Here’s this week’s random thoughts from the saddle:

Monday Morning Debrief 25

So what did you do?

I orgainised (with much help) my first XC event

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-drrt-purbecks-xc-event-great-day-yesterday

Went down really well. Smiles all round.

Family away for half term last week, so managed 600km riding home from the inlaws last weekend. Couple of evening mtb rides this week including new riding companions and new trails (pros and cons with both…)

175km pikey-dodging on the road before lunch on saturday to meet the family and drive the rest of the way home with them.

Planting out the allotment yesterday with my eldest son.

Happy days 🙂

I did two rides, 2 long rides, and fitted in watching my mate do a 24hr 100mile running marathon. He started Sat afternoon and finished at 0930 on Sun morning having won and broken the record by 9 laps (of the 1.1 mile course)
*is in awe of Jonny*

Long and lovely evening ride on Friday around the tops of the Peaks.
Saturday, took a leap of faith and stripped the Syncro exhaust and sump, then took a disc cutter to £500 of new stainless exhaust system to make it fit, just waiting for a connector piece and the beast can be unleashed once more.
Sunday was an epic family day all round at ours for food and chilling out in the sun.
Just a brilliant weekend, even if there was only one ride. 😀

Thursday evening fun on Farleton Knott:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30843343@N03/8934492914/

Saturday riding out the door around Kendal. Here’s a clifftop trackstand:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30843343@N03/8934494534/

And here’s a more conventional riding position from the same viewpoint!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30843343@N03/8934490560/in/photostream/

What an awesome evening ride, finished off with Bowness Bay’s Swan Blonde in the pub. She’s a stunner!

I shipped the wife and child away to the inlaws on Thursday, and had a right old jolly on, over, and around the south downs with soma-rich, DezB, another Rich, and Pedro-Poddy and his good lady wife….

Had a smashing but tough 26 miler on Saturday (DezB had a near death experience after some of the climbs…!) followed by a stunning curry and some drinky-poos.. (Dez slept in the home-made bed – I’m sure he behaved..)
Then on Sunday we did a classic XC type ride from worthing -> Arundel -> whiteways, then back along the SDW.. Pete and Dez cleaned the Amberly mount climb from bottom to top – nice one chaps 😀

Stunning company, cracking rides, great views!
Hopefully Dez can upload some of his pictographs he took….

DrP

100mile running marathon

1.1 mile course

Holy Cow! how do you keep motivated?

Shhh! First road ride on Saturday. Sawley to Clapham and Ingleton out and back via Bowland Knotts, the carbon road bike made me feel fat 🙁
it was magic.

Sunday, grand tour of Widdop and Tod northern skyline. Perfecto!!

Body a bit sore after being bent into/onto road machine 😉

Cheers
Paul

Worked all weekend.

Painting decking today then off for a blast up Hurstwood/Widdop tonight when it’s a bit cooler.

I did a knackering 120km on the cross bike, then had a steady pootle on Sunday and watched Jonny Brownlee win the Worlds, then had maxibon with him and a laugh, then started co-ordinating BC’s efforts to get a velodrome in Yorkshire.

Yes indeed. I can upload some pics. Cos I went out biking for a whole weekend thanks to the good Dr. 🙂

(spot the edit 🙂 )

Mmm. Cake.

Saturday
Did the helmet trade thing for a Spesh S3 (Smelly old Giro + £59.99) 🙂
40 mile roadie ride
“Made” to buy new pants and socks! (I found the various holes quite cooling)
“Treated” to a trip to the pub for making above purchases. 😀
Sunday
Put new lawmower and strimmer together and sorted the overgrown lawns out.
Rebuilt the F/S.
Picked son up from Uni…..well, from the station.
Watched Ingurlund and drank beer with aforementioned son.

Many miles on dirt roads and byways – not always this dry

Lovely deep orange light on a west facing hillside at dusk, Saturday

Coffee on the go just after 4am but not actually getting up for a bit.. Sunday

A new area of woodland explored, new trails found, mostly skinnier than this one.

I and 7 other motivated indivuals built new stuff into the Red at Stainburn… Tonight we take bikes up to play on it.

(spot the edit 🙂 )

You’ve buried Rich under the pile of leaves…!!

DrP

Brilliant ride in the lakes yesterday with my nephew doing the Blencathra blast round Derwent water. 26miles, 4000ft of climbing (due to a few cheeky bits 😉 ) in four hours and we didn’t see a single other mtb’r

(spot the edit )
You’ve buried Rich under the pile of leaves…!!

DrP

I did ruin that photo!

Exploring my new home town. Found some brilliant trails and managed to get sunburned. The location? Dundee……..

Sidlaw bike by 10000 rivets, on Flickr

no riding, but i was up before 6am yesterday to head to Lee Quarry along with a handful of other dedicated folk to mark out the course for our first Brownbacks XC race of the 2013 series. and what an ace day it turned out to be! thanks to everyone who raced, everyone who marshalled for us and all the mountain rescue lads and lasses that make sure anyone who happens to have an accident gets looked after (thankfully nothing of any major concern yesterday!).

On Saturday I went on a solo ride from the Wirral via Mold/Clwyds then onto 3 peaks near the Pondarosa Cafe and finished of the ride going through Llandegla forest albeit fire road then rode home in a daze from not having enough to eat.

Total miles were near 90 with around 6000ft climbing.

Then on Sunday done jib all.

Spent pretty much the whole weekend move the brother in-law & his girlfriend from London to Chelmsford (would help if they could learn to pack – empty bags in boxes??!!!??!!) 🙁

BUT, in a couple of hours, I leave for C-Y-B, not back ’til Thursday evening 😀

30 miler on Saturday in the Warwickshire Pyrenees.

Then more of the same Sunday. Didn’t feel like burning petrol and sitting on motorways this weekend…
Beautiful weekend… 😀

I did over 40 miles on the local trails on Saturday and went to the BMX and pump track yesterday. Manualing through the triple on the first straight didn’t work out, though. That’s why I’m currently sitting at home, dosed up with paracetamol. Bruised chin, shoulder and back. Doh.

Nothing too exciting for me…33 miles in the road bike Friday evening which was nice despite the wind, then rode Cannock (last time out on the SX before I get my new Banshee) which was nice because the trails were pretty deserted then didn’t ride yesterday because I went to watch the other half do the midlands fun run.

No riding. Banjaxed watching BIL v Barbarians in HK on Sat, possibly died on Sunday

Went to work and tried to sleep during the day. 🙁

Ae forest with a bunch of workmates

P1000579 by john_henry_mtb, on Flickr

Queensberry view by john_henry_mtb, on Flickr

Followed by a BBQ celebrating Robins retirement 😆

Food1 by john_henry_mtb, on Flickr

Just shy of 60 mile of blue and red stuff around Cannock Chase in preparation for MM coming up. I’m only in a team of 4 so I shouldn’t have to ramp up much farther to be honest.

Failed to see any snakes which was disappointing.

four days Vinschgau… it rocked, i rocked….

getting seriously cocky. out rode a Liteville test team.

Well, I am incredibly jealous to look at all those pictures and read your stories of glorious rides. Here in CH we seem to have swapped weather with you from last year. (see BBC reports of European rivers and flooding)

It has rained since October. The trails are now comically bad. My local fun loops are completely destroyed, a total and utter bog-fest. In my 6 years here they have never come even slightly close to being this bad.

Went out last night for 1.5hrs, and all of it was hard grinding through 4″ deep gloop. You know it’s bad when you have to pedal, hard, to even go downhill.

Sorry for depressing note, but it is now really getting me down!

I really hope the weather turns for the better soon, or even PPdS might be a bit tricky this year!

Kev

I did a boot sale both Saturday and Sunday, so i wish i could have gone out on my bike!
I will be soon though- i enjoy my rides these days more than i did before i was a father and a husband. Just getting out and riding is soul food, i used to get bored with the same routes and scenes etc as i had all the time in the world to ride them!
Now, just getting out is a victory!

Cheeky little ride out sat after having a big paddy and hitting stuff with hammers fixing my bike.

Borrowdale Bash sunday, was fantastic, cracking day for it.

No biking…Just a few days off in Portugal with t’wife (minus kids!)

[/URL]]linkOut exploring Les Arcs over half term…. shame the lifts weren’t open yet, would have saved my wife a lot of driving up mountains!

Ran Stockholm marathon. Now that’s done I’ve got 25 days to turn myself into, (back into?), a cyclist before the first MTB race of the year.

30 Miler in the peak district, started from Ladybower, went over to Edale, did Jacobs ladder loop (saw h4muf of this parish at South Head but don’t think he recognised me), along Rushup Edge, down the back of Mam-Tor, then back to Ladybower via Potato Alley and Lockerbrook.

Great day out and ‘cleaned’ a couple of climbs too!

Cheeky little ride out sat after having a big paddy and hitting stuff with hammers fixing my bike.

😆

38 mile localish loop from Horton-in-Ribblesdale over to Bainbridge then Buckden then back. Saw a few other riders. A nice group of charming traveller folk in Bainbridge offered me a tenner for my bike, which was loverly.

Sun, sitting about and some road riding. Bit of garage cleaning as well, got bored of sitting in the sun.