Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Deleted member 18083]

Another morning; another ride…

Fairney Brook Floodplain
Seen from Brisbane Valley RT​

Brisbane Valley Rail Trail
​

This is the section of the rail trail that I think is not up to standard: gravel riders beg to disagree!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

gravel riders beg to disagree!

Funny breed they are indeed! On one of the recent rides, I was forced to ride through -- inter alia -- roads damaged by heavy forestry machinery and blocked by fallen trees. I had to carry my heavy Vado through the obstacles (sometimes my mates had to help me) and walk the e-bike at times. When I was walking the Vado through the terrain as shown in the photo below, I met another gravel cyclist riding from the opposite direction. I greeted him and expressed my dissatisfaction (he was riding slowly but without stopping). His reply was:

-- But that's the whole fun of riding!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Finally the Sun returns and I got out for a ride, visited the trendy Birkdale area and then took a path Ive never been on in my life and was amazed to find it was a beautiful and challenging ride right through the amazing Birkdale championship, links golf course.
This course has quite a history,
heres the website blurb..

'Royal Birkdale is possibly the finest of all courses in England. Royal Birkdale has held more Championship and International events since World War 2 than any other course in the world. Open Championships, Ryder Cups, Women's British Opens, Senior Opens, Amateur Championships, Walker Cups and Curtis Cups.
Royal Birkdale Golf Club has been voted the number one golf club in England, one of the top five clubs in the UK and amongst the top 35 in the world. '

So there you go, dont follow golf or play it myself, but it is a lovely and dramatic course and the height climb along the path made for some amazing views.
Havent got time to screenshot the vid as Im off to Madeira , so heres the video, the golf path starts around 2.45.

Thanks for sharing that video tour of Birksdale, Charge. Kind of brought a tear to my eye. Both of my folks were avid golfers, me Mum in particular who would have loved to have visited the area and walked along the paths just to catch a glimpse of some of the best golfers on tour. The closest she ever got to seeing Tiger play was at Pebble Beach. As for me, I could never catch on to the game although I did enjoy watching events with her on the telly when she could no longer play.

 

[Chargeride]

Arrived in Maderia, what an utterly epic place, the giant gorges leading down to the sea, covered in houses clinging on to the edges.
Found the ebike hire shop, 35Euros a day for a full suspension, very good price.
But today is pool chill.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Arrived in Maderia

Has travelling become any easier nowadays?

 

[Chargeride]

well maderia has dropped all vaccine requirements, all I had to do was fill in a location form and theres no mask requirements at UK airport or on the plane.
Still need masks here in some indoor areas.
Effortless really
No testing required either way.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Effortless really. No testing required.

In order to visit my wife in dementia care, I have to return a negative rapid antigen test result every third day. That'll be ten tests for March.

There are also daily automatic temperature checks, and the customary requirement to wear a P2 mask (essentially an uncomfortable N95) for the two to three hours of visiting. I get around the latter requirement by having lunch with Jen in her room. This is the highlight of her day: smuggled in 'local fruit in season' – bananas, papaya, mangoes – accompanied by a clarinet and cello medley of Mozart and Boccherini (on 'good days') or Andre Rieu ('PRN'; medical jargon for when 'probably really necessary').

Because avoiding being caught in the RAT trap is so important, I have temporarily excused myself from riding with my TOP (tyred old people) friends. It's not as bad as problems besetting people elsewhere, but let's simply acknowledge that in passing without dwelling on it.

 

[Mulezen]

I broke my inactive streak this warm Spring day for a ten mile ride. The recent decent rain woke up the fields and brought out the daffodils, all 300 feet of them. Tomorrow's mid-winter bomb with snow and temperatures as low as 15f.

 

[fooferdoggie]

 

[BlackHand]

View attachment 116462View attachment 116463View attachment 116464

Beautiful locomotive.

 

[Chargeride]

In order to visit my wife in dementia care, I have to return a negative rapid antigen test result every third day. That'll be ten tests for March.

There are also daily automatic temperature checks, and the customary requirement to wear a P2 mask (essentially an uncomfortable N95) for the two to three hours of visiting. I get around the latter requirement by having lunch with Jen in her room. This is the highlight of her day: smuggled in 'local fruit in season' – bananas, papaya, mangoes – accompanied by a clarinet and cello medley of Mozart and Boccherini (on 'good days') or Andre Rieu ('PRN'; medical jargon for when 'probably really necessary').

Because avoiding being caught in the RAT trap is so important, I have temporarily excused myself from riding with my TOP (tyred old people) friends. It's not as bad as problems besetting people elsewhere, but let's simply acknowledge that in passing without dwelling on it.

Im glad you are 'allowed' a little workaround and that she is otherwise OK.
Britains high toll is almost entirely due to care patients being left to die, even sent away from hospital after infection to clear beds.
I wont even say what the real description of that practice is.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Beautiful locomotive.

ya lucked out seeing out and running. I don't usually go home that way.

 

[RandallS]

Finally the Sun returns and I got out for a ride, visited the trendy Birkdale area and then took a path Ive never been on in my life and was amazed to find it was a beautiful and challenging ride right through the amazing Birkdale championship, links golf course.
This course has quite a history,
heres the website blurb..

'Royal Birkdale is possibly the finest of all courses in England. Royal Birkdale has held more Championship and International events since World War 2 than any other course in the world. Open Championships, Ryder Cups, Women's British Opens, Senior Opens, Amateur Championships, Walker Cups and Curtis Cups.
Royal Birkdale Golf Club has been voted the number one golf club in England, one of the top five clubs in the UK and amongst the top 35 in the world. '

So there you go, dont follow golf or play it myself, but it is a lovely and dramatic course and the height climb along the path made for some amazing views.
Havent got time to screenshot the vid as Im off to Madeira , so heres the video, the golf path starts around 2.45.

Jealousy is some sort of sin I have been told.
Guilty as charged!

 

[DiggyGun]

Haven’t been on the bike for a couple of weeks. Other things keep getting in the way, plus my Plantar Fasciitis has been playing up, but had a steroid injection this week, so that should help.

We got out today for a ride and went to Pitsford Water Reservoir in Northamptonshire. Weather was dry with a temperature of around 12oC, but with wind chill was down to around 9oC, so not too bad.

However, the wind was about 15mph and the head wind coming off the reservoir was quite strong causing some waves of the reservoir.

It was nice to get out and as usual we took a picnic lunch with us.

This is the stats for today.

 

[Cowlitz]

It's kind of chilly but I refuse to return to wearing longjohns. So, I'm still warming up my legs and digesting what I rode to retrieve. The fish and chips truck was in town. I took a soft sided cooler and stuffed the meal into it and made it home before it cooled off too much. The mission was successful.

 

[kahn]

While @Cowlitz on the other side of the Cascade Curtain was in the chill, it was almost Spring on this side. The originally predicted Sat rain held off very nicely till late in the afternoon and it was bright and sunny until them. About 22 miles and about 1,200 feet of gain. The route hit the south edge of the Univ of Washington, across the 520 floating bridge to the posh east side of Lake Washington, through a few of the ahem, Five Towns (all posh) and then back across the bridge with a detour through the urban green space of Interlaken Park.

The 520 Floating Bridge with the UW on the right side at the far western end of the bridge and the Olympic Mts and Olympic National Park in the background.

 

[RabH]

Last Sunday I had to change my route due to a road closure, the road was open today and the wind direction made it the ideal route to avoid the brutal crosswinds! It turned out to be a truly epic ride, I headed south into the 35-40mph headwind which was the right choice as after 20 miles I had a lovely tailwind to enjoy and it sure put a big smile on my face! I was a bit pushed for time today so I didn't take many photos, I stopped here for a quick snack so I grabbed a few photos!

I was heading for the late World Rally Champion Colin McRae's home town of Lanark, which can be very busy but being a Sunday it wasn't too bad! This is just before entering the town, looking down into the beautiful Clyde Valley!

After entering the town it was time to turn north and enjoy the lovely tailwind, its quite a climb from here but with wind assistance it was pretty easy today! I was now heading for the town of Forth where the climb continues to almost 1100ft, now looking forward to the fast descent at the top of the climb! The descent was mostly tailwind but I could feel a side wind at some parts but still managed 45.7mph, I was in heaven here and couldn't stop smiling! My bike is incredibly stable at high speed so it really fills you with confidence, I can't say how much fun this bike provides every time I ride it!

Thankfully I didn't come across any suicidal drivers this time, 51 miles of utter enjoyment despite the windy conditions! I remember suffering on my carbon road bike in windy conditions, it was still fun at times but the e bike is just on a different level in these conditions! The next few days are looking rather wet but things are looking promising from Thursday onwards, we are expecting about 12C on Friday and 15C on Saturday so Spring is here for sure! Will it last though? probably not!

 

[Chargeride]

Colin was a genius with screw loose at times, my friend had the McRae badged Imprezza.
Such a loss when he pushed it too far.

 

[RabH]

Colin was a genius with screw loose at times, my friend had the McRae badged Imprezza.
Such a loss when he pushed it too far.

I watched him race in the British Touring Cars at Knockhill in 1992, he had a guest drive and he couldn't stay on the tarmac! He spent most of the races on the grass, he was just pure entertainment value!

The story behind Colin McRae’s 1992 BTCC Outing

Colin McRae is a motorsport legend. During the height of his career he carved out a reputation for spectacular, on-the-limit driving in the World Rally Championship. However, at the time of his one…

1990sbtcc.com

 

[RandallS]

Rode my ISP shod Intrigue up on my local park again yesterday. Got filthy as it was a nice mix of dry, muddy, snow and ice.

Metrics:

Route:

Anything up top (middle of route) as a good mix of dry and wet, but edges were snow, ice and running water/mud.



This particular area, which is top left of route, was tricky.
I didn't capture one section where there is normally a lot of foot traffic and there was none as it was rather (OK - VERY) slick.

This is where I am on my way there:

Looking back towards previous picture:

And heading for the really bad part.
Basically I go past that walker and turn left and go 1 Km . Gentle uphill climb with pock marked and rutted ice with running water on top.
Ice Spikers required, and a lot of caution around the "ruts of death":

Headed up to the plateau and took a short brake for a snack and hydration.
My Intrigue is still relatively clean at his point.

I am riding on a set of "new to me" Ice Spiker pros, on a set of WTB rims I got with rotors and a cassette (off of Pink Bike Buy and Sell).
The only tricky bit was replicating the sensor magnet on the original wheels (pic) but it was easy. I just placed the Neodymium magnet in the same location on the winter wheel rotor and it hasn't budged.

I often carry a spare magnet anyways when riding away from my home area (Spoke one for my Fathom), and will continue to do so once I JB Weld that one into place.
I don't mind riding with no assistance, but I prefer to do it when I decide to - not due to circumstance!

Clothes are all washed ready for a new adventure.

We have a group ride planned for Wednesday in Banff with @Prairie Dog and his brother in law Dale.
Looking forward to that, and of course Art's wonderful videos. Hopefully I will be upright for the entire ride!