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

[MTO]

How do they fly that close in an arc?
Our acrobatic team are called the Red Arrows, but theyre all in the doghouse for being horrible to women.
Which these days could clearly include
leaving the ejector seat fully back.

I’m guessing gps guidance and precision computer technology. Consider the guiding and stabilizing technology that our little drones have, then times that by a zillion.
The blue angels pilots consist of 17 qualified pilots that they choose from for any given show, and a few of them are actually women.

 

[Chargeride]

Your reply sparked my interest, when was gps turned on?

Its a bit complicated, there was a system called Transit before it and gps itself was given open to the public in 1995.

But the story of why it was released from military only is very sad, a Korean airliner wandered into Russia and was shot down in 1983, Reagan responded by making gps open for civilian use once it was fully operational.
At least thats the official story.
Everytime I use my phone out in the wild for directions, Im always reminded that the US is providing it unencrypted for free.
Tbh this is hard to track down, but we used a handheld gps in 1997 up in the Northern territories, so it was unencrypted then.
Id be bugrd without it on most of my rides, though Im sure my phone uses the Ruskies as well.

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from today's 23km ride:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

A few pics from today's 23km ride:

The colours of Autumn and the weather are gorgeous where you live!

 

[RabH]

I had a choice to go out today and risk getting wet or wait until tomorrow and risk my life with 40mph+ winds, I chose today and I did get wet! After the freezing temps recently it was all change yesterday with a high of 16C but it was very wet and very windy so cycling was the last thing on my mind...today it was 14C when I set off before midday and we had a SW wind around 20-25mph so I wasn't too bothered about getting wet becuase it was so mild!

I opted to head out to Strathaven as I haven't been there for a while, its SSW of me so I was into the wind for the first 28 miles! I headed out to the Clyde Valley at Overtown where I had an awesome descent down the Horsley Brae into Garrion Bridge, I managed 43.2mph down it! Its way more fun going down and you get views like this to enjoy!

I stopped on the bridge for a photo of the River Clyde, looking west!

I then had a short sharp climb out of the valley and joined the valley road again out to Ferniegair, then on to the busy town of Hamilton! From there I had a big climb up the Low Waters Road and near the top I turned on to the back road towards Quarter! This is such a fun road and very quiet, it rises and falls for miles and is very twisty so my favourite kind of road! I was nearing Glassford and came across wet roads for the first time!

The scene ahead of me was pretty dismal now, I was certain it was going to be wet at Strathaven and I wasn't wrong! Just as I arrived in town with 27 miles covered the heavens opened, thankfully after passing through it looked a bit more promising ahead!

As I headed down the hill things really changed and I was greeted with this scene!

I saw a lady approaching with a dog and warned her of the conditions just up the hill in Strathaven, I looked up and timed it perfect for this rainbow shot!

I then climbed the hill into Sandford and started along the rollercoaster road towards Kirkmuirhill, all the time the sky out to the SW was looking very gloomy but it was dry for now as I was heading east! At Kirkmuirhill I turned at the church and headed down into the valley below, a lovely big fast descent with some blue sky ahead!

As soon as you reach the valley floor the road ramps up again, I stopped part way up for this photo with the church in the distance!

I continued up the climb through Auchenheath and was soon at the top with the Clyde Valley down below me!

Then I had the awesome descent down into the valley!

I grabbed a couple of photos on the way down!

I arrived in the valley at Hazelbank and continued east for Kirkfieldbank where I stopped at the bridge over the River Clyde for a couple of photos before tackling the toughest climb of the day up to Lanark!

I stopped near the top for this photo before arriving in Lanark, oh to be rich and own a property like this...

As soon as I arrived in the busy town of Lanark I turned NE for Cleghorn and things started to get a bit murky again and I could feel rain in the air again, this was the scene looking back towards Lanark! Its hard to tell from the photo but it was very dark and the wind was blowing it my way!

I had no chance of outrunning it with the wind speed and a little further up the climb things really closed in!

It was pretty much all around me and soon the rain got really heavy, I was going to continue north into Forth but decided to turn off and take the back road to Yieldshields instead as its a much quieter road and I could see a clearing in the sky in the distance! At the moment though the rain was still coming down and I then got my second rainbow of the day!

A few minutes later my change of route paid off and I was greeted with this scene, I was amazed to see dry roads!

Looking south towards the Pentland Hills, it looked dismal out that way!

A short time later I arrived in Yieldshields and took the back road to Carluke, a great road these days after being fully resurfaced earlier this year! From Carluke I took my usual awesome back roads to Allanton and up the big climb to Hareshaw and over the back roads to home! By the time I got home I had dried out and just had enough time to wash the bike before the rain arrived! I'm so glad I decided to go out today despite getting soaked twice, riding in winds over 40mph isn't my idea of fun so tomorrow I will have a nice lazy day! My next ride should see me passing 35000 miles on my amazing bike, I only need 61 to reach that milestone!

 

[JGcycle]

View attachment 184295

I had a choice to go out today and risk getting wet or wait until tomorrow and risk my life with 40mph+ winds, I chose today and I did get wet! After the freezing temps recently it was all change yesterday with a high of 16C but it was very wet and very windy so cycling was the last thing on my mind...today it was 14C when I set off before midday and we had a SW wind around 20-25mph so I wasn't too bothered about getting wet becuase it was so mild!

I opted to head out to Strathaven as I haven't been there for a while, its SSW of me so I was into the wind for the first 28 miles! I headed out to the Clyde Valley at Overtown where I had an awesome descent down the Horsley Brae into Garrion Bridge, I managed 43.2mph down it! Its way more fun going down and you get views like this to enjoy!

View attachment 184296
View attachment 184297
I stopped on the bridge for a photo of the River Clyde, looking west!

View attachment 184299
I then had a short sharp climb out of the valley and joined the valley road again out to Ferniegair, then on to the busy town of Hamilton! From there I had a big climb up the Low Waters Road and near the top I turned on to the back road towards Quarter! This is such a fun road and very quiet, it rises and falls for miles and is very twisty so my favourite kind of road! I was nearing Glassford and came across wet roads for the first time!

View attachment 184300
The scene ahead of me was pretty dismal now, I was certain it was going to be wet at Strathaven and I wasn't wrong! Just as I arrived in town with 27 miles covered the heavens opened, thankfully after passing through it looked a bit more promising ahead!

View attachment 184301
As I headed down the hill things really changed and I was greeted with this scene!

View attachment 184302
View attachment 184303
View attachment 184304
I saw a lady approaching with a dog and warned her of the conditions just up the hill in Strathaven, I looked up and timed it perfect for this rainbow shot!

View attachment 184305
I then climbed the hill into Sandford and started along the rollercoaster road towards Kirkmuirhill, all the time the sky out to the SW was looking very gloomy but it was dry for now as I was heading east! At Kirkmuirhill I turned at the church and headed down into the valley below, a lovely big fast descent with some blue sky ahead!

View attachment 184306
As soon as you reach the valley floor the road ramps up again, I stopped part way up for this photo with the church in the distance!

View attachment 184307
I continued up the climb through Auchenheath and was soon at the top with the Clyde Valley down below me!

View attachment 184308
View attachment 184309
Then I had the awesome descent down into the valley!

View attachment 184310
I grabbed a couple of photos on the way down!

View attachment 184311
View attachment 184312
I arrived in the valley at Hazelbank and continued east for Kirkfieldbank where I stopped at the bridge over the River Clyde for a couple of photos before tackling the toughest climb of the day up to Lanark!

View attachment 184313
View attachment 184314
I stopped near the top for this photo before arriving in Lanark, oh to be rich and own a property like this...

View attachment 184315
As soon as I arrived in the busy town of Lanark I turned NE for Cleghorn and things started to get a bit murky again and I could feel rain in the air again, this was the scene looking back towards Lanark! Its hard to tell from the photo but it was very dark and the wind was blowing it my way!

View attachment 184316
I had no chance of outrunning it with the wind speed and a little further up the climb things really closed in!

View attachment 184317
It was pretty much all around me and soon the rain got really heavy, I was going to continue north into Forth but decided to turn off and take the back road to Yieldshields instead as its a much quieter road and I could see a clearing in the sky in the distance! At the moment though the rain was still coming down and I then got my second rainbow of the day!

View attachment 184318
View attachment 184319
A few minutes later my change of route paid off and I was greeted with this scene, I was amazed to see dry roads!

View attachment 184320
View attachment 184321
View attachment 184322
Looking south towards the Pentland Hills, it looked dismal out that way!

View attachment 184323
A short time later I arrived in Yieldshields and took the back road to Carluke, a great road these days after being fully resurfaced earlier this year! From Carluke I took my usual awesome back roads to Allanton and up the big climb to Hareshaw and over the back roads to home! By the time I got home I had dried out and just had enough time to wash the bike before the rain arrived! I'm so glad I decided to go out today despite getting soaked twice, riding in winds over 40mph isn't my idea of fun so tomorrow I will have a nice lazy day! My next ride should see me passing 35000 miles on my amazing bike, I only need 61 to reach that milestone!

Fantastic rainbow shots.

 

[JGcycle]

The colours of Autumn and the weather are gorgeous where you live!

Thanks--we have had exceptional weather this year.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Well, it ain’t Japan, but southern Vermont is always a great spot for a ride out under the trees, across the meadows, through the towns and UP and DOWN those hills! Foliage is just past peak where we were today, but it all looked great and the roads are just fantastic. Not so much gravel as good hard dirt, but there are some pretty serious gravel bits as well out there.

Out with two of the usual suspects, one on his trusty Scott mountain bike, the other on a new ebike, a cruiser way more than a gravel or Mtn bike, but a sit upright and steady setup anyway, with decently large tires. Better suited for this stuff than my Creo, that’s for sure.

Our house is about thirty miles southwest of Poultney, on the New York side, and we are NOT past peak. This is from our deck out back of our neighbor’s beautiful Maple:

And one final side note: after squeaking down a few large, steep and narrow rocky lanes and sliding around going up the other sides - and aware that Giant just announced a very big sale discount on the already discounted Stance e+2 29er leftovers, I got on the phone to my LBS as soon as I got home (as they are one of the few shops that actually have one in stock), and I will be picking that new partner to my Creo up tomorrow morning! Every time Dave (Matthews) posts a pic of his I pause and stare at it for awhile.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Well, it ain’t Japan, but southern Vermont is always a great spot for a ride out under the trees, across the meadows, through the towns and UP and DOWN those hills! Foliage is just past peak where we were today, but it all looked great and the roads are just fantastic. Not so much gravel as good hard dirt, but there are some pretty serious gravel bits as well out there.

Out with two of the usual suspects, one on his trusty Scott mountain bike, the other on a new ebike, a cruiser way more than a gravel or Mtn bike, but a sit upright and steady setup anyway, with decently large tires. Better suited for this stuff than my Creo, that’s for sure.

View attachment 184328

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View attachment 184331

Our house is about thirty miles southwest of Poultney, on the New York side, and we are NOT past peak. This is from our deck out back of our neighbor’s beautiful Maple:

View attachment 184333

And one final side note: after squeaking down a few large, steep and narrow rocky lanes and sliding around going up the other sides - and aware that Giant just announced a very big sale discount on the already discounted Stance e+2 29er leftovers, I got on the phone to my LBS as soon as I got home (as they are one of the few shops that actually have one in stock), and I will be picking that new partner to my Creo up tomorrow morning! Every time Dave (Matthews) posts a pic of his I pause and stare at it for awhile.

Great pics!
And... congrats on the new ride! What year/model is it? I've heard/read they've made changes/improvements on the Stance.
I see it's the e+2 29 like mine, but wonder if there were changes...

 

[BlackHand]

Nothing like a new bike to put a smile on your face.

I have kind of a weakness for misfit bikes. I adopted this Bulls Desert Falcon EVO from the shop where it had been collecting dust for a couple years.

Wow, it's a smooth ride! Still working out the fit and a few bits I want to change out but seems like a keeper after 160 miles.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Nothing like a new bike to put a smile on your face.

I have kind of a weakness for misfit bikes. I adopted this Bulls Desert Falcon EVO from the shop where it had been collecting dust for a couple years.

View attachment 184341
Wow, it's a smooth ride! Still working out the fit and a few bits I want to change out but seems like a keeper after 160 miles.

Lovely lookin' ride!

 

[Chargeride]

Gorgeous

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Nothing like a new bike to put a smile on your face.

I have kind of a weakness for misfit bikes. I adopted this Bulls Desert Falcon EVO from the shop where it had been collecting dust for a couple years.

View attachment 184341
Wow, it's a smooth ride! Still working out the fit and a few bits I want to change out but seems like a keeper after 160 miles.

Well done! Great-looking bike with impressive specs to match. A steal for the $4k sale price.

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from today's 19km ride:

 

[Saratoga Dave]

So here's the new member of the troupe out for its first ride today in Washington County, NY (borders Vermont and extremely beautiful for cycling). For the record it's a 2022 Giant Stance e+2 29er that has been in my local shop all along, and the only wonder is that I didn't buy it earlier. But once Giant dropped the price all the way to $2460 from its original $4400 it just becomes a no brainer. Plus, it's orange!

Haven't owned or ridden any mountain bike since my Cannondale was stolen back in the late 90s. Coming from two and a half years on a Creo, this thing was a real surprise! Very quiet motor, super nice brakes (very easy to modulate, great feel on the levers), power beyond what I ever expected. I also recently had a Giant Toughroad e+ for several years which I liked very much, but this has far more climbing power than even that did. I would encourage anyone thinking about an eMTB without spending a fortune to take a hard look at these on the Giant website. At some point I'll give it its own official review after I pile a few hundred miles on it.

So, back to the hills of eastern NY, about ten miles from yesterday's ride in Vermont. Over here we are just about at peak color in the trees and it was a lovely day. I sought out a largely dirt/gravel ride with the most ferocious hills I could find, so I could really get a feel for the new bike and hopefully start to get used to it.

You can never get a sense of how steep anything else is from a camera. While this appears to be a pleasant walk in the woods, it in fact is a 13.4% grade that the Stance just ate up. My first real clue that this is a different sort of bike.

View from the top of the ridge

It always looks great around here this time of year!

Quick stop at the regionally famous Ice Cream Man shop at the end - I had tactically parked in their lot - and I call it a very successful day. Going out Sunday to do some very tentative single track stuff with some vastly more technically advanced younger friends - I'll just be the old guy on the orange Cheater bike that everyone can point at, and I'll be having just as much fun as anyone as long as I can stay on top of the damn thing!

 

[BlackHand]

Well done! Great-looking bike with impressive specs to match. A steal for the $4k sale price.

Thank you ! $4k is the 2022-23 model sale price. I got this 2021 model(same specs different color decals) for $3k and no tax. I just couldn't justify the $6-7k that the bikes I'd been daydreaming about would cost. Not the most practical bike, but it's a pleasure to ride and completely silent with no assist.

To stay on topic, here's a shot from a sunset quick test cruise after adjusting the handlebars yet again.

 

[DaveMatthews]

So here's the new member of the troupe out for its first ride today in Washington County, NY (borders Vermont and extremely beautiful for cycling). For the record it's a 2022 Giant Stance e+2 29er that has been in my local shop all along, and the only wonder is that I didn't buy it earlier. But once Giant dropped the price all the way to $2460 from its original $4400 it just becomes a no brainer. Plus, it's orange!

View attachment 184367
Haven't owned or ridden any mountain bike since my Cannondale was stolen back in the late 90s. Coming from two and a half years on a Creo, this thing was a real surprise! Very quiet motor, super nice brakes (very easy to modulate, great feel on the levers), power beyond what I ever expected. I also recently had a Giant Toughroad e+ for several years which I liked very much, but this has far more climbing power than even that did. I would encourage anyone thinking about an eMTB without spending a fortune to take a hard look at these on the Giant website. At some point I'll give it its own official review after I pile a few hundred miles on it.

So, back to the hills of eastern NY, about ten miles from yesterday's ride in Vermont. Over here we are just about at peak color in the trees and it was a lovely day. I sought out a largely dirt/gravel ride with the most ferocious hills I could find, so I could really get a feel for the new bike and hopefully start to get used to it.

View attachment 184370

You can never get a sense of how steep anything else is from a camera. While this appears to be a pleasant walk in the woods, it in fact is a 13.4% grade that the Stance just ate up. My first real clue that this is a different sort of bike.

View attachment 184371

View from the top of the ridge

View attachment 184372

It always looks great around here this time of year!

View attachment 184373

Quick stop at the regionally famous Ice Cream Man shop at the end - I had tactically parked in their lot - and I call it a very successful day. Going out Sunday to do some very tentative single track stuff with some vastly more technically advanced younger friends - I'll just be the old guy on the orange Cheater bike that everyone can point at, and I'll be having just as much fun as anyone as long as I can stay on top of the damn thing!

That's a beauty, nicely done sir!
Completely agree with the climbing ability. And yeah... really nice and quiet too.
Here's hoping you end up loving it as much as I do mine!

 

[DaveMatthews]

@Saratoga Dave Looks like the specs are same as mine, except for the shock. Does your Suntour shock have a lockout? My Rockshox Monarch R does not.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

It does, which I did not expect. It will be interesting to see how these two bikes settle in with each other, so to speak. On the one hand, how much pavement riding over miles am I going to do on it with the Creo sitting there, but on the other, why not?

This one also has that automatic thing for picking what level of assist to be in. I’m definitely passing on that… it’s gonna be done like a stick shift. I figured out right away that it wants to give me more assistance than I want, which again is my Creo experience coming through.

 

[DaveMatthews]

It does, which I did not expect. It will be interesting to see how these two bikes settle in with each other, so to speak. On the one hand, how much pavement riding over miles am I going to do on it with the Creo sitting there, but on the other, why not?

This one also has that automatic thing for picking what level of assist to be in. I’m definitely passing on that… it’s gonna be done like a stick shift. I figured out right away that it wants to give me more assistance than I want, which again is my Creo experience coming through.

Interesting... As you know I'm using the Stance for everything.
As a road bike, the gearing is not perfect, and stock tires (Maxxis Rekon) are not exactly smooth.
That said, it is such a cross platform/SUV type unit that after wearing out the original tires and moving to something a little more pavement friendly, and a couple of other adjustments I am a satisfied rider.
Of course, your Creo is hands down WAY better on the road, no question. Would love to try one.