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

[Art Deco]

It’s been raining steadily for several days now. No grievances on my behalf as we really do need the moisture. It’s good news for who have been battling the wildfires and relief for some of the evacuees who can now return to their homes. In fact, we’ve had so much rain that some regions have experienced severe flooding. It’s been such a transformation in weather compared to the past two weeks when we were facing record high temps and drought conditions.

The rain, in fact, turned to rare snow along stretches of the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise to Jasper with some areas receiving up to 20 cm. It was a little over a week ago that I was riding trails in Louise and it was bone dry at the time.

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I said to heck with the rain and decided to go for a ride on this wet and blustery day. I donned my rain gear, slapped the Speedrocker fenders on the bike and headed out to Lacombe along the Trans Canada Trail. The 66km outing wasn’t typically a difficult one but with the temperature hovering around 7C and strong SW wind gusts along with the rain made for an interesting ride nevertheless.

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The Blindman River. According to folklore, this tributary received its name from the Cree Tribe when one of their parties became snow blinded while traveling and needed to rest along the banks of the river.

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Lacombe Lake and the surrounding lands. The rain was pretty consistent but a brief lull in the system allowed me to stop along the way to get some aerial shots.

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Livestock and horses seem to be oblivious of the weather and all were quite content grazing in their respective surroundings.

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Arriving in the heritage Town of Lacombe. I love the main street with its remarkably restored buildings and wide variety of arts and culture.

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I’ve posted pics of the town center murals before, but I never seem to tire of gazing at these amazing works of tromp l’oeil any chance that I get.

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This house caught my eye as I left the townsite. It used to be a pretty non-descript abode until someone decided that it needed a dramatic makeover. It’s home to a massage therapy business. Me likey!

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Missed it by a day. The LA Vintage Machinery Club hosts an annual event every Father’s Day when tractor enthusiasts from all over Alberta gather to view and display antique machinery and farm equipment.

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Heading home in the rain I was warm and dry but brought along a spare set of gloves just in case. It was also a good opportunity to test out a Shakedry Gore jacket as well as some Castelli shoe covers that seemed to have fared quite well.

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One last stop along one of several convenient wood bridges as I make my way home.

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Back on home turf, I came across one of several trees with severed limbs as a result of yesterday’s storm. More rain on the way but what looks to be clearing skies by Thursday.

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A great ride report ... you started in snow, @fooferdoggie had hail,
And it's June ...

 

[Prairie Dog]

A great ride report ... you started in snow, @fooferdoggie had hail,
And it's June ...

Thanks Art. It seems more like June-uary in some resort areas at higher elevations. Check out these 'Plan your trip' webcams particularly the ones located at the Banff Gondola, Maligne Lake in Jasper and the Columbia Ice Fields. Based on the views, I would not be planning any trips there over the next few days.

Best Canadian Rockies Webcams: Live 360° Images of Banff & Jasper

Live 360° webcam views from Banff and Jasper National Parks, including Downtown Banff, the Banff Gondola at Sulphur Mountain, Maligne Lake, Columbia Icefield along the Icefields Parkway & Lake Minnewanka.

www.banffjaspercollection.com

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

It’s been raining steadily for several days now. No grievances on my behalf as we really do need the moisture. It’s good news for who have been battling the wildfires and relief for some of the evacuees who can now return to their homes. In fact, we’ve had so much rain that some regions have experienced severe flooding. It’s been such a transformation in weather compared to the past two weeks when we were facing record high temps and drought conditions.

The rain, in fact, turned to rare snow along stretches of the Icefields Parkway from Lake Louise to Jasper with some areas receiving up to 20 cm. It was a little over a week ago that I was riding trails in Louise and it was bone dry at the time.

View attachment 156277

I said to heck with the rain and decided to go for a ride on this wet and blustery day. I donned my rain gear, slapped the Speedrocker fenders on the bike and headed out to Lacombe along the Trans Canada Trail. The 66km outing wasn’t typically a difficult one but with the temperature hovering around 7C and strong SW wind gusts along with the rain made for an interesting ride nevertheless.

View attachment 156280

View attachment 156278

The Blindman River. According to folklore, this tributary received its name from the Cree Tribe when one of their parties became snow blinded while traveling and needed to rest along the banks of the river.

View attachment 156279
Lacombe Lake and the surrounding lands. The rain was pretty consistent but a brief lull in the system allowed me to stop along the way to get some aerial shots.

View attachment 156282
View attachment 156281
Livestock and horses seem to be oblivious of the weather and all were quite content grazing in their respective surroundings.

View attachment 156283
View attachment 156284
Arriving in the heritage Town of Lacombe. I love the main street with its remarkably restored buildings and wide variety of arts and culture.

View attachment 156285
View attachment 156286
I’ve posted pics of the town center murals before, but I never seem to tire of gazing at these amazing works of tromp l’oeil any chance that I get.

View attachment 156287
View attachment 156290
This house caught my eye as I left the townsite. It used to be a pretty non-descript abode until someone decided that it needed a dramatic makeover. It’s home to a massage therapy business. Me likey!

View attachment 156291
Missed it by a day. The LA Vintage Machinery Club hosts an annual event every Father’s Day when tractor enthusiasts from all over Alberta gather to view and display antique machinery and farm equipment.

View attachment 156292
Heading home in the rain I was warm and dry but brought along a spare set of gloves just in case. It was also a good opportunity to test out a Shakedry Gore jacket as well as some Castelli shoe covers that seemed to have fared quite well.

View attachment 156293
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One last stop along one of several convenient wood bridges as I make my way home.

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Back on home turf, I came across one of several trees with severed limbs as a result of yesterday’s storm. More rain on the way but what looks to be clearing skies by Thursday.

View attachment 156297

Especially good photos and commentary this time! Those murals truly are amazing.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Especially good photos and commentary this time! Those murals truly are amazing.

What’s really amazing is that all 30 + murals were completed by the skillful hands of one person and the fact that none appear to have been marred by Graffiti tags.

 

[Art Deco]

Thanks Art. It seems more like June-uary in some resort areas at higher elevations. Check out these 'Plan your trip' webcams particularly the ones located at the Banff Gondola, Maligne Lake in Jasper and the Columbia Ice Fields. Based on the views, I would not be planning any trips there over the next few days.

Best Canadian Rockies Webcams: Live 360° Images of Banff & Jasper

Live 360° webcam views from Banff and Jasper National Parks, including Downtown Banff, the Banff Gondola at Sulphur Mountain, Maligne Lake, Columbia Icefield along the Icefields Parkway & Lake Minnewanka.

www.banffjaspercollection.com

June-uary ! I like that word, I am sure i will steal it.

 

[Mulezen]

In the murals that ebike LOOKS as real as the pickup

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

A great ride report ... you started in snow, @fooferdoggie had hail,
And it's June ...

In Denver at least, hail's a monsoon-season phenomenon — summer and early fall — with impressive to apocalyptic thunderstorms almost every afternoon or evening. At my house, these brought significant hail maybe 12 times a season.

From our Denver back yard in 2016 and 2017. Two foot-high splashes from hailstone impacts on the lake weren't uncommon. Imagine getting caught in a barrage like that on a ride!

"Awesome" is so overused, but thunderstorms truly are awesome forces of nature. Kinda miss the atmospheric drama now that we're in coastal SoCal, but not on a daily basis, and no hail, thank you.

 

[Prairie Dog]

In the murals that ebike LOOKS as real as the pickup

I also appreciate how he has painted over existing fixtures, downpipes, doors, even a gas meter so that they blend in with the overall look of the mural.

 

[Prairie Dog]

"Awesome" is so overused, but thunderstorms truly are awesome forces of nature. Kinda miss the atmospheric drama now that we're in coastal SoCal, but not on a daily basis, and no hail, thank you.

You said it. I can’t fathom how it must feel/sound to have these monstrous pieces of ice plummet from the sky onto your home or vehicles. This one came down about 35km from my home town last August and broke a Canadian record tipping the scales at 291 grams or about 10 oz.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

You said it. I can’t fathom how it must feel/sound to have these monstrous pieces of ice plummet from the sky onto your home or vehicles. This one came down about 35km from my home town last August and broke a Canadian record tipping the scales at 291 grams or about 10 oz.

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Wow!

We spend a lot of time cursing air resistance air around here, but it's not all bad. Without terminal velocities, hailstones much smaller than that could be lethal.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Double dose of new today. Beautiful sunny day, heading for 80 degrees plus, so I found a route on Ride With GPS over in Washington County, along the Vermont border, with lots of gravel and a bunch of climbing. I love riding in Washington County, but have never been to this particular area (near Greenwich). Loaded up the Creo and off we went, about forty minutes from home.

Second new item was my first chance to use the routing functions on my recently acquired Garmin Edge Explorer, after many years of iPhone/RWGPS. I’d already come to terms with a lot of the differences, but I didn’t even know about the graphic course elevation display that runs across the bottom of the Map screen - I love that - and hadn’t had much chance to play with the Climb Pro stuff either, most of the hills in Saratoga County being of shorter duration.

Well, that ain’t the case in Washington County! I already knew it to be a lot like southwestern Virginia, with big knob type hills, steep hills, roads winding all over the place, and not a lot of flat land when into the hilly areas. It was as lovely as I expected, super green and lush everywhere, and the dirt roads especially were absolutely deserted. Grinding up some of the 12% climbs I could wander all over the road without worrying about anything except the one large deer that burst out of the trees and ran across the road about twenty feet in front of me at one point.

So a lot of fun, quiet as hell, and really appreciated how well the Garmin led me around. At one point I ran into two other cyclists at a small junction halfway up what turned out to be a mountain and chatted with them for about ten minutes. Two retired guys on road bikes just out having a nice morning.

Not far from the start, and from looking at the route I knew I was going be going over this:

No wonder this section was so tough.

The view from the top.

And everywhere else, a whole lot of this.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Another sunny day, first day of summer. After yesterday‘s successful foray into Washington County, I pulled another new route out of RWGPS and took off for Poultney, Vermont, about 50 miles away to do it again.

Poultney’s Main Street, Green Mountain College down there at the end:

Today was a majority of heavily wooded gravel and really excellent hard dirt roads. Again, that liberating sense of having no idea where I was at any time, and not caring the least bit. Those dirt roads particularly were just terrific, but it was all pretty good. The hills lacked some of the savageness of yesterday, and that was fine with me as well.

At one point, this beautiful house at the intersection of two gravel forest roads. I could have moved right in and been happy from there forward.

Of course, the lucky people who own it might have a different opinion on that!

All in all, not a bad way to spend the day. The ride over and back was very nice as well, rolling New York farmland and the edge of the Green Mountains all the way. Not bad, this whole being retired thing!

(and no, the Creo was not leaning on the derailleur in that picture with the sign! It was carefully placed there to make sure no contact)

 

[RabH]

I have been waiting for the right conditions to cycle to St Andrews again, I was doing it in my dads memory as he passed away just over a year ago and it was his favourite place to visit in Scotland! It was his happy place and he visited every year until a couple of years ago when he was no longer able to make the journey! Conditions were just perfect, I set off at 5.20am with the intention of heading up the coast road to the town which is an 82 mile trip! I would then head home inland which is just over 70 miles!

My first photo was at the Black Loch, I was hoping it would be flat calm as there was very little wind at this time but I was out of luck!

A couple of miles later I had to stop to capture this photo while the early morning mist was still hovering in the fields, it actually looked much more misty than the photo suggests!

I stopped taking photos until I reached the Forth bridges as I wanted to make sure I missed the busy morning traffic, I timed it perfectly!

I passed over the bridge and at the other end there were big queues of traffic trying to get over the new bridge, I sort of felt sorry for them...well maybe not! The old bridge is only for buses and taxis so it is very quiet these days, it can't handle the modern traffic! I was now on the coast road and tackled the big climb at Aberdour, the sign says 16% but it looks way steeper! I love the view down the Firth of Forth from here!

The road leads to Kirkcaldy and is so much fun to ride, its all ups and downs and twists and turns which is what I love most about cycling!

I reached the Esplanade at Kirkcaldy which was totally rebuilt in the last couple of years and probably cost a small fortune but they did such a great job of it!

Kirkcaldy can be a very busy town but once again I timed it perfectly to miss the worst of the morning traffic, it was all planned with military precision you see! I continued along the coast to Leven where the bridge over the River Leven was undergoing massive renovation work so I was diverted over the old rickety bridge which has big signs saying weak bridge all over it, the limit was 18 tons though so I think my bike was safely under that... After passing through Leven the road turns inland for a bit, I was passing the Lundin Links golf course and stopped for a snack and a photo!

Next stop would be the small town of Elie right on the coast where my sisters recently stayed in a caravan while our new heating system was being installed, the tide was way out today!

This one was taken at the other end of the town where the small lighthouse is situated!

I hugged the coast all the way to St Andrews, 5 miles from the town I changed my first battery which had lasted for 77 miles! Not bad for a 5 year old battery! As I arrived in the town I popped into the caravan site which overlooks the town way up on the hill to grab some photos! My sisters were actually here last week and had an awesome week of weather, their caravan had an unobstructed view of the beach and the town!

I then descending down the huge hill into the town proper and headed for the harbour where I enjoyed a delicious lunch from the cafe, my dad knew the woman that runs the cafe very well from all of his visits spanning more than 60 years! The water in the harbour was very low as the tide was out!

I decided to take my food to a bench overlooking the beach, not a bad view to enjoy your lunch!

It was so lovely sitting on the bench with the sea breeze keeping me nice and cool! After a nice break it was time to hit the road home, I think I spent a little too much time on that bench as my legs had turned to jelly now and I was now riding into a strenghtening headwind! The road out of St Andrews is a bit of a nightmare but thankfully they built a nice cycle path which keeps you away from the traffic all the way to Guardbridge! I was still struggling a bit after my extended break and it took me quite a while to get my second wind, once it came I was feeling way better!

That soon changed though as my backside was starting to ache, I really should have bought proper chamois cream for such a long ride! I have been using vaseline and it has been working really well but with todays heat I think it evaporated and it was getting rather painful! Anyway I had my strength back now and was making good progress, just before reaching the village of Dairsie I grabbed my last photos!

Thankfully due to my first battery lasting 77 miles I only had around 76 miles to go with 2 batteries at my disposal so I was able to crank the assist up to negate that strong headwind all the way home! I arrived home very tired and my aching derrier was really troubling me but I had such a brilliant ride and I'm sure dad would have approved! I always rememeber the first time I cycled all the way to St Andrews in 2012 on my Focus Cayo carbon road bike and when I got home I informed dad where I had gone (I kept it a secret) and he couldn't believe I had ridden all that way in one day! I then showed him all of my photos and he was just loving it, he was so proud of what I had achieved and I told him he was my inspiration and that he played a big part in making me the person I had become! I'm welling up now but I will always have those amazing memories of a very special person!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Damn, here I am again, three days in a row! I was going to knock it off today, but:


So, today the flip side of the coin. A ride I take quite often, normally very pleasant and relaxed in a suburban/neighborhood area in a very attractive town. Ride is going well, having a great time.

Now I’m passing in front of an elementary school, of all places, on a wide road with a nice shoulder. Just ahead, across from the school, I see a school bus pull up to the stop sign on a road that takes off on the right from the one I’m on. He/she comes to a complete stop, so no problem, right? I continue north across the intersection.

And as I am just about to pass in front of the bus, I see the thing starts ahead and is coming into the intersection, apparently to turn left? He is RIGHT THERE as I cross in front of the hood and obviously isn’t looking where he is going. I could only jump on the pedal and try to swoop a little to the left - I didn’t know if there was anyone behind me, and certainly couldn’t take the time to look. I was certain he was going to hit me, but as I cleared his path I figured he would only clip my rear wheel and it might not be so bad. Somehow I got past the damn thing and he missed me by what couldn’t have been more than a couple of inches.

So, another exciting ride! What can you do except wave your arm like a maniac and keep going? That’s what I did, and once my heart rate came back to normal continued and completed what was otherwise a very nice ride. Closest call I’ve had in a very long time, though!

My view of the intersection as I approached it (bus was at the stop sign on that road to the right, and came to a compete stop there):

Same intersection from the point of view of the bus driver, where I would be coming down from the left and straight across in front of the bus:

Turns out things were a lot safer over in Vermont!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Rab, what a ride! I don’t know how you could even get on and off the bike there near the end to take those last pictures!

And that is the best bike/pedestrian bridge lane I’ve ever seen. Nice job by the traffic engineers.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I have been waiting for the right conditions to cycle to St Andrews again, I was doing it in my dads memory as he passed away just over a year ago and it was his favourite place to visit in Scotland! It was his happy place and he visited every year until a couple of years ago when he was no longer able to make the journey!

Sorry to hear of your dad's passing. He clearly meant a lot to you. I can see why he liked St. Andrews.

As you might have guessed, I'm kinda partial to water views, but these are some of your best photos yet.

 

[Art Deco]

Damn, here I am again, three days in a row! I was going to knock it off today, but:


So, today the flip side of the coin. A ride I take quite often, normally very pleasant and relaxed in a suburban/neighborhood area in a very attractive town. Ride is going well, having a great time.

Now I’m passing in front of an elementary school, of all places, on a wide road with a nice shoulder. Just ahead, across from the school, I see a school bus pull up to the stop sign on a road that takes off on the right from the one I’m on. He/she comes to a complete stop, so no problem, right? I continue north across the intersection.

And as I am just about to pass in front of the bus, I see the thing starts ahead and is coming into the intersection, apparently to turn left? He is RIGHT THERE as I cross in front of the hood and obviously isn’t looking where he is going. I could only jump on the pedal and try to swoop a little to the left - I didn’t know if there was anyone behind me, and certainly couldn’t take the time to look. I was certain he was going to hit me, but as I cleared his path I figured he would only clip my rear wheel and it might not be so bad. Somehow I got past the damn thing and he missed me by what couldn’t have been more than a couple of inches.

So, another exciting ride! What can you do except wave your arm like a maniac and keep going? That’s what I did, and once my heart rate came back to normal continued and completed what was otherwise a very nice ride. Closest call I’ve had in a very long time, though!

My view of the intersection as I approached it (bus was at the stop sign on that road to the right, and came to a compete stop there):
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Same intersection from the point of view of the bus driver, where I would be coming down from the left and straight across in front of the bus:

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Turns out things were a lot safer over in Vermont!

Looks like the bus driver should have had an unobstructed view of you on the left, but maybe that bush hid you until it was too late.
Anyway too close a call. EEK.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Rab, 160 miles? Seriously? What a feat!

Dave, i'm so glad you could avoid the accident!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Yesterday, Kathy and I pulled off a fabulous day-cation — a 9-hour, 88-mile, 3-mode ride to Coronado Island at the mouth of San Diego Bay, about 16 mi of it by ebike:

To start, rode our ebikes ~2 mi to Poinsettia Station in south Carlsbad (old photo).

Put them on the Coaster (regional commuter train in last photo) to the Santa Fe Depot near the downtown San Diego (SD) waterfront.

Pedaled 3 blocks to the Coronado Ferry Terminal in the Broadway Pier complex, where we had 30 minutes to poke around by bike.

Ferried over to Coronado Island. Lots to see and photograph on the way.

Biked ~11 mi around the island, mostly just following our noses to our turnaround at the Coronado dog beach. Then back home the way we came.

It was our first time on the Coaster and ferry, with or without bikes, and at ~16 total bike miles, Kathy's most ambitious ride yet. Couldn't have gone more smoothly, and we really lucked out on the glorious 70-degree sunny day — one of our few all-day breaks from this year's record June Gloom.

This first of 2 posts shares just a few of the many highlights from the journey to Coronado, roughly in chronological order. Part 2 with highlights from the island ride coming soon.
_________

Lots of great scenery on the train ride from Carlsbad to SD, but the ocean views as the line runs right on the edge of the sea cliffs in Del Mar are hard to beat. Photos through the train window screens don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea from this old photo looking out over that same stretch of track (tall white pole) from a Del Mar park just above it.

Just love exploring new places by bike! While waiting to board our ferry to Coronado, came across this superyacht tied up on the other side of the Broadway Pier complex. When first spotted from a distance, I thought "Wow, they have some really nice ferries in SD!" Then I saw the helicopter.

Also at Broadway Pier, the Seaward Endeavor, a 208' multipurpose offshore vessel currently operating as a pollution control vessel and previously as an oil spill response vessel. Certainly no shortage of potential spills on a bay with this many military and commercial port facilities, shipyards, and industrial sites.

Naval Air Station North Island occupies the entire north end of Coronado Island. The huge Navy quay on the bay side is home port to 3 Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers, including the USS Carl Vinson, CVN-70, shown here.

Also home to the USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72, here getting a makeover.

Oil or jet fuel tender?

Passing tug headed for the graceful Coronado Bridge, one of 2 ways to drive to the island. Technically, Coronado's a tied island connected to the mainland at the south end of the bay by a long, narrow sandy isthmus called the Silver Strand. That's the other way to drive to Coronado, but it's a long way around from SD.

Smaller earlier ferry headed back to SD with Coronado in the background. Regular service from SD runs every hour on the hour from 9 to 9 daily, $7 per person each way.

SD skyline from the ferry. SD's an old city with lots of wonderful Spanish-style architecture. But downtown now bristles with modern high-rises, many with innovative architecture.

Our ferry at the Coronado Ferry Landing, where Part 2/2 begins.

 

[PatriciaK]

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I have been waiting for the right conditions to cycle to St Andrews again, I was doing it in my dads memory as he passed away just over a year ago and it was his favourite place to visit in Scotland! It was his happy place and he visited every year until a couple of years ago when he was no longer able to make the journey! Conditions were just perfect, I set off at 5.20am with the intention of heading up the coast road to the town which is an 82 mile trip! I would then head home inland which is just over 70 miles!

My first photo was at the Black Loch, I was hoping it would be flat calm as there was very little wind at this time but I was out of luck!

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A couple of miles later I had to stop to capture this photo while the early morning mist was still hovering in the fields, it actually looked much more misty than the photo suggests!

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I stopped taking photos until I reached the Forth bridges as I wanted to make sure I missed the busy morning traffic, I timed it perfectly!

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I passed over the bridge and at the other end there were big queues of traffic trying to get over the new bridge, I sort of felt sorry for them...well maybe not! The old bridge is only for buses and taxis so it is very quiet these days, it can't handle the modern traffic! I was now on the coast road and tackled the big climb at Aberdour, the sign says 16% but it looks way steeper! I love the view down the Firth of Forth from here!

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The road leads to Kirkcaldy and is so much fun to ride, its all ups and downs and twists and turns which is what I love most about cycling!

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I reached the Esplanade at Kirkcaldy which was totally rebuilt in the last couple of years and probably cost a small fortune but they did such a great job of it!

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Kirkcaldy can be a very busy town but once again I timed it perfectly to miss the worst of the morning traffic, it was all planned with military precision you see! I continued along the coast to Leven where the bridge over the River Leven was undergoing massive renovation work so I was diverted over the old rickety bridge which has big signs saying weak bridge all over it, the limit was 18 tons though so I think my bike was safely under that... After passing through Leven the road turns inland for a bit, I was passing the Lundin Links golf course and stopped for a snack and a photo!

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Next stop would be the small town of Elie right on the coast where my sisters recently stayed in a caravan while our new heating system was being installed, the tide was way out today!

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This one was taken at the other end of the town where the small lighthouse is situated!

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I hugged the coast all the way to St Andrews, 5 miles from the town I changed my first battery which had lasted for 77 miles! Not bad for a 5 year old battery! As I arrived in the town I popped into the caravan site which overlooks the town way up on the hill to grab some photos! My sisters were actually here last week and had an awesome week of weather, their caravan had an unobstructed view of the beach and the town!

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I then descending down the huge hill into the town proper and headed for the harbour where I enjoyed a delicious lunch from the cafe, my dad knew the woman that runs the cafe very well from all of his visits spanning more than 60 years! The water in the harbour was very low as the tide was out!

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I decided to take my food to a bench overlooking the beach, not a bad view to enjoy your lunch!

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It was so lovely sitting on the bench with the sea breeze keeping me nice and cool! After a nice break it was time to hit the road home, I think I spent a little too much time on that bench as my legs had turned to jelly now and I was now riding into a strenghtening headwind! The road out of St Andrews is a bit of a nightmare but thankfully they built a nice cycle path which keeps you away from the traffic all the way to Guardbridge! I was still struggling a bit after my extended break and it took me quite a while to get my second wind, once it came I was feeling way better!

That soon changed though as my backside was starting to ache, I really should have bought proper chamois cream for such a long ride! I have been using vaseline and it has been working really well but with todays heat I think it evaporated and it was getting rather painful! Anyway I had my strength back now and was making good progress, just before reaching the village of Dairsie I grabbed my last photos!

View attachment 156445
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Thankfully due to my first battery lasting 77 miles I only had around 76 miles to go with 2 batteries at my disposal so I was able to crank the assist up to negate that strong headwind all the way home! I arrived home very tired and my aching derrier was really troubling me but I had such a brilliant ride and I'm sure dad would have approved! I always rememeber the first time I cycled all the way to St Andrews in 2012 on my Focus Cayo carbon road bike and when I got home I informed dad where I had gone (I kept it a secret) and he couldn't believe I had ridden all that way in one day! I then showed him all of my photos and he was just loving it, he was so proud of what I had achieved and I told him he was my inspiration and that he played a big part in making me the person I had become! I'm welling up now but I will always have those amazing memories of a very special person!

Beautiful tribute ride, Rab! Your Dad must have been smiling down in you the whole way !