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

[mschwett]

i planned this morning's ride to be exactly 30 miles and 3000 feet of climbing. it turned out to be 30.21 miles and 3019 feet

it was kind of fun to roll around some neighborhoods i never, ever spend time in but i missed a few of the grades, and a few spots were really too steep for my gearing and power levels.

the hills of the ride are, in sequence

rincon hill (what remains of it lol)
potrero hill
bernal hill
philosopher's hill
twin peaks
lincoln heights
rob hill
russian hill

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Where’d the Creo go?

 

[mschwett]

Where’d the Creo go?

oh, i haven't had it in years! as i rode more i almost always used it without assist, so i got the aethos, and then sold the creo. then after a few years the health issues came back so i got the addict e-ride. i still have it (obviously) and the aethos, which i ride only for pretty easy rides now to keep the exertion levels low and steady, no serious climbing.

i wish spesh would make an actual road e-bike. i have my eye on the fastlane, pros and cons of that relative to the addict. main pro, quiet, a little lighter. main con, doesn't use standard crankset like the addict.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Mazovian (En)grave(r) - A long gravel ride from Płock to home
I apologise for the abundance of pictures!

Płock -- a former capital city of the once mighty Duchy of Mazovia and the second largest city of the province (located on River Vistula) -- is close to my heart. My late wife was born there. I have visited that gorgeous city for many times for family, pleasure and business.

Despite the encouraging weather forecast and weather radar, it was raining in Płock when I arrived there. From the top: Wide Vistula, Cathedral Hill and the combined railway/coach station. I once stayed in a nice hotel inside! Interestingly, the train rides the old bridge along the cars (just separated by a low wall), a rare engineering solution!

The Main Square of Płock is beautiful and getting nicer and nicer every year! (I was killing time in the drizzle there).

All restaurants of Płock open at noon. Here, "Karczma pod strzechą" (The Inn Under The Thatch) or the best restaurant in the city! I entered the place ten to twelve, and asked the cook if I could sit inside to wait for the opening. He took my order immediately! What a nice man!

I got my meal in five minutes! The Day's Special: Kotlet Schabowy (pork chop) with boiled potatoes and stewed young cabbage. A classic! For your information: the meal including black tea cost PLN60 (USD15.80, GBP11.80, CAD22.40, EUR13.8). How does it compare to your country? Note: We do not usually tip in Poland. Some restaurants even deny the servers taking any tips! (If you want to tip a server, slip a note such as 10 złoty).

Can you see the river at a distance? See how sandy Mazovia is! (The good thing is we do not miss any sand for the construction purposes!)

Riding at the top of the Vistula embankment. The wall is several hundred kilometres long!

Even if not shown, the principal surface of my Vistula ride was gravel.

The old settlers on the Vistula, the Hauländers, introduced the willow as a prevention measure against the floe during the Spring floods. The willow is often trimmed, which later creates a green "hat" at the top.

The Hauländer Open Air Museum, Wiączemin Polski. I took a detour for some pictures there.

The Hauländer (Olender, Olęder)
The Hauländer were Dutch Mennonites who settled along the Vistula since 1500s. Granted with the religious freedom, being the experts on the river control, they got the right to be represented by their own community (not as individuals), were free folk, and got many privileges. They were followed by German settlers and then some Polish communities who embraced the model. The Hauländer history sadly ended with World War 2. Most of them were resettled to Germany, with only those who had been married into the Polish families were allowed to stay. (I have a Hauländer in my extended family!)

A Hauländer house. Their houses and barns had high roofs. People, their belongings and the animals could survive any flood in the attic.

Part of architecture was preserved by moving many buildings to Wiączemin Polski (which, by the way, had been a Polish village based on the Hauländer model).

Only e-bikers here! We had a joyful chat:
-- My neighbours ask me how far I could travel on the battery. I always reply "It depends on how much momentum I could produce on the day!"
-- They accuse us of not pedalling! You know the best yourself how much pedalling is needed!
-- Damn food couriers and their illegal throttle Chinese crap!

You're riding wet and heavy gravel for long kilometres and then are looking for some asphalt...

There is an alternate route, all on zero traffic asphalt. My mistake was I chose the gravel version

Polish folk is religious. You'll often find a cross or a shrine to pray. Here, I realised the first symptoms of a crisis. I sat on the bench, ate some chocolate bars and continued the ride. See the solar LED lantern. There's been a lot of investment in the local infrastructure. I could read the lanterns for that village were funded by the local government of Mazovia.


The crisis
I hit the wall around the 53rd kilometre into the ride.

The goulash soup I had at a roadside bar didn't help!

I rode for several km more and stopped at a familiar service station. A hot-dog, big coffee seemed not to help either. I broke and then planned an 18 km long escape route to Sochaczew for the train. However, I decided continuing the ride on the original route as I could always make a detour towards Sochaczew if I had to. Magically, my strength returned!

A historical trestle bridge over the Bzura. Now, I was in my extended neighbourhood! (Still far away from home).

A Gothic church in Brochów. Frederic Chopin was baptised there.

78 km into the ride, the sun eventually shone, and the Summer returned. It was the first place to replace a Range Extender. Turned out my "CHE" battery appeared to be shot! Oh well, I had two more of them...

97 km into the ride, 11 km to home. A mural in the town of Błonie. Now, I could replace the Range Extender and complete the ride in TURBO!

113 km (70 mi) for the day. I'm still devastated on Monday morning (perhaps I should take my big Vado for rides like that one?)

 

[RabH]

I had to cancel yesterday's bike ride to Knockhill and take the car instead, all thanks to the very annoying mist and fog again! I made up for it today though with a stunning ride out to Killearn and back, the winds have shifted to easterlies now which is making things so much cooler which is very welcome! I started off into the wind and headed east to Blackridge and made my way north up the climb to Heights, where I stopped for this photo before flying down the awesome descent into the valley!

I kept going north and enjoyed the rollercoaster back road that joins the main road between Limerigg and Avonbridge, then up the big climb towards Shieldhill to enjoy the amazing descent down into Glen Village again!

Even the Ochil Hills were clear today for a nice change, I decided to take it easy down the descent though as the wind was swirling about a bit here! I think this was my first time under 40mph down this one...rather safe than sorry though!

I then turned west towards Bonnybridge and had a nice tailwind for a few miles, this descent was great fun with the tailwind at my back!

I had a nice view of the Ochils from here also!

I then turned north and headed down the big descent into Bonnybridge, where I stopped at the canal for this photo! It was a nice day for boating on the canal!

I continued north towards Denny where I turned west and battled my way up the big climb through the Carron Valley, I chose this route thanks to the lovely 20-25mph tailwind! It really made the climb so much easier today, I soon had the Carron Valley Reservoir in view and and stopped many times for photos!

Its such a great road, especially the smooth parts like this!

The descent to the foothills of the Campsie Hills is just incredible and with that lovely tailwind it was even more fun today! I really didn't want to stop on the way down but just had to when this view appeared!

I was thinking about heading up over the Campsies at this point but that tailwind was just too much fun so I kept going west, stopping many times for photos on the way!

The village of Balfron with the mountains to the north in the distance!

I was nearing the beautiful village of Killearn when I stopped for these photos!

Killearn with the Campsie Hills in the background!

I was now heading SE towards Strathblane on the main A81, not my favourite road but still some nice views to enjoy!

I was glad to leave the A81 at Strathblane where I turned east towards Lennoxtown into the strong headwind, it was keeping me nice and cool in the 22C (72F) heat! From Lennoxtown I continued east to Milton of Campsie, then south through Birdston into Kirkintilloch! I stopped at Whitefield Pond in Lennoxtown for these photos of the Campsies, looking across the pond!

I then took the back road to Twechar, another fun road which runs alongside the canal!

Another view of the Campsies from the canal!

From Twechar I continued east towards Cumbernauld and south up the back roads to home, where I had this final view of the Campsies!

A very enjoyable 80 miler on a glorious sunny day, I had such a brilliant ride which more than made up for my disappointment yesterday! I say disappointment but it was a fantastic day of racing at Knockhill, with the highlight being the Superkarts which rarely visit these days and they are super quick lapping around 47 seconds round the 1.3 mile circuit! Most of them are still 2 strokes also so the smell was something very special!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Another photo from Varmia Gravel 2026 (and the matter of the saddle height)

Photo courtesy Mateusz Klimek.

How can you do harm to yourself?
As you can see from the photo above, my right leg is in the properly extended position. I could watch another photo where I rather looked like a sitting dog As I left Płock on the latest ride (see the post above), I felt miserable in the saddle. Had the seat-post dropped? What an eejit I was! Instead of letting the things be, I started experimenting with the saddle height en route... Turned out, I raised the saddle 2 cm above the optimum height, which devastated me on the ride... No, I won't do that in the future again!