Yep, it’s that time again. It’s the time where us subservient slaves once again shackle ourselves to our cubicle prisons for another week of touch-type drudgery, while pale blue skies and fading sunshine taunt us through the window. But have no fear, we’re all in this together, and together we can remember the good times from the weekend in order to give us the strength and resolve we need to make it through to the next. Together we can all help to push our collective shit up the hill, just like these little groms helped to push their Dad and their three-person freak tandem Up The Buttress on Saturday;
So, what did you get up to on the weekend? Did you manage some two-wheeled escapism?
The entire crew at Singletrack Magazine managed to make a break for the outdoors, both on Saturday at the Up The Buttress event in Hebden Bridge, and on Sunday at the Monster Cross event in Derbyshire. Singletrack and Grit Magazine were sponsors of both events, and so the team was out in force to help with marshalling, heckling and even a bit of participation too. Word on the street is that Wil managed to get to the top of the Buttress climb without getting off and pushing his bike, though he was last seen hallucinating around the streets of Hebden Bridge and attempting to make out with a swan.
The vibe at Up The Buttress was brilliant, with all kinds of different riders and bikes showing up to tackle the famously steep cobbled climb, while hoards of spectators turned up to heckle and cheer on those stupid enough to put on a race plate. With an average gradient of 25%, it’s a seriously tough ascent that only lasts for about 300 metres, but feels like a fiery inferno for that entire 300 metre length. Look out for the results that’ll be online soon.
The following day, the team from Grit Magazine made their way down to Catton Park in Derbyshire for the Monster Cross event. James and Wil raced around in circles on the 6km off-road circuit, which took in some ace singletrack that has previously been used for mountain bike enduro events like Sleepless In The Saddle. You can check out their Facebook Live video to see what it was all about, and look out on Grit.cx for an event wrap up soon.
So as you can probably tell, yes we do get out to ride our bikes! But when we’re not riding our bikes, we’re often talking about bikes or things to do with bikes. On Friday just gone, Mark and Wil jumped into the Facebook Live studio to take us through some of the goodies from Fresh Goods Friday 309. If you missed the live videos, we’ve got them here for you to enjoy and help get you through the Monday Blues.