2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[RabH]

Our weather has been crazy since the weekend and the forecast today wasn't looking very promising either with gusty winds and heavy rain showers in the morning! I had lunch and had a look at the sky and decided to go for it, thinking I was going to get wet but I just wanted to get out and get my 3000 miles done...

The winds were WSW and gusting around 35mph, thankfully that helped dry all the roads! I decided to take advantage of the strong tailwind and enjoyed it for almost 28 miles with my average speed over 18mph at that point! I thought I would get over 50mph on the big descent down into Glenn Village but only managed 44.5... I grabbed a few photos before hurtling down it!

I then headed for Polmont and took the main road towards Linlithgow, turning off at Whitecross to enjoy the rollercoaster road! I had a nice view of the Ochill Hills from Whitecross!

I then joined my usual road to Linlithgow and stopped for a couple of photos of the viaduct!

I battled my way through busy Linlithgow and was glad to make it through unscathed! I then continued east to Threemiltown which was my turning point and time to take on the crazy headwind, lots of photos along the way...

The Forth bridges were really clear today!

After a mile or so with a strong crosswind I turned west towards Beecraigs Country Park and immediately felt the full force of the headwind! I was glad to stop for photos as often as possible!

The Pentland Hills were looking amazing also!

I turned south before the descent to Beecraigs to take the back road that joins the rollercoaster Burnhouse road!

Now on Burnhouse road!

Looking back at the Ochils!

More views of the Pentlands before the big descent!

Near the bottom of the descent now, approaching Dechmont!

Still no sign of any rain, could I make it home dry? From Dechmnont I joined the cycle path to Whitburn, the path runs through a housing estate for a mile or so and I couldn't have picked a worse time...the local primary school had just finished for the day and the path was strewn with schoolkids! Many walking and many cycling and on little scooters travelling at no more than 2mph... I was glad of a break from the wind though and eventually got past all the kids and joined the main path to Whitburn! I then took the cycle path up into Armadale and took the awesome back road to Blackridge where I turned for home with 10 miles to go and directly into the 30-35mph headwind all the way! I was mainly using level 2 assist to battle the wind, eco mode wasn't an option...

I arrived home completely dry with a clean bike, what a result! Despite the wind I had another great ride and I have now covered 3001 miles for the year with almost 7 months remaining! My mileage for the month is 666...oh dear! I hope to get it over 700 if the weather plays ball before the weekend....

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from this morning's 30km ride. The pics with no bike in them were taken in my yard.

 

[Chargeride]

I rode down the beach today in glorious sunshine, there has been rain and wind so most of the sand has been grooved and sculptured making going quite hard off the beach.
Used my pensioners train pass for the first time, superb.

 

[Chazmo]

I rode down the beach today in glorious sunshine, there has been rain and wind so most of the sand has been grooved and sculptured making going quite hard off the beach.
Used my pensioners train pass for the first time, superb.
View attachment 194379

That HaiBike is totally rad, Charge… Do you drop pressure to ride on the sand? I haven’t tried that yet with my Juiced monster.

 

[Chargeride]

My friends just sent me this from their ride today in Wales, I added the sound.

I forgot to mention thats the guy selling me the Vevo and Im pretty sure thats the bike.
One careful owner

 

[Chargeride]

That HaiBike is totally rad, Charge… Do you drop pressure to ride on the sand? I haven’t tried that yet with my Juiced monster.

only the rear tyre

 

[Chazmo]

only the rear tyre

Are you riding tubeless?

 

[Chargeride]

yes, lowering the pressure makes a huge difference

 

[Stefan Mikes]

the Vevo

?

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Thacher State Park near Albany this morning. Tons of trails through the woods, though the ground needs to harden up a bit yet after a very wet April.

Dammit, bumped into the photo size limitation and I just can’t be bothered to learn to do one more damn thing in the tech realm. Use your imagination, it was very lovely.

Never mind, took one for the team and figured it out. Apple Shortcuts for anyone facing the same dilemma, Change Image Quality and Share shortcut (iOS).

 

[stompandgo]

Today I rode out to Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. If you've been following my rides, you know that I'm working my way to be able to ride out to Provincetown and back in a day, stopping for lunch. I'm feeling better and stronger after each ride.

56 miles, 2:53 ride time, dual battery, battery start - 100%, battery finish - 47%. I rode 8 miles in Mode 1 and the rest in Mode 2.

This is a typical dune-side cottage in Wellfleet. This one is a ways back from the cliff, so it should last a while. The boxy structure on the right of the building is not an outhouse, it's an outdoor shower. They are totally illegal, and they are EVERYWHERE out here. My house did not come with one, so I built one myself last year. They are incredibly refreshing from May until November.

These roadside flowers are Rosa Ragusa, otherwise knows as Beach Rose, or Beach Plum, because in the middle of the season, they sprout an inedible plum-like fruit. I have them outside my fence on the tree line. They are not indigenous to Cape Cod, but they were brought here to fortify the dunes, and are now ornamental.

This is The Beachcomber, a Cape Cod institution. It is also the parking lot for Cahoon Hollow Beach. Spots are severely limited, so people start lining up at 7am for the parking lot opening at 9am. You pay $30 to park, and get it refunded if you spend $30+ on food. Up until lunchtime, it's a nice seaside bar/restaurant where you can bring the kids. The day drinking starts around noon, and the party lasts until 1-2am. The crowd is quite interesting, from all over the world, and all walks of life.

If it looks like a dive, it is.

The dunes at the parking lot are about 35m high. I used to come to this joint when I was in college. I'd get drunk with my buds, and then we would launch ourselves over the cliff, bouncing down it like an astronaut on the moon. That took about 20 seconds. Climbing back up took about 20 minutes. After that, it was time for another beer.

I wish someone could help me with the picture rotation issue.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Thacher State Park near Albany this morning. Tons of trails through the woods, though the ground needs to harden up a bit yet after a very wet April.

Dammit, bumped into the photo size limitation and I just can’t be bothered to learn to do one more damn thing in the tech realm. Use your imagination, it was very lovely.

I sympathize. The number of things I know nothing about continues to grow at an alarming rate.

But this one's pretty easy should the motivation arise. The unannounced file size limit is now 2.0 MB. Use your phone's file viewer or photo editor to check file size. Then reduce resolution (aka "resize") or crop or both as needed to get under 2.0 MB. Pretty quick with practice.

 

[stompandgo]

I do all that. Then the forum software chooses portrait or landscape with no input from me. I try and rotate the original, and it changes it back. Baffling.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode 13 miles today. This is a typical view in my area, in this case a soybean field just getting started.

 

[Chargeride]

?

Venezulian copy

 

[Chargeride]

I rode 13 miles today. This is a typical view in my area, in this case a soybean field just getting started.
View attachment 194396

That image needs some twangy guitar music

 

[Chazmo]

I do all that. Then the forum software chooses portrait or landscape with no input from me. I try and rotate the original, and it changes it back. Baffling.

Hmm…. Love to help, Chris, but I haven’t had that problem! That’s really weird. I've participate in another (guitar) forum that uses the same software (XenForo) as this one and I’ve never seen that happen. I downloaded one of your pictures from the site and rotated it and just uploaded it here… Let’s see what we get:

Hmm… That didn’t get re-oriented. I don’t know how to contact the admins here, but I’d try. That’s really wacky.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

the Vevo

"Vevo Levo, poteyto potahto" I wanted to use a controversial Polish counterpart but that would only understandable to a Pole living in the Old Country like myself
If this is the Levo then I would be glad, and you too!

 

[Chargeride]

I say potato, you say pzotsko

 

[Chazmo]

I say potato, you say pzotsko

Actually, if you lived in central Massachusetts you’d say “buhdaydah”. I’m not kidding.