Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[DiggyGun]

We had another nice ride out today. This time it mainly consisted of an obsolete railway line from Thame in Oxfordshire to Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.

Nice to see some of the old signs still in place.

The old platform and station house.

For the return journey, we did a different route and come back on the Ridgeway Byway. However, it was really muddy in places, causing it to be very slippery, which made Mrs DG a bit scared, but we survived, albeit with very dirty bikes.

Some stats from today

 

[Prairie Dog]

Looking forward to a fun filled day in Banff @RandallS . Nothing too technical and hopefully we’ll be able to take in some great views along the Tunnel Mtn. Trail.

Saturday morning was a stellar time for a ride. The sun was out but it was still cool enough out that I wasn’t overly concerned about deteriorating conditions just yet and so it didn’t take long for me to decide on where to go. The weekends are generally a popular spot at Riverbend but I decided to take a chance and check it out for myself. I was quite surprised that there were only a handful of XC skiers on the runs so I virtually had the entire area to myself. Conditions were perfect for a fast ride with absolutely no ice on the downhill sections. Just pure white goodness. I also tried my hand at some aerial videography and discovered that I need a bit more practice with the controls. The video is taking ages to load but, in the meantime, here are a couple of images from my time at Riverbend yesterday.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Riverbend vid is live via Boob Tube. Regrettably, Vimeo wasn’t behaving nicely today and I totally gave up on trying to upload footage umpteen times.

 

[Chargeride]

motoring along there, I keep imagining the pull of ruts on the corner

 

[Chargeride]

Well Maderia update, havent hired a bike yet because all the good trails are too far away, so hired a car and going to jam the bike in it for transport.
Should get one in with the front wheel off.
Ive driven in a lot of hilly destinations..alps, rockies etc.. ,but Id call this one borderline terrifying.
They just build a road and see who's got the bottle to make it up in 1st gear.

So all Ive got is Europes 2nd highest, glass walkway, I had to drive past fallen trees on a multiple switchback roads, with hail and wind to get to this spot.
1900ft, straight down

Watch v7mgz2 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

Back to rides soon.

 

[RabH]

Well Maderia update, havent hired a bike yet because all the good trails are too far away, so hired a car and going to jam the bike in it for transport.
Should get one in with the front wheel off.
Ive driven in a lot of hilly destinations..alps, rockies etc.. ,but Id call this one borderline terrifying.
They just build a road and see who's got the bottle to make it up in 1st gear.

So all Ive got is Europes 2nd highest, glass walkway, I had to drive past fallen trees on a multiple switchback roads, with hail and wind to get to this spot.
1900ft, straight down

Watch v7mgz2 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

Back to rides soon.

That helped my fear of heights you couldn't pay me to walk on that!

 

[DiggyGun]

Todays ride was to Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire. This is a Forestry Commission site with extremely good facilities, but expensive parking.

The trail was fairly flat and dry, apart from where some logging was going on. However, there was only one cycling trail, which was only 4.5 miles, so a bit short. We did it three times, but after that it was getting a bit boring, being mostly the same.

On a good note, the weather was very nice today being around 10oC with the wind being only 5 mph. Made a nice change from the recent windy weather.

Today’s stats.

 

[Chargeride]

How apt, the trail looks like a man snoring.

 

[kahn]

Riverbend vid is live via Boob Tube. Regrettably, Vimeo wasn’t behaving nicely today and I totally gave up on trying to upload footage umpteen times.

What drone?

 

[kahn]

Riverbend vid is live via Boob Tube. Regrettably, Vimeo wasn’t behaving nicely today and I totally gave up on trying to upload footage umpteen times.

Reply Two:

Where the heck is the camera mounted? I know you mentioned something in an earlier video about a new setup?

 

[kahn]

Well Maderia update, havent hired a bike yet because all the good trails are too far away, so hired a car and going to jam the bike in it for transport.
Should get one in with the front wheel off.
Ive driven in a lot of hilly destinations..alps, rockies etc.. ,but Id call this one borderline terrifying.
They just build a road and see who's got the bottle to make it up in 1st gear.

So all Ive got is Europes 2nd highest, glass walkway, I had to drive past fallen trees on a multiple switchback roads, with hail and wind to get to this spot.
1900ft, straight down

Watch v7mgz2 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

Back to rides soon.

Oh, we walked there, too. I am an acrophobe. Saying to self "breathe!"

But that was not as terrifying or tedious as walking two tunnels along a levada on an irregular path about 1-2 feet wide about three feet above the flowing channel using a headlamp. Half a mile long. Scuffing your shoulder and arm and occasionally your head on the ceiling. I could never be talking into doing it again - NEVER, EVER. Somehow I was talked into the lead position: "duck, watch your footing, watch you shoulder!!!!!" Light bobbing! Gives me the willies just writing about it again. Claustrophobia, acrophobia, hydrophobia, dark-a-phobia.

Not my photo

 

[kahn]

Well Maderia update, havent hired a bike yet because all the good trails are too far away, so hired a car and going to jam the bike in it for transport.
Should get one in with the front wheel off.
Ive driven in a lot of hilly destinations..alps, rockies etc.. ,but Id call this one borderline terrifying.
They just build a road and see who's got the bottle to make it up in 1st gear.

So all Ive got is Europes 2nd highest, glass walkway, I had to drive past fallen trees on a multiple switchback roads, with hail and wind to get to this spot.
1900ft, straight down

Watch v7mgz2 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

Back to rides soon.

Have you been out to the peninsula at the east end of the island. A really neat hike. Ponta do Castelo, I think.

 

[Prairie Dog]

@kahn - What drone?

Compared to your second question, this one wasn’t too hard to figure out.



Where the heck is the camera mounted? I know you mentioned something in an earlier video about a new setup?

You must be referring to my invisible selfie stick. More in the link below or just google it.

GoPro Hero 9

Some of you guys have already seen this but GoPro labs has enabled a bunch of new tweaks. It opens up a lot of possibilities on how the cameras can be used. @WattsUpDude - Wow, thanks. 👍 I never realized there was so much to this camera. That's a lot to take in as I'm still trying to wrap my...

electricbikereview.com

 

[kahn]

@kahn - What drone?

Compared to your second question, this one wasn’t too hard to figure out.

View attachment 116739

Where the heck is the camera mounted? I know you mentioned something in an earlier video about a new setup?

You must be referring to my invisible selfie stick. More in the link below or just google it.

GoPro Hero 9

Some of you guys have already seen this but GoPro labs has enabled a bunch of new tweaks. It opens up a lot of possibilities on how the cameras can be used. @WattsUpDude - Wow, thanks. 👍 I never realized there was so much to this camera. That's a lot to take in as I'm still trying to wrap my...

electricbikereview.com

I meant, what BRAND drone? Or else a very very LONG invisible self-stick!!

 

[Prairie Dog]

I meant, what BRAND drone? Or else a very very LONG invisible self-stick!!

Sorry, should have picked up on that. It’s a DJI mini 2 - fits in the palm of your hand when folded and weighs under 250g but shoots 4k. Pretty impressive little drone but can be difficult to spot high up with my sorry eyes. Thank goodness for the return to home feature.

 

[Chargeride]

Have you been out to the peninsula at the east end of the island. A really neat hike. Ponta do Castelo, I think.

Drove most of the way yesterday, but it actually started snowing!!

 

[Chargeride]

Oh, we walked there, too. I am an acrophobe. Saying to self "breathe!"

But that was not as terrifying or tedious as walking two tunnels along a levada on an irregular path about 1-2 feet wide about three feet above the flowing channel using a headlamp. Half a mile long. Scuffing your shoulder and arm and occasionally your head on the ceiling. I could never be talking into doing it again - NEVER, EVER. Somehow I was talked into the lead position: "duck, watch your footing, watch you shoulder!!!!!" Light bobbing! Gives me the willies just writing about it again. Claustrophobia, acrophobia, hydrophobia, dark-a-phobia.

Not my photoView attachment 116725

Thats advertised in my hotel, big nope from me.

 

[Chargeride]

There seems to be very few local cyclists and hardly any tourists on a manual bike, obviously the hills are a clear reason, but the electric hire bike is taking over and you can see they are changing the roads to suit.
Every 10 minutes a train of tourists on ebikes passes by, all ridden by people, who to put it politely wouldnt last two minutes on the gradients.
I would call it game changing here and I fully expect it to continue rising, walking can be very tiring even around the town, bicycle theft is also low for obvious small Island reasons , I would say thats the biggest issue for ebikes, leaving it outside to go shopping is very risky indeed, they need to address that if they want more take up.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I only suffer acrophobia but can master the fear in need.

The sight of Wrocław Main Square from the Penitent's Bridge, 45 metres above the ground, March 2017.

252 steps to get there. I climbed them on my bad legs! And was counting the steps!

Three penitents

Can you see fear in my eyes? Oh yes.

 

[DiggyGun]

How apt, the trail looks like a man snoring.

Took some planning to get that look…