Monday Morning Debrief No.8

Here’s what we did, how about you?

rode at pitfichie yesterday.

easy know i havnt been on a bike much since november.

i crashed and boobooed my knee.

Went for a walk round Burnley.

Saw some great community art, chatted to some friendly golfers, found a nice local pub and some new trails which I’m going to ride tonight.
It was ace.

😯

I mostly spent the weekend cleaning all the mud off my bikes from the previous weeks biking… 😕

17miles round Cannock Chase accompanied by lovely sunset on Saturday.

57 miles from Whitstable to Pegwell bay and back all along the coast…

Not sure bike appreciated the beach bits but beautiful ride and no cramp! Tonic water did the trick for me…

First ride of the year, and it felt like it! Last ride was the Swinely Party, before that it was November! Suprisingly un muddy trails, although apaprently everywhere else localy is a shitfest.

Bought cycling Weekly and pinned up the mileage chart in the hall, should provide some motivation to ride more to avoid putting zero’s on it! Want to average 100miles/week so 15 on Sunday isn’t going to cut it!

Walking in the Forest of Bowland on Saturday.

Lee and Cragg quarry riding on Sunday which was cracking.

My aim this year is to get a lot more variation in my riding locations!

20 miles or so in the Surrey Hills.

Lovely 🙂

First ride of the year on Friday was a disaster. Despite the addition of a brand new Black Chilli Rubber Queen up front, the trails were so wet and gloopy that front end grip was hard to find, as I discovered when I was launched over the bars.

My left side is one large bruise and the scuffs on my right wrist make it look as if I’ve been self-harming.

🙁

20 or so miles around ladybower

Home South Coast trails for me, on Sat the early fog lifted nicely and I rode some places I’ve not been in at least 3 years.. only downer was 3 front punctures.. 🙄 the meeting mates in the evening 😀 On Sun it was Roadie heavan, local lanes in the Downs and past the Piggeries and Salad Farms.. perfect.
All in all it was a perfect weekend. 8)

Friday – quick loop on the roadie – Sheff, Hathersage, Eyam, Calver and home. Nice afternoon.

Sat – Hope->Ladybower and back + diversions on the big bike. Lovely day – warm enough for summer gloves!

Sun – Sheff, Glossop, Hayfield, Edale and home on the roadie. Legs fairly spent by the end of it.

Lovely Tour de Exmoor with a new riding companion on Saturday. Sun shining, not too much wind, and more horses than cars.

(clicky to view details)

View looking back towards Porlock bay from the top of Dunkery Beacon. We rode up Mill Lane, rather than straight up past webber’s post. Longer and Steeper climb, but drops down a couple times through Horner Woods. Lovely and quiet.

By the time I was heading home, there were ACTUAL dry patches on the road. It was magic

Cyclocross bikes are excellent. great weekend on Exmoor!

First ever Hebden ride (yes I’m n00b).

Forgot my gloves and helmet, mist everywhere so no views and front derailleur stopped playing nice 1/3 of the way round.

Loved every single second of it! Even if Marsh Lane without a helmet was ‘interesting’…

Working Saturday (BOOO)

Sunday , Wharncliffe woods DH on the fast track run, looks like I may have another year like 2012 (only did 5 XC rides). The track was a bit ice rink like in places but I managed to stay upright for a change.

Rode in Appletreewick on Saturday on inappropriately geared singlespeeds. Then drove for four hours to Surrey and spend Sunday being shown nearly all of the trails around Peaslake and Westcott. Then had dinner and drove home to get back at 2am. Quite full-on really, but a good start to the first off road weekend of the year.

30 miles round Castleton/Pindale/Edale….lovely ride but chapel gate was really slippy and nearly got run over by a land rover halfway down!!!!

Just a flat ride, trying to set a new maximum speed:

Not a bad top speed, but it’s not my record.

Rode up Wharfdale with the (road) club. 60 miles at average 19mph.

Knackered now

Was in the Basque Country, northern Spain, seeing the in laws and went out for a ride with some friends. They are pretty fast and I spent the first hour trying to keep breakfast down and remembering to breath. But something about the trails kept nagging at my mind and eventually I realised what it was…. dust!

25k on my tod on the CX saturday AM. Still bonkers muddy in the ‘herefordshire clay pit’ that passes for my local woods. But at least I could get over the tiny stream that had swelled to four feet deep the week before.

Sunday FoD/Yat, 50k of singletrack goodness and really not too muddy. Well most of it. Although my selection of well worn summer tyres did turn some riding into ‘controlled crashing’. Hit one tree, drank two beers so on balance a result.

HRM Said 2200 calories. Went and had a lie down in a bucket of lard until the hunger pangs passed 😉

Saturday rode with the Marple massive.

Sunday took my boy to race at Derby.

Saturday was hike-a-bike up to Tigers Head on Lantua Island and then a nice run down….

Managed to actualy do nothing at all Sunday, nothing at all…nice.

Rode local around werneth before the city game smashed my strava time but managed to smash myself head ans shoulder first into a fence 🙂 bikes ok I’m well sore 😀

Richpips were you riding near Hyde on Saturday sure I saw your group?

Rode to Glentress, did a bit of the black, then rode home again. 94k with 1761m ascent, a couple of falls and a real desire to ride my MTB a lot more this year. 😀

On Saturday I rode from home to Afan on the road bike (35km-ish), meet up with a group of mates, borrowed a Yeti SB95 (many thanks Skyline Cycles) to ride Whites Level, then rode back home over the Bwlch (45km-ish) 8)

Settle. Snapped pedal spindle within a mile of setting off. Home. 👿

Gawton. Nicely busy and nicely muddy. 10 runs and 10 pushups (equals pushing bike up 11 miles of steepish fireroad making 4000 vertical feet 😯 ) . I hurt today.

For reasons not fully understood, I did glentress black on friday then again on sunday. Had a lovely time but ran out of light on sunday which made the descending a bit interesting. Strange to be complaining of being too hot in january.

Don’t think I’ll be doing it again for a while though.

Did the club run yesterday. 75 miles out cheddar way

Did the climb used in the tour of Britain.. It stung!

Our group of idiots rode three or four of the “Off piste” trails on near the Innerleithen Golf course.

Muddy Madness! Cant wait to get back up there!

Did 55k around my local woods, tow paths and secret trails on the HT. Took great pleasure in blazing past several groups of roadies on their Xmas presents on the road link ups 😀

Bloody hard work though. In places the trails are still a mess and some are unrideable for the first time I’ve ever know it. Had a moment venturing over a field which started in ride, then went to a carry and almost went to a desperate cry for help as the water went & mud went up past my ankles 😯

Y Wal at Afan yesterday. First trail ctr jaunt on a hardtail for years and great fun it was too. Ankles and wrists had more or less had it by the end of the day. New stuff up by the cafe is fun if becoming a slopfest in laces due to the heavy use it is getting.

Hit Cannock Chase early Saturday morning, absolutely beauty of a day, can’t believe it was January, nice and dry in most places I found too!

Went to see jedi.
Say no more

90k road ride on Saturday. Let down by a mate for what was supposed to be a trip to Aston Hill on Sunday. Anyone looking for a riding buddy e-mail me please!

A short 35km around the Oxfordshire Ridgeway and surrounding tracks to the south. I think about 15km of that were done at 45deg to the direction of travel due to the wet ruts & clay/chalk combo.
I even mamaged to jam up the rear wheel on my 456, which considering the narrow tyres i have fitted are about 2″ from the frame is some achievement!