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The rules:
1) Tell us why it was the ride of the year.
2) Post one pic.
3) revisit the thread next week to be inspired for 2017.
Away you go...
[url= http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2016/09/ncn78-caledonia-way-in-day.html ]Caledonia Way in a Day[/url].
1) At 240 miles, by far the longest one-day ride I've ever attempted (or likely to). My preparation and planning paid off.
2) Not too many photos, but this one taken on the ferry across to Fort William tickled me.
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This spring, LD and I took our mini riders out to a bothy.
The weather was perfect, the kids loved it, we had the place to ourselves, no midgies.
The icing on the cake was friends from Sheffield joining us late. This lad is 6, had ridden in the park and no more before, and had not been on his borrowed Isla Bike until this evening. He rode 6 miles to the bothy, floating over bogs his father and I sank into.
He now owns a mountain bike and is keen to do some more 'proper' rides (his words, not mine).
My work here is done. 8)
Proper life memories.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/a-little-bothy-trip-with-some-new-bothy-rats
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Back in June me and a few mates rode from London to Amsterdam for a 4 day stint off road and on road some of the Classic's, we bikepacked and stayed in BnBs, it was a lovely few days, I wanted to take it much more easy than a few of my mates so it ended up being too rushed for me.. it was the last ride I did on a bike for the rest of this year.
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I have no pics, but, Dunoon for the Scottish Enduro Series. Practice day in fact. It was fantastic- I went for a boat trip, I rode a lot of awesome trails I'd never ridden before til my legs fell off, then we took over the town centre for the prologue event which gave it a brilliant sense of event. And then I found a chip shop that did gluten free! Game set and match.
(didn't do the race, went treehugging instead at Benmore)
http://enduro-mtb.com/en/poc-scottish-enduro-series-round-5-dunoon/
The year isn't done yet....
Great thread.
A 50km mix of BWs, trail centre and amazing cheeky trails in North Wales in September, accompanied by some good pals.
It was both an old-school epic and an enduro gnarfest, rolled into one.
No decent riding pics, but this is what we did at the café stop...
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Not the logest and not the hardest but the best ride of my year. Col de Spandelles, Col de Seclour, Col D'Aubisque and Col des Borderes from Argles. Perfect weather beautiful scenery legs felt good, perfect route to the Aubisque, so much better than straight up from Argeles.
Back in June I was deep in the final stages of my parents lives, I'd been through combined hospitalizations of both, staying over to help, running errands and general taxi-ing duties. I had a long weekend off and an arrangement to go visit a mate in Aviemore.
He told me we were heading to bivi at loch Einaich and to bring the appropriate gear.
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The camp/bivi site (Sandy fannying about)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/77564901@N06/ ]Metalheart-UK[/url], on Flickr
The weather (as can be seen) was glorious. It was one of the first proper runs I did on B+ wheels and the way back to Aviemore in the am was great, it was just exactly what I needed. It was also my first foray into bikepacking.
There wasn't much respite after that.
So, thanks Sandy. I owe you.
solo wild camp on Exmoor in May. Perfect solitude just when I needed it.
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Cycled up Alpe d'Huez with my eldest (age 11 at the time) in August this year - had a tear in my eye as we reached the top as was really proud of him.
[url= https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8085/29051081783_3ed8d862d8_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8085/29051081783_3ed8d862d8_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Lg9oup ]Up Alpe d'Huez[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/simonlangdon/ ]Simon Langdon[/url], on Flickr
Lots to remember, but the one that I remember most fondly from this year is the terror where we nearly got cut off by the fast in coming tide between Little Hilbre Island on the way over to a bivi on Hilbre Island itself
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No pics but did same wee ride as metalheart , nice spot felt like I had whole area to myself on ride in the am .... but the Midgies were intense
No pics but did same wee ride as metalheart , nice spot felt like I had whole area to myself on ride in the am .... but the Midgies were intense
Can I have two? Well, I'm going to, so ner.
Mine was this;
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Sunshine, birdsong, singletrack, views, peace, perfection.
And, the other? Well, it's this.
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Little Miss CFH. Second time on her "Big bike, Daddy! It's got pedals! And brakes! And a BELL!". Second time. Off she went, laughing and giggling all the way. Just beautiful in every way.
#jennride in May with around 80 other guys and gals weather,trails banter was perfect
https://www.strava.com/activities/522494553
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/26762952920/in/album-72157670845916294/
Thanks Matt, I'm loving this thread. Brilliant responses. Keep it up people 😀
[url= https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7228/26968640891_5c7f3173f9_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7228/26968640891_5c7f3173f9_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/H68kn6 ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
Did the Yorkshire Dales way in June. A perfect weekend, but for the fact my riding partner couldn't make it due to illness.
[img] https://goo.gl/KlIyOO [/img]
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Yesterday was pretty good too.
[img] https://goo.gl/ipUFKP [/img]
But my favourite has to be cycling out to Morecambe for fish and chips on Referendum day.
[img] https://goo.gl/mLFlZo [/img]
Local loop for me, met up with some other riders on a loosely organised ride by a little bike shop / cafe near me. They led on a lot of trails of ridden before, a lot I hadn't but most importantly joined the dots to make it a route.
I was riding particularly well by my standards that day and it was the first time I felt at one with my new bike.
Les Arcs was a highlight but the weather was appalling the whole time we were there. A few uplift days at BPW and some days when the planets line up right and I'm flying but nothing beat this little 20k loop that's 10 mins from my front door.
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A solo 165mile trek from Wiltshire to Brecon (as off road as possible) was my first foray into bikepacking. I made loads of mistakes, nearly gave up, felt scared, lonely and stupid but I did it, I learned a lot and I loved it. I pushed myself further than ever before and at times it was hellish but worth every bit. On the third and final day I dropped off the hills into Merthyr via BPW, climbed over The Gap before decending to Brecon. It was a mega reward. That pint. That kebab. Those kips
I seem incapable of posting pics
No pics, but i went out in august, rode 8 miles, camped out overnight, rode back after breakfast next day.
Not a long ride, not hard technical terrain either, but I enjoyed it immensely.
Where i camped, i found an old pallet, that was fuel for my woodgas stove.
No pics, but a family ride with wife and two kids, then 6 & 9, which was meant to be about 10km but turned into nearly 20km as everyone was enjoying it so much. It's amazing what little legs can achieve when they are happy and kept well fuelled 🙂
2 rides stand out
I invariably ride alone, but on the occasion of an STW Portes du Soleil get together I rode with a cracking bunch of guys and girls whom I'd never met before and look forward to riding with again.
Here are Ambrose and Weeksy looking imperious on the Swiss side, at the top of Les Crosets and looking towards the Swiss wall.
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And more recently, in need of some heads space, the SS, campervan and I went off to the darkest Wales for some v wet solo riding. Laps of Brechfa and the most perfect Cwm Rhayader trails. Bliss.
July. First real (cheeky) taste of Alps riding. Opened up my eyes to what tech really means!
Probably had some of my best rides since i started mountain biking this year on the d/h tracks at Triscombe as I've been concentrating more on enjoying myself rather than mileage.
The best ride of the year was also the tamest one though and that was getting my little girl out on the bike with me for the first time. She was born premature so I've had to wait until she was big enough and find a helmet to fit her but hearing her giggling away and enjoying doing something i love doing beats the feeling of doing any jump/drop etc on a proper ride 8)
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Abusing my Diverge on Wales off-road coast to coast...
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Best Ride of a great year's biking for me has to be the Prost-8 Cairngorms loop in May. Great riding with a great bunch of people...and we raised a heap of cash for the Prostate Charity in the process.
And, it probably wouldn't have happened without this forum...so thanks for that 🙂
[url= https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7192/27385977526_283091b808_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7192/27385977526_283091b808_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/HJ1i1j ]P1050863 (1)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/crewlie/ ]Mark Berry[/url], on Flickr
First proper mtb ride with my eldest daughter (7) at Brechfa..
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In August I met up with a friend who I had not ridden with for many years. We used to go to the Afan for forest several times a year for camping and bikes. It had been at least five years since we last went there together. I've had bigger rides and more gnarcore rides during the year but this trip to Afan was just perfect.
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[img][url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/776/31953869786_6b7a1a4808_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/1/776/31953869786_6b7a1a4808_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/QFDWeq ]sportograf-83811779[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/94993565@N00/ ]BURNSYBHOY[/url], on Flickr[/img]
I know not everyone on here loves mass events like L'Etape du Tour but this taken was 6 days after I got married. It's from the top of Joux Plane. As it was my first Etape I was in the last starting pen. I climbed Joux Plane in the worst of the heat but at the point this photo was taken I knew I'd finish. I can still remember this like it was only yesterday. Such an amazing experience.
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Tour De Mo 2017
A damm raod ride where I left the comfort zone so far behind and just went for it, 205km with some great people and a hell of a pace for me! Was awesome fun and the best part was being part of the group that raised $110k for mens health charities. That's what kept me going
Finding the secret howff with crewlie and my mate CJ.
Riding the 3000 foot peaks in the Lakes with Nick Craig in September.
Riding Hellas forest in Stockholm with Damian from POC.
Overnighter in the snow in the Cairngorm's with my mate Rob.
Overnighter on secret trails high above Pitlochry with my mate Kev Dangerous.
All bloody good fun!
Been a good year for riding bar breaking my collar bone in June, which actually was not too bad as HK is horrible for MTB in summer (95% humidity plus temperatures up to 40) but the highlite was probably Dubai in December, a little bit of Hatta and Showka MTB parks plus camping out in the desert. Though not as fast paced or technical as other trips it was my first time out in the desert and good to catch up with an old friend who lived out there to ride bikes.
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Video is here [url=
and Hatta MTB Trip[/url]
We've done a lot this year, but the highlight has to be our month long 3200 kilometre French trip. The photo below was taken on the last day.
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Don't have a pic i'm afraid.
Mine was a tossup between my lad at XC Rampage, leading by 10s in the race, crashed and got up crying to finish 4th ... Proper MTFU moment for him.
Or my own Gorrick ride/race, finishing 17th out of 36, which was about 15 places higher than i expected, but if you'd asked me earlier in the year if i'd race again, it would have been a resounding NO.... I was shocked i entered, even more shocked i turned up and raced...
Biased I know as I organise it, but we had a beautiful night for www.ridetothesun.co.uk this year, with a glorious sunrise at Cramond. One image here
It's Carlisle to Cramond beach (Edinburgh) overnight 100m road ride, with a chip shop stop in Moffat and bacon sarnies served at the kirk hall at the end. Oh, and a middle of the night disco at the derelict Crook Inn pub in the Tweed Valley! 😆
I also got some bikepacking bags and had my first bivvy up in the Pentlands after taking some great advice from folk on here. Loved it and will aim to do a lot more in 2017 - so a big thanks to those that offered advice.Beautiful sunrise while cycling across the deserted Pentlands really was a fantastic start to my bikepacking adventures...
crewlie - Member
Best Ride of a great year's biking for me has to be the Prost-8 Cairngorms loop in May. Great riding with a great bunch of people...and we raised a heap of cash for the Prostate Charity in the process.
And, it probably wouldn't have happened without this forum...so thanks for that
+1
Don't think anything will come close again !
its tough, met up with my old MTB club I 1st joined 16 years ago and rode Thetford, Vallelujah was great
then twins came along in May, my riding tailed off time became precious
I realised that the only way to get some riding in was after all the kids were in bed
so managed a night a week at my local trails in Woburn at first it was starting at sunset,
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got the fear a bit as it got darker, and the rides started and finished in pitch darkness later in teh year
especially that one time I found a smouldering fire at the serial killer shack (about 1 min 30 in)
So many fantastic rides this year, but this has to be the top one
[url= https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8842/27883161603_7e0abd8429_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8842/27883161603_7e0abd8429_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/JtWuvz ]San Francisco - Day 2[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr
Two tandems with my wife and two teenage kids riding from the bay across the Golden Gate and then back on the Ferry. The bikes were terrible, the riding was all on road/cycle tracks and it took absolutely ages. None of these things matters as for one day in a year, I could actually share my love of riding bikes with my family.
I wrote a thing about it: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3717
Does 1 link count (none of the pics are on sharing sites).
Our first road bike holiday (we usually go somewhere cool like Morocco, India, Rockies etc with the MTBs). The Stelvio was on my bucket list. I also wanted the first time I saw the famous Trefoi hairpins to be as I climbed towards them on a bike (so not descending, and not from my car as we drove to Bormio from the Dolomites).
Munqe-Chick timed our visit to coincide with a free closed-roads sportif, and then plotted a route where we climbed the Bormio side, descended the Swiss side (Umbrail Pass), then rode around the valley to climb the Prat side with those hairpins. And then she spent 2 sleepness nights worrying about how much climbing she'd signed up for!
https://www.relive.cc/view/690722370
I asked her what we were doing in 2017. "Going back to Italy, obviously" was the reply 8) Lots of roads we missed, and also want to visit the classic Swiss passes.
Nice thread
I have not had a great year on the bike, I am guessing becuase I had the lurgy in the spring and autumn ( by far my favourite times of the year to ride ). But I have a nice mellow outdoor Year, the wife has embraced fitness and especially walking so we have been on some really nice walks. I have after wanting to do it for 10 years finally got a Kayak and been on two great river runs.
My son is not interested in Riding, but I do get him out now and again, and as this thread has got me thinking about, they are often my favourite rides.This one was in the height of the Pokeman go thing and both my son and mate had some fun along the way catching the buggers.
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A ride in the Vercors in July, climbing up the Gorges des Ecouges, a lot of it the shade from the searing sun, col de Romeyere, col du mont noir and then decending back to the car in the middle of a group of motorcycles down the Gorges du Nant.
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You can see the remains of the fence where this road has been closed but obviously the canyoners don't want it closed!
It's obvious why the authorities shut it though, the hole in the road just to the left of MrsHairy leads to thin air and a drop of 100's of feet. further along the 'guard rail' wall has disappeared along with a sizeable portion of the road itself.
No stand-out ride for me, but had a good year with plenty of longer (for me) rides in stunning conditions.
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Probably the BB200, just seemed to get (almost) everything right: kit; hydration; eating; pacing. Could have done the same the next day. Only taken eight ITTs to get it sorted.
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It's all about the cake!
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Mid-morning on 2nd day of Rovaniemi 150 -a 'ride' that turned into 100km of pushing. Enjoyed it so much that I'm going back for a double-dose in 6 weeks. The simple fact that you can get out and experience nature in the raw
Not particularly outstanding - Howgills day after my 69th birthday.
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Non race ride of the year for me was the day trip to Morgins. We skipped Whistler for this year & went back to Morzine for the first time in a long time. Whilst it was great to be away on a riding holiday, we were a little let down by the quality of the riding, seems like very little has happened there in the last 10 years & the trails were wrecked.
But, we made the trek over to Morgins one day & it was an epic day out. Nice ride out there, smashed a load of runs in on trails that wern't ruined, then cruised home & road a load of off piste stuff, which was mint 🙂
This was on the way there:
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Race ride of the year was probably the first round of the Southern Enduro at Milland. I'd not ridden much over winter, as I broke my wrist badly in Autumn the year before, so felt a bit fat & unfit. Somehow though I managed to come 4th - beating a lot of people I normally have a battle with, even after some silly mistakes.
Shame the season went to pot shortly after that!
I'm loving the variety here.
More please!
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Torridon, Scotland, June. Bone dry, glorious weather, absolutely bloody brilliant. I [url= http://www.mintimperial.com/?p=1036 ]wrote it up here[/url].
It was the day after a cracking weekend at the Fort William World Cup round, too. Remembering this ride has been keeping me going for most of the rest of the year. The only bad thing was having to come home and leave the glorious weather and amazing, empty hills behind.
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/305/31165008544_970ce17b8d_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/305/31165008544_970ce17b8d_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
That's me on trail "J" at the La Thuile bike park in Italy. I spent a day there while at Bike Village for a week in August/September. One of the other guests, Steve, took the picture.
Riding wise I'd been only just hanging on for the last few years, lacking confidence and motivation. I decided to get a new bike this year and spent quite a lot of time in the first few months of 2016 demoing a few bikes. This resulted in me getting a Nukeproof Mega 290 and also kickstarted a bit more motivation to ride and to try and push my technical abilities more than I have in a long time.
At the end of August I went to Bike Village for a week. I went on my own but the other guest were a great bunch of people and I had a great time. I also felt more confident and happier on my bike than I ever have in the Alps before.
That feeling was typified on our day trip to La Thuile. I'm pretty sure that overall J is the most technically demanding thing I've ever tried to ride. I managed to get down almost everything (I missed just one little bit, on a guide's advice, and I reckon looking back I should have tried it again), albeit spending a lot of time saying "f*ck me, I managed to ride that!" and sitting on the rear tyre.
Overall the ride was good but not great, but my feeling of achievement at the end of J and the knowledge it would have probably left me in tears or at least hating my bike a year or two ago, is what makes it my ride of the year.
A pretty good year, had a couple of days in les arcs whilst on holiday with the family which was awesome. However, however I think my favourite was bikepacking the Peddars Way with my dad over a couple of days.
We were blessed with some great weather, and spent the evening drinking whisky, watching the stars and talking shite. My first bivvy and definitely something I'd like to do more of next year:
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My trip to Moab in September. The best ride was Portal Rim as it was the last one of the week and jetlag was all gone by then.
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Great day at BPW with my son. Family rides rule.
Cheesy selfie
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28 May - finally summoned the guts to enter my first DH race 😛 (Aberystwyth Conquer the Cliff) after wimping out 4 years in a row, lining up behind a certain Ms Atherton - no pressure 😆
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I guess 2016 wasn't so bad after all.
and how good it is to see you mama d. missed you on here.
Hey I'm always lurking Ton - guess I don't have so much to say any more now I've curbed my spending 😆 Happy New Year!
Reduced riding to relocating to Yorkshire and changing jobs. It has be to Torridon for me. I fell in love with the place despite limited opportunities due to weather (we had snow!)
Yay Mama - always stylish [you and your bikes!] 8)
Ha ha, best remember to hold my stomach in for the next pic though 😆
I was thinking about the Ride of the Year today. Lots of good ones but the standout was a ride up and down the Winsor trail in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The climb was long and had many river crossings, the last of which almost reduced my wife to tears from the icy cold mel****er, and we were close to giving up. Lucky for us there were no more and we completed the climb and had our lunch at 3100m elevation.
The ride back down was absolutely glorious; starting with some technical rocky steepness which gave way to a beautiful ribbon of fast singletrack leading back down through alpine meadows, pine forests and back to the desert. We even found a detour to bypass the river crossings.
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Much good riding this year, but the best by a long way was Haleakala in Maui on my 60th birthday with daughter who was in Ironman training. Nice steady climb all the way to 10,000 feet, followed by a bit of a hoon downhill !
Like a few people I was wondering what's been the best bike ride this year & for me it was Halloween weekend.We did Coed Y brenin on the Saturday & the Marin on the Sunday.
For the end of October the weather was great,the company excellent & it was good to revisit the old trail centres.
They took their toll on the tyres...
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Just a excellent weekend away.
Fatbiking has been a complete revelation this year, opening up loads of areas for riding. I'll pick this day in Kandersteig, as pretty much the perfect one. Early enough to have crisp snow in the sunshine with the surprise of a bar, music and grilled food on a frozen lake. Just perfect
[url= https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1692/26310623105_b51a4f8dc5_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1692/26310623105_b51a4f8dc5_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/G5YPAR ]P1210590[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/musselburghbikers/ ]Andrea[/url], on Flickr
I rode from Appin to Oban then ferry to Mull. A ride down to the wee ferry and a pit stop for scallops and black pudding then over to Iona.
Short but sweet.
Late in the year Leffeboy came over from Belgium to join our rag tag peloton of pals for a three day hosteling tour of the Cairngorms. It rained, it was windy, there was sleet, sometimes sunshine but always smiles. Can't wait to do it all again soon.
EDIT Can't seem to be able to post the pic. Here's a link to the blog http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/tourdecairngorms
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8649/30560397576_29805c3eac_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8649/30560397576_29805c3eac_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://flic.kr/p/Nyw2uu ]#tbt to the #tourdivide and good times on the trail with @tjmax173 ? ? ? #Bikepacking #bicycling #bicycletouringpro #bicycletouring #biketravel #adventurecycling #biketour #touring #outdoors #ridewithpurpose #adventure #ride #neverstopexploring #tourdivi[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbosussexmtb/ ]Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr
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[url= https://flic.kr/p/LuPnPt ]Just watched @inspiredtoride again, now I've got a bad case of #tourdivide longing again! Despite the fact @tjmax173 and I suffered like never before it was an amazing experience. There were many highs and lows, often on the same day, often on the sam[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbosussexmtb/ ]Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr
I rode the tour divide route with my son from Banff to Butte, it was way harder than either of us could have possibly imagined, but I got to spend a month camping and riding with Tom and we went and rode the slickrock after as well. Raised over £2K for cancer research in Jenn's memory too.
Has to be our 3-week 1000-mile epic from St.Malo to Nice in August. Half of my yearly mileage in three weeks, and nothing to do but ride, eat and sleep.
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Mr gozarch wrote a blog, too: https://gozarchstmalo.wordpress.com
Today's;
Need to upload a few pics...
Appreciate my story is dull compared to many on here! And I can't post pictures as I'm inept.
Illness, work and another baby meant less miles than I hoped for but still an improvement on the previous year.
Did my first century exploring close to home (prev best was 80 miles).
Went to BPW which was a great experience in terms of change to the normal riding I do.
I love every ride I do though to be fair.
Cycling around the Dordogne with my cousin on a family vacation this year whilst my wife and kids lounged around the pool. Lots of lycra, avert your eyes from my package above the Defy!
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An hour grabbed during a family beach holiday, in Norfolk. Living about as far from the sea as it's possible to get in the UK, it was a totally new experience & one which I can't wait to repeat.
Been a few good days at Bike Park Wales this year, but that hour spent rolling along the empty beach was just priceless.
[url= https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8040/28966286586_289f55c947_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8040/28966286586_289f55c947_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/L8DMQf ]Cromer[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr
Had a weekend in the Lakes with the local guys and had an awesome day up Helvellyn.
[url= https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7363/27655390790_5c82d25e2d_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7363/27655390790_5c82d25e2d_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/J8P7bA ]Bob Off Raise[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/91843706@N08/ ]Sam Dexter[/url], on Flickr
Fremington edge loop from Reeth for my birthday bike ride. Hadn't been on many away days, and the sun even shone a bit.
Cracking day out
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No pictures but a couple of days riding in the summer near where I grew up, QECP and some of the sandy areas east of Petersfield. Nostalgia overload 🙂
There were some great ones in 2016. BOTB was great fun - I only enter one or two things a year). Showing friends the trails and the countryside round our newish house discovering some new ones.
But ride of the year has to be my first one back after shoulder surgery. I spangled it on 4th June and missed the summer. Luckily the autumn riding was brilliant!
4th October, 20 local miles on the cross type bike. Loved every second of it, grinning just for the sheer joy of turning the pedals, feeling the legs working, picking a line, lofting the front over a root or a rut. smashing downhill, smashing uphill, getting tired. 😀
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The descent from Gaddings Dam to the Shepherds Rest Inn near Mankingholes as I wasnt expecting it
Great thread.
~65km ramble through the Teign Valley / Eastern Dartmoor / Wray Valley in mid-November 2016. This was about the most prefect day for riding a bike in the countryside as it would ever be possible to wish for.
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ned - bridleway from Pierrepont farm to Bourne Woods ?
Mt Cartier, Revelstoke - first ever trip to BC, first ever helibiking...
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