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

[Stefan Mikes]

"Alfer's Apple" Ride: The Photos
Just a few, the most representative ones.

On a gravel alternative to road cycling, a trail bypassing Cieciszew on the Warsaw - Góra Kalwaria route. Those guys first had no idea what I was riding. As MTBs are rather slow, I shot forward in just 40/80% Power ECO mode and set a photo trap Then, they realised I could ride very slowly but very fast as well!

Central Mazovia is a flat area. Góra Kalwaria with its 11% rather short climb is one of a very few where we can try climbing

Góra Kalwaria has been made a mecca for Warsaw road cyclists. The mural sports Ryszard Szurkowski, a Poland's road cycling champion of the era long gone.

The only spot with Czersk Castle, cyclists and apple trees in one frame!

Yes, there are some taxing climbs but you have to find them first!

The land is abundant with apples. We also tried delicious, ripe and super sweet plums!

"Our Press" is a small but modern fruit and vegetable processing company. They are very active about Public Relations, inviting -- for example -- schools to organise trips to that place. See how perfect lighting the reception has! We got delicious warm apple juice from a samovar. See also the "Following" counter for Instagram. Follow nasza_tlocznia and the counter will advance!

A junkyard en route. @Brix tells me the London line 10 was discontinued in 2018. It might be one of the original double-deckers of that line! (The junkyard also had a small passenger plane but it was not there anymore).

With that abundance of apple, nobody would mind us looting the orchard

It was raining more and I felt the cold. Said "I'm waiting at the next bus shelter en route, guys!" but was unaware the next bus shelter would be many kilometres away! I waited for them there.

By River Pilica in Warka. A man is missing but it was eight of us to finish the ride together.

I still dream of that zapiekanka!

 

[RabH]

My first proper ride on my new Dolan GXE, a tough but amazing day!

With today being the only nice day for the foreseeable future I just had to get the new bike out for a big ride, I had my main battery charged to 98% and my range extender to 94% and my total range was showing a crazy 186 miles on my lowest setting! Of course I knew I wouldn't get anywhere near that... I probably should have chosen a much easier route but where is the fun in that? When I set off just after 8am the temp was just 7C with a feels like temp of 4C, the winds were light and from the west at this point!

I made my way NE towards Slamannan on the back roads as much as possible, the light was amazing at this time!

The mountains to the north were clear for a change!

I just had to do the big descent down into Glen Village, only 41mph as I was taking it easy... The Ochils were looking amazing once again!

From here I made my way east towards Linlithgow and my range was still showing over 100 miles on my main battery, I continued east towards the Forth bridges and stopped for this photo near Newton!

On the bridge now!

I then headed under the new bridge and grabbed a couple of photos!

After that I made my way to Inverkeithing where I stopped for lunch and then continued east towards Aberdour and Burntisland, I found myself in the middle of a huge biker gang as I was heading for Aberdour! The noise was deafening... I was closing in on my first big climb of the day at Aberdour, a gruelling 16% gradient and I had to use level 4 assist to get up it! Just to explain, my bike has 3 drive modes and 2 custom modes and I have it on the lowest mode which is touring! Eco mode on my Giant is like level 3 assist on my Dolan, quite a difference!

At the top of the climb!

I then continued east to Burntisland which was my turning point, another massive climb awaited me and it was also into a headwind now! I made it up most of it in level 3 and had to use level 4 on the steeper parts! I'm looking forward to descending it one day...

All told the climb was almost 4 miles up to Mossmorran where I turned west towards Crossgates, I just had to stop for a couple of photos on this road...from a distance they almost look real...

From Crossgates I headed north towards Kelty, some big climbs and a huge descent on the way! From Kelty I turned west up another huge climb and I stopped at the top for a break and grabbed a couple of photos!

The view from the top of Kelty hill with Loch Leven in the distance!

I was now heading towards Saline and looking forward to some nice descents after some brutal climbs, they were very welcome indeed!

The road out of Saline with a stunning view of the Ochils!

My main battery dropped to 20% here so I turned the range extender on, the range was showing 90 miles with it switched on....I wish! I left the screen protector on my display to protect it...

I then joined the back road towards Forestmill where I had some amazing views of the Ochils!

I was now heading towards Kincardine, love this road!

After crossing the Kincardine Bridge I turned south towards Grangemouth, passing the Kelpies on the way!

I had a nice bonus while I was stopped here, a beautiful Heron!

From Grangemouth I continued south into Falkirk and it was time for many big climbs up to Slamannan, thankfully I had saved enough juice to get me up the climbs but they sure took a toll on my range extender! This was where my small chainring came into play most of the way home and I was able to turn the assist off quite a bit on the way! I decided to use the cycle path at Hillend Loch where I stopped for some photos!

I arrived home completely spent but what a day it was and I don't regret taking on such a tough route! I now know what to expect from my batteries after this ride and know I can easily do 70-80 miles at this time of year but the 100 milers will have to be curtailed unless I can come up with some routes with lower elevation..

My thoughts on the bike, mostly positive of course! The di2 gear changes are just seemless, I only had 2 instances where the chain slipped briefly before finding the cogs on the whole ride! Having 24 gears at my disposal really helps and they got a lot of use today! My Giant is 11 speed and is also a compact double like the Dolan but I always had issues with chain jams using the small chainring and when it jammed between the chainring and the frame it was a massive pain trying to free up!

The carbon frame and forks really soke up the bumps, its just so comfortable to ride! It is very customisable but I am going to resist messing with the settings too much, I'm happy with the touring settings for now! One thing I really dislike is when charging the batteries the bike shuts down so you have no idea how much charge percentage you are at, its not a major thing but I love being able to keep the charge around 80% when not using the bike! The only other negative I can think of is the seat post, changing my saddle over was a real nightmare and took me over 45 minutes...I'm used to round seatposts with a simple clamp but the Dolan has an oval post with a completely different clamp!

One more negative is no option for a kickstand, I love it on the Giant!

The motor isn't the quietest but certainly not noisy, it has a sort of whirring sound but I'm sure I will get used to the sound soon and it won't get on my nerves as much... Its just completely different to the noise from my Yamaha motor which I have been listening to for 8.5 years, hopefully I will be hearing it again soon! It will make the perfect winter bike! I will sleep like a baby tonight after that ride...