Hi all 😃 My entry for Becky’s November WalkingSquares.
With some of our trails, paths & roads now covered with leaf mulch & mud, we’ve got some new grippier tyres (Schwalbe Smart Sam Plus) for our bikes. I fitted them the other day & yesterday was our first time out on them to see how they handle the conditions. We headed up to Palacerigg Country Park on tracks that we wouldn’t have ridden on the original tyres; the new ones did very well 😃
Hi all 😃 My post for Ragtag Daily Prompt Wednesday: Achievement.
To most, doing a months shopping in one go is probabaly not a great deal; when your only transportation is a pair of bikes, I think it is quite an achievement.
Hi all 😃 My entry for this weeks challenge, set by Anne from Slow Shutter Speed: Local Vistas.
These are our bikes, Stormy (mine) & Kali (Susan’s). These are our only mode of transportation; as well as doing all our shopping with them (yes, we have a trailer for them), we also go sightseeing with them.
Hi all 😁 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking, “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).
This week’s Fan Of… is my awesome wife, Susan. Susan is a crazy lady who has & does put up with my wierdness & we have been together for 25 years now, & married for 19.
Susan has just finished the first draft of a the first in the series of a Romantic Suspense novel — Running the Asset, full of “Sex, Lies, Scots & Spies. She also runs a Things in Scotts (TiS) post with snippets of the novel using the Scotts language.
Continue reading “Susan — Fan Of… #156”
Hi all 😃 My entry for this weeks challenge, set by Tina: Favourite images of 2021, Terri’s Sunday Stills & Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge.
These first shots are not just some of my favourites for 2021, but of all time. I enjoyed this session in particular because I arrived at Fannyside Lochs at sunrise & the conditions I found were as I expected. I felt I was able to get my eye in quickly, & of course, Lensy made an appearance.
…and so to the big change mentioned in the title; the arrival of our e-bikes. My wife (Susan) & I, have been car-free for nearly 10 years now & pre-covid would get around on public transport. Once covid came along, we decided public transport was a risk too far, so any travelling was done on foot. All this changed in May when our bikes, Stormy & Kali arrived & we were once again mobile. This photo & the new found sense of freedom that it represents, is our favourite of the year.
Hi all 😁 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).
This week’s Fan Of… is Lunch with a View.
Hi all 😃 My entry for Xingfumamas Pull Up a Seat Challenge & Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles & Wheels.
Hi all 😁 Feel free to join in this weekly challenge whenever you find yourself thinking “I’m a fan of…” (see below for how-to).
This week’s Fan Of.. is our new bike trailer for towing with our e-bikes.
Hi, all 😃 If you’ve seen my Kalkhoff E-Bikes — Fan Of… #115 post, you’ll know that my wife & I recently got these bikes & are using them to explore the local area. As I’ll be taking plenty of photographs on the trips, I thought I’d share some of these with you 😀
This is also my post for Terri’s Sunday Stills: Are You Ready for the Great Outdoors; the answer is a resounding Yes 😁 & Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Water Found in Nature.
Another long ride this week, 80km (50 miles). Looking on various maps, we’d seen that there was an old Tower House in Alloa, so we thought we’d head over to the other side of the Forth & go have a look. Our ride was the usual mixture of canal paths, National Cycle Routes & cycle-friendly roads.
As usual, we joined the Forth & Clyde Canal (NCR 754) at Lock 20 & headed east towards the Kelpies. It was a bright, still morning with some good reflections in the canal, plenty of flowers & even a Heron sunning itself in the morning sun.
From the Kelpies, we headed north on NCR 76 towards the Clackmannanshire bridge to cross the Forth. There were some great views from the bridge of the older Kincardine Bridge and the flood plain as a whole.
Once over the bridge, we continued northwest towards Alloa along designated “cycle friendly roads” where the cars are told to slow for oncoming cyclists 😃 We paused briefly to get some shots of Clackmannan up on the hill; Clackmannan Tower is just visible through the trees in the last pic (we visited there on the way back).
Finally we reached Alloa Tower.
It was now time to start heading back, with a quick sidestep to Clackmannan Tower. This sits up on the hilltop with commanding views over the Forth Valley & the Ochil Hills to the North.
On the way back we decided to return via the Kincardine Bridge & headed onto a coastal cycle path (very narrow) which took us under the Clackmannanshire Bridge.
A wrong turn near Kincardine happily led us to a perfect spot for lunch. This was next to a large anchor acting as a memorial for lost sailors & ships from the local area. Again, there were great views of the Forth & the Kincardine Bridge.
After lunch, we headed up onto the bridge & picked up NCR 76 to take us back to the Kelpies, link up with NCR 754 & back home.
…and finally — there is one downside to cycling in good weather, particularly if you have little hair on your head. Whereas my wife suffers from helmet hair, I suffer from helmet head. You can actually see the pattern of my helmet on my scalp where it has been shaded from the sun 🤣🤣
