2024 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[Te. S]

Beautiful is right! San Gabriel or San Bernardino mountains?

San Bernardino Mountain, we just had a storm so it looks Majestic

 

[RabH]

Last night I had 2 vaccinations and they left me with 2 rather painful arms, thankfully I managed to get a decent sleep though. The forecast for today was fog and mist in the morning, clearing into the afternoon and with light winds and a temp of 9C I just had to chance it and hope the vaccines didn't affect me on the bike! It wasn't the most scenic ride but some amazing roads to enjoy, I headed south for Strathaven as I have been neglecting that area recently. It was mostly main roads at first but the traffic wasn't too bad and the drivers were behaving. I headed through Overtown and took the road down into the Clyde Valley at Garrion Bridge which is just sublime as its a very fast descent. Once in the valley it was time to start climbing proper though and my legs were feeling a bit heavy which was possibly due to Mondays big ride or was it the vaccines?

I arrived in Stonehouse and took the main road to Strathaven, stopping for a couple of photos of the Avon Water which is a tributary of the River Clyde.

Soon I arrived in Strathaven and took the amazing road over to Kirkmuirhill, it starts with a big descent here quickly followed by a big climb and for once the roads were mostly dry.

There is a very narrow path next to the road but lots of walkers use it so I stuck to the road...

The road is all twists and turns and ups and downs, my type of road and its littered with farms pretty much all the way to Kirkmuirhill.

When I arrived in Kirkmuirhill I headed SW to Lesmahagow, this part has some really nice wide cycle paths so it got me away from the traffic for a bit.

At Lesmahagow I turned NE through Brocketsbrae and Dillarburn which starts with a climb and then descends steeply into the Clyde Valley at Kirkfieldbank. This is part way down and you can see Lanark in the distance, I was going through the valley though which is much quieter and more scenic.

Once in the valley I passed through Hazelbank and Crossford, where I crossed the bridge over the River Clyde and started up the beast of a climb through the Coziglen and cranked the assist up to level 4 due to very heavy legs. I'm so glad my bike is a great hillclimber as I was really starting to wane here, part way up I stopped for a couple of photos of the garden centres and the farms down in the valley.

Its a very narrow road and luckily I didn't meet any cars on the climb, its crazy how this photo makes it look like a gradual climb....

This part is very steep, I had to park the bike a bit further up to stop it rolling back down the hill...

Near the top now and very relieved to get the last big climb out of the way!

Not that my climbing was finished by any means but the remainder of the climbs were much eaiser and I had plenty juice left in my second battery as I had it almost fully charged in case I was struggling and I was... I reached Carluke and took to the quiet back roads to Allanton, some of my favourite local roads around here and I never met a single car for miles until I reached the main road between Newhouse and Salsburgh. I noticed the traffic building at Newhouse so I took to the cycle path and zoomed past them all and enjoyed the descent down into Chapelhall just 2 miles from home.

The traffic was getting heavy now and as I climbed up the final big hill towards home I could see a huge line of cars and wondered if there might have been an accident or a breakdown, only to discover the main road through town had road works ongoing with temporary traffic signals in place! It was total gridlock and I was so happy I was on the bike and zipped past them on the footpaths I could probably have picked an easier ride today, given the situation but I really enjoyed it and I'm feeling good after my lovely warm shower!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

15% Assistance 40 Mile Ride, Specialized, META Bar

This Friday has offered weather unusual for Polish February: Up to +14 C (down to +8 C in the evening), moderate wind, sunny. I could not miss such an opportunity! Completed my work for the day by noon, asked my manager for a leave, put "cold Autumn/Spring" clothes on, and set off for a ride!

Gorgeous weather, isn't it I set just 15/15% of Vado 6.0 assistance for a good workout. It translates to "It's 0.48x You! And not more than 78 W!"

Upon arriving to Specialized Warsaw, I felt I needed to buy something I am preparing my Vado SL for the season, and also prepare myself for the May/June gravel races. So I bought two inner tubes, a MTB-style mini-pump, and a new water-bottle (I will need two of them for the races). One thing is sure: Specialized is not a cheap brand! Haha!

There are two favourite salesmen of mine now: Kamil and Bartek. Today, I was being served by Bartek who is a bike afficionado, and it was a pleasure to talk with him. I asked for demo rental bikes for June. He told me the store only had the demo Diverge in sizes 52 and 56. He allowed me trying a size 52 Diverge in the parking lot. No, that was too small a bike for me! Then, he offered me trying a new Diverge size 54 inside the store. Yes! That would be my choice were I buying a gravel bike! (It is possible the LBS would have a new demo Diverge size 54 by June!)

'Mr Bartek, has your store got a Creo 2 for the floor yet?' -- to which he triumphantly smiled, made the way to this e-bike and proudly announced: 'This is a Creo 2 in size 54, your own size!' Oh my. Needed I a new e-bike, I would buy it right on the spot! @AvalancheRun - Poland is not a bad country, is it

Then I rode to the nearby META Bar for the best pizza you can get in Warsaw!

53% of my battery (degraded to 484 Wh) remained post-ride with the estimated range of 125 km! (I made sure to make 40 miles!)

 

[jason.flood]

At the end of 2011 I bought my first GPS, a Garmin Edge 500 and all my rides were logged at Garmin Connect until the battery packed in after almost 5 years! So I bought a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt and found Ridewithgps and painstakingly uploaded 5 years of data to that and now have 44,727 miles logged there, 30,249 miles on my Giant e bike. Bananas and Mars Bars work for me, way cheaper than those energy bars The photo I posted is from Kinkell Braes caravan park, looking down to the east sands, will never tire of that view

The photo was actually taken in June of 2012 when I visited my sisters at the caravan, I cycled from Knockhill that day and did the same the following week but in the opposite direction! That was my build up for the big one, the crazy thing is my bike developed a gearshift problem on my 154 mile ride and I had to pull the outer cable to get the thing to go up through the gears! It was fine going down the gears though, when I got home I discovered the rear gear cable had frayed at the bottom bracket and was only hanging by a few strands The bike was only 11 months old at the time so I was a bit miffed but I fixed it myself...

I am definitely going to have to get a dedicated gps. As much as my phone is working fine on relatively short rides, I often don’t have it on a mount or remember to hit record ride. Bananas and mars bars noted. I much prefer the though of normal food too and not just for the cost.

 

[jason.flood]

All sounds true to life!
Also, long time in the saddle is nothing once you own a proper saddle (narrow and firm: I use the stock Vado SL one), can assume a forward riding position, wear chamois, and simply have got used to it

View attachment 171276
I admit I took a nap at a hotel on that ride, while the e-bike batteries were being recharged

It’s really inspiring to see some of you pumping out such long rides. I had never really imagined I could potentially be doing such long distances. Even in my 20’s I only ever did one ride of 100miles to travel to the world mountain bike championships in Plymouth in the early 90s. Most long rides for me were never much more than 30miles cross country

 

[jason.flood]

Here is a beautiful view from our ride last weekend in So. California

What I would give to jump back to 1996 for views like that when I was lucky enough to be living in San Diego. Such great memories driving up to Big Bear for snowboarding or biking on Saturday and hang out at PB on Sunday. I think I once manged to do Snow Summit in the morning and Catalina by late afternoon

 

[Te. S]

I am definitely going to have to get a dedicated gps. As much as my phone is working fine on relatively short rides, I often don’t have it on a mount or remember to hit record ride. Bananas and mars bars noted. I much prefer the though of normal food too and not just for the cost.

I suggest getting a Garmin or Wahoo they both work great, i have a Garmin watch and 1030 bike computer works really good gives you a lot of data from the rides or any activity that you due.
good luck

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I suggest getting a Garmin or Wahoo they both work great, i have a Garmin watch and 1030 bike computer works really good gives you a lot of data from the rides or any activity that you due.
good luck

In case of Vado SL it should be a Wahoo.

 

[Chargeride]

I liked that with no clue why

 

[Chargeride]

Last day of Anglesey.
Bacon buttie and instant coffee, while the missus is in the local posh cafe with my bankcard buying some 20 quid avacado and latte abomination

I took this pick completely blind, but it came out well.

Yes, this is how you fix a battery problem, just tape a working one to the frame.
The maker of insulation tape should get the nobel peace prize.

 

[jason.flood]

In case of Vado SL it should be a Wahoo.

was that because of the separate monitoring of internal and RE batteries which I think you mentioned before?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

was that because of the separate monitoring of internal and RE batteries which I think you mentioned before?

Exactly for that reason. Wahoo is a good stuff in general. I can remember my cycling buddy who was infuriated with his Garmin Edge when he could see the Wahoo in real life
'This screen does not shine!' -- 'How compact it is!' -- 'What clear graphics!'

 

[Prairie Dog]

We’re still very much in winter mode here but it’s starting to feel like it won’t be long before the official arrival of spring - that’s if the mild conditions continue to pervade our local forecast. As the days slowly become longer, each blissful day of warm, sunny weather that we can garner bodes well for body and soul.

Yesterday was another typical ho-hum ride on the local trails. Whether I’m starting a ride or close to completing one, it’s always important to get off on the right foot.

I checked out the Pines single and it was in much better condition than when I last visited it over a week ago. More snow over the past several weeks combined with heavier bike traffic made for excellent traction and not much ice or exposed roots to speak of.

Then I switched my attention to the mtb park which was nicely groomed.

...and finished up on a short DH flow trail which incorporated some nice berms and rollers.

Closer to home after snapping this shot, I was tempted to cut down my ride time by crossing the local tributary

but with the recent mild temps, I decided on a safer route instead.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Fat Tire Frenzy

A couple of local bike shops go the extra effort of organizing fat bike rides during the winter season. These are pretty casual affairs focused primarily on getting like minded folks out on some local trails. Today’s outing was based out the town of Lacombe at the Blindman Brewery. I think the main attraction for many though was the offer of free suds at the end of the ride.

Heading out from town we garnered more than a few looks as we trundled down the side streets towards the trails surrounding Lakes Elizabeth and Barnett. The group looked like it was at least 20 strong but not as good a turnout as the last ride which numbered close to 35 riders.

Chatting with a few locals as we wait for the rest of the group to catch up.

It was pretty much single file much of the way with the exception when a few of us would break loose from the rest of the pack.

Seth, the manager of one of the bike shops catches some air along the way.

Then performs his best impersonation of Danny Mac.

I had a blast riding with the group and look forward to the next ride which will likely be a night outing. Hope to have some edited footage of these rides soon enough.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Well maintained brakes

There is a short story I feel I need to share with you.

My heavy Vado 6.0 has very good hydraulic disk brakes. There are adjustment screws in brake levers; as soon as I feel "I'm losing brakes" but I know the brake pads are still thick enough, I just turn the screws to regain the brake stopping power (I do it until the brake pads get so worn out I need to replace them). I made the last adjustment a few days ago.

Usually, I'm riding with traffic on Sundays (and am ignoring the bike paths) as the roads are often safer than the bike paths are (at least here). On last Friday, I was dutifully riding one of bike paths in the neighbourhood at the speed below 25 km/h. Out of sudden, a careless cyclist rode out at speed from behind a corner, blocking my path!

I usually hold my hands on Innerbarends with an instant access to brake levers. So I instantly squeezed both brake levers with full force! My Vado stopped almost immediately, and the brakes made a loud whining sound! The other cyclist just gasped out loudly. It was close. So close.

I'm sure you guys care about your e-bike brakes. Please do. It can save your life and the lives of the people around you.

 

[jason.flood]

but with the recent mild temps, I decided on the safer route instead

Not quite enough air in those fat tyres to float then?

 

[RabH]

Well maintained brakes

There is a short story I feel I need to share with you.

My heavy Vado 6.0 has very good hydraulic disk brakes. There are adjustment screws in brake levers; as soon as I feel "I'm losing brakes" but I know the brake pads are still thick enough, I just turn the screws to regain the brake stopping power (I do it until the brake pads get so worn out I need to replace them). I made the last adjustment a few days ago.

Usually, I'm riding with traffic on Sundays (and am ignoring the bike paths) as the roads are often safer than the bike paths are (at least here). On last Friday, I was dutifully riding one of bike paths in the neighbourhood at the speed below 25 km/h. Out of sudden, a careless cyclist rode out at speed from behind a corner, blocking my path!

I usually hold my hands on Innerbarends with an instant access to brake levers. So I instantly squeezed both brake levers with full force! My Vado stopped almost immediately, and the brakes made a loud whining sound! The other cyclist just gasped out loudly. It was close. So close.

I'm sure you guys care about your e-bike brakes. Please do. It can save your life and the lives of the people around you.

Since one of my brake pad retaining screws snapped last winter, I have been removing my pads regularly and cleaning them as it only takes about 2 minutes on my bike!

 

[jason.flood]

Since one of my brake pad retaining screws snapped last winter, I have been removing my pads regularly and cleaning them as it only takes about 2 minutes on my bike!

I shall also be doing that now I realize it’s pretty straightforward on my bike too.

 

[jason.flood]

I shall also be doing that now I realize it’s pretty straightforward on my bike too.

Will I have a “secret brake power” screw on my levers @Stefan Mikes ?

 

[Prairie Dog]

Not quite enough air in those fat tyres to float then?

Now that you mention it, I should have installed my oversized helium filled balloon tires before I left the house. They're also the lower rolling resistant versions.