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

[DiggyGun]

A quick ride out earlier today.

Still very windy, but didn’t have to use Turbo today.

DG…

 

[DiggyGun]

@Readytoride

Well done on the litter picking and glad that you got your bike sorted.

I do something similar on our local cycle paths. The Council are not very good at maintaining these. So I have a pair of secateurs with me for trimming back the overgrown brambles and other vegetation that wants to take you out as you are riding.

I have also reporting a number of fly tipping areas. Strange, two out of the three have been collected. The other one, for some reason only known to the Council, has not. It’s been reported three times now. If still there on Monday I can see a suitably written email to the Leader of the Council.

DG…

 

[Chargeride]

Brought to you by supereditation.
Only 90 seconds.
My ride in Wales.

 

[Readytoride]

@Chargeride

That was some gnarly ride there in the beginning! Makes my rides look like old lady rides (which they are, honestly speaking). AWESOME job on those trails-from-the-depths-of-the-underworld. You are either brave or crazy...or both.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My ride in Wales.

Scary!

 

[Chargeride]

Mid life crisis, I wont be doing that track again.

 

[RabH]

Despite a gusty wind of around 30mph I decided it was time for another imperial century ride, it was a chilly start at 7am but it soon warmed up! My destination of choice was beautful Peebles as the forecast was looking really nice and thankfully they were right for once! I used my usual back roads to Carnwath and saw very little traffic until I joined the main road down to Elsrickle but as it was still quite early it wasn't too busy! This is just before the village of Kaimend not long after Carnwath, a lovely blue sky to start the day!

The wind was from the SW so I was fighting it quite a bit until I reached Elsrickle and could finally enjoy a 30mph tailwind down the lovely descent to Kirkdean (42.3mph) where I joined the main A701 all the way to Leadburn with the tailwind, the road is mainly flat with a few short climbs so it was a lot of fun to ride and the scenery wasn't too shabby!

The Pentland hills looked very nice bathed in sunshine!

I did have a few trucks pass me on this road but they were well behaved, one blasted his horn and I thought it was because of me but it was an idiot in a car passing him with a blind bend coming up! I was nearing Leadburn where I would turn south back into the wind, one last photo of the Pentlands before turning!

Then it was due south to Peebles for around 10 miles and I had a nasty crosswind to contend with, at first there was no tree cover and the elevation was close to 1000ft so it was pretty bad for a few miles until I reached Eddleston where I had lots of tree cover to shelter from the wind! I soon arrived in Peebles and the town was pretty busy, lots of motorbikes passing through and parked up but not many cyclists due to the wind!

The River Tweed was flowing fast today!

I enjoyed a nice lunch in Peebles before setting off again into the wind on the main A72 which would take me back on to the A701 near Blyth Bridge where I would turn SW directly into the wind towards Biggar! I changed my first battery at 42 miles which was pretty good going in the conditions as I was using level 2 assist most of the time! The road to Blyth Bridge has some really nice scenery on both sides, this first picture is just after leaving Peebles where an old bridge passes over the River Tweed!

I need to investigate this one sometime, it looks like it just leads back to Peebles! I could use it from Peebles to avoid the main road so might check it out next time I'm down this way! Another couple of miles later and the scenery was getting even better!

The road here is in great condition but it soon deteriorates near the junction at Blyth Bridge so I'm glad its a big climb rather than a descent at the roughest part!

The lovely scenery just continues all the way along this road!

There is a road that goes north to Dolphinton and I was tempted to take it today but then I remembered how busy it can be and it would have been a direct headwind again at Dolphinton so I canned that idea, I will leave it for another day as it looks like a nice road that runs between the hills and can be seen here around the centre of the photo!

I reached the junction at Blyth Bridge and headed SW towards Biggar with yet more lovely scenery!

This is looking back at Blyth Bridge, I really enjoyed this road in the opposite direction earlier in the day with that strong tailwind!

The clouds were starting to gather now although they didn't look too threatening at this point!

One final photo before reaching the busy town of Biggar!

Now I would be heading north for a few miles and it was nice to get out of that wind for a bit, I was going to use my usual route to Carnwath but I reached a junction in the road that was signposted for Newbigging and thought this would be a better route given the wind direction! What a road it turned out to be, it started with a big climb but soon became a very fast and exhilirating descent! I stopped part way up the climb for this photo which would be my last one of the day!

When I reached Newbigging I took the main road back towards Carnwath but turned off at Kaimend and used a new road to me which would take me due north towards Auchengray, it turned out to be another gem! Then the road to Auchengray is a really nice descent, I was actually passed on the descent by a roadie in a time trial position and I was doing almost 40mph at the time! I don't know how people can ride in this position, it really doesn't look safe...

Just before Auchengray I changed to my final battery at 82 miles and I headed SW to join the road up to Braehead which would mean a turn north again, from there I continued north to Forth and turned off to take the big climb up to Climpy! Once again I was heading north which was the best direction today other than east, with a full battery I could now turn the assist up to level 3 and zoom up the big climb to Climpy and then it was time for an awesome descent down to the A71 where I took the back road to Shotts and I came across a bit of a flood after yesterdays downpours! Thankfully it wasn't too deep...

I passed through Shotts and continued north to join the main road to Kirk Of Shotts, this would mean a turn to the west which I had avoided for quite a bit and it was also a big ascent directly into the wind! Level 3 assist was very welcome here I can tell you, I reached the top of the climb where the road levels off for a short time before descending down to Kirk Of Shotts! Normally I fly down this hill at around 30-35mph but today I was struggling to hit 20mph into that wind! At Kirk Of Shotts I took the road north past the Blackhill transmitter which is another big climb!

Soon it would be a nice descent all the way down to Plains where I would turn west and head for home with just over 2 miles remaining, I did catch a shower passing through Shotts but apart from that it was a dry and very enjoyable day on the bike despite that strong wind! I don't normally go for 100 milers in windy conditions like this but Sunday is looking nasty so I wanted to get a big ride in today and I'm really glad I did as it was fantastic!
When I was climbing the last hill my elevation gain was showing just over 8000ft on my gps but Ridewithgps is only showing 6934ft of elevation gain, I'm almost certain that was over 8000ft and my legs agree! I will sleep well tonight...

@Readytoride Great work clearing the litter, some of our back roads are covered in the stuff and it really irks me but I would need a massive truck to clear it up! Sorry about your belt problems, I'm glad you got it fixed quickly!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Geeze, @RabH, over 100 miles again?
KUDOS to you!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Combat Reconnaissance For The Warka World Apple Day 2023, Mazovian Gravel

There will be a huge group gravel ride on this Sunday, organized by the Mazovian Gravel. Even if the World Apple Day is scheduled to 28th, the city of Warka decided to celebrate the day on Sunday Sep 24th. (Warka is the biggest city of Poland's "Apple Mining Area" as to say it) Mazovian Gravel wants to have its fans ride to Warka, and any participant would get a bottle of "magical apple potion" (I think it is apple cider) as a reward there

Three big groups of riders will be released from the start line: Romantic (it's me!), Dynamic, and Turbo in subgroups of 15 to abide laws.

I wanted to simulate the presumably worst part of the ride today, on Thursday. I was not wrong...

Unpowered Vado SL rides
I rode unpowered to the train station and could handle a 4.2% grade overpass. I took a train to the City of Warsaw then switched to the underground (not easy to get to the crowded metro train!) Then I pedalled unpowered to Wilanów, and that was not the last "acoustic" ride for the day! (All to save the battery charge).

Wilanów Beach

Wilanów "Beach" is an empty recreational area in the most expensive neighbourhood of Warsaw. Actually, you can play beach volleyball there if you like! The Beach has been a traditional starting line for MG races; I arrived there before 8:30 am, and started the ride at 8:38 am, as scheduled for Sunday!

"Check all boxes containing a gravel road"

Poland is not North America with the gravel roads dominating there. Actually, we have not many gravel roads at all: it is either asphalt or dirt. As gravel cycling has become fad, Polish gravel cyclists took "Ride off-road on gravel bikes very very fast!" as their religion. Sorry, I am not into it anymore. Let's face the facts: Poland is not a gravel road country. If I wanted to ride off-road, I would be still riding my Giant Trance E+ but I am not in MTB anymore. Yes, I rode that "obnoxious" singletrack with my Vado SL at low speed. Will not do it again! Especially not in a big group of riders! (On the other hand, my "gravelized" Vado SL handled perfectly in the rough terrain only it carried a wrong rider!) @AvalancheRun

Asphalt, Specialized Warsaw, META Bar
The return by asphalt bike paths, main road and the Southern Bridge was very fast.

A sandy island on the Vistula as seen from the Southern Bridge of Warsaw. I posted that photo on Facebook, and wrote: 'Where are you Jerzy?' My friend Jerzy started pedalling immediately to meet me after he saw my post!

I dislike DPD. Unlike DHL, they always deliver late. No shipment for me at Specialized Warsaw (I bought a new chain there, though). DPD delivered my new Echelon II MIPS helmet only at 16:12, when I was long on my way home!

It was quite funny at the neighbouring META Bar. The owner said:
'I'm sorry, we are closed by 16:00. However, we will not let you alone! You will get food and drink! All because I was dreaming there entered a man wearing glasses, and paying. You wear glasses and I hope you can pay! It will be a good day for me! Hey Kuba -- he addressed another man -- set the fire in the stove now!' Unbelievable!

Meanwhile, Jerzy joined me, and we traditionally pedalled through the Kabacki Forest. Again, I rode unpowered!

It was 73 km for the day. Not very much. I was tired though because of those three unpowered rides!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Missed riding yesterday as it was pouring rain out. We also had to keep a close eye on city work crews who were performing utility work on a neighboring property as well as the road in front of our driveway. Our front yard now awaits the same treatment. Nice to know that our tax dollars are being put to good use.

We headed out the door later than usual today as the mercury dipped to just below freezing this morning. By 12pm it had warmed up enough for another 40 km ride albeit in gusty conditions.

Didn’t recognize this fellow but by the looks of his loaded rig, he was definitely packed for some sort of an adventure.

This is the way I roll. I’m finding it really difficult pulling myself away from this bike as I feel that I can ride just as far on it as my other powered road bike.

It wasn’t very hard tucking in behind this HD mobile hay tub grinder through the round-a-bout.

My better half enters the rural traffic circle just as I exit.

Once again, the wind was our nemesis today but we were just glad that the sun was out to lessen the anguish of the gusting southerlies.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Missed riding yesterday as it was pouring rain out. We also had to keep a close eye on city work crews who were performing utility work on a neighboring property as well as the road in front of our driveway. Our front yard now awaits the same treatment. Nice to know that our tax dollars are being put to good use.

View attachment 163031

We headed out the door later than usual today as the mercury dipped to just below freezing this morning. By 12pm it had warmed up enough for another 40 km ride albeit in gusty conditions.

Didn’t recognize this fellow but by the looks of his loaded rig, he was definitely packed for some sort of an adventure.

View attachment 163032

This is the way I roll. I’m finding it really difficult pulling myself away from this bike as I feel that I can ride just as far on it as my other powered road bike.

View attachment 163033

It wasn’t very hard tucking in behind this HD mobile hay tub grinder through the round-a-bout.

View attachment 163034

My better half enters the rural traffic circle just as I exit.

View attachment 163035

Once again, the wind was our nemesis today but we were just glad that the sun was out to lessen the anguish of the gusting southerlies.

View attachment 163036

Nice pics!
That Cannondale looks like a great ride too.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Nice pics!
That Cannondale looks like a great ride too.

Yeah, it’s a sweet ride for sure, Dave. Speaking of which, we’re off to Banff tomorrow to ride the scenic Bow Valley Parkway. It’s closed to traffic only until the end of the month so time’s a wastin’.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Yeah, it’s a sweet ride for sure, Dave. Speaking of which, we’re off to Banff tomorrow to ride the scenic Bow Valley Parkway. It’s closed to traffic only until the end of the month so time’s a wastin’.

Have a great time, and don't forget the pics!

 

[Readytoride]

@Readytoride Great work clearing the litter, some of our back roads are covered in the stuff and it really irks me but I would need a massive truck to clear it up! Sorry about your belt problems, I'm glad you got it fixed quickly!

Thank you. 54 miles and 9 bags collected.

I look at your 100 mile rides - you really do us proud, you know - and wonder how you do it. And I'll say it again - I love your photos. And your cycling territory.

As for my ride yesterday, my second to the last day of road clean-up - I "hit the wall" at 10 miles in, both mentally and physically. It isn't the miles - its the constant dismount and remount for miles and miles. Hundreds of times getting off, parking the bike for a few seconds, then getting back on. Sometimes doing so every few feet. Endlessly. 4 days in a row. I was in the county below us- a stunningly beautiful place of scenic wonder...with heavily littered roads that seriously needed some major attention. Our county has an organisation (I'm one of their area leaders) that does regular and annual cleanups of our county roads, but the country below us apparently does not. One of the main estates that will be highlighted at this week's bike ride had trash on the entire 3 miles of road leading up to place, including litter almost to their entryway. This is a 1,000 acre estate of exceptional beauty. I hit that mental wall when my bag was already full, and I still had a quarter of a mile left to go to reach that estate driveway. I just didn't have anything left, physically or mentally, to go forward.

I turned around and headed back to the main road, dropped off the bag to pick up later in the truck, put a new bag in the trailer's bag holder, and set off towards home. It was the hardest miles I've ever ridden because I mentally had to keep encouraging myself to keep my legs moving. All I wanted to do was stop, my mind and body on the verge of quitting. But there was no other way to get home than to keep riding.

By the time I made it back home, logging 19 miles that morning, I didn't even want to look at my bike. It took all afternoon to recover before I wasn't weaving as I walked. Later that afternoon I drove my car back to pick up the remaining litter I skipped earlier. I'm taking Friday off. 20 miles of the 70 mile distance is in that lower county, and I don't have the time to do those roads by bike. I'll take my car and pick up the most obvious litter. The stuff hiding in the weeds will have to stay there for now. Perhaps the torrential rains and high winds forecast for Saturday's ride will keep the cyclists preoccupied and not noticing any litter.

It was my mistake to think a week was enough time to do all 70 miles. Unfortunately, the rain on the weekend plus the minor bike issue the next day whittled that week down to way too few days to do the task. Next year I'll plan better.

On an upbeat note- at one point I found someone's opened Amazon package, item still inside (a hacking jacket for a small dog) but the outside address so damaged by rain and lying in a ditch for who knows how long, it was impossible for me to read. Because the local post office had done the original delivery, I stopped there afterwards and the Post Mistress managed to read just enough of the degraded lable to get me the full address so I could deliver the package back to the owner. Hubby went with me when I drove the package back, and was blown away at how massive this owner's estate was. 800 acres among gorgeous rolling foxhunt country. The driveway was almost a mile long. Old money, modern house/horse stable combo cleaner than my house will ever be, very nice people. The lady whose name was on the adress label was both surprised and delighted since she had given the package up as irrevocably lost. And her very cute, happy little long haired terrier ("Muffin") who obviously is their official greeter will probably be sporting her newfound coat on her future walks. Redelivery of that lost package was a nice way to close out the litter pickup project.

As for Saturday - my neighbor already said she isn't going. She said she won't ride in the rain on either a horse or a bike. I know the organization putting on the ride has gone to Plan B because of the horrendous weather moving in. We are lending them one of our popup canopies so the cyclists will have more cover from the rain during lunch. Which means we'll be going over to put up the canopy at 6am. Depending upon how the rain is, I might ride my bike the 5 miles over, take part in their fun "ride off" celebration, and then promptly ride back home. We'll see. Hubby and I can always come back for the ride lunch and beer afterwards. He wants to go to an art exhibit the next county over (West, across the mountain). The art exhibit starts at 10am. The ride at 9am. If the rain is a monsoon, we'll just go to the art event. We used to go to the exhibits all the time in years past, and purchased a lot of beautiful work from many local artists.

My Rivian truck's bed with 7 of the 9 filled litter bags we hauled to VDOT for discarding.

 

[Chargeride]

Is this locally discarded or blown in?
Seems unbelievable so many people would be that selfish.

 

[RabH]

Thank you. 54 miles and 9 bags collected.

I look at your 100 mile rides - you really do us proud, you know - and wonder how you do it. And I'll say it again - I love your photos. And your cycling territory.

As for my ride yesterday, my second to the last day of road clean-up - I "hit the wall" at 10 miles in, both mentally and physically. It isn't the miles - its the constant dismount and remount for miles and miles. Hundreds of times getting off, parking the bike for a few seconds, then getting back on. Sometimes doing so every few feet. Endlessly. 4 days in a row. I was in the county below us- a stunningly beautiful place of scenic wonder...with heavily littered roads that seriously needed some major attention. Our county has an organisation (I'm one of their area leaders) that does regular and annual cleanups of our county roads, but the country below us apparently does not. One of the main estates that will be highlighted at this week's bike ride had trash on the entire 3 miles of road leading up to place, including litter almost to their entryway. This is a 1,000 acre estate of exceptional beauty. I hit that mental wall when my bag was already full, and I still had a quarter of a mile left to go to reach that estate driveway. I just didn't have anything left, physically or mentally, to go forward.

I turned around and headed back to the main road, dropped off the bag to pick up later in the truck, put a new bag in the trailer's bag holder, and set off towards home. It was the hardest miles I've ever ridden because I mentally had to keep encouraging myself to keep my legs moving. All I wanted to do was stop, my mind and body on the verge of quitting. But there was no other way to get home than to keep riding.

By the time I made it back home, logging 19 miles that morning, I didn't even want to look at my bike. It took all afternoon to recover before I wasn't weaving as I walked. Later that afternoon I drove my car back to pick up the remaining litter I skipped earlier. I'm taking Friday off. 20 miles of the 70 mile distance is in that lower county, and I don't have the time to do those roads by bike. I'll take my car and pick up the most obvious litter. The stuff hiding in the weeds will have to stay there for now. Perhaps the torrential rains and high winds forecast for Saturday's ride will keep the cyclists preoccupied and not noticing any litter.

It was my mistake to think a week was enough time to do all 70 miles. Unfortunately, the rain on the weekend plus the minor bike issue the next day whittled that week down to way too few days to do the task. Next year I'll plan better.

On an upbeat note- at one point I found someone's opened Amazon package, item still inside (a hacking jacket for a small dog) but the outside address so damaged by rain and lying in a ditch for who knows how long, it was impossible for me to read. Because the local post office had done the original delivery, I stopped there afterwards and the Post Mistress managed to read just enough of the degraded lable to get me the full address so I could deliver the package back to the owner. Hubby went with me when I drove the package back, and was blown away at how massive this owner's estate was. 800 acres among gorgeous rolling foxhunt country. The driveway was almost a mile long. Old money, modern house/horse stable combo cleaner than my house will ever be, very nice people. The lady whose name was on the adress label was both surprised and delighted since she had given the package up as irrevocably lost. And her very cute, happy little long haired terrier ("Muffin") who obviously is their official greeter will probably be sporting her newfound coat on her future walks. Redelivery of that lost package was a nice way to close out the litter pickup project.

As for Saturday - my neighbor already said she isn't going. She said she won't ride in the rain on either a horse or a bike. I know the organization putting on the ride has gone to Plan B because of the horrendous weather moving in. We are lending them one of our popup canopies so the cyclists will have more cover from the rain during lunch. Which means we'll be going over to put up the canopy at 6am. Depending upon how the rain is, I might ride my bike the 5 miles over, take part in their fun "ride off" celebration, and then promptly ride back home. We'll see. Hubby and I can always come back for the ride lunch and beer afterwards. He wants to go to an art exhibit the next county over (West, across the mountain). The art exhibit starts at 10am. The ride at 9am. If the rain is a monsoon, we'll just go to the art event. We used to go to the exhibits all the time in years past, and purchased a lot of beautiful work from many local artists.

My Rivian truck's bed with 7 of the 9 filled litter bags we hauled to VDOT for discarding.
View attachment 163048

What an effort that was, I'm not surprised you were totally washed out after that so hats off to you for an amazing job well done, including getting the parcel back to its rightful owner! I have always kept myself fit so longer rides aren't a problem for me, my body is well used to them! I know one day that won't be the case but until that day I will keep going and enjoying every minute!

Is this locally discarded or blown in?
Seems unbelievable so many people would be that selfish.

Its very prevalent in the UK also and totally disgusts me that people can behave in this way, they just don't care about our countryside! Its not just the littering, its people with tipper trucks just dumping waste anywhere they can and something needs to be done about it....

One time I was out riding and somebody had dumped a load of bricks and rubble right across the road and it was about 5 feet high, I only got past because I was on my bike! A poor lady driver coming the other way had to turn back and use an alternative route, its just disgusting behaviour!

 

[Chargeride]

fly tipping has dropped off by us after they relaxed the draconian rules at the local tips, they suspended them completely during lockdown and people could just turn up without booking days ahead and being interviewed under caution at the gates.

 

[Chargeride]

I made this video with the help of my imaginary californian friend.

It gives it a weird vibe.

A whole video of things you didnt know and are no better off knowing.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I made this video with the help of my imaginary californian friend.

It gives it a weird vibe.

A whole video of things you didnt know and are no better off knowing.

Thanks for all of those juicy facts! I've committed them to memory and plan to toss them out at parties.
;^}

Kidding aside, actually enjoyed hearing about the beautiful scenery. But you're a much better narrator.

Show of hands: How many ebikers here feel a need to carry electrical tape?

Too bad we've come to the point of planned retreats in coastal areas due to sea level rise. Big issue in SoCal as well. But here, the driving risks relate mainly to winter storm waves. With higher water, big waves mean more flooding and impact damage in low-lying areas and accelerated sea cliff failure up on the bluffs. Many fancy homes and resorts and restaurants built right on the brink. No room to move them back, and ugly cliff fortifications are only expensive bandaids with no hope of long-term success.

 

[DiggyGun]

Today’s ride

DG…