small but perfectly formed – from the linn of dee to derry lodge and surrounds with mrs swiss in july. she can’t go her bike much but when she can we make the most of the miles. loved it.

Very few this year – its been crap.

The one that I suppose stands out though is a local one with a mate at the height of the summer. All the South Halifax highlights crammed into an afternoons riding in high 20s heat with a massive crash by me on the last descent which did nothing to take the shine off a great ride in the dust!

Had a really nice ride a few weeks ago in Golspie.

Beautiful autumn day and a really nice trail

That a cracking day out on the bike with the missus in the summer riding a big loop that took us from aberfoyle to loch lomond and back, not technical in the slightest but a lovely day out on the bike

The 8 munro epic from Callater via Turc, Claise, Tolmount, Tom Buidhe to Mayar and Driesh. Kilbo decent then via Bachnagairn Woods to Broad Cairn and Carn Bannoch. Should have done C an T- Mor but (for number 9 but couldnae face it, only an extra 10 mins!). Finishing off with the classic descent down to Loch Callater.
Oh, also did the Pila-Aoste freeride descent;now that’s a different class of manmade trail to what we get here!

Most memorable was on my first day in Andorra this summer with my son (just turned 10). We decided to try and film route 66 (andorran equivalent of the Venosc descent) .

He absolutely pinned it top to bottom, over jumped all the tables to flat and passed loads people. I was actually pushing to keep up with him and rode the whole thing thinking WTF!

Kirroughtree was up there. But i’ve had some great rides this year so hard to choose one. My first full year of riding has been pretty cool and done loads. Gisburn always stands out but so does surrey hills.BPW deserves a mention also. Every ride is pretty sweet as its with good mates!

Ride back from the local bike shop early this year along the canal. First one with blobby jr in his new hamax bike seat 🙂

Not done much mtb this year but the other standout was a few days Glentress. Second day there did the black, then the red, then the red… much fun. No mud, just fast single track, jumps and berms!

Mountain Mayhem 24hr, first time solo, 32nd out of 152.

14 laps, 105 miles, 6000m ascent. 20x packs of jelly babies, 14x energy gels, 10 bowls of pasta, 10 bowls of porridge.

2 years post cancer for the 2nd time.

Plus one Daddy’s day card at 7am on the Sunday morning. Magical.

Can’t name a particular ride, there have been lots.

What stands out is how much good riding round here I’ve either discovered or rediscovered. Oh and what a fantastic summer.

P1070958 by RichSeipp, on Flickr

I’m really tempted to say a pi$$ing-wet day at Pila. Sliding all over the place round all the massive berms and the craziness of the Pila-Aosta trail in those conditions really put a smile on my face – especially since I’d almost given it up as a bad job when I got there to find my brake hose had come loose and I’d lost all my fluid on the way over.

But really, it has to be this one, guides’ day-off backcountry epic:

Photos don’t even do it justice.

Col d’Izoard, a 70+ mile introduction to road riding in the Alps, stunning 🙂

A few really.
A road race win. Taking the chequered flag in the pouring rain was something I’ll never forget.
A day off work in the Chilterns. One of the best MTB days ever. Not just the ride, but the whole mood.
Aspin and Tourmalet was a great mornings ride.
And last weekends CX race was ‘the’ most enjoyable one ever.

Sainte Foy with The Whiterooms in the Alps this year… Happy Days…

Can I have two?

Beinn a’Ghlo munro’s by bike by matt_outandabout, on Flickr
and

Outdoor Instructor Training Course by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

No pics, but the first time I did Transmission-Accelerator-Nitrous at Hamsterley. I know it’s a trail centre, and not too challenging, but it is fun!

Solo at torq 12:12. Culmination of a good summer’s preparation, great course, great atmosphere, my first solo and I hit and exceeded all my goals. Only sad because the lady who inspired me to do it has sadly died since.

A morning on the ClimachX trail followed by a spin from Dolgellau to Barmouth for a birthday beer.

Slickrock in Moab like nothing else I’ve ever ridden or likely to again .

A lovely Derbyshire camping trip with little Miss FBJ. Wife away for a weekend, camping kit and daughter in the trailer, tent on the rack, pedal off into the Derbyshire Dales, , cookies and a brew on the way out, tent up on a quiet site, feed the ponies, walk to the pub for tea, play on the campsite, sit on a picnic rug for the evening with my book and a hip flask while daughter doesn’t go to sleep and jumps around inside the tent until flaking. Sunday started with a nice camping fry up, plenty of stops on the very long way home for parks, picnics, duck feeding, trout tickling, paddling, a hot chocolate, some live music and stories courtesy of Buxton festival and home in time for tea.

Plenty of nice MTB rides this year too and 2 long, one very long road rides that will also live long in the memory.

Oldfart – I did Slickrock on a Colorado/Utah roadtrip about 15 years ago and it’s still one of the rides I’ll never forget. Need to go back some day and hopefully stay in the Lazy Lizard hostel again. That place had the finest red-necks, including a lad of about 12 who sat in dumbstruck awe watching us cook, eat and talk gubbins until he butted in with a question I’ll take to my grave “what’s your favourite kind of gun?”. He seemed amazed we didn’t really know any didn’t own one between us.

Can’t decide. Either the day at La Thuile with Stevo and Patrick from White Room, or the endurance downhill at Fort William (again). The former just because it is such fantastic riding, the latter not such great riding but I’ve never found a better riding atmosphere.

I’m a twit. I forgot to mention the weekend with DrP and co. on the south downs. I think those 2 days helped me survive the year.

A bit early agreed, but always a great pic thread theme.

In hindsight it was managing to itch a long-standing itch by getting well out of my comfort zone, alone in New Mexico.

And a simple lazy bike-bivi weekend at the end of the summer, following that trip. Very different state of mind. Oddly both were solo trips, last year’s best rides were with good friends in good places.

One of the best days biking for me this year was the three passes (well four really, I did Garburn the other way as well) in the Lake District at the beginning of the year. Set off up Garburn in the dark to witness a fantastic sunrise

After the descent looking back up

After doing the other two passes (Gatesgarth and Nan Bield) the weather closed in and started snowing on the return leg over Garburn

Seven-and-a-half hours of riding in blazing sunshine from Gréolières-les-Neiges to Cannes in the south of France. Biggest ride I’ve done in a decade, with a three-hour climb in the middle. Bonkers.