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

[Jeremy McCreary]

First time out on the bike after a hard-hitting, non-COVID respiratory virus got hold of me 5 days ago. The roller coaster's not over yet, but had to go the pharmacy a mile away and figured biking there would do me more good than harm on such a gorgeous day.

Plan A was to go straight home. But heck, North Ponto Beach was only another 1.5 miles, and nothing lifts the spirits like communing with the ocean up close!

This view from North Ponto looks north to the Terramar headland, known for its tide-pooling at extreme low tides. Carlsbad Village is in the distance.

Looking south. North Ponto is mostly a family beach, but beginning surfers like it, too. This is about as busy as it gets. Thankfully, the tourist-choked see-and-be-seen beaches are up by the Village.

Good thing I had the sense not to go farther. The final climb back up to my neighborhood got me much more winded than usual. And by the end of this 5-mile ride, I was thinking that the couch is a pretty nice place, too.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

as I always fancy NI.

A somewhat depressing country. I meant true Ireland, like in Éire They have roads of quality nowhere to find in Norn Iron

 

[Chargeride]

But they have speshul skurls

 

[Chargeride]

First time out on the bike after a hard-hitting, non-COVID respiratory virus got hold of me 5 days ago. The roller coaster's not over yet, but had to go the pharmacy a mile away and figured biking there would do me more good than harm on such a gorgeous day.

View attachment 179994
Plan A was to go straight home. But heck, North Ponto Beach was only another 1.5 miles, and nothing lifts the spirits like communing with the ocean up close!

This view from North Ponto looks north to the Terramar headland, known for its tide-pooling at extreme low tides. Carlsbad Village is in the distance.

View attachment 179995
Looking south. North Ponto is mostly a family beach, but beginning surfers like it, too. This is about as busy as it gets. Thankfully, the tourist-choked see-and-be-seen beaches are up by the Village.

Good thing I had the sense not to go farther. The final climb back up to my neighborhood got me much more winded than usual. And by the end of this 5-mile ride, I was thinking that the couch is a pretty nice place, too.

Im still tempted by California, it has the shabby chic Cornwall look in many areas, Ive just got to stop watching videos showing drug users in roadside tents.

 

[JGcycle]

A couple of pics from this morning's 23km ride:

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Im still tempted by California, it has the shabby chic Cornwall look in many areas, Ive just got to stop watching videos showing drug users in roadside tents.

Of course, what you see of California from your distance is hardly representative.

Sure, California's got it share of kooks — on the left and right and in directions there probably aren't even names for. And our climate tends to attract the unsheltered. But most Californians are normal people leading normal lives — just like in the UK.

The physical place and its flora and fauna are incredibly diverse — far more than you'd ever imagine from TV and cinema. And there's stunning scenery nearly everywhere you look.

You should come and see for yourself.

 

[Chargeride]

My uncle is from the State, he met my aunt as a GI driving around the UK on leave and broke down outside my dads house and he put him up for the night while the car was fixed.

So my cousins grew up there, back in the 60s UK, this was as cool as it gets.

They brought back a huge disneyland poster and I took it to school, it was put up in the hall and everyone just gawped at it.

 

[Rexlion]

View attachment 179856
Goats and sheep and goats again! Note the asphalt quality. It is the lowest rate local road and it still is smooth asphalt!
(Why would one need a gravel bike there @Rás Cnoic?)

Those spectators were staring at you, but at least they had the good sense to look sheepish about it.

 

[theloafer]

just to let you guys know I'm still around... just health has took a bit of a dive .... so no cycling since june ,back at hospital to see the consultant end of this month.to see what can be done.

 

[DaveMatthews]

just to let you guys know I'm still around... just health has took a bit of a dive .... so no cycling since june ,back at hospital to see the consultant end of this month.to see what can be done.

Stay strong mate, and stay in touch!

 

[Chargeride]

Did a charity ride the missus...as usual...organised.
My friend Brain is riding one of the fatties, he knocked himself out cold for three minutes at that track I took the bmx on.
He really needs to reel it in, nearly 60 trying 15ft jumps.
Wont go for head scan...they are free here in the UK obviously.
Full concussion, doesnt remember the crash or getting home.
The lads have banned him from rides for a month and will stop him trying to jump when he does go out.

Midlife crisis, hes having terrible family problems with his kids, I feel like hes trying to prove he can get something right and then completely doesnt.

Anyway, I know video, but its a nice tune.

mcmillan2024

This is "mcmillan2024" by Jobbybob on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

 

[SpinningGears]

Did a charity ride the missus...

I mean...... speechless. i've heard charity begins at home, but.....

Next time let us know, i might nip down the m62.

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from this morning's 37km ride:

 

[Prairie Dog]

Now that July has come to a close, the summer season is continuing through August, with more hot and sunny weather predicted. It’s definitely been an interesting summer if we think about how cool and moist we were for portions of May and June, followed by turning the heat on suddenly through the entire month of July.

This field of wheat looks good but numbers don’t lie. A ¼ of the major crops are doing well but lower yields are predicted compared to 5-and 10-year averages as a result of the dry, hot conditions last month.

Yesterday’s 50 km ride was pleasant enough but strong SE gusts had us down in the drops more often than usual made worse when riding along sections flanked by wide open expanses. Deep section wheels might provide you some relative speed gains but are not a good mix when subjected to cross winds.

More often the local range roads provide little shoulder for cyclists to rely on or are not even available to afford any degree of a safety net. Most drivers are courteous and either slow down before passing or veer around us. It’s still a bit disconcerting when trucks towing rigs and 18 wheelers whiz by you on narrow two-lane country roads...

...as this trucker displayed along another section of road.

I can’t recall the last time it rained but the showers that we received overnight did wonders for parched gardens and lawns. Today was overcast but much more pleasant to ride than it ever has been and we encountered more people on the road than usual. I don’t know whether the conditions at the time were a primary contributor or simply because it was a long weekend.

 

[Chargeride]

Narrow

 

[Chargeride]

Did a charity ride the missus...as usual...organised.
My friend Brain is riding one of the fatties, he knocked himself out cold for three minutes at that track I took the bmx on.
He really needs to reel it in, nearly 60 trying 15ft jumps.
Wont go for head scan...they are free here in the UK obviously.
Full concussion, doesnt remember the crash or getting home.
The lads have banned him from rides for a month and will stop him trying to jump when he does go out.

Midlife crisis, hes having terrible family problems with his kids, I feel like hes trying to prove he can get something right and then completely doesnt.

Anyway, I know video, but its a nice tune.

mcmillan2024

This is "mcmillan2024" by Jobbybob on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

It was for MacMillan in case you thought it was for Brian

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Land of Olenders: The Group Ride I Have Organized

The morning train from Warsaw to Łowicz was fully packed with cyclists. To my surprise, almost all cyclists got off the train in Teresin-Niepokalanów where the group ride I planned and announced should start. "Anyone for 'Olenders'?" I asked in a quiet tone. It was met with indifference. Strange. I took my buddy Tomek (whom I met on the train), and we both pedalled to a nearby monastery garden to prepare. All cyclists also rode into the garden and did nothing. They were just waiting.

'Tomek, there is a guy there you seem to know. Ask him where that groups rides to...'
It was my group Twenty-one riders in total. Shock!
I rose my voice and said: 'Guys, sorry for the confusion! I am the group leader! Here is the plan... Let's ride!'

It was good to the first waypoint, the village of Kampinos. There, approximately half of the riders decided to visit a local convenience store. I collected the rest and so we reached the next waypoint, "The Inlet of Wilków Road". From that point on, I lost control over the group. I knew most of the riders had GPS navigation and noticed they wanted to ride faster than 25 km/h announced for the group ride. Now, more and more people had own plans how to continue So I gave up my leadership and took care of the slowest people. A dozen of riders reached "At Marta's" store at the 30th kilometre. Now, those 12 people were actually interested in the history of the Dutch/German settlers on the Vistula. I gave them a short historical speech and then we rode together.

Several people of our main group posed for a photo by an old Olender church in Secymin Nowy (the village was Secymin Niemiecki, or German before WW2).

You can see 8 people (and me with the camera) as the remaining three were doing something else at the same time...

Like this gent who was admiring Vistula River The other was repairing his bike etc.

A funny thing. To our big surprise, a huge picnic was organized at the site (Vistula Days). The Kampinos National Park director had a speech as we were leaving! My companions regretted we had stopped at Marta's as we could get barbecue there, possibly free?

Visiting Olender graveyard.

After some more ride, we reached the Hungarian recreation site of Batorówka.

My brother Jacek and his closest friend had been on the same train but they started their ride a way farther (Sochaczew). They were pursuing our group to eventually catch up at the Hungarian site!

All remaining people except us three decided to ride to Biker Pub via Kampinos National Park. We three took main roads to complete the ride plan.

There was a single e-biker (outside me) in the group, Anna. To my big surprise, I learned she started riding e-bikes already in 2017! Her current ride is a Flyer Gotour6 (a Swiss brand) equipped with a Bosch Performance Line motor, Intuvia display and a 625 Wh battery. I was riding my Vado SL (limited to 25 km/h) at 30/100% assistance. I was dictating possibly high tempo on the last 33 km, allowing my mates getting on the train at 17:36.

I of course had to extend the ride to make a Metric Century

A peculiar weather phenomenon occurred on our return ride. It was a solid 28 C, a very warm day. I asked my two companions for a short stop at a convenience store to get me a cuppa coffee. As I drank the coffee quickly, I felt a sudden drop in the ambient air temperature! Temperature dropped with 5 C within several minutes! Needless to say, the return ride became a pleasure!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

County Donegal Trip

If you are interested in seeing a nicely edited photos and stories in English, you can view these photo albums on Facebook:

1. Travel to Donegal, Irish Folk Music
2. Tory Island (recommended)
3. Wild Atlantic Way
4. Lough Swilly (Ireland) and Derry (Northern Ireland)
5. Killybegs via Glenties and Ardara Distillery
6. By e-bike to Malin Beg (recommended)
7. Slieve League (Cliffs) Boat Cruise (recommended)
8. Donegal Town

The albums are Public, so hopefully unregistered users can view them (a fact?)

The Carrick/Malin Beg was the e-bike ride in a hilly terrain!

 

[RabH]

I caught a break in the weather today, despite a dismal looking forecast which was showing rain pretty much all afternoon! I had things to do in the morning and of course the weather was lovely then...I was resigned to staying indoors but I had a look out of my window in the direction of the wind and decided to take a chance and it paid off! The wind was very blustery from the SW, with gusts around 30mph at times and luckily it played a part in making my ride one to remember!

I headed south to Carluke, using mainly back roads and I was keeping an eye on the rain clouds in the distance all the time! From Carluke I took the back road to Yieldshields and had the wind at my back for a while, it was really blowing and I was flying along! I wasn't going to take any photos but things really brightened up so I changed my mind, this was looking south towards the Pentland Hills!

The road up to Braehead but I wasn't climbing this one today!

I was enjoying that wind at my back so I took the back road towards Auchengray to take full adavantage of it and soon had another view of the Pentlands!

I was going up this hill at almost 20mph with the wind at my back!

All the way along this road you get nice views to the south!

Then I had this brilliant descent with the wind really pushing me on, I knew eventually I would have to battle into it but I was loving it at this point!

The descent continues around the bend before the climb up to Auchengray starts just around the bend at the railway crossing, it was crosswind time for this climb!

At Auchengray I had the wind at my back again and some lovely views to the north!

Some nasty clouds also but it remained dry thankfully!

I stopped for a snack and grabbed more photos while it was still dry!

Soon I would be heading in the direction of these clouds and fearing I would get a soaking at some point!

I continued towards Woolfords and started the big climb but the wind was helping me here! Soon I would have some big descents but would also have a crosswind to contend with so I had to be careful, but it turned out to be my lucky day as the wind changed to almost a direct southerly and I shot down the descents like a bat out of hell! At the end of the road I turned east towards West Calder to take the road to Stoneyburn as its very well sheltered by trees so the wind was negated all the way to Longridge!

Then I had the big climb up through Longridge with the wind at my back so it was a breeze so to speak! Then I had the fast descent down into Whitburn where I took the cycle path up the climb into Armadale!

The path joins another cycle path that keeps you away from the traffic through Armadale and then joins the back road to Blackridge, as I neared the village some black clouds appeared overhead and I felt some spits of rain for the first time! It didn't last though as the wind blew the clouds away very quickly! I had covered 46 miles at this point and had around 10 to go, its pretty much a straight road west from there to home! I used the back roads at Plains to avoid the busy traffic through my home town as it was approaching the evening rush hour! It turned out to be a totally dry ride and a very enjoyable one, sometimes gusty winds can make a ride better and that was the case today!

@theloafer Wishing you all the best with your treatment, my older brother has been fighting cancer and restarted chemo last Friday after a 9 month break! He ended up in hospital over the weekend with a racing heart and gave us quite a scare! Thankfully he is home again and recovering, my heart goes out to everybody that has to go through this!

 

[Chargeride]

County Donegal Trip

If you are interested in seeing a nicely edited photos and stories in English, you can view these photo albums on Facebook:

1. Travel to Donegal, Irish Folk Music
2. Tory Island (recommended)
3. Wild Atlantic Way
4. Lough Swilly (Ireland) and Derry (Northern Ireland)
5. Killybegs via Glenties and Ardara Distillery
6. By e-bike to Malin Beg (recommended)
7. Slieve League (Cliffs) Boat Cruise (recommended)
8. Donegal Town

The albums are Public, so hopefully unregistered users can view them (a fact?)

View attachment 180115
The Carrick/Malin Beg was the e-bike ride in a hilly terrain!

I can have a look, but cant like anything because it will link back and I'll start getting all.kinds of sdverts for polish food