Well, that was horrific.
Gabba/Nanoflex combo were totally overmatched.
Getting long showers were expected, but the forecast promised me 10-13 degrees. Instead the first 3 hours saw 7 degrees, and riding with slower riders so not making any body heat. Arrived at the mid ride cafe stop a shivering wreck.
You know its wet when your wallet is in a ziplock bag, inside a plastic bag, inside your saddle bag, and you still hand over a soggy tenner to pay for your cake 🙁
Now i’m going to consume a weeks worth of pasta in 1 sitting and pass out in front of the TV!
Local get together for some informal mates racing at mugdock park with a BBQ provided by mugdock country cycles afterwards.
Always a laugh to cycle with people much fitter and better than you to show up how much you mince on the trail 😆 I was bloody shattered after this and it was only 6.5 miles, god help me if I ever actually did a proper enduro. I had only ridden on part of one of the stages before so pretty much all of it blind which made for some interesting line choices plus I took a wrong turn and a few others followed me ha ha ha ha.
Bimbling around the North Downs in Kent. I love the ancient track ways around here. You really feel like your cycling in the presence of ghosts from old.
Turned back at the burial mound at Trottiscliffe and mixed it up with the cars on the road to get home.
Second time down into the Surrey Hills and Hurt Wood yesterday. Starting to find our way around a bit more now, still absolutely loving every minute there.
Spotted a loop in the Ladder hills that I’d not ridden before on MTBTrails.info so decided to give it a go on Saturday. I should have realised that a forecast of low cloud meant that I’d be in it most of the time. Rookie error, but still a fun ride.
Quick ~25-mile blast to Winchester and back, using the Hockley viaduct, getting back just as the F1 cars were completing their pre-race formation lap. No time for photos, but hope to visit again soon and have time for such things.
Last minute camp at Loughrigg Tarn and a spin around nearby! [url=https://flic.kr/p/Tyz6ri]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/UxUw29]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
Didn’t ride yesterday as I’d ridden every day in the peaks this week on holiday. Took the Stache out today at Woodbury but for some reason my Garmin decided to lose over half the ride there’s just a straight line on the map and it looks like I went up a 300 foot cliff.
Did the FOD Wild Boar ride today, only the 24 mile one as I was with a mate who doesn’t really do long distance rides. Really good atmosphere, apart from a few grumpy XC heroes 😕 Had near-perfect weather for it, even the overnight rain didn’t make it too bad in the woods.
A steady ride in the breeze up to Weets Top, Mastiles Lane, Arncliffe Cote then back via Kilnsey, Boss Moor and Hetton. I’d rebuilt the bike this week – it was stripped down to frame and forks then had new drivetrain and brakes – so this was a bit of a shakedown ride to get everything bedded in for the Jennride next weekend and then the HT550 the weekend after that.
With Abigale away at the EWS and Katie still recovering from a dislocated knee it was just the two of us riding.
Spent yesterday in the Peak, didn’t see many riders throughout the day. Went local today and rode in Wharncliffe, quite a few riders out old and young.
Thought about a couple of runs in the Greno side but it was heaving so gave it a miss.
Mostly been out on the road bike for the last week as the weather has been lovely and I’ve been taking the long way home from work. So today the boy was out climbing with the scouts so took the opportunity to go for a quick spin on the MTB. Lovely view from Stanage Edge.
No pics but pump and jump course on whinlatter. Superb day until I went out the back door doing a wheelie and pulverized my buttocks. Might need hoisting out of bed in the morning!
6 months ago I tried to ride most of the way home and had an awful, awful time. headwinds, sand and podgy, unrideable mud made the whole thing a demoralising experience. Slog uphill: tough. Gain the top: flat is even tougher. Trail points downhill: podgy mud means you can’t even pedal downhill. My bike, stalled, standing up by itself, downhill:
35 miles took me 5 hours. I only stopped once, when I fell off.
I swore never again, but the soggy local stuff drying out, longer evenings and most importantly, the passage of time made me think it was worth another try. With gears. And bigger tyres.
Bluebell woods near Hascombe (past their best, I reckon)
Very sunken path
A field full of dandilions
From the same spot as the one above from the 1st ride:
Looking back towards Hascombe Hill, Pitch, Leith and Holmbury, just after my malt-based sports drink and nuts stop at the Dog and Pheasant:
And Saturday’s ride out with the local riding bunch involved some great riding, great views, and an hilarious shoe debonding incident (get home solution: zip ties, what else?)
No pics but pump and jump course on whinlatter. Superb day until I went out the back door doing a wheelie and pulverized my buttocks. Might need hoisting out of bed in the morning!
Cheers buddy. Paired the collection down from a Stumpjumper FSR 29 and fat bike to just the Payoff. Enjoying riding it. Been a while since i’ve been on a steel hardtail……was what I rode when I first got in to MTB.
Spent Saturday with YT trying out some Jeffsy’s for size at Forest of Dean, embracing the opportunity for conversation in the demo queue as I was after a specific bike, but the weather was nice and they had beer …
Then Sunday was up near Ambleside in the Lakes, tootling around places like Loughrigg Fell and Black Crag (apparently, I just followed the group and admired the scenery) …
Left work promptly on friday to get home in time to take jr_bandito #1 out for an evening spin
Saturday night, feeling fidgety and new all the local trails were running fast so went out at 10:30pm, got home at 1:30 am, 35km later having ridden all of the best very local trails which rarely get combined.
And last night I snuck out at sunset and did some trail-fairy work. 🙂