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

[Jeremy McCreary]

Clear and pleasantly smoke free was the prognosis this morning as we took to the road on our regular training ride which has become somewhat of an inconsistent practice of late. On a positive note, we finally received the rains that everyone had been waiting for yesterday and boy did it come down starting late in the afternoon and then again overnight. Hopefully it will help with the wildfire crisis that has plagued the minds of those directly impacted.

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The clouds look ominous but it was just an innocuous system that was moving out north of the city. This fellow’s make shift wind sock was a tell-tale sign that conditions were calm.

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What a glorious relief when blue finally returns to the skies after a major smoke event!! We had our last taste of that in Denver in 2020 or 2021. Still hard to grasp a California fire event big enough to turn Denver air brown and caustic for over a week. Things were that much worse upwind, of course. But plenty scary enough for our taste, thank you.

Breath obviously toxic air long enough, and thoughts of doom begin to appear. At one point, it occurred to me that months of smoky skies this bad and much, much worse will surely follow the global nuclear exchange that finally ends the Great AI Uprising. In AI's favor.
;^}

Love that windsock!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Whoa, love that first shot! Action!

She means business. I clocked her going almost 70kph one day on this same slightly downhill stretch of road. She struggles a bit on the climbs but then again who doesn’t?

What a glorious relief when blue finally returns to the skies after a major smoke event!! We had our last taste of that in Denver in 2020 or 2021. Still hard to grasp a California fire event big enough to turn Denver air brown and caustic for over a week. Things were that much worse upwind, of course. But plenty scary enough for our taste, thank you.

The fire crews aren’t out of the woods yet but they can breathe a heavy sigh of relief after last night’s rain. Alberta has lost over 1M hectares (2.47M acres) of land to date due to the fires and many still remain burning. Some residents have been evacuated for three weeks and are anxiously waiting for the thumbs up to return to their homes.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-wildfire-rain-1.6852105

Love that windsock!

I loved that it was colorful and highly visible but wished that he would have placed some flashing lights on the back of his ride. Still, I don't think anyone could wipe the smile off his face as he was obviously relishing the fresh air and in the zone.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Another glorious evening for a ride. Not even the northerly wind gusts could discourage us from enjoying the sunset.

 

[BlackHand]

Another glorious evening for a ride. Not even the northerly wind gusts could discourage us from enjoying the sunset.

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Gorgeous! Evening rides are the best.

 

[Mulezen]

I took my first ride in six weeks after getting a cast off last week (broken hand). I might be jumping the gun…Ortho docs said to go for it…but the PT lady (Hand specialist) I saw after said hold off the riding for another three weeks…I split the difference and rode two miles to assess the reaction. I had hopes of 3k miles this year but will have to scale that back So Rab, Stefan, and all you crazies out there can rest easy.

 

[dodgeman]

I did about 19 miles today. I rode by a church out in middle of no where. It also had some bells from other old church’s that are gone. The middle one that I have a close up of must have been in a fire.

I did some research and nothing about a church fire. I’m guessing the bell just fell apart from age.

 

[BlackHand]

I took my first ride in six weeks after getting a cast off last week (broken hand). I might be jumping the gun…Ortho docs said to go for it…but the PT lady (Hand specialist) I saw after said hold off the riding for another three weeks…I split the difference and rode two miles to assess the reaction. I had hopes of 3k miles this year but will have to scale that back So Rab, Stefan, and all you crazies out there can rest easy.

Had a similar thing last year after getting bone graft in my thumb. Surgeon said I could bike at 8 weeks as long as I kept the carbon fiber brace on my hand, but my PT cautioned against it until 12-14 weeks when I could go without any brace. Was surprised how long it took to shift without discomfort in the thumb once I did start riding regularly.

Hang in there, still lots of months of good riding weather ahead of you this year!

 

[RabH]

I was feeling good today and the weather was perfect so I just had to get out for a recovery ride, I was going to wait until Sunday but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up! The forecast was actually wall to wall sunshine all day but it was overcast until late in my ride, I sure wasn't complaining because the temp was perfect and the westerly wind was only around 10mph! I set off at 9am and took to the cycle paths at the first opportunity which was only 3 miles into my ride, the excellent new path from Newhouse to Salsburgh!

Then I had to join the main road to Harthill for a couple of miles but it was quiet and before reaching Harthill I turned off and took the quiet back road to Armadale! This road is so much fun to ride and I had it all to myself! On reaching Armadale it was time to join another new cycle path which leads down into Whitburn and then yet another new path to Uphall, it ends before Uphall but I took a road through a housing scheme to avoid the busy dual carriageway to Bathgate! Then I was back on the cycle path to Uphall where I turned north heading for Kingscavil, up until now I didn't have any photo opportunities but as I turned west at the road that leads to Kingscavil the scenery started to improve!

The rapeseed is in full bloom now!

Looking west towards Beecraigs Country Park!

It was soon time to take the very fast descent down to Kingscavil, 45mph today and what a thrill that was! This is actually looking back at the descent from the top of the valley!

I was now heading for Linlithgow and had to use the main roads again for a bit, then I came across a long queue of cars as they were working on the road so I took to the footpath and bypassed all the mayhem! I was now on the A706 heading for Westfield but didn't have any problems with the traffic thankfully, it can be a busy road but I think they were all held up in Linlithgow! I passed over the Forth and Clyde Canal and had to grab a couple of photos of course!

I love riding on this road despite the traffic, what's not to like about this?

I was now close to Westfield and passed this pack of hooligans, you should have heard the noise they were making!

I reached Westfield and headed up the big climb on the quiet back road to Armadale, at the top of the climb the road flattens for a short bit before dropping down into the valley again with a few steep descents to enjoy! From here it was a straight road home and passing the Hillend Loch the sun had finally made an appearance and lit up the loch which was very calm in the light winds today!

I arrived home a little tired but very contented with another fantastic day on the bike, we are really having a lovely spell of weather at the moment although Sunday isn't looking the best but it should be fine for a nice ride to watch the motorcycle racing at Knockhill Racing Circuit! My best month on the bike this year with 525 miles covered from 7 rides, an amazing average of 75 miles! Another 76 or so on Sunday to keep the average going which will take me past 600 for the month and maybe even another ride before the month end...

@Mulezen I hope your hand will heal soon and allow you to get some nice rides in the better weather, wishing you a speedy recovery!

 

[DaveMatthews]

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I was feeling good today and the weather was perfect so I just had to get out for a recovery ride, I was going to wait until Sunday but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up! The forecast was actually wall to wall sunshine all day but it was overcast until late in my ride, I sure wasn't complaining because the temp was perfect and the westerly wind was only around 10mph! I set off at 9am and took to the cycle paths at the first opportunity which was only 3 miles into my ride, the excellent new path from Newhouse to Salsburgh!

Then I had to join the main road to Harthill for a couple of miles but it was quiet and before reaching Harthill I turned off and took the quiet back road to Armadale! This road is so much fun to ride and I had it all to myself! On reaching Armadale it was time to join another new cycle path which leads down into Whitburn and then yet another new path to Uphall, it ends before Uphall but I took a road through a housing scheme to avoid the busy dual carriageway to Bathgate! Then I was back on the cycle path to Uphall where I turned north heading for Kingscavil, up until now I didn't have any photo opportunities but as I turned west at the road that leads to Kingscavil the scenery started to improve!

The rapeseed is in full bloom now!
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Looking west towards Beecraigs Country Park!

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It was soon time to take the very fast descent down to Kingscavil, 45mph today and what a thrill that was! This is actually looking back at the descent from the top of the valley!

View attachment 154358
I was now heading for Linlithgow and had to use the main roads again for a bit, then I came across a long queue of cars as they were working on the road so I took to the footpath and bypassed all the mayhem! I was now on the A706 heading for Westfield but didn't have any problems with the traffic thankfully, it can be a busy road but I think they were all held up in Linlithgow! I passed over the Forth and Clyde Canal and had to grab a couple of photos of course!

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I love riding on this road despite the traffic, what's not to like about this?

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I was now close to Westfield and passed this pack of hooligans, you should have heard the noise they were making!

View attachment 154363
I reached Westfield and headed up the big climb on the quiet back road to Armadale, at the top of the climb the road flattens for a short bit before dropping down into the valley again with a few steep descents to enjoy! From here it was a straight road home and passing the Hillend Loch the sun had finally made an appearance and lit up the loch which was very calm in the light winds today!

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I arrived home a little tired but very contented with another fantastic day on the bike, we are really having a lovely spell of weather at the moment although Sunday isn't looking the best but it should be fine for a nice ride to watch the motorcycle racing at Knockhill Racing Circuit! My best month on the bike this year with 525 miles covered from 7 rides, an amazing average of 75 miles! Another 76 or so on Sunday to keep the average going which will take me past 600 for the month and maybe even another ride before the month end...

@Mulezen I hope your hand will heal soon and allow you to get some nice rides in the better weather, wishing you a speedy recovery!

Gorgeous!
Curious about your battery health after all these miles!

 

[RabH]

Gorgeous!
Curious about your battery health after all these miles!

I haven't checked them for a while, I will have a look on my next ride but my original battery is still going strong at over 5 years old! My second battery was bought in October 2020 and my third battery is only 10 months old so they are in very good health!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bieszczady Mountains By Proxy

It looks @RabH you have found your equal As of today, my brother (first cousin) Jacek (59 yo) has completed a 100 mile ride with 7,135 ft of elevation gain. The ride took him 5 hours and 34 minutes net. He took an hour break for a lunch. His ride was Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro, and he only had a single 625 Wh battery that is 2.5 years old Given he had his e-bike limited to 25 km/h and achieved the average speed of 28.8 km/h means he was only using the 50% Giant assistance for the climbs, and pedalled the heavy e-MTB without the assistance on the flat and descents. I am so proud of having such a brother!

Somewhere in our second highest mountains, the Bieszczady. The area is huge, and distances are big there.

"SLOW DOWN! THE LYNX!"

At the gorgeous Solina Lake in Polańczyk.

Well... yes.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I haven't checked them for a while, I will have a look on my next ride but my original battery is still going strong at over 5 years old! My second battery was bought in October 2020 and my third battery is only 10 months old so they are in very good health!

That's AWESOME!
I'm guessing you rotate through them evenly?
Also, do you charge to 100%, or less?

 

[Mulezen]

I went a little further today (9m) taxing the hand, but not too much…my rotator above is actually complaining more. Look closely in the picture for Rab…he got his continents mixed up

 

[RabH]

Bieszczady Mountains By Proxy

It looks @RabH you have found your equal As of today, my brother (first cousin) Jacek (59 yo) has completed a 100 mile ride with 7,135 ft of elevation gain. The ride took him 5 hours and 34 minutes net. He took an hour break for a lunch. His ride was Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro, and he only had a single 625 Wh battery that is 2.5 years old Given he had his e-bike limited to 25 km/h and achieved the average speed of 28.8 km/h means he was only using the 50% Giant assistance for the climbs, and pedalled the heavy e-MTB without the assistance on the flat and descents. I am so proud of having such a brother!

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Somewhere in our second highest mountains, the Bieszczady. The area is huge, and distances are big there.

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"SLOW DOWN! THE LYNX!"

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At the gorgeous Solina Lake in Polańczyk.

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Well... yes.

That's an incredible effort, especially given the elevation gain! Jacek is amazing I have never managed to break 6 hours for 100 miles, I came close one day when it took me 6 hrs 1 minute! My longest single battery (500wh) ride was this one if Jacek wants a challenge... Knowing him he will destroy it!

That's AWESOME!
I'm guessing you rotate through them evenly?
Also, do you charge to 100%, or less?

Yes I do rotate them, most of the time I just charge them to around 80% unless I'm doing 100 miles or more! I do fully charge them occasionally to balance the cells!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I capped off my morning ride yesterday then transitioned into trail mode with a night ride along the Bench and Pines singles. Although I’ve ridden it on many occasions during daylight hours, this would be the first time that I would have the opportunity to ride the Bench Trail at night. Due to its complexity which involves a few steep drops and a high number of trail impediments, I’ve hesitated riding it in the past but now feel that I’ve built up enough confidence to tackle it head on.

I set out just before sunset around 9:30 pm with hope that I could get some decent images atop the bluff.

Now it’s just waiting for darkness to arrive before I drop down from above the trailhead. Just before doing so, I bumped into a younger couple who had completed the ride coming from the other end of the single. They were both riding emtbs (Norco/Santa Cruz) and looked to be quite fit. We chatted for a while, exchanged emails and ultimately agreed that we would plan an outing as it’s somewhat rare to find others along the trail who ride powered.

I’ve had no issues in the past with respect to trail riding in the dark and have always stressed that a good set of lights pays dividends in the end. This evening was no exception. Once in the trees the darkness became more evident and I had to dodge several hikers as I made my way up towards the bluff.

Up at the top, there was still enough ambient light that I was able to hastily snap a couple of pics before moving on. The winds were calm and the view from above was lovely to see during this time of the evening.

I dropped back down then carried on towards the river near the end of the trail. Thankfully, it was a clean run without an incident to report other than a depleted GoPro battery.

Closer to home around 11 pm, this water feature is one which I've never given much though too but on this night was refreshing to see with its colorful lights.

I decided to take the stairs on my final push towards home base.

Condensed video to follow.

 

[Prairie Dog]

As of today, my brother (first cousin) Jacek (59 yo) has completed a 100 mile ride with 7,135 ft of elevation gain. The ride took him 5 hours and 34 minutes net. He took an hour break for a lunch. His ride was Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro, and he only had a single 625 Wh battery that is 2.5 years old Given he had his e-bike limited to 25 km/h and achieved the average speed of 28.8 km/h means he was only using the 50% Giant assistance for the climbs, and pedalled the heavy e-MTB without the assistance on the flat and descents. I am so proud of having such a brother!

Impressive! Tell Jacek to ditch the Trance and get himself a lighter e- road/gravel bike. I’m sure with the right ride he could have gone even farther and faster.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Impressive! Tell Jacek to ditch the Trance and get himself a lighter e- road/gravel bike. I’m sure with the right ride he could have gone even farther and faster.

Jacek is not an English speaker so I passed your remarks to him (and also told him about the Rab's challenge ) He absolutely agrees with you. However, buying a Creo in today's hard times is beyond his financial means. As he got the Trance from me, he puts all his energy in maintaining and improving what he owns now (like, the second wheelset he's built himself). He is a likeable person on our Club gravel group rides as he is as fast as the other members, accepts hard challenges, is a great mechanic with the skill for field-repairs, and the Trance gives him the edge in rough terrain (fancy him happily riding rough cobblestone, smiling!)

His remarks about the yesterday's ride were:

• He was getting totally wrong distance reported by Garmin 530 connected to his e-bike compared to the Strava map (the Strava map correction was in agreement with his ride plan).
• His battery use was 7% for 5 km of a climb. Then he was descending for 10 km without assistance, so the battery consumption was 7% per 15 km.
• He met a traditional roadie, a mountaineer from Zakopane on his trip. That guy had to ride off-saddle and pedal very hard to climb at the same speed as Jacek (the latter using the lowest Trance assistance). However, the roadie was leaving Jacek in the dust on descents, as that guy could pedal downhill when Jacek's gearing was way too low!

Now, Jacek sets off for a ride around the Solina Lake. I wonder if he would be met by raining. If it starts raining in Bieszczady, it will rain for a week!

 

[Prairie Dog]

He absolutely agrees with you. However, buying a Creo in today's hard times is beyond his financial means. As he got the Trance from me, he puts all his energy in maintaining and improving what he owns now (like, the second wheelset he's built himself). He is a likeable person on our Club gravel group rides as he is as fast as the other members, accepts hard challenges, is a great mechanic with the skill for field-repairs, and the Trance gives him the edge in rough terrain (fancy him happily riding rough cobblestone, smiling!)

I understand the circumstances now that you’ve explained it to me. I can only imagine how he would continue to excel on a much lighter albeit less powerful bike. Give him my best regards and I hope the weather holds for the remainder of his ride. Quite a multi talented bro you have there and I can see why you are so proud of him.

 

[RabH]

Gorgeous!
Curious about your battery health after all these miles!

I decided to check my batteries today and got very strange results, I'm not convinced they are right but hey ho....

Battery 1 - 61 months old : Health = 90% with 310 cycles
Battery 2 - 31 months old : Health = 92% with 105 cycles
Battery 3 - 10 months old : Health = 93% with 17 cycles

@Prairie Dog What a brilliant video, my heart was in my mouth watching it! You are braver than I will ever be! That light is insane, riding in those conditions it was sure needed!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm not convinced they are right but hey ho....

Rab, I could see stranger things than that related to e-bike batteries. Quite funny that Giant does not just display the effective battery charge in Wh, does it. Specialized hide that too, report 100% battery health ALWAYS. Only an independent app is telling me the truth about my batteries and it does not look too good!
It is important your batteries hold enough of juice for your long trips. The rest is unimportant!

Now, my Club mate Marek has just ridden from north of Glasgow past Dalmally on his gravel bike. Be careful not to crash into him!