Gravel and Dust

On Saturday 25 July 2020, I ventured out and enjoyed a fabulous Gravel Ride in the countryside ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐ŸŒพ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿœ๐ŸฆŽ๐Ÿžโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ˜! The Cow-House-Oxbow-Gran-Fondo Ride ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿ„๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿคฉ kicked into action at 8 am.

What is a Gran Fondo Ride? It is a long-distance bicycle ride exceeding 100 km, on either a road bike or in my case a mountain bike, in modernday cycling. The Gran Fondo ride originaed in Italy in 1970, and roughly translates into English as “Big Ride”

Safety in Numbers ๐Ÿ’ช at the order of the day, responsibly doing a great ๐Ÿฆ  Social Distancing Ride with a few friends! Mask and Buff clad, we alternated between, fours ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ and twos ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ! ๐Ÿ‘‰ The split ride with regrouping along the route worked like a charm, and allowed the guys and gals to enjoy some fresh country air!

The route surprised us with Jeep track along the railway line ๐Ÿš‚! Toot toot, we saw two lovely locomotives ๐Ÿš‚ with cargo ๐Ÿคฉ! Then the wide open gravel roads welcomed us ๐Ÿšด๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ! Farmland ๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒฑ with cows ๐Ÿ„๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿฎ, pretty horses ๐ŸŽ, tractors ๐Ÿšœ๐Ÿšœ and large trucks ๐Ÿš›๐Ÿšš met us en route!

Awesome to push the limits at times ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ˜…! Then also to fall back some, to support and encourage my teamies, at a more casual pace ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿค—๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ! Itโ€™s about having some well deserved fun in the sun โ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ’ƒ, combined with great camaraderie ๐Ÿคฉ!

The Black Stallion ๐Ÿšฒ behaved himself beautifully! Every pedal stroke and gear shift smooth, the chain humming sweetly, making my heart sing with joy ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ! At nearly 14 yrs old, my little Vintage gives me so much pleasure ๐Ÿšฒ๐Ÿ˜! Love it!

This ride also completed the Versus Socks Virtual Ride which I supported ๐Ÿงฆ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅณ! Magic ๐ŸŒŸ! Managed to snag a couple of badges on STRAVA ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅณ! Little motivators to do the next ride, a little faster, a bit better, a couple of clicks further ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ˜!

Back at Cow-House, I devoured two scrumptious muffins ๐Ÿง๐Ÿง๐Ÿ˜‹ and some chilled ice-tea, because this ๐Ÿฅ worked up an appetite of note ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ˜‚! Reflecting on a fabulous day!

โญ๏ธ #Garmin gave a little Tech Glitch, nevertheless, thereโ€™s always a solution to everything, managed to upload my ride to STRAVA and Relive ๐Ÿ‘Œ! โญ๏ธ

NOW ๐Ÿ‘‰ Ready for a recovery ride ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ˜! Rubber side down! Stay Motivated! Keep Moving! Be Safe! REBEL Life ๐Ÿšดโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ˜ท๐Ÿ’ƒ๐ŸŽถ๐Ÿฅณ!

Photos by Luculle Stols – @real.life.rebel on Instagram

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