Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[dodgeman]

I did 18 miles yesterday, also a nice fall day here. The colors are starting to turn here. A picture of a barn and windmill. I’m sure at one time there was a house here also, long gone. I had put my phone away so no pic but as I rode past the windmill there was a brick driveway leading part way to it. It looked like someone had recently uncovered it.

 

[Readytoride]

Chances are that ...

...when you have a number of big rides planned, several that are new, one of those rides might, just might, fall short of expectations.

That ride was yesterday.

Driving to this ride site in mid Virginia took us two hours, even though we were on highways most of the time traveling at 62-65mph. Left at 6:30am to be there at 8:30 for a 9am start.

It was small with only 100 riders registered. That made me wonder why as I'm used to rides having several hundred riders. I was to find out soon enough. At least the roads won't be jammed with bikes, I thought. Wrong again. I was to learn a lot about charity rides held in the "less than ideal" venue that morning.

The first loop that all three distances - 22, 45, and 65 miles - took was next to the mountains. Very nice and very scenic and surprisingly flat ...until I noticed we were pedalling alongside a soft running stream to one side. I approved. Good way to warm everyone up to the task.

The hills remained at a distance for the first 8 miles, then began to encroach on the route with one gentle rise after another. At that point my ebike became an asset... although my right knee grumbled a bit. So did my right thigh, much to my surprise. I decided the enforced 5 days inside due to the winds and rains of Hurricane Ian this week had undermined my fitness level. Probably not true, but I was going to stick to that story.

There were some fun downhills as well. At one downhill a rider in the metric century met his demise in kissing the pavement at 36mph, cracking his bike's frame, getting blood all over his cycling shirt, scratches all over his face, and having to have the whole bloody mess carted back to the start in the SAG wagon. (He told us this story later that day while we were in a long line for lunch, ending his tale of woe by saying he'd be back next year - with a new bike, of course - to finish the ride. We all wished him luck).

The hills and mountain views disappeared at 10 miles as the route took a turn back towards the towns, which unfortunately meant we were now on too many busy roads with no scenery...and no shoulders. While traffic was polite, it was disconcerting to see the cars and trucks piling up behind with little chance to pass unless there was a decent driveway for the cyclists to pull off and let them go. None of the cyclists were inclined to do that (except me) so the bikes piled up in groups, faster riders catching up to the slower riders and then unable to pass while the cars crawled behind us waiting to an opening on the twisting no-line-of-sight roads to pass.

Traffic was one issue. The other was that the area was very depressed (poor) which was sad to see. So much decay and very little in the way of new except for one development built around a golf course. It seemed weird and out of place in an area where all industry, except farming, had long deserted. There was very little to see on the 2nd half of the loop aside from empty shorn hay fields and rolled bales of hay being loaded on huge flatbed for transport to beef farms in other states. Even less to admire now that the roadside wildflowers had died off for Fall leaving nothing but bland ragged weeds.

My knee and right leg had stopped annoying me halfway through the loop, but by then my riding "Fun-o-meter" had hit zero. At 22 miles where the end of the first loop swung within 1 mile from where the ride started, I bailed. Any desire I had to do the remaining 22 miles, which were away from the scenic mountains, in subdivisions and on locally busy roads, had completely evaporated. I called hubby and told him I was headed back to the parking lot, and he met me at the car. As we loaded the bike back on the rack we noticed a fair number of other riders were returning to the parking lot as well. They had the same complaints I had regarding too much traffic when I talked to them, and had decided to end their rides early.

Hubby had had a good time walking through the local town and poking in the shops while I was riding. A great apres-ride lunch (provided with sandwiches from the local deli) was part of my entry so I left it to him to select the foods he wanted, which he enjoyed. We talked the entire 2 hour ride heading home with the car on cruise control because the highways home were straight runways with very few stops, and there were far too many speed traps being sprung by unsuspecting speeding motorists. I wasn't about to be one of them sitting in shame on the side of the road in front of the chase car flashing those blue and red strobe lights that could be seen for 5 miles down the road. All for an extra 5 to 10 mph faster than the defacto 5-10 mph "sorta legal" speeding over posted limits.

In summary, this wasn't the quality scenic ride I had hoped, and is now crossed off my "future rides" list.

 

[Prairie Dog]

In summary, this wasn't the quality scenic ride I had hoped, and is now crossed off my "future rides" list.

Sorry to hear about your charity ride. Hopefully, the next outing will make up for everything this last one was severely lacking.

 

[RandallS]

Another jaunt up "the hill" again yesterday. Weather was beautiful for the start of our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.
First photo is southwards to downtown Calgary off in the distance - was there last evening at a live theatrical show of Stephen King's "Misery".
2nd shot is facing west - ait's a little hazy so the normal view of the Rockies is obscured.

As it's a long weekend and with the nice weather, the hikers were out in force, so I rode a lot of up and downs around and through the ravines (or coulee's as they're often referred to locally). Encountered quite a few cyclists, and everyone seemed to have the same facial expression.

On my last ride posting I mentioned the TeePees ( Tipis) scattered all over the place - here's another one, although it had what looks like an "extension":

Unfortunately, to get to that one, I had to force myself to ride down this ugly trail

As mentioned earlier, I was riding a lot of the ravines, and eventually go to this place when heading for home.
Common sense prevailed (the picture doesn't really show just how steep that was), and a U-turn was executed and an alternate route selected.

Exiting the park and heading for home:

I used to mention the audiobooks I listen to on my rides, so here's an update.
Book of the week is Richard Osman's "The Bullet that Missed".

Book is being heard via some Shokz Openrun bone conducting earphones, with wind noise damping provided by a set of Cat Ears (no those are NOT sideburns).

Why am I smiling - well all the above and then heading home for a bowl of something I prepared in the morning.

 

[Readytoride]

Sorry to hear about your charity ride. Hopefully, the next outing will make up for everything this last one was severely lacking.

I hope so, too!

I will say (despite the ride) that I'm glad I was able to support the organization's food bank and housing charities. All good causes. Plus the volunteers were so friendly. Such lovely people. ❤

 

[Prairie Dog]

Why am I smiling - well all the above and then heading home for a bowl of something I prepared in the morning.

Nothing beats a heartwarming bowl of goodness to round out a day on the trails. Looks like it's going to be a super Thanksgiving long weekend for riding or, in my case, fall chores.

 

[RabH]

@Prairie Dog Another nice ride, you and your wife must be so strong doing that kind of distance without any assist! As Stefan said, a good meal the night before a long ride is the way to go! I just have a normal breakfast on the day of the ride, just snacking all the way works for me!

@Readytoride Thats a real shame about your ride, it sounded truly awful and I don't blame you for bailing! Great work supporting the charities!

After a full week off the bike I'm itching to get out again and tomorrow is looking much more hopeful, I was actually tempted to go out this morning as it was dry for a change but when I heard the wind and saw the trees bending I came to my senses! I have a feeling the roads will be soaking wet in the morning after all the downpours today, I can always go out a little later if thats the case! The main thing is the winds will only be around 25mph tomorrow so I will be out at some point for sure!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Today was the gravel/dirt path through a nature preserve along the Mohawk River. Another beautiful day! For some weird reason, I encountered only one cyclist on the whole ride, and that was on a paved road on the way to Stewart’s (the iconic regional convenience store chain) to air up my front tire which had started a slow leak somewhere along the way. I love these Specialized Pathfinder Sport tires, but I have to upgrade to the Pathfinder Pro 2bliss so I can lose the tubes.

Given that they‘re 42mm tires, the Creo has no problem with this stuff anyhow. Most of the ride was sort of a tunnel of trees thing, right along the river, although you can’t see it most of the time. It’s a ride I do at least twice a week, one of my favorites.

 

[Prairie Dog]

@Prairie Dog Another nice ride, you and your wife must be so strong doing that kind of distance without any assist! As Stefan said, a good meal the night before a long ride is the way to go! I just have a normal breakfast on the day of the ride, just snacking all the way works for me!

That wasn’t always the case for us and there were a number of contributing factors which ultimately helped improve our overall strength and stamina. It all started two winters ago when we became somewhat sedentary during the cold season. Last year, we invested in an indoor roller trainer and that’s when things started to turn around for us. The rollers keep you engaged in the ride as you rely solely on balance to keep you upright. Surprisingly, the learning curve wasn’t that difficult for either of us to overcome and we never seemed to tire of the routine. I also rode my emtb all of last winter just to get outside occasionally even in below freezing conditions. We started this road riding season off with daily short analog outings combining sprints/climbs averaging 100-125km/week and haven’t altered from that plan. That being said, we truly enjoy our rides together and being able to experience the joy of riding in such wonderful locales, is really what it’s all about for us. Knowing that we have the option of PAS when tackling more difficult sections is certainly reassuring.

As for eats, like you I’m all for breakfast and snacks along the way.

 

[Chargeride]

"Graveloza Poligon Con Las Cojones" Or, The Men Who Ride Across The Road

"Who the gravel cyclists are?" -- "They are the people who ride across the road!"

I didn't think I would take part in the "Las Cojones" group ride with Graveloza. A Graveloza animator wrote in the event description that "The soft game is over. We want to ride hard and fast. If you are not prepared for that, do not ride with us! We will even not provide you with the GPX route! It's Graveloza!" Yet... The weather forecast was excellent. My mate by name of Piotr was encouraging me to join, and he promised me to ride together with me in the slower group. The animator kindly sent me the GPX as he knew I was partly disabled and deserved special attention.

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At the Mazovian Railways train stop in Parzniew. Ready to head to the Warsaw-East Station.

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The group ride of 14 men started at 10:38 am on Saturday at the entry to the Poligon (The Military Range).
"How long did the e-bike man last?", a comment on Strava read. Well, well, well... You'll find out soon!

Man, those guys were fast! The speed of 32 km/h (20 mph) in rough terrain was the norm. Armed with 55/55% assistance of my Speed Vado and with reduced pressure in my 2" tyres, I was doing pretty well until... There was a road segment paved with perfect asphalt. To have more fun, I switched to 70% Turbo (didn't have more assistance on that day) and started racing against a guy called Tomek, just for fun. We both missed a turn into the forest and lost the group! Then, I started making navigation errors (or, I thought so)... It looked me & Tomek would finish the race long past the main group. So we started riding very hard to experience less shame on the finish line...

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This is why you never should ride alone in the forest. The water level in the ford of River Długa was high. A skilled & brave rider could cross the ford. The less brave had to carry their bikes over three wooden "ladders" across the river. Taking my bad health and the weight of the Vado into account, I could not carry my e-bike over the walkways! It was Tomek who saved me!

After some 50 km ridden at mad speed with hardly any stop, my legs had left me. I asked Tomek for a break. As camaraderie or brotherhood is the feature of gravel cycling, Tomek agreed for a 10 minute stop when I could replace the battery, refill the water bottle and let my legs get some blood in them again. So we had almost reached the finish line when... Two other group members rode from behind us! "Which way to the parking lot? Left or right?" -- "Right" I said. And so Tomek was the first on the finish line, and I was the second!

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At the finish line. All fourteen reported there! The animator Michał making the victory sign.

How come Tomek and I were the first?!
Simple. When I thought I made a navigation error, the group was high above us on a sand dune named Góra (The Hill). The main group made a 20 minute stop there while Tomek and I were "pursuing" it However, our two-man group completed the whole planned GPX route! We simply didn't take any longer rest!


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The secret is to eat a lot the preceding night, and also consume a solid breakfast some two hours prior to the ride Post ride, we rode to a hamburger bar. Here: A portion for kids! (I do not eat much!)


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A high performance gravel group ride.

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Total Ride Map. I was naïve to think I could just ride home on my e-bike. I could reach the Warsaw Stadium train station on my last legs (so exhausted I was!) and I also had to make up for deficiencies of the Mazovian Railways in my neighbourhood (instead of waiting for a delayed MR train, I took the SKM, or Fast Urban Train to neighbouring Pruszków).


My 45 km/h Vado is equipped and type-approved as the L1e-B, or a moped. Mopeds need the MOT if you want to be legal. I need to be legal with this e-bike!

P.S. The Brotherhood Cycling Club "Graveloza" has been registered as an organization. I applied for the membership and will surely be admitted as of January 1st, 2023!
P.S. 2. The guy Tomek I rode with is a competing gravel cyclist (6th place in the Mazovian Gravel race!)

That crossing does look dodgy, I could imagine things getting dangerous very quickly if you fell in alone and the bike landed on top of you

 

[Chargeride]

I might have posted this before, but Im still amazed at the height of the pavements/sidewalks in the town where I used to live.

I asked the old guy in the chip shop if he remembers anyone falling off them.
He said hed never heard of it in 60 years.

If you were worried about your child running into the road, how about landing on the roof of traffic

Its hilarious that they guard the steps, but the rest of the road is a 10ft drop to a broken leg.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode out to the in-laws house today to visit, 17 miles and found another barn. It’s in pretty bad shape and about ready to fall down. There is a newer building behind that’s in better shape.

 

[Mulezen]

Half-way into my Sunday morning of 22 miles I stopped for grease and gossip...fortunately for my heartburn the joint was closed.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

That crossing does look dodgy, I could imagine things getting dangerous very quickly if you fell in alone and the bike landed on top of you

Yep. Were I alone, I would have stopped my e-bike before the ford and inspected a possible riding line. It was technically possible to cross the ford even with dry feet if you perfectly knew what you were doing; still dangerous. The "ladders" were the most scary! Good I had a mate to help me.

The ranking list for the Mazovian Gravel 200 Race. The guy who was riding with me (and carried my bike over the river) took the sixth place and was the best performer of our Club there. #7 was leading our Saturday's ride. Numbers 8 and 10 are my club mates as well! I was not aware I was riding at the racing speed with Tomasz!

 

[Readytoride]

Taking the Scenic Route

I described this route to a friend as "27 miles of bliss". I wanted/needed some miles of pretty scenery and calm roads to override the disappointment of Saturday's ride.

All I had to do was wait for the winds to stop blowing. Which they did. At about 2pm. Then I grabbed the Gazelle and headed off to deliver a bike seat pad back to a friend 8 miles up the paved road, then to leisurely enjoy the rest of my afternoon on my bike riding the gravel roads.

It was nice to take my time, stopping and photographing in the perfect light of late afternoon as I went along. All my old familiar roads with views that gently change with subtle nuance each time I ride them. Often those changes are almost unnoticeable until you stop and say "something is different here". Maybe it is just the afternoon Autumn light in a faultless sky reflecting off a mountainside pond with such brightness that it dazzles the eyes so brilliantly that the camera barely sees the flock of geese floating without a care in the world on the glassy waters.

Or a tiny spot of color from a young tree excited to take on the colorful trappings of Fall while the surrounding older trees are more reticent to shed their green memories of the wonderful hot, wet, languid summer.

Or maybe the happy chicken eggs sign that now asked any potential customers to come to the barn because their millions of eggs could no longer fit in the cooler that had once sat near the sign. The price of eggs had gone up, too. Not surprising since the price of feed had skyrocketed during the pandemic and resulting supply chain issues. At least the chickens were still happy.

Or the longhorn Ayrshire cows relaxing in their fields, at first merely curious at my approach. Curiosity which soon turns to alarm and a group "run away" from the fence when I leave my bike on the road so that I can hop over a weed filled ditch in my endeavor to sneak close enough to their fence to take a decent shot. They were having none of that foolishment. They were inclined to remove themselves poste haste from the vacinity to retain appropriate distance from me, then look back to make sure I remained on the correct side of the fence. Which I did, disappointed.

Or maybe it was the centuries old concrete bridges, this one built in 1916 with now slowly crumbling supports, that showed the wear and tear of the decades yet remained on duty gently arching over streams that ebbed and flowed with the rains. Or the horses in adjoining fields studying me as I posed my bike for a shot with the accomodating bridge, then hiked across the mowed uneven ground to their fences to take their photograph as well although it took me too long to cross the grass, in their estimation, to the point where they had lost interest and resumed grazing, making for a boring picture not worth my time and me having to hike back to my patiently waiting bike to head off looking for more photoworthy opportunities.

Or maybe it was the holiday decorations dressing many of the estate entryways along my route. I love the innovative ways some landowners chose to celebrate the fall season. Some are simply traditional with the pumpkins and squash and colorful mums:

While others dive headfirst into the comedic and quirky:

Or maybe it was the moment accidentally meeting an old neighbor who had just happened to be riding in a car through her old neighborhood with a friend and who happened to have just mentioned a story of me from long ago when lo and behold there I was on my bike just starting to go past their car with a smile. My old neighbor leaned out her car window to call my name with a hello. I recognized her voice and swung my bike in a circle to head back to their car, and for the next 20 minutes we chatted away as old friends do. Her friend finally turned off her car's engine when she realized the stream of conversation was going to go on for quite some time. Which it did, finally ending with my old neighbor exacting a promise from me to "stop by for lunch" as we used to do when she lived just up the road. I told her I'd ride my bike to her farm, a 15 mile trip. "Make sure you call first so that I can set aside 3 hours" she made me promise. I know 3 hours will never be enough time to catch up, but I agreed anyway.

Or maybe it was just a perfect afternoon overall.

Yes. Yes it was.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Who wouldn’t love a ride on something called the Snickersville Turnpike? But that last picture of the sweeping gravel turn leading into that long straight through the trees is pretty much my definition of a perfect afternoon. Looks like a great day.

 

[Prairie Dog]

All I had to do was wait for the winds to stop blowing. Which they did. At about 2pm. Then I grabbed the Gazelle and headed off to deliver a bike seat pad back to a friend 8 miles up the paved road, then to leisurely enjoy the rest of my afternoon on my bike riding the gravel roads.

I’m sure that you were feeling a bit of redemption after the last disappointing ride. Nice come back! Sometimes, the more satisfying rides are those closest to home.

 

[dodgeman]

I rode to a nearby city park today called Spring Lake, 21 miles round trip. Also a couple of barns that had escaped my iPhone camera until today. A small one with a little graffiti on it and one that is actively used as part of the nearby colleges ag program.

 

[RabH]

As I thought the roads were soaking wet this morning and the supposed dry weather hadn't materialised! Another look at the forecast on many different apps and I decided to wait until later in the morning and take a chance with heavy rain showers expected, it was a case of weather avoidance once again! I waited until just before midday and the roads had all dried up and the sky looked promising by now! I decided to head southeast and my turnaround point was going to be Biggar, after a full week of heavy rain I didn't want to chance the back roads due to flooding! I reached Carstairs village with the weather still playing ball and as you can see I had nice roads to enjoy! I had the strong breeze at my back for the first 33 miles and I was flying along and having a ball!

I reached the main A73 road which leads to Biggar, this road can be very busy with trucks and cars but it was my lucky day as the road wasn't that busy! With more amazing roads and the strong breeze pushing me along I was in cycling heaven and absolutely loving it! The Tinto and Pentland hills can be seen in the distance, its such a beautiful part of the country!

When I was a youngster (long time ago ) my dad had his own haulage business, just 2 trucks but he was also working his main job which was a fleet engineer! Many times me and my siblings would join him and this road was one he used a lot as there were many sand and gravel quarries in the area! As soon as we arrived at the quarry we headed straight for the sand dunes and had an absolute blast messing about in the sand! This was one of the old quarries we used to visit at Thankerton, it looks very different these days but the main building still exists! I don't think there is any sand these days though so I'm not sure what they are mining now!

The view of the Pentalnd hills just past the quarry!

Another cyclist enjoying the awesome roads and the view!

I passed over the River Clyde just before reaching Biggar and was pleased to see the water levels have risen quite a bit, they had really fallen dangerously low in recent months! There used to be a railway bridge here dating back to 1858, exactly 100 years before I was born!

I passed through Biggar and turned north towards Carnwath, I now had a strong crosswind to deal with but there is a lot of tree cover so it wasn't that bad! A little more open here but with views like these I'm very glad!

I continued north with the weather still looking lovely and the nice views kept coming! The Tinto hills in the distance which I cycled past earlier!

I was now almost at Carnwath and the clouds had started rolling in, I could see big squalls everywhere! Now I was on exposed roads and the rain arrived, as soon as it started the wind really picked up! I had the option of jumping on to the back roads with a lot of tree cover but I was worried about flooding so I stuck it out and thankfully the strong wind blew the clouds away! I just turned the assist up and soldiered on and the clouds were forming all around, I was sure I was going to get really soaked! Eventually I reached the road to Salsburgh and the sky had cleared here so I grabbed a photo of the squalls I had passed through from the top of the hill!

Thankfully I got home dry and very happy with my days cycling, it was so good to get out again!

 

[Twin Valley]

Charl and I are camping and biking in the interprovincial park of Cypress Hills on the Saskatchewan side. The colors of the changing poplar and aspen trees signalling our Fall season are truly amazing. After yesterday's invite to farming friends in the area for our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner both of us felt the need to work off the turkey stuffing (or was it the never empty wine glasses) - the first picture Charl took of me while I had to summit the hiking trail while she happily stayed back and out of trouble on the main trail. The 2nd picture is from that bald knoll capturing the colors of the Cypress Hills that join the prairie abruptly. In the far west distance the Rocky mountains were pretty hazy from some still lingering forest fires.