2023 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[Prairie Dog]

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After a week off the bike it was so good to get out again and it was a lovely day to boot, a chilly NE wind greeted me though and it was around 25mph! On my last couple of rides my cranks were slipping now and again and I was pretty sure it was due to wear in the freehub, I had the same problem with my last set of Mavic Allroad wheels but they managed over 14000 while these ones have only just passed 10000 miles! So during my downtime I managed to source a real bargain set of Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels which had a Black Friday 55% discount, when the wheels arrived I thought it would be an easy changeover but that wasn't the case!

My rotors are 6 bolt and the wheels are centrelock but I bought adaptors for my Mavic wheels which were also centrelock and thought they would do the job, it turned out I needed different adaptors which were going to be just under the price of a new set of centrelock rotors so it was a no brainer to buy new rotors and it made the job so much easier! I have the same wheels on my 2009 Giant hybrid and they have covered close to 18000 miles and still like new so I'm hoping I made the right choice, first impressions today were very good with a speed of 42.2mph achieved on a big downhill into the 25mph wind!

I decided to head NE into the wind to enjoy the wind at my back on the way home, I was very happy when that wind was behind me and very much warmer! I jumped on to the cycle path at Plains not long after leaving at just before midday, this used to be the old railway line and is in really good condition!

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Its only a couple of miles long before arriving in the middle of Caldercruix where I used the back roads to Shieldhill, I was tempted to use this road down into Falkirk but its pretty rough further down and I didn't want to risk damaging my brand new wheels!

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So I continued into Shieldhill and used the main road down into Glenn Village which is a very fast steep descent, this was where I did 42.2mph into the wind! This is quickly followed by another nice descent down into Falkirk where I continued NE to Grangemouth and then due north to Airth where I had the Ochill Hills in full view right in front of me with the sun lighting them up nicely!

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I continued through the village of Throsk with the hills still in view!

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I was nearing the city of Stirling now where I would turn south and finally have that biting cold wind at my back, I now had the Campsie Hills in sight!

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I was tempted to go up over the hills but changed my mind and continued through the city and took the road to Larbert instead! I passed the high school and had the Ochil Hills in sight again, not a bad view from the north facing side of the school!

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After Larbert I turned SW towards Bonnybridge on a road I hadn't used before, it had some nice downhills but wasn't in the best condition so it won't be getting used again unless they resurface it! I arrived in Bonnybridge and timed it nice to catch one of the narrowboats on the canal!

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The man standing next to the boat boarded and I was hoping he might be travelling along the canal which would mean the bridge opening up but I was out of luck this time! I then took the lovely back road back into Falkirk and had another nice view of the Ochil Hills from part way up the big climb!

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Soon I was at the top of the climb and grabbed another couple of photos, the first one is looking north and the second looking south where I was heading!

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Its a narrow road but very quiet so it gets used a lot as its such a fun road to ride and although I was heading into the wind again there's a lot of tree cover to shelter you from the wind!

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I was getting close to Falkirk now and grabbed another couple of photos before the hills disappeared!

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The road brings you out at the top end of Falkirk on the road to Slamannan, I don't think I will ever tire of these awesome roads! This is at the top of the first climb looking south!

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The road then plunges down into the valley before rising up steeply again, followed by a nice descent down into Slamannan! From there I headed due west to Greengairs and turned south on the back roads to home, I had such a nice ride and was more happy with my new wheels and my brakes are so much better with the new rotors! The day after I fitted them the rain stopped for a short time and I grabbed the opportunity to bed my brakes in on a nice flat road near my street! I also fitted new front pads, my rears were almost new so I just cleaned them up! They were truly awful until I bedded them in, I had to be very careful at the end of my street to make sure I was able to stop and that was on a flat part! The next 2 days are looking horrendous, especially tomorrow! A possible ride on Friday time permitting...

That’s a great deal on the wheels RH. I acquired a set of Fulcrum Quattros for my Scott Metrix a few years ago and ended up swapping them over to my wife’s Cannondale. A significant weight savings over the stock alloy rims.

Hope that the foreboding weather on your side of the pond will be brief. At least it’s still green where you ride.

 

[Surrey Pete]

Took advantage of the fine weather and did the Vedder Rotary Loop in Chilliwack, BC. Fall colours made it even better:

The trail follows and loops around the Vedder River:

Fishing season:

Part of the loop follows the Vedder Canal:

More fishing spots along the canal:

The trail ends and begins at this point. Crossing the bridge completes the 20 kilometre route. Or you could turn around and do it again in reverse cause it's so much fun......

 

[DaveMatthews]

Took advantage of the fine weather and did the Vedder Rotary Loop in Chilliwack, BC. Fall colours made it even better:

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The trail follows and loops around the Vedder River:

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Fishing season:

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Part of the loop follows the Vedder Canal:

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More fishing spots along the canal:

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The trail ends and begins at this point. Crossing the bridge completes the 20 kilometre route. Or you could turn around and do it again in reverse cause it's so much fun......

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Nice! I did that one 2 or 3 years ago. I should do it again!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Took advantage of the fine weather and did the Vedder Rotary Loop in Chilliwack, BC. Fall colours made it even better:

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The trail follows and loops around the Vedder River:

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Fishing season:

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Part of the loop follows the Vedder Canal:

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More fishing spots along the canal:

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The trail ends and begins at this point. Crossing the bridge completes the 20 kilometre route. Or you could turn around and do it again in reverse cause it's so much fun......

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Stunning! What a fabulous ride!

 

[DiggyGun]

Further to my post yesterday regarding the house building on the edge of Milton Keynes.

This was from my Garmin feed and I’ve marked in Red the area that that will be built on.

This will be a huge development and will take a while to build and, as you can see, the cycle path runs right through it.

During the construction of the East-West Rail link another part of the cycle track was temporarily closed off nearly three years and you had a diversion of 1.5 miles through the villages.

Still, look on the bright side, more exercise for the diversion. And when they’ve finished, hopefully they will remediate the cycle path. It could do with making it a bit wider with a better surface than just mud.

DG…

 

[DiggyGun]

Took a quick, short ride today in between the rain. However, did have a small shower whilst out on the bike, but was dry by the time I got home.

No messy mud today, which was nice after the last couple of rides.

It did start to rain when I was putting the bike away.

DG…

 

[Prairie Dog]

Took a quick, short ride today in between the rain. However, did have a small shower whilst out on the bike, but was dry by the time I got home.
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No messy mud today, which was nice after the last couple of rides.

It did start to rain when I was putting the bike away.

DG…

Glad to hear that you have avoided the brunt of the storm that has slammed the southwest.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I set out on my ride at sunrise this morning around 8:15 am with the anticipation of riding some frozen trails while the ambient temperature was still below freezing. We’ve been experiencing a warming tread of late and much of the snow that had fallen over a week ago has melted. By the afternoon, mild conditions would likely have made the trails far less favorable to ride on. The resulting lack of snow exposed a few roots along the way so I rode with a bit of caution in an effort to avoid pinching the tires which were inflated to 8 psi. Most of the trails were in pretty decent shape and the icy conditions helped in large part with traction.

My favorite place to chill out by the river.

Lucky for me, climbing this hill didn’t require as much effort as I initially thought. It certainly wouldn’t have been doable with 6” of snow hampering my progress.

A fallen tree near the path leading out from the top was hanging a bit too low for me to pass safely under without dismounting.

Despite it being drab and overcast, I enjoyed the early outing in the crisp fall air and relatively mild temps and it looks as though the forecast will remain stable throughout the following week.

 

[Prairie Dog]

My wife’s rides in comparison are undeniably inspiring to say the least. I’m so stoked for her that she’s able to cycle in such wonderful locales so close to her hometown. The countdown towards my own departure date is nearing.

Her most recent ride was from her home to Lake Motosu with incredible views of Mount Fuji. The images speak for themselves.

Check out the winding road and switchbacks leading up to the lake.

 

[DaveMatthews]

My wife’s rides in comparison are undeniably inspiring to say the least. I’m so stoked for her that she’s able to cycle in such wonderful locales so close to her hometown. The countdown towards my own departure date is nearing.

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Her most recent ride was from her home to Lake Motosu with incredible views of Mount Fuji. The images speak for themselves.

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Check out the winding road and switchbacks leading up to the lake.

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Fuji?
Totally cool!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

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All those gorgeous pictures just to end on a Chicken McNugget??
;^}

Japan's on my bucket list — especially Kyushu and the mountains west of Tokyo. Originally for geologic reasons. But that scenery's pretty hard to beat.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Fuji?
Totally cool!

Also cool is the fact that it’s only about 70km or roughly an hour drive from the family home in Minobu.

All those gorgeous pictures just to end on a Chicken McNugget??
;^}

Japan's on my bucket list — especially Kyushu and the mountains west of Tokyo. Originally for geologic reasons. But that scenery's pretty hard to beat.

Lol. It’s more like a decadent tater tot. Potato croquettes or Korokke are a popular portable snack item. Rich soft savory filling with a crispy golden panko fried coating. Not sure if she brought that with her on the road or if she just picked it up at a convenience store along the way. She couldn’t resist taking a poke at my expense cuz she knows how much I really like them.

Do go if you ever get the chance. This will be my seventh trip over but the first time cycling there.

 

[RabH]

I have been neglecting some of my favourite local roads for a while so I put that right today and had a cracking ride in perfect cycling conditions for the time of year! I tested my new wheels out on the very fast descent near home and at 44.2mph I think they are going to be pretty good... I used all the lovely back roads down to Allanton and then joined the back roads to Carluke where I took the main road for a bit through Kilncadzow and on towards Carnwath, with a 20mph westerly behind me this road was just awesome today!

The view of the Tinto Hills from just past Kilncadzow, no haze today for a nice change!

A short time later came my favourite part of this awesome road!

The Pentland Hills can be seen in the distance, its not very often you get such a clear view as its mostly hazy here!

A couple of closer views!

This is looking back up the road, its way more fun coming down...

I turned before Carnwath and took the road down through Cleghorn and over the railway crossing into Lanark, a lovely descent followed by a climb up into the town! I then headed down into the Clyde Valley at Kirkfieldbank, this is a very twisty steep descent and I kept my speed right down as its tree lined and covered in very slippy leaves at the moment! Thankfully there were no leaves near the bottom over the bridge so I managed to get some speed up here! I stopped for this photo, this bridge is normally hidden with lots of foliage! The River Clyde is very high at the moment after all the rain!

Another bridge further along the valley and its no surprise its closed off due to the state of the wood!

I arrived in Crossford and passed over the river, you can see how fast it was flowing here!

After crossing the bridge it was time for the beast of a climb up the Coziglen, it levels off for a short time here and then rises straight up through the trees!

I never descend this road at this time of year as its totally covered in leaves, this is the view of the valley below part way up!

Further up the climb, you can sure see the leaves here!

Near the top now, I guess some of the horses feel the cold more than others or maybe its too difficult to get some of their coats on...

The road then leads into Carluke where I took the back road down past the garden centre where the huge gorilla statue used to be situated until some lowlife stole it, then I took the big climb up to Law Village where I took my last photo!

I had to use the main road to Newmains now and just as I was arriving I came across a big line of cars, I'm guessing there were roadworks in the town so I decided to take the road down to Overtown and go through Wishaw where it can be very busy but I used the quieter roads through the town and continued into Motherwell, avoiding the town centre and using the back road to Carfin where I turned off the main road and then into New Stevenston! Its only about 5 miles to home from here, I passed through Holytown and then Calderbank and up the final climbs to home!

Another awesome ride on roads I haven't ridden for a while, so November is underway and I'm hoping we catch a break with the weather to get some longer rides done! Its looking hopeful for Sunday but next week looks like a mixed bag...

@Prairie Dog Quite a contrast between your ride and your wife's ride, both looked amazing but I think your wife won the day this time! What a ride that was, no doubt you will be keen to do it when you get over there!

 

[Prairie Dog]

@Prairie Dog Quite a contrast between your ride and your wife's ride, both looked amazing but I think your wife won the day this time! What a ride that was, no doubt you will be keen to do it when you get over there!

Given the idyllic setting of her ride it was going to be a tough act to follow much like yours are.

 

[Chargeride]

Struggling here in the UK, unfortunately the monsoon stopped for eleven minutes and I looked at the bike, fitted the battery in the garage and got soaked walking back into the house.
Now I'm waiting for it to stop so I can take the battery back off.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode 21 miles today, it looks like 80% or more of the crops are out.

 

[keithj69]

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I have been neglecting some of my favourite local roads for a while so I put that right today and had a cracking ride in perfect cycling conditions for the time of year! I tested my new wheels out on the very fast descent near home and at 44.2mph I think they are going to be pretty good... I used all the lovely back roads down to Allanton and then joined the back roads to Carluke where I took the main road for a bit through Kilncadzow and on towards Carnwath, with a 20mph westerly behind me this road was just awesome today!

The view of the Tinto Hills from just past Kilncadzow, no haze today for a nice change!

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A short time later came my favourite part of this awesome road!

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The Pentland Hills can be seen in the distance, its not very often you get such a clear view as its mostly hazy here!

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A couple of closer views!

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This is looking back up the road, its way more fun coming down...

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I turned before Carnwath and took the road down through Cleghorn and over the railway crossing into Lanark, a lovely descent followed by a climb up into the town! I then headed down into the Clyde Valley at Kirkfieldbank, this is a very twisty steep descent and I kept my speed right down as its tree lined and covered in very slippy leaves at the moment! Thankfully there were no leaves near the bottom over the bridge so I managed to get some speed up here! I stopped for this photo, this bridge is normally hidden with lots of foliage! The River Clyde is very high at the moment after all the rain!

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Another bridge further along the valley and its no surprise its closed off due to the state of the wood!

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I arrived in Crossford and passed over the river, you can see how fast it was flowing here!

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After crossing the bridge it was time for the beast of a climb up the Coziglen, it levels off for a short time here and then rises straight up through the trees!

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I never descend this road at this time of year as its totally covered in leaves, this is the view of the valley below part way up!

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Further up the climb, you can sure see the leaves here!

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Near the top now, I guess some of the horses feel the cold more than others or maybe its too difficult to get some of their coats on...

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The road then leads into Carluke where I took the back road down past the garden centre where the huge gorilla statue used to be situated until some lowlife stole it, then I took the big climb up to Law Village where I took my last photo!

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I had to use the main road to Newmains now and just as I was arriving I came across a big line of cars, I'm guessing there were roadworks in the town so I decided to take the road down to Overtown and go through Wishaw where it can be very busy but I used the quieter roads through the town and continued into Motherwell, avoiding the town centre and using the back road to Carfin where I turned off the main road and then into New Stevenston! Its only about 5 miles to home from here, I passed through Holytown and then Calderbank and up the final climbs to home!

Another awesome ride on roads I haven't ridden for a while, so November is underway and I'm hoping we catch a break with the weather to get some longer rides done! Its looking hopeful for Sunday but next week looks like a mixed bag...

@Prairie Dog Quite a contrast between your ride and your wife's ride, both looked amazing but I think your wife won the day this time! What a ride that was, no doubt you will be keen to do it when you get over there!

If I had views like this when I rode, I would quit my job and probably end up homeless.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I always stop at this bus stop before I meet my daughter Magda in her Social Care Home.

There was a nice coach (a long distance bus) standing in the field for a long time. After, say, two years, the coach got burnt. I wondered why to find no reason. Now, I could see a new building with a playground. Intrigued, I rode up to it to see two women leaving the place, one of them black haired and beautiful. 'What is that building, ladies?' -- I asked -- 'is it belonging to an organization or is it a private one?' -- 'That's a hostel for us, Ukrainian workers' -- the other woman replied -- 'It is brand new as I can tell it' -- she added -- 'Good day to you, ladies!' -- I said and rode off to see Magda. This time, my daughter wanted me to bring a Micro-USB cable and some fruit Then, she asked me to buy Minecraft game for her smartphone, and to restore some apps We had a good and long meeting! My ride started with going to a mall to buy the items she wanted!

A Vado 6.0 ride, 53 km at 24.1 km/h average speed and 40/40% assistance

 

[theloafer]

hey guess who`s back... diagnosed with prostrate cancer getting hormone treatment which has been messing with my body ,but today a ride buddy talked me into getting out as it was a lovely day. ended up doing 25 miles and feel fairly good ,so hopefully its a start of falling ing love with my bike again

Morning Ride | Strava

hey guess who`s back... been diagnosed with prostrate cancer getting hormone treatment which has been messing with my body ,but today a ride buddy talked me into getting out as it was a lovely day. ended up doing 25 miles and feel fairly good ,so hopefully its a start of falling love with my...

www.strava.com

 

[JGcycle]

hey guess who`s back... diagnosed with prostrate cancer getting hormone treatment which has been messing with my body ,but today a ride buddy talked me into getting out as it was a lovely day. ended up doing 25 miles and feel fairly good ,so hopefully its a start of falling ing love with my bike again

Morning Ride | Strava

hey guess who`s back... been diagnosed with prostrate cancer getting hormone treatment which has been messing with my body ,but today a ride buddy talked me into getting out as it was a lovely day. ended up doing 25 miles and feel fairly good ,so hopefully its a start of falling love with my...

www.strava.com

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad to hear that you're back in the saddle.