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

[Stefan Mikes]

A Hilly Group Ride On A Very Warm Day

I should have thought thrice before accepting an offer to join a group ride of traditional cyclists at "recreational speed". I should have considered riding for a day in a hilly area I had been familiar with so well... And I should have refused riding on a very warm day with the shade temperature approaching 32 C (90 F) with the temperature in the sunshine of 45 C (113 F). Yea, right, you know me well don't you

Ewa, I and Hubert met by the Skierniewice train station and started the main part of the trip at 10:33 a.m. Again, I was asking the group members to start the ride far earlier but Hubert had a stronger voting power than I Ewa is a slim senior lady riding a Scott XC bike, while the ride of the young Hubert is a heavy Polish KROSS touring bicycle. Both are experienced touring riders (and all three of us wore helmets on the trip). First of all, they could ride faster than the declared "17-20 km/h cruising speed" if not the hills

Why should I not ride with such people? It is because I need to ride my Vado SL at the assistance as low as "my legs become theirs" It is a low assistance forcing me to pedal my lightweight e-bike almost on my own leg power! That is very tiresome for me...

Young Hubert had planned the route very well, and we were riding asphalt for most of the Skierniewice - Grójec trip. He managed avoiding any "traps" I could fancy in the area I know so well!

The Magic Pine in Paplin (LD). I found the tree on my first e-bike trip over the area, and it has became a landmark for me since. See my companions finding a shade. Oh, yes, we needed stops on the ride!

The only picture of mine from the group ride! We were busy pedalling, hydrating and eating! No time for taking photos!

There were never-ending ascents in the Apple Tree Land. I was always much faster than Ewa & Hubert on rare descents because of my weight, and using an MTB technique to descend very fast. (That's why I could take that photo by going far forward in front of them then stopping for the take). On some stop, my friends nicked some apples* from an orchard and ate them on the ride As I mentioned in other ride reports, the Apple Tree Land is an enormous fruit-growing area with nothing but orchards on the sides of the road!
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*) Anybody's surprised it was Ewa (Eve) to steal the first apple?

I found the place-name amusing: Why not E-Bikeówek? You might see my companions far in the photo. I had to chase them after taking this picture. An excellent opportunity to show off with the capabilities of Vado SL! Heheh, Turbo mode on, the derestrictor on and... I achieved the speed of 41 km/h (25.5 mph)! Just zoomed while overtaking the small group, and then...

...I had enough time to record a small video clip of them riding!

We were hot and tired when we arrived in Grójec. Rode straight to the "Staromiejska" (Old Town) Polish cuisine restaurant. Oh, how nice to sit inside the place with AC! My choice for food was the "Highwayman's Pancake" which is a big soft folded pancake with beef/red pepper/sauce inside and vegetables on the plate, too. I was so hungry I forgot taking the photo of the meal! After the late lunch, I said good-bye to my companions as I decided to return home "on the wheels" as we call it, that is, by bicycle not by train.

Now, I discovered the whole way between the two Apple Tree Land capital cities, that is, Grójec and Tarczyn was uphill! Trust me, I had to increase the e-bike assistance to survive...

By the Rotten Apple Fountain in Tarczyn (A design fault made the apple look as if it were rotten, haha) I cooled my body with the fountain water and discovered my legs left me. Totally exhausted and with no will to ride at all! There were 27+ km remaining... I had no choice but to pedal home!

As it became colder past 7 p.m., I regained as much strength as to increase the distance ridden to get to my local BP service station for some extra shopping and for my reward: delicious Frappe Mocha! The female sales assistant who blended the coffee for me asked 'Was that not too a hot day as for a bike ride?', to which I replied 'You can bet it was!'

Hubert & Ewa reached the city of Warka and returned to their homes by train and bicycle. Each of us reached their homes at exactly the same time within +/- 2 minutes!

 

[DiggyGun]

Today we did the Phoenix Trail.

This is an old railway line between Thame in Oxfordshire and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.

Along the route, there are a number of modern art sculptures to represent the old railway heritage. However, at the county border there is a collection called “Three Characters On Poles”, of which this is one of them, more, “Moose Having A Poo”.

As this this is part of the National Cycle Network, (Route No. NCN 57), there are some Mike Marker Posts, which were done for the Millennium along the way.

DG…

 

[RabH]

The cycling world championships finished yesterday so I thought I would try some of the course the elite men took just over a week ago, it didn't get off to a good start though! About 6 miles into my ride I was on a climb and my gps was showing a zero gradient, so I looked at my overall elevation gain and it was also showing zero! I had just updated the Wahoo before I left so I guess that had something to do with it, so I shut the gps down thinking I would lose the 6 miles I had already completed but as soon as it rebooted it started to recover the ride! That was a nice surprise and as I set off up the hill the gradient was now showing, although a few miles later I stopped to check the gps again and it was showing an average temp of -5F... Also I noticed after my ride it was showing the max gradient as 28.6%, oh dear! I hope it was a one off problem....

Anyway back to the ride, I decided to head for Bonnybridge and join the pros route from here to the Campsie Hills! I arrived in the town and stopped on the bridge over the canal for a photo!

I then passed through the town centre and joined the route the riders took towards Stoneywood where the first proper climb would start! I was approaching the start of the climb and saw a truck and a car stopped at the bottom of the climb, I looked up the hill and could see a police car with blue lights flashing and a road closed notice! The driver of the truck approached me and said I would probably get through the closure if I walked the bike up, he informed me that a van had collided with a street lamp and was on its side! I started walking up and asked the police if it was ok to walk the bike through and they said it was fine! The van was on its wheels now but was a real mess, I grabbed a photo after I was clear of the scene!

I'm guessing the van was descending the hill and lost control, I didn't see any other damaged vehicles and no bikes thankfully! I continued up the hill and saw some lovely new tarmac had been laid, this is the main reason I took this route as I was hopeful they would have fixed a lot of the roads! I used the same route 3 months ago and the roads were pretty rough in parts, this part was a fast descent over a bridge with the River Carron passing below and it was all lovely new tarmac! I bet the pros really loved this part until the tight bridge that is!

I was now on the road which runs alongside the Carron Valley Reservoir, I'm not sure if any of you followed the championships but there was a protest just along this road at the narrowest part where 4 people decided to glue their hands to the tarmac and caused quite a delay to the race! They weren't protesting about the actual race, it was about the oil giants Ineos who sponsor one of the biggest teams! The Campsie Hills were now starting to come into view in the distance!

I was surprised to turn a blind corner which was in the shade under tree cover and the road was in quite a state, I'm sure the riders didn't enjoy that part although it was only for a very short distance! A short time later I had this lovely view of the reservoir! As you can see in the second photo this part of the road was a little rough also but once again only for a short distance!

Less than a mile further and the road was in great condition!

The good roads continued, actually these were repaired a couple of years ago and are holding up well! I'm sure the pros went down these descents at breakneck speed!

I came down this one at just over 40mph, this is actually looking back up the hill and the photo belies how steep it is! I'm sure some of the pros would have been over 50mph coming down here!

I was nearing the end of the Carron Valley road and approaching the roughest part but thankfully they had fixed it and what a difference that made, from here I could see the road up over the Campsies and could also see nice new tarmac in the distance!

I turned at the bottom of the road to take the climb up Crow road and was greeted with a road closed sign! My choices were now limited if it was actually closed, I could either go back along the Carron Valley or take the road to Killearn which would have added around 15 miles to my trip! I decided to chance the climb, thinking they hadn't removed the signs after yesterdays womens race...as I started up the climb a couple of cars passed me which made me more hopeful! Part way up I stopped to grab a photo of the lovely new tarmac and a van proceeded past me going down the hill, this made me confident the road was fully open!

There were lots of pro names written on the tarmac, I particularly liked the one someone scrawled on the climb back at Stoneywood which said "Wright Said Fred, GO GO GO" in reference to the British rider named Fred Wright!

I'm looking forward to descending the Campsies soon on that lovely fresh tarmac!

I continued up the climb feeling confident that the road was open, just as I reached the summit I could see a pickup parked blocking the road along with a load of traffic cones and a road closed sign!!! The driver was sitting in the cab, almost half asleep by the look of it! I approached him tentatively and coughed which brought him back to life! I explained my alternatives and asked if it was possible to continue down the Crow road to Lennoxtown, he didn't seem keen on letting me through but called his boss and had a long indecisive conversation! I wasn't holding out much hope but he said due to the big diversion I would need to take he would let me proceed with caution, to say I was elated was a massive understatement!

I started down the descent tentatively and came across a cyclist pushing his bike up the climb with a pedestrian walking alongside! I enquired about his bike and he said everything was fine, the guy with him was his friend and his car was parked in the car park further down and he was told the road would be open in around 1 hour so he decided to take a walk to pass the time! I asked him where the work was taking place and he said it was way down near Lennoxtown so I could enjoy the descent for a mile or so and I certainly did! Ridewithgps recorded it as 47.6mph but it was actually just over 41mph....

I passed the workers and they didn't say anything, just sort of nodded so I continued slowly now and then I came across another pickup blocking the road at the bottom but just sailed through the cones slowly and nothing was said! I arrived in Lennoxtown and turned off the main road towards Torrance still using the same route as the pros but just before Torrance I turned east and left the championship route now! I wasn't going near Glasgow... This was actually a new road to me but I had a good idea where it was going to take me, it turned out to be a really nice twisty road!

I soon saw a sign for Kilsyth which is where I thought it would take me, it would take me close to the village of Twechar (A good Scottish name @dodgeman ) I was riding alongside the Forth and Clyde canal and came across a bridge where I could grab a photo!

Soon I arrived in Kilsyth and passed over the canal again, now back on my usual route! It would have been rude not to grab another photo, this one is for Jeremy! @Jeremy McCreary

I was nearing home now and using as many back roads as I could to avoid the traffic, then I came across this scene! It wasn't a day for Ford Transit drivers!

The van that crashed earlier in the day was also a Transit! The verges are really soft due to all the rain, I'm sure the driver was moving over to let somebody pass and just moved over a little too far...

This was only a few miles from home, I then had a trouble free ride all the way back! What a brilliant day on the bike once again, it made up for a very disappointing day yesterday at the British Touring Cars at Knockhill racing circuit where a big crowd got a proper soaking with a few heavy downpours! At least we did get some dry races though...

@Stefan Mikes You are very brave cycling in those temps, Stefan! Anything over 20C and I'm not keen on going out So kudos to you for braving it!

That took me quite some time to write up....need a lie down now!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Rab, there are many issues with Wahoo ELEMNT computers after the last firmware update...

I have stopped posting my rides to RWGPS because you would be surprised my latest ride was 145 mile long (it was 72.5 miles but Wahoo doubled the distance!)

 

[RabH]

Rab, there are many issues with Wahoo ELEMNT computers after the last firmware update...

I have stopped posting my rides to RWGPS because you would be surprised my latest ride was 145 mile long (it was 72.5 miles but Wahoo doubled the distance!)

My distance was correct today as my evo display recorded the same distance but eveything else seemed to be a bit haywire, I hope they supply a fix soon!

 

[dodgeman]

Rab, did I read that correctly, you ran two vehicles off the road?

I road 28 miles today and was surprised I had nearly 1000 feet of elevation gain. I wonder how accurate that is sometimes. I road to the nearby town of Good Hope. A picture of their old jail, a nice barn and a bench mark. About 4 years ago I worked on a wind farm in this area and I used this bench mark for the project. It’s good for horizontal coordinates and elevation.

 

[Chargeride]

So I revisited my Coniston climb on the hub drive, expecting mechanical carnage.
I was pleasantly surprised.
The start.

Im usually very wary of cows with their calves, so I decided on the new approach of riding straight at them.
It worked like a charm

Nearly ran over a hiker as she suddenly decided to she wanted to be on the otherside of the gap just as I got close.

I did it all in 30 second bursts, but the hub can really devour the hill in that time, just gets very hot, it actually out performed the bbshd at times.

This actually very high up and next to a huge drop, the gopro wide lens makes it look someones back garden

Obligatory pretty girl in completely unsuitable clothes, awful behaviour, I do hope it catches on.

So yes, it did very well and took me to the top with minimal effort, the only issue is I had to go faster to keep it out of heat producing slow speed.
The only fix for that is an even smaller back wheel.

The fat tyres actually deal with this loose rubble very well and I scooted back down with ease.
The only downside of the day is I left my backpack in a cafe, just a cheap one with a few cheap tools.
But Ive decided its the first step towards a home for the confused.

All in a great day and a lucky break in the torrential rain we are still having.
Off to Mundesley in Norfolk tomorrow for a week, which is basically Englands pigs ass on the map.
Taking the bike, but it will probably rain all week.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I road 28 miles today and was surprised I had nearly 1000 feet of elevation gain. I wonder how accurate that is sometimes.

David, you are a Strava user. Just get "inside" your ride on Strava. Find an options menu (it is the "hamburger menu" on a computer), and click Correct Elevation (a similar option is available in the Strava app). After a short while and refreshing the page, you will see the elevation gain corrected by Strava Maps. (You can always Revert Elevation).

For instance, Wahoo reported the elevation gain of my latest ride as 361 m (1,180 ft) but Strava corrected that to 475 m (1,560 ft) and I am inclined to trust Strava Maps.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Outstanding pictures, @Chargeride!

 

[Prairie Dog]

It was already 27 C by the time we started our ride this morning but a light breeze blowing from the south made it rather tolerable. I decided to slow my pace a little and save some energy for a planned ride in the afternoon on the local trails.

A good mornin’ to you too. Virtually every cyclist who we encounter is likely to give a familiar nod, wave, smile or even utter a friendly hello. That doesn’t apply to motorists some of who can be darn right rude which includes being intentionally coal rolled yesterday by a local yahoo in his beater pickup as we made our way home.

Wipeout is one of three LBS that cater to the cycling community and it just so happens that they are the only Specialized dealer in town. Like most other shops here, they switch to ski service in the winter. The husband and wife duo continue to have a loyal following even after a larger out-of-town competitor opened up shop just blocks away.

When my better half assumes the tuck position, you can bet that she usually means business.

After a lunch it was time to hit the local trails but I decided that it was way too hot out to ride them all and only completed three of five. 30 minutes into the ride it felt like Hades and I headed straight for the forest singles where I knew there would be shelter from the blazing sun.

View atop the bluff on the Bench Trail.

This fellow near the shoreline had the right idea as he and his pup were taking full advantage of the cooling waters of the river.

An aerial view of Three Mile Bend, the surrounding parkland and beyond. It’s also home to a large dog park and a great system of walking trails/bike paths.

Exiting the Bench Trail and a usual stopover at this no name pond.

A bit further to go before crossing the span over to the other side of the river and eventually making my way over to the Pines singletrack.

I glanced across the road over at the entrance to the local MTB park but it was just way too hot out to even consider riding it today.

My final run in the Pines before pushing off towards home.

Nothing beats rafting or kayaking down the river on a hot summer day.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Im usually very wary of cows with their calves, so I decided on the new approach of riding straight at them.
It worked like a charm

Beautiful ride! When the road's empty and not too steep, traction's good, and you can see oncoming traffic far ahead, this maneuver also works well with off-leash dogs taking too much interest.

Go to the far opposite side of the road, speed up, and head straight for the dog. The dog may bark like crazy, but it will usually stay put. Then veer off the collision course as late as possible and at the sharpest possible angle.

By the time the dog regroups, you'll be too far past it to be caught.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My distance was correct today as my evo display recorded the same distance but eveything else seemed to be a bit haywire, I hope they supply a fix soon!

You probably do not connect your Wahoo to your Giant e-bike?

 

[dodgeman]

David, you are a Strava user. Just get "inside" your ride on Strava. Find an options menu (it is the "hamburger menu" on a computer), and click Correct Elevation (a similar option is available in the Strava app). After a short while and refreshing the page, you will see the elevation gain corrected by Strava Maps. (You can always Revert Elevation).

For instance, Wahoo reported the elevation gain of my latest ride as 361 m (1,180 ft) but Strava corrected that to 475 m (1,560 ft) and I am inclined to trust Strava Maps.

I’m not sure but I don’t see a correct elevation option. I’m using the free version I wonder if that’s why?

 

[DiggyGun]

Today, I combined two local cycle paths into one and cycled to Milton Keynes, back and then Buckingham.

Not our usual standards, but this was my picnic for today.

DG…

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I’m not sure but I don’t see a correct elevation option. I’m using the free version I wonder if that’s why?

It is "Adjust elevation" in the smartphone app.

 

[RabH]

You probably do not connect your Wahoo to your Giant e-bike?

There is no way to connect them and I wouldn't want to anyway if there was, I'm happy to have them work independently!

 

[DaveMatthews]

It was already 27 C by the time we started our ride this morning but a light breeze blowing from the south made it rather tolerable. I decided to slow my pace a little and save some energy for a planned ride in the afternoon on the local trails.

A good mornin’ to you too. Virtually every cyclist who we encounter is likely to give a familiar nod, wave, smile or even utter a friendly hello. That doesn’t apply to motorists some of who can be darn right rude which includes being intentionally coal rolled yesterday by a local yahoo in his beater pickup as we made our way home.

View attachment 160371
Wipeout is one of three LBS that cater to the cycling community and it just so happens that they are the only Specialized dealer in town. Like most other shops here, they switch to ski service in the winter. The husband and wife duo continue to have a loyal following even after a larger out-of-town competitor opened up shop just blocks away.

View attachment 160372

When my better half assumes the tuck position, you can bet that she usually means business.

View attachment 160373

After a lunch it was time to hit the local trails but I decided that it was way too hot out to ride them all and only completed three of five. 30 minutes into the ride it felt like Hades and I headed straight for the forest singles where I knew there would be shelter from the blazing sun.

View atop the bluff on the Bench Trail.

View attachment 160374

This fellow near the shoreline had the right idea as he and his pup were taking full advantage of the cooling waters of the river.

View attachment 160375
An aerial view of Three Mile Bend, the surrounding parkland and beyond. It’s also home to a large dog park and a great system of walking trails/bike paths.

View attachment 160376

Exiting the Bench Trail and a usual stopover at this no name pond.

View attachment 160377
View attachment 160378
View attachment 160379
View attachment 160380

A bit further to go before crossing the span over to the other side of the river and eventually making my way over to the Pines singletrack.

View attachment 160381

I glanced across the road over at the entrance to the local MTB park but it was just way too hot out to even consider riding it today.

View attachment 160384

My final run in the Pines before pushing off towards home.

View attachment 160382

Nothing beats rafting or kayaking down the river on a hot summer day.

View attachment 160383

Glorious!
I haven't been coal rolled... yet... But I've had numerous asshats come WAAAAYYYY too close to me for absolutely no reason. What are these idiots missing in their lives that makes them think that it's "fun" or something?

 

[dodgeman]

It is "Adjust elevation" in the smartphone app.

Stefan my menu looks identical except there is no adjust elevation choice.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode 16 miles and took a picture of an old church bell on display outside the church and some more old farm implements landscaping.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Glorious!
I haven't been coal rolled... yet... But I've had numerous asshats come WAAAAYYYY too close to me for absolutely no reason. What are these idiots missing in their lives that makes them think that it's "fun" or something?

They seem to grow on trees out here but I have to admit that’s the first time I’ve been a victimized while on a bike. A blatantly crude and obnoxious act and these knuckle dragging morons have absolutely no concern or respect for others who share the road, in particular cyclists. Like you, we’ve also had a few close calls with drivers who don’t allow for sufficient side margins even when there is clearly an open stretch of road ahead of them.