Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Is that Kennedy? awesome picture.
2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
Mulezen
Well-Known Member
Yes…a friend I was with recently discovered the picture and sent it to me. Late 80s
Mulezen
Well-Known Member
Windmill Country
Chazmo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Central Massachusetts
Personally, I think that’s a pretty darn good excuse!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
A cycling friend had inspired me to find good excuses for long trips, like, "260 km just to have a lunch with my parents" (one of his Strava ride titles).
When I was setting off for my first ever Imperial Century ride, I had the title in my mind before the ride had even started!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Friends & Visits
If anyone wants to meet @Brix and me in England, we can be found in Dreamland in Margate on 23rd August 2025. We are coming to see and listen to:
*) Unfortunately, the original frontman John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten went mental and he supports MAGA with Donald J Trump
**) The only surviving band member
***) He would be the only surviving band member if not the fact the original lead singer Hugh Cornwell left the band a long time ago and had a concert in Wroclaw Poland on April 25th this year
If anyone wants to meet @Brix and me in England, we can be found in Dreamland in Margate on 23rd August 2025. We are coming to see and listen to:
- Sex Pistols (with Frank Carter*)
- Buzzcocks (with Steve Diggle**)
- The Stranglers (with Jean-Jacques Burnel***)
*) Unfortunately, the original frontman John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten went mental and he supports MAGA with Donald J Trump
**) The only surviving band member
***) He would be the only surviving band member if not the fact the original lead singer Hugh Cornwell left the band a long time ago and had a concert in Wroclaw Poland on April 25th this year
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
78 km Into a May 1st Ride
May 1st is the Labour Day in many European countries.
In Kampinos. This village gave its name to the huge National Park nearby. Around 30 km to home.
May 1st is the Labour Day in many European countries.
In Kampinos. This village gave its name to the huge National Park nearby. Around 30 km to home.
Chazmo
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Central Massachusetts
Another outstanding day for a ride here in central MA. Pretty picturesque moment at Maple Spring pond today in this panorama shot. Have a great day everyone!
Ended up being a pretty good day on the bike for me… About 6 hours elapsed, 2.5 in the saddle.
Ended up being a pretty good day on the bike for me… About 6 hours elapsed, 2.5 in the saddle.
Last edited:
RabH
Well-Known Member
On Monday I went out on a warm up ride for today, I ended up doing almost 67 miles and 4600ft of climbing when I was supposed to be doing an easy 50 miler...
The result was I had tired legs today but I had a lovely tailwind for the first 55 miles which helped immensely! I decided to head up the east coast as far as my first battery would take me and I would have my other 2 batteries to battle the wind and the hills on the way back, it actually worked out perfectly despite my second battery only lasting for 32 miles!I made my way out to the Forth bridges where I had a strong crosswind over the crossing, thankfully the wind was at the right side to keep me safe!
A few photos of the bridges!
After crossing I hugged the east coast as much as possible, the first big climb came at Aberdour!
I then passed through Burntisland and stopped at Pettycur Bay for some photos, for once I timed it right to catch the train!
Not many brave souls on the beach on a very blustery day!
I then passed through Kinghorn and was heading for Kirkcaldy, the road was pretty busy here but I caught a break in the traffic for this photo!
I then arrived in Kirkcaldy and headed to the Esplanade, where I stopped for this photo!
I had covered 44 miles at this point and my first battery was depleting and I had some big climbs coming, I continued up the coast and at the 55 mile mark I arrived in Leven and stopped for lunch with a nice sea view!
It was time to switch batteries soon after this and start fighting the 25-30mph headwind as I turned west for Glenrothes, I had to use the main road for a few miles here but at least I had a good shoulder to keep me safe and I spotted this view! I had to brave some stingy nettles to get the photo, I think it was worth it!
I made my way through Glenrothes and continued west towards Leslie, lots of climbing into the headwind had me turning the assist up to level 2 ands sometimes level 3 on the steeper parts! I then had this big descent and struggled to hit 20mph into the wind!
I then passed over the River Leven and had a beast of a climb ahead straight into the wind so I stopped for some snacks and grabbed a couple of photos!
The start of the climb!
Part way up looking back down!
After cresting the climb I had a cracking descent down to Loch Leven, once again it was directly into the strong headwind so it was slow going!
Loch Leven then came into view!
I was now heading towards Cleish and finally had some tree cover to protect me from the wind until this exposed part which had me reaching for level 2 assist again!
I had the Ochil Hills to my right!
Soon I had this lovely descent with some tree cover!
At the end of the road I turned left towards Knockhill Racing Circuit but I was turning off part way up to take the awesome back road down into Saline, mostly downhill and lots of lovely smooth tarmac to enjoy!
At Saline I turned west for Forestmill, using the quiet back road which was also mostly downhill and well protected from the wind! As I neared Forestmill I spotted a back road I had never noticed before despite using this road hundreds of times!
It actually looked like a farm road but there were signs saying it was walking and cycling friendly so I decided to do some exploring! It turned out to be a real gem and it saved me using the main road at Forestmill which would have been busy! It had a big twisty downhill which was amazing but I knew there would soon be a climb and I wasn't wrong! It finished my second battery off at the 88 mile mark!Another photo of the Ochill Hills as I joined the main road towards Kincardine!
I knew I had around 30 miles to go now and it would be mostly into the headwind and lots of big climbs but I was confident my final battery would get me home with some juice to spare! I was now heading for Kincardine where I would cross the bridge over the River Forth and turn south towards Grangemouth, I used the cycle path here for a few miles before turning west towards Carronshore where the big climbs were about to begin as I arrived in Falkirk! My battery was doing well though and I was able to crank the assist up to level 3 up the steep parts! I was getting pretty tired now of course but I was nearing home now, I tackled the big climb to Slamannan before taking the back road to Longriggend where I stopped for a final photo of the Spring lambs enjoying a feed!
I then used my usual back roads to home and as I climbed the last hill my battery was at 26%, I judged it perfectly!
I was so tired now and ready for my dinner, I fell asleep for almost 2 hours after it...
I certainly won't have any problems falling asleep tonight! What a day though despite the winds, not a single drop of rain and a perfect 16C made for a very enjoyable ride! I did have a couple of issues, I used the cycle path near home and there were a few dog walkers around and I went to ding my bell and it fell apart... It is 7 years old as it came with my bike so I can't complain! The other issue was much more annoying, my Topeak MTX saddle bag zip failed so its time to replace it! I ordered a new one and also ordered a new rack as the old one has seen better days...Attachments
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
So it is the canola time in Scotland, too?
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Very nice bay with train shot! The many sheep you photograph on your rides seem to take great interest in you. Are they natually curious about passing cyclists?View attachment 192857
On Monday I went out on a warm up ride for today, I ended up doing almost 67 miles and 4600ft of climbing when I was supposed to be doing an easy 50 miler...
I made my way out to the Forth bridges where I had a strong crosswind over the crossing, thankfully the wind was at the right side to keep me safe!
A few photos of the bridges!
View attachment 192858
View attachment 192859
View attachment 192860
After crossing I hugged the east coast as much as possible, the first big climb came at Aberdour!
View attachment 192862
I then passed through Burntisland and stopped at Pettycur Bay for some photos, for once I timed it right to catch the train!
View attachment 192864
Not many brave souls on the beach on a very blustery day!
View attachment 192865
I then passed through Kinghorn and was heading for Kirkcaldy, the road was pretty busy here but I caught a break in the traffic for this photo!
View attachment 192866
I then arrived in Kirkcaldy and headed to the Esplanade, where I stopped for this photo!
View attachment 192867
I had covered 44 miles at this point and my first battery was depleting and I had some big climbs coming, I continued up the coast and at the 55 mile mark I arrived in Leven and stopped for lunch with a nice sea view!
View attachment 192868
View attachment 192869
It was time to switch batteries soon after this and start fighting the 25-30mph headwind as I turned west for Glenrothes, I had to use the main road for a few miles here but at least I had a good shoulder to keep me safe and I spotted this view! I had to brave some stingy nettles to get the photo, I think it was worth it!
View attachment 192870
I made my way through Glenrothes and continued west towards Leslie, lots of climbing into the headwind had me turning the assist up to level 2 ands sometimes level 3 on the steeper parts! I then had this big descent and struggled to hit 20mph into the wind!
View attachment 192871
I then passed over the River Leven and had a beast of a climb ahead straight into the wind so I stopped for some snacks and grabbed a couple of photos!
View attachment 192872
The start of the climb!
View attachment 192873
Part way up looking back down!
View attachment 192874
View attachment 192875
After cresting the climb I had a cracking descent down to Loch Leven, once again it was directly into the strong headwind so it was slow going!
Loch Leven then came into view!
View attachment 192876
View attachment 192877
View attachment 192878
I was now heading towards Cleish and finally had some tree cover to protect me from the wind until this exposed part which had me reaching for level 2 assist again!
View attachment 192879
I had the Ochil Hills to my right!
View attachment 192880
Soon I had this lovely descent with some tree cover!
View attachment 192881
At the end of the road I turned left towards Knockhill Racing Circuit but I was turning off part way up to take the awesome back road down into Saline, mostly downhill and lots of lovely smooth tarmac to enjoy!
View attachment 192883
View attachment 192884
View attachment 192885
At Saline I turned west for Forestmill, using the quiet back road which was also mostly downhill and well protected from the wind! As I neared Forestmill I spotted a back road I had never noticed before despite using this road hundreds of times!
Another photo of the Ochill Hills as I joined the main road towards Kincardine!
View attachment 192890
I knew I had around 30 miles to go now and it would be mostly into the headwind and lots of big climbs but I was confident my final battery would get me home with some juice to spare! I was now heading for Kincardine where I would cross the bridge over the River Forth and turn south towards Grangemouth, I used the cycle path here for a few miles before turning west towards Carronshore where the big climbs were about to begin as I arrived in Falkirk! My battery was doing well though and I was able to crank the assist up to level 3 up the steep parts! I was getting pretty tired now of course but I was nearing home now, I tackled the big climb to Slamannan before taking the back road to Longriggend where I stopped for a final photo of the Spring lambs enjoying a feed!
View attachment 192891
I then used my usual back roads to home and as I climbed the last hill my battery was at 26%, I judged it perfectly!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
May 1st KPN Ride
We Poles love our holidays. May 1st being The Labour Day, May 3rd being the Constitution 1791, May 4th being Sunday; who would go to work on Friday 2nd? So, we have yet another Long Weekend (but I do work on Friday!) The weather? Could not be better! Up to 20 C, full sunshine, easy wind. I felt perfectly cooled during the ride but any stop felt hot. Of course, the UV exposure was high even if a rider could not feel it while pedalling! (I took a train to spare me unnecessary and boring kilometres!)
Horses feeding upon River Utrata. Obviously, the place name is Pasikonie (Feedinghorses)
Many roads in Poland are lined by trees, despite the efforts of motorists who would most gladly cut these trees down.
I intentionally took a detour for more kilometres. When I saw that willow, I had to stop for a photo! (Can you see the sand? More on that soon!)
I arrived in the Museum of Kampinos Wilderness in Granica. It is a widespread open-air museum of old forest settler culture.
The Kampinos National Park (established 1959) is the second largest national park of Poland, and the only in Mazovia. It is a huge forest beginning at north-west outskirts of Warsaw. Whenever I say "Wilderness" I mean an old big forest that is "returned to Nature" by the forest service (more on that later).
So-called "Kampinos Cottage" or a very old settler's house that has been maintained by activists for the last twenty years. (See an activist washing the windows!) The cottage can be visited on weekends during the warm season; many cultural activities are organized there. I had a long interesting chat with the activists (these are pleasant senior women), and got an invite to visit the Cottage as soon as it is clean and ready!
Riding into terrain was a mistake. The prolonged drought made gravel roads turn into deep soft dust, and dirt roads turned into deep sand! I spent a lot of time maneuvering through the trails and fire-roads to avoid sand, and wherever the path was rideable, it was crossed by fallen trees! This relatively short part of the ride took too long for me! And I had to drop tyre pressure to 40 psi for a softer ride!
A historical chapel on the St. Teresa Hill (why was it called "a hill"? No idea!) I discovered the chapel was open to any visitor.
A canal called Łasica (Weasel).
I need to talk about the forester policy related to KPN. Settlers lived inside the Wilderness for centuries, and co-existed with the forest. When the Wilderness became a national park, the policy was to depopulate the area (for a compensation of course) and let Nature take the forest back. It is not that the forest service would just let the area become spontaneously wild, no. No trees cutting is allowed; if a tree falls, it is left alone. Wild animals have returned or were brought back, etc. However, the depopulation brought some consequences; for instance, the swamps are becoming dry. Now, the Forest Service works to re-swamp the area. Meadows must be mowed so birds and insects can live there, etc. etc. It is certainly a hard work, and I am certain the naturalists know what they are doing.
A narrow gauge railway stop in Wilcze Tułowskie. During the warm season, narrow gauge trains arrive here from Sochaczew for guided tours. I still have not been on such a tour! (Notice a gravel road turned into ash because of drought).
As I progressed with my ride, I realised I brought too little sports drinks with me! Would I become dehydrated? As you might remember from my Easter story, big holidays may keep shops closed. Would that be the case for May 1st?
Hosanna! Turned out small private stores were all open! Here: "At Marta's", a grocery shop in Secymin Polski, a place with a cult following among road cyclists. I could replenish my drinks and also buy a pączek. It was scorching hot when I remained stationary in the sunshine (the thermometer showed 40 C in the sun while the air temperature was just 19 C!)
This time, I skipped visiting the Hauländer Land along the Vistula.
This picture gives no justice to how beautiful Wilków Road is. It is undulated, winding, picturesque, and smooth. The speed bumps are made the way a car has to slow down but even a very fast cyclist hasn't! This road is becoming a popular road cycling area (it took several years until roadies could discover that beauty!)
Japanese Cherry in the village of Kampinos (the village gave its name to the nearby Wilderness and National Park).
I could see a pretty big number of people riding good e-bikes on the day!
We Poles love our holidays. May 1st being The Labour Day, May 3rd being the Constitution 1791, May 4th being Sunday; who would go to work on Friday 2nd? So, we have yet another Long Weekend (but I do work on Friday!) The weather? Could not be better! Up to 20 C, full sunshine, easy wind. I felt perfectly cooled during the ride but any stop felt hot. Of course, the UV exposure was high even if a rider could not feel it while pedalling! (I took a train to spare me unnecessary and boring kilometres!)
Horses feeding upon River Utrata. Obviously, the place name is Pasikonie (Feedinghorses)
Many roads in Poland are lined by trees, despite the efforts of motorists who would most gladly cut these trees down.
I intentionally took a detour for more kilometres. When I saw that willow, I had to stop for a photo! (Can you see the sand? More on that soon!)
I arrived in the Museum of Kampinos Wilderness in Granica. It is a widespread open-air museum of old forest settler culture.
The Kampinos National Park (established 1959) is the second largest national park of Poland, and the only in Mazovia. It is a huge forest beginning at north-west outskirts of Warsaw. Whenever I say "Wilderness" I mean an old big forest that is "returned to Nature" by the forest service (more on that later).
So-called "Kampinos Cottage" or a very old settler's house that has been maintained by activists for the last twenty years. (See an activist washing the windows!) The cottage can be visited on weekends during the warm season; many cultural activities are organized there. I had a long interesting chat with the activists (these are pleasant senior women), and got an invite to visit the Cottage as soon as it is clean and ready!
Riding into terrain was a mistake. The prolonged drought made gravel roads turn into deep soft dust, and dirt roads turned into deep sand! I spent a lot of time maneuvering through the trails and fire-roads to avoid sand, and wherever the path was rideable, it was crossed by fallen trees! This relatively short part of the ride took too long for me! And I had to drop tyre pressure to 40 psi for a softer ride!
A historical chapel on the St. Teresa Hill (why was it called "a hill"? No idea!) I discovered the chapel was open to any visitor.
A canal called Łasica (Weasel).
I need to talk about the forester policy related to KPN. Settlers lived inside the Wilderness for centuries, and co-existed with the forest. When the Wilderness became a national park, the policy was to depopulate the area (for a compensation of course) and let Nature take the forest back. It is not that the forest service would just let the area become spontaneously wild, no. No trees cutting is allowed; if a tree falls, it is left alone. Wild animals have returned or were brought back, etc. However, the depopulation brought some consequences; for instance, the swamps are becoming dry. Now, the Forest Service works to re-swamp the area. Meadows must be mowed so birds and insects can live there, etc. etc. It is certainly a hard work, and I am certain the naturalists know what they are doing.
A narrow gauge railway stop in Wilcze Tułowskie. During the warm season, narrow gauge trains arrive here from Sochaczew for guided tours. I still have not been on such a tour! (Notice a gravel road turned into ash because of drought).
As I progressed with my ride, I realised I brought too little sports drinks with me! Would I become dehydrated? As you might remember from my Easter story, big holidays may keep shops closed. Would that be the case for May 1st?
Hosanna! Turned out small private stores were all open! Here: "At Marta's", a grocery shop in Secymin Polski, a place with a cult following among road cyclists. I could replenish my drinks and also buy a pączek. It was scorching hot when I remained stationary in the sunshine (the thermometer showed 40 C in the sun while the air temperature was just 19 C!)
This time, I skipped visiting the Hauländer Land along the Vistula.
This picture gives no justice to how beautiful Wilków Road is. It is undulated, winding, picturesque, and smooth. The speed bumps are made the way a car has to slow down but even a very fast cyclist hasn't! This road is becoming a popular road cycling area (it took several years until roadies could discover that beauty!)
Japanese Cherry in the village of Kampinos (the village gave its name to the nearby Wilderness and National Park).
I could see a pretty big number of people riding good e-bikes on the day!
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Base
Bike nerd
- Region
- Europe
- City
- in the exact center of the Netherlands
Nice riding day.
The problem with autogenous natural processes is that they will not deliver what if planned previously. So what most nature preservation entities do is work to a pre defined PNV which is coupled to a situation sketch based on a a certain point in time (in europe this is mostly 1850) (Potential Natural Vegetation). So If you would look at what we do in Nl, we strive to keep the heath fields open and try to conquer the natural power which push the grasses to overcome the heath. This is to the fact that heath was the dominant specious when there was cattle on these poor and dry soils in 1850. Same applies to these area's in Poland where they tend to work to a situation where they want to resemble 1850. So would we call this nature? It is more a form of very large scale gardening, and yes it does have really high nature values, for certain species. If you want nature to lead the way you would need to look at Białowieża
Also re-introducing species, thare are a lot of pro's and con's. A big topic.
Sorry, studied Forrest and Nature Preservation ;D
More people on bikes is always a plus
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Good to hear from an expert, thank you!
An interesting place to talk about is the Curonian Spit (now, an exclave of Lithuania, and half of it located in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad)
The area was invaded by the Russian Army in the end of 18th c. The Russian forces cut all the trees from the Spit to build rafts and attack (then) Koenigsberg. It left a bare sand dune. Since 1815, German naturalists worked to restore the vegetation on the peninsula. Not sure what the Russian have done in their exclave but the Lithuanian have continued the German effort. Now, a larger part of the Spit on the Lithuanian side is a magnificent forest. However, it has not happened near to Klaipeda yet. There is still sand with appropriate vegetation planted by the Lithuanians, and it will take years before the forest could be recreated there.
The Great Dune.
There Be Dragons. Russia as seen from the Great Dune.
New (Lithuanian planted) vegetation on the Curonian Spit near to Klaipeda.
A beautiful forest covers most the Lithuanian part of the Spit.
Curonian Bay.
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stompandgo
Member
- Region
- USA
The Wachusett Reservoir. Before we moved to the Cape, we lived a mile from the other big reservoir in MA, the Quabbin. The last time that I rode out your way was when I rode to Fitchburg and back to watch the race. 122 miles round trip. North Central Massachusetts has some nice rolling hills. The climb into Princeton rewards you with an epic view of the reservoir and the valley below.
Nice bike and bags, too. Love the color.
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