What a weekend! It appears that spring has finally decided to visit (ahead of this week’s forecasted snow) and so everyone* has been out riding bikes and feeling actual warmth on their faces. There are still a few snowdrifts and boggy bits around up here, but in the main, the trails were in good condition. British riders would consider them ‘loamy’, whereas our American friends would probably deem them ‘unrideably muddy’.

* Well, not everyone. Some people like Hannah have had to go to a 50th wedding anniversary… However, we’re amused that her son’s ‘making a decorated Easter egg’ attempt looks rather like a certain American president…

 

The weather on Saturday was particularly conducive to productive spring-clean things like (woo!) going to the tip, cleaning cars and fitting cleats to shoes in preparation for the great leap forward to welcome British Summer Time!

Dramatic skies even meant that a quick nip up the back of the hill to touch the trig point was met with sun, sheeting rain and spinning windmills. It’s funny how we’ll settle for ‘not raining’ in lieu of spring…

Andi Sykes was taking in one of his regular loops around Ladybower with his brother spotted a sign saying you will go prison if you ride the cheeky trails

A post shared by Andi Sykes (@andisykes) on Mar 25, 2018 at 7:57am PDT

Let that be a lesson to you. Meanwhile, Wil has been celebrating the magazine going to the printers with slap-up gastropub meals.

“Me and the lady took a trip up the road over the weekend for some mad gastropub action, and had an incredible meal that included a black pudding & scallops starter, followed by slow cooked eat-it-with-a-spoon lamb shank. Delicious!”|

I was feeling pretty guilty the next morning though, when we came across some fresh spring lambs in a nearby farm. Think I’ll be going veggie for a little while at least…

“Spent my Sunday testing bikes and stuff, and was kindly treated to blue skies and (mostly) dry trails over at Lee Quarry. Still windy AF, and my shoes did get a bit moist from some of the puddles left behind from all the melted snow, but a good solid ride regardless.”

Chipps, meanwhile, has been zipping around on a secret new test bike that he can’t tell you about until 4pm today (stay tuned, folks!) but this has fortunately involved taking in some favourite trails in some great weather. He also used this opportunity to do a bit of signpost maintenance, having been loaned the ‘Mary Towneley trail maintenance kit’ by Bill the Ranger. It consists of a bunch of new signs, a screwdriver, some spray grease for gate hinges and the air of someone who’s supposed to be attacking marker posts with a tool…

We still managed to find some snow up high, but things are mostly shaping up. A pity we’re forecast a load of rain and snow later this week – but as British mountain bikers, we’re used to finding joy where we can get it, right?

Amanda, meanwhile, is on holiday, snowboarding in Austria and doesn’t care.

And the spring feeling has even extended to our office. This morning we have the Park Tool ninjas in, bringing our workshop kicking and screaming up to date with a full makeover, thanks to the folks at Madison. But first, it was deemed to be ‘not blue enough’ and so the appropriate coloured paint has been deployed in readiness…

So, what did you get up to? Did you make the most of it? Or were you hampered by longstanding family commitments, trips to Ikea and a shed full of junk to clear out?

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