Dry & sunny today, but trails filthy after yesterday's rain. Took the SS gravel bike out, the aim was to keep it mostly on quiet roads out from NW Leeds, but I ended up doing what I usually do and just turning it into a mixed road/off road ride, so the bike ended up filthy anyway! Nice way to while away 90 minutes/30km ...
Great afternoon's ride out of the front door in watery winter sunshine; stayed below the treeline on the outward leg into the wind before putting it at my back for the return leg over the tops. Two pints in a couple of fine hostelries along the way, job's a good'un.
After the weekends rainmageddon, I took advantage of a sunnier, drier day and headed to Rostrevor trail centre. All-weather trails are a wonderful thing to have at times like this. Tons of standing water of course, but thank goodness for waterproof clothing!
First proper off-road ride for a little while due to a niggling injury.
Just a loop round on some of the GT trails to see how it felt and check out yesterday's storm damage.
Both were worse than expected.🤔
Falla Brae is already closed and being worked on and I bumped into Shay out making a report on the rest of the damage.
A short local loop at lunchtime. The Vandal is set up with rigid forks and fast tyres, so kept away from the worst slop. Still got filthy though; I need to find a front mudguard option for the rigid fork ...
A quick blast of fresh air ...
And a long blast of water afterwards, to celebrate the lifting of the Yorkshire Water hosepipe ban!
Bit drier today, which is a relief. Earlier in the week, I was riding through streams that had burst their banks. No soggy feet this time
Not on the bike for eight days, felt the need for some miles. Over the hill to Colne, then Leeds Liverpool canal to ...Leeds; irritatingly 2k short of 100! Meal deal in Gargrave, coffee and cake at Bingley, train home to Hebden. Nice dry day for a change! 
It was quite a pleasant morning to hit the local dirt.
37km of Singlespeed fun this evening with a mate. Meant to be 4 of us but 2 cried off (hangover/packing). Not as muddy as expected, which was nice.
Today I decided I'd had enough of not riding in a fashion that I enjoy.
So dosed up on the Ibuprofen and Paracetamol and went out anyway despite the tendons in my arm still giving me grief.
First two trails were pretty uncomfortable but I carried on as I was already muddy and it seemed a waste for just two trails.
Third run down felt much better so I carried on and ended up doing 1500 Meters and 30KM.
Conditions were wet and grippy with only a few other riders around.
God it feels good to ride some fun trails again.😁
Very short ... road .... (Sssshh) spin this evening on the SS Gravel bike! 100m of gravel only - which is nearly unheard of for me! But, it's been pissing it down all day in Leeds and just couldn't face the splash/mud/grit/grind that even full mudguards don't entirely protect you from.
Grimly drizzly still - but better to be out than on the turbo!
Glorious spin round the local gravel this morning, temp was just above zero, no ice, just lovely 👌🥶
Quick early morning gravel ride before work today. Slightly foggy/low cloud in places which accentuated the red marker lights on the Westerglen radio masts nicely (just south of Falkirk). A little bit eerie if I'm being honest!
Lovely day over the high ground from Calderdale to Lancashire to dump this bike in my sister's garage, so I can sneak in a few miles over the three days I'm there for Xmas...
Big day out on Monday linking as much heinously muddy Clackmannanshire and west Fife singletrack as possible. Me on my CX bike, my pal on her hardtail e-MTB, a very effective odd couple 😂
Once again I was blown away by just how much singletrack it's possible to find and ride around the farmland and urban centres, we owe a huge debt to all the diligent dog-walkers for keeping it clear and well defined!
Pics not brilliant, very grey day and shot on the hoof.
58km gravel ride last night with a mate. A bit of everything ... Local urban woodsy singletrack, forestry / moorsy gravel, quiet roads, canal towpath and urban city centre streets to the pub!
A damp cold one for sure ... The canal in particular was a right pea-souper in places, which was rather disorientating. But, all excellent!
Some great alpine flow and tech today at Falls Creek. Three 10km downhill runs with Mrs Reeksy shuttling bless her.
Soggy feet as the trails are flooded again, but nice to get out. Looks like some poor person had their car rear-ended 😬
Yesterday was another shocker in terms of yet more rain, so I was half-minded to sack off my usual Friday NWD ride. But, today was sunny and breezy, and I felt the urge to get out, so headed up with the big bike to a wooded hillside between Leeds & Harrogate, overlooking some reservoirs. Was running pretty well actually, some boggy/puddly spots, but very rideable. Glad I got out!
The Long Mynd yesterday was possibly the best place in the world. The ridge is sublime, especially when you know that there's a great pub at the end of the ride.
Since finishing work on Friday, my 'I'm going to ride most days' plan has gone out of the window, but managed a local loop on the ebike with a mid ride pint in Bakewell. Was disgusting sloppy everywhere. Didn't get many pics
Last faux-commute of the year! Up and out whilst it was still dark, but the sun came out this morning, which made a nice change from the grey gloom of the past few days ...
Lovely day in Lancashire, blasting across the Moss to the coastal town where I grew up. Tailwind assist, train back to the bosom of my family...
Hard work with pretty serious head/crosswind crossing the pennines, the east/west part of the ride was sheltered so didn't really get the benefit. Stunning day though. Recovering with tea and mince pies. 
Last one for the 100 days of exercise challenge. Extensive logging in some local woods near me. Used to be a few trails in there 🙁 Ah well good to blow away a red wine hangover, and an excellent test of the MTB Win Wing...
Quick review on the Win Wing if anyone is interested in getting one. My criteria was for an alternative to the full length Mudhugger "Uglyguard" on my BFE. Idea being I could switch it to any bike for some mud-lite action if it worked.
And it does work. Some really grotty roads and trails today including some long stretches of riding through standing water. Last week did a similar ride and came home with a full mud streak from ankles to helmet coating my trousers and jacket and the bike was a filth pig. Today backs of my riding troons a bit clarty, and you can see where the coverage ends from the other photos. Dropper part of seatpost and rest of me tho - not a spec of mud.
Remarkably effective considering its size. A bit rattly on the rougher trails. Seems secure tho. It's not an idea placement as the mounts for the brake and gear hose are on the stays exactly where I want to mount the win wing. I might try the next position for a higher angle but so far very impressed.
Oh and it's 100% hardtail season here. Not sure when the FS are coming off the wall.
Wrote a thing about that: https://www.pickled-hedgehog.com/hardtail-season/
Quick review on the Win Wing
That matches my (brief) experience; I have one fitted on my Vandal.
The Win Wing is great at keeping mud away from the dropper, my bum/hip pack and back. On rides where the trails are very splattery, ie after recent rain, it's not as effective at keeping the back of my thighs/legs as clean/dry.
The SKS Mudrocker on my Moxie is more effective overall.
The usual local door step ride today. Was going to do a different route that took me to an actual (but small) woods, but the wind was so strong I didn't fancy a brutal headwind to finish.
Local ride this morning.
I was surprised to find that there is still some fungus around.
This tree gets decorated every year.
First day of the hols for me. Much better weather, so headed to Rostrevor for a mix of trail centre and local trails. Fab!
A quick loop to burn off some Christmas dinner. Almost threw up on one of the climbs but was a great day for a ride, quiet roads and great weather.
Lovely morning rides on both Christmas and Boxing Day.
Cracking morning at Glentress. 
Lovely ride in some nice winter sunshine in the North Pennines - bit nippy though, so a good day to break out the pogies!
Above Daddry Shield:
Looking down Rookhope Burn from the ruins of Rookhope Head farm towards Grove Rake Mine:
Looking across Weardale towards Chapel Fell Top:
Looking over St John's Chapel towards Chapel Fell Top:
Extra-short loop this morning, as my ride was curtailed by a mysterious and (trailside at least) unsolvable air-loss from my rear tyre. Pumped it up twice, couldn't see signs of a hole/split, and no obvious signs of sealant dribbling out or hissing of air, so turned for home after just 6km ...
Shame, as it was a bloody gorgeous morning, and the trails were firm & frosty!
Managed to sort it at home - small leak at the bead. Have pooled the sealant in the right spot and pumped up the tyre, but by then had used up all my riding window ...
Pushed the MTB out the front door to tick off my thirteenth Everest of 2025 on the final day of the year - only to realise the front tyre was flat. Dammit! With the monstercross in my sister's garage on the other side of the Pennines, I pivoted to the commuter, riding loops on the hilly lanes above my house until I'd accumulated enough height gain. Lovely quick ride in dawn light.
@montgomery - you're a madman! 13 Everests. Blimey, fair play 🙂
Great conditions on our local trails. Shame I was riding like a total numpty. Putting it down to continuing with the 100 days challenge. Think I'll take a few days off at the start of the new year. Everything feels a bit achy 😉
Rode the climb we cleared on Monday. That was pretty muddy before we excavated it, but the rest of the trails were running almost mud free. Amazing light, not too much heat.
Perfect conditions: ground frozen solid, very little water ice, last night's light snow providing gritty traction. Feel guilty for not staying out longer than I did.
Fully back to work today, and the wife is busy this evening, so no chance to get out later on ... Therefore, a pre-dawn ride was called for to make the most of the frozen trails. Faulty (frozen) dropper was the only minor issue ...
A couple of miles west of Montgomery... Beautiful riding conditions on a centimeter of squeaky snow. I followed a fresh set of bike tracks and stopped as they carried on to a sheet of ice covered with snow: a nice wobbly tyre slide followed with a body shaped imprint. I smuggly carried on and a few miles later did the same, serves me right for the shadenfreude...
Absolutely stunning ride this morning on my local Shropshire trails, -4 but gloriously crisp and relatively sticky 🙂 some of the bigger gap jumps were under enough cover to be running perfectly too, just needed to not whip as the landing was icy fantastic 🤣 it was the kind of day that just makes you feel happy to be alive!
A different part of Shropshire (yes, it does exist, actually) to @steamb - I was just around Telford and the Ironbridge Gorge this afternoon. Not enough time to get further afield than that, but Brown Clee looked good at one stage in the sun. 25-year old Shimano boots are still keeping my little tootsies warm in sub-zero temps.
As a bit of an aside, the weirdest thing happened while I was stopped here. I did a snot-rocket, and that started a nose-bleed (I get them quite a bit) so several drops of blood fell on the track while I was dealing with it using a fistful of snow. A few mins later when I was putting gloves and helmet etc back on, a robin came down and started pecking at/feeding on the red snow. Never seen that before.
Delamere late afternoon, chilly but beautiful and not just because there was no black gloop 
Probably the last of the frozen trails here in Leeds for a bit, so made the most of my commute to work this morning ...
Few laps of snowy trails with the lad tonight
Death slide conditions today where Gallowayboy was two days ago.
But I don't like being beaten, and I'm just mulling over putting the old 26" spiked tyres on the monstercross to repeat these sections of track tomorrow, shooting video to illustrate the insane level of grip they give...
Cheeky ride after a hard day at work. Never fails to make me feel better! Trails a mix of ice, mud and puddles. Even bumped into a couple of other riders, which I've not done yet on a night ride.
Ride out yesterday morning from Durham out to the Waskerley way, then back across on the byway over to Wolsingham and back to Durham via road/byway/rail path. No snow here, but everywhere was frozen and the wind was biting. There was snow looking over towards Simonside:
We have arrived in NZ last night, a long 24 hours . Can't wait to hit the trails
Spent the day at Skyline Rotoura. Laps in the bike park till late afternoon then a zip line followed by chasing each other for a couple of hours on the luge.
First mtb ride since crashing and hurting my ribs at the end of October. A slow unfit lacking power pootle around the Chevin
Back into the Whakarewarewa Forest today riding some awesome trails once again.
The forest is so vast and diversified there is something for everyone. Great to see all ages taking advantage of it.
I see your Whakarewarewa Forest Tracey, and raise you Leeds' trails in the slop, at night!
4 of us out last night, first ride together on all our relatively new SS builds! 2 x Pace 529's, Identiti AKA, and my Pipedream Moxie. All trying to tear each other's legs off like the olden days!
What a bunch of dropouts ...
Another day in the forest for us. Dropped on a rider, Royston, who recognised us from the Forum, had a chat and rode a couple of trails with him. It was still hot after yesterday's and last night's storms and the trails were mostly dry.
I could get used to this 😎
We travelled further south yesterday so that we could have a Helimtb assisted ride today However the wind and rain meant that it was cancelled. Booked it for tomorrow and just had the call to say it's not going ahead due to adverse weather. 😪
We're in the back of beyond so today was plan B
After a two week break from bikes (fell off and crumped my ribs in the snow), two rides in two days to test out the body . 40 un-photogenic km of towpath yesterday and a lovely breezy ride over the tops this morning. There's a bit more light and thrushes are singing almost feels like a bit of spring. Back to winter next week I believe. 
Trails are a reyt mess... So out on the road bike on the lanes/lumpy climbs north of Leeds at lunch time in the vague hope of maintaining some bike fitness.
Daffodils out in a sheltered spot on the Harewood Estate!
....i think this false spring will have been put back in it's box this time next week looking at the forecast.
Yep. Trails are sh*t at the minute. But that didn't stop me and a mate getting out on our SS HT's last night for a 40km smasher. TBH, I thought I didn't have the ride in me, following a long weekend off with lots of riding & running, plus 30km commuting yesterday, but I forced myself out and glad I did! Trails are just going to get worse over the next few days ...
Well no riding today. The adverse weather arrived and we have had torrential rain for the last 2 days. Looks like the North Island has had it bad with loads of water about and flooding
Will see what tomorrow brings but not going out on the bikes in this stuff.
Splendid cross-stratification evident in the walls of this 1820s fort yesterday, after I used strong tailwinds to blast over to the west coast.
Tuesday night ride with a couple of mates. We'd get so much more riding in if we stopped chatting after every trail! Great fun, still.
Took a break from skiing today. Unlike last time, there is much more snow and ice on the trails; even on the sunny side of the valley. The snow on the open trails is surprisingly manageable, since it is hardened and not recent. But under the trees, the singletrack is totally sheet ice once you get to any decent elevation. It was still great to be on the bike, and I did manage to get some singletrack towards the bottom of the trails.
Great day out at Codgers in Nelson. Managed to get 4 uplifts with Gravity Nelson and some pointers from the driver Ben. Trails were sweet, steep and dry. Every thing flowed. Finished up on a 5km black down to the bottom and a short pedal back to town for beers
Yep. Trails are sh*t at the minute.
I don't know if I've just gone a bit wrong, or if there's a 'horses for courses' thing going on, but I'm LOVING the trail conditions at the moment. Get yourself an old school CX bike and stick some 40mm tyres on it. Maybe next year I'll even singlespeed mine 😍
Well, it was nice to see a bit of sun this morning, albeit peeking through the moody mist in places. Nice extended commute, but sketchy on the back roads with damp frost / black ice.
Almost spring-like for me this morning. I'd intended a short loop but the day was too good to waste so I put my big boy pants on. No food eaten, and the only fluid intake was a pint of bitter about 2/3 way round....
Considering the amount of rain there’s been, the local trails are superb, absolutely stunning day and makes one very grateful to be alive! 🙂
I’ve been doing lots of maintenance at the local jumps recently and clearly it’s been worth it as they are all running beautifully after a tiny bit of spade work. I even got a bit giddy and have decided to learn to whip to the left, no big angles yet, but there is promise 🤣 😆 talk about down with the kids. Or something.
And look at the dry! 
17 miles blast after work. My body wasn't up for it after the 1st mile or so, but soon sorted itself out. Slopfest again, but great fun!
