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

I tried those cheap brakes on the bike today, mostly fine, but they overheated on a very long, supersteep descent.
Only got 160mm rotors, so cant complain really.
 
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The elevation chart seems benign enough, but trust me when I say if you weren't going up, you were going down. Usually at a breakneck speed. Even with an ebike - of which there were many in the crowd of 200+ cyclists at the ride - it was a tough ride. And that was on the paved roads. I heard the gravel routes were even rougher.

We were sent off at 9am sharp, 200+ strong, an endless line of colorful cycling shirts and sleek bikes taking over the roads in a choreography of spinning wheels,,spinning pedals, and happy grins.
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But the views! Oh, the views! Rappahannock County, Virginia snuggles up to the spectacular Shenandoah National Park, and shares the rolling foothills of the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains that form the backbone of one of America's first, and most popular, national parks.
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The day was spectacular, too. I don't know who called in the favor from the weather gods, but the temps and sunshine were simply perfect. Cool enough to ride off without a jacket, but just on the edge of needing it packed in the panniers. My jacket stayed in those panniers the entire 34 miles because, after a summer of excruciating heat and humidity, I was jubilant with the delicious Autumn coolness and didn't want to hide from it.

This is one of my favorite charity rides with a great organization hosting the ride, and a crowd of happy, friendly cyclists out to enjoy the rural roads and the views. Oh, the views!!

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This older gentleman was going to pause to let me take a shot of the scenery, but i told him I wanted him in the shot as well. He looked really beat from the ride already (we were about 8 miles from the finish) but gave me a generous smile, and obliged.
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Stopping midway to take a photo. Don't remember where exactly, but I do remember the mountains being much closer and much higher than my camera recorded. You can't see it in the photo, but the foreground is a steeply rolling set of slopes heading down to a dry run. There was a big farm tractor parked under the tree, quietly waiting for its owner to return to continue moving the line of round haybales, one by one, into a barn just beyond the boundaries of this photo. But it was the mountains I wanted to remember. No matter what this photo implies, those mountains were big!

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The 34/60 mile route co-joined the entire 34 miles except at one juncture the 60 mile route looped in some adjacent roads before reconnecting with the 34. As the sign above testifies, we were cruising along roads that had seen a major part of the American Civil War played out in the early 1860s. So strange to look over this peaceful, bucolic landscape and think about a war taking place a century and a half ago on these very fields

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George Washington, the American general who lead the colonial revolt against the British crown in 1776, was still alive, but barely as he would die 3 years later, when this town was founded. George had become such a hero to his nation as it's leading general and first President, that a venerable blizzard of towns founded in the early 1900s the US were graced with his name. 31 counties, 241 townships, and at least 94 towns are called Washington. His entrenchment in our society is pretty much unshakable. That man's memory is everywhere.

Shortly after the above picture was taken, the road climbed one of steepest, longest hills on the route. I wasn't about to challenge that hill's authority, so the bike went into turbo mode until the parking lot was in sight.

The perfect ending to a perfect day.

The guy parked next to us had a unique method of packing his bike (with a hub motor) in his BMW convertible. It was entertaining to watch him unpack, and later repack his bike, while happily chatting with us the entire time. I took a whole series of photos of his car performing a venerable ballet of automated top folding and trunk closing duets that was mesmerizing to watch. He was quite funny, trying to remember how he had packed everything to begin with, all the while complaining his back was killing him and he didn't know why. Mine was too, a bit, so it had to be from climbing the endless hills.
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My new Rivian electric truck was a joy to drive the 100+ mile round trip to the ride site, and looked quite smashing with the Gazelle ebike. We had quite a few people come up to see the truck, and they all got a kick out of seeing the bike painted the same color.
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It was a spectacular ride, spectacular morning, spectacular start to the Fall cycling season.

Next week is the Gravel Grinder. I'm signed up for the metric century, and luckily for me the first aid station is a half mile from our farm so I can slip on home to swap batteries, which means I won't have to carry an extra. My neighbor has entered in the 22 mile family group ride, so we'll do the first part of the ride together before I head off on the longer route. The forecast for next Saturday is calling for rain. If the weather turns miserable I'll drop to the half metric century and stick closer to home.
 
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E-Bike Touring, Or A Failed Gravel Group Ride

I'll tell you what: Give me gravel, cobblestone or a decent forest fire road and I will ride it. I won't ride damaged dirt roads full of puddles or sand or tree-roots. I won't ride technical singletrack (especially one located above a ravine!) If I wanted riding off-road, I would be still riding an e-MTB but I intentionally got rid off my e-MTB! :)

The planned 140 km gravel group ride with good friends (including my brother) turned out to be too difficult to me! Not only a big part of the route was unrideable for me (Vado 6.0) but it also required high speed off-road, and I am not into it anymore! As soon as I realized what terrain we would be riding, I gave my brother a phone call and told him I'd rather ride the trip alone, based on my own terms (So the Gravel Cycling route became an E-Bike Touring one, with the same Points of Interest).

Not that the E-Bike Touring route in the Gostynin Lakes area was much easier... Not. :D

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There were five of us in the beginning of the ride (the fifth rider Ania was taking this photo).

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The first trouble: Carrying my heavy Vado (with panniers!) over the railroad under reconstruction. A construction worker helped me get through the obstacle.

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My route was almost theirs (we rode through the same POI) only they rode off-road (slowly) while I could take same highway (fast). The last time I caught up with them was Gostynin but later the group and I got completely separated.

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Despite the change of my ride plan, I was forced riding hard terrain, like sand, tree roots or this singletrack located above a ravine. (Needless to say I escaped that singletrack!) :D

At some place, I realized the whole ride became unrealistic! The trains from Łowicz depart every two hours (!!!), and there was a long distance to be covered against massive headwind! I replanned the route again and started fighting. It was one of the hardest rides I can remember!

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Several kilometres to Łowicz. I went Turbo at that time, no time to waste!

As I hit the Łowicz McDonald's at 17:30, I quicky assessed the situation. The train would depart at 18:00 but the train station was as far as 3 kilometres away! I think it was the fastest eating of hamburgers in my life, and good tea went to waste! Then I pedalled in Turbo to just get on the train, buy the ticket online, and I was saved! (Needless to say the group got onto the 19:58 train, and they were at their homes at night).

Once I got off the train in Płochocin, I realised I had another 9 km to pedal home... A good day, honestly. Only I cannot ride together with gravel cycling groups anymore. Not on my heavy Vado!

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My struggle in the lake-land.

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129 km (80 mi), 440 m (1400 ft) elevation gain, 5 h 50 min pedalling (total for the ride).
 
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I love fireroads and gravel, been binge watching 'keep smiling adventures', a complete machine of a man who crosses britain offroad bikepacking.

He covers five times my distance in a day on a pedal bike.
Its so intoxicating to watch him ride through the remote scottish highlands , no suspension, gravel tyres on bridleways and fireroads.
The Welsh 100 mile gravel trail passes near here and Ive seen a few riders, tent on handlebars.

Ive still got full mtb in my bones, but I know that I'll soon lose the strength for it ..and I know the bike I'll be buying/building.
 
Gosh, so sorry to hear about your planned ride, Stefan. You were smart to reevaluate and re-plan, even if it meant separating from the group to do your own thing by yourself.

The Vado is an amazingly strong ebike, but it is honestly designed for commuting. You were pretty brave to take it cross country out of its elements, especially if you were packing along an additional battery. It is a heavy bike even without a 2nd battery being carried.
 
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My wife and I decided to drive up to Burlington on Friday and revisit the Island Line Trail. The Local Motion ferry that crosses the 200’ gap only runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Labor Day until Indigenous People Day, so Friday seemed to be the best day.

We had a good meal on Grand Isle before heading back to Burlington. You couldn’t ask for better riding weather and nicer people. It is a unique riding experience.


 
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The gusty winds were gone today although I had a 20mph SE wind to contend with, just a breeze compared to my last ride! Heavy rain was forecast around 1pm so I set off at 7am hoping to get a 70 miler in before the rain arrived! I decided to take the headwind on and had Kirknewton as my turning point, using main roads today as it was a Sunday! I passed through Allanton and joined the main A71 which is very busy with trucks on a week day, at this early hour I hardly even saw a car for quite a few miles!

Conditions were misty and overcast but thankfully dry, this road is great to ride when its quiet!

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I stayed on the A71 all the way to Kirknewton and even going through the busy town of Livingstone there were very few cars, I guess people were having a nice lie in on a chilly Sunday and I wasn't complaining! I passed RAF Kirknewton and there were quite a few gliders parked up in the airfield but I guess I was too early to catch the action this time! From here I turned west on to the main A70 and seconds after I joined the road a BMW M3 rocketed past at over 100mph (the speed limit is 60mph), he must have passed the Kirknewton junction at high speed....total moron!

The Pentland Hills to the south were shrouded in cloud today!

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To the SW I could actually see some blue sky for the first time on my ride!

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Another mile or so and the sun made a welcome appearance!

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I was hoping to have a nice tailwind here but because I was heading SW it was still a bit of a slog and I was feeling it in my legs! This hill is hard going but a switch to level 3 assist sorted that out!

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The Harperrig reservoir now came into view, this is the view to the south!

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I reached the far end of the reservoir and was enjoying some nice downhill now, this view is looking east!

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As you can guess from this photo the sun was short lived and the wind was blowing those clouds my way! Some nice descending for a mile or so before the climbing started again, up to almost 1200ft! Soon I would be enjoying the best part of the A70 down into Carnwath, the road twists and turns quite a bit and the downhills like this are just so much fun! :D

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A lot of trees have been felled here recently but they are planting new ones, it must be quite a task!

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I arrived in Carnwath and finally had the wind right at my back, it was most welcome I can tell you! Thankfully it was still dry as I was getting worried about the clouds hanging over the Pentland Hills!

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It was time to climb again but much easier with that 20mph wind at my back, I was nearing Kilncadzow and looking forward to the fast descent into Carluke! The Tinto Hills to the south were also shrouded in clouds!

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I shot down the descent at Carluke at 43mph with that wind behind me, the speed limit is 40mph oops! I was passing through Carluke and spotted a 3 wheeler bike with full sized wheels, not seen one of them for many years! No electric so it must have been hard work as he was travelling into the wind! I then took the back roads from Carluke to Allanton and tackled the big climb up to Kirk of Shotts, its a real beast of a climb but near the top I turned on to the narrow back road towards Cleland and had the wind at my back again! This road was fully resurfaced a couple of months ago and it was a real blast to ride and apart from one short ascent its all flat or downhill!😁

I arrived home and could feel the rain on my face as I turned on to my street, put the bike away and had my shower and looked out to see the rain pouring down, I sure got lucky! I noticed I only have 5 miles to go to reach 28000 miles, I could have done another 5 miles easily but would have got soaked...next time!;)

@Stefan Mikes You made the right decision to abort, no fun riding in those conditions with the wrong bike!

@Readytoride I'm glad you got perfect riding conditions, you were surely due a break!
 

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put the bike away and had my shower and looked out to see the rain pouring down, I sure got lucky!
You were more than lucky! Next time buy a lottery ticket in the last town you fly through, and then tell us later how much you've won! You might find that you've hit the jackpot ! 😎😆

As always, gorgeous photos. Instantly reminded me of my ride yesterday. Scenic no matter which way you turn. But it's your speed downhill that has me in awe. 😵‍💫 I am NOT that brave!😋
 
@Readytoride and @RabH: Thank you so much for your kind words! I plan participating in a big gravel ride on Sep 24th but that would be the Vado SL, the terrain I'm familiar with, and no need to ride with the main group!

Today, a close friend inspected my Specialized helmet. He discovered a big and long crack as the outcome of my Mazovian Gravel bad crash on asphalt. The helmet has fulfilled its role, and now I can treat it as a wall ornament :) Fortunately, I own more helmets! :)

Sunday was a long and pleasant day spent riding with friends in Warsaw with warm & beautiful weather! A small report may come :)
 
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You were more than lucky! Next time buy a lottery ticket in the last town you fly through, and then tell us later how much you've won! You might find that you've hit the jackpot ! 😎😆

As always, gorgeous photos. Instantly reminded me of my ride yesterday. Scenic no matter which way you turn. But it's your speed downhill that has me in awe. 😵‍💫 I am NOT that brave!😋
I might be lucky on the bike but lotteries are a different matter, maybe thats why they are called lotteries... 😂 My bike just loves speed, it was made for it and is super stable so I never feel out of control on it! It puts a smile on my face every ride!👍Still pouring here also and it won't stop until Thursday, maybe a little sun between the rain if we are lucky!;)
 
Still pouring here also and it won't stop until Thursday, maybe a little sun between the rain if we are lucky
Still raining here, too, but tomorrow afternoon is expected to be sunny. I'll be out with my Giant and it's trash trailer cleaning up any road litter from the short route that will be used this coming Saturday. Tuesday I'll add and clean the miles for the longer route. Wednesday and Thursday will be doing the sections of the 70 mile route that I hadn't covered previously. I plan to be on my bike everyday this week, doing my civic duty.😊
 
An Unplugged Family Ride In Warsaw

Sunday was a low assistance day. Riding my Vado at 35% assistance in no wind conditions, I completed my ride to the "Frigate" restaurant bar (26 km) in about an hour. Having had a lunch, I invited Howard (Darek) and his family to come for a chat (they live nearby). To my surprise, the whole family (Howard, Karina and teen Kira) appeared on bicycles! I demanded what plans they had and whether I could join them, yes. As we had to ride rather slowly, Howard and I had the assistance in our e-bikes off. (Howard rides my Lovelec, and he could become the proud owner of the e-bike on one day).

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On one of Warsaw's sand beaches. Warsaw is a rare city that has natural sand beaches on her river shore! (You know from my other posts Mazovia is not short of sand, haha!) :)

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Waiting for a free (!!!) water tram. During this season, there are still 3 free water trams operating in Warsaw.

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A rather unusual boat on her cruise on the Vistula.

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The Poniatowski Bridge, one of eleven Warsaw Vistula bridges accessible to the public. We are going to have a dozen of them as soon as the Trzaskowski's MUP Bridge is completed.

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Each of the water trams can host up to 27 passengers, and a number of bikes. The next passengers are waiting ashore.

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Warsaw water trams are named after birds. This one is "Wagtail". See the steep stairs. Trust me, the Walk Mode of my Vado works like a dream! I had a sensation as if a strong man was carrying my Vado by the rear rack; I turned back and there was nobody helping me! :D

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The family happily climbing the Markiewicz (Karowa St) Viaduct.

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The viaduct is decorated with historical sculptures. One of several Warsaw Mermaids here...

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...And Mr. Vistula there. Basically, "river" is feminine in Polish (with a few exceptions), so we think of the Vistula as of a woman. However, the historical artist explicitly named his sculpture "Mr. Vistula" (Perhaps it was different in them olden days?)

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The Viaduct is a popular site for wedding photography. See the bride (or perhaps a bridesmaid?) riding an electric scooter! :D

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The happy family completing their climb to get onto the Cracow Suburb St., or the promenade of Warsaw.

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We said our good-byes in the New World, or the most elegant of Warsaw streets. I went in Kufle and Kapsle (Beer Mugs & Bottle Caps) craft beer pub, and took a bottle of an excellent alcohol-free IPA by name of "Unplugged".

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I was competing for the access to the toilet with a man. He looked at me and shook my hand! I looked at him and said: "Paweł?" The guy is telling me we knew each other a dozen years ago. Now, he is my FB friend, and I could recognize him because of his good portrait he posted on Facebook! :) A nice man, and a good short chat but I had to ride home!


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A detailed map of the family unplugged ride.

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I rode home at only 20% of assistance, and then had to take my Vado SL at 30% assistance to buy some Coke Zero. Total of 61 km for the day. I'm slacking! :D


I am now trying to ride my e-bikes at really low assistance. I'm hoping to get my legs somewhat stronger, as I dream of this boy for the distant future...

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Specialized Diverge Expert E5 EVO ♥️
 
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Got out for 48km ride just before the haze settled in from the wildfires. A welcome wave from a fellow roadie along RR 270.

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Then we headed west along the freshly paved MacKenzie Road after waiting for months due to construction. Good to have our usual route back.

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Hit the round-a-bout and rode sout along RR 273 to Hwy 42 before returning back to home base.

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More cows. Deja Moo.
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Rode the Estuary trail again because the wife decided the climachx black mtb trail was too much for her gravel bike.

Road along in pretty dank conditions.
What a place to live.
The wife was 'its lovely.'
Im 'Its a mud pit'.
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Rode to Fairbourne, which one of those desolate, end of track seaside resorts at the wrong end of the beach.
Its got a mini golf course, a tiny tourist steam train, but still feels like the end of the road .
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The wife ever optimistic, tried to big it up, it is probably a lot nicer in the sun and I was just being miserable.
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But then I hade the right to be, my uncharged from the last ride battery died and I had to pedal my tank 8 miles back against a headwind in the rain.
Surprisingly I outpaced the wife and shes still confused by that outcome and not entirely sure I actually had no battery.
I think the 45psi in the tyres helped.
These Canadian geese look like theyre wondering what they are doing here themselves.
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The weather forecast this is a mixture of sunny spells and rain. Back to normal.

I had a parcel to post, so went to the nearest Yodel drop off point, which is a garage about 6 miles away.

Dropped off the parcel and then did a bit of a circular tour of the the local villages.
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DG…
 
Took a ride out to Milton Keynes today, to explore new areas.
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The weather was a bit cooler as of late, around 18oC ( 64oC). However, the wind was very strong, blowing at 24 mph (38 kph) and gusting at 44 mph (70.4 kph). Out of the wind wasn’t too bad, but in the head wind, I had to use Turbo at times. Made it quite difficult at times and nearly blew me off the bike on more than one occasion

Plenty of debris from trees all around.
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I have noticed recently that there is a blight in Milton Keynes. In that, these e-scooters and e-bikes you can rent are just dumped all over the place.

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DG…
 
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I have noticed recently that there is a blight in Milton Keynes. In that, these e-scooters and e-bikes you can rent are just dumped all over the place.
They’ve become so prevalent around here which is one of the reasons why I avoid riding the MUPs. I’ve seen them thrown in creek beds and even along some of the local trails that I ride. I realize that these rental scooters have been deemed an environmentally friendly and convenient way of getting around particularly for those without vehicles or bikes but it’s almost reached a point where they have become an unsightly menace. Thankfully, we only have to deal with this issue during the summer months. That being said, I think that privately owned e-scooters certainly have their place due in part that they are owner operated though most who I’ve seen riding never think twice about wearing a helmet and the potential consequences of their decisions.

We still experience gorgeous Summer here. Yes it rained a little today. Except some days, there is a rare time of very calm winds now... (Jealous?) :)
Same here albeit somewhat chillier on some mornings so waiting a few hours for it to warm up is a small sacrifice to pay. Rain is in the forecast tomorrow but the remainder of the week looks promising. Wind, on the other hand, has been brutal and to make matters worse it can shift during mid ride. Not much one can do but tuck and keep the cadence up. The Missus and I will often take turns drafting which helps significantly.
 
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