2024 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Botch a bike together and then test it on steep rubble, I could have got a job at Oceangate.
All in black and grey on a black BMX,
not weird at all.
Two dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes
Sorry, three dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes.
Overtaking manual rider and hoping he won't notice.
Not the traditional hunting ground for BMX.
The top.
You can't quite see, but I was doing 40mph downhill and the dog went one way and the owner another, which left a 2 inch wide strap across the road
This was much steeper than it looks, and I was pushing 40 mph, steering around the speed bumb on a twitchy BMX with inches of spare was quite the challenge.
Cute cafe.
Nice view.
I wasn't actually that hungr so I gave this old fellow half my pastie.
The landscapers were there cleaning up the remains, lovely job.
Yes, great day out, its a blast to ride and puts a smile on most people's faces, looks almost shop built from 50ft away
Those paths and the descent are private roads, so almost legal.
Here's the vid for those who can cope.
All in black and grey on a black BMX,
not weird at all.
Two dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes
Sorry, three dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes.
Overtaking manual rider and hoping he won't notice.
Not the traditional hunting ground for BMX.
The top.
You can't quite see, but I was doing 40mph downhill and the dog went one way and the owner another, which left a 2 inch wide strap across the road
This was much steeper than it looks, and I was pushing 40 mph, steering around the speed bumb on a twitchy BMX with inches of spare was quite the challenge.
Cute cafe.
Nice view.
I wasn't actually that hungr so I gave this old fellow half my pastie.
The landscapers were there cleaning up the remains, lovely job.
Yes, great day out, its a blast to ride and puts a smile on most people's faces, looks almost shop built from 50ft away
Those paths and the descent are private roads, so almost legal.
Here's the vid for those who can cope.
Last edited:
That.Botch a bike together and then test it on steep rubble, I could have got a job at Oceangate.
View attachment 174231
All in black and grey on a black BMX,
not weird at all.
View attachment 174232
Two dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes
Sorry, three dodgy looking scallywags on illegally modified ebikes.
View attachment 174233
Overtaking manual rider and hoping he won't notice.
View attachment 174234
Not the traditional hunting ground for BMX.
View attachment 174235
The top.
View attachment 174236
You can't quite see, but I was doing 40mph downhill and the dog went one way and the owner another, which left a 2 inch wide strap across the road
View attachment 174237
This was much steeper than it looks, and I was pushing 40 mph, steering around the speed bumb on a twitchy BMX with inches of spare was quite the challenge.
View attachment 174238
Cute cafe.
View attachment 174239
Nice view.
View attachment 174240
I wasn't actually that hungr so I gave this old fellow half my pastie.
View attachment 174241
The landscapers were there cleaning up the remains, lovely job.
View attachment 174242
Yes, great day out, its a blast to ride and puts a smile on most people's faces, looks almost shop built from 50ft away
View attachment 174243
Those paths and the descent are private roads, so almost legal.
Here's the vid for those who can cope.
Is genius.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
RabH
Well-Known Member
I think I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this was my best local ride ever, it was just utter perfection for the whole ride!
I had things to do in the morning so I didn't set off until 12.35pm, with the northerly wind still persisting it was a no brainer to head south again as heading north into that 20-25mph wind would have been brutal without a proper warm up! Right at the start of my ride I shot down my local hill at 47.3mph and that set the tone for my ride, it was fast and twisty and hilly and absolute bliss! I wasn't going to take any photos as I just wanted to ride my bike and enjoy the day but when I came across a herd of Alpacas I just had to stop for photos...I headed straight to the back roads down to Allanton after reaching Newhouse, lots of fast descents with the wind at my back had me grinning from ear to ear! At Allanton I went straight on to the back roads over to Carluke where I turned east towards Yieldshields, this road has been in a bad state of repair for years but its fine for the bike (I wouldn't have taken the car anywhere near it because it was so bad) and easy to avoid the potholes! Imagine my shock when I saw new tarmac laid on the first climb which was in such a state before! At the top of the climb I was expecting the road to be very rough but they had also fixed it! Then there is a short descent and another climb which was the worst part and they had fixed that also! Amazingly they had repaired the whole road, it must have taken them at least a week! What a surprise that was, I will be enjoying it a lot this year!
From Yieldshields I headed SE past all the farms and passed over the main road from Lanark to Forth, continuing past all the farms heading towards Carnwath! That's when I arrived at the farm with the herd of Alpacas, they were so beautiful and it would have been a crime not to take some photos!
These 3 were in a separate field, probably troublemakers!
The large herd were a bit further away sadly but the photo came out ok!
I had a nice view of the Pentland Hills from here also!
I headed north from here up a steep climb, so directly into the wind at this point and then turned NE towards Auchengray! I have used this road so many times in the opposite direction so I just had to take it today despite heading into the wind and uphill at first!
The sheep didn't want to be left out, the lambs are sure growing fast!
The view to the SE was pretty nice also!
Then I had this nice descent that I am normally climbing in the other direction!
It keeps going down around the corner!
Then its time to climb, passing over the railway crossing up to Auchengray! I spotted a goods train passing as I was heading down the descent and was surprised to see the crossing closed for another train when I arrived! This time it was a passenger train and it was going so fast, I have crossed here so many times and this was the first time I have been stopped at the crossing! I continued up the climb which was wind assisted now, this is looking back down at the crossing!
This road leads to Carnwath but I wasn't heading that way today!
I passed through Auchengray and stopped for a snack before battling the wind towards Woolfords! These lambs didn't seem keen to have a bite of my Mars Bar!
I then turned directly into the wind through Woolfords and started the climb before stopping for more photos!
Back to the climb!
At the top of the climb the road descends slightly before this awesome descent, I'm usually doing around 40mph down this but into the wind today I didn't even touch 30mph...
Down in the valley the road goes straight up again but its just a short climb thankfully before another awesome descent, the road eventually meets the main A71 from West Calder to Breich! I thought about turning for West Calder and taking the road through Stoneyburn but I just did this one 3 days ago, although it was in the opposite direction! I decided to take the road to Addiewell and Loganlea and ended up on a rough looking back road but it was absolutely fine for the bike and I didn't see a single car on it!
My mind was trying to work out where it would take me and I really wasn't sure but I knew I was heading west which was the right direction! Eventually I spotted some vehicles in the distance heading south to north and I then knew it was the road from Longridge to Breich which I had taken 3 days ago also! I then remembered many years ago I had started along this road at the western end on my expensive road bike and saw the state of it and thought better of it...looks like they haven't touched it in all those years!
From here I headed due north towards Longridge, this descent is usually a very fast one but not today into that wind!
Then its a big old climb up through Longridge directly into the wind, where I decided to turn west for Fauldhouse to get out of that wind! This turned out to be the best decision of the day! Its a downhill all the way through the village and the road then leads to Shotts which starts with a nice descent and then a climb up past the train station! Then I took the back road towards Hartwood which is a very exhilirating twisty descent down to the village, I forgot how amazing this road is!
I could have turned north here and tackled the climb up to Kirk of Shotts but I went that way 3 days ago also so I turned south towards Allanton and took the back road up to Bellside!Its a big climb also but well sheltered from the wind and it finishes with a brilliant descent into Bellside! The last time I shot down this descent there was a big flood at the bottom and I was going too fast to stop so just ploughed through it...
I slowed the bike down this time just in case and it was a mere puddle this time!
I then took the road through Cleland to avoid the busy A73, a lot of climbing here but way better than taking the main road! Eventually the road takes you out near Newarthill where I turned north for Newhouse and straight home from there, mostly downhill until my home town where its all uphill again! I really enjoyed recalling this fantastic ride, I can't remember the last time I have enthused about a ride like this! It really was cycling perfection for me!
I'm only 69 miles away from 2000 miles for this year now and I was going to ride to the first race meeting of the year at Knockhill on Sunday, but this northerly wind is staying put so a day at Knockhill on the bike in that wind would be brutal! So it will be the car this time, I will make up for it on Monday though which is looking like a nice day with a high of 15C so a big ride might be on the cards!
Attachments
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Hey, its a Mongoose, they used to be high end
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
Nothing like Chargeride does but it was a nice day. Rode up to Edmonds, stopped at the waterfront and then hit a coffee shop. The Olympic Mt and Washington State Ferry. Then Mt Baker a mere 100 miles north and still looming at 10,700 or so feet.
Readytoride
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Virginia
@RabH wrote: "I think I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this was my best local ride ever, it was just utter perfection for the whole ride!"
I read this as the abysmal rains came down outside in Northern Virginia, just as they had been doing this entire gray, foggy, cold, miserable, hostile-to-all-warmblooded mammals-everywhere day. Worse yet, the rain was held under a pea-soup thick fog and relentless drizzle that stood in for the rains when the rains momentarily abated. The sun had done a runner and was nowhere to be found.
The only bike ride I enjoyed today was yours. Thank you for that!
Also, a question: How in the world do you capture such gorgeous photographs? This isn't from a cell phone camera, is it?
"I read this as the abysmal rains came down outside in Northern Virginia, just as they had been doing this entire gray, foggy, cold, miserable, hostile-to-all-warmblooded mammals-everywhere day. Worse yet, the rain was held under a pea-soup thick fog and relentless drizzle that stood in for the rains when the rains momentarily abated. The sun had done a runner and was nowhere to be found.
The only bike ride I enjoyed today was yours. Thank you for that!
Also, a question: How in the world do you capture such gorgeous photographs? This isn't from a cell phone camera, is it?
Hey, its a Mongoose, they used to be high end
Mongoose still seem to be doing alright!
Though I'm a bit heavy for them myself these days... Back around 1984 I would have killed for a shiny chrome Supergoose maybe with a pair of pink Skyways!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Not with the 2 kW motor you slapped onto it or the backpack batteryHey, its a Mongoose, they used to be high end
RabH
Well-Known Member
I hope your weather improves soon Flora! I just use my Samsung Galaxy S23, it takes some nice photos for a phone@RabH wrote: "I think I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this was my best local ride ever, it was just utter perfection for the whole ride!
I read this as the abysmal rains came down outside in Northern Virginia, just as they had been doing this entire gray, foggy, cold, miserable, hostile-to-all-warmblooded mammals-everywhere day. Worse yet, the rain was held under a pea-soup thick fog and relentless drizzle that stood in for the rains when the rains momentarily abated. The sun had done a runner and was nowhere to be found.
The only bike ride I enjoyed today was yours. Thank you for that!
Also, a question: How in the world do you capture such gorgeous photographs? This isn't from a cell phone camera, is it?
dodgeman
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Macomb, Illinois
I rode 17 miles today, a little breezy and cool but not terrible. A couple of abandoned building. The first one is an old school or township government building. The second one an old farm house and they built a newer house nearby the old one.
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
I dropped the backpack with the battery in it on my last ride, landed on grass, bit of a clunk, thought nothing of it.
Carried on
Found this when I got home.
Carried on
Found this when I got home.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
A story from my e-biking past:I dropped the backpack with the battery in it on my last ride, landed on grass, bit of a clunk, thought nothing of it.
Carried on
Found this when I got home.
I was on a long road Vado trip in the greater neigbourhood a few years ago. Once the battery went down to 5%, I did a standard battery swap for the other battery carried in a pannier. I re-started the ride, took a soft bend and then heard a THUD!
Because of my poor memory, I had left the spent battery on the rear rack instead of inserting it into the pannier! I cannot understand how stable the Vado must have been not to drop the battery on the first 200 m straight road segment before the bend! And guess what: nothing wrong happened to the dropped battery...
RabH
Well-Known Member
I made the most of the perfect cycling weather today, it was a long old day but just spectacular from start to finish!
I set off at 6am to enjoy some quiet roads at the start and arrived home 11 hours later with a grin from ear to ear!I took the awesome back roads down to Cumbernauld and caught the sunrise at the canal at Auchinstarry near Kilsyth!Then I turned off the main road and enjoyed the back road towards Kirkintilloch, the road runs alongside the canal most of the way and I captured another nice shot!
From Kirkintilloch I headed for Lennoxtown and stopped at the Whitefield pond for another photo!
From there I headed out to Strathblane where I joined the main A81 all the way to Aberfoyle, then I took the back road to Stronachlachar! Its such an amazing twisty road with lots of ups and downs all the way, passing a few lochs with the first one being loch Ard! This part is separated from the main loch and it was looking fabulous with the mirror image!
A short time later the main loch came into view!
You can see the road closed sign here but I continued through and the road was totally clear, I think they forgot to take the signs down...
A few miles later Loch Arklet came into view and what a view!
I then stopped at Stronachlachar for a break and a snack before tackling the tough 13 mile ride round Loch Katrine, it has some monster climbs and descents and views to die for!
The path was strewn with gravel after all the rain so I had to be careful today, with views like these I wasn't bothered about a bit of gravel though...
As I was heading round the path I spotted the paddle steamer Sir Walter Scott headed for Stronachlachar, shame it didn't berth while I was there!
The stunning views just kept coming!
I then arrived at the pier where the Lady of the Lake was berthed!
I didn't spend much time here as it was pretty busy with tourists, they sure got a treat with the weather today! It was pretty chilly at 6am but the temperature was rising by the hour with a high of 15C! I then headed for Brig o'Turk, passing Loch Achray on the way!
I was really glad I stopped here as I could hear car engines roaring in the distance, the next thing there was a huge line of souped up BMW's and Supras and all sorts of fast cars! It was quite a spectacle but their driving was atrocious!
Then Loch Venachar appeared!
I reached the end of the back road and joined the main A84 to pass through Callander, I thought about turning south here and taking the road up to Thornhill but with almost 80 miles covered I didn't fancy the big climb so continued on the A84 out to Doune and then turned on to the back road to Thornhill! It has been many years since I used this road and I had forgotten how good it was, it starts with a climb and then its a cracking descent into Thornhill!
The reason I took the road to Thornhill was to avoid Stirling and although I was in for quite a climb I knew how amazing the road was! This was why I didn't take on the climb from Callander, it would have been brutal doing both! I passed through Kippen and continued up the climb towards Fintry, near the top of the climb I had some amazing views of the mountains to the north!
The road was in great condition here and I was just about to start the amazing descent down into Fintry, this road is one of the best in the country with sweeping bends and big drops!
The road was in this condition all the way to Fintry and it was just pure cycling heaven!
Fintry is a different story though, the road is in such bad condition but you can't have it all! From Fintry I was heading east towards the foothills of the Campsies, no way was I climbing them today with just over 100 miles in my legs! Instead I took the road past the Carron Valley Reservoir, another big climb but way easier than the Campsies! I noticed my phone battery was starting to get pretty low, no surprise with the amount of photos I had already taken!So I grabbed these photos before leaving the phone in my bag for the remainder of the ride!
I continued east and was looking forward to the big descent through Fankerton and Stoneywood and down into Denny, after all that climbing it was most welcome! So far I haven't mentioned the wind, there wasn't any to speak of for the first time in such a long time! That's why I decided to go so far, you have to grab it by the horns when opportunities like this arrive! From Denny I continued on towards Bonnybridge where it was time to start climbing again towards Falkirk with 116 miles in my legs, thankfully with the lack of wind my batteries were doing well so I was able to use assist level 3 up the big climbs here! The road from Falkirk to home also involves a lot of climbing so I had to turn the assist down to level 2 as it was zapping my power at quite a rate now!
Eventually I had the descent down into Slamannan to enjoy for a bit before the climbing returned on the back road to Longriggend, I had around 30% of my last battery remaining here with around 7 miles to go and when the battery hits 20% it drops like a stone so I switched to eco all the way home and had enough left to get up the final climbs to home! I passed the 2000 mile mark for the year today, 2068 to be exact with an average mileage of just over 71! With the crazy weather we have been experiencing I have been forced into long rides when the opportunity comes along, not that I mind doing long rides of course!
What a day that was, it will live long in the memory!
No rain all day until I arrived home and it started spitting!Attachments
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Slacking off again, I see. You should frame that first photo.View attachment 174462
I made the most of the perfect cycling weather today, it was a long old day but just spectacular from start to finish!
View attachment 174465
Then I turned off the main road and enjoyed the back road towards Kirkintilloch, the road runs alongside the canal most of the way and I captured another nice shot!
View attachment 174467
From Kirkintilloch I headed for Lennoxtown and stopped at the Whitefield pond for another photo!
View attachment 174468
From there I headed out to Strathblane where I joined the main A81 all the way to Aberfoyle, then I took the back road to Stronachlachar! Its such an amazing twisty road with lots of ups and downs all the way, passing a few lochs with the first one being loch Ard! This part is separated from the main loch and it was looking fabulous with the mirror image!
View attachment 174469
View attachment 174470
A short time later the main loch came into view!
View attachment 174471
View attachment 174472
View attachment 174473
You can see the road closed sign here but I continued through and the road was totally clear, I think they forgot to take the signs down...
View attachment 174474
A few miles later Loch Arklet came into view and what a view!
View attachment 174475
View attachment 174476
I then stopped at Stronachlachar for a break and a snack before tackling the tough 13 mile ride round Loch Katrine, it has some monster climbs and descents and views to die for!
View attachment 174477
The path was strewn with gravel after all the rain so I had to be careful today, with views like these I wasn't bothered about a bit of gravel though...
View attachment 174478
View attachment 174479
As I was heading round the path I spotted the paddle steamer Sir Walter Scott headed for Stronachlachar, shame it didn't berth while I was there!
View attachment 174480
The stunning views just kept coming!
View attachment 174481
View attachment 174482
I then arrived at the pier where the Lady of the Lake was berthed!
View attachment 174483
I didn't spend much time here as it was pretty busy with tourists, they sure got a treat with the weather today! It was pretty chilly at 6am but the temperature was rising by the hour with a high of 15C! I then headed for Brig o'Turk, passing Loch Achray on the way!
View attachment 174485
I was really glad I stopped here as I could hear car engines roaring in the distance, the next thing there was a huge line of souped up BMW's and Supras and all sorts of fast cars! It was quite a spectacle but their driving was atrocious!
Then Loch Venachar appeared!
View attachment 174489
I reached the end of the back road and joined the main A84 to pass through Callander, I thought about turning south here and taking the road up to Thornhill but with almost 80 miles covered I didn't fancy the big climb so continued on the A84 out to Doune and then turned on to the back road to Thornhill! It has been many years since I used this road and I had forgotten how good it was, it starts with a climb and then its a cracking descent into Thornhill!
The reason I took the road to Thornhill was to avoid Stirling and although I was in for quite a climb I knew how amazing the road was! This was why I didn't take on the climb from Callander, it would have been brutal doing both! I passed through Kippen and continued up the climb towards Fintry, near the top of the climb I had some amazing views of the mountains to the north!
View attachment 174495
View attachment 174496
View attachment 174497
The road was in great condition here and I was just about to start the amazing descent down into Fintry, this road is one of the best in the country with sweeping bends and big drops!
View attachment 174498
The road was in this condition all the way to Fintry and it was just pure cycling heaven!
So I grabbed these photos before leaving the phone in my bag for the remainder of the ride!
View attachment 174499
View attachment 174500
View attachment 174501
I continued east and was looking forward to the big descent through Fankerton and Stoneywood and down into Denny, after all that climbing it was most welcome! So far I haven't mentioned the wind, there wasn't any to speak of for the first time in such a long time! That's why I decided to go so far, you have to grab it by the horns when opportunities like this arrive! From Denny I continued on towards Bonnybridge where it was time to start climbing again towards Falkirk with 116 miles in my legs, thankfully with the lack of wind my batteries were doing well so I was able to use assist level 3 up the big climbs here! The road from Falkirk to home also involves a lot of climbing so I had to turn the assist down to level 2 as it was zapping my power at quite a rate now!
Eventually I had the descent down into Slamannan to enjoy for a bit before the climbing returned on the back road to Longriggend, I had around 30% of my last battery remaining here with around 7 miles to go and when the battery hits 20% it drops like a stone so I switched to eco all the way home and had enough left to get up the final climbs to home! I passed the 2000 mile mark for the year today, 2068 to be exact with an average mileage of just over 71! With the crazy weather we have been experiencing I have been forced into long rides when the opportunity comes along, not that I mind doing long rides of course!
What a day that was, it will live long in the memory!
Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
Always something new! First time this year on Riverview today and at the end, the 13% climb up to the power station has been redone in nice soft dirt covered by nice soft medium gravel. Up until this point, I hadn’t turned the assist on at all, but that’s what it’s for, I reckon.
