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

[RabH]

I was hoping to go to the motorcycle racing at Knockhill today but with winds over 30mph I decided to give it a miss, I could have gone in the car but I preferred to get the bike out as the winds weren't as gusty at home! I was hoping to head down the Clyde Valley on my last ride but the weather put paid to that, so that was my first choice today! It was a little nicer shall we say!

I joined the valley road at Carluke and took the awesome descent down to Crossford before turning right at the road end and taking on the big climb up to Blackhill Viewpoint, a real beast of a climb with an average gradient of 9.1%! I stopped part way up for some photos of course and I couldn't get my bike stand to deploy, it wasn't for locking into position for some reason! Thankfully there was a handy kerb available....

A lovely view of the valley and the clouds looked incredible also!

I reached the summit and stopped just before the scary descent, the reason its so scary is the road just drops away on you and there's actually another road just beyond the steepest part so you have to make sure you are able to stop at the junction! I virtually freewheeled it at 43.3mph...

This road then takes you back down into the Clyde Valley at Kirkfieldbank, then its another beast of a climb up to Lanark! Its only 1/2 a mile of ascent but an average gradient of 9.6%! Thankfully I caught Lanark at a quiet time and breezed through without any problems, taking the lovely descent down to the Hyndford Bridge in the valley! Then I joined the main A73 which is a road to be avoided during the week with many massive trucks hammering along it, no problems today though! I found another handy kerb to grab another photo part way along the road, the scenery is lovely all the way along this route with the Tinto Hills on one side and the Pentland Hills on the other!

This is the main Tinto Hill which is very popular on a day like today although I'm sure it was very windy up at over 2300ft!

You can see why I love this road so much here!

A few miles later I was nearing the junction for Symington which then leads to Biggar, the views to the north here are lovely!

I tried my bike stand again and it actually locked down this time, although when I attempted to put it back up it didn't want to stay up so I had to tie it up! (new one now ordered)

The Pentland Hills then came into view!

I reached the bridge over the River Clyde just before the turn off for Biggar and was shocked to see the water so low, especially considering all the rain we have had recently!

A handy wall to support the bike...

I soon arrived in Biggar and would finally have the wind at my back heading north to Carnwath, lots of farms along this road and its a very busy time for the farmers!

This road is just amazing also, lots of climbs and fast descents and twists and turns! Just my kind of road and today the motorbikes were enjoying it also, it has been a long time since I saw so many motorbikes on my cycling roads and you can see why here!

I was soon in Carnwath and continued north to enjoy that tailwind all the way to Whitburn where I turned west for home and the wind had shifted to the west now, so I had 14 miles of a 25-30mph headwind to contend with! Level 3 assist was now selected and was I glad I had lots of juice left! Another fantastic ride today, from start to finish it was just amazing despite the bike stand problems! I think I will sleep well tonight after that...

@DiggyGun @Readytoride Sorry to hear about your falls, I'm glad you are both fighting fit and healing up!

 

[peterh_nz]

Summer must be over. We're now into Fall.

You have no sympathy from the southern hemisphere!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Specialized Test Days (Specialized Warsaw): Diverge Comp E5 EVO

How is it done?
Specialized Poland transport their fleet of demo bikes and e-bikes to premium LBSes the day before the event (Poland was left with only premium authorized LBS on the latest "sweep-up" action: only the LBS that could sell the quota have been left intact). The Days for Warsaw would be two dates in September, so the combined personnel of our two Specialized stores ("Warsaw" and "Warsaw Soho") would participate to handle a big number of test riders. You fill in an online questionnaire in advance; in the case you show up, you are given a rental contract to be signed. I prebooked two bikes for 10:00 and 11:30 am. (The demo ride is free but it is limited to 1 hour; if you want to ride for, say, 4 hours, you need to pay a small fee).

Once you have the paperwork done, the mechanic would ask you up to three questions:

• Will you accept the platform pedals or have you brought your own clipless pedals and cleated shoes?
• What is your saddle height? (if you do not know it, we'll measure that for you!)
• What is your body weight? (Relevant to Levo to set the proper pressure for the suspension).

The fleet of demo Tero X e-bikes in different frame sizes. The Specialized Warsaw personnel know me very well, so I felt as if I were between friends there. As to the demo fleet, it was mostly Aethos, Diverge, Creo, Levo, Levo SL, Vado SL, Tero, and Tero X.

Specialized Diverge Comp E5 EVO

I did not do my homework! I hoped to demo ride the Diverge with drop handlebars (a.k.a. "a proper gravel bike"). (EVO is a flat handlebar gravel bike for riders who do not feel OK with drop bars). I just smiled and said: 'Flat handlebars? Wonderful! Nothing new to learn!'

Impressions

Shifting and brakes
The first and really a single surprise was the SRAM shifter. As opposed to Shimano, SRAM requires you to push the upshift lever (it is doable for Shimano, but pulling that lever is more natural). Nothing to worry about but I was constantly trying to pull the upshift lever, haha! Needless to say, shifting was crisp for the 1x11 gear SRAM drivetrain. The Tektro brakes were just perfect (I never needed to think about them).

Geometry & handling
Then, the geometry. The frame size M felt like tailor-made for me! The bike geometry was not what I had been used to. For instance, the bike stem was located just below my chest. Surprised first, I realized I felt very comfortable with that, and the geometry was giving me total control and perfect handling of the bike in rough terrain. Yes, I said perfect handling. The Diverge felt very stable on the hardpack but I could manoeuvre it easily, for instance to avoid riding into a pothole, mud, or a puddle.

Ride comfort and tyres; dropper seat-post
I could hardly believe an unsuspended bicycle was so soft! Yea, later I discovered the Diverge had the FutureShock front suspension (excellent!) but I also felt no discomfort in the rear area, either. The Rhombus tyres felt very good and aggressive for the rough terrain but they were surprisingly quiet on the pavement, too. The dropper seat-post was a nice addition to the bicycle!

Low weight

The winner! Can you see the big smile on my face? And it is an aluminium bike with a carbon fork! At some point, I met a narrow foot-bridge preceded by a lot of mud. I found it convenient to just carry the Diverge through the obstacle! The bike is feather-weight!

By a big oak-tree in the Park of Powsin (a part of the Kabacki Forest). The Diverge is almost invisible in the picture!

If she were washed, she would be a visually beautiful bike, too!

The Verdict
Were I a healthy person, I would not bother about e-bikes but buy the Diverge EVO on the spot! What a wonderful bike! However, my medical condition resulted in the average speed in the forest of only 14.5 km/h, and that only was a 9 km ride. I'm condemned to riding e-bikes!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Specialized Test Days (Specialized Warsaw): Turbo Tero X 4.0

As I was waiting for my turn to get the Tero X, my close friend Jerzy arrived with his bike. We needed to ride together at a rather low speed but I asked my friend for forgiveness twice and accelerated the Tero X to the Euro limit of 25 km/h to discover the e-bike property properly. Note: Tero X is fully equipped: Fenders, rear rack, and lighting.

'Jerzy, find me a singletrack in this Forest. The best full of tree roots!' and he found one

Turbo Tero X 4.0. Full air suspension (Rock Shox), 12-speed drivetrain, SRAM brakes, a dropper seat-post, Ground Control T7 tyres. Even if it is the least expensive model of Tero X, it was missing nothing except the smallish 530 Wh battery. Even the weakest 2.0E motor was giving me too much power in the forest located in the flatland!

With Jerzy on a singletrack that soon became winding between the trees, full of tree-roots, and more and more complicated

Impressions

Drive-train and brakes
The drivetrain was perfect with crisp shifting, only I had to get used to the SRAM "push the lever" concept of upshifting The brakes had immense stopping power. At some moment, I braked hard, and the Tero X just stopped immediately! (I had to dismount it to not fall over as I am not used to the instant dropping my body with the dropper seat-post).

Ride Comfort and Handling
Nothing short of! The e-bike was totally isolating me from the riding surface. Riding through tree-roots was just a pleasure! The e-bike was extremely responsive and handled well. Once, I rode into something that looked as a shallow dry ditch, and the Tero X brought me through the obstacle as any e-MTB would!

Tyres
The Ground Control T7 tyres felt as if they were giving me the perfect command of the e-bike on rough surfaces. I was tempted to ride onto a tree-root parallel to the ride direction to test the tyre property but why to take the risk? Surprisingly, the tyres were not too loud on the pavement but of course audible.

Electronics
I was just delighted with the information I was getting on the Mastermind display!

Motor performance
The 2.0E motor is just 50 Nm. As the ride was almost on the flat (with one harder and several delicate climbs on the outwards leg of the trip), I was never missing the motor power. On contrary, I felt the 35/35% assistance was too strong for my needs! Of course, I might need a stronger motor for mountain climbs but given the mountain 10-51T gearing and a 38T chainring, even that might not be necessary! The motor was almost totally silent!

On two occasions, I just pedalled harder (saying 'Forgive me...' to Jerzy!) and instantly was at 25 km/h speed limit in the forest!

Weight
I'm sorry but that is the single deal breaker for me. The e-bike with only 530 Wh battery was as heavy as I barely could lift it off the ground! Fancy you meet a fallen tree on your trail. How do you carry your Tero X over the obstacle?

The Verdict
An excellent SUV e-bike for anyone who wants to ride in the city and often visit easier offroad trails. Certainly not a technical singletrack thing! I have doubt as to the maximum speed on the pavement. While no issue with 25 km/h, do not think you could pedal the thing at Class 3 speed! And that heavy weight...

P.S. 11 km ridden.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@DaveMatthews: You could have waited until I finished my post! Cheers!

 

[DiggyGun]

Mrs DG and myself exploring parts of Milton Keynes.

I didn’t realise that there were so many green parks to cycle round.

DG…

 

[Readytoride]

@DiggyGun @Readytoride Sorry to hear about your falls, I'm glad you are both fighting fit and healing up!

Thank you. Am definately feeling much better.

As always I love reading about your rides and especially love the photos. Unfortunately, riding here has screeched to an abrupt halt for next few days in the face of some really awful hot weather moving through. 100°F heat with high humidity. Walking outside feels like walking into a blast furnace.

And still no rain.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Or, Warsaw from the very South to the very North!

I was hungry of pedalling after two weeks of the cycling hiatus! My Saturday ride started at 7:22 a.m. I took the opportunity of empty main roads to ride fast (bike paths are really slowing you down here!) Then, my participation in the Specialized Test Days began.

As soon as I climbed at the level of the Kabacki Forest with the Diverge EVO, I was passed by a gravel peloton, and heard a loud "STEFAN!" to make me stop (the cycling group stopped, too). It was my new friend Alfer I had met on our road cycling workouts! What an unexpected meeting!

After I finished my demo rides, we rode with Jerzy to the nearby META Bar, where we shared a pizza (I was hungry!) By the way, you pronounce the name Jerzy (George) as Yea-zhey (not Jersey!)

I wanted to continue the ride through the city, to which my friend responded: 'I hate the steep climbs to get onto the Warsaw Escarpment (the main part of the city). Why don't we easily climb through the Kabacki Forest?' I had to ride through the Kabacki Forest for the third time on that day!

At the place equidistant from our homes. We had named the location "The Jerzy and Stefan's Friendship Square"

I continued my ride alone to meet my old friend Jazza first (no photos) and spent perhaps two hours drinking coffee and chatting as we haven't seen each other for almost a year! Then I pedalled to the Atrium Reduta shopping mall for some specific sweets for my daughter Magda (to be visited on Sunday). Then, I continued one of the classical ways to get from the South to the North of Warsaw; it was by no means a short ride! (It is bike paths only).

In the Warsaw quarter of Bielany (the home area of my childhood). THIS IS HOW BAD SPECIALIZED LBSes END UP. There was an independent Specialized store only 3 1/2 years ago where the "Home Appliance Service", "Furniture", and a supermarket are now. Exactly the place where I collected my Vado 5.0 from in November 2019. Incompetent personnel, lack of interest, no sales: they lost the dealership. I am happy that this terrible Specialized store here went belly-up! They started with cheating me the 2017 Vado 5.0 was a 2019 model in the first place! A sidenote: I was delighted to listen the salesman Kamil of Specialized Warsaw explaining details of Tero X to a potential customer. Kamil knew everything on the bikes/e-bikes he sells and supports!

I dropped for a while to the Gniazdo Piratów (Pirates' Nest), a sailing-boat community tavern in Bielany. I frequented that place in late 2000s when there was a lot of sea-music played live there!

The Trapper's Hut: at last! The place is located in the northernmost location of Warsaw on the right bank of the Vistula. A place for many good open-air gigs!

With my close friend Tomek Z. at the Trapper's Hut. He is a professional bassist, working now for a high-profile punk-rock band. He shares his spare time with a heavy-metal band but also with his favourite Country & Western band by the name of Caroline & The Lucky Ones. (Caroline the singer wearing the pink is seen in the background). We have known each other for perhaps 10 years but that was the first time I could listen to Tomek playing live! What a prolific bass guitar player!

Caroline & The Lucky Ones (a band photo of the same day! )
(They played in almost total darkness, hence I could not take any good photograph). Two sets including their own songs as well as cover ones. An excellent band!

I was laughing when they were finishing their gig with AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". The song is musically primitive indeed! During the parts not involving the bass guitar, Tomek was happily dancing When he was to play, he could play almost everything using open strings, only adding two extra notes with his finger touching the E string from the top of the fretboard! (@DaveMatthews I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!)

The Return Ride

I had 30 km to go. The temperature dropped to just 10 C (50 F)! I was lucky enough to take a thin windbreaker jacket with me! It was terribly cold... Yet, I'm used to the adverse riding conditions!

124 km total for the day.

 

[DiggyGun]

You seemed to have had a very busy, but enjoyable day.

DG…

 

[RabH]

Thank you. Am definately feeling much better.

As always I love reading about your rides and especially love the photos. Unfortunately, riding here has screeched to an abrupt halt for next few days in the face of some really awful hot weather moving through. 100°F heat with high humidity. Walking outside feels like walking into a blast furnace.

And still no rain.

We are expecting 75F on Wednesday and Thursday this week which is way too hot for me and very unusual for September, I can't even imagine how unbearable 100F must be so you have my sympathy!

 

[DiggyGun]

Took a ride out today to Stowe. The estate is run by The National Trust, but Stowe Public School, one of the most expensive in the UK, is still separate.

Some views of Stowe.

A nice place for a picnic stop.

Second picnic stop.

The weather is unusually warm for the UK at the moment as we are having a mini heatwave with temperatures around 27oC (81oF).

I’ve changed my saddle again and gone back to the original Selle Royal 3D Lookin. I just couldn’t get the nose of the Brooks saddle in a comfortable position for my man bits.

I was also looking at my suspension seat post which is a Cane Creak eeSilk+. I noticed that the elastomer is still the original Medium one, which is too soft for me. I got Mrs DG to video it when I sat on the saddle and it is really compressed with little bounce left. Checking the specs, I really need the Firm one, so I have ordered one of those to try.

If that doesn’t work, I’m also looking at the Cirrus Kinekt, which does get some good reviews.

DG…

 

[dodgeman]

I rode 18 miles today, the usual ride on the roads around my house. I passed a barn I hadn’t shot a photo of yet. It’s on a little bit busier road but due to the holiday not very busy at 9:00am today.

 

[DiggyGun]

@DiggyGun @Readytoride Sorry to hear about your falls, I'm glad you are both fighting fit and healing up!

Healing up nicely, thank you.

And still out on the bike everyday, when I can.

DG…

 

[Taylor57]

I was coming home in my car from the grocery store today and here is the typical Palm Springs ebiker. No helmet and flip flops wobbling through a major intersection.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I was coming home in my car from the grocery store today and here is the typical Palm Springs ebiker. No helmet and flip flops wobbling through a major intersection.

Lots of those in coastal SoCal, too — adults and kids alike. A few days ago, saw a young mom on a cargo bike with beach gear and 2 toddlers onboard, one on back and one in her lap somehow. They all had helmets, thankfully, but mom was in flip-flops. On a very busy 6-lane, 45-mph boulevard with nothing more than an unbuffered bike lane for protection.

Failure of imagination regarding the things that can go wrong on a bike ride seems to be the norm here.

 

[Chargeride]

Autumn

View attachment 161944
Or, Warsaw from the very South to the very North!

I was hungry of pedalling after two weeks of the cycling hiatus! My Saturday ride started at 7:22 a.m. I took the opportunity of empty main roads to ride fast (bike paths are really slowing you down here!) Then, my participation in the Specialized Test Days began.

View attachment 161945
As soon as I climbed at the level of the Kabacki Forest with the Diverge EVO, I was passed by a gravel peloton, and heard a loud "STEFAN!" to make me stop (the cycling group stopped, too). It was my new friend Alfer I had met on our road cycling workouts! What an unexpected meeting!

View attachment 161946
After I finished my demo rides, we rode with Jerzy to the nearby META Bar, where we shared a pizza (I was hungry!) By the way, you pronounce the name Jerzy (George) as Yea-zhey (not Jersey!)

View attachment 161947
I wanted to continue the ride through the city, to which my friend responded: 'I hate the steep climbs to get onto the Warsaw Escarpment (the main part of the city). Why don't we easily climb through the Kabacki Forest?' I had to ride through the Kabacki Forest for the third time on that day!

View attachment 161948
At the place equidistant from our homes. We had named the location "The Jerzy and Stefan's Friendship Square"

I continued my ride alone to meet my old friend Jazza first (no photos) and spent perhaps two hours drinking coffee and chatting as we haven't seen each other for almost a year! Then I pedalled to the Atrium Reduta shopping mall for some specific sweets for my daughter Magda (to be visited on Sunday). Then, I continued one of the classical ways to get from the South to the North of Warsaw; it was by no means a short ride! (It is bike paths only).

View attachment 161949
In the Warsaw quarter of Bielany (the home area of my childhood). THIS IS HOW BAD SPECIALIZED LBSes END UP. There was an independent Specialized store only 3 1/2 years ago where the "Home Appliance Service", "Furniture", and a supermarket are now. Exactly the place where I collected my Vado 5.0 from in November 2019. Incompetent personnel, lack of interest, no sales: they lost the dealership. I am happy that this terrible Specialized store here went belly-up! They started with cheating me the 2017 Vado 5.0 was a 2019 model in the first place! A sidenote: I was delighted to listen the salesman Kamil of Specialized Warsaw explaining details of Tero X to a potential customer. Kamil knew everything on the bikes/e-bikes he sells and supports!

View attachment 161950
I dropped for a while to the Gniazdo Piratów (Pirates' Nest), a sailing-boat community tavern in Bielany. I frequented that place in late 2000s when there was a lot of sea-music played live there!

View attachment 161951
The Trapper's Hut: at last! The place is located in the northernmost location of Warsaw on the right bank of the Vistula. A place for many good open-air gigs!

View attachment 161952
With my close friend Tomek Z. at the Trapper's Hut. He is a professional bassist, working now for a high-profile punk-rock band. He shares his spare time with a heavy-metal band but also with his favourite Country & Western band by the name of Caroline & The Lucky Ones. (Caroline the singer wearing the pink is seen in the background). We know each other for perhaps for 10 years but that was the first time I could listen to Tomek playing live! What a prolific bass guitar player!

View attachment 161953
Caroline & The Lucky Ones (a band photo of the same day! )
(They played in almost total darkness, hence I could not take any good photograph). Two sets including their own songs as well as cover ones. An excellent band!

I was laughing when they were finishing their gig with AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". The song is musically primitive indeed! During the parts not involving the bass guitar, Tomek was happily dancing When he was to play, he could play almost everything using open strings, only adding two extra notes with his finger touching the E string from the top of the fretboard! (@DaveMatthews I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!)

The Return Ride

I had 30 km to go. The temperature dropped to just 10 C (50 F)! I was lucky enough to take a thin windbreaker jacket with me! It was terribly cold... Yet, I'm used to the adverse riding conditions!

View attachment 161954
120 km total for the day.

The Trappers hut just wants to draw you in

 

[Chargeride]

Lots of those in coastal SoCal, too — adults and kids alike. A few days ago, saw a young mom on a cargo bike with beach gear and 2 toddlers onboard, one on back and one in her lap somehow. They all had helmets, thankfully, but mom was in flip-flops. On a very busy 6-lane, 45-mph boulevard with nothing more than an unbuffered bike lane for protection.

Failure of imagination regarding the things that can go wrong on a bike ride seems to be the norm here.

I felt that with my first ride in Amsterdam, even with slow careful drivers, kids balanced on bikes in every possible way.

 

[DiggyGun]

Failure of imagination regarding the things that can go wrong on a bike ride seems to be the norm here.

Same in the UK. You see a lot of young people on all types of bikes. Steering one handed as they are doing something with their phone, not paying attention and weaving all over the place. Of course, no helmet either.

Another thing you see, particularly with family groups, Dad not wearing a helmet, Wife wearing one, but at an angle on the back of her head, which would cause more damage than protection. Kids may or may not wear helmets. The other thing is that the kids weave all over the place, you ring your bell to alert them of your presence, but it means nothing to them.

Nice to see kids cycling, but would be good if their parents could teach them some cycling basics.

Then you get, all the gear, but no idea.

DG…

 

[DiggyGun]

Another nice day and nice ride around Milton Keynes.

Some nice views with the sun.

DG…

 

[RabH]

My new kickstand arrived today and I thought it would have been a 2 minute job but the old allen screws aren't for coming out! I managed to make a proper mess of them trying to get them out, I have given up for today as its way too hot at 77F....I think its going to be a drill out job but I will wait until its cooler!