I’m sure some of you have been out five times already. My excuses are NYD – staggeringly hungover. 2nd Jan – horrible weather. 3rd Jan – like the 2nd only somehow even wetter, 4th Jan went to work, 5th of Jan… decided it wasn’t going to stop raining so had a quick pre-dark ride int the Malverns.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BUwjT3]First ride of 2016 – Muddy Malverns[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CJJkEt]First ride of 2016 – Muddy Malverns[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Slippy as I’ve ever ridden them. And I’ve lived here 8 years. Really muddy as well which – even when it’s horrible everywhere else – is unusual. Also steeper than I remember 😉 I can’t imagine wha the Forest is going to be like. Well I can, but I’m still going on Sunday!

What do you have from your first 2016 ride. Cheer me up – I’m not expecting to see many dry trails…

My NYD Pootle

New Year’s Day in the local woods. Muddy.

You’ve done well to bring all that tinsel out with you 🙂

Bottom photo is how I’m expecting the FoD to be. Well the drier bits anyway.

Didn’t take any pics on the first ride, so this is from the second one of the year this eve…

I was working New Years Day,got out on the 2nd.Once again on my bargain Halfords £250 CX bike.Once again it was raining..

from Monday

High above woolacombe as the clouds rolled in

Colournoise you got some image trickery going on there… is there a bike in that pic?

Well done all of you for braving the mud I had enough by Christmas but am now getting withdrawal symptoms….

Some great photos there! My hands were too cold and wet to take a photo

I would’ve taken photos, but it was bloody cold. So I didn’t

Rd1 of a very soggy soggy bottom XC race.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/CPsiBg]DSC04355 (Medium)[/url] by fully sussed, on Flickr

NYD – crashed my road bike on the only patch of ice within 30 miles of my house. Smashed my helmet and ripped both overshoes so god knows how I actually hit the floor. (Other than really, really hard.)

Haven’t been back on the bike since but may try the turbo trainer tomorrow.

Didn’t take any pictures just to round a great ride off…

Blimey! That’s not the way you want to kick off the new year!

Some great pics there. It’s not cold here Nick, it’s just endlessly, depressingly wet. The sun came out briefly on our ride. At EXACTLY the same time as the rain came down harder. I have begun to shake my fist at the sky 😉

Still my new tyre range ‘the ark’ and ‘the noah’ are going to make me famous 🙂

Pepper woods was a tad damp!
[URL=http://s791.photobucket.com/user/stumpym4/media/IMG_20160103_100034_zpsvpznoyid.jpg.html][/URL]

2nd ride in the Peaks

I’m not much of a fan of singlespeeds these days but that ^^ looks an entirely appropriate response to those conditions….

One of my most remembered ride in the peaks was changing brake pads at FairHolmes having gone through front and rear in FOUR miles 🙂

Wrote a thing: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3584

Still almost looking forward to getting out there again. Assuming the washing machine doesn’t explode first!

tuskaloosa – Member
Colournoise you got some image trickery going on there… is there a bike in that pic?

Not really trickery. Been playing recently with the panorama app on my phone trying to deliberately get it to distort / clone / chop up objects.

Had a quick local ride early on Sunday morning. Out and back before the rain but very muddy in places.

NYD on the Glenfiddich estate.

Should be knee deep really.

roverpig nice…looks pretty awesome

colour noise could have fooled me.. like the pic though

That’s the weather I want RoverPig. I’ve had to de-ice the car exactly ONCE this winter. If all this rain had been snow, we’d be marooned!

roverpig – looks awesome +1

I’d post a photo, but it’s yet to happen 😥 New Yrs Day lost entirely to a fireball whiskey induced headache, 2nd shooting and moving sheep, 3rd – had planned to go, got ready, mate even came round, bailed as it was so wet. Worked the last 2 days and had stuff on in the evenings…….

Maybe tonight!

First ride on NYD, but no pics. This was from the second. Nice to be getting out again after having unending colds the last couple of months.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BVRi7c]2016-01-03 12.40.09[/url] by Mike Jones, on Flickr

Jealous of Roverpig and Warpcow, spent most of yesterday’s super-sloppy ride fantasising about riding at a nice firm trail centre.

If it’s any consolation, it was one of those rides that probably looks better on the photos than it felt at the time. It was blowing a hoolie and bitterly cold at that spot. When I got to the descent (on the other side) it was covered in ice. So, I basically, struggled up a climb in a bitterly cold wind for an hour just to push the bike down the other side and I still fell over! Having said that I’m a sucker for punishment and secretly rather enjoy being out in the hills in wild weather.

I miss daylight rides on the Malverns, Alex. Didn’t get out at all over Christmas and still waiting to get out this year 🙁

Happy new Deer

No pics, but rode Saturday at Innerliethen, wet but amazingly grippy – probably as the rain has washed everything away 🙂

I have begun to shake my fist at the sky

glad I’m not the only one, last time i did that it was June and about 8 degs and horizontal rain, I stood there shivering shouting “oh c’mon!” at the sky…. 😆

Really really couldn’t be bothered to go out in the constant rain!!

No pics of a wet ride across town for an evening of single malt sampling with others of this parish.

The roll back down the hill was lovely at the end. 😳

My first ride out on the back of our tandem was 1/1/16. Haven’t ridden a bike since end July, so was elated 🙂
Just a muddy flat trail but I didn’t care. Made even more enjoyable by bumping into ‘Rat boy’ and his girlfriend (she was riding a much better bike than him).

That’s great Bunnyhop.

You picked a rotten time to get back at it, but at least it can only get better out there eh?

Rode Cannock on NYD and it was a total mud bath so I’ve given up on my Capra for a while and hoping to get a CX bike for a while!

Mtb is still in bits at present and can’t be bothered trying to figure out where I can ride the road bike where it’s not flooded so don’t think the turbo would count as a proper new year ride yet.

Some cracking photos there. My first ride of the year was a hungover unfit plod on the cross bike under very grey skies. Still good fun though.

No Pics, no rides since new years eve. I rarely go more than a couple of days without riding but its been one of the worst stretches of unrelenting miserable, depressing, grim weather I can remember. And I’m back to work after a 2 week break so I can’t take advantage of any brief respite or face the commute.

I’m currently cursing my ancestors for not settling somewhere with a decent climate rather than the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Northern England

My first ride of the year was on the 2/1/16. It was just a 45 minute loop from the door, in the pissing rain so no photos.

It was one of those just gotta get out moments.

Thanks chakaping.
No more mtbing for me, however I’ll try very easy trails e.g greens at a trail centre and quiet lane riding on the back of our tandem.
Just being on a bike again is fantastic 🙂

Mine was a bit snowy.