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

[Prairie Dog]

Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

So beautiful... what a nice ride/hike!

 

[Prairie Dog]

So beautiful... what a nice ride/hike!

Yup, bike and hike would be an apt title for the ride. I counted at least a half dozen analog riders who were heading up Prairie View and more than likely all were riding back down Jewell Pass at the very top where they would encounter very few to no hikers as it makes for a longer return route to the Barrier Lake Dam.

 

[JGcycle]

Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

Amazing views--thanks for sharing.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The day has come...

I got up at 3:30 am in a slight attack of panic Several people have responded to my "call to arms" and are expected on the morning train to Skierniewice Rawka for the group ride I would be leading on my Vado SL! The weather forecast for Skierniewice is rather good: sunny, cold (9-11 C), strong wind from NW (that's why we will be riding in the forest to have the wind supressed). I have made people aware of the conditions so they would put proper clothes on! I also ensured them we would be riding at a relaxed speed, no hurry, and that I would not expect any of the participants to be a competing gravel cyclist, only I asked them to wear a helmet and have water and snacks with them. (Sunday in Poland is almost like Sunday in Germany: everything is closed except very small stores and petrol stations). Nobody is requested to ride a gravel bike: wider tyres will do!

Let us see what the future holds!

A 60 km ride plan. I have put all my knowledge and experience to make the group ride possibly easy and nice!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Amazing views--thanks for sharing.

Thanks JG. If my fall yard work to-do list doesn’t get in the way, I’m hoping to head out for one last ride at the mountain parks before it gets too cold.

 

[RabH]

Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

You know if it looks steep on camera, it's STEEP I'm knackered after watching that... What a place though, truly spectacular!

We had almost 40 hours of incessant rain here, it finally stopped a couple of hours ago! I'm hoping to do a nice ride tomorrow in light winds for a change, 10% chance of rain so I'll take those odds...

 

[Chargeride]

Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

Beautiful, what gopro are you using.

I follow a guy whos now using the 11 with the max mod.
The colours and stabilisation in the thick woods is fantastic.

 

[dodgeman]

I’m back in the saddle again. I rode 14 miles into town to the drugstore looking for allergy medicine, which none of them had. We took a long vacation to Idaho and Montana that lasted almost a month. We also got sick in the middle of it, maybe Covid but who knows for sure so I didn’t feel like riding when we first got home. We stayed a couple nights in a little town called St. Mary on the east side of Glacier Park. We ran into 4 bicyclists who had ridden the going to the sun road that day. It’s about 50 miles and a lot of climbing. After driving the road a couple days later that has to be a scary bike ride, it’s pretty narrow in places and a lot of traffic. They were going to ride two more days and take a different route to get back to their starting point.

I didn’t get any pictures of my ride today but a couple from our vacation.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I’m back in the saddle again. I rode 14 miles into town to the drugstore looking for allergy medicine, which none of them had. We took a long vacation to Idaho and Montana that lasted almost a month. We also got sick in the middle of it, maybe Covid but who knows for sure so I didn’t feel like riding when we first got home. We stayed a couple nights in a little town called St. Mary on the east side of Glacier Park. We ran into 4 bicyclists who had ridden the going to the sun road that day. It’s about 50 miles and a lot of climbing. After driving the road a couple days later that has to be a scary bike ride, it’s pretty narrow in places and a lot of traffic. They were going to ride two more days and take a different route to get back to their starting point.

I didn’t get any pictures of my ride today but a couple from our vacation.
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Gorgeous. Looks like there might be some awesome trails to ride there but no barns to speak of. Sorry to hear about your setback but it’s nice to know that your well again.

 

[Prairie Dog]

You know if it looks steep on camera, it's STEEP I'm knackered after watching that... What a place though, truly spectacular!

We had almost 40 hours of incessant rain here, it finally stopped a couple of hours ago! I'm hoping to do a nice ride tomorrow in light winds for a change, 10% chance of rain so I'll take those odds...

Next time I’ll try and convince a buddy of mine to come along as an extra pair of hands would have made quick work of hauling heavier bikes up to the lookout. Riding back down the pass would be recompense for those who can do so on their own.

A bit of wind and damp weather has never slowed you down and you’ve never failed to disappoint.

I follow a guy whos now using the 11 with the max mod.
The colours and stabilisation in the thick woods is fantastic.

I still rely on my Hero 9 for the bulk of my solo vids. An Insta360 comes in handy at times in certain scenarios. I think @RabH would do us proud if he were to capture footage of his rides and those stunning Scottish landscapes.

 

[RabH]

Next time I’ll try and convince a buddy of mine to come along as an extra pair of hands would have made quick work of hauling heavier bikes up to the lookout. Riding back down the pass would be recompense for those who can do so on their own.

A bit of wind and damp weather has never slowed you down and you’ve never failed to disappoint.


I still rely on my Hero 9 for the bulk of my solo vids. An Insta360 comes in handy at times in certain scenarios. I think @RabH would do us proud if he were to capture footage of his rides and those stunning Scottish landscapes.

Not much choice here, if I didn't go out in windy weather I would be stuck indoors a lot! I'm a poor pensioner so its not gonna happen I'm afraid!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Five Of Bolimów
Or, My Almost Unpowered (!!!) Gravel Group Ride

Five of us gathered just before 10 am on Sunday morning: Grzegorz (my old gravel buddy), Wojtek, Justyna, and Mariusz. Grzegorz and Wojtek are strong younger men, Justyna has just bought her nice hybrid Scott bicycle, and Mariusz is a senior riding a gravel bike. The weather was beautiful as for the early October (we have a bad slang name for the month related to cold winds...) It was sunny for the whole ride, the strong wind was as suppressed by the trees as it did not slow us on the headwind part of the ride but helped on the tailwind part; and even if it was cold, it did not really feel cold. A wonderful day!

As I told you earlier, almost everything is closed in Poland on Sundays. Before we really set off for the ride, we visited the Żabka ("Little Frog") grocery store (similar to 7-Eleven) that is a life saver for cyclists on Sundays and public holidays. Yes, we had to eat before the trip!

The day was very important to me. It had soon turned out Justyna and Mariusz could not ride fast. Wojtek and Grzegorz kept with the group to be polite and show respect, and I... switched off the assistance on my Vado SL soon and travelled on my own leg power as everybody else was doing! And I could do it! It has been a real breakthrough to me as I realized I could ride unassisted, only at far lower speed! My Vado SL felt as any traditional bicycle, and I discovered I could pedal it pretty hard! Perhaps I'm not lost to traditional cycling yet?

What a shame! The photos from the Bolimów Lake have turned out to be out-of-focus! All of them!

A word about the surfaces we rode. I need to proudly report I planned the trip perfectly. It was only premium gravel and asphalt (with a little bit of grass along the lake).

My companions on the gravel-highway, fire-road #33.

Because of malnutrition and cold, our female companion hit the wall. I motivated her promising we would reach an ice-cream shop soon, and we did!

Ice-cream, waffles, coffee, warmth. Soon, Justyna said she was ready to go for the next 15 km loop of the ride!

As we were returning from the Loop #2, I started worrying about the return train. I knew the trains were departing every hour, and the time would be 26 minutes past the full hour. I had to motivate the slow riders, so I was calling out the kilometres left We made it at the last moment as the railroad barriers started closing!

I need to re-iterate I did most of the trip on my own leg power Now, I started thinking: Why should I buy me a new traditional bicycle? I own a Vado SL. It is just made and adjusted for me! I burned as much of calories on the 60 km trip as I would on a 100 km of assisted SL ride! The Mazovian Gravel 2024? I would just remove the internal battery and report riding unassisted to the organizers! I already do own a traditional bike, the Vado SL!

A very very important day to me!

You might be interested to hear what happened to the Saturday's group ride of Adam: He brought people into the rough terrain during rainfall and strong cold wind... I could see the pictures: No-one was smiling but Adam A real Ordeal of Legionowo!

 

[Chargeride]

90m elevation, total for the whole ride?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

90m elevation, total for the whole ride?

It is possible, Charge! The elevation gain has been reported by Strava (Wahoo reported 303 m). The Forest is totally flat, and we had perhaps a single easy climb. It was also several metres to climb onto the Lake embankment. As I said before, the Bolimów Forest was a "gravel cyclist paradise". No climbs, and it is possible to ride very fast there provided the ride plan is made well. It is very easy to plan a 100 km ride there made of two big loops

Again, I am not sure. Another 100 km ride had 210 m elevation gain there...

 

[Chargeride]

Amazing, its very flat around here, only 60m max height in Sefton where I live, but in 40 miles I'd struggle to stay that flat.
Unless I rode the beach shoreline there and back

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Amazing, its very flat around here, only 60m max height in Sefton where I live, but in 40 miles I'd struggle to stay that flat.
Unless I rode the beach shoreline there and back

Poland has montane or undulated areas, of course. There is a very interesting area in the Poland's north-east called Sudovia (around the city of Suwałki), near to Lithuania. People say you do not need to go to the high mountains: it is enough to take a trip to Sudovia

 

[DaveMatthews]

I’m back in the saddle again. I rode 14 miles into town to the drugstore looking for allergy medicine, which none of them had. We took a long vacation to Idaho and Montana that lasted almost a month. We also got sick in the middle of it, maybe Covid but who knows for sure so I didn’t feel like riding when we first got home. We stayed a couple nights in a little town called St. Mary on the east side of Glacier Park. We ran into 4 bicyclists who had ridden the going to the sun road that day. It’s about 50 miles and a lot of climbing. After driving the road a couple days later that has to be a scary bike ride, it’s pretty narrow in places and a lot of traffic. They were going to ride two more days and take a different route to get back to their starting point.

I didn’t get any pictures of my ride today but a couple from our vacation.
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That middle pic is brilliant!
Glad to hear you're feeling better.

 

[Prairie Dog]

It was sunny for the whole ride, the strong wind was as suppressed by the trees as it did not slow us on the headwind part of the ride but helped on the tailwind part; and even if it was cold, it did not really feel cold. A wonderful day!

It looks rather cool on your side of the pond Stefan but an enjoyable ride nevertheless. We hit a high of 24 C for the second day in a row and we’ll gladly take it as I’m sure temps will begin to trend downward after the long weekend.

We rode 55 km today in almost idyllic conditions accentuated by fall colors. Not a cloud in the sky with light winds from the SE and as a bonus there was little road traffic to speak of. I presume most have completed travelling to their destinations and are likely dining on turkey and stuffing.

As we headed out near the city limits, we passed this cute couple on their ebikes wearing matching helmets and HiVis wear.

For some this long weekend, work simply doesn't end after the harvest.

Not much else to say other than I hope everyone stays healthy and keep the rubber side down.

 

[PatriciaK]

It looks rather cool on your side of the pond Stefan but an enjoyable ride nevertheless. We hit a high of 24 C for the second day in a row and we’ll gladly take it as I’m sure temps will begin to trend downward after the long weekend.

We rode 55 km today in almost idyllic conditions accentuated by fall colors. Not a cloud in the sky with light winds from the SE and as a bonus there was little road traffic to speak of. I presume most have completed travelling to their destinations and are likely dining on turkey and stuffing.

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As we headed out near the city limits, we passed this cute couple on their ebikes wearing matching helmets and HiVis wear.

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For some this long weekend, work simply doesn't end after the harvest.

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Not much else to say other than I hope everyone stays healthy and keep the rubber side down.

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Hope you had a happy thanksgiving!