Monday Morning Debrief 99

Glory be! For this weekend it stopped raining. It’s all relative – it didn’t actually not rain, but the ratio of wet stuff falling out the sky to not was favourable. While the trails were still plenty wet and splooshy, it was a relief to get out and play without getting wet from all directions. I minimised the sploosh by taking to the roads. I honestly can’t remember the last time I went for a ride exclusively on roads. But since I happened to find myself in Clitheroe on the same day as Simon Warren (of 100 Climbs fame) was giving a talk and going for a ride, I thought I’d tag along. In a small act of rebellion against those roadies who insist on certain sock lengths and such like, I rode a gravel bike, used MTB shoes and pedals, and had a peak on my helmet. Oh, and I had a dropper post.

Great ride with Simon @100Climbs and Hannah from @singletrackmag taking in some Lancashire inclines pic.twitter.com/oAM84HxURr

— Random Adventure (@Rand_Adventure) September 16, 2017

I rather like this picture because it looks like I am smiling and relaxed while others are standing up and giving it some effort. In actual fact, about 30 seconds after this picture was taken I was dropped on this climb. Anyhow, 45km and 1000m of climbing later, I managed to muster another smile.

If there’s another ride out with the next guest speaker, I might not tag along. It’s Graeme Obree (6th October, in Clitheroe, if you’re interested).

Having deposited his youngest child at university, Mark celebrated his empty nest by heading out for a ride with three women. He didn’t even have to use an e-bike to keep up, although we suspect that they might have given him a head start so he could get this shot.

One of those women out on the ride with Mark was Kat Crompton. She was told to meet at the green gate. Turned out it wasn’t this green gate, but all the waiting around gave her time to take a picture of her bike.

The trails were filled with women down south (daarn saarf) too. Adele Mitchell joined 35 other women at the Swinley Forest Enduro. The sharp eyed here will spot that number 246 is in fact Jennifer Purcell, who wrote about the Red Bull Foxhunt for us last year.

Our Tech Guy Andy was on holiday last week. Since he is more of a computer tech than a drop-off tech kinda guy, he stuck to the gravel/low gnar options offered by sections of the Sandstone Way in Northumberland.

Chipps admits to spending most of Saturday doing ‘chores’ – which in Chipps’ world consists of stacking logs, photographing knives, polishing his car and visiting the bike shop… Sunday meanwhile was spent on a good old fashioned tour of Calderdale, with some big views and some surprisingly rideable trails, despite wet ground under-tyres. The ride was rounded off with the traditional cheese (and chilli sauce) on toast.

Just sneaking in to the Monday Morning slot, that’s your lot. Time to get on with the rest of the week. Here we go…

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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