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

[RabH]

Back on my local roads today on a perfect day for cycling with a temp of 18C and a SSE wind no more than 20mph! I took the back roads down to Allanton and headed over to Yieldshields to enjoy the new tarmac that was laid recently, all directly into the wind which was keeping me nice and cool! I then headed for Carnwath, stopping for some photos on the way!

I decided to try the back road to Carnwath that has been flooded for a while and even after a long dry spell its still about 6" deep, its a fun road to ride though!

The White Loch close to Carnwath!

I reached Carnwath and headed NE on the A70 towards Tarbrax, I mostly use this road in the opposite direction as there are a lot of descents to enjoy but with the wind direction I was looking forward to heading north when I reached the turnoff for Tarbrax!

Its such a great road to ride with lots of twists and turns, ups and downs and some long straights also!

Somebody had a bad day on it, its notorious for accidents with people going way too fast!

Some steep climbs also going in this direction!

Then the road flattens for a bit!

It was very hazy today so not the best conditions for good photos but at least it stayed dry despite some thunderstorm warnings!

The next big climb arrived!

I reached the turnoff for Tarbrax where I finally had the wind at my back, that sure was fun as there are a lot of nice descents to enjoy! I passed Tarbrax and was nearing Auchengray, stopping for these photos before enjoying this awesome descent!

I reached the end of the road and spotted a couple of bikepackers and they were fully laden! I didn't get a chance to chat as they were talking with the farmer and a guy in full Scottish dress with bagpipes, no idea what was going on! I then took the road north towards Woolfords and tackled the climb up to around 1000ft before shooting down the descent at just over 40mph! At the end of the road I joined the A71 in a westerly direction towards Breich and stayed on the A71 until the turnoff for Shotts! From there I took the amazing back road to Hartwood, what a road this is with long fast descents for almost 2 miles!

Then it was time to turn north up the huge climb to Kirk of Shotts, I turned west near the top of the climb to enjoy my favourite local back road to Hareshaw and I had the wind at my back all the way! The road is in this condition all the way, its so smooth!

I then passed through Hareshaw and headed NW towards Newhouse, one last photo of this awesome road before turning for home!

I went straight through the roundabout at Newhouse to head for Holytown to avoid the main road through town which still has roadworks causing chaos! From Holytown I turned north and passed through Calderbank with just over 61 miles covered and only 2 more to go, I was glad I picked this road as it was pretty quiet! Another awesome local ride, I really am blessed to have roads like this so close to home and I don't think I will ever get bored of them! Only 14 miles to go to reach 32000 miles on this awesome bike!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Bad News Before The Start Of The Sudovia Gravel E-Sprint Race

I seem to have blown it. Trying to replace the existing chainring in my Vado 6.0 with a very small one, I discovered I could not loosen the chainring bolts! (I have probably Loctited them). A visit to Jakoobcycles didn't help. The mechanic is really fond of me and he tried to help; he even used a grinder so my chainring bolt wrench Park Tool CNW-2 would actually fit the nut. All in vain. The matter could be fixed if the workshop had a lot of time to look to the case but they are fully booked by the end of June!

Meaning, I cannot even try riding insanely steep (but short) inclines in Sudovia on the 520 W motor e-bike with the 44-46T gearing!

What I can, however, do, is replacing the Vado SL 36T chainring with a 32T one. With the 51T largest cassette sprocket, I would get at approximately 18 gear-inches, which is the gearing used now on Levo SL. If only the 240 W motor plus my bad legs could provide enough power to do the climbs!

The consequence of selecting a Vado SL is the need of having a rear rack for Range Extenders, extra water bottles and food. I'm going with the Ortlieb Quick Rack and can only hope the rack would fit an e-bike with the 12x148 mm rear hub spacing!

At least the weather for the race would be gorgeous: 23 C, sunshine, moderate wind providing a good cooling! Another good thing is my Fearless runs on 42 mm tubeless Tracer Pro tyres, no need to carry spare inner tubes!

P.S. It was exciting to install the 32T chainring, the smallest of the 104 BCD chainrings!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Bad News Before The Start Of The Sudovia Gravel E-Sprint Race

I seem to have blown it. Trying to replace the existing chainring in my Vado 6.0 with a very small one, I discovered I could not loosen the chainring bolts! (I have probably Loctited them). A visit to Jakoobcycles didn't help. The mechanic is really fond of me and he tried to help; he even used a grinder so my chainring bolt wrench Park Tool CNW-2 would actually fit the nut. All in vain. The matter could be fixed if the workshop had a lot of time to look to the case but they are fully booked by the end of June!

Meaning, I cannot even try riding insanely steep (but short) inclines in Sudovia on the 520 W motor e-bike with the 44-46T gearing!

What I can, however, do, is replacing the Vado SL 36T chainring with a 32T one. With the 51T largest cassette sprocket, I would get at approximately 18 gear-inches, which is the gearing used now on Levo SL. If only the 240 W motor plus my bad legs could provide enough power to do the climbs!

The consequence of selecting a Vado SL is the need of having a rear rack for Range Extenders, extra water bottles and food. I'm going with the Ortlieb Quick Rack and can only hope the rack would fit an e-bike with the 12x148 mm rear hub spacing!

At least the weather for the race would be gorgeous: 23 C, sunshine, moderate wind providing a good cooling! Another good thing is my Fearless runs on 42 mm tubeless Tracer Pro tyres, no need to carry spare inner tubes!

P.S. It was exciting to install the 32T chainring, the smallest of the 104 BCD chainrings!

Like you, I did a bit of wrenching today to better enable me to face steeper climbs that I plan on tackling over the course of the season. I swapped out the stock 11/30t cassette for an 11/34t along with a new chain and will retain the 52/36 upfront for now. No issue with the RD accepting the larger set. The change was welcome and lets me spin slightly more rather than stand and grind. Best of luck in the race.

From today’s solo ride. The missus took off just as I was finishing up with the tranny work on my bike.

 

[dodgeman]

Not much bike riding here lately. We spent two weeks in Ireland, then catching up on mowing and other chores, then I got a cold. It’s weird, all the Irish people think us Americans have a funny accent when they are the ones with the accent. All my pictures look a lot like Rabh’s so I will just bore you with one of me and my wife at the Giants Causeway.

 

[Chargeride]

Revisited and old path in Lancashire with the missus, such a beautiful day, it seemed a pity to stay indoors.

It started going downhill as it was across between rock hard ruts and huge puddles, the wife dunked her new trainers and her mood went the way you dont want.

The only dry way out was this rutted footpath, I had to carry the bikes and those pallets all collapsed under my weight.

Climbed back up a long track using throttle only, you may be impressed with the hose clamp repair of the front brake lever.

Had a snack in the park cafe, rather anaemic looking ham and cheese toastie, complete with a can of water for the wife.
Only £10.50 for the lot, London this is not.

Went for a nose at the crowds on Burbo Bank beach.

The bike flew along the hard packed sand, but rattled me so much that it affected my sight

There is a now a permanent summer bar setup this end of the beach, without sounding like a snob ,this is the more..er...low rent end, but also far more fun, the beach ends here and is nothing but Liverpool docks till past the city.

The tattoo ratio ramps up exponentially. I'm snobbing again.

Actually a good vibe considering the next to a container dock geapgraphic.

This woman screamed obscenities at her dog, who is called Zeus and casually booted him out of the way, I'm saying nothing.

The watersports centre is a lot more pleasant, chill music and a great singer.

This lake actually held the world Windsurfer speed record back in the 90s, mainly because it was such a new sport and in the winter there is unbelievable wind speeds over it, straight fromm the sea.

And for all those who miss me mentioning it constantly, this is Bruce Ismays house, even though he was finally cleared of cowardice after leaving the Titanic, he became quite a recluse and used to walk home every night from his White Star office, he handed out cash to local charities along the way.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The only dry way out was this rutted footpath, I had to carry the bikes and those pallets all collapsed under my weight.

You must be a very strong man to be able to carry all those heavy bikes/e-bikes over the obstacles!

Had a snack in the park cafe, rather anaemic looking ham and cheese toastie, complete with a can of water for the wife.
Only £10.50 for the lot, London this is not.

Ya. That would easily be twenty quid in London...

Lancashire? I was to Southport with my wife once

I love your ride report! So colourful and interesting!

 

[Chargeride]

Yup Southport is just up the coast from me.

 

[Chargeride]

I was sat in my mothers yesterday and a sonic boom level bang shook the street, we ran outside and a manhole cover was in the road, smoke and flames were pouring out of the exposed hole.
We all nervously approached and there was a two inch arc jumping across blown apart cables, the noise was unbelievable, the entire ground buzzed.
We all backed off expecting to see the Tripods from War of the Worlds emerge.
This was followed by an even bigger bang that left the hole like those shots of fighter jets breaking the sound barrier, we all ran for cover, but explosion seemed to end the carnage.

Its quite unbelievable what potential disaster lays underneath our feet, the cable had been damaged by the gas engineers who were working in the manhole last week, the explosion then ruptured their gas pipe.

Within minutes the street was full of fire engines and utility vans, they are still there now.

The street was full of school kids, I think someone must of filmed it.

I'll never look at pavement/sidewalks the same again, the power of high voltage and current.
We spoke the the electric guy, he said this was damage but its happening a lot as they load the grid for EV charging.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Five Five Five
And You Can Track Me Riding Live!

So, I'm being taken with a family car to the race on Friday and starting at 10:00 am CET on Saturday.

See who's got the "Number Of The Beast" I am positive Emanuel has specifically asked for that number!

I'm closing the list of the 27 Sprinters How justly!

What if I win the Sprint? (Subaru Impreza 555!)

It 512 people from Poland, Lithuania and other countries taking part in Ultra, Staged Race, Classic, Sprint, and e-Sprint (yours truly there). It looks it will be appropriate to be speaking English, as we have no common language with the Lithuanian!

Here's the link to the Tracker, active from Sat May 18th, 10:00 CET.
Sudovia Gravel 2024 Sprint

Track me if you can!

 

[RabH]

Amazing day on the bike with some gravel and off road riding thrown in...

I have been waiting for the right conditions to do one of my favourite rides from Loch Lubnaig up over Ben Lawers! I put the bike in the car and set off for Loch Lubnaig just before 5am, arriving just before 6am! I always do this ride as early as possible to avoid the traffic on the A84 as lots of trucks use the road! I stopped for a photo of Loch Lubnaig and 2 trucks passed at 6am! There was almost no wind at all which was very welcome!

The first village is Strathyre after just 3 miles and I decided to use the cycle path which was nice smooth tarmac which then changed to smooth gravel!

I stayed on the path all the way to Lochearnhead so I was on the path for a good 4 miles and it was about 2 miles of gravel and 2 miles of tarmac, some rough gravel and some pretty smooth! At Lochearnhead I joined the A84 again to do the 3.6 mile Glen Ogle climb, its pretty gradual so not that difficult! I stopped part way up for a photo of the viaduct!

The reason I used the main road here was the descent down towards the Killin cutoff is just amazing and the road is in such great condition, 41.3mph was my top speed and most of the way down it was over 40mph! I was happy to leave the main road though and take the quieter road through Killin, the road here starts with this lovely descent!

I reached Killin and stopped for some photos of the Falls of Dochart!

At the other side of the village I stopped for this photo of River Lochay!

Then it was time to start climbing again, along the A827 which runs right alongside Loch Tay for many miles! I took so many photos along here but can't post them all, this one is looking back towards Killin!

Then I had this lovely descent to enjoy!

I reached Fearnan where it was time to turn north for Glen Lyon, before I started the climb I took the last 2 stunning photos of Loch Tay!

The climb up to Glen Lyon is a short but sharp one before the road flattens and becomes a slight downhill, its a very narrow road in parts but such a fun road to ride! I started riding through Glen Lyon and had a nice view of the River Lyon down below!

Then I had this cracking descent and the road is in great condition!

I stopped for a snack next to the River Lyon and noticed they have been shoring up the bank to stop the road flooding!

Its about 10 miles through the glen and the road is in such great condition and the scenery is just stunning, the only downside was a garbage truck was doing its rounds today so I ended up stopping for 10 minutes to let it get way ahead of me!

Another view of the river from the road with the mountains shrouded in cloud!

I reached Bridge of Balgie where the climb up over Ben Lawers starts, its around 5 miles with an average gradient of 5% so not too difficult for an e bike! I stopped part way up to take this photo looking back down into the valley!

This is looking up the climb, its steeper than the photo suggests!

At the top of the climb Lochan na Lairige Reservoir came into view, I was shocked at how low the water was! It looks like they didn't get the rain we have been blighted with in Central Scotland!

Lawers Dam!

I was now looking forward to the fast descent back down to Loch Tay, it didn't disappoint but I did meet a couple of cars coming up which spoiled it but only a little! Next time I might climb this part and try the descent down to Bridge of Balgie as the road is in great condition now, it used to be very rough! Its very steep at this end though but my e bike is a good climber, as am I! I was now back on the valley road heading back towards Killin and grabbed another photo of Loch Tay! Still no sign of the sun which was forecast but I wasn't complaining as the temp was just perfect!

I passed through Killin and now had the climb back up Glen Ogle to come, from Killin it was a good 6 mile climb but then I had the awesome descent back down into Lochearnhead to look forward to and it was a real blast and not a single truck! As I was passing through Lochearnhead I decided to return to the cycle path towards Strathyre to avoid the main road! The first part is a big climb and then it levels off and rises and falls for a bit, going from tarmac to gravel and back again!

I had a nice view of the mountains from the path also!

Some ponies and horses also!

I reached the end of the path near Strathyre and spotted a sign for Callander and decided to stay on the path and go to Callander where I could double back to the car using the main road! I followed the direction the sign was pointing and found myself on a forest road and thought it would just be temporary and rejoin the path, how wrong I was... It started going up and up and it was getting rougher and rougher with big stones and deep ruts in places, eventually I had a downhill which was a little scary and I thought it would take me back to the path but as I turned a sharp corner the road went up again!

This continued for a few miles, up and down and up and down and then I had a tight left hand turn followed by a big scary descent with the brakes feathered all the way down! I had a look at the map on my gps and it was showing me heading back to Strathyre, thankfully as I reached the bottom of the descent I found the path again! What a relief that was as my 2nd battery only had 30% remaining, the path was gravel but it was pretty smooth and way more comfortable! Then I had this lovely view of Loch Lubnaig, on the opposite side from where my car was parked!

This view was worth the pain of that forest road, of course if I had gone the right way I would have found it about 30 minutes earlier! A little further along the path another photo opportunity!

The path remained gravel for a couple of miles but it was fine to ride! I then saw a sign for Callander which said it was still 3 miles to go and my battery was now at 26% so I decided to head over the bridge just before the Falls of Leny and rejoin the A84 to head back to the car! I actually inadvertently circumnavigated the whole of Loch Lubnaig for the first time ever! As I reached the car I had covered 78 miles so I decided to ride on for a mile or so and turn back to make it 80 miles! I got one last photo of Loch Lubnaig before arriving back at the car!

That was a real adventure, my bike handled the rough stuff well but I will stick to my roads thank you very much! Those forest roads were proper mountain bike territory for sure, the climbs were doable but the descents scared me to death at times!

 

[DaveMatthews]

View attachment 175934

Amazing day on the bike with some gravel and off road riding thrown in...

I have been waiting for the right conditions to do one of my favourite rides from Loch Lubnaig up over Ben Lawers! I put the bike in the car and set off for Loch Lubnaig just before 5am, arriving just before 6am! I always do this ride as early as possible to avoid the traffic on the A84 as lots of trucks use the road! I stopped for a photo of Loch Lubnaig and 2 trucks passed at 6am! There was almost no wind at all which was very welcome!

View attachment 175935
The first village is Strathyre after just 3 miles and I decided to use the cycle path which was nice smooth tarmac which then changed to smooth gravel!

View attachment 175936
I stayed on the path all the way to Lochearnhead so I was on the path for a good 4 miles and it was about 2 miles of gravel and 2 miles of tarmac, some rough gravel and some pretty smooth! At Lochearnhead I joined the A84 again to do the 3.6 mile Glen Ogle climb, its pretty gradual so not that difficult! I stopped part way up for a photo of the viaduct!

View attachment 175937
The reason I used the main road here was the descent down towards the Killin cutoff is just amazing and the road is in such great condition, 41.3mph was my top speed and most of the way down it was over 40mph! I was happy to leave the main road though and take the quieter road through Killin, the road here starts with this lovely descent!

View attachment 175938
I reached Killin and stopped for some photos of the Falls of Dochart!

View attachment 175939
View attachment 175940
At the other side of the village I stopped for this photo of River Lochay!

View attachment 175941
Then it was time to start climbing again, along the A827 which runs right alongside Loch Tay for many miles! I took so many photos along here but can't post them all, this one is looking back towards Killin!

View attachment 175942
Then I had this lovely descent to enjoy!

View attachment 175943
I reached Fearnan where it was time to turn north for Glen Lyon, before I started the climb I took the last 2 stunning photos of Loch Tay!

View attachment 175944
View attachment 175945
The climb up to Glen Lyon is a short but sharp one before the road flattens and becomes a slight downhill, its a very narrow road in parts but such a fun road to ride! I started riding through Glen Lyon and had a nice view of the River Lyon down below!

View attachment 175946
Then I had this cracking descent and the road is in great condition!

View attachment 175947
View attachment 175948
I stopped for a snack next to the River Lyon and noticed they have been shoring up the bank to stop the road flooding!

View attachment 175949
Its about 10 miles through the glen and the road is in such great condition and the scenery is just stunning, the only downside was a garbage truck was doing its rounds today so I ended up stopping for 10 minutes to let it get way ahead of me!

Another view of the river from the road with the mountains shrouded in cloud!

View attachment 175950
I reached Bridge of Balgie where the climb up over Ben Lawers starts, its around 5 miles with an average gradient of 5% so not too difficult for an e bike! I stopped part way up to take this photo looking back down into the valley!

View attachment 175951
This is looking up the climb, its steeper than the photo suggests!

View attachment 175952
At the top of the climb Lochan na Lairige Reservoir came into view, I was shocked at how low the water was! It looks like they didn't get the rain we have been blighted with in Central Scotland!

View attachment 175953
View attachment 175954
Lawers Dam!

View attachment 175955
I was now looking forward to the fast descent back down to Loch Tay, it didn't disappoint but I did meet a couple of cars coming up which spoiled it but only a little! Next time I might climb this part and try the descent down to Bridge of Balgie as the road is in great condition now, it used to be very rough! Its very steep at this end though but my e bike is a good climber, as am I! I was now back on the valley road heading back towards Killin and grabbed another photo of Loch Tay! Still no sign of the sun which was forecast but I wasn't complaining as the temp was just perfect!

View attachment 175956
I passed through Killin and now had the climb back up Glen Ogle to come, from Killin it was a good 6 mile climb but then I had the awesome descent back down into Lochearnhead to look forward to and it was a real blast and not a single truck! As I was passing through Lochearnhead I decided to return to the cycle path towards Strathyre to avoid the main road! The first part is a big climb and then it levels off and rises and falls for a bit, going from tarmac to gravel and back again!

I had a nice view of the mountains from the path also!

View attachment 175957
Some ponies and horses also!

View attachment 175958
I reached the end of the path near Strathyre and spotted a sign for Callander and decided to stay on the path and go to Callander where I could double back to the car using the main road! I followed the direction the sign was pointing and found myself on a forest road and thought it would just be temporary and rejoin the path, how wrong I was... It started going up and up and it was getting rougher and rougher with big stones and deep ruts in places, eventually I had a downhill which was a little scary and I thought it would take me back to the path but as I turned a sharp corner the road went up again!

This continued for a few miles, up and down and up and down and then I had a tight left hand turn followed by a big scary descent with the brakes feathered all the way down! I had a look at the map on my gps and it was showing me heading back to Strathyre, thankfully as I reached the bottom of the descent I found the path again! What a relief that was as my 2nd battery only had 30% remaining, the path was gravel but it was pretty smooth and way more comfortable! Then I had this lovely view of Loch Lubnaig, on the opposite side from where my car was parked!

View attachment 175961
This view was worth the pain of that forest road, of course if I had gone the right way I would have found it about 30 minutes earlier! A little further along the path another photo opportunity!

View attachment 175962
The path remained gravel for a couple of miles but it was fine to ride! I then saw a sign for Callander which said it was still 3 miles to go and my battery was now at 26% so I decided to head over the bridge just before the Falls of Leny and rejoin the A84 to head back to the car! I actually inadvertently circumnavigated the whole of Loch Lubnaig for the first time ever! As I reached the car I had covered 78 miles so I decided to ride on for a mile or so and turn back to make it 80 miles! I got one last photo of Loch Lubnaig before arriving back at the car!

View attachment 175964
That was a real adventure, my bike handled the rough stuff well but I will stick to my roads thank you very much! Those forest roads were proper mountain bike territory for sure, the climbs were doable but the descents scared me to death at times!

Fantastic ride and photos!

 

[Roamers]

Just words. Bikes never got out last year, so they sat for 19 or so months. When we got on them yesterday, the same # of bars and range (39 miles) was on the display (no charge was added when we put them away). So self discharge appeared to be negligible. After 20 mile ride, the last 3 miles at highest level of assist (hardly pedaling, 19.8 mph) estimated range was still 19. Impressed to say the least.

 

[JGcycle]

A couple of pics from yesterday's 20km ride:

 

[dodgeman]

RabH I just got back from Ireland a week ago, your pictures seem similar but different. The roads look just as narrow. My picture below is a rural road I ride on and is near my house. I think the pavement is similar in width and texture to a lot of roads in Ireland, Scotland and England, there just isn’t a hedge or stonewall 5 inches off the pavement here.

I road 12 miles today to go into town to visit a friend. I brought him back a Guinness bottle opener.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

In Sudovia

No pictures as the network coverage here at the agrotouristic pension in Szurpiły, Sudovian Hills is rather weak.

I didn't expect such an outstanding natural beauty in this farthest northeastern corner of Poland (Suwalki Gap). Very steep hills with cows on the pasture. Gorgeous deep clean lakes. Smooth gravel roads. Deer roaring in the woods. An angler showing a freshly caught big pike to us! A trip in a rowing boat on the lake at the sunset! Hungry? A nearby recreation location is full of restaurants!

We (I and my young cousin Sebastian) had local pizza for lunch on Friday: herb cheese from Wiżajny and herb sausage from Ejszeryszki for the topping (location names rightly sound Lithuanian here!) The pizza was as big as it was our meal for the supper, too!

I collected my Starter Packet by Lake Szelment. A friendly relaxed atmosphere, nice organizers, beautiful weather! Starting today, and to my surprise having a competitor for the e-Sprint race!

Polish gravel cyclists got a good thrashing from the Lithuanians on the Staged Race Day 1. Lithuanians took seven first positions in the race! Necessary to mention, Lithuania is as flat as pancake, so our neighbours must have prepared themselves rather well for the race!

Will keep you updated, and post the pictures when back at my place!

 

[Chargeride]

Ill look forward to the pics, sounds luverly.
Agrotourism pension.
I had to look that up and Im still confused.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Agrotourism pension

It is like a small hotel on a farm


With my mentor Michał Bors, 6th in Ultra 415 km race.


Group 14, 100 mile Classic Race.

 

[RabH]

RabH I just got back from Ireland a week ago, your pictures seem similar but different. The roads look just as narrow. My picture below is a rural road I ride on and is near my house. I think the pavement is similar in width and texture to a lot of roads in Ireland, Scotland and England, there just isn’t a hedge or stonewall 5 inches off the pavement here.

I road 12 miles today to go into town to visit a friend. I brought him back a Guinness bottle opener.
View attachment 175997

I'm just across the water and never been... We have 1000's of miles of narrow back roads, hedges and stone walls everywhere and I'm sure Ireland has also!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have won the e-Sprint race. My only competitor Darek would have won if he didn't lose his pannier, which added 40 track kilometres to his ride!
P.S. He was more lucky than anyone could think, an incredible story! He won silver

With non alcoholic beer I got on the finish line.

Full report: later

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from today's 32km ride: