Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Readytoride]

@RabH - your posts are making me want to take my bike the next time I visit Scotland. Those islands!!! Gorgeous!!

I hope, too, that Specialized decides to fix my motor, even tho it is technically out of warranty.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Shadeless and windy, but very long views on a road I've never been on before...

Stuart Range and wind farm in the distance...

Luxury gravel and the snow cone of Takhoma

 

[PatriciaK]

22 miles today... The knee feels ok! Prednisone must have done its anti- inflammatory job, but I wore a compression sleeve, just to be safe .

 

[Prairie Dog]

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What a fantastic day, I just love Arran! It was one of those days when everything went right, they don't come along very often but when they do we just have to rejoice! The last time I travelled round the island in a clockwise direction so I wanted to try the anticlockwise route today, I can confirm its more difficult! I think this was actually harder than my 78 mile ride round the island almost a month ago and I'm not complaining, it was just awesome! Next year I'm going to take all 3 batteries and enjoy a 100 miler round this wonderful island!

The ferry going in the opposite direction from me this morning, with the Holy Island in the background!

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Arran coming into view!

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As you can see the weather started very well, it did cloud over but it wasn't cold and the winds were only around 15mph! The coast road from Brodick, I kept passing the other cyclist after my photo stops...I'm sure I was annoying him!

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The coast road is pretty flat for the first few miles and then this view appears, the last time I flew down this freewheeling at 45mph!

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A good reason to stop the climb part way up!

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Finally at the top of the climb and looking forward to the awesome descent down into Lochranza!

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The bay at Lochranza!

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I timed it nice for the ferry arriving at Lochranza, maybe next year I might try this one!

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The cars and motorhomes disembarking!


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I stopped here for a short break and continued on along the coast towards Blackwaterfoot, a small fishing boat looking rather close to the rocks here!

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Some of the roads here are a little rough but there are some parts that have been resurfaced recently and they are just sublime to ride on!

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Yet another boat (trawler perhaps) enjoying the calm waters I'm sure!

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Guillemots enjoying the sun on the rocks!

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A few miles along the coast and I was treated to some seal action, one was really staring me out and letting me know not to come any closer!

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I continued on towards Blackwaterfoot and noticed this beautiful lodge with the Arran mountains in the background!

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Another nice view of the mountains!

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I was getting hungry now so I stopped for lunch and had a pretty amazing view to enjoy, I just finished lunch and the sun disappeared behind a big cloud and didn't return again!

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I arrived in Blackwaterfoot and noticed I had made good time and wondered if I might make the earlier ferry and miss the rush hour going home, so I turned up the assist and put the hammer down and enjoyed many big climbs and big descents all the way to Brodick and arrived with 5 minutes to spare!The real bonus was I managed to catch the plush ferry with lovely big reclining seats to enjoy, I almost fell asleep on the crossing back to Ardossan!

What a brilliant day, I'm so glad I decided to give Arran a go this year and I will be back next year for sure! Its pure cycling heaven if you like hills and twists and turns and very fast descents! The best part about catching the earlier ferry was getting home in just over an hour with much lighter traffic, if I had waited for the later ferry it would have been close to 2 hours to get home...

@Readytoride That really sucks about your failed motor, I hope they will fix it under warranty!

Awesome trip report, as usual. Arran ridden ACW looked exceptional and my favorite shots had to be the ones along the coastline. Well done!

We'll have to dress warmer for our ride out of Jasper tomorrow as it’s only expected to hit 0C by 9 am. I'm thinking that we should to take a bit extra time out for breakfast before pushing off for Maligne Lake.

 

[Chargeride]

@RabH - your posts are making me want to take my bike the next time I visit Scotland. Those islands!!! Gorgeous!!

I hope, too, that Specialized decides to fix my motor, even tho it is technically out of warranty.

Beautiful ride, Ive never been to Arran, but I do have a connection with the Scottish Islands, my stepfather was from Barra, in fact my mums surname is still Campbell.
I have cycled Barra on a hire bike.
45 years ago!
Youre making me want to return to the wild places.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Mum's right behind us!

Black Swans — Cygnus atratus
Kedron Brook Wetlands, Queensland, AU
Beside Jim Soorley Bikeway, Brisbane​

I hadn't intended to shoot birds on this trip but, perhaps like Dodge always finding another barn to photograph (Love 'em, DM!), this little family practically begged me to stop at the beginning of today's ride (4.5 km on the map below).

Dad was chasing off some real or imaginary danger, leaving the youngsters—don't call us 'cygnets' anymore—to look after their mother.

The remainder of the ride was a race, albeit a slow one, against the rain.

'Rain developing' or '50% chance of rain' had been the forecast; and, just as predicted, my coffee break was disrupted by a rain squall that funnelled its way into the bay between the islands protecting us from the open Pacific. How dare it!

Weird: bright sunshine for us; a deluge over the bay. Time to get moving!

 

[Prairie Dog]

An image of pristine Abraham Lake yesterday as we made our way towards Saskatchewan River Crossing before eventually arriving in the Town of Jasper. Hope to get out on the saddle today once it begins to warm up.

 

[RabH]

An image of pristine Abraham Lake yesterday as we made our way towards Saskatchewan River Crossing before eventually arriving in the Town of Jasper. Hope to get out on the saddle today once it begins to warm up.

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Just stunning wow I hope it warms up nicely for you

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Through Yakima wine country, winding on country roads far above the valley floor. In addition to fine grapes, there were hops, apples, and marijuana cultivation along the way.

Storm clouds at Konnowac Pass:

Like I said I inadvertently made a wine country tour:

 

[Prairie Dog]

Just stunning wow I hope it warms up nicely for you

We wimped out and got a late start on account of the cold temps. It actually warmed up to about 8C when we left the townsite and slowly but surely the layers came off. We did, however, manage to crack out a metric century with over 1200 meters (4000 ‘) of elevation gain and still managed respectable 80% and 83% charges remaining in our batteries (no REs). My wife was the frugal one today. Traffic seemed pretty light with just 244 vehicles passing us by over the duration of the ride.

Depending on how we feel tomorrow, we might attempt to ride up to the Marmot Basin ski resort. It’s not as far as Maligne but there is still some pretty decent gain for a 40km ride up to the top.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41005369

It’s the long 4-5 hr drive home later on in the day that I’m dreading.

 

[dodgeman]

I did 18 miles today, I rode into town today. The barn pic is a barn in town, most likely for people that had a horse and buggy, pretty fancy back in the day. A lot of these barns are pretty old, I suspect this one is over a 100 years old and maybe more like 130 years old. Most of these barns in town have been torn down years ago but there are a couple left.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Morning Started at 7:35...

I was woken up by a phone call from the first courier on that day. He brought a parcel with a Shimano Deore CN-HG54 chain, 10s, 116L. I started happily swapping the chain on my Vado SL. To discover the chain should have been delivered with the connecting pin. The pin was not there. Taken-aback, I reached for my spare set of 10s master links. The master links didn't match the holes in the rollers...

The next courier knocked on my door. This time, it was the replacement of the lost Redshift Shock Stop Utility Accessory Mount. This time, decently packed in the original box. Meanwhile, I was ordering another 10s chain at Decathlon. There was the only 10s, 114L chain in any regional Decathlon, and it was to be collected in Piaseczno, which is by no means close to where I live.

I set off for the Vado SL ride in the afternoon. It was at least not raining but the temperature was 8 then 7 C. I was so irritated before the ride I didn't check the batteries...

Some people in these Forums...
...advocate to keep the batteries charged between 20 and 80%. I was making such an experiment in recent days. Now, when I needed the fully charged batteries, I found myself on the trip with 75% charged main battery and 75% charged Range Extender... I will never ever allow me sticking to the 20-80% rule anymore! The batteries are to be at ready, fully charged because you never know what the next day will bring! (I returned with empty RE and 25% in the main battery).

I absolutely do not recognize any such steep hill on my trip! We do not have any hills here except of the Warsaw Escarpment and Góra Kalwaria!

 

[Mulezen]

^Have you ever been to Lazy? It’s close to Walendow

 

[Stefan Mikes]

^Have you ever been to Lazy? It’s close to Walendow

Yes, of course, many times. It is on my way to many interesting destinations.
There is an impressive Raszyn Radio Tower in Łazy. A landmark by which you can navigate without GPS!

I was in Łazy on April 10th this year, for example.

My destination of today: Decathlon in Piaseczno (a February 2020 photo). Decathlon is the European REI, owned by the French.

 

[reed scott]

An image of pristine Abraham Lake yesterday as we made our way towards Saskatchewan River Crossing before eventually arriving in the Town of Jasper. Hope to get out on the saddle today once it begins to warm up.

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I'm curious about the color of this water. It's unusual. Once I drained a pond on my place and lined it with bentonite which was an almost white color. When the pond filled back up it looked like this for a few days until algae grew and it resumed its natural greenish color.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I'm curious about the color of this water. It's unusual. Once I drained a pond on my place and lined it with bentonite which was an almost white color. When the pond filled back up it looked like this for a few days until algae grew and it resumed its natural greenish color.

Abraham Lake gets its turquoise color from the glacial silt (rock flour) entering the water. The color of the water can vary from one day to the next depending on the lighting conditions. The angle in which the sunlight hits the water can also have an effect on the color and when viewed high above, the color intensifies. If you look carefully down below you can spot several bighorn sheep straggling behind the last vehicle along the David Thompson Highway. They tend to frequent stretches of this roadway licking any salt they can find along the way.

I hope to post a full trip report soon of our ride from the Town of Jasper to Maligne Lake as well as a condensed version of a ride up to Marmot Basin the following day.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Abraham Lake gets its turquoise color from the glacial silt (rock flour) entering the water. The color of the water can vary from one day to the next depending on the lighting conditions. The angle in which the sunlight hits the water can also have an effect on the color and when viewed high above, the color intensifies.

Another example of turquoise glacial meltwater, this time only half as far from the equator as Abraham Lake. (The suspension bridge's 'safety' netting should help with the location!)

Despite the stream's subtropical location, ice—both sheet and icicles—can be seen on its shaded left bank. The cold here is the result of altitude (about 2000 metres higher than Abraham Lake) rather than the angle of the sun or hours of daylight (mid-January; 30km south of Mount Everest).

Near Namche Bazaar, Nepal​

 

[RabH]

From the Arran hills to the Campsie hills, there were lots of thrills and thankfully no spills! Another awesome ride in the Campsie hills today, last month I did the anticlockwise route so I went for the opposite route today! The weather was just perfect once again (after a very wet Thursday) and once again the winds were pretty light, it was just glorious for cycling! I reached Lennoxtown which is at the foot of the Campsies and started the climb, passing a couple of roadies who were very pleasant! Part way up I had to stop to grab some photos as the cloud was sitting low on the hills and looked pretty awesome!

I reached the top of the climb at just under 1200ft and I was looking forward to the lovely descent down into the Carron Valley, some of the road is in really nice condition but some is pretty rough also as you can see here! They are forever patching this road, hopefully some day soon they will fix it properly...

Its better here so I could get my speed up a bit but just a little further and its very rough and requires caution! I love the clouds sitting on the peaks of the mountains in the distance!

I was almost down in the valley when I stopped again to capture this lovely view! Just as I stopped I heard a noise of a rear wheel freewheeling, the 2 roadies I passed earlier hurtled past at high speed! I never saw them again after this so they obviously didn't take the climb I was about to take on!

I was now heading towards the Carron Valley Reservoir and once again some of the roads were in excellent condition but others were in need of repair, at least its easy to avoid the worst parts on the bike especially when you are climbing!

The view of the hill I just descended!

The Carron Valley Reservoir looking lovely in the sun!

I just love this part due mainly to the beautiful smooth surface!

I reached the turning point at the end of the valley and it was time for the big climb back over the Campsies at the Tak Ma Doon Road end, its certainly easier going up from the northern end and you get to enjoy a glorious descent down into Kilsyth! Once again there are really nice roads and really rough roads on the descent, the good thing is I didn't meet a single car all the way down!

Onwards towards home now with a big smile on my face and looking forward to a lovely shower, speaking of showers, it poured down not long after I got home! What a brilliant day once again, hopefully another ride on Sunday which is looking good until mid afternoon when the wind and rain will arrive...

 

[Chargeride]

I always charge my batteries full, often leave them a week fully charged and completely bottom them out on most rides...as in resetting the bms many times to eek the last mile.
My main battery is four years old and has been abused beyond belief, drawing 40 amps, charged at 4 amps. , too hot to hold, been under water many times.
Proper Samsung cells, cost me 350 quid...well worth buying quality when youre a battery torturer!
Its nearing the end for full power draw and cuts out around 30 amps.
Still working fine at normal, sensible power levels.
So there you go, they are much tougher than I thought they were from reading all the doom merchant websites.
Its done roughly 300 cycles, so a pound ride so far.

 

[Twin Valley]

After spending the last few weeks on the West Coast of northern British Columbia often with little or no cell service finally getting a chance to catch up on this biking thread. Our family group would raft down the Kitimat river pulling off at likely sandbars to fish for the Coho Salmon making their fall run. Later the retirees of our group slowly made our way back east biking many of the town's and surrounding area. We have discovered some biking paradise areas near Smithers BC which is in central BC and we will be back next summer for the biking. Now back at my daughter's ranch helping round up the free range cattle who didn't get the memo that they are supposed to come home. The e-bike is proving to be quite handy in the search. I'm finding the marine air horn useful in moving a healthy bear population off the trails.