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

[TeroX5]

I thought adventure e-heads might be interested in this vid by Cyril, a French guy I know.
He's traversing Mauritania's wild Atlantic coast (Banc d'Arguin - that's wild not like the Irish one: several 100km of sand in one form or another) on an analogue fatty with a French woman Carole on a similar e-MTB with an array of fold-out solar panels to keep her going and a trailer for their water. Plus a packraft!
It's Part 2 of 2 which gets right into it. Subs are in English.
He's supported other nutty e-bike rides in the Saharan interior. Amazing drone shots of the desert.

 

[RabH]

Things are looking promising to have the Giant back on the road next week, the PCB is fine and they are in the process of transplanting it into a good motor! They will be running tests on it this week so hopefully all will be good...I may get the Dolan out tomorrow afternoon, the morning is looking very wet but improving later so here's hoping!

 

[Chargeride]

Two bikes Rab.

 

[RabH]

Two bikes Rab.

Three but 2 e bikes... I hope...

 

[Chargeride]

I redid the Hebden ride in reverse and in exactly the same spot met a hippy 60 yr old mountainbiker walking his dogs.
He thought we were mad to try the trail, this time downhill.
He the proceeded to tell us one of Britains best cyclo cross rider lives local and wont do it.
We did it...yeah, we can see why.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

cyclo cross rider

CX means running with a road bike carried on your shoulder, that's why

 

[Chargeride]

Bri nearly took his finger off and Ive got a chunk out of my elbow.

Nothing drastic.

 

[Chargeride]

Revisited Hebden Bridge, I'll post the bits that were different, rode it in reverse for starters

Straight into the last..now first bridleway, it was just ridiculous

Walk moded quite a bit, but actually made this...wheezing like I had TB

Descending down the silly track, this is where I whacked my elbow.

To think I tried to ride up this

I was actually riding here, the level of concentration, effort, balance and traction hunting is right to the limit.

Gibson mill, apparently this was one of the original record players, sounded surprisingly loud

It was for the roller skating

I think the men look pretty cool, but the womens outfits are modesty extreme.

3d is 3 pennies , there were 240 to the pound, obviously this is a later sign

A new Bridleway, probably one of the most beautiful I have ridden

I actually managed this, including weaving around Brian

Random chimney in the woods falls apart.

We managed to find ourselves on a road being resurfaced, just smile and wave.

Took the canal path back into Hebden

I would find that rather unsettling outside my window,

Hebden is super chill and trendy

I dont think any industries going forward will be looked on as majestic..who knows

Riot women..no idea

It didnt go that smoothly at the roadworks

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I would find that rather unsettling outside my window,

My chimney is bigger than yours!

 

[Chazmo]

Things are looking promising to have the Giant back on the road next week, the PCB is fine and they are in the process of transplanting it into a good motor! They will be running tests on it this week so hopefully all will be good...I may get the Dolan out tomorrow afternoon, the morning is looking very wet but improving later so here's hoping!

Hey, Rab, sorry I missed it, but what happened to your über-miler Giant?

In any case, best of luck getting it back on the road soon!

 

[Chazmo]

@Chargeride , wow! I hope they're dismantling that tower and that it's not in use. My goodness.

 

[RabH]

I was hoping the roads would dry up yesterday but after very heavy morning rain all hope faded, I set off just after midday on wet roads and having different tyres from what I am used to I was taking things easy! It was a blustery day with a SW wind around 25mph, despite that I decided to head SE towards Biggar as I hadn't ridden down there for quite some time! Thankfully the sun made an appearance after an hour or so of riding and the temp difference was very noticeable immediately! No sloppy gearchanges to report on this ride, all very clean!

I was in 2 minds about using the road at the White Loch as its very prone to flooding but I decided to chance it and if I would need to turn back it wasn't much of a detour! The sun was short lived though...

Thankfully it was fine, I think they missed the rain I got at home! From there I continued into Carnwath and headed south towards Libberton, what a road this one is!

Looking back up the hill I just descended!

The scenery along this road isn't too shabby either!

Tinto Hill from Libberton!

The farmers were getting into the Halloween spirit!

Now it was time to start climbing!

Part way up I stopped for this cute photo, the black one was showing off its teeth!

The hills were a little misty!

After the climbs I was looking forward to this cracking descent!

Near Biggar I turned north towards Elsrickle, this photo is at the start of the road with the Coulter Hills in the background!

The road to Elsrickle is very undulating and the final part drops down steeply into the valley before rising up immediately!

Another couple of views of the Coulter Hills before heading down the descent!

After the climb I had this amazing road which leads to the village of Walston!

Part way down a tractor pulled out of a field so i had to slow to a crawl...great timing Mr Farmer! I had some nice views of the Pentland Hills here!

At Walston I turned north to take the back road to Newbigging, what a road this is!

From the top of the climb!

From Newbigging I headed north up the big climb to Kaimend and passed through the village before tackling an even bigger climb that brings you out on the A70 near Carnwath! I then turned east on the A70 for a few hundred yards before turning north towards Auchengray, I turned off before the village and took the back road to Stobwood and then the tough climb up into Forth! I did this climb on my old Giant Hybrid recently and it was real struggle, it was a bit easier on the Dolan... Before the climb there is a ford, I doubt if anybody would have crossed it yesterday...

Thank goodness for the bridge!

After the climb I took on the big climb up to Climpy also, this is near the top looking back down!

I was looking forward to the big descents after the climb, particularly the first one at the Blacklaw Wind Farm which is very fast! On the way down I hit a bit of a rough part on the road which was a bit jarring and as I started down the next descent my range extender battery disappeared from the display! I stopped to inspect it and the cables were still intact, I tried switching the power off and back on as it powered on a warning message appeared and disappeared before I could read it! I then had a warning triangle on my display and the RE still wasn't showing!

I then heard a van pull up at the side of the road and would you believe it was a mobile cycle mechanic in the middle of nowhere... He asked if he could help and when I told him the issue he said he knew nothing about e bikes but offered to give me a lift which was very kind, I refused though as I wasn't that far from home and still had 25% left on my main battery! I then had the idea to disconnect the cable from the RE and reconnect it and amazingly it worked, although the warning triangle was still showing! Anyway i continued and the bike was running perfectly but after a few miles it happened again, I repeated the cable removal and all was good again and it worked fine all the way home!

When I got home I connected the Poilini app and the diagnostics was showing a battery communication error and said I should check the connection between the battery and the motor! I then remembered the bike had built in diagnostics and I reset the bike from there and the warning disappeared! I would have phoned Dolan about the issue at the time but it was late in the day so I emailed them and got a very detailed response this morning citing a possible CAN-bus issue! "Based on what you described, it looks like you experienced a brief CAN‑bus communication dropout between the RE and the main battery." "On a brand‑new bike, the RE connectors can be slightly sensitive until they’ve bedded in, and even minor vibration can cause a brief dropout."

They said if it happens again they will have to collect the bike and go through it thoroughly, hopefully it doesn't come to that...

@Chazmo The Giant finally decided it had enough at just under 49000 miles, the motor disintegrated and luckily it happened very close to home! I should have it back on the road next week all going well...

 

[r1roman]

la bateria adicional es evo2? la cargas con el mismo cargador de la bici? o lleva su propio cargador?,lo comento porque tengo una bici con polini ep3+ y es un poco complicado la compatibilidad de cable conexion y cargador.gracias.

 

[Chargeride]

View attachment 216544

I was hoping the roads would dry up yesterday but after very heavy morning rain all hope faded, I set off just after midday on wet roads and having different tyres from what I am used to I was taking things easy! It was a blustery day with a SW wind around 25mph, despite that I decided to head SE towards Biggar as I hadn't ridden down there for quite some time! Thankfully the sun made an appearance after an hour or so of riding and the temp difference was very noticeable immediately! No sloppy gearchanges to report on this ride, all very clean!

View attachment 216546
I was in 2 minds about using the road at the White Loch as its very prone to flooding but I decided to chance it and if I would need to turn back it wasn't much of a detour! The sun was short lived though...

View attachment 216547
Thankfully it was fine, I think they missed the rain I got at home! From there I continued into Carnwath and headed south towards Libberton, what a road this one is!

View attachment 216549
Looking back up the hill I just descended!

View attachment 216551
The scenery along this road isn't too shabby either!

View attachment 216550
Tinto Hill from Libberton!

View attachment 216552
View attachment 216553
The farmers were getting into the Halloween spirit!

View attachment 216554
Now it was time to start climbing!

View attachment 216555
Part way up I stopped for this cute photo, the black one was showing off its teeth!

View attachment 216556
The hills were a little misty!

View attachment 216557
After the climbs I was looking forward to this cracking descent!

View attachment 216558
Near Biggar I turned north towards Elsrickle, this photo is at the start of the road with the Coulter Hills in the background!

View attachment 216559
View attachment 216560
The road to Elsrickle is very undulating and the final part drops down steeply into the valley before rising up immediately!

View attachment 216561
Another couple of views of the Coulter Hills before heading down the descent!

View attachment 216562
View attachment 216563
After the climb I had this amazing road which leads to the village of Walston!

View attachment 216565
Part way down a tractor pulled out of a field so i had to slow to a crawl...great timing Mr Farmer! I had some nice views of the Pentland Hills here!

View attachment 216566
View attachment 216567
At Walston I turned north to take the back road to Newbigging, what a road this is!

View attachment 216568
From the top of the climb!

View attachment 216569
View attachment 216570
From Newbigging I headed north up the big climb to Kaimend and passed through the village before tackling an even bigger climb that brings you out on the A70 near Carnwath! I then turned east on the A70 for a few hundred yards before turning north towards Auchengray, I turned off before the village and took the back road to Stobwood and then the tough climb up into Forth! I did this climb on my old Giant Hybrid recently and it was real struggle, it was a bit easier on the Dolan... Before the climb there is a ford, I doubt if anybody would have crossed it yesterday...

View attachment 216572
Thank goodness for the bridge!

View attachment 216574
After the climb I took on the big climb up to Climpy also, this is near the top looking back down!

View attachment 216575
I was looking forward to the big descents after the climb, particularly the first one at the Blacklaw Wind Farm which is very fast! On the way down I hit a bit of a rough part on the road which was a bit jarring and as I started down the next descent my range extender battery disappeared from the display! I stopped to inspect it and the cables were still intact, I tried switching the power off and back on as it powered on a warning message appeared and disappeared before I could read it! I then had a warning triangle on my display and the RE still wasn't showing!

I then heard a van pull up at the side of the road and would you believe it was a mobile cycle mechanic in the middle of nowhere... He asked if he could help and when I told him the issue he said he knew nothing about e bikes but offered to give me a lift which was very kind, I refused though as I wasn't that far from home and still had 25% left on my main battery! I then had the idea to disconnect the cable from the RE and reconnect it and amazingly it worked, although the warning triangle was still showing! Anyway i continued and the bike was running perfectly but after a few miles it happened again, I repeated the cable removal and all was good again and it worked fine all the way home!

When I got home I connected the Poilini app and the diagnostics was showing a battery communication error and said I should check the connection between the battery and the motor! I then remembered the bike had built in diagnostics and I reset the bike from there and the warning disappeared! I would have phoned Dolan about the issue at the time but it was late in the day so I emailed them and got a very detailed response this morning citing a possible CAN-bus issue! "Based on what you described, it looks like you experienced a brief CAN‑bus communication dropout between the RE and the main battery." "On a brand‑new bike, the RE connectors can be slightly sensitive until they’ve bedded in, and even minor vibration can cause a brief dropout."

They said if it happens again they will have to collect the bike and go through it thoroughly, hopefully it doesn't come to that...

@Chazmo The Giant finally decided it had enough at just under 49000 miles, the motor disintegrated and luckily it happened very close to home! I should have it back on the road next week all going well...

View attachment 216577
View attachment 216578

Is it a Rossenberg connector, round, magnetic with 6 pins?

 

[RabH]

Is it a Rossenberg connector, round, magnetic with 6 pins?

No, it has 2 large pins and 4 small and its not magnetic!

EDIT : It also has a locking ring!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

FIVE riders are expected to start from Łódź tomorrow morning for at least a 100 km ride

Points Of Interest:

1. Radar Hill
2. A tree at the road intersection, Vodka
3. Peaceful Place
4. Volhynia
5. Podolia
6. Palestine
7. Ukraine
8. Snail Hill Viepoint
9. Goddess
10. Moscow
11. View of Łódź Heights
12. A Russian Woman
13. Ultra Hiper Premium Gravel
14. Mandalorian and Baby Yoda Mural
15. Dino (a store)
16. Siberia
17. Boryna Inn (a hero from Władysław Reymont 1924 Nobel Prize "The Peasants" novel)
18. Reymont House: where the Nobel Prize winner lived and was writing while working as a railroad linesman.

I will take at least as many photos as POIs!

 

[RabH]

la bateria adicional es evo2? la cargas con el mismo cargador de la bici? o lleva su propio cargador?,lo comento porque tengo una bici con polini ep3+ y es un poco complicado la compatibilidad de cable conexion y cargador.gracias.

Had to use Google translate for this...

Is the additional battery an Evo2? Do you charge it using the same charger as the bike, or does it have its own dedicated charger? I ask because I have a bike with a Polini EP3+ system, and compatibility regarding connection cables and chargers can be a bit complicated. Thanks.

Yes it uses the same charger as the main battery, my bike is brand new so I hope this issue doesn't happen again!

 

[Chargeride]

I was going to ride Ullswater today, at 1am the forecast was sun all day.
At 8am it started chucking it down till 1pm.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I was going to ride Ullswater today, at 1am the forecast was sun all day.
At 8am it started chucking it down till 1pm.

There's nothing like "bad weather" it is all wrong clothing

A relevant song!

Did early British punk-rock affect you in any way, Chris? For me, Sham 69 were one of I think six or maybe fifteen British bands to inspire me most.

April 1979. We were late because of the Iron Curtain. Me at the left. The other guy (of a Georgian father) still lives in London.