The first loop that ampthill has linked to some decent riding, it misses a couple of good trails around Hedgerley Wood and Spriggs Holly but I’ve not ridden the section around Bledlow so that may be better.

The second route around Wendover is somewhere I’ve not ridden at all so I’ve nicked that and plan on riding it on Tuesday when I’m off work 👍🏻

I’m just a bit north of you near Watlington and I ride a bit around Christmas Common and The Ridgeway. I’m fairly new to the area but I’ll happily show you the trails I know.

I often ride midweek if anyone’s up for work-dodging ride!

While the Moulton looks pretty cool, I’d be much more inclined to go with a Velo Orange Neutrino build if I were spending that kind of money. The problem with both of these is that they aren’t folding bikes so don’t really fit my requirements.
If the Neutrino was able to collapse down and fit in the boot/coach I’d already have one ordered 😂

Is part drive, part cycle an option at all?

Failing that, find some decent podcasts to listen to.

That’s a shame. It’s a great event.

In that case, they must have improved it since I had mine.
Even with the best paint quality int he world I’d still avoid them at all costs!

I had an Air9 once.

Hands down, the worst bike I’ve ever owned.

No matter what combination of forks/tyres/wheels it was an incredibly harsh ride to the point of being painful. The handling was strange but I can’t remember what the actual issue with it was. It also had the worst paint quality I’ve had on any bike, the slightest ding from a stone would knock huge chunks out of the paint. A mates wife had a full sus Niner as well and had the same issue with the finish.
It was a nice looking bike though.

I’m currently on a Solaris Max and it’s probably the best hardtail I’ve rode, very much a do anything bike.

If anyone’s looking for an AXS Reverb they’re discounted at Pro Bike Kit and they’ve got stock.

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-saddles-seatposts/rockshox-reverb-axs-dropper-seatpost/12750035.html

The discount code VCUKSS gives you another £25 off and if you use Top Cash Back that bags you another £15 or so.
They still aren’t cheap but I’ve not seen them cheaper in a very long time.

They look and sound like awesome bikes. Possibly the only thing I’d get rid of the Solaris Max for.
Sadly the bank account currently disagrees ☹️

Thanks for that @tracey but I’ll give it a miss.
I’ve found a 31.6mm 150mm drop post in stock so I’m going to go with that instead.

Thanks for that @jameso
I know the end around Chinnor fairly well and the odd trail south of Christmas Common but never seem to be able to link them together properly.

Maybe I just go out at odd times but I very rarely see anyone out on MTB’s around here, it all seems to be roadies and quite a few gravel riders of late.

@rak
Any pointers for Christmas Common?
I’ve been living in the area for the past year and not found anything around there!

If you paid by credit card and it was over £100 can you not contact the card company and make use of the Section 75 protection?

@tracey
I’d be very interested in the post, could you give me a shout when it’s available?
Thanks.

@tracey
How much are you looking for for the Reverb?

Velosolo

https://velosolo.co.uk/shopsingle.html

I picked up a Specialized Tricross Singlecross a few months back for a couple of hundred pounds. It’s bloody ace!
Fits knobbly 38’s or I just managed some 42mm slicks.

There’s a few pop up every now and again on FB Marketplace or LFGSS.

We get our Haix boots from here, they do smaller sizes as well

https://patrolstore.com/

Not cheap though.

From what I’ve read, it’s ASDA and Morrisons (I don’t know why it’s them and not Tesco / Sainburys et al) that set prices, they drop and everyone else has to follow suit to stay competitive. ASDA announced a 6p drop yesterday, not sure about Morrisons.

Around where I get fuel it just seems that Asda/Morrisons drop their prices so they end up running out of fuel. Everyone then has to use the higher priced Shell/BP filling stations nearby instead.
We’ve noticed this happening quite a few times over the past few weeks.

I shall be doing 2 of the Central XC races this year that are in the Chilterns. My old hood & really interested to see what courses they’ve put together!

Same here.
It’ll be interesting to see the course they make in Wormsley, it’s just along the road from me so it’s somewhere I regularly pass through. If nothing else it’ll be a scenic course!

£450 for a pair of dungarees that aren’t up to the job? Ridiculous.

It’s funny how you read things about brands like Rapha being overpriced etc but they don’t even come close to stuff like POC. The other good thing is that their kit is actually fit for purpose!

I was just speaking to a friend who mentioned that the M40 services at Beaconsfield, which are normally horrifically expensive, are actually cheaper now than other local stations.

When I say horrifically expensive, they’re usually 15-20p/litre dearer than anywhere else in normal times.

That’s entirely reasonable, Hannah. Mine was merely a suggestion and not in any way having a dig at you guys.
Good on you for contributing to the Cyclorise raffle as well, it’s a hell of a prize they’ve put up.

If you guys aren’t bothered about people wining and selling them on, why not auction them off on the site instead and give the proceeds to either a food bank or one of the many charities supplying aid to Ukraine?
Just a thought.

Things could get a lot worse yet…

The way fuel costs are going and with reading articles like that I’m ordering my season ticket tomorrow.
What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll end up cycling more for the next year or so which isn’t all bad.

I couldn’t face a 1.5h session today so decided to catch up with one of the earlier sessions I’d missed.
Went with Ham Sandwich from a couple of weeks back.
It was pretty tough. Didn’t feel too bad until the fourth set of intervals which was the 3rd set of 30s Z6/Z1 intervals. They really hurt!

Onwards and upwards for next week. Not sure how it’ll work this week as my shifts are all over the place but such is life!

Ah, makes a bit more sense then!

Roughly worked out my wife’s commute of 44 mile a day is about £790 a year.

You must get fantastic mpg from the car. Either that or my maths is terrible!

Just been working out my commuting costs.
It’s a 60 mile round trip so it’s about £1900 a year in fuel alone.
I can use a bus and cycle which is only viable with a £1200 a year annual pass, otherwise driving is cheaper.
Obviously the dearer the fuel the more I’d save but it’s a big commitment to make, especially having to mess about with catching the bus for a 5am start and late night finishes.
It’s a tough choice to make.

Getting there slowly.
Today didn’t totally cook me so I’ll try and catch ups with one of my missed workouts tomorrow.

Resident motivational guru DrP was smashing it out the park there with some impressive w/kg numbers in the intervals as well!

I think it’s the longest workout I’ve done on Zwift so pretty happy with that.

I had last weekends Kuurne Brussels Kuurne on the iPad at the same time so that kept the potential boredom at bay!

Due to a change of shifts it looks like tomorrow night’s Purple Unicorn isn’t happening.

So I decided to do it today instead.

I’m not going to lie, it’s freaking tough, the sweat was pouring off me by the end of it. Managed my second best time up the Alp du Zwift while I did it so can’t really complain too much.

Good luck to everyone doing it tomorrow night, I’ll be thinking of you all while I’m sat at work drinking tea 😂 

Sneaky tonight. It was pretty easy really, albeit a bit boring.

I’m glad it’s not just me who thought that. I did it this morning and to be honest it felt like I’d not done anything when I got off the bike.

Wonder what the US plane at 53000 ft near the Ukraine border is?

It’s a Global Hawk drone, it’s been up all afternoon.

I took a look at them when I saw them advertised last year. Some of them look ok but not cheap.
I saw that it was his company and looked elsewhere.

Take a look at Boardman hybrids.
I picked up a Boardman Hybrid Pro from Halfords a couple of years back, easily runs 40mm tyres on 700c wheels and for a long time I was running 47mm WTB gravel tyres on 650b wheels.
It has mounts for racks and guards and came with very hill friendly 1×11 gearing with a 44t chainring and 10/42 cassette.
With the right tyres it flies along fire roads and can easily handle Swinley Forest level blue trails, complete with rack and panniers 😂

Friday PM is good for me for the Unicorn ride.

I’ve got time to do one session today so it’s either Unicorn or Ham Sandwich.
They both sound grim but can’t decide so I might have to toss a coin…

On a brighter note and for some extra encouragement the local CX league have organised a four race XC series for this summer with one round being about a mile away from home so I need to get fit for that!

I might be able to do an AM workout next Sunday but it’ll depend on what time I’m starting work.
Hopefully with next week being a three session week I’ll be able to catch up one of the sessions I’ve missed so far.

That was hard going and still got two more sessions to do this week!