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As we have Munrobiker's annual Year in Mountains thread, perhaps time for us mortals to have our annual picture thread.
The Rules:
1: It's about your 3 best rides, not the best pictures
2: Three photos. No more.
2: One sentence maximum about why the ride was so special.
(I'm trying to work out how to host a photo comp for best photos from forumites)
I'll get it going, since I'm rummaging around in my photo albums anyway. I don't take photos of many of my rides so I've stuck with what I have shots of, and aren't already in my thread. Even then I really couldn't trim it down to three so I'll break the rules straight off the bat just to wind you up. I think the key message from them is that bikes are good but having a good time on bikes with your pals is better.
[b]Strathpuffer[/b]
The tenth anniversary of my old racing partner's death, and the night before a friend died in surgery, but in spite of all that emotion my old friends and I had a great time riding hard in their memory, had loads of fun, we got third and I even somehow set the second fastest lap so here's a photo of me, a teammate and our support playing silly buggers and pretending to be serious.
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[b]Last Day at the Glentress Freeride Park[/b]
Riding here takes me back to warm spring evenings sessioning the park with my uni friends after a day of riding elsewhere in the valley and since it's being ripped down to make room for people who want to go on holiday in a dingey clearing in a wet featureless forest, we had one last day of "one last run", dicking about, being pals, eating cake and having a nice time.
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[b]Ten Under the Ben[/b]
The new course is great but I remember it for having a great time messing about in a car parking, joking and drinking with my pals, and the racing was extremely tight and thrilling with the pair behind us - the fact that we won was just a nice bonus.
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[b]Touring with my Wife[/b]
As far as we were concerned, my wife's cycling days (other than aggressive commuting) were over, she'd got her claws in me, she could sack it off - however, this year we did two tours on gravel bikes with her friends and, a couple of bennies along the way aside, she had a great time, rode distances I didn't think she had in her and she was really, really happy.
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Even then I really couldn’t trim it down to three so I’ll break the rules straight off the bat just to wind you up
Mine are all before the 8th July as haven't had much time on the bike since Kevin's Alps incident.
Took in quite a few places on our Alps trip. Livingo stands out as the weather and trails were perfect and I felt on fire
The Peak is when I'm in my happy place. Potato Alley always puts a smile on my face
It's not that often that I get to ride with my eldest daughter and so any ride with her is special
A three day Moray triangle gravel-whisky-posh coffee-cake tour in 20-28*c with old friends? Yes please.
The bike that stw_forum found for my nephew, who's had a really rough time and has more to come, he RIPPED around Llandegla like a BOSS.
Mrs_oab finally got an eBike to compensate for illness. Just look at her face.
Had a week out in Bourg with mates that we'd not been on holiday with for a few years.
This was towards the end of a huge day.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/53040981820/in/dateposted/
A short break in Dunkeld with Mrsstu and a mate.
Brilliant trails and a great time with a good pal.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/53186555362/in/dateposted/
An old mucker from the Midlands came up to stay with us for a few days. I managed to drag him round a 2000 metres plus day on his last day despite him thinking he couldn't do that much climbing.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/53172970601/in/dateposted/
riding 100 miler to the Jennride. i picked the bike up the day before.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380085816_12a9e1fa7d_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380085816_12a9e1fa7d_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pk1TMb ]20230527_102214[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/91703444@N06/ ]20ston[/url], on Flickr
me and Mrs ton on tour in Belgium and Holland. on a bus with our bikes with 10 other folk and bikes.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380258913_a22c6f4bd2_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380258913_a22c6f4bd2_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pk2MeB ]20230614_164043[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/91703444@N06/ ]20ston[/url], on Flickr
on tour with the sweary boys elder section in september. always a good trip.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380259953_fee8bb2651_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53380259953_fee8bb2651_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2pk2Mxx ]20230910_142222[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/91703444@N06/ ]20ston[/url], on Flickr
4 days touring Islay and Jura with my wife - the longest away from the kids in 18 years
18 yo daughter happily joining me for a trip to Bute in September
A week on Tiree
Alps for the first time 4 years ago .. The 4am start on Helvellyn and this years 5 years in the making WHW for the sense of achivement .
Wow.. great idea and good excuse to look back at the years rides. Not sure I can match the stories above though. Brilliant 👍
Will have a think.
Great thread idea! For me:
First trip to Morzine - never ridden anything like that, superb long weekend with good mates
https://flic.kr/p/2pjXGpD
Another weekend away with the club - the hottest day of the year for a long loop at Isle of Purbeck, including sea swims and a pub lunch. Superb
https://flic.kr/p/2pjXGoB
And finally - new bike day, been striving to afford a new big bike for a couple of years as my old Devinci Troy slowly died - welcome to my world YT Capra! (Photo is in the shop, but I went straight to a ride!)
https://flic.kr/p/2peP8aF
A proper cold, still, clear and snowy day up on the Border Ridge in January, making use of the tracks packed down by Spine Race runners.
Not really one ride, but a series: a week in camped in Torridon in April ticking off all the classics with a good mate.
Four days of sun, warm days and mild nights, epic scenry, coffee stops, bivvies with old mates, and beers with mates old and new at the end - Cairngorms Loop group finish, June.
Clearly I peaked in June, and it was all downhill from there.
Dirt Farm way back in March, my first proper day on the bike of the year and also rode with a mate from overseas amongst others.
My first visit to Dyfi with the same mate from overseas as the Dirt Farm trip, scary but also brilliant but also bittersweet as the mate who had arranged the trip was out after a nasty crash at Windhill a week or so before.
Night ride in the FOD, this was a week after my dad had been taken to hospital and I desperately needed time to clear the head and escape everything for a while knowing that it was highly unlikely he would ever come back home.
Love the variety of rides so far. Keep 'em coming.
Got myself a lovely new hardtail near the start of the year so had some great rides getting to know it.
Took it to the Cotswolds early on and as a photo challenge on here, took a picture of it with bridges.
The second bike picture is actually a motorcycle picture. I sold on my road going 750 in favour of a bike that would allow me to ride some off road and get into a few adventures.
Yup. It did that.
In the Summer, we had a magical trip up through Northumberland, into the Highlands and finally to Orkney, more specifically Papa Westray, to stay with my cousin. I had two bikes in the van the whole trip and only ended up getting them out for one afternoon we were so busy seeing things.
But it was amazing to ride along a golden beach and down the tiny island with the dog [s] in tow[/s] running ahead like a nutter.
Golden times 😊
I even nearly saw the op 👆
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May - I rode from Montrose to Glenelg via Mt Keen, Feshie, Corrieyairrick ns Kinlochhourn, then back over to Inverness by The Affric Kintail way. Six days, every day was magical, and the route id spent a long time planning and anticipating was brilliant.
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August - a hundred Km route around Hebden Bridge, linking up my favourite bits of south pennine xc bimbles. My son came along to keep me going, the photo is 90 km in, i was aching, he was still apparently fresh. Fantastic memories.
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September - A wind and rain lashed Arran loop, i'd wanted to do this for years, and it didn't disappoint, it was one part of a lovely week of mountain and coastal walks, swimming, otters and eagles. And the sandwich stop in Lochranza...
Had a really good riding year, kicking off with my first Strathpuffer. Was privileged to be in a team with three top riders including Munrobiker. Had my arse handed to me on the first climb, blowing badly and wondering how I was going to last, but thoroughly enjoyed it all. Fireside bants and fun riding, and we came third. Terrible pic though.
Moved on to my second go at the Fred Whitton in April. Just as hard as I remember it. Went well for the most part until mega cramp on Wrynose, but cleared Hardknott, as the pic testifies. For such a big event, it has a great atmosphere. A definite highlight.
My best event of the year by far was the Frontier 300, but I didn't take any pics and there wasn't a photographer (I don't think). But I pushed myself to longer distances throughout the summer, discovered gravel, and generally had a great time exploring places. The Gralloch was too much of a race for me - way too fast - but I enjoyed it nonetheless and Galloway is one of the best places for gravelling.
Did @Barney's Komoot ride around Ben Ledi, It was a big 'ole lump of a ride 35k and 1300m of climbing (sorry pushing), some great views though.
Went for an explore from Llandegla, ended up doing the World's end ride to Llangollen, which was pretty vertiginous in places!, Ended up doing a way bigger loop than I intended, just as well Llangollen has plenty of cafes and ice cream.
Went to North Yorks for a weekend and had a somewhat frustrating ride (loads of blocked BW and locked gates across RoW) but sometimes you ride in places that seem like "The land that time forgot" type valleys, there's no roads in or out of this, just a wee track through the ferns, Its only on foot or bike that you get to see places like this. Which give them a sort of magical quality
Careful use of punctuation meant I managed the 3 sentence rule. Others are not so creative! 😀
Nothing spectacular, but it was different..
Hopefully eBike rides count, meant I could get out for those long rides like I used to, 'cept they don't take as long.
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Fell off
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Then there was this one in the filth, on a hardtail, where I actually felt fit, even though it wasn't that long it was a joy.
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Strange year for me, no consistency and despite planning lots of great routes and epic weekends away what I actually managed was generally short notice and hastily planned.
Tayside Tailwinder - Guiltily taking advantage of a tailwind out, train home and exploring the absolute goldmine of new tracks and trails above the Firth of Tay
Lyon Lawers and the Moors Audax - Longest ride to date, took it easy and finished strong, redefining what I thought I could (comfortably) ride.
Local roads for local people - Exploring locally on the road bikes, enjoying sprinting against new found riding buddies and finding new climbs (sorry, two pics, old and new bikes).
Lyon Lawers and the Moors Audax
Route needed 🙂
NW Scotland, fantastic road riding in incredible, unlikely weather - this is the top of the Bealach na Bà, a great pass to cycle up (and down the other side):
Top of the Col de Sarenne, going over Alps d'Huez the wrong way. One of the highlights on my Rome to Home excursion.
Finally, a typical recent day out in the Black Mountains:
Route needed
Sorry, Strava link for laziness.
https://www.strava.com/activities/9770768058
My buddy was suffering so we didn't take the cycle path out of Killin, nor did we take the south bank of Loch Earn, both would have been preferable to the busier roads but actually Lochearnhead to Comrie was quite fun, I had my good legs on and there wasn't much traffic.
Top of the Col de Sarenne, going over Alps d’Huez the wrong way. One of the highlights on my Rome to Home excursion.
I recognise that signpost and rock! Had a good long sit down at the top there, first day of our trip and I went chasing my much fitter, much lighter buddy up the Sarenne. Never really recovered from that for the rest of the trip 🙄
I used to do all my cycling with my son. Now he's grown up it's a rarity. This was a good day out.
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A month and 1700 miles mainly through France.
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Up in the northern loop of the Highland Trail 550 just before storm Babet curtailed my trip.
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I recognise that signpost and rock! Had a good long sit down at the top there, first day of our trip and I went chasing my much fitter, much lighter buddy up the Sarenne. Never really recovered from that for the rest of the trip 🙄
It was hard work on a hot day with a fully loaded bike!
Me and my son bikepacking. Doesn't need a second or third sentence.
Just a ride out on one of our usual "local" loops back in January but snow drifts and forestry works turned it to a bit of an adventure in uncharted lands.
We had made a number of attempts over a couple years to find the crash site of Spitfire AD140 "Blue Peter" in our local hills and while we had found the marker for the pilot (couple km away) we had never found the marker stone for the plane. We made one final attenpt on a pretty cold and miserable day - climbing into the valley on a new forestry road under construction - and success.
This ride was during our holiday trip to Colorado. It was one of those rides that started out as simply spotting some shapes on Google maps satellite layer and being intrigued as to what they were and their history. So, one 5 hour continuous climb later were found ourselves over 11,000 ft up perched on the Devils Slide Trestles up on Rollins Pass.
Definitely not the best pictures, and paragraphs rather than sentences, but:
Ride to the Sun. Solo ride as my friends are all soft, but a cracking year this year. Set off with a group who were far too fast for me to maintain, dropped off and just enjoyed a steady ride and a chat with a few people. Still got in for sunrise, enjoyed a beer, enjoyed a bacon butty at Cramond Kirk, then rolled gently along the Firth and up the old railway lines to Waverley for the train back home.
Back of Skiddaw with my Adventure Race teammates as part of a training weekend. Scorching hot weather and a couple of people wanting to focus on MTB basics meant we did a shorter, slightly more technical ride rather than working on endurance. I'd not ridden Skiddaw House to Mungrisdale in years, and had forgotten how lovely a piece of singletrack it is in good conditions.
Bamburgh sportive 50km loop. Not the longest, nor the fastest, nor the hardest, but the little fella in the blue is my 75 year old Dad, and it's always lovely to get out for a decent spin with him. He's had a few health issues this year so any ride together is something to be treasured.
Due to my ongoing long covid, my three outdoor ride highlights are pretty modest...
End of April, cycling slowly up two proper hills (Kilmeston to Beacon Hill and Beaches Hill) for first time since getting covid late September '22, my longest (~31.5 miles) and hilliest (~2000 feet) ride of the year before long covid clinic told me I was trying to do way too much too soon.
Early October, after a summer where I was mostly restricted to 30-40mins exercise per day, slowly crawling up my steepest hill of the year (White Way) in easiest gear.
Early October, my one and only full-gas effort up a proper hill this year (Beaches Hill near Bishops Waltham again), unsurprisingly much slower than my best time due to being ~92Kg instead of ~80Kg as well as being much less fit but great to do something along the lines that I loved doing until long covid came along.
Fife has disappeared
Thank God for that.
A great year on the bikes for us, ridden more than ever and done a few things that have pushed me a bit - technical, physical and some bigger adventures.
3 pictures from 3 very different adventures.
April, Torridon Lollipop with my mate. A tough but epic day out, got super lucky with the weather 😎
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A week with MTB Verbier. This is near the top of the Grand St Bernard pass, we carried / pushed up to the border and dropped back down in to Switzerland. <br />I’ve got better pictures of this day but I quite like this one.
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Badger Divide at the beginning of September over 4 days. I’d never done anything like this before so was a bit apprehensive heading off solo but had an awesome time & tbh pretty pleased with myself that I went and did it 🙂<br />[img] 
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Bump
Heartbreak Ridge, worthy of the hype
Tuscany tour, Strada Bianchi, fantastic tour
Not a ride, but a bike, Tern GSD, makes the mundane fun
One of the best and hardest days out on a bike up Sgòr Gaoith and around Glen Feshie.
Family cycle tour around Holland based on the advice and motivation on STW forum.
Day out at Whinlatter, 10 years of patience and nurturing paid off in one day.
