Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

You do not seem to be convinced to your Innerbarends? :)
The river in the first vid: Crossable? :D
I probably use the inner bar ends about 20% of the time. My bars have 17 degrees of sweep and the 710 grips are quite comfortable, so the position on the grips is pretty nice. I tend to use the inner bar ends more on longer rides.

Regarding the river, I don’t know where the access points are. Our river and stream beds are rocky and tend to be slippery, so crossing moving water is a bit risky. Vermont is full of Granite and Marble.
 
Django, is that Ascutney at around 1:12 in the first video?

And, maybe consider giving us longer intervals between the transitions. Sort of get a chance to settle into the view of each scene before you take it away!

I drove through the western side of Massachusetts yesterday through the Berkshires, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Pittsfield and Williamstown before going back into NY over the Petersburg gap. It was drop dead gorgeous! I really wished I had my Creo in the back when I got around Stockbridge.

Heading for the Saranac Lake area Monday and it’s supposed to do nothing but rain for three days. I expect the trees are all bare over there already, so I’m happy to have your videos to look at.
 
Django, is that Ascutney at around 1:12 in the first video?

And, maybe consider giving us longer intervals between the transitions. Sort of get a chance to settle into the view of each scene before you take it away!

I drove through the western side of Massachusetts yesterday through the Berkshires, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Pittsfield and Williamstown before going back into NY over the Petersburg gap. It was drop dead gorgeous! I really wished I had my Creo in the back when I got around Stockbridge.

Heading for the Saranac Lake area Monday and it’s supposed to do nothing but rain for three days. I expect the trees are all bare over there already, so I’m happy to have your videos to look at.

That is Ascutney. Ascutney, and Morningside Flight Park are what brought me to this area. I don’t fly any more, but I see no reason to leave.

My earlier videos had longer clips, but I was concerned that the videos and clips were too long. I try to vary the length of the clips depending on content. Is there a standard or formula? I have only been making videos for a few months and there is a bit of a learning curve. I welcome all opinions. I want to improve and constructive criticism is very welcome.

I spent about a year in your neck of the woods. I made my first solo at Schenectady Airport. Nice horse and lake county.
 
I don’t know any rules of filmmaking, but I do know I very much enjoy the tours of Vt you offer us. My brother lives across the river in Enfield, right on the bike path, and we ride around Mascoma Lake quite often.

Back in the dawn of time I was a fine Vermont Academy student and ski team member, and we spent lots of time skiing at Ascutney when we weren’t at Okemo. Always liked that hill!
 
I don’t know any rules of filmmaking, but I do know I very much enjoy the tours of Vt you offer us. My brother lives across the river in Enfield, right on the bike path, and we ride around Mascoma Lake quite often.

Back in the dawn of time I was a fine Vermont Academy student and ski team member, and we spent lots of time skiing at Ascutney when we weren’t at Okemo. Always liked that hill!

I have spent many happy days sailing from the Dartmouth Yacht Club on Mascoma and skiing on Okemo. Video Part 2 goes by Okemo.

If you are ever in the area and would like a guided tour of the less traveled roads, give me a shout.
 
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I decided to put the bike in the car today and head south to Moffat, where I would then do a big loop out to Peebles and back! 3 months ago I did the same route in the opposite direction, that time I started in Peebles! I arrived in Moffat to see the hills covered in frost, I looked at my gps and it was showing 26F! Thankfully I was prepared and as there was very little wind (for a change) it didn't actually feel too cold! So I set off and it was straight into a climb which wasn't too steep, it just kept going and going for the first 11 miles! There were some descents thankfully and the early morning mist made for some nice photos!

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The roads here are in really good condition for the most part and with the hills on either side its very sheltered and a real joy to ride, I just love this part in particular!

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The road then climbs gradually up to over 1100ft, this is looking back down from further up the climb!

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It amazes me how the sheep don't tumble down the hills as they are very steep, they must have very good grip! A small stepped waterfall part way up the climb!

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It was time for the first proper descent of the day and before long Loch of the Lowes came into view, I was hoping it would be like glass today as there was very little wind but my luck was out! It still looked lovely though!

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This is quickly followed by St Mary's Loch!

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Looking towards the hills back at Moffat from the other side of the loch!

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Another view of St Mary's Loch from the northern end!

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After the lochs its another big climb up to over 1100ft and then the big descent to 450ft into Innerleithen! The nice views just keep coming!

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The River Tweed at Innerleithen!

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I reached my destination at Peebles and the lovely weather continued, this is the view from the Tweed Bridge at Peebles looking north towards the Pentland Hills!

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I left Peebles and turned off the main road and took the quieter back roads through the village of Stobo, from here its a gradual climb up to 1350ft for around 20 miles and the wind had started to pick up now! Of course it was a headwind and around 20mph, thankfully I was now on my second battery and had plenty juice left to turn the assist up and negate the headwind and climb! The views were still pretty special!

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This is the view near the top of the climb at around 1200ft looking west towards Elvanfoot!

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I reached the top of the climb and now had a beautiful descent back down into Moffat, the clouds were shrouding the top of the hills at the Devils Beeftub (very starnge name I know 🤣 ) 3 months ago this was where my ride started, a nice 1000ft ascent from Moffat to warm me up!;) This time I had the 1000ft descent to enjoy!:D

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I arrived back in Moffat and was just about to turn into the car park where my car was parked when I noticed my gps was showing 69.7 miles, I just had to round it up to 70 of course!;) So I continued past the car park and came across this nice little duck pond! I have passed this many times and never noticed it before, thats the beauty of the bicycle!:D

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Another fanatstic day on the bike, I just love this part of Scotland and will keep returning for as long as I can! This route is very enjoyable both ways round, I'm really not sure which way is best...I will just call it a draw as they are both equally good!
 

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That is Ascutney. Ascutney, and Morningside Flight Park are what brought me to this area. I don’t fly any more, but I see no reason to leave.

My earlier videos had longer clips, but I was concerned that the videos and clips were too long. I try to vary the length of the clips depending on content. Is there a standard or formula? I have only been making videos for a few months and there is a bit of a learning curve. I welcome all opinions. I want to improve and constructive criticism is very welcome.

I spent about a year in your neck of the woods. I made my first solo at Schenectady Airport. Nice horse and lake county.
I use four seconds, depends on the audience.
Youtube watchers bore very easily, longer clips need something else to keep the attention span.
Of course theres still plenty of room for long, melancholy inducing cuts, but it has to be done right.
millions of people watch uncut train journeys.
 
I use four seconds, depends on the audience.
Youtube watchers bore very easily, longer clips need something else to keep the attention span.
Of course theres still plenty of room for long, melancholy inducing cuts, but it has to be done right.
millions of people watch uncut train journeys.

Thanks. I appreciate the input.

This last video has one longish clip going over and down a hill, but I liked the way that it worked with the music and the foliage was too nice to chop.
 
Another fanatstic day on the bike, I just love this part of Scotland and will keep returning for as long as I can!
That does it! Enough of just looking at these gorgeous pictures. I'm booking my tickets for Scotland tomorrow.😄
 
RabH, your pictures are killing me, such scenery. I’m reduced to posting pictures of barns because one corn field looks like another where I live in Illinois.

I like your barns. My wife grew up on a Vermont dairy farm. I have grown to appreciate barns and tractors more than I ever thought that I could. I enjoy the diversity on this forum.

I do miss David’s stories and pictures from Australia. I don’t think that I am alone.
 
I have registered to and paid for the participation in the Mazovian Gravel 200 (2023) race :) The distance will be 200+ km, and the time limit allows for taking an overnight stay. I will be representing Graveloza Cycling Club.

While applying, I explained my status as of a disabled person who intends to ride an e-bike. Seems nobody has even read that! However, I need to make a serious decision about my e-bike selection.

Even if I do not intend to compete, it would be totally dishonest and laughable to ride my "moped" or Speed Vado 5.0 on the race. Therefore, it has to be my Vado SL and four Range Extenders as well as a charger. Meticulous battery use planning will be required, especially as the Range Extenders charge very slow!


So far it is only 60 participants but the main round of applications starts only today (I registered as an early bird). My Graveloza mate Paul will represent the United Kingdom! :)

I'm excited!
 
Exciting! Best of luck, too!

Question: Do you plan on carrying your 4 range extenders the entire race, or can you stash them at various aid stations along the way?
@Readytoride,
The planned distance will be more close to 250 km. The effective charge of all the batteries would be 880 Wh. Assuming the distance of 240 km, it would mean 3.66 Wh/km, which is indeed not very much for the rough terrain. As the allowed time will be 48 hours (I think), I will need to recharge as much as possible at a pit-stop. So yes, I need to carry the 4 kg extra with me.

Flora, once you wrote a report from a gravel group ride where a picture of a cyclist wading through deep water could be found. Could you find that post of yours and post a link? Important to me!
 
@Readytoride,
The planned distance will be more close to 250 km. The effective charge of all the batteries would be 880 Wh. Assuming the distance of 240 km, it would mean 3.66 Wh/km, which is indeed not very much for the rough terrain. As the allowed time will be 48 hours (I think), I will need to recharge as much as possible at a pit-stop. So yes, I need to carry the 4 kg extra with me.

Flora, once you wrote a report from a gravel group ride where a picture of a cyclist wading through deep water could be found. Could you find that post of yours and post a link? Important to me!
You mean this pic?
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It was a professional shot taken during the 1725 Gravel Grinder charity ride in Loudoun County this Spring. You can find more photos here: https://www.brucebuckleyphotography...oun-1725-Gravel-Grinder-2022-Free-With-Logos/
 
Generally races (that have awards) don't allow ebikes. Assistance unbalances a level playing field. Just curious: have they made an exception for you as a handicapped individual?
 
Generally races (that have awards) don't allow ebikes. Assistance unbalances a level playing field. Just curious: have they made an exception for you as a handicapped individual?
It is unclear now. I described my position in the application form. It seems nobody read the form but they took the money. I will take part anyway. Even not as the race member. I do not want to be put in the ranking!

P.S. Thank you for the photo! I would like to re-read your related post but now I will find it with the Search function!

 
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