2024 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
dodgeman
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Macomb, Illinois
I rode 26 miles today. A large set of grain bins. This is where the farmer would store his grain temporarily after harvest. You can see a propane tank in the right side where they can heat the air they blow in the grain to dry it. They often turn on the blowers without heat when it first gets cold, the colder the grain the better it stores. The second picture is a crop duster. We have had Japanese beetles become a problem lately so I’d guess they are spraying for them but it could be something else.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
"Nine Men Riding, A Hundred Watching It", Or Korboloza Bolimoza 
108 people were "Interested" but only nine started the gravel group ride at 10:35 am on Saturday. I'm glad those riders were in a good part the "creme de la creme"!
I (of course) spoiled the ride plan and led the group into sand! I paid the full price of that mistake as I got dropped by people not afraid of sand, and then had to sprint for 15 km to catch up with the tail of the group! (I only allowed myself to have 40% of assistance for Turbo to conserve the single battery I took with me; my principal assistance mode was only 15/20% to keep me below 25 km/h!) Eventually, I joined the Slow Group consisting of a new man, Marek, riding a Giant full suspension MTB, and Tomek (who rode with me on the previous group ride).
25 km into the ride, the Performance and Slow Groups joined at a stop. We discovered the Vintage Man (who rode a 1970s Polish made Jaguar road bike) disappeared again! I cannot understand the old man. He has no form of GPS navigation, fine. He is too slow for the Performance Group, OK. Why didn't he wait for Slow Riders to join them? (The man was later discovered in a return train by another group ride member who had to leave earlier).
We continued riding, taking a long stop at the gorgeous Bolimów Lake (32nd kilometre).
"You guys hiding from the sun in the woods remind me of the knights of King Władysław Jagiełło before the Battle of Grunwald against the Teutonic Order!' (The opposing side had to wait for the battle in full armour in the scorching July sunshine; and they lost). L to R: Przemek, Tomaz, Roland, Marek (MTB), Alfer, Tomek, my brother Jacek.
Five of us formed the Performance Group and rode at the racing speed!
Except the sand in the beginning, it was either premium gravel or asphalt.
The man in blue (Roland) lead the fast group. My brother was trying to match the man. 'When I saw him riding at 40 km/h on concrete slabs, I gave up!' said Jacek later.
We took a long rest by the lake. (An 'Unknown Stranger' was taking those photos). See Alfer jumping! He's always doing that!
Przemek (who always has brilliant ideas!) set us up for the photo session...
The Multiheaded Monster had emerged from Bolimów Lake!
A Multi-Arm, Multi-Headed Monster!
Jacek and Alfer always get the best photos together!
Past the Lake, only five of us remained in the group (others went their own ways). We zoomed into the next set of perfect gravel roads soon.
Marek is a man with similar habits to mine. Like me, he has to stop to drink from the water-bottle, for instance. As I suggested a short stop, Tomaz missed my signals. He stopped his bike abruptly, unclipped his feet from the pedals but actually his body was still moving at speed! To save himself, he dropped his bike and started running! To crash soon! (I hope his road rash was just symbolic...)
Eventually, the five of us re-joined at the Posterunek 77 (Police Station '77) in Nieborów again (51st km). The quite elegant restaurant maintains the vocabulary of the People's Republic of Poland from them olden days (Marek - left - is actually a slim person! I will never ever use a wide-angle lens to take pictures of people again!) Given the busy day, 30 minuts of waiting for the food was not bad at all. However, it was no wind where we were sitting, and soon we started suffering at 31 C...
Potato Pancakes with Chanterelle Sauce.
Guess who ate that large Knuckle? Of course, my skinny brother!
The restaurant specialized in goose meat (and poultry in general), which I do not eat. The Potato Pancakes was exactly what I wanted though. Now, we were as thirsty as I and Tomas drank a litre of Compote each! We were badly dehydrated!
Then, we had a very nice 17 km return via the premium gravel Łowicz Road. Had the time to eat ice-cream in Skierniewice Rawka and be on time for the train!
Ride Map with POI. I rode for 80 km/50 mi on the day.
108 people were "Interested" but only nine started the gravel group ride at 10:35 am on Saturday. I'm glad those riders were in a good part the "creme de la creme"!
I (of course) spoiled the ride plan and led the group into sand! I paid the full price of that mistake as I got dropped by people not afraid of sand, and then had to sprint for 15 km to catch up with the tail of the group! (I only allowed myself to have 40% of assistance for Turbo to conserve the single battery I took with me; my principal assistance mode was only 15/20% to keep me below 25 km/h!) Eventually, I joined the Slow Group consisting of a new man, Marek, riding a Giant full suspension MTB, and Tomek (who rode with me on the previous group ride).
25 km into the ride, the Performance and Slow Groups joined at a stop. We discovered the Vintage Man (who rode a 1970s Polish made Jaguar road bike) disappeared again! I cannot understand the old man. He has no form of GPS navigation, fine. He is too slow for the Performance Group, OK. Why didn't he wait for Slow Riders to join them? (The man was later discovered in a return train by another group ride member who had to leave earlier).
We continued riding, taking a long stop at the gorgeous Bolimów Lake (32nd kilometre).
"You guys hiding from the sun in the woods remind me of the knights of King Władysław Jagiełło before the Battle of Grunwald against the Teutonic Order!'
(The opposing side had to wait for the battle in full armour in the scorching July sunshine; and they lost). L to R: Przemek, Tomaz, Roland, Marek (MTB), Alfer, Tomek, my brother Jacek.Five of us formed the Performance Group and rode at the racing speed!
Except the sand in the beginning, it was either premium gravel or asphalt.
The man in blue (Roland) lead the fast group. My brother was trying to match the man. 'When I saw him riding at 40 km/h on concrete slabs, I gave up!' said Jacek later.
We took a long rest by the lake. (An 'Unknown Stranger' was taking those photos). See Alfer jumping! He's always doing that!
Przemek (who always has brilliant ideas!) set us up for the photo session...
The Multiheaded Monster had emerged from Bolimów Lake!
A Multi-Arm, Multi-Headed Monster!
Jacek and Alfer always get the best photos together!
Past the Lake, only five of us remained in the group (others went their own ways). We zoomed into the next set of perfect gravel roads soon.
Marek is a man with similar habits to mine. Like me, he has to stop to drink from the water-bottle, for instance. As I suggested a short stop, Tomaz missed my signals. He stopped his bike abruptly, unclipped his feet from the pedals but actually his body was still moving at speed! To save himself, he dropped his bike and started running! To crash soon! (I hope his road rash was just symbolic...)
Eventually, the five of us re-joined at the Posterunek 77 (Police Station '77) in Nieborów again (51st km). The quite elegant restaurant maintains the vocabulary of the People's Republic of Poland from them olden days
(Marek - left - is actually a slim person! I will never ever use a wide-angle lens to take pictures of people again!) Given the busy day, 30 minuts of waiting for the food was not bad at all. However, it was no wind where we were sitting, and soon we started suffering at 31 C...Potato Pancakes with Chanterelle Sauce.
Guess who ate that large Knuckle? Of course, my skinny brother!
The restaurant specialized in goose meat (and poultry in general), which I do not eat. The Potato Pancakes was exactly what I wanted though. Now, we were as thirsty as I and Tomas drank a litre of Compote each! We were badly dehydrated!
Then, we had a very nice 17 km return via the premium gravel Łowicz Road. Had the time to eat ice-cream in Skierniewice Rawka and be on time for the train!
Ride Map with POI. I rode for 80 km/50 mi on the day.
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Chargeride
Well-Known Member
That is a splendid photo, I of course was hoping it was of the pier collapsing.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Quite recently, there was a Recumbent Bike Rally in Łódź. Boys & girls went with their bikes on industrial scales. They weighed 5,200 kg (5.2 metric tons!)
I thought the pier would collapse myself
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
The Cwm forest stupid bmx ride, its about an hours drive from home and everyone except me was doing it after work.
Just five minutes in and Brians bike started glitching and then fully derestricted itself, he swears blind he hasnt many any mods and everyone backed him up as they were riding yesterday and his bike was in someones van all night.
My bike tops out at 20mph and he pulled away from me like a train.
They kindly waited for me at various points but there were times when it was
' get out the way bmx boy'
The top has a memorial and a bit of wreckage from a crash in 1947, they were delivery hay to France?
I know they only stopped hoping I would fall off.
The lens flattens the terrain, but this shot gives you the best impression of how insanely steep it was.
I actually only fell off once.
I went off alone down a very long and steep disused trail only to find a complete dead end, had to backtrack for miles.
The guy on the left is Stan, my oldest friend out of the group and the lover boy of the gang, had a string of gorgeous girlfriends, we were always pinching each others, no questions were asked.
My bike could keep up even with Brians full power bike on the smooth steep inclines.
Some parts had a nice flow where I could keep up with them until it came to the jump sections, theyre not Sam Pilgrims, were all in our 60s, but they have a go.
Everywhere is so overgrown the year, I let Bri carve a path for me through the Ferns.
Great ride, but I was physically destroyed, my legs still hurt now.
Though it will do me good on the long run, it was good to catch up with the team, Bri has now retired himself, so I'll be doing more rides with him.
Funnily enough, I bumped into one of Stans girfriends a few months ago, shes 50 in this pic and still looks amazing, she was also the first topless centrefold in the UKs most famous Lads Magazine
Just five minutes in and Brians bike started glitching and then fully derestricted itself, he swears blind he hasnt many any mods and everyone backed him up as they were riding yesterday and his bike was in someones van all night.
My bike tops out at 20mph and he pulled away from me like a train.
They kindly waited for me at various points but there were times when it was
' get out the way bmx boy'
The top has a memorial and a bit of wreckage from a crash in 1947, they were delivery hay to France?
I know they only stopped hoping I would fall off.
The lens flattens the terrain, but this shot gives you the best impression of how insanely steep it was.
I actually only fell off once.
I went off alone down a very long and steep disused trail only to find a complete dead end, had to backtrack for miles.
The guy on the left is Stan, my oldest friend out of the group and the lover boy of the gang, had a string of gorgeous girlfriends, we were always pinching each others, no questions were asked.
My bike could keep up even with Brians full power bike on the smooth steep inclines.
Some parts had a nice flow where I could keep up with them until it came to the jump sections, theyre not Sam Pilgrims, were all in our 60s, but they have a go.
Everywhere is so overgrown the year, I let Bri carve a path for me through the Ferns.
Great ride, but I was physically destroyed, my legs still hurt now.
Though it will do me good on the long run, it was good to catch up with the team, Bri has now retired himself, so I'll be doing more rides with him.
Funnily enough, I bumped into one of Stans girfriends a few months ago, shes 50 in this pic and still looks amazing, she was also the first topless centrefold in the UKs most famous Lads Magazine
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Pronounced "koom"? I looked it up. "Valley Mountain", good, good
I'm glad you survived the ride with the big boys, Chris
Do you actually wear a helmet?
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Yes, always.Pronounced "koom"? I looked it up. "Valley Mountain", good, good
I'm glad you survived the ride with the big boys, Chris
Do you actually wear a helmet?
RabH
Well-Known Member
My fifth consecutive imperial century on my e bike, our weather has just been crazy so as soon as a decent day comes along I just have to make the most of it! The forecast was showing light winds from the SW and a less than 5% chance of rain, they got the rain part right but the winds certainly weren't light! I set off at 7.15am with just 2 batteries this time to stop me going crazy and doing another monster ride...
I headed south for the Clyde Valley and then SW towards Strathaven, so I had a headwind all the way! At Strathaven I took the awesome back road down to Muirkirk, its one of those cycling roads that just makes you smile! It rises and falls and twists and turns all the way to Muirkirk and the scenery isn't too shabby either!I just love this twisty descent!
A little further and I had lovely new tarmac to enjoy!
At Muirkirk I joined the main A70 towards Lanark, an other amazing road with some stunning views!
Glenbuck Loch!
The road is pretty much like this all the way to Lanark!
This is the start of the big climb up to Rigside!
I looked back to see if any trucks were coming before starting up the climb and the road was clear, as soon as I reached the steep part I could hear a truck approaching, followed by a bus and more trucks...I bet they were happy with me!
I did pull over at the first opportunity to let them pass and got a thumbs up!
Just after Rigside 50 miles appeared on my gps and my first battery had over 30% left, pretty impressive given the headwind for 35 miles and 3500ft of climbing!The view at Rigside!
The road continues to rise and fall for miles, I stopped at the summit of this one for a snack and a short break!
The view to the north!
I then enjoyed the fast descent down to Hynford Bridge where I stopped for this photo of the River Clyde!
I decided to continue on the A70 to avoid Lanark but the traffic was becoming a problem, so at the first opportunity I turned off the main road and took the back road to Thankerton! I made a few wrong turns on this road as I hadn't used it for decades and have never ridden a bike on it!
This is the start of the road which is a big old climb!
Further up the climb I had some amazing views of Tinto Hill and even caught the train passing, just a little 4 carriage one!
The awesome views just continued!
I reached Thankerton and my first battery was down to 21% with 62 miles covered, so it was time for a battery swap and it was just as well because I had a huge climb to contend with! I stopped for my lunch before the climb and had these views to enjoy!
I then tackled the climb and stopped near the top for more photos!
The road was pretty rough in places but not the worst I have seen, eventually it joined the main road to Libberton where I took this photo!
From Libberton I continued on to Carnwath where I joined the back road up the climb to Braehead, I turned off part way up the climb to take the back road to Yieldshields to enjoy the awesome road to Carluke which was resurfaced recently and the final descent is just incredible!
From Carluke I took the back road towards Morningside and turned off to take the much quieter road towards Allanton! At this point I had covered 80 miles so I turned before Allanton to add some miles to make sure I was close to 100 miles when I got home, this back road is great fun and it eventually joins the main road at the eastern end of Allanton!I then took the road to Shotts which is mostly fast descents down into Hartwood and then I turned north up the toughest climb of the day towards Kirk of Shotts, my gps was showing 20% at the steepest part despite Ridewithgps showing only 14.2% max gradient...near the top of the climb I turned west to enjoy one of my favourite local back roads to Hareshaw, it really is sublime!
As I passed through Hareshaw my gps was showing 95 miles covered and when I reached the end of the road I turned east towards Salsburgh to take the quiet back roads to home! I arrived home with 102 miles in the bag and I was grinning from ear to ear after a truly breathtaking day on the bike! 
It doesn't get much better than this, it blows my mind to think 8 days ago I did 68 miles more than I did today! Today felt so much harder I have to say...maybe I was still fatigued!Attachments
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
He says so casually.
Which do you think is closer to the truth?
I think RideWithGPS is consistently underestimating the grades in my area but have no reliable way to calibrate it.
RabH
Well-Known Member
I think Ridewithgps is way off actually, many of my climbs are defintely underestimated! I see the grades on my Wahoo gps and they are nowhere near what Ridewithgps reports...
dodgeman
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Macomb, Illinois
One thing with gps is it does better on distances than elevations. That said the errors should sort of balance out.
I did a short ride today, I got rained on so I kept it short, 6 miles. I didn’t get any pictures on the ride but I shot a picture where I store my e bikes. This is a garage that is about 300 feet from our house so a fire woukd destroy two cars and all my tools but nobody is normally in it. Tomorrow I’ll probably be driving my bike back to the shop, I’m getting a nasty noise from the area of the motor or crank. I just had a new cassette and chain put on along with anew rim but I don’t think the noise s related. I had about 6 cracks in my old rim near the spokes.
Forgot the picture.
I did a short ride today, I got rained on so I kept it short, 6 miles. I didn’t get any pictures on the ride but I shot a picture where I store my e bikes. This is a garage that is about 300 feet from our house so a fire woukd destroy two cars and all my tools but nobody is normally in it. Tomorrow I’ll probably be driving my bike back to the shop, I’m getting a nasty noise from the area of the motor or crank. I just had a new cassette and chain put on along with anew rim but I don’t think the noise s related. I had about 6 cracks in my old rim near the spokes.
Forgot the picture.
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Strava has a tool for adjusting the elevation gain to the map. Also, there is a distance adjustment tool.
On one of my recent rides, Wahoo went bananas and reported an improbable distance ridden of 254 km (!!!). I could not send it to RWGPS or Komoot as both systems were missing the adjustment tools. Imported the ride to Strava, adjusted the distance and elevation gain, exported an GPX and then imported it to both RWGPS and Komoot...
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
The reflection shot..luverly.View attachment 178647
My fifth consecutive imperial century on my e bike, our weather has just been crazy so as soon as a decent day comes along I just have to make the most of it! The forecast was showing light winds from the SW and a less than 5% chance of rain, they got the rain part right but the winds certainly weren't light! I set off at 7.15am with just 2 batteries this time to stop me going crazy and doing another monster ride...
View attachment 178649
View attachment 178650
View attachment 178651
I just love this twisty descent!
View attachment 178652
A little further and I had lovely new tarmac to enjoy!
View attachment 178656
View attachment 178657
At Muirkirk I joined the main A70 towards Lanark, an other amazing road with some stunning views!
View attachment 178658
Glenbuck Loch!
View attachment 178660
The road is pretty much like this all the way to Lanark!
View attachment 178661
This is the start of the big climb up to Rigside!
View attachment 178662
I looked back to see if any trucks were coming before starting up the climb and the road was clear, as soon as I reached the steep part I could hear a truck approaching, followed by a bus and more trucks...I bet they were happy with me!
The view at Rigside!
View attachment 178663
The road continues to rise and fall for miles, I stopped at the summit of this one for a snack and a short break!
View attachment 178664
The view to the north!
View attachment 178665
I then enjoyed the fast descent down to Hynford Bridge where I stopped for this photo of the River Clyde!
View attachment 178666
I decided to continue on the A70 to avoid Lanark but the traffic was becoming a problem, so at the first opportunity I turned off the main road and took the back road to Thankerton! I made a few wrong turns on this road as I hadn't used it for decades and have never ridden a bike on it!
This is the start of the road which is a big old climb!
View attachment 178667
Further up the climb I had some amazing views of Tinto Hill and even caught the train passing, just a little 4 carriage one!
View attachment 178668
View attachment 178669
The awesome views just continued!
View attachment 178670
I reached Thankerton and my first battery was down to 21% with 62 miles covered, so it was time for a battery swap and it was just as well because I had a huge climb to contend with! I stopped for my lunch before the climb and had these views to enjoy!
View attachment 178671
View attachment 178672
View attachment 178673
I then tackled the climb and stopped near the top for more photos!
View attachment 178674
View attachment 178675
View attachment 178676
The road was pretty rough in places but not the worst I have seen, eventually it joined the main road to Libberton where I took this photo!
View attachment 178677
From Libberton I continued on to Carnwath where I joined the back road up the climb to Braehead, I turned off part way up the climb to take the back road to Yieldshields to enjoy the awesome road to Carluke which was resurfaced recently and the final descent is just incredible!
I then took the road to Shotts which is mostly fast descents down into Hartwood and then I turned north up the toughest climb of the day towards Kirk of Shotts, my gps was showing 20% at the steepest part despite Ridewithgps showing only 14.2% max gradient...near the top of the climb I turned west to enjoy one of my favourite local back roads to Hareshaw, it really is sublime!
DaveMatthews
Well-Known Member
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Thanks!! Checked a few local hills I ride often. Those grades look a lot more realistic — way steeper than RideWithGPS reports.
DaveMatthews
Well-Known Member
Yeah, one route I regularly take peaks at 22%. My Garmin peaks at 14% on the same route!
