Bump for the evening crowd.

I had my front triangle replaced last summer on my Zesty (it was 4 years old at the time and not a warranty job) and I was never asked by the LBS if I was the original owner or not.

brakes is right. It is so important to relax otherwise your movement are far too big and jerky. That is why it is easy to trackstand when you know you can do it as you are relaxed about it!

There is lots of riding to do in Europe that is still very exotic. I’ve been to the Sibillini mountains in Italy a few times and I’m always amazed how few people you see and I’ve never seen anyone else on a mountain bike. The trails are mostly ridable (the only section I wasn’t able to ride was the one marked as a mountain bike trail on one of their maps!) and the views are amazing. There are way-marked walking trails that are sometimes easy to follow and sometimes not. I’ve always planned my routes myself apart from once when I went with the local mountain bike club. Google Earth is a good way of doing it.

It really was an amazing event (again!). Such a great atmosphere and well organized. I wished I’d trained for it though as the climbs were hard work (especially the pushing bits) but well worth it as the descents were fantastic. I particularly enjoyed the pyroclastic flow of riders on the narrow singletrack of mud through the woods on the Saturday! Must have been hilarious to watch! I will keep my fingers crossed that the event goes ahead again next year and if it does I look forward to meet everyone again! Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
(Rider 007)

Last time I went to Cannock there were braking bumps even on the tiny sloping straight sections that 5 meter further along had a climb coming up. I would imagine that a guy who comfortably skids around corners with his back wheel locked out wouldn’t have created those bumps as well so the vast majority of the braking bumps I would have thought would have been created by relative beginners who still only look about 1 meter ahead of their front wheel.

What about this then? Ended going down the middle of it unable to brake and just had to carry on until there was an escape route. Winter makes riding more exciting!

That is a great looking cake!

Did anyone find that they have lost a soft case for riding glasses? Found it when walking the dog after the ride on the track across the golf course.

Loved the ride! Thanks Jane and Julian for organising the lovely snow and sunshine.

Count me and mr no_discernible_skill in! Especially if we are stopping at a pub afterwards!

I regularly ride past WindyBottom Farm. 😀

MF, unfortunately the council have been approached several times a year in the last 20-30 years and the reply is always the same (with references and quotes from the bridleway maintenance act XXXX included every time) Basically they tell us we have no say in the matter at all and they have absolutely no obligation to us at all.

They have offered us to apply to have the road adopted which would involve us paying for first putting tarmac down to the councils specification as well as actually putting drainage in which is one of the reasons obviously for the poor state the track is in now. However since the track is half a mile long and mostly goes across a golf course fairway (golfclub is not happy with the adopted road approach anyway) the cost of the job would be too much for the few households that might want to go down this route. I am not a fan as I like the fact it is a bridleway, I just want to be able to get a work party together to fill the worst bits in that are outright dangerous with a good curry and plenty of beer afterwards!

We have the right to drive on the bridleway as it is the only access route to our houses. Because it is classes as a bridleway the councils responsibility is to maintain the track so it is usable for horse riders and the horse riders have objected to tarmac being used (despite the road already being 80% tarmac) so the council use cold planing as they are cheap.

Unfortunately because the majority of the users are actually cars (there are 11 houses using the road on a regular basis) this surface degrades very quickly and it has got progressively worse and the council’s budget smaller. This is why we finally think it is time to actually start doing something ourselves rather than just moan to the council as we are actually the ones causing the damage! Unfortunately the people that are worried about the possible litigation are now making the people that were originally up for putting a bit of labour in to making it better worried and they don’t want to do it now.

Yes I agree with you about the impression you get these days regarding litigations etc but is it actually happening? Do these “stories” actually reach the courts? If everyone thinks like you then it is the thin end of the wedge and we will have cases like the Chinese toddler that was left to die on the street after having been run over with all those people just walking past without helping.

Thanks for recommending me nbt! I don’t do women only courses (although a few turns out to be women only by chance!) as I have found that women end up riding just as well as men after the course and sometimes even better. The fact that there are men taking part actually seems to boost their confidence as they then find out men can be scared of things too! The atmosphere is very supportive regardless of the gender mix of the group.
If you want to treat your wife book in for a weekend and combine her course with going out yourself and ride some of our fantastic trails for the day! Website in profile.

I might enter my son in the mini-HtN. He will be 12 then.

But hang on a minute, Last year he managed three teams in the summer HtN that all won their category, so maybe I’ll just keep him as a manager!

My White Industries freewheel is lovely. Was almost reluctant to put it on my bike as it was such a beautiful thing!

Samuri is right. We trapped a very horrible cat who came in at night and super soaked it for 15 minutes on and off. I would use water only as you don’t want to cause injury just make life very unpleasant for a while. It took a year before it dared to come back and then we repeated it. Never saw it again after that.

If you wanted to get the sense of both holiday and skills then drop me an email. I do both skills courses and accommodation and happy to put something together for you to get the best of both worlds. Maybe a couple of days exploring the best of the Peak District? Skills courses and Lily Bank Farm Cottage

Lily

Can’t agree more with Charliemort. Absolutely superb event with the most amazing riding and friendly atmosphere. Most enjoyable event I’ve done by far! Finished 3rd of the teams which was icing on the cake!

Me and pypdjl will be there! Seems like we are the only mixed team. Anyway after resting for 5 days I feel more lethargic than ever so I know what your mean Charliemort about sort of looking forward to it!

mos is right that taking the drugs is a short term fix but if you only fly a few times a year it is by far the easiest option. Just by getting on a plane you are doing the CBT anyway and the more you fly the less you need to take the tablets to do it. I have used Temazepam in the past and they work equally well for my husbands dentist trips.

Ahhh, I love a good brass band me! If I’m not working I’m definately coming! (Shall I bring my trombone just in case we don’t make it back in time???)

Next time you see me out sambob stop for a chat. Would be nice to put a face on the name so to speak. Although I have a hopeless memory for faces I’m afraid.

Haha, yes that was Gaby then. She is the hamlet’s teenage driver and yes it is amazing how fast she can make that Yaris go off-road isn’t it? She doesn’t mind mountain bikers as she actually has never gone slow enough to even see one I expect. (She has already written a car off but shows no intention to act more carefully in the future…)

That was probably me. Were you in the group with a few sickeningly good kids pedalling the entire climb up to the Fox in their mid rings?

That could have been my car you nearly hit, Bunnyhop! Or the Morgan…..shudder even to think about it! 🙂

No change in route! Just make sure you aren’t freaked out by the trench full of what looks like human skulls after the muddy chute, you should be able to roll over them fine and continue your journey down to be nearly hit by cars at the bottom.

I’ve seen one hut just below (maybe about 20 mintues walk from the top) the peak of Mount Vettore that has shelter that is unlocked so it can be used in the winter/autumn/spring months, but it is very very basic. Wooden benches that it is it. Not sure about the others.

Also beware of Italian maps, they aren’t as good as the OS maps and lots of paths have been “forgotten” either due to vegetation or landslides. The GAS is easy to follow and well maintained at the moment.

I know the area well having walked and cycled many of the routes over the last 7 years and you’ll love it! It is very quiet especially this time of year and you’ll find that the big mountains will still be covered in snow which might make things a bit trickier (and there has been quite a few deaths due to the snow) so be careful when choosing your route. The GAS should be snow-free though. I would be quite surprised if all the rifugios are open so it really is worth while phoning ahead.

To do this trip without relying on a car is very brave as it is so quiet, but we’ve been lucky a couple of times and managed to get lifts by friendly locals and the locals are very friendly indeed.

And two weeks ago when we were there it was freezing cold! Especially up in the hills so pack very warm clothes! It is more like British climate with plenty of rain showers in the afternoons so don’t forget waterproofs.

I thorougly enjoy reading the arguments about flats versus SPDs!

I’m surprised that people put so much emphasis on efficiency as I don’t ride mountain bike to be efficient, just to enjoy myself! People should just ride with pedals that they like and get on with and not worry about 15% here and there unless they are trying to win races etc.

My only contribution to the discussion would be that when people use SPDs on my skills courses you have to add at least 30 minutes to the day as the extra run up lenghts, aborted attempts at stuff as they haven’t managed to clip in in time and failed attempts at starting on technical climbs etc, all adds to the time it takes to practise the various skills I teach. (However the toppling over sideways incidents do seem to cause a few laughs!)

I love the clicky noise of clipping in shoes into SPDs but it doesn’t outweigh the flexibility and simplicity of flat pedals, instead I just put in 15% more effort and still keep up with the people I ride with.

Bump for the evening crowd.

The black section of the Monkey that starts with a big (nearly chainring catching) drop on a bend seems to be more techy than the three people behind me seemed to be able to cope with as apparently they all crashed on the first drop! (as told by my partner who opted to go on the fun but not so devestating red option) Have a go, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sounds like ours when there has been too much mash potato in it. Seems to clog the filters. Try and clean all the filtery bits, run on highest temperature setting to give it a really good clean (if it will start a cycle). The one in our old house got so blocked we had to get a man in and he sorted it and it cost £90 (about 5-6 years ago).

To ride flats remember to position your foot more centrally over the pedals and not the same position as you would use for with cleats in which the position is more on the front end of the foot. When descending drop your heals which will not only shift your body weight nicely further back in a relaxed fashion but also make you push your feet into the pedals when you hit rocks and you won’t have to worry about bouncing off!

We weren’t actually on a towpath, but that didn’t stop the old man moaning about it! What amazed me was that he had time to see that the cyclist didn’t have a bell! I have to say the rider was going well too fast for me to both spot the make of the bike as well as try and get a glimps of the accessories on his handlebars!

Thanks for posting about my courses Pistonbroke. I can’t recall having had any nightmarish people on my courses! Cautious yes, but once people are shown what to do it is amazing how quickly they start riding more difficult stuff!

Onzadog, sounds like your wife and her friend would be ready for the intermediate course. And so far everyone on it has got their wheels off the ground and loved it! I am very lucky doing the courses at Roman Lakes in Marple as we have all types of natural terrain in a small area, all very typical for the Peak District, so plenty of both big and small rocks here! I run the courses throughMountain Bike Skills Courses if you need more information and also will do 2-1 sessions if desired at no extra charge on a weekday.

When ours seemed to not get cold enough I phoned a repair man from the yellow pages and over the phone he told me to defrost at least over night if not longer as ice can build up behind the back panel in the freezer section that is hidden. I removed the panel and he was right, loads of ice despite the freezer being of “frost free” model. I let it throughly defrost, put the panel back and never had any problems since. Worth at least speaking to a repair man before throwing your fridge/freezer away?

Went out for a lovely ride last week and rode a few footpaths. Seems to be a pattern though as I’m only ever told off by middle age women without dogs or partners and never ever by anyone walking their dogs off the lead (presumably they feel like criminals themselves sick off being told off by lonely middle age women!).

Last week I’d just lifted my bike over a stile to take a short cut by mostly pushing my bike up this field to avoid a horrible narrow lane with lots of blind bends. The sour looking woman I met didn’t melt by my friendly smile but instead said “You shouldn’t be here!” to which I replied “Don’t worry I’ll be walking.” “That is not the same!” She said and added that there were sheep further up. I should have said that I’d put my bike on a lead to stop it chasing them but couldn’t be bothered and just set off walking up the hill. Do these people get a real kick out off telling others off?

I much prefer the Sunday townies going to Lyme park with 3 bored looking kids who have no idea what the difference is between a footpath and a bridleway and just laugh and smile and think you are awsome being able to ride where there isn’t any tarmac!