jason.flood
Well-Known Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Edinburgh
Apparently I am suspended from Streamable for “violating terms of use” even though I have never used the site before. Waiting for support to get back to me.
2024 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
BlackHand
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Western WA
Maybe your reputation precedes you?
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I would use YouTube, which I am doing quite frequently. Only I am not a video man, and I prefer taking photos to filming.
I have checked I was riding a Vado SL for my Critical Mass ride. At that time, pedalling unassisted was quite tiresome to me! And I was still riding too fast! Man! The average speed of 10.7 km/h is a way below my cycling capability!
View attachment 170347
View attachment 170348
September 25th, 2021, Pruszków, Mazovia Poland.
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Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Forget Spring Break. You Florida folks have been partying for centuries!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
A Lunch in "Frigate" and other stories
This Sunday's weather was really easy on me. The day temperature of +4 C (39 F) dropping down to +2 C (35 F), light wind, and almost no precipitation was a great incentive for me to set off for a lunch ride to Warsaw (Vado 6.0). Usually, I just take the (Jerusalem) Avenues on Sundays (riding with traffic) but the traffic seemed too heavy to me, and I chose the route a regular cyclist would rather take. To come to a conclusion the Warsaw cycling infrastucture deserves a lot of improvement still!
"Welcome to Bydgoszcz". I spotted that billboard off the Avenues in Warsaw. Bydgoszcz is a city over 300 km (200 miles) away from Warsaw, so I thought I perhaps rode into some teleport!
As some of you already know, Fregata (Frigate) is a 1960 restaurant-bar in Saska Kępa neighbourhood of Warsaw. It is one year older than I am! The place has a cult following, from local winos who come there for a Lager to the top class artists (who inhabit that beautiful neighbourhood in big numbers).
A tall-ship must have her figurehead, of course
There are as many as three menus in that restaurant: Main, We Recommend, and We Also Recommend. The restaurant serves 100% Polish cuisine, which is generally not good for vegans The meals are nourishing for sure! (Next time I'm there, I will try the Meat Loaf in Horseradish Sauce, something I haven't had for years!) Interestingly, this restaurant has no Bigos in the menu though! The chef is a very old woman who certainly can cook as good as "your granny" would A lovely person she is!
We Poles have invented many meals that are only known in Poland. The "Japanese Herring", "Chinese Chicken", "Greek Fish", "Bretogne Beans" or "Ukrainian Borscht" would certainly stun the nationals of the respective countries! Here, the "Hungarian Pancake", the meal unknown in Hungary. It is a potato pancake stuffed with beef and tomato/red pepper sauce. No Hungarian ever heard of it! The mug contains the Polish Clear Borscht (which is a red-beet soup).
HAHAHA!
A portal to Canada?
The City of Warsaw skyline as seen from the Łazienkowski Bridge bike path on that cloudy Sunday.
The Royal Baths, and the beautiful Palace-On-Water. Palace-On-Ice as a matter of fact!
These ducks were certainly not happy!
Agricola, or the "steepest climb of Warsaw" I think we have some other more ambitious climbs in the city but that iconic one is just laughable! I could climb it in 20% assistance, and my Wahoo reported ridiculous 5.5% grade there (I could climb a railway MUP bridge of 10% grade on the same day!)
61 km. My average assistance was 25%, and I never needed using more than 20% assistance for any climb! The estimated battery range was 101 km.
www.strava.com
600 km YTD.
This Sunday's weather was really easy on me. The day temperature of +4 C (39 F) dropping down to +2 C (35 F), light wind, and almost no precipitation was a great incentive for me to set off for a lunch ride to Warsaw (Vado 6.0). Usually, I just take the (Jerusalem) Avenues on Sundays (riding with traffic) but the traffic seemed too heavy to me, and I chose the route a regular cyclist would rather take. To come to a conclusion the Warsaw cycling infrastucture deserves a lot of improvement still!
"Welcome to Bydgoszcz". I spotted that billboard off the Avenues in Warsaw. Bydgoszcz is a city over 300 km (200 miles) away from Warsaw, so I thought I perhaps rode into some teleport!
As some of you already know, Fregata (Frigate) is a 1960 restaurant-bar in Saska Kępa neighbourhood of Warsaw. It is one year older than I am! The place has a cult following, from local winos who come there for a Lager to the top class artists (who inhabit that beautiful neighbourhood in big numbers).
A tall-ship must have her figurehead, of course
There are as many as three menus in that restaurant: Main, We Recommend, and We Also Recommend. The restaurant serves 100% Polish cuisine, which is generally not good for vegans
The meals are nourishing for sure! (Next time I'm there, I will try the Meat Loaf in Horseradish Sauce, something I haven't had for years!) Interestingly, this restaurant has no Bigos in the menu though! The chef is a very old woman who certainly can cook as good as "your granny" would A lovely person she is!We Poles have invented many meals that are only known in Poland. The "Japanese Herring", "Chinese Chicken", "Greek Fish", "Bretogne Beans" or "Ukrainian Borscht" would certainly stun the nationals of the respective countries!
Here, the "Hungarian Pancake", the meal unknown in Hungary. It is a potato pancake stuffed with beef and tomato/red pepper sauce. No Hungarian ever heard of it! The mug contains the Polish Clear Borscht (which is a red-beet soup).HAHAHA!
A portal to Canada?
The City of Warsaw skyline as seen from the Łazienkowski Bridge bike path on that cloudy Sunday.
The Royal Baths, and the beautiful Palace-On-Water. Palace-On-Ice as a matter of fact!
These ducks were certainly not happy!
Agricola, or the "steepest climb of Warsaw"
I think we have some other more ambitious climbs in the city but that iconic one is just laughable! I could climb it in 20% assistance, and my Wahoo reported ridiculous 5.5% grade there (I could climb a railway MUP bridge of 10% grade on the same day!)61 km. My average assistance was 25%, and I never needed using more than 20% assistance for any climb! The estimated battery range was 101 km.
Lunch in Fregata | Strava
4..2°C, light wind. Average assistance 25%. Estimated Range 101 km ❤️ | Strava
www.strava.com
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jason.flood
Well-Known Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Edinburgh
For me yesterday was that day to do my tax return for FY 2023 , which must be completed by 31st January 2024. As is customary, it is left til the last minute because I have been so busy at work these last few weeks (insert any other excuse for the last 30 years). The best thing about this time of year is that it forces me to do other jobs in my flat that I have been putting off like cleaning and tidying.
Having cleaned as much as I could stand, and confronted with the hash reality that I would have to get on with the dreaded Return (at my now spotless desk) , I was over the moon to receive a phone call from a London friend who I have not spoken to in 6 months. I listened as he waffled on for more than one hour.
It’s now 3.30pm and I’m thinking damn. There’s still time today to do the “Return” - Clearly it was time for a bike ride despite the 40mph winds and rain. So off I went.
I had hoped to do a loop up to the Pentland hills again but from the map you can seen a dead end not longafter I’d had to push the bike uo section for which I had simultaneously exhausted gears, motor power, legs, and traction.
Not actually my photo, but this is a very accurate representation the dead end I was confronted with.
It was getting dark, raining and blowing a hooley. and my mind was instantly taken back to the reports of Pentland cows charging walkers - one guy got hurt pretty bad a few years ago. (It crossed my mind that being in hospital might be a valid excuse to the inland revenue for non completion of tax return - but quickly went off that idea and turned around)
Due to the weather I made pretty heavy use of assistance. Over half the time on 60% and some time on 100%
I’m seeing big differences in elevation between Komoot and Specialized App.
Difficult to know who is using map elevation data and who is using phone (or Mastermind TCU) barometer data.
Having cleaned as much as I could stand, and confronted with the hash reality that I would have to get on with the dreaded Return (at my now spotless desk) , I was over the moon to receive a phone call from a London friend who I have not spoken to in 6 months. I listened as he waffled on for more than one hour.
It’s now 3.30pm and I’m thinking damn. There’s still time today to do the “Return” - Clearly it was time for a bike ride despite the 40mph winds and rain. So off I went.
I had hoped to do a loop up to the Pentland hills again but from the map you can seen a dead end not longafter I’d had to push the bike uo section for which I had simultaneously exhausted gears, motor power, legs, and traction.
Not actually my photo, but this is a very accurate representation the dead end I was confronted with.
It was getting dark, raining and blowing a hooley. and my mind was instantly taken back to the reports of Pentland cows charging walkers - one guy got hurt pretty bad a few years ago. (It crossed my mind that being in hospital might be a valid excuse to the inland revenue for non completion of tax return - but quickly went off that idea and turned around)
Due to the weather I made pretty heavy use of assistance. Over half the time on 60% and some time on 100%
I’m seeing big differences in elevation between Komoot and Specialized App.
Difficult to know who is using map elevation data and who is using phone (or Mastermind TCU) barometer data.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
I think the only reliable information is the map data. Unlike airline pilots, we cannot set the barometric reference pressure (and they only do that for the take-off and landing locations). We cannot use the radio altimeter either. But even airline pilots can use GPS for the terrain altitude (based on map data) to understand the terrain and not to fly into a mountain!
It is a pity you record your rides in Komoot as I do not think Komoot has any option to adjust the elevation data by map (Strava can do it). Even my Wahoo ELEMNT computer reports funny elevation gain data (I usually correct them to the map in Strava post-ride).
jason.flood
Well-Known Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Edinburgh
I have been recording simultaneously in Komoot and Specialized. This means at the end of a ride I’m getting two Komoot rides. One automatically exported from Specialized. The other, directly recorded in Komoot.
The one that came from Specialized showed a gain of 697m
The one that Komoot recorded natively showed an elevation gain of 570m
I can totally believe that difference would be barometric vs map data. But maybe even two different barometers could shown that difference. The weather went through a big change in the couple of hours I was out too so maybe that also helps explain why there is so much difference
I think when you start a ride in the Specialize app it maybe uses whatever is the current pressure as reference. But the Specialized app must have access to the barometer inside mastermind TCU & the one in the phone.
Prairie Dog
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Red Deer
Weather conditions have turned out to be warmer than I expected as we close in on the end of January. So much that the trails are starting to deteriorate. Hoping for favorable ground conditions, I headed out at the crack of dawn to see for myself.
It was better than I expected and I suspect that the overnight temps were cold enough to create just enough of a hard surface for the studs to bite.
I completed my spin just as the sun was making its appearance. The forecast for this week is still calling for warmer days ahead but with more seasonal temps returning by the weekend and the likelihood of more snow.
It was better than I expected and I suspect that the overnight temps were cold enough to create just enough of a hard surface for the studs to bite.
I completed my spin just as the sun was making its appearance. The forecast for this week is still calling for warmer days ahead but with more seasonal temps returning by the weekend and the likelihood of more snow.
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RabH
Well-Known Member
Cycling at its very best and 30000 miles now surpassed!
When I bought my bike at the end of March in 2018 I could never have imagined the journey it would take me on, today I passed the 30000 mile mark less than 6 years after I made my best bike purchase ever! My display is only showing 29900 or so but it was replaced a while back and over 100 miles was lost, I keep a spreadsheet of all my rides and after todays ride I'm on 30013 miles! On Friday I had one of my worst rides in a very long time, fast forward to today and it was a completely different story...the crazy thing is I wasn't even intending to go for a ride today as tomorrow was looking the best day of the week!
I went to Callander Park in Falkirk this morning for a walk with my sister as she had been camped indoors all last week due to the awful weather, on my way home I had a nice view of the Campsie Hills and the thought then came into my head about getting out on the bike after lunch and getting 57 miles in to pass 30000! Am I glad I made that decision, the conditions were just perfect with no blinding sun and little to no wind and a temp of 5C! It was the perfect day to take to the hills, I used the back roads down to Cumbernauld and what a road it is and it just put me in the mood to have a great day on the bike!
At Cumbernauld I took the road down through Croy and on to Auchinstarry where I passed over the Forth and Clyde Canal, first photo opportunity!
Then I took the back road passed Twechar and on through Kirkintilloch, where I had to join the main roads for a bit! I usually turn north for Milton of Campsie here but decided to continue on and take the road to Lennoxtown in the foothills of the Campsies! I have only used this road once in the recent past and it was in the opposite direction so I wasn't sure of the road and I arrived in Torrance where I saw a signpost for Lennoxtown and followed the road until I came to a set of traffic signals with a right turn and a straight road ahead and no signs!
I decided to go straight and started to climb a hill when I had a thought I might be going in the wrong direction, after having a look at Google maps on my phone I was correct and had to do a u turn and take the other road and soon arrived in Lennoxtown and familiar roads again! It was now time to take on the 3 mile climb up over the Campsies, it has an average grade of 5.2% so sure warms you up! I stopped just after the summit for these photos showing the excellent condition of the road, it was cycling heaven and I was just about to enjoy the awesome descent down into the valley!
Of course I couldn't descend without stopping for more photos...
This part is just sublime!
I was really looking forward to the lower slopes but I turned the next corner to see a roadworks ahead sign and sure enough on the fastest part there were traffic signals and they were at red, you can't have it all...
Another photo near the bottom before it was time to start climbing again!
I started the climb up past the Carron Valley reservoir and grabbed another couple of photos looking back at the descent I came down!
This road is really narrow but thankfully I didn't see a single car for many miles, it starts off in excellent condition like this photo and deteriorates as you pass the reservoir!
Although the road is rough, the scenery sure makes up for it even on a cloudy day like today with the light winds making the water flat calm!
The reflections were just superb today, no apologies for this sequence of stunning photos!
Thankfully the road improves again for a couple of miles!
I reached the dam at the far side of the reservoir and wasn't surprised to see it had been opened to lower the level of the reservoir!
The geese were also enjoying the view!
I decided not to take the Tak Ma Doon road this time as it was pretty rough the last time I descended it, opting to continue on towards Stoneywood and enjoy the 8 mile descent down into Denny! I stopped to grab this photo with the River Carron passing under the bridge I just crossed!
From Denny I then took the road to Bonnybridge and then up the back road to Falkirk, which is another of my favourites with many climbs but little to no traffic! I reached Falkirk and took the road through Lionthorn to take the big climb up to the road near Shieldhill, yes it was a day of climbing! This is looking back down the road I just climbed, its way more fun going down of course...
That was the last of the photos as time was getting on and I wanted to get home before dark, thankfully just after 5pm now! After all that climbing I fancied a nice descent and there aren't many better than the one I took, 40.6 mph down it today! After the descent of course its time start climbing once again, up the excellent back road to Slamannan where I then took the equally execellent back road to Longriggend and down into Caldercruix where it almost always rains!
Today was no exception, thankfully it was only light stuff and didn't bother me in the slightest as I was absolutely buzzing after a truly brilliant day on the bike! I arrived home just before dark and was ready to scoff my dinner after all that climbing! I may still go out tomorrow and take my January total past 500 miles, I'm at 463 at the moment which is hard to believe with all the crazy weather we have been experiencing!
When I bought my bike at the end of March in 2018 I could never have imagined the journey it would take me on, today I passed the 30000 mile mark less than 6 years after I made my best bike purchase ever! My display is only showing 29900 or so but it was replaced a while back and over 100 miles was lost, I keep a spreadsheet of all my rides and after todays ride I'm on 30013 miles! On Friday I had one of my worst rides in a very long time, fast forward to today and it was a completely different story...the crazy thing is I wasn't even intending to go for a ride today as tomorrow was looking the best day of the week!
I went to Callander Park in Falkirk this morning for a walk with my sister as she had been camped indoors all last week due to the awful weather, on my way home I had a nice view of the Campsie Hills and the thought then came into my head about getting out on the bike after lunch and getting 57 miles in to pass 30000! Am I glad I made that decision, the conditions were just perfect with no blinding sun and little to no wind and a temp of 5C! It was the perfect day to take to the hills, I used the back roads down to Cumbernauld and what a road it is and it just put me in the mood to have a great day on the bike!
At Cumbernauld I took the road down through Croy and on to Auchinstarry where I passed over the Forth and Clyde Canal, first photo opportunity!
Then I took the back road passed Twechar and on through Kirkintilloch, where I had to join the main roads for a bit! I usually turn north for Milton of Campsie here but decided to continue on and take the road to Lennoxtown in the foothills of the Campsies! I have only used this road once in the recent past and it was in the opposite direction so I wasn't sure of the road and I arrived in Torrance where I saw a signpost for Lennoxtown and followed the road until I came to a set of traffic signals with a right turn and a straight road ahead and no signs!
I decided to go straight and started to climb a hill when I had a thought I might be going in the wrong direction, after having a look at Google maps on my phone I was correct and had to do a u turn and take the other road and soon arrived in Lennoxtown and familiar roads again! It was now time to take on the 3 mile climb up over the Campsies, it has an average grade of 5.2% so sure warms you up!
I stopped just after the summit for these photos showing the excellent condition of the road, it was cycling heaven and I was just about to enjoy the awesome descent down into the valley!Of course I couldn't descend without stopping for more photos...
This part is just sublime!
I was really looking forward to the lower slopes but I turned the next corner to see a roadworks ahead sign and sure enough on the fastest part there were traffic signals and they were at red, you can't have it all...
Another photo near the bottom before it was time to start climbing again!I started the climb up past the Carron Valley reservoir and grabbed another couple of photos looking back at the descent I came down!
This road is really narrow but thankfully I didn't see a single car for many miles, it starts off in excellent condition like this photo and deteriorates as you pass the reservoir!
Although the road is rough, the scenery sure makes up for it even on a cloudy day like today with the light winds making the water flat calm!
The reflections were just superb today, no apologies for this sequence of stunning photos!
Thankfully the road improves again for a couple of miles!
I reached the dam at the far side of the reservoir and wasn't surprised to see it had been opened to lower the level of the reservoir!
The geese were also enjoying the view!
I decided not to take the Tak Ma Doon road this time as it was pretty rough the last time I descended it, opting to continue on towards Stoneywood and enjoy the 8 mile descent down into Denny! I stopped to grab this photo with the River Carron passing under the bridge I just crossed!
From Denny I then took the road to Bonnybridge and then up the back road to Falkirk, which is another of my favourites with many climbs but little to no traffic! I reached Falkirk and took the road through Lionthorn to take the big climb up to the road near Shieldhill, yes it was a day of climbing!
This is looking back down the road I just climbed, its way more fun going down of course...That was the last of the photos as time was getting on and I wanted to get home before dark, thankfully just after 5pm now! After all that climbing I fancied a nice descent and there aren't many better than the one I took, 40.6 mph down it today! After the descent of course its time start climbing once again, up the excellent back road to Slamannan where I then took the equally execellent back road to Longriggend and down into Caldercruix where it almost always rains!
Today was no exception, thankfully it was only light stuff and didn't bother me in the slightest as I was absolutely buzzing after a truly brilliant day on the bike! I arrived home just before dark and was ready to scoff my dinner after all that climbing! I may still go out tomorrow and take my January total past 500 miles, I'm at 463 at the moment which is hard to believe with all the crazy weather we have been experiencing!
Attachments
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jason.flood
Well-Known Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Edinburgh
Such Amazing light in those photos!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
The mystery is solved! The billboard welcoming car passengers in Bydgoszcz (actually, to Warsaw) is an expensive prank by a TikToker
"Welcome to Bydgoszcz". I spotted that billboard off the Avenues in Warsaw. Bydgoszcz is a city over 300 km (200 miles) away from Warsaw, so I thought I perhaps rode into some teleport!
He was inspired by a guy who posted the big "WELCOME TO LUTON" on a private property on the airliner approach to London Gatwick, which is another airport.
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jason.flood
Well-Known Member
- Region
- United Kingdom
- City
- Edinburgh
Litterally an Amazing milestone Rab. I would be ecstatic if my bike serves as well as your for so long.
Some fantastic photos there too. You mentioned the you stopped to check Google maps on your phone. Are you generally following your nose on your rides rather that following a planned GPS route?
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
It looks the forum fix has cut the links to the photos...
Hi folks! We're making some changes to our hosting environment and unfortunately we lost some data. Pictures and other attachments uploaded after January 6th are missing 
sorry about that!
You can edit your posts to re-upload those photos if you still have them saved elsewhere.
We sincerely apologize, and we would love to see your photos back if you're willing to add them again.
sorry about that!You can edit your posts to re-upload those photos if you still have them saved elsewhere.
We sincerely apologize, and we would love to see your photos back if you're willing to add them again.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
At least you have returned to the forums/ format 
RabH
Well-Known Member
I mentioned in my post yesterday that I may go back out today to take my January total past 500 miles, I was feeling good after a walk at the park in the morning and decided to head out at midday! Once again the winds were light, well for the first hour or so of my ride when they started to pick up! After my 5000ft of climbing yesterday I could probably have picked an easier ride but where's the fun in that?
I made my way down to Lanark to head down the beautiful Clyde Valley, this is just as I arrived in Lanark looking across the valley!I turned into the valley at the Kirkfieldbank end which is a brilliant descent, I stopped near the top though for a couple of photos first! I ended up walking down a fair distance trying to get the best light which wasn't easy with the bright sun, I took this one on my way back up to the bike!
I managed to get some shade from the sun for this one looking across towards New Lanark, I have tackled that climb a few times and its a real beast!
A quick photo of the bike before shooting down the descent, somebody very wealthy owns this property which must be worth an absolute fortune!
Thankfully the traffic was pretty light down in the valley, another very expensive and stunning property here!
A couple of miles further and I had to stop for more photos, it looked so good with the sun lighting up the fields today!
I then stopped at Sandyholm Farm for these photos, another stunning and very expensive property!
The owners always keep the property absolutely pristine!
I continued along the valley with the intention of heading up the Horsley Brae at Garrion Bridge but I changed my mind and decided to turn back and take the quieter road from Crossford up towards Braidwood! Just as I arrived back in Crossford I stopped to try and get a decent photo of the River Clyde which proved difficult with all the foliage...this was the best I could do and I had to stand on a road barrier to get it!
Not surprisingly the river is very high at the moment and with heavy rain forecast for tomorrow along with 50mph+ winds it will only get higher! I turned off part way up the climb to Braidwood to take the quiet back road to Carluke, the wind was really starting to pick up now along this exposed road! When I arrived in Carluke I turned west to take the back road to Law Village and it was right into the wind now, although I then had the wind at my back as I was heading NE up through the village! At the end of the road I turned for Newmains passing through Bogside and when I reached Newmains I took the road to Bonkle and then up the big climb to Hareshaw and then joined the cycle path up to Salsburgh, taking this photo after the final climb!
Not content with all the climbing I had already endured I decided to take the road past the Blackhill Transmitters which is another big climb, this is almost at the top of the climb looking north with the Campsie Hills way in the distance!
The top of the climb this time with a better view of the hills!
The view to the west with Roughrigg Reservoir in view!
After this there are some awesome descents and steep but short climbs before the lovely descent down into Plains and a left turn for home, right into the wind which was really strong now but thankfully only 3 miles to go! Another cracking ride which brings my January total to 514 miles and probably my best January ever despite all the storms!
Thanks Jason, I've been riding so long I know most of the roads well and only ocassionally have to resort to Google maps...
I never really sit down and plan a route as such, I only use the gps to record my rides really!Attachments
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
I've lost the pics, but how about this, my sisters in laws husband in the Up Helly Aa festival in the Orkneys.
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Why are they all holding big spinning tops?
;^}
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Prairie Dog
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Red Deer
Now that you mention it, I think that I may have just discovered my favorite time to ride for the remainder of the week.
Well done, Rab! Just like you that ride of yours doesn’t quit. Have you given any thought as to what you might replace it with when and/or if that fateful day arrives? Inquiring minds want to know. J/K.Cycling at its very best and 30000 miles now surpassed!
View attachment 170489
When I bought my bike at the end of March in 2018 I could never have imagined the journey it would take me on, today I passed the 30000 mile mark less than 6 years after I made my best bike purchase ever! My display is only showing 29900 or so but it was replaced a while back and over 100 miles was lost, I keep a spreadsheet of all my rides and after todays ride I'm on 30013 miles! On Friday I had one of my worst rides in a very long time, fast forward to today and it was a completely different story...the crazy thing is I wasn't even intending to go for a ride today as tomorrow was looking the best day of the week!
I went to Callander Park in Falkirk this morning for a walk with my sister as she had been camped indoors all last week due to the awful weather, on my way home I had a nice view of the Campsie Hills and the thought then came into my head about getting out on the bike after lunch and getting 57 miles in to pass 30000! Am I glad I made that decision, the conditions were just perfect with no blinding sun and little to no wind and a temp of 5C! It was the perfect day to take to the hills, I used the back roads down to Cumbernauld and what a road it is and it just put me in the mood to have a great day on the bike!
At Cumbernauld I took the road down through Croy and on to Auchinstarry where I passed over the Forth and Clyde Canal, first photo opportunity!
View attachment 170466
Then I took the back road passed Twechar and on through Kirkintilloch, where I had to join the main roads for a bit! I usually turn north for Milton of Campsie here but decided to continue on and take the road to Lennoxtown in the foothills of the Campsies! I have only used this road once in the recent past and it was in the opposite direction so I wasn't sure of the road and I arrived in Torrance where I saw a signpost for Lennoxtown and followed the road until I came to a set of traffic signals with a right turn and a straight road ahead and no signs!
I decided to go straight and started to climb a hill when I had a thought I might be going in the wrong direction, after having a look at Google maps on my phone I was correct and had to do a u turn and take the other road and soon arrived in Lennoxtown and familiar roads again! It was now time to take on the 3 mile climb up over the Campsies, it has an average grade of 5.2% so sure warms you up!
View attachment 170467
View attachment 170468
Of course I couldn't descend without stopping for more photos...
View attachment 170469
This part is just sublime!
View attachment 170470
I was really looking forward to the lower slopes but I turned the next corner to see a roadworks ahead sign and sure enough on the fastest part there were traffic signals and they were at red, you can't have it all...
View attachment 170471
I started the climb up past the Carron Valley reservoir and grabbed another couple of photos looking back at the descent I came down!
View attachment 170472
This road is really narrow but thankfully I didn't see a single car for many miles, it starts off in excellent condition like this photo and deteriorates as you pass the reservoir!
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Although the road is rough, the scenery sure makes up for it even on a cloudy day like today with the light winds making the water flat calm!
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The reflections were just superb today, no apologies for this sequence of stunning photos!
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Thankfully the road improves again for a couple of miles!
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I reached the dam at the far side of the reservoir and wasn't surprised to see it had been opened to lower the level of the reservoir!
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The geese were also enjoying the view!
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I decided not to take the Tak Ma Doon road this time as it was pretty rough the last time I descended it, opting to continue on towards Stoneywood and enjoy the 8 mile descent down into Denny! I stopped to grab this photo with the River Carron passing under the bridge I just crossed!
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From Denny I then took the road to Bonnybridge and then up the back road to Falkirk, which is another of my favourites with many climbs but little to no traffic! I reached Falkirk and took the road through Lionthorn to take the big climb up to the road near Shieldhill, yes it was a day of climbing!
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That was the last of the photos as time was getting on and I wanted to get home before dark, thankfully just after 5pm now! After all that climbing I fancied a nice descent and there aren't many better than the one I took, 40.6 mph down it today! After the descent of course its time start climbing once again, up the excellent back road to Slamannan where I then took the equally execellent back road to Longriggend and down into Caldercruix where it almost always rains!
Today was no exception, thankfully it was only light stuff and didn't bother me in the slightest as I was absolutely buzzing after a truly brilliant day on the bike! I arrived home just before dark and was ready to scoff my dinner after all that climbing! I may still go out tomorrow and take my January total past 500 miles, I'm at 463 at the moment which is hard to believe with all the crazy weather we have been experiencing!
We all know how much you love riding that bike so it’s only fitting that you should have nothing but good thoughts the next time you are racing down one of those gorgeous valley roads.
