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

Back in Devon to see my dad, weather has gone to the dogs ,so nipped out on the bmx, always wanted to ride this lane, but everything is growing like mad recently.

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This road goes nowhere now, got taken by the sea decades ago.
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You can see where it ends on the beach.
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Picking the bike up over a low chicken wire fence, I'm showing my age just couldn't lift my legs over it
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Favourite spot for a bacon barm and a lar tey, do you have HP brown sauce in the States?
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I turned around, the field was full of sheep with lambs and they got very skittish.
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An unusual wipe out for me, it had started to rain and bmx tyres aren't the best climbing muddy paths were you cant even see the ruts you are riding over.
The worst bit was I face planted a nettle bed and face and ear stung like hell.
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Its actually a footpath, but sees practically zero use as there no easy way to walk down 60mph lanes to get to it, it turned out to be quite epic and moody in the rain and wind.
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They vote Lib Dem around here, but its a pointless task outside of local issues.
Mr Brexit Nigel Farage is now ahead of Rishi Sunak in the polls with his reform party, he might well end up as the opposition after the elections, looks
like we are starting down the rabbit hole with the continentals.

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This was simply insane, I was powering through branches to keep off the farmers crops, the path was covered with these, anyone know what it is?
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I ended up soaked and covered in petals, I just closed my eyes and smashed through it.
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Yes the middle of June in SW England, but it picked up as soon as I got back to the house, typical.

The alternator has gone on the van and I've got some tractor mechanic fixing it, called in to see how it's going and I had to listen to five minutes of pointing at rusty bolts in a deep devon accent.
Fingers crossed he gets it done and I don't start plowing the road when changing into second.
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HP brown sauce? Never heard of it here in the states. When you talked about your sandwich I’ve never heard of those words except bacon, we like bacon here in the states. 🥓. We recently spent two weeks in Ireland and some things were the same but many were different. Sugar, coffee, catsup and things like that were all packaged different. In Ireland it was weird, they seemed to think Americans were the ones with the funny accent when it was them that had the accent. ;)
 
It actually stands for Houses of Parliament, and even on the satches has a picture of the big ben tower...elizabeth tower, which is so random for a condiment.
What you call a bread bun in England is a clear marker of your class and whereabouts.
 
Ready for the Mazovian Gravel 120 (2024)!

View attachment 177523
My Fearless is ready to go! 42 mm gravel tyres (tubeless at 2.8 bar/40 psi), new brake pads, 32T chainring, 11-51T 11-speed drivetrain and what not :) Using the main battery and 4 Range Extenders :)

MG 120 Race Route on Komoot

If you wouldn't be asleep, you can track me on BBTracker. I'm starting at 9:40 am CET on Saturday June 15th, 2024. Those of you who are in North America would probably be able to watch the ending kilometres of my ride. It is possible to search for the rider #720 and then just track me riding :) (Note: It is possible to set the tracker language to English).

I feel wonderfully! The organizers have modified the route according of my remarks of March 30th, making it safer, less exhausting yet still adventurous! I just can't wait! :)
Four extenders!
 
Four extenders!
"It is a race, not an excursion!"
/Jacek Mikulski/
:D

Favourite spot for a bacon barm and a lar tey, do you have HP brown sauce in the States?
We can of course buy it in Poland but the HP brown sauce is not one of my favourite condiments; although I am generally fond of British food, and the Branston pickles are my favourite!
 
In Ireland it was weird, they seemed to think Americans were the ones with the funny accent when it was them that had the accent. ;)
I met a lovely Irish man in Frankfurt. As we were fond of each other (and I told him I was planning a holiday in Donegal!), he visited our booth and we were talking. I told him I only then could detect his accent. To which he laughed and went Irish English on the full scale! :D I told him I at least was getting a gist of what he was talking about! :D Not like them Scousers I cannot understand at all!
 
Latest News

I returned home from the race at 1:30 am on Sunday, will not explain the reasons now :)

Outcome: I have completed the 119 km gravel race, which involved nasty MTB singletracks and was generally hard. My updated position is 145 of 197 finishers (249 riders on the starting list). Not bad, I think! 145 km for the day :)

My friend Paul (a British expat in Poland, age 58) finished the 250 km race as 43rd of 300, and won the bronze in Masters 250 (racers aged 51 and over). My brother Jacek (age 60) finished as 46th, with only two minutes after Paul. Jacek is 4th in Masters 250 on his first gravel race ever!
 
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Latest News

I returned home from the race at 1:30 am on Sunday, will not explain the reasons now :)

Outcome: I have completed the 119 km gravel race, which involved nasty MTB singletracks and was generally hard. My temporary position is 144 of 197 finishers and 31 DNF. Not bad, I think! 145 km for the day :)

My friend Paul (a British expat in Poland, age 58) finished the 250 km race as 44th of 300, and won the bronze in Masters 250 (racers aged 51 and over). My brother Jacek (age 60) finished as 46th, with only two minutes after Paul. Jacek is 4th in Masters 250 on his first gravel race ever!
Way to go Stefan! you must have caribou legs stitched to your torso.
 
So many stories to tell, Bob. Too many! :) At least I took only a few pictures, no time for photography!

HOWEVER, there was a very active female race photographer who was moving very fast with her off-road car between the photo sites, and I know I got some nice shots :) (I also know what photos of me she didn't shoot because I once explicitly asked her not to take a photo: I chickened out before a very steep sandy descent ending in a river, and was walking my e-bike instead of riding it!) :)

I need to take a long sleep now!
 
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Latest News

I returned home from the race at 1:30 am on Sunday, will not explain the reasons now :)

Outcome: I have completed the 119 km gravel race, which involved nasty MTB singletracks and was generally hard. My temporary position is 144 of 197 finishers and 31 DNF. Not bad, I think! 145 km for the day :)

My friend Paul (a British expat in Poland, age 58) finished the 250 km race as 44th of 300, and won the bronze in Masters 250 (racers aged 51 and over). My brother Jacek (age 60) finished as 46th, with only two minutes after Paul. Jacek is 4th in Masters 250 on his first gravel race ever!
Nasty single tracks, Stefans taken a battering 😂

But well done young man
 
Mazowiecki Gravel 2024!
15 June 2024. Race report.

1718553297519.png

I started in my second Mazovian Gravel on 9:40 am on Saturday. Unlike a 250 km race of 2023, I chose the MG 120 format, as the distance is more proper for e-bikes (range!)

1718553396083.png

Pictured: an extremely difficult pass under a railway bridge on the River Świder singletrack. (It was hard to visualize the level of difficulty in the pictures).

I was quite disappointed with the inclusion of "technical singletracks" into route plans for 120, 250, and 555 km races. The organizers had listened to my remarks after my March pre-ride, so they shortened and simplified that part. However, some 15 km of difficult and dangerous singletracks should not have happened at all. Rookies on the 120 km race got confronted with the terrain they were not used to ride. Riders in other formats had to ride that part at night, making it very dangerous; some riders experienced contusions. As for myself, my calf has been hurt by a traction-pin platform pedal (something that never happens on my rides). Enough to say: covering the 27 km from the start line to the end of singletracks took me as much as two hours and fifty minutes! If I wanted to ride MTB, I would have joined the MTB (not Gravel) community!

1718553860133.png

I was riding my e-bike slowly, and often had to get off the bike, walk or carry it. So I stopped for a rest by the 400 year old oak called Mazovian Bartek.

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A new, delicate gangway across River Mienia.

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Ha! That was fun! I had known I was expected to cross a River Mienia ford in Bykowizna. Riding, I yelled from a distance: 'Can you ride through the ford?!' to which the Lady Photographer yelled back 'Yes you can!', to which I rode into the water at high speed, roaring a patriotic song: 'See him riding his Chestnut mare, wearing a gray attire! Hey, hey, Commandante, my beloved leader!' :D I took this photo from the other bank, and you can see the photographer standing in water. Of course, my shoes and socks got soaked but the warm weather and WIND made my feet dry soon!

1718554856763.png

The first pit-stop in Mińsk Mazowiecki. I had a delicious cake and a cup of coffee. It made my strength and good humour come back!

1718554933140.png

And yes, friends. I actually hate riding the Mazovian version of "gravel cycling" but am fond of the camaraderie and good people in the community. We first met with Marcin on Graveloza group rides. This time, he brought his wife Wiktoria for racing together. Marcin has been an ultramarathon racer but his love towards his wife made him chose the shortest ride format, and riding rather slowly together with Wiktoria. (She rode an MTB for the race). As the couple left the pit-stop, I finished my coffee and started chasing them!


As the terrain had become a regular gravel and asphalt mix, I started racing! My Vado SL was like flying under these conditions! As I was passing one group after another, I was singing either patriotic songs or sea shanties to each group, changing the words to match the cycling :) Like 'A Uhlan on a RACE (patrol), his SADDLE squishing his butt, and his shabby BIKE (horse) refusing to RIDE (trot)!' :D

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Steep objects never look that steep on photos! Well... What do we have the Walk Mode for? :)

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Pictured: White Vegetables Cream. My smartphone's battery discharged just after taking this photo!

I should have bypassed the Czersk pit-stop to get a way better position in the race (half an hour can win you 40 places up or more!) but as an e-biker I would not be eligible to the final classification anyway. Seeing an attractive stand and two women waiting, I decided to try that stop. What happened next!

Meeting The Accident Witnesses Again!
One year ago, I had a bad crash on Mazovian Gravel race north of Warsaw (the helmet saved my head!) Two cyclists witnessed my crash: 'A cyclist riding some 30 km/h rode onto a speed bump, crashed, and hit the curb with his head! As we approached him, he got up pretty quickly, said he was OK, and restarted his ride! I have never seen something like that in my life! ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET!' In fact, those two guys followed me to the point where my brother (who drove his car and was monitoring me on a GPS tracker) intercepted me, and ordered me to sit down on a bench. I suffered a mild concussion. After half an hour, I restarted the race and finished it.

Now, those two witnesses found themself far south outside Warsaw and met me again in Czersk! Completely unbelievable!

The quality of the Czersk pit-stop
The friendliness, hospitality and care of the ladies serving the pit-stop were exceptional! The rider was welcomed with sweet cherries (still rare and expensive in the season). Then there were two kind of soup (meat or vegan), freshly pressed juice (tomato or sour cherry), cake, water, Red Bull... I can't remember what else. I was truly delighted, and expressed my awe and gratitude to those ladies!

I had a good luck!
I could see Wiktoria emerging from the steep climb up the Czersk Castle Hill on her MTB! I encouraged her loudly! As I was leaving the site, she asked me: 'Are you sure Stefan you took everything with you?' I reddened on my face and said 'A big thank you, Wiktoria!' I left my backpack with the race GPS tracker, a wallet and what else!

The finish line
I was slightly disappointed my arrival was missed this time, no welcome, no photo! Yes, I got my "finisher medal" from a little boy but spoke with the organizers only a while later, getting a bottle of "Finisher Beer". However, my brother Jacek and my friend Paul were still in the MG 250 race, so I decided to wait for them. I soon was met by Paul's wife Monika, so we waited together.

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My Welsh friend Paul, 3rd place Masters 250!

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Paul got his chest decorated, then fell to the ground! We thought he was about to die, so we rushed to help him! He was totally exhausted! (See his dirty legs: it should tell you something about the race difficulty!)

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My brother Jacek, 4th Masters 250 on his first race! He was just 2 minutes longer in the race than Paul! (46th overall MG 250).

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Jacek (60) is the lover of the simple beer :) I think he valued the bottle of "Finisher Beer" more than the medal! :)

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Jacek met Peter at Graveloza rides and they took a liking to each other. This time, they formed a strong team together (MG 250 places 46th and 47th of 330 riders, of which 38 being Masters, or senior riders).


Late Return
We had excellent conditions for resting at Wawa Wake, the recreation area outside Warsaw. Food, drink, a bonfire, and we even got blankets when we rested in our loungers. We were waiting for the results and the decoration in the Masters 250 category as we were expecting Paul to get his medal. It became very late. Eventually, Jacek and I jumped onto our bikes and started pedalling vigorously towards Warsaw. We parted our ways in Wilanów, and I continued to the next Metro station. As I found myself in the City, I was confronted with a terrible fact: Neither the SKM nor KM trains were operating at night! Ouch. However, I could recollect Warsaw Commuter Train WKD should operate past midnight! Rode to a WKD station and was lucky to catch the last train at 00:31!

Correction: I rode for 140 km (not 145) from leaving home to the returning. @Chargeride: I had the actual charge of the batteries of 900 Wh, not too much as for fast 87 mile rides I guess? :D

1718558613867.png

MG 120 and MG 250 routes. I was not interested with the MG555 race indeed :)
 
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Mazowiecki Gravel 2024!
15 June 2024. Race report.

View attachment 177608
I started in my second Mazovian Gravel on 9:40 am on Saturday. Unlike a 250 km race of 2023, I chose the MG 120 format, as the distance is more proper for e-bikes (range!)

View attachment 177609
Pictured: an extremely difficult pass under a railway bridge on the River Świder singletrack. (It was hard to visualize the level of difficulty in the pictures).

I was quite disappointed with the inclusion of "technical singletracks" into route plans for 120, 250, and 555 km races. The organizers had listened to my remarks after my March pre-ride, so they shortened and simplified that part. However, some 15 km of difficult and dangerous singletracks should not have happened at all. Rookies on the 120 km race got confronted with the terrain they were not used to ride. Riders in other formats had to ride that part at night, making it very dangerous; some riders experienced contusions. As for myself, my calf has been hurt by a traction-pin platform pedal (something that never happens on my rides). Enough to say: covering the 27 km from the start line to the end of singletracks took me as much as two hours and fifty minutes! If I wanted to ride MTB, I would have joined the MTB (not Gravel) community!

View attachment 177610
I was riding my e-bike slowly, and often had to get off the bike, walk or carry it. So I stopped for a rest by the 400 year old oak called Mazovian Bartek.

View attachment 177611
A new, delicate gangway across River Mienia.

View attachment 177612
Ha! That was fun! I had known I was expected to cross a River Mienia ford in Bykowizna. Riding, I yelled from a distance: 'Can you ride through the ford?!' to which the Lady Photographer yelled back 'Yes you can!', to which I rode into the water at high speed, roaring a patriotic song: 'See him riding his Chestnut mare, wearing a gray attire! Hey, hey, Commandante, my beloved leader!' :D I took this photo from the other bank, and you can see the photographer standing in water. Of course, my shoes and socks got soaked but the warm weather and WIND made my feet dry soon!

View attachment 177619
The first pit-stop in Mińsk Mazowiecki. I had a delicious cake and a cup of coffee. It made my strength and good humour come back!

View attachment 177620
And yes, friends. I actually hate riding the Mazovian version of "gravel cycling" but am fond of the camaraderie and good people in the community. We first met with Marcin on Graveloza group rides. This time, he brought his wife Wiktoria for racing together. Marcin has been an ultramarathon racer but his love towards his wife made him chose the shortest ride format, and riding rather slowly together with Wiktoria. (She rode an MTB for the race). As the couple left the pit-stop, I finished my coffee and started chasing them!


As the terrain had become a regular gravel and asphalt mix, I started racing! My Vado SL was like flying under these conditions! As I was passing one group after another, I was singing either patriotic songs or sea shanties to each group, changing the words to match the cycling :) Like 'A Uhlan on a RACE (patrol), his SADDLE squishing his butt, and his shabby BIKE (horse) refusing to ride (walk)!' :D

View attachment 177621
Steep objects never look that steep on photos! Well... What do we have the Walk Mode for? :)

View attachment 177622

Pictured: White Vegetables Cream.
I should have bypassed the Czersk pit-stop to get a way better position in the race (half an hour can win you 40 places up or more!) but as an e-biker I would not be eligible to the final classification anyway. Seeing an attractive stand and two women waiting, I decided to try that stop. What happened next!

Meeting The Accident Witnesses Again!
One year ago, I had a bad crash on Mazovian Gravel race north of Warsaw (the helmet saved my head!) Two cyclists witnessed my crash: 'A cyclist riding some 30 km/h rode onto a speed bump, crashed, and hit the curb with his head! As we approached him, he got up pretty quick, said he was OK, and restarted his ride! I have never seen something like that in my life! ALWAYS WEAR THE HELMET!' In fact, those two guys followed me to the point where my brother (who drove his car and was monitoring me on a GPS tracker) intercepted me, and ordered me to sit down on a bench. I suffered a mild concussion. After half an hour, I restarted the race and finished it.

Now, those two witnesses found themself far south outside Warsaw and met me again in Czersk! Completely unbelievable!

The quality of the Czersk pit-stop
The friendliness, hospitality and care of the ladies serving the pit-stop were exceptional! The rider was welcomed with sweet cherries (still rare and expensive in the season). Then there were two kind of soup (meat or vegan), freshly pressed juice (tomato or sour cherry), cake, water, Red Bull... I can't remember what else. I was truly delighted, and expressed my awe and gratitude to those ladies!

I had a good luck!
I could see Wiktoria emerging from the steep climb up the Czersk Castle Hill on her MTB! I encouraged her loudly! As I was leaving the site, she asked me: 'Are you sure Stefan you took everything with you?' I reddened on my face and said 'A big thank you, Wiktoria!' I left my backpack with the race GPS tracker, a wallet and what else!

The finish line
I was slightly disappointed my arrival was missed this time, no welcome, no photo! Yes, I got my "finisher medal" from a little boy but spoke with the organizers only a while later, getting a bottle of "Finisher Beer". However, my brother Jacek and my friend Paul were still in the MG 250 race, so I decided to wait for them. I soon was met by Paul's wife Monika, so we waited together.

View attachment 177623
My Welsh friend Paul, 3rd place Masters 250!

View attachment 177624
Paul got his chest decorated, then fell to the ground! We thought he was about to die, so we rushed to help him! He was totally exhausted! (See his dirty legs: it should tell you something about the race difficulty!)

View attachment 177625
My brother Jacek, 4th Masters 250 on his first race! He was just 2 minutes longer in the race than Paul! (43rd overall MG 250).

View attachment 177626
Jacek (60) is the lover of the simple beer :) I think he valued the bottle of "Finisher Beer" more than the medal! :)

View attachment 177627
Jacek met Peter at Graveloza rides and they took a liking to each other. This time, they formed a strong team together (MG 250 places 46th and 47th of 330 riders, of which 38 being Masters, or senior riders).


Late Return
We had excellent conditions for resting at Wawa Wake, the recreation area outside Warsaw. Food, drink, a bonfire, and we even got blankets when we rested in our loungers. We were waiting for the results and the decoration in the Masters 250 category as we were expecting Paul to get his medal. It became very late. Eventually, Jacek and I jumped onto our bikes and started pedalling vigorously towards Warsaw. We parted our ways in Wilanów, and I continued to the next Metro station. As I found myself in the City, I was confronted with a terrible fact: Neither the SKM or KM trains were operating at night! Ouch. However, I could recollect Warsaw Commuter Train WKD should operate past midnight! Rode to a WKD station and was lucky to catch the last train at 00:31!

Correction: I rode for 140 km (not 145) from leaving home to the returning. @Chargeride: I had the actual charge of the batteries of 900 Wh, not too much as for fast 87 mile rides I guess? :D

View attachment 177628
MG 120 and MG 250 routes. I was not interested with the MG555 race indeed :)
Phenomenal ride, How did that smaller chain ring and larger cassette work out for you, would you change anything in the future?
 
How did that smaller chain ring and larger cassette work out for you, would you change anything in the future?
The small chainring prevents me from achieving a really high speed. The max speed I can achieve with cadence 90+ on the flat, no wind is some 34 km/h (21 mph). However, Vado SL is not capable to achieve far greater speed because of air drag. There are rare situations such as a massive tailwind or a long descent (hardly any where I am usually riding) when a bigger chainring would be really needed.

OTH, the small chainring provides a massive mountain gearing. An example: There was a very steep but very short sandy climb, which ended with a little curb at the asphalt level above. I had been well aware of that obstacle, so I downshifted to the granny gear, pushed SL Turbo on, and my e-bike just lifted me to the upper level. I left the place and stopped to see what was happening behind me. It were two girl riders walking their bikes up the climb. Both were very strong pedallers but one of them was very heavyset; none of them could do that short climb!

Again... As I left the flimsy footbridge (seen in a photo), I suddenly encountered a very similar but a tad longer climb. No time for a fast reaction! I pushed Turbo on and dramatically tried to downshift. I heard a loud CLUNK! from the drivetrain, was sure it broke or stuck (it did not!), panicked, and fell of the saddle (not crashed!) At that moment, I hurt my calf against the pedal traction-pins... Had I more time, I would easily climb that obstacle, too. I feel confident having the small chainring such as many MTBers use.

I will keep the 32T chainring at least to Great Lakes Gravel race in September. Then I feel a 36T chainring would be more appropriate for riding in the flat Mazovia!
 
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I noticed that on the hire bike, my usual method is to let the hub do the work on a hill and gently pedal till the gear has moved while shifting, but on the mid drive obviously you are going to engage the motor, but the torque sensors help to negate that.
That is one small advantage hubs have on steep terrain, you can run cadence only and keep it driving ss you shift

or have a throttle 😎
 
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