). Note: Jacek stopped drinking totally (for better racing performance). He has a bottle of 0.0% finisher beer in his hand!

View attachment 199802
This is how Jacek packs his car for travelling with bikes. Note a board for thru-axle he made himself!
Click to expand...
I like that distance (sprint), Stefan. I presume you do it all in one day? Are the “classic” and other (much) longer races done in a day? I’m doubting it, but thought I’d ask.

How many entries in the sprint class?
 
Chazmo said:
I like that distance (sprint), Stefan. I presume you do it all in one day? Are the “classic” and other (much) longer races done in a day? I’m doubting it, but thought I’d ask.

How many entries in the sprint class?
Click to expand...
The hyper marathon has a 110 hour limit, and you have to qualify by completing three ultra marathons by Gravel.Love before. To give the right perspective, The Legend completed the race below 48 h, our friend Jakub needed 68 h 14 min to take the 4th place, and a newbie Antoni completed the race in 106 h 6 minutes. The last 23rd rider didn't make the time limit and is still 48 km to the finish line. There were 12 withdrawals with one rider withdrawing after 704 km due to an unpleasant spill he took on wet asphalt!

Ultra has the limit of 55 hours. The winner, a Lithuanian needed just 16 hours and 45 minutes to get to the finish line!

Classic is a one day race with the limit of 12 hours.

Sprint and eSprint have the limit of 12 hours, too. Overall, there were 75 entries in both formats. The latest Classification reads 7 e-bikers and 61 traditional riders completed the race. To compare:
  • The Sprint winner needed 2 h 46 min and 18 s to complete the race
  • The last rider needed almost 10 hours and 50 minutes
  • The eSprint winner's time was 3 h 46 min and 11 s
  • I needed 4 hours and 34 minutes.
Note: No throttle, no DIY, a legal production 25 km/h restricted e-bike.
 
Chargeride said:
I havent done a 1000km in a year
Click to expand...
Yeah, but your riding conditions are rather different! You’re doing great, Charge. All you really need to do is put new tires on the fatty. ;) Not that any of us could ride anything but the sprint class. ;) 100 miles, maybe (classic), but more??? I don’t think so.

Having said that, with the race leader finishing almost 700 miles in two days, that is astounding. I guess there’s no real way to compete at that level (ultra or hyper) or anywhere near it with an ebike.
 
Last edited:
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