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

That footage is so smooth, I though ditect mount would test hypersmooth, but it copes well, thats Superview I presume, you cant boost the smoothing in that mode.
 
A few pics from this morning's 23km ride:

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That footage is so smooth, I though ditect mount would test hypersmooth, but it copes well, thats Superview I presume, you cant boost the smoothing in that mode.
Yea, it turned out better than expected if it wasn’t for the tail of my jacket flappin’ in the breeze and the sketchy mount. I had it set on superview/hypersmooth boost. In addition to sporting a larger sensor, the GP11 also has hyperview but does also tend to eat through batteries. I haven’t tried using Autoboost but apparently it automatically stabilizes and/or crops depending on the camera’s movement.

I took the bmx into the forest with the Neo, I now know how hilarious I look on it.
Never mind how you look, that Neo is sick. Palm sized and no need for a controller. Got me thinking now. 🤔
 
To Otwock Wielki and Beyond With Tomek

Tomek (who has been my riding buddy since some time) and I met at Warsaw Stadium train station at 8:36 am on Saturday. Tomek wanted to show me the park and palace in Otwock Wielki, which I have never had a chance to visit before.

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After riding 34 km (mostly on excellent bike infrastructure), we indeed reached Otwock Wielki. (I was on a similar trip together with Jerzy (RIP) several years ago but then the park was closed because of the pandemics).

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The palace is fairly big, and there is not a lot of space behind the photographer to back off for getting a proper angle!

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Tomek is a big man of adequate strength to ride together with me on long rides. His hearing is impaired and he has no GPS navigation, so he follows me on our rides. For that reason, I had to monitor Tomek at all times in my Mirrycle (it works perfectly, @Jeremy McCreary!) I and Tomek can talk on our stops with the help of his hearing aid (Tomek cannot wear the aid when he wears a helmet).


Here, we went in a cafe, and had cheesecake and coffee!

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We continued our ride over Nadwiślańskie Urzecze (translated: Vistula Riverside) area with many gravel roads and the first apple orchards of the big fruit area south of Warsaw. We could see many little tractors towing carts full of apple boxes! And yes, we stole an apple each (I carried the apple all the way back home in my jacket rear pocket!) :)

Then we climbed the Vistula Riverside Bridge near Góra Kalwaria (Mt Calvary, and rode very fast with traffic there! That bridge was extremely dangerous in the past; it was reconstructed not a long time ago, and riding there felt a way safer now!

We have very few hills in Mazovia: these are the left bank Warsaw, right bank Płock, and two true hills: Góra Kalwaria and neighbouring Czersk.

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My true Mazovian fave: St. Anthony Street in Góra Kalwaria, which is the summit of any Mazovian Gravel race :D It is a raw cobblestone 10% incline winding road :D Let us be honest: I am scared to death to descend there, while climbing the hill is easy-peasy even for my Vado SL :) SL Turbo mode, a low gear and I get up the hill with joy! (I could see a cyclist descending on his brakes there, and he looked terrified! Tomek had to walk his bike up the hill, and explicitly forbid posting his photo while doing so) :D

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Many thousands of cyclists visit the Góra Kawiarnia (Mt Cafe) in Góra Kawiarnia annually but hardly any of them know this exquisite Italian restaurant just behind the corner!

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Homemade pasta! ❤️

We left Góra Kalwaria via the usual trail towards Warsaw, only we took a gravel segment instead of asphalt near Gassy. As I said, Tomek is a big man. I told him: 'Tomek, you must descent the hill in front of me as I know you would be riding a way faster than I there!' Tomek grabbed his aerobars and...

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40 mph was not a bad speed! (I braked a little and rode at 50.9 km/h there).

We have never had the wind on our side on that day... We said our good-byes near to Specialized Warsaw, and I returned home "on the wheels" by my South Of Airport route :)

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In the Kabacki Wood. I was constantly thinking of Jerzy and our rides... I miss him so much!

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'Beware, BOARS!' :D

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I was riding my Vado SL at SL 55/55% assistance until we parted our ways with Tomek, and at SL 70/70% upwind on my way back home. The range for the Main Battery + Range Extender was 94 km (58 mi). You can see the Main Battery at 3% (no assistance available anymore, only the lights and the system being supported) and the cut off Range Extender. The Range Extender cut-off might already occur at its 10% charge level!) I installed a fresh RE and rode home in Turbo!

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Pruszków train station, 8:05 am. My Fearless has over 10k miles on its odometer now!

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It was the first cold day this Autumn!

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Mt. Calvary: a cycling Mecca for Warsawers
 
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I took the bmx into the forest with the Neo, I now know how hilarious I look on it.
Love the video! I raced bmx as a teen and I currently do aerial photography and videography on weekends for extra money, so naturally, I really enjoyed your video.
And Trump endorsed, lol! 😆
 
Love the video! I raced bmx as a teen and I currently do aerial photography and videography on weekends for extra money, so naturally, I really enjoyed your video.
And Trump endorsed, lol! 😆
Thanks, Im too old for a bmx now, my body is knackered the next day.
You should post some pics
 
Yesterday we rode the Napa Valley Vine trail from Calistoga to St Helena and back in Napa county.
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It is a mostly paved path but has sections of dirt and brick.
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It goes through different vineyards and by many wineries that offer high end wining and dining. Spending the day winery hopping and wine tasting on e-bikes is a delight!
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The drive to this one is lined with olive trees.
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Aww bummer, maybe next time!
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Once harvested, they can waste no time processing the grapes. Here, skilled laborers are working diligently at the Califia Cellars.
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The path also goes through Bothe-Napa State Park, where there is camping and hiking trails.
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An old, abandoned Southern Pacific rail car next to the old rr tracks.
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And this concludes my Saturday ride report. The wife and I are already making plans for next weekend! 😁
 
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I had a ride of around 50 miles planned in my head but due to weather avoidance I ended up close to 60! I have a big ride planned for Thursday so I really wanted to get a ride in before then, the following Thursday I have a colonoscopy to look forward to so riding will be limited next week! No photos today as I didn't have time to stop, it turned out to be a really good ride and I only got caught in the rain once! It was another blustery day with gusts around 30mph from the NE, there were big squalls all around me but I managed to avoid them well! The forecast was way off, it said there was a less than 5% chance of rain!:rolleyes:

I took the back roads down to Allanton and done a loop on the back roads south of the village, its a great road with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns and brings you back on to the main road at the far side of the village! I then headed east for Breich and after passing through the village I turned SW and took the road up to Forth which is a nice gradual climb and I had the wind right at my back so it was a very easy climb today! I then enjoyed the descent down to Forth and turned off the main road just before the village and took the awesome back road to Braehead! Its one of those roads that puts a big smile on your face with lots of fast descents and its very twisty! :D

Its then a short sharp climb up into Braehead before plunging down the descent towards Carnwath, I turned half way down though to take the back roads to Yieldshields and had to battle the wind up the climb! I then turned north to take the back road to Carluke which is another really nice descent and down into Morningside before taking the back road back to Allanton! From there I tackled the big climb up to Kirk of Shotts and turned west near the top to take the awesome back road to Hareshaw! Today it was wind assisted and its mostly flat and downhill so it was a real blast, pure cycling heaven!😁

From Hareshaw I used the same roads as I did at the start of my ride and arrived home just short of 60 miles, I probably should have gone round the block to bring up the 60 but I stopped my gps before I noticed!😂 It was a tough ride with the wind and all the climbing but hopefully I didn't overdo it and end up struggling on Thursday...the descents sure made it a brilliant day on the bike anyway!👍 I might take 3 batteries on Thursday just to be safe...;)

@JGcycle Congrats on passing 5000km, awesome effort and your photos are stunning!👌
 

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Some Photos From Great Lakes e-Sprint Race

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Anna, the winner. (Mondraker 750 Wh e-MTB).

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Wojtek, second place. Specialized Turbo Vado SL 4.0 EQ.


Sebastian (third place) has no photo, as he dramatically delayed his starting, and then made up the time lost by sprinting!

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Darek (fourth place), KROSS Hybrid 630.

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Yours truly. My facial expression reads: 'No chance against them!' :D

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Piotr (non-electric). He was the only person I actually raced against! Yes, I could overtake several riders but the man was the only person I felt I had to compete with!


All photos by Anna Kuśmierczyk.
 
Some Photos From Great Lakes e-Sprint Race

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Anna, the winner. (Mondraker 750 Wh e-MTB).

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Wojtek, second place. Specialized Turbo Vado SL 4.0 EQ.


Sebastian (third place) has no photo, as he dramatically delayed his starting, and then made up the time lost by sprinting!

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Darek (fourth place), KROSS Hybrid 630.

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Yours truly. My facial expression reads: 'No chance against them!' :D

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Piotr (non-electric). He was the only person I actually raced against! Yes, I could overtake several riders but the man was the only person I felt I had to compete with!


All photos by Anna Kuśmierczyk.
No shame Stefan, at least you are out there doing it, and doing it a whole lot better than I ever could!
 
No shame Stefan, at least you are out there doing it, and doing it a whole lot better than I ever could!
Thank you Bob for your kind words! I actually enjoy not racing itself but participating in the race! It is an adventure in the areas I would not think to go to myself, new landscapes, new challenges! Gravel races play a big social role too: you make new friends and also meet old riding buddies there. Gravel races are a way to strengthen the family bonds with Jacek and his family as well. I feel an EBR ambassador there. Gravel.Love is the first and only organization that made a distinctive e-Sprint format for e-bikers. It is because Paweł Kuflikowski the coordinator happens to be an XC e-biker himself, and he does not think e-bikes should be a taboo for gravel racing. I didn't go to Varmia Gravel this year; no e-biker showed up there :) If I am fit and everything is OK next year, I intend to make all the three e-bike races!

The Best Great Lakes Gravel Photos of Me

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The photographer Mateusz Klimek set up his "ambush" near to the Steepest Climb. I saw him from a distance so assumed a sporty riding position and... smiled :)

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I even waved my hand at him :)
 
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