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

[Stefan Mikes]

Getting up on Saturday at 5 a.m. to start in the Mazovian Gravel race at 9:05 CET.

The text on the T-shirt reads 'Gravel Turns Me On'

Wish me a safe journey! It is 160 miles in two days!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Go get em, Stefan! Pretty impressive undertaking, gotta say.

 

[Chargeride]

Too hot for a ride, what I really mean is too many people on the roads and at the nice spots.
So I finally found the slow puncture on my front tyre.

Then I bought some cheap paint and touched everything up, including the chain..Im sure it will be fine .

Found a dead jellyfish or Katie Price has lost one of her implants.
Katie..or Jordan as she is known, is a british carcrash of a celebrity who bounces from one disaster to another and now decided she is going to have the biggest bloobs in England.
Search for her at your own risk

I presume this is the same type of jellyfish

I waved to this guy and he just blanked me, the ever present gulf between ebike and acoustics..or maybe he didnt like the camera.

Havent seen a dead Seal for years, this thing absolutely stank, a putrid, fishy reek that burned into your nostrils.

These notices are new and Im sure its due to those bleedin Surrons being used on the beach and Ive also seen 4x4 tracks ..not that I havent done that myself in my youth, but the beach was open then for motor vehicle use.
Now its all elf and safety, everyone around here over 50 learnt to drive on this beach.

It was so hot, you got that dreamy feeling, like you were transported to a mirage in the Sahara.
I just sat there staring and the heat quiver off the dunes after taking this pic.
The black frame was too hot to touch and the tyres inflated themselves to rock hard.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

The text on the T-shirt reads 'Gravel Turns Me On'

Wish me a safe journey!

Never, ever thought I'd hear a non-geologist say that.

Have a great, safe ride! As far as I'm concerned, you're Team EBR there. Looking forward to the report.

 

[Taylor57]

That's just @RAB and a very few others doing the mega miles , plenty of casual riders on EBR won't clock anywhere near that many miles ... I don't even put that many miles on a car in a year.

I would be embarrassed to say what my odometers read on my bikes compared to some of the go getters on EBR!

 

[Art Deco]

I would be embarrassed to say what my odometers read on my bikes compared to some of the go getters on EBR!

Like @RAB Said " As long as you enjoy it ..."

 

[Art Deco]

Too hot for a ride, what I really mean is too many people on the roads and at the nice spots.
So I finally found the slow puncture on my front tyre.
View attachment 156100


Then I bought some cheap paint and touched everything up, including the chain..Im sure it will be fine .
View attachment 156101

Found a dead jellyfish or Katie Price has lost one of her implants.
Katie..or Jordan as she is known, is a british carcrash of a celebrity who bounces from one disaster to another and now decided she is going to have the biggest bloobs in England.
Search for her at your own risk
View attachment 156102


I presume this is the same type of jellyfish
View attachment 156103

I waved to this guy and he just blanked me, the ever present gulf between ebike and acoustics..or maybe he didnt like the camera.
View attachment 156104

Havent seen a dead Seal for years, this thing absolutely stank, a putrid, fishy reek that burned into your nostrils.
View attachment 156105


These notices are new and Im sure its due to those bleedin Surrons being used on the beach and Ive also seen 4x4 tracks ..not that I havent done that myself in my youth, but the beach was open then for motor vehicle use.
Now its all elf and safety, everyone around here over 50 learnt to drive on this beach.
View attachment 156106

It was so hot, you got that dreamy feeling, like you were transported to a mirage in the Sahara.
I just sat there staring and the heat quiver off the dunes after taking this pic.
The black frame was too hot to touch and the tyres inflated themselves to rock hard.
View attachment 156107

Really hate to hit like on that post, but even in the miserable weather, you were out and going. That's worthy of a .

 

[Mulezen]

I could do that mileage if I didn’t need the point of a gun to get up at 5am. I’m satisfied to leave in the morning at ten for a sedate 20miles…and dream of poor Stefan

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I could do that mileage if I didn’t need the point of a gun to get up at 5am. I’m satisfied to leave in the morning at ten for a sedate 20miles…and dream of poor Stefan

Wait, there's another 5??

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I'm up
Everything's (except the nutrients from the fridge) packed. Now I can wait for my transport (Jacek) at 7 am.
Last evening (out of boredom), I have gone through the starting list (both distances, that is, 160 and 300 miles). Out of around 600 riders, 56 are female. Now, the list of the most popular male first names of Poland

Marcin (Martin) 41
Michał (Michael) 38
Piotr (Peter) 37
Tomasz (Thomas) 34
Paweł (Paul) 32
Łukasz (Luke) 24
Jakub or Kuba (James) 19
Jan (John) 19
Maciej (Matthias) 18
Krzysztof (Christopher) 17
Kamil 17
Bartek, Bartosz, Bartłomiej (Bartholomew) 16
Adam 15
Rafał (Raphael) 15
Robert 13
Mateusz (Matthew) 13
Wojciech (Adalbert) 12
Artur (Arthur) 11
Marek (Mark) 11
Grzegorz (Gregory) 10
Andrzej [or Andrii or Andrei: our Eastern neighbours] (Andrew) 9
...
Jacek (Hiacinthus) 8
...
Stefan (Steven) 2
...
Aureliusz (Aurelius) 1.

No single Jerzy (George) or Jeremiasz (Jeremy) in the list!

 

[RabH]

Getting up on Saturday at 5 a.m. to start in the Mazovian Gravel race at 9:05 CET.

View attachment 156092
The text on the T-shirt reads 'Gravel Turns Me On'

Wish me a safe journey! It is 160 miles in two days!

Good luck, Stefan! 160 miles is hard enough on tarmac, gravel is a whole different story so hats off to you!

 

[dodgeman]

I did 15 miles this morning, near perfect weather, 75 degrees and light winds. Another picture looking down the road I just came down. Corn on the left, corn on the right. If we don’t get rain soon it’s not going to look this good for long.

 

[Readytoride]

I'm up

Can't wait to hear how fantastic your Day 1 went!!!!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Meanwhile somewhere in East Mazovia...

I started at 9:05 am in Group 37 (a starting group could be 15 riders max according to the Road Code, mine was eight people).

The pitstop near to the Liw Castle, that is, after the half of the distance to be ridden.

Many adventures! I crashed while still in Warsaw (some 30th kilometre). Minor injuries but it was the helmet that saved my head! ALWAYS WEAR THE HELMET!

A difficult race. The Gravel Tax is expensive here with many surprises planned by the organizers!

151 km ridden on Saturday. According to the last Control Point, i am in the tail of the 255 km race (252 riders) It is the dawn now (4 am). I and Jacek took an overnight stay at a ranch. I'm restarting my ride very soon. Perhaps I wouldn't be the last rider at the finish line?

The full story with pictures later!

 

[pmcdonald]

Well done Stefan! That's an epic undertaking. Hope you survived the crash without any lingering injuries.

90 minutes on a Sunday evening was all I could carve out for a ride this busy weekend. It's the first time I've properly done single-track solo at night. It was a blast! Slightly unnerving at times, but I startled the wildlife as much as they started me.

Fast, flowy track seems to be my preference with this kind of visibility. I was finding it hard to commit to lines on tighter technical trails. Outstanding fun, I just wish I could convince someone to ride with me

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Dearest Friends,

Past 11 am on Sunday, I have completed the Mazovian Gravel race with the distance ridden of 263 km (163 mi) in the net time of 12 h 17 min (gross time 26 hours 48 min).
It was a very difficult race, with the difficulties increasing the more you were into the ride. No boredom whatsoever!

The Polish text reads: 'East Mazovia'.

The results are not final yet but I promise you I left several contenders in the dust I was racing on the second day!

I will be happy to write a decent ride report for you. At the moment, I only dream of a shower and getting some sleep! (The race was just epic).

 

[Art Deco]

Dearest Friends,

Past 11 am on Sunday, I have completed the Mazovian Gravel race with the distance ridden of 263 km (163 mi) in the net time of 12 h 17 min (gross time 26 hours 48 min).
It was a very difficult race, with the difficulties increasing the more you were into the ride. No boredom whatsoever!

View attachment 156170
The Polish text reads: 'East Mazovia'.

The results are not final yet but I promise you I left several contenders in the dust I was racing on the second day!

I will be happy to write a decent ride report for you. At the moment, I only dream of a shower and getting some sleep! (The race was just epic).

Just waiting for your report.

 

[RabH]

Dearest Friends,

Past 11 am on Sunday, I have completed the Mazovian Gravel race with the distance ridden of 263 km (163 mi) in the net time of 12 h 17 min (gross time 26 hours 48 min).
It was a very difficult race, with the difficulties increasing the more you were into the ride. No boredom whatsoever!

View attachment 156170
The Polish text reads: 'East Mazovia'.

The results are not final yet but I promise you I left several contenders in the dust I was racing on the second day!

I will be happy to write a decent ride report for you. At the moment, I only dream of a shower and getting some sleep! (The race was just epic).

Huge congratulations, Stefan! That was an incredible effort, I'm glad you weren't hurt badly in the crash!

No cycling for me today, I was at the British Superbikes race meeting at Knockhill with a big crowd present so it wasn't a day to be cycling!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Final Results of #MG2023, the 255 km gravel race

I took the 248th place, MG250 category (men and women, Open). 283 riders of that category actually started in the race, and 7 of them DNF. It makes 35 contenders behind me Necessary to mention as many as 300 people paid for the participation in the 255 km race but 17 have never showed up.
Could be worse! Like not finishing the race or being last

The red GPS means the rider was penalized with extra time for not riding exactly the mandatory route.

 

[BlackHand]

The Final Results of #MG2023, the 255 km gravel race

I took the 248th place, MG250 category (men and women, Open). 283 riders of that category actually started in the race, and 7 of them DNF. It makes 35 contenders behind me Necessary to mention as many as 300 people paid for the participation in the 255 km race but 17 have never showed up.
Could be worse! Like not finishing the race or being last

View attachment 156184

Congrats! But were you the first or second Stefan across the line?