2026 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[RabH]

It was a nice day yesterday but I was still feeling the effects of Thursdays big ride so I decided to wait another day, it was a great decision thankfully! Today was also nice but pretty chilly for May with a 20mph NE wind blowing, when the sun was out it felt warmish but when it wasn't it was bitterly cold! A big climbing day was ideal to keep me warm though and with stunning views of the hills for most of the ride I was really enjoying my ride! I headed down the back roads to Allanton and turned east on the A71, then up the big climb to Climpy which warmed me up nicely before hurtling down the big descent into Forth at almost 45mph!

Then I turned north for Wilsontown where I took the awesome back road south to Braehead, lots of big twisty descents on this fantastic road before the climb up to Braehead!

I had this view of the Pentland Hills at the top of the climb!

Then came this very fast descent down to Carnwath!

From there I headed east to Newbigging, another awesome descent with some stunning views!

From there I turned NE towards Dunsyre, stopping for many photos of the beautiful scenery on the way!

I enjoyed another cracking descent from Dunsyre down to the awesome A72 road to Biggar, where I had many stunning views of the Coulter Hills to the south!

The A702 is in great condition all the way to Biggar, it was busy at times but the drivers were on their best behaviour! Yes no cars or trucks in this photo @DaveMatthews

From Biggar I joined the A72 and A73 towards Thankerton, where I passed over the River Clyde! You can see the signs of our recent dry spell...

I had another nice view of the Pentlands near Thankerton!

I was now heading north towards Carstairs and I was glad the sun was with me most of the way as I was now battling that chilly NE wind! The good views were still coming!

I also had this stunning view of Tinto Hill where you can clearly see the path from the base to the summit at 2336ft!

It was a busy day for the farmers!

That was my final photo as I got my head down and battled the wind to get home in time for dinner! From Carstairs I took my usual back roads all the way home so I won't bore you all with the details... That really was such a great ride and I now only need 61 miles to reach 3000 for the year!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Monday

The Chinese from Wheeltop -- instead of just replacing my broken electronic derailleur -- sent me an instruction video (all in Chinese). They suggested removing the "irremovable" battery, taking photos of the contacts, assembling the thing again, connecting to a charging cable, and attempting to pair the derailleur with the smartphone again. Of course I was missing a tool: a 1.5 mm hex key...

So I made a 25 km round trip to Leroy Merlin (lerwa muh-luhn), a French technical gigamarket to buy not a single tool but a toolbox instead... It at least had both 1.5 mm and 2 mm bits necessary for removing the battery.

As I expected, removing then reconnecting the battery didn't help at all. The device was as dead as it was before.

I sent the Chinese the requested pictures and asked them if they could understand the concept of the warranty replacement. Obviously, I didn't use such a complicated Western sentence but demanded the warranty replacement in the most simple English (the Chinese can't understand the subtleties of English!)

To console myself, I installed a 32T chainring on my Vado SL.

Now I can pedal at a constant cadence in gears 8 through 12!

 

[stompandgo]

Your chain length looks perfect for a 10-51 cassette.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Your chain length looks perfect for a 10-51 cassette.

That's because of your earlier help. Thank you!

 

[Chazmo]

I haven’t been riding much, busy with other stuff, cutting, splitting and stacking firewood, work around the house, going on vacation etc. We did rent e bikes on Marathon Key and rode the old 8 mile bridge to Pigeon Island. It was a little scary, the wife and I ride a lot but my sister in law and her husband not so much. I had 911 dialed on my phone and my finger on send but never needed it. After a few minutes they looked better. I’m the big guy on the left.



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Just curious, but what was scary about it? I’ve never been to the Keys…

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I've watched the latest video from @Chargeride:

He transported his bike with the most modern train! (The one that has a powered ramp at the door to close the gap).

The Mazovian Railways line R1 (that I use the most) also has modern trains. A good capacity for transporting bikes, of course the powered ramp. The "Flirt" (Fast Light Innovative Regional Trains) are made in Poland but are of a Swiss design. I guess drinking in public is allowed on Swiss trains so the designer provided the "partying compartment" (the top photo). So, passengers could stand around the bar table and enjoy the ride under influence Not practicable in Poland (or even on German railways), so the compartment can fit up to 3 big bikes instead