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

[Stefan Mikes]

@Chargeride: it is both some dumb people and the local accent. Just imagine how difficult my stays on the British Isles are for me, a person with English as the third language (Russian used to be my second language although I admit my skill remained at understanding the spoken language and reading by now; English has shifted to the role of my second language).

Say, we are in Buxton (Peak District). I'm trying to locate the Buxton Brewery pub, so we enter a regular pub. I'm asking the bartender for some Buxton ale (Bahx-ton, like in bahs - bus). She seems to totally not understand me, and when she does, she loudly corrects me with 'IT'S BOOX-TON' (Fortunately, we could find the Buxton Brewery pub soon).

 

[dodgeman]

I rode 23 miles today, a picture of a soybean field. I’m not sure the size of the field, the picture doesn’t show it all, but probably 200 acres or more.

Chargeride I like the way you wrote out the people’s accent. It wasn’t until the last line I figured out they needed the “code”. We spent two weeks in Ireland this last spring and I think the people tone down their Irish accent for us Americans. I still think it’s funny they thought we were the ones with the funny accent.

 

[Prairie Dog]

It was another epic day weather wise as we fit in a vigorous 40km ride. This fellow rode by on his Caad while I was waiting for the missus to finish her climb up the hilly 2km long section on Hwy 11. Meanwhile, west bound traffic was being held up by a slow-moving harvester.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

We spent two weeks in Ireland this last spring and I think the people tone down their Irish accent for us Americans. I still think it’s funny they thought we were the ones with the funny accent.

Where have you been in Ireland?

I usually had no language issues in Donegal. Once, I almost banged a man with the door on exiting a pub. The guy merrily burst with a cacophony of sentences! I smiled and him and explained myself to not be the native speaker, and asked him for speaking slowly and distinctly He slowed down indeed but the only what I could understand was something like "I often speak the Old Language (i.e., Irish Gaelic), and that language is spoken very fast; that affects my English!" I pretended I understood him, laughed, and we said our goodbyes.

Apart of that, any Irish I talked with was speaking understandably to a foreigner I was. Only I could notice the sound "u" in many words "fun", "bus", "cut" was pronounced as the one in "sufficient". As that is so similar to the way we Poles pronounce the "u", I was delighted I could speak that way! Actually, I had more issues to understand our Chinese host Kathy in Killybegs than her Irish husband Eunan!

And well... I could learn so much of the everyday British English from Facebook Reels and Youtube Shorts Once, I was spending my morning in the main square of Donegal Town. There was a sweeper doing his morning work. As I was passing him, I said: 'Alright, mate?' and he answered "Good, cheers!" Is it how people great each other in North America?

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from this morning's 33km ride:

 

[dodgeman]

Stefan, we saw most of Ireland, we did a GLOBUS tour over a period of 13 days.

 

[Chargeride]

The daughter had a cowboy themed 30th birthday party just before I came down, so this start to the days ride gave me good omens
How wrong can you be

Steep but far easier to navigate than previous trails.

There were three very long tracks that all led into each other, much steeper than it looks, but nothing I cant handle.

The fourth had a few moments, but was mostly wide enough to drive a 4X4 down

No idea what this plant is, you seem them occasionally outside old cottages.

At this point I completely lost my front brake, not just scraping, it stopped having any effect at all, this is actually very steep, and I've got the back brake and locking point, but it won't go slower than 12mph, locking it up made no difference.

Relieved the creek is low enough to push across the stepping stones

This is where it went downhill, my bright idea was to ride along the creek to the beach, but it soon came apparent that the tide was coming in very quickly,
so I had to speed up or turn back

Id reached the point of no return and there was no way to get the bike up the bank, just a mass of trees and branches, so I had to walk through this mud, which stunk and grabbed everything with super suction. I ended up putting a mud soaked sock back in the shoe.

Its that black mud that stinks of methane, sulphur, sheep sht and cow poo.

So I rode back along the road with no front brake, very steep descents and everyone tear arsing around corners, I just locked up and slid every time.

This Discovery did 10mph the whole way because of leaves scraping the paintwork, this was close even by my standards, there was a telegraph pole on the left
and atone point the body panels were less than half an inch apart., complete with road surface swaying the Landrover closer.
Thats the passenger covering his eyes

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

The daughter had a cowboy themed 30th birthday party just before I came down, so this start to the days ride gave me good omens
How wrong can you be
View attachment 180953


Steep but far easier to navigate than previous trails.
View attachment 180954

There were three very long tracks that all led into each other, much steeper than it looks, but nothing I cant handle.
View attachment 180955

The fourth had a few moments, but was mostly wide enough to drive a 4X4 down
View attachment 180956

No idea what this plant is, you seem them occasionally outside old cottages.
View attachment 180957

At this point I completely lost my front brake, not just scraping, it stopped having any effect at all, this is actually very steep, and I've got the back brake and locking point, but it won't go slower than 12mph, locking it up made no difference.
View attachment 180959

Relieved the creek is low enough to push across the stepping stones
View attachment 180960

This is where it went downhill, my bright idea was to ride along the creek to the beach, but it soon came apparent that the tide was coming in very quickly,
so I had to speed up or turn back
View attachment 180962

Id reached the point of no return and there was no way to get the bike up the bank, just a mass of trees and branches, so I had to walk through this mud, which stunk and grabbed everything with super suction. I ended up putting a mud soaked sock back in the shoe.
View attachment 180963

Its that black mud that stinks of methane, sulphur, sheep sht and cow poo.
View attachment 180964


So I rode back along the road with no front brake, very steep descents and everyone tear arsing around corners, I just locked up and slid every time.
View attachment 180965


This Discovery did 10mph the whole way because of leaves scraping the paintwork, this was close even by my standards, there was a telegraph pole on the left
and atone point the body panels were less than half an inch apart., complete with road surface swaying the Landrover closer.
Thats the passenger covering his eyes
View attachment 180966

If I could, I would have given that one love and laugh emojis, too. Excellent!

Wouldn't it be nice for us cyclists to have a phone cam setting that makes hills look STEEPER than they really are?

 

[Chargeride]

I might get the 360, it makes everything look steep.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Relieved the creek is low enough to push across the stepping stones

Id reached the point of no return and there was no way to get the bike up the bank, just a mass of trees and branches, so I had to walk through this mud, which stunk and grabbed everything with super suction. I ended up putting a mud soaked sock back in the shoe.

Now I can fully understand why you need a fat e-bike!

This Discovery did 10mph the whole way because of leaves scraping the paintwork, this was close even by my standards, there was a telegraph pole on the left
and atone point the body panels were less than half an inch apart., complete with road surface swaying the Landrover closer.
Thats the passenger covering his eyes

Incredible!

 

[dodgeman]

My wife and I did 16 miles today. If I ride a little tomorrow I’ll be over 1 Rab for the week (100 miles).

 

[Chargeride]

I completely upstaged everyone at the party with my self made oversized cowboy hat.
I got a round of applause from the cricket spectators , it was held at our local cricket ground.

 

[Mulezen]

^Looks like Leon Russell.
Irish-English was on glorious display in Kevin Barry‘s ‘Night Boat to Tangiers’ which I recently read. On the Penguin/Randomhouse site is this clip of Barry reading the opening few pages. After some pages the talk of this strange novel become a kind of music. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/...evin-barry/9780593146842/?ref=PRHA41A0D52358A

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I completely upstaged everyone at the party with my self made oversized cowboy hat.
I got a round of applause from the cricket spectators , it was held at our local cricket ground.

View attachment 180978

 

[RabH]

After 8 days of crazy weather I finally got back out yesterday, not to say the crazy weather was gone but I just had to get out so I braved 40+ mph winds and had a great ride which was in 2 parts! The wind was almost a direct westerly so I opted to head east, passing the choppy Hillend Loch after a few miles!

I continued east to Armadale and took the back road to Bridgehouse, I have used this road many times but surprisingly always in the opposite direction (well its all big fast descents so I guess thats the real reason) Anyway I reached the first hill...

Its in 3 parts and each one is as steep as the other!

This was looking down part 3!

The best part about taking on the climbs was the descent down into Bridgehouse where I had the tailwind right at my back, just over 41mph, it could easily have been over 50 but I bottled it a bit due to the wind swirling at times! I then headed up the climb into Westfield and grabbed a photo of the viaduct!

Then it was the big climb up to Torphicen and it then continues all the way up to Beecraigs Country Park, just before the climb I took this photo! There are some really nice houses in this part of the village!

I reached the top of the climb and enjoyed some nice descents before stopping for this photo!

The Ochil hills were just a silhouette this time!

It was then time for the scary descent down into the valley, once again the wind was swirling so I took it easy!

In the distance my next climb could be seen!

With the wind as strong as it was I had to be very careful with crosswinds so I chose my route wisely, I opted for the rollercoaster Burnhouse road as its mostly treelined and so much fun to ride!

Just before the final descent down into Dechmont I stopped for some photos!

I think the cows thought I was there to feed them...

This part of the road is a real blast!

Then I reached the scary part with no tree cover to protect me from the wind...

I slowed to a crawl going down it and stopped for these photos at Dechmont!

At Dechmont it was time to turn into the very strong headwind and head west for home, as I turned into the village I saw a roadie in the distance battling the headwind! Amazingly as I reached the road junction he was closing me down, I crossed the junction and joined the cycle path which leads to Bathgate and turned to see him bearing down on me but he stuck to the road and he shot passed me like I was standing still! It was a gradual incline also and he stood up on the pedals and pulled away, he was probably less then half my age though and 10 times fitter!

I stuck to the cycle paths all the way to Whitburn and then up the climb to Armadale and took the back road to Blackridge! In the distance I could see one of the massive wind turbines with no blades, I eventually reached it to see this sight! The crane was just massive, I couldn't get it all in the picture!

From Blackridge it was a straight road home directly into the headwind, assist level 2 was used all the way! I passed Hillend loch again and decided to use the cycle path alongside it to get some closer photos!

I'm having problems with the site so can't post the remaining photos, I really hope this posts as it has taken me ages!

 

[RabH]

I will try a new post to see if I can finish my story! I arrived home just in time for dinner and had a look at the evening forecast which was looking rather iffy but it showed the winds dying down, I had a look out the window and could see a clearing to the south! I stepped outside and the rain started but I decided to brave it, it started getting heavier and was still very windy and I questioned my sanity...

Thankfully the clearing I saw came to fruition and after 30 minutes or so I reached dry roads and I decided I would head for the Clyde Valley! As I got closer the dark clouds moved in and I had to change my plans as I could see a big squall down the valley, so I turned NE towards Braidwood and then over to Carluke and up the climb to Yieldshields where I took the back road to Morningside!

The winds had now dropped considerably thankfully and the rain stayed away for the remainder of my ride from Morningside over all the back roads to home, what a great ride it was depsite getting soaked for the first 30 minutes!

 

[dodgeman]

My wife and I rode 23 miles today, the longest she has ridden in a while. Still nice weather, lighter winds and temps in the 70’s.
If you want excitement, this pic has it all. Pictures of two crops, corn on one side, soybeans on the other.
Somethings wrong, I’ll try and add the picture later.

 

[Chargeride]

View attachment 181005

After 8 days of crazy weather I finally got back out yesterday, not to say the crazy weather was gone but I just had to get out so I braved 40+ mph winds and had a great ride which was in 2 parts! The wind was almost a direct westerly so I opted to head east, passing the choppy Hillend Loch after a few miles!

View attachment 181007
I continued east to Armadale and took the back road to Bridgehouse, I have used this road many times but surprisingly always in the opposite direction (well its all big fast descents so I guess thats the real reason) Anyway I reached the first hill...

View attachment 181008
Its in 3 parts and each one is as steep as the other!

View attachment 181009
This was looking down part 3!

View attachment 181010
The best part about taking on the climbs was the descent down into Bridgehouse where I had the tailwind right at my back, just over 41mph, it could easily have been over 50 but I bottled it a bit due to the wind swirling at times! I then headed up the climb into Westfield and grabbed a photo of the viaduct!

View attachment 181011
Then it was the big climb up to Torphicen and it then continues all the way up to Beecraigs Country Park, just before the climb I took this photo! There are some really nice houses in this part of the village!

View attachment 181012
I reached the top of the climb and enjoyed some nice descents before stopping for this photo!

View attachment 181013
The Ochil hills were just a silhouette this time!

View attachment 181014
It was then time for the scary descent down into the valley, once again the wind was swirling so I took it easy!

View attachment 181015
In the distance my next climb could be seen!

View attachment 181016
View attachment 181017
With the wind as strong as it was I had to be very careful with crosswinds so I chose my route wisely, I opted for the rollercoaster Burnhouse road as its mostly treelined and so much fun to ride!

View attachment 181018
View attachment 181019
Just before the final descent down into Dechmont I stopped for some photos!

View attachment 181020
View attachment 181021
I think the cows thought I was there to feed them...

View attachment 181022
This part of the road is a real blast!

View attachment 181023
Then I reached the scary part with no tree cover to protect me from the wind...

View attachment 181024
I slowed to a crawl going down it and stopped for these photos at Dechmont!

View attachment 181026
At Dechmont it was time to turn into the very strong headwind and head west for home, as I turned into the village I saw a roadie in the distance battling the headwind! Amazingly as I reached the road junction he was closing me down, I crossed the junction and joined the cycle path which leads to Bathgate and turned to see him bearing down on me but he stuck to the road and he shot passed me like I was standing still! It was a gradual incline also and he stood up on the pedals and pulled away, he was probably less then half my age though and 10 times fitter!

I stuck to the cycle paths all the way to Whitburn and then up the climb to Armadale and took the back road to Blackridge! In the distance I could see one of the massive wind turbines with no blades, I eventually reached it to see this sight! The crane was just massive, I couldn't get it all in the picture!

View attachment 181027
From Blackridge it was a straight road home directly into the headwind, assist level 2 was used all the way! I passed Hillend loch again and decided to use the cycle path alongside it to get some closer photos!View attachment 181028
I'm having problems with the site so can't post the remaining photos, I really hope this posts as it has taken me ages!

I love that you ride alone, I nearly always do, born loner, only child syndrome.

 

[Prairie Dog]

This day marked the 31st consecutive day of riding for me. It’s actually not as noteworthy a date which led up to this point when one considers the exceptional weather conditions that we’ve experienced. Rain has been sporadic and the timing of showers has occurred mainly during the late afternoon or evenings which has worked well in our favor as we tend to hit the road in the mornings.

Harvest time has come earlier here as the dry weather has hastened the growth and maturity of crops. The big concern looming over farmers now is the imminent delay with respect to transporting and storing their product out at the west coast terminals. A potentially disastrous country wide rail workers strike would affect their livelihood which depends so much on the getting their harvest to market solely by rail.

Today’s 35km ride also featured a new accessory of sorts. The missus was testing out a set of Redshift aero bars that I installed for her. She has a propensity to lean over and rest her forearms on the bars of her bike during sections when the road is consistently straight and level. Oddly enough she found this position to be quite relaxing and to her liking but agreed that it wasn’t a very conventional path going forward.

The bars/ armrests have quick release attachments so on days when, for example, more climbing is involved, she can remove them in a matter of seconds. Installation required a bit of finesse in shifting the front light and Varia display outboard to accommodate the brackets as well as adding a Garmin stem mount for her phone but it all came together in the end. The extension lengths, armpad fore/aft are all adjustable to fine tune the fit. The assembly does add 600g of weight but she felt that it was a small sacrifice to make in exchange for a more comfortable and stable ride position.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Harvest time has come earlier here as the dry weather has hastened the growth and maturity of crops.

I can notice the same here in Poland. We had an early warm Spring and then a hot and dry Summer. The indication of the things happening fast were berries to appear on rowan trees by the end of June! (Usually, it is late July).

Today’s 35km ride also featured a new accessory of sorts. The missus was testing out a set of Redshift aero bars that I installed for her. She has a propensity to lean over and rest her forearms on the bars of her bike during sections when the road is consistently straight and level. Oddly enough she found this position to be quite relaxing and to her liking but agreed that it wasn’t a very conventional path going forward.

The bars/ armrests have quick release attachments so on days when, for example, more climbing is involved, she can remove them in a matter of seconds. Installation required a bit of finesse in shifting the front light and Varia display outboard to accommodate the brackets as well as adding a Garmin stem mount for her phone but it all came together in the end. The extension lengths, armpad fore/aft are all adjustable to fine tune the fit. The assembly does add 600g of weight but she felt that it was a small sacrifice to make in exchange for a more comfortable and stable ride position.

I was thinking about installing these aerobars. First of all, there is a very little of space left on my Vado SL bars. Secondly, this e-bike is expected to spend a lot of time off-road, which is not the ideal environment for aerobars (yes, I know they are removable). The most important factor though was my anxiety of riding aerobars