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

[RabH]

After a recent visit, you forget as lovely as pictures are, being there is a whole different ballgame, riding that landscape every week is the luck of the gods

I'm very blessed to have these wonderful landscapes virtually on my doorstep and yes, the pictures don't do it full justice! You can see why Peebles is one of my regular destinations and its only 45 miles from my front door, it really is a great place to visit even without a bike and as you say, a short hop away you have spectacular countryside with very little traffic!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I'm very blessed to have these wonderful landscapes virtually on my doorstep and yes, the pictures don't do it full justice! You can see why Peebles is one of my regular destinations and its only 45 miles from my front door, it really is a great place to visit even without a bike and as you say, a short hop away you have spectacular countryside with very little traffic!

A lot of recent research shows that finding awe or wonder in the world around you is good for both mental and physical health. For one thing, the feeling shuts down self-preoccupation and all the stress and misguided self-importance that come with it.

Cycling through big, beautiful landscapes like yours and mine can sustain the effect. But you don't need inspiring landscapes to benefit. Wonder's all around if you're curious enough.

 

[JGcycle]

A few pics from today's 32km ride:

 

[JGcycle]

A couple of pics from this morning's 20km ride:

 

[stompandgo]

That looks like Rosa Ragusa. Great shot.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Here’s one I haven’t seen before!

I started looking around for a bear, an abominable snowman, a duck… but no, just a quiet neighborhood I happened to be riding through.

But points to me for surviving an apparently deadly and ominous morning ride!

 

[DaveMatthews]

Here’s one I haven’t seen before!

View attachment 195956

I started looking around for a bear, an abominable snowman, a duck… but no, just a quiet neighborhood I happened to be riding through.
View attachment 195957

But points to me for surviving an apparently deadly and ominous morning ride!

Was somebody playing drums?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Here’s one I haven’t seen before!

View attachment 195956

I started looking around for a bear, an abominable snowman, a duck… but no, just a quiet neighborhood I happened to be riding through.
View attachment 195957

But points to me for surviving an apparently deadly and ominous morning ride!

Maybe Garmin just figured out what an animal you are in the saddle.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Varmia GRVL 2025 | The Best Gravel In Poland. Poor network coverage!

Time trial girls!

The best rider completed 35 km in 57 minutes!

We are starting tomorrow morning.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode about 16 miles today, the picture is an intersection where I stopped to take a break. I generally start at my house for my rides and its rural farm country. A lot of corn and soybeans grown around here with occasional winter wheat and quite a bit of hay.

 

[BlackHand]

From a stop at the Locks earlier this week.

And a heron, from another stop at the Locks - watched him fish for about 20 minutes.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

And a heron, from another stop at the Locks - watched him fish for about 20 minutminutes.

We often get great blues fishing among the lily pads in our neighborhood ponds. Great and snowy egrets, too — occasionally all at once! Magnificent birds — especially the great blue herons.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

A lot of recent research shows that finding awe or wonder in the world around you is good for both mental and physical health. For one thing, the feeling shuts down self-preoccupation and all the stress and misguided self-importance that come with it.

Cycling through big, beautiful landscapes like yours and mine can sustain the effect. But you don't need inspiring landscapes to benefit. Wonder's all around if you're curious enough.

From today's therapy session — a quick Coast Highway ride from North Ponto to South Ponto Beach.

Looking south and down toward North Ponto, Coast Highway on the left. You can see here a little-known fact: Japan's actually uphill from California.
;^}

North Ponto's sparsely visited most of the year. But with July fast approaching, and the tourists arriving in earnest now, business was up. (Got the horizon level this time.)

Plan A was a serene Zone 2ish ride from here to South Ponto in OFF. But serene went out the window when a group of roadies in bright racing lycra turned onto the highway a quarter mile behind me. Could I stay ahead of them the whole 2 mi to South Ponto without assist?

Normally, the answer would be NO. The more serious-looking roadies almost always drop me eventually — even in ECO. But I somehow got to South Ponto first, probably deep into Zone 4 by then. All I can figure is that their Plan A had been Zone 1.

 

[Chargeride]

Been checking the Facebook page, looks like a well supported event..
Like the hats.

 

[stompandgo]

Yesterday, I didn't have a lot of time to ride, so I decided to repeat the first ride I posted here, to Skaket Beach in Orleans and back. I thought that this time I'd try to do it all in Mode 1 (Eco) as the wind was under 10mph. At the start, I felt like crap, super tight, cement legs. I was also trying a new saddle and seatpost, so I had to stop for adjustments. Once I hit the 8 mile point, though, I felt pretty good, and decided to do some hammering wherever I could. I ended up with 175w AP over 2 hours, which was a first for me on this bike.

So I get to the beach parking lot, and the staffers would not let me ride my bike through the lot to the beach. Town ordinance. However, my RWGPS path took me down a side street and to a trail. Hmmm. Let's check it out.

I was able to ride it and stay upright until the point right before the last picture. I have no offroad skills. Having wheels slip out from under me makes my heart skip a beat. But I made it, the first off-pavement excursion on the Tesoro, and now I want to do more.

 

[Chazmo]

Yesterday, I didn't have a lot of time to ride, so I decided to repeat the first ride I posted here, to Skaket Beach in Orleans and back. I thought that this time I'd try to do it all in Mode 1 (Eco) as the wind was under 10mph. At the start, I felt like crap, super tight, cement legs. I was also trying a new saddle and seatpost, so I had to stop for adjustments. Once I hit the 8 mile point, though, I felt pretty good, and decided to do some hammering wherever I could. I ended up with 175w AP over 2 hours, which was a first for me on this bike.

So I get to the beach parking lot, and the staffers would not let me ride my bike through the lot to the beach. Town ordinance. However, my RWGPS path took me down a side street and to a trail. Hmmm. Let's check it out.

View attachment 195989
View attachment 195990
View attachment 195991

I was able to ride it and stay upright until the point right before the last picture. I have no offroad skills. Having wheels slip out from under me makes my heart skip a beat. But I made it, the first off-pavement excursion on the Tesoro, and now I want to do more.

Maximum awesomeness, Chris!!!! Gosh, it’s beautiful at the cape, and it’s really great to see you taking advantage of that. It’s weird that some people live down there and never go to the beach. I guess in some ways I get it… I grew up in NYC, but I never went to the Statue of Liberty!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Varmia Gravel eSprint 2025 Winners

Bartosz Ptaszynski riding a TREK e-Caliber was the first on the eSprint finish line. He mostly rode above the 25 km/h speed restrictor, so he was mostly riding on his leg power. He used 50% of the 250 Wh battery charge.

I found a riding mate Paweł who was body able, needed a navigator, and was an MTBer. I won the silver, riding a Vado SL. It was the first race ever where I was actually racing instead of carrying my sorry ass on an e-bike I was 21/36 in Sprint overall.

What a beautiful racing day!

 

[Chargeride]

Well done Stefan, thats quite an amazing effort by Bartosz.
Now dont take this the wrong way, but for a sprint race could you possibly remove the pannier,
race asthetics and all .
Or were you expecting a trophy

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Well done Stefan, thats quite an amazing effort by Bartosz.
Now dont take this the wrong way, but for a sprint race could you possibly remove the pannier,
race asthetics and all .
Or were you expecting a trophy

Range Extenders

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Yesterday, I didn't have a lot of time to ride, so I decided to repeat the first ride I posted here, to Skaket Beach in Orleans and back. I thought that this time I'd try to do it all in Mode 1 (Eco) as the wind was under 10mph. At the start, I felt like crap, super tight, cement legs. I was also trying a new saddle and seatpost, so I had to stop for adjustments. Once I hit the 8 mile point, though, I felt pretty good, and decided to do some hammering wherever I could. I ended up with 175w AP over 2 hours, which was a first for me on this bike.

So I get to the beach parking lot, and the staffers would not let me ride my bike through the lot to the beach. Town ordinance. However, my RWGPS path took me down a side street and to a trail. Hmmm. Let's check it out.

View attachment 195989
View attachment 195990
View attachment 195991

I was able to ride it and stay upright until the point right before the last picture. I have no offroad skills. Having wheels slip out from under me makes my heart skip a beat. But I made it, the first off-pavement excursion on the Tesoro, and now I want to do more.

Love, love, love that last photo. If I'd written the song "My Favorite Things", biking to the beach would've gotten top billing.

Riding variably thick layers of loose sand on hard pack is always an adventure. Never know when you'll hit that hidden deep pocket that grabs or wrenches your front wheel beyond the point of recovery.

Happens on my 38 mm (1.5") and 2.3" hybrid tires, just a thicker critical sand depth with the latter. Keeping the front wheel pointed dead ahead no matter what helps. Have yet to fall, but more than a few ungraceful sudden stops.

No feeling quite like riding a deserted beach just above the swash line on damp low-tide sand with the sound of the surf and the smell of salt in the air.

Works quite well, even on these 38 mm hydrids. Fewer hidden soft spots, but you still have to be ready to react.

Most of our North County beaches have at least patches of loose cobble. Unless mixed with just the right amount of sand, totally unrideable on 38 mm and 2.3" tires.