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

[DiggyGun]

Went to Grafham Water today and did a couple of laps around that.

The weather was a very misty and chilly 10oC (50oF). This eventually lifted after a couple of hours, but remained dull.

Had a few showers, then just after we had packed up and put the bikes in the van, the sun finally came out.

DG…

 

[Chargeride]

Been on a few rides here in the Cotswolds, some nice mixed trails, bit muddy in places..as in mudbath muddy.

The wife has shown her fitness by doing a 25 mile round trip with endless rolling climbs and energy sapping miles of boggy bridleway on an acoustic mtb.
We were out for five hours!

The ride to Jeremy Clarkson farm shop was simply stunning, gorgeous paths through dense forest and long overgrown trails.

It is utterly sublime down here, off-road tracks from one magical village to another, all very posh second home London set, but just immaculate and timeless, so relaxing, so set in another world.
Overun with Chinese and Indian tourists and I can see why, its like a film set for Ye olde England.
We rode to the Train station at Toddington, all the staff wear vintage outfits.

The sight of the steam train chugging into the station was simply epic, and what a majestic looking beast it is.

It's also very snobby, lots of Rangerovers, riding boots and queens English, we sound like commoners..because we are .

None of it matters, everyone is painfully polite..unless you wander into their private driveway!

You pay 30 quid for two coffees and cake, but the surroundings are worth it.

I know Stefan has been, I'm sure he'll agree it quite a beautiful area.

Most of the pics are on the GoPro and I'm not messing with that microsd, they corrupt just by looking at them.

 

[DiggyGun]

we sound like commoners..because we are .

Welcome to my world.

Nice area, have been there many times.

I will have to look up that railway station and I do want to go and see Clarkson’s Farm.

I thought his shows on Amazon Prime were very good, showing the issues that Farmers are facing. Living in a rural farming area, I can appreciate that.

Carry on having a good time.

DG…

 

[Chargeride]

It's just a farm shop, I don't think you can visit the farm itself.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

On a family visit trip down to Charlotte, NC… of course the Creo came with me. Took at very nice ride on a brand new section of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway trail that runs right down into South Carolina. Extremely attractive system, some very nice bridges along the creek here and there. Hope to go the other way tomorrow north into the Uptown area.

You’d never know you were in the middle of a large city. I was very impressed.

 

[DaveMatthews]

On a family visit trip down to Charlotte, NC… of course the Creo came with me. Took at very nice ride on a brand new section of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway trail that runs right down into South Carolina. Extremely attractive system, some very nice bridges along the creek here and there. Hope to go the other way tomorrow north into the Uptown area.

You’d never know you were in the middle of a large city. I was very impressed.

View attachment 165566

Sublime...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I know Stefan has been, I'm sure he'll agree it quite a beautiful area.

It's gorgeous! As you know, I was taken to many beautiful places in Britain, and I would say only the Isle of Wight or North Wales could match Cotswolds in their beauty! Besides, what is all about the brand "Cotswolds Clothes"?

Arlington Row, Bibury, Cotswolds.

 

[DiggyGun]

Besides, what is all about the brand "Cotswolds Clothes"?

And don’t forget, Cotswold Co., Oak furniture.

DG…

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A Boring Żyrardów Workout

I had to go for a ride on Sunday. I simply had to. With the predicted good weather (dry, sunny, not cold, and a moderate wind from the South), I could not let the day go to waste. Set off on my Vado with a single battery just after 10 a.m. I used a ridiculously low assistance of 20/20% for a better workout!

A brand new train stop built just recently. Regardless what Government we have, the EU makes us think of the infrastructure!

I'm constantly surprised with more and more new reconstructed roads in the neighbourhood. You will certainly agree catching a flat on such a road is virtually impossible?

I have to be honest: Not everything is perfect in Mazovia. It is a long, boring straight road between Błonie and Wiskitki. The asphalt is cracked on most of it. Still, the road is clean, and the day of the reconstruction will come!

I and some friends ride to catch funny place-names. The name of "Dry Bus" carries no meaning in Polish, and it must have been invented by the ancient Haulander settlers!

Komoot forced a gravel detour, and took me off the boring cracked asphalt road. Here, the place-name means "A Gypsy Woman". I wonder what was the story behind!

Wiskitki (a.k.a. Wisconsin), one of the smallest towns of Poland (population of 1411). A nice church and main square, nothing else interesting there!

I stopped for a lunch in Żyrardów, formerly an important industrial city (yarn production), no photos!

Gorgeous Radziejowice Park & Palace. The place is a cultural institution now. The park is full of statues of artists. (Barely visible is the bust of Ignacy Paderewski, a pianist and politician).

"Beware, squirrels!" "Beware, cats!" - murderous beasts...

The Golden Polish Autumn. A day full of sunshine!

Having ice-cream and coffee in Podkowa Leśna. It was not even imaginable for people of Poland to eat ice-cream in the cold season in the past. Now, everything has changed!

We had the time change to the winter one on Saturday. I completely missed that! My smartphone and PC have updated the time automatically. As I connected Mission Control to my Vado to set the assistance, the display time had updated, too. I uploaded a route to my Wahoo, so the Wahoo got synchronized, too. To my biggest surprise, my solar Casio wristwatch updated to the winter time without any synchronization! I only found out as it started becoming dark after 16:00...

It was not an exciting ride but I got a good workout, and returned with my legs aching, I wonder why...

 

[Chargeride]

Squirrels everywhere in the Wolds.
All Grey's of course, my local forest is one of the last havens for the Red, but I haven't seen one for years.

On our last day we rode to the wife's friend who works as a carer for a very well off couple in a small town called Churchill, they are both in their 90s and live in a rather decriped old farmhouse attatched to their sprawling stud farm

She said they were very high up in the horsey set in their day,

This was confirmed by a hand written letter hung in the toilet from the Queen thanking them for dealing with a horse problem they had sorted for her.

The Stud manager turned up, a really down to Earth guy in his 50s, the wife asked where Jeremy Clarkson lives,
Oh just over that hill,
'he"s a complete tw@t, everyone hates him'.

I thought his farming show was helping farmers getting their problems aired.

'Possibly..but he's still an obnoxious twt.'

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Squirrels everywhere in the Wolds.
All Grey's of course, my local forest is one of the last havens for the Red, but I haven't seen one for years.

There are only red squirrels in Poland!

The street where my Old Home is located is Squirrel Street (ul. Wiewiórek). There are many red squirrels living there (my own photo!) The squirrel here is grayish as these animals change the fur colour for winters! It is unusual to spot a wild squirrel from a close distance in the warm season as squirrels have a lot of food at that time and do not approach humans. However, there is a yew-tree in the corner of the Old Home, and squirrels happily feed on the yew in the winter. On the other hand, public parks are full of red squirrels that are used to the human presence. (You are guaranteed to see many "domesticated" squirrels in the Royal Baths of Warsaw).

A London grey squirrel (photo by @Brix).

 

[DaveMatthews]

Speaking of squirrels...

 

[Prairie Dog]

Speaking of squirrels...

I'm willing to bet that the last thing on its mind at the time was where he stashed his nuts!

 

[Prairie Dog]

It was a spectacular sunny morning as I hit the trails once again. As I suspected all along, ground conditions at the Ranch were optimal with a solid layer of hardpack for the studs to bite into after a week of continuous compaction from other riders frequenting the area. This allowed me to corner with more confidence and pick up a bit more speed down the straightaways which would render me a far more enjoyable and fun ride. So much, that I rode a double loop X 2 inside Ranch’s perimeter for a total of 20 + kms.

Even the once bare log berms that I would normally find myself pushing the bike over, were easily rolled over with a bit of help from the recent snowfall.

A train which travels parallel with traffic along the north/south bound QE 2 sounds its somber horn as it crosses the local tributary.

I had the trails all to myself which allowed me plenty of opportunities to stop and take in the beauty of the early season snow and solitude within the forest.

 

[DiggyGun]

Todays ride, a little trip to and around Milton Keynes.

This may be the last ride on the NCN Route 51 for a while. They are planning to build 4000 houses, two schools and shops in 18 fields alongside the cycle path. Presently, they are undertaking the archeological ground survey, which should finish by the end of the yeat, with the groundwork’s starting in January 2024.

Consequently, the cycle path is already badly damaged with pot holes, and plenty of mud, so will only get worse. Although, I’m expecting it to be temporarily closed whilst the main building is on-going.

DG…

 

[RabH]

After a week off the bike it was so good to get out again and it was a lovely day to boot, a chilly NE wind greeted me though and it was around 25mph! On my last couple of rides my cranks were slipping now and again and I was pretty sure it was due to wear in the freehub, I had the same problem with my last set of Mavic Allroad wheels but they managed over 14000 while these ones have only just passed 10000 miles! So during my downtime I managed to source a real bargain set of Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels which had a Black Friday 55% discount, when the wheels arrived I thought it would be an easy changeover but that wasn't the case!

My rotors are 6 bolt and the wheels are centrelock but I bought adaptors for my Mavic wheels which were also centrelock and thought they would do the job, it turned out I needed different adaptors which were going to be just under the price of a new set of centrelock rotors so it was a no brainer to buy new rotors and it made the job so much easier! I have the same wheels on my 2009 Giant hybrid and they have covered close to 18000 miles and still like new so I'm hoping I made the right choice, first impressions today were very good with a speed of 42.2mph achieved on a big downhill into the 25mph wind!

I decided to head NE into the wind to enjoy the wind at my back on the way home, I was very happy when that wind was behind me and very much warmer! I jumped on to the cycle path at Plains not long after leaving at just before midday, this used to be the old railway line and is in really good condition!

Its only a couple of miles long before arriving in the middle of Caldercruix where I used the back roads to Shieldhill, I was tempted to use this road down into Falkirk but its pretty rough further down and I didn't want to risk damaging my brand new wheels!

So I continued into Shieldhill and used the main road down into Glenn Village which is a very fast steep descent, this was where I did 42.2mph into the wind! This is quickly followed by another nice descent down into Falkirk where I continued NE to Grangemouth and then due north to Airth where I had the Ochill Hills in full view right in front of me with the sun lighting them up nicely!

I continued through the village of Throsk with the hills still in view!

I was nearing the city of Stirling now where I would turn south and finally have that biting cold wind at my back, I now had the Campsie Hills in sight!

I was tempted to go up over the hills but changed my mind and continued through the city and took the road to Larbert instead! I passed the high school and had the Ochil Hills in sight again, not a bad view from the north facing side of the school!

After Larbert I turned SW towards Bonnybridge on a road I hadn't used before, it had some nice downhills but wasn't in the best condition so it won't be getting used again unless they resurface it! I arrived in Bonnybridge and timed it nice to catch one of the narrowboats on the canal!

The man standing next to the boat boarded and I was hoping he might be travelling along the canal which would mean the bridge opening up but I was out of luck this time! I then took the lovely back road back into Falkirk and had another nice view of the Ochil Hills from part way up the big climb!

Soon I was at the top of the climb and grabbed another couple of photos, the first one is looking north and the second looking south where I was heading!

Its a narrow road but very quiet so it gets used a lot as its such a fun road to ride and although I was heading into the wind again there's a lot of tree cover to shelter you from the wind!

I was getting close to Falkirk now and grabbed another couple of photos before the hills disappeared!

The road brings you out at the top end of Falkirk on the road to Slamannan, I don't think I will ever tire of these awesome roads! This is at the top of the first climb looking south!

The road then plunges down into the valley before rising up steeply again, followed by a nice descent down into Slamannan! From there I headed due west to Greengairs and turned south on the back roads to home, I had such a nice ride and was more happy with my new wheels and my brakes are so much better with the new rotors! The day after I fitted them the rain stopped for a short time and I grabbed the opportunity to bed my brakes in on a nice flat road near my street! I also fitted new front pads, my rears were almost new so I just cleaned them up! They were truly awful until I bedded them in, I had to be very careful at the end of my street to make sure I was able to stop and that was on a flat part! The next 2 days are looking horrendous, especially tomorrow! A possible ride on Friday time permitting...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Youth party-shopping. If anyone had a mask, they kept it politely in their hand

Ukrainian Bublini (pretzels) and Polish bread-fingers. Was on a very fast SL Turbo ride to be in the store before closing!

By the way...

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[Prairie Dog]

View attachment 165705

After a week off the bike it was so good to get out again and it was a lovely day to boot, a chilly NE wind greeted me though and it was around 25mph! On my last couple of rides my cranks were slipping now and again and I was pretty sure it was due to wear in the freehub, I had the same problem with my last set of Mavic Allroad wheels but they managed over 14000 while these ones have only just passed 10000 miles! So during my downtime I managed to source a real bargain set of Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels which had a Black Friday 55% discount, when the wheels arrived I thought it would be an easy changeover but that wasn't the case!

My rotors are 6 bolt and the wheels are centrelock but I bought adaptors for my Mavic wheels which were also centrelock and thought they would do the job, it turned out I needed different adaptors which were going to be just under the price of a new set of centrelock rotors so it was a no brainer to buy new rotors and it made the job so much easier! I have the same wheels on my 2009 Giant hybrid and they have covered close to 18000 miles and still like new so I'm hoping I made the right choice, first impressions today were very good with a speed of 42.2mph achieved on a big downhill into the 25mph wind!

I decided to head NE into the wind to enjoy the wind at my back on the way home, I was very happy when that wind was behind me and very much warmer! I jumped on to the cycle path at Plains not long after leaving at just before midday, this used to be the old railway line and is in really good condition!

View attachment 165706
Its only a couple of miles long before arriving in the middle of Caldercruix where I used the back roads to Shieldhill, I was tempted to use this road down into Falkirk but its pretty rough further down and I didn't want to risk damaging my brand new wheels!

View attachment 165707
So I continued into Shieldhill and used the main road down into Glenn Village which is a very fast steep descent, this was where I did 42.2mph into the wind! This is quickly followed by another nice descent down into Falkirk where I continued NE to Grangemouth and then due north to Airth where I had the Ochill Hills in full view right in front of me with the sun lighting them up nicely!

View attachment 165709
I continued through the village of Throsk with the hills still in view!

View attachment 165711
I was nearing the city of Stirling now where I would turn south and finally have that biting cold wind at my back, I now had the Campsie Hills in sight!

View attachment 165714
I was tempted to go up over the hills but changed my mind and continued through the city and took the road to Larbert instead! I passed the high school and had the Ochil Hills in sight again, not a bad view from the north facing side of the school!

View attachment 165716
After Larbert I turned SW towards Bonnybridge on a road I hadn't used before, it had some nice downhills but wasn't in the best condition so it won't be getting used again unless they resurface it! I arrived in Bonnybridge and timed it nice to catch one of the narrowboats on the canal!

View attachment 165717
The man standing next to the boat boarded and I was hoping he might be travelling along the canal which would mean the bridge opening up but I was out of luck this time! I then took the lovely back road back into Falkirk and had another nice view of the Ochil Hills from part way up the big climb!

View attachment 165718
Soon I was at the top of the climb and grabbed another couple of photos, the first one is looking north and the second looking south where I was heading!

View attachment 165719
View attachment 165720
Its a narrow road but very quiet so it gets used a lot as its such a fun road to ride and although I was heading into the wind again there's a lot of tree cover to shelter you from the wind!

View attachment 165721
View attachment 165723
I was getting close to Falkirk now and grabbed another couple of photos before the hills disappeared!

View attachment 165729
View attachment 165730
The road brings you out at the top end of Falkirk on the road to Slamannan, I don't think I will ever tire of these awesome roads! This is at the top of the first climb looking south!

View attachment 165731
View attachment 165732
The road then plunges down into the valley before rising up steeply again, followed by a nice descent down into Slamannan! From there I headed due west to Greengairs and turned south on the back roads to home, I had such a nice ride and was more happy with my new wheels and my brakes are so much better with the new rotors! The day after I fitted them the rain stopped for a short time and I grabbed the opportunity to bed my brakes in on a nice flat road near my street! I also fitted new front pads, my rears were almost new so I just cleaned them up! They were truly awful until I bedded them in, I had to be very careful at the end of my street to make sure I was able to stop and that was on a flat part! The next 2 days are looking horrendous, especially tomorrow! A possible ride on Friday time permitting...

That’s a great deal on the wheels RH. I acquired a set of Fulcrum Quattros for my Scott Metrix a few years ago and ended up swapping them over to my wife’s Cannondale. A significant weight savings over the stock alloy rims.

Hope that the foreboding weather on your side of the pond will be brief. At least it’s still green where you ride.

 

[Surrey Pete]

Took advantage of the fine weather and did the Vedder Rotary Loop in Chilliwack, BC. Fall colours made it even better:

The trail follows and loops around the Vedder River:

Fishing season:

Part of the loop follows the Vedder Canal:

More fishing spots along the canal:

The trail ends and begins at this point. Crossing the bridge completes the 20 kilometre route. Or you could turn around and do it again in reverse cause it's so much fun......

 

[DaveMatthews]

Took advantage of the fine weather and did the Vedder Rotary Loop in Chilliwack, BC. Fall colours made it even better:

View attachment 165747

The trail follows and loops around the Vedder River:

View attachment 165748

Fishing season:

View attachment 165749

Part of the loop follows the Vedder Canal:

View attachment 165750

More fishing spots along the canal:

View attachment 165751

The trail ends and begins at this point. Crossing the bridge completes the 20 kilometre route. Or you could turn around and do it again in reverse cause it's so much fun......

View attachment 165752

Nice! I did that one 2 or 3 years ago. I should do it again!