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

Taylor57 said:
Gorgeous. Can ya fish in Barrier Lake?
Click to expand...
Yes. The lake is stocked with browns and rainbows but apparently changes in water levels in the reservoir make catch rates relatively low when fishing from the shoreline. I’ve seen people casting their lines out from small boats but not sure how successful they were at hooking onto one.

RabH said:
@Prairie Dog What a spectacular ride, not my terrain but it sure was worth it for those incredible views!👌I'm glad your weekend weather is promising, I hope you have a great ride!
Click to expand...
With excellent weather in the forecast, we’ll likely be sticking to local roads as the Thanksgiving weekend usually means people will be heading out on the roads in droves. I was stuck in traffic returning home on the QE 2 for almost an hour yesterday as traffic was backed up due to road bridge construction. With so many travelling on Friday in hope of getting an early start, it only made it worse.
 
Took a trip out today to Sawtry, Huntingdonshire in the Fens as Mrs DG had the day off. This reclaimed land from the sea, which was drained about 400 years ago and is now good farming land.
IMG_2476.jpeg


At one stage we were going along a road between two fields, which was over four miles, straight as an arrow and, showing on the Nyon screen, some three feet (1 m) below sea level. This was actually a hard part of the ride as we were cycling directly in to a 25 mph (40 kph) head wind, so had to use the EMTB just to make headway. Fortunately, it wasn’t a cold wind, the temperature being around 22 degrees C (73 degrees F).

Some sights along the way;
WW2 Pillbox at Ramsey Forty Foot
IMG_2475.jpeg


Ramsey Church and area
IMG_2473.jpeg
IMG_2472.jpeg


DG…
 
Last edited:
DiggyGun said:
Took a trip out today to Sawtry, Huntingdonshire in the Fens as Mrs DG had the day off. This reclaimed land from the sea, which was drained about 400 years ago and is now good farming land.
View attachment 164193

At one stage we were going along a road between two fields, which was over four miles, straight as an arrow and, showing on the Nyon screen, some three feet below sea level. This was actually a hard part of the ride as we were cycling directly in to a 25 mph head wind, so had to use the EMTB just to make headway.

Some sights along the way;
WW2 Pillbox at Ramsey Forty Foot
View attachment 164194

Ramsey Church and area
View attachment 164195View attachment 164196

DG…
Click to expand...
Love the bench!
 
DaveMatthews said:
So beautiful... what a nice ride/hike!
Click to expand...
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.
 
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! :)

1696732586386.png

A 60 km ride plan. I have put all my knowledge and experience to make the group ride possibly easy and nice!
 
Last edited:
Prairie Dog said:
Accompanying video footage of yesterday’s solo out-and-back ride along the Prairie View Trail.

Click to expand...
You know if it looks steep on camera, it's STEEP :eek: 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...;)
 
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.
IMG_2398.jpeg
IMG_2371.jpeg
IMG_2444.jpeg
 
dodgeman said:
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.
View attachment 164232View attachment 164233View attachment 164234
Click to expand...
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.
 
RabH said:
You know if it looks steep on camera, it's STEEP :eek: 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...;)
Click to expand...
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. 👍

Chargeride said:
I follow a guy whos now using the 11 with the max mod.
The colours and stabilisation in the thick woods is fantastic.
Click to expand...
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. :cool:
 
Prairie Dog said:
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. :cool:
Click to expand...
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! 😂
 
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!

1696801430003.png

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? :)

1696801829951.png

1696801847108.png

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).

1696802119941.png

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

1696802230757.png

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!

1696802385641.png

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!

1696803031706.png

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 :D A real Ordeal of Legionowo! :)
 
Last edited:
Chargeride said:
90m elevation, total for the whole ride?
Click to expand...
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...
 
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 😋
 
Chargeride said:
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 😋
Click to expand...
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 :D

1696834320334.png
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back