Sunshine and Thunderstorms

Starting off in bright sunshine today, and finishing in drizzle, having ridden through a proper thunder and lightning storm. Always make you wonder whether a steel frame is the best idea, esepcially a big wheeler

Not quite so many mechanicals today, just punctures (once again Stans no tubes failing to make the grade and necessitating a new tube) and chains skipping. I actually forgot a couple last week, including my cleat almost falling out, only Posties experience saving the day (“I think you’re cleat is loose”  “naah – cleats never come… ohh! – I’d better stop and do that up then” It was almost off!)

We were fast today – Postie was on fire for the first half of the 16 mile loop. I was flagging toward the end it must be said, but then so was Postie - a bit. Probbaly not helped by his attempted garotting by a hanging bramble about 1/2 way around. Its not often that brambles cause a wound that looks initially like it might need stitches! The brambles were starting to return today. Frustrated by their lack of blood intake over the winter they are returning with a bloodlust which cannot be sated!   And now my leg is reminding me that it too was ripped all the way up my left calf by early blood hungry brambles.  

My tiredness does not bode well for the Gorrick Enduro next week – I’m signed up to do 3 laps (30 miles) and its always hard. I do hope the weather doesn’t get too bad. Its soo much better in the dry.

Thinking of gearing down the singelspeed to 32/18 for this one. It’ll slow me down on the flats for an enforced rest, and ease the climbs somewhat as well. I need to get out sometime during the week to keep my legs in though, and buy some more Torq bars – I’m all out

 

Day of the mechanicals

A blitz out across the Hughenden Valley started us off on Sunday. 8AM on a cold Sunday morning – a little overcast but a pleasure to be out and about when 90% of the population are still asleep. Zipping quickly through the woods, a short climb brings us to the top of a cracking descent – fast, squirmy, rooty, small drops keeping us on the edge, the top is chossy – covered in debris -  Fallen logs and large stones just waiting to catch the wheels of the careless rider.  

Not being a ‘local’ local, I don’t know some of these trails as well as I could. I have ridden this one, but wasn’t expecting it right there having come at it from a different direction. As it was I was a little too close to the rider in front, which I don’t like as it leaves me following rather than picking my own line, seeing obstacles far too late and fighting rather than flowing through them. As we hit the root steps (which aren’t really that big but when you don’t know them EVERYTHING seems that much bigger, yknow?) I was off line and took a much wider line than I needed to, leaving me on the twigs and skittery stuff at the edge of the trail and far too close to a stand of trees for comfort.  ‘Course it didn’t help that I was on the hardtail 29er SS when everyone else was full bouncy. Funny how everyone tells me I’m nuts, but I keep up pretty well and down there I was chasing hard!

 

The bottom of that run turns into a thin run of hard pack dirt through a footpath width of grass. It’s a little tighter on the wheels, but loads of space for the bars. It took me at least 3 runs down there before I realised why everyone slowed down on that bit. Apparently there’s a barbed wire fence on the left that I never even notice. Its amazing how that can affect your riding.  Perceived peril I think they call it. I try and focus on where I’m heading, and not what could happen if I don’t get it right. Jumps are the ones that do it for me though, and drops. I’m OK if I hit them when I’m not expecting them, but if I see them first they scare me shitless!  Too many instances of hitting the ground with bits of me instead of with my wheels I think. I keep thinking of getting some formal coaching but haven’t got round to it yet.

 

Anyways – cross the road at the bottom and started up the tarmac hill. First puncture of the day – my own back tyre. In fact the first time I’ve had the tyre off the 29er . As Steve pointed out “F**k those inner tubes are big!”.  A quick check and a big hawthorn spike gets pulled out and we’re back on the way again.

 

Once we get to Phil’s side of the valley – Phil not even being with us today, having gone off and left us for the temptations of riding around Thailand *Pfffft* – it got muddy – REALLY muddy. Slogging through that was not so much fun, slowed us right down for a while.

 

Next puncture was Posties. Running Stan’s no tubes he still punctured badly enough that he had to rip out the rim seal and stick in a tube. So much for that! (I know tubeless is theoretically a good idea, but I’ve seen so many people fixing them and adding tubes I have my doubts). He then managed to skip a gear going up a hill and run the chain into the spokes, jamming tight! We had to take the wheel off to get it out and then it miraculously just popped free (Don’t you hate it when that happens?).

 

While we were fixing this Mike found a bit (actually a lot) of play in his bottom bracket and tried to tighten it using my multi tool. Cue jammed multi tool and another 5 minutes of faff trying to remove a piece of allen key. It ended up staying in and staying tight for another 8 miles or so til we got back and managed to get it out with a pair of pliers.

 

Out of 4 riders – only Steve managed to get away scott free – cue disaster music for the next episode

 

Ah – oh yes – I ummm had to walk back up the steep hill from the beginning Not happy with that at all, but my legs just werent having it. I blame it on recovering from a cold. AND I’m playing the singlespeed card again! Take the piss when you can make it and I can’t, and we’re BOTH on singlespeeds. Otherwise its just cheating using them gear thingys isnt it?

10 mile blast

I don’t do a lot of road riding, but when I do I always wonder why I don’t do it more often.

I emerged from working at about 6.27 last night, wondered briefly about whether I had time to get out, looked outside and realised it was a glorious spring evening and decided to get my suit off and tight lycra on (oooh err missus), jump on the bike and take it for a quick 10 mile blast.

Digging out shorts (shorts! haven’t worn them in a bit) chucking gear on and getting outside took about 5 minutes. Pumping up tyres (having let them go down over winter on the turbo trainer *note to self – MUST check tyre pressures more often*), stripping helmet light off and finding nice clean summer SPD shoes another 5 minutes. On the bike and stopwatch started – GO!

Inside 100 yards I’m going faster than I do on a mountain bike and I love it. Almost too much as I have to brake sharply for the corner at the bottom of the road. Out on to the main road with an almost trackstand while the traffic passes. Full out for the next 1/2 mile, my legs are burning but I don’t want to give the cars ANY excuse to try and pass me on this stretch. Straight across the cross roads and I’m onto tiny country lanes. A little bumpy, but no traffic. I zip past a couple of kids lazily pootling along the road, smiling as I remember doing much the same years ago.  These lanes are sandy, dirty from water runoff, and I have to slow right down on the tighter corners. I still don’t want to run too wide in case of unseen traffic coming the other way.

I love road riding. Its different from mountain biking. It pushes your thighs harder and more consistently. On short runs like this one you can almost go full pelt all the way. In fact if I was fitter I probably could. It’s ‘about’ 10 miles – i’ve only ever measured it in bits, never taken the car round it completely and don’t have a computer on the road bike. It almost becomes a challenge to just keep pushing, to NOT change down a gear on the hills, to keep cranking the pedals until your legs or your lungs decide to give up. I find it difficult to push through that bit – I know you can, keep it going beyond where you want to slow down and take it easy, but I always seem to give in just that little bit too easily. I’m getting better though, and singlespeeding helps – silly to have to stop and walk up hills so you just keep going. There’s a reason for pushing yourself harder then.

Coming up to the corner where the Maidenhead road heads off left I see a spectacularly stupid bit of driving from two different cars. A Subaru Impreza, black with gold wheels and racing stripes comes screaming past me, turbo popping as he accelerates toward the corner. At the same time an ice blue Vectra decides to not look and takes a right down the Maidenhead road without looking to see whats coming round the corner. Thank goodness for ABS on Subarus – would have been nasty otherwise.

 It’s only towards the end of this run that I start hitting hills, and even then they’re only little. Probably about 8 miles in is the first time I drop out of the big ring. A little tiredness creeping in at the same time as I hit the little hills. A car behind me makes me pick up the pace and keep pushing upi the hill hard. I even get out of the saddle and honk up for a brief while. I hit the top with the burn in my legs really starting to kick in and I’m relieved to hit the descent. Into the drops and a couple of nice corners before another, shallower but longer hill, undulating back to the Binfield Road. I’m back on the home run now, belting away, trying to keep the cars behind me and not slow them up too much and leave them any sort of encouragement to try and overtake. The last half mile through the estate and up the hill home is good. Hurting, but good. I hit the driveway, hop off the bike and grab the stopwatch, stopping it at 32.19.

Never accurate as I’m starting and stopping it on a mobile phone that then gets shoved in my back pocket, BUT – it gives me a target. A reason to go and do better next time.   Here’s to a sub 30 minute run, and then finding a longer one to get it back up.

 

Snow

Today was a little delayed by some freak weather. It’s April 6th and I woke up this morning to about 2-3″ snow on the ground!

We had arranged to go out riding in the Chilterns. Riding from Posties, we had just about everbody coming out and were planning on doing the newly renamed ‘Rudge 16′ (in memory of Derek Rudge who collapsed and died of a massive heart attack on this route on 24th Feb 2008).

I woke up a little late, rushed around getting ready and had JUST looked out of the window when I had a phone call from Phil – with that much snow on the ground the ride was called off and we decided it would be abetter idea to stay at home and play in the snow with our respective families.  Good shout, Phil That was great fun.

About an hour later the kids were up and about and we spent the next couple of hours running around in the garden, building snowmen, having snowball fights and generally having fun in the winter wonderland outside. (Pics will be added here soon). It seemed really strange though. Tulips are already out, Pansies are in full flower, the first leaves are on the trees and it was ALL covered in snow. The contrast of colours against the white blanket was beautiful, if a little scary as a reminder of how buggered the environment is these days.

I DID manage to get out on the bike this afternoon though. Good thing really as I’d borrowed a Cove Hustler from Mountain Trax to check it out for a second time. I’d taken it out once before and been smitten, but then got the 29er and wanted to check it out again.

No time to spare when I got to Swinley, togging up in double quick time, checking tyre pressures and on teh trails sharpish, only to realise I had no shock pump and the rear shock could have done with an extra few PSImand no water (I thought I had some left in the camelbak after my midweek ride – I thought wrong ).

It was WET. Cold and wet, with still a bit of snow hanging about (although it was disappearing amazingly fast). I rarely feel like really cranking it when I’m solo, but I was under a bit of time pressure as the bike needed to be back to the shop by 4.30. I headed out, up past GoApe. The fireroads getting sort of back into condition after their decimation while a big water pipe was laid. Back up the original route to the start of the whole nine yards and through the tight twisty bit in the trees. So far so good for the bike, I headed down the rest of the whole nine yards, and up Surrey Hill, picking one of the downhill routes to first ride, then push, up. I’ve not tried those before – I’ll have to head back and try them down the right way.

A couple of novice riders asked me for sirections, so I took them down CJ’s (with the big drop and the tight right) and that messed them up a bit I think. They stayed upright, but only just. I left them at the bottom and headed off for the labyrinth, managing to break the chain, fix the chain, realise chain hadn’t run over the jockey wheels properly, fix the chain again, then get chainsuck. 

The Labyrinth was cool. Found an alternative start with loads of big berms and tabletops which I was too scared to hit fast enough. Through that and then had to head back as I’d used up all my time and had to get the bike back.

Back at the shop with 1 minute before closing – hosed it down and droped it back. Driving home thinking 1 – where do i get the money for another £3k bike?  and 2 – I really want to check out a full suss 29er or two before I commit.

Gonna be a while though I think.

 

 

Night rides and trees

Night ride this evening. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it as I was in Slough most of the day. After hurrying home and having to wait for Louise to get home I threw the bike in the car – Whyte PRST 4 tonight – and rushed off to Penn to meet with James and Postie.

A fine drizzly rain started on the way over and persisted all the while we were out. Reflecting in the lights it looked almost like snow at times. We only did abut 6 miles – twisting and turning through the woods in the pitch dark, only our own lights giving any visibility at all.

An owl zipped out in front of us at one point, and a muntjack deer seemed to be either stunned or unafraid as we cycled past – it barely moved at all, an awesome sight. I love seeing wildlife close up.

And then i came off     Twisting through a really tight singletrack section – thin whippy trees on both sides. Jinking left, twisting right, a little tweak to th -Oooof – caught my right bar on a sapling and went straight over at speed, landing with a  bar jammed in my ribcage. Luckily no major harm done – little scrapes and bruises but I’ll live.

We met up with a couple of other lads after that. Met them a few weeks ago and rode with them for about 5 minutes before one of them broke his chain and couldnt get it fixed. Tonight was better. No mechanicals (a rare and pleasant change at the moment), but they were both whinging that we were too fit and too fast for them. Quite flattering really, and in my case obviously absolutely true

A sprint finish up to Posties made my legs feel it a bit more, and back in the car for fish and chips and home.

A nice, easy nightride. Love it!

Cycling Thoughts

This is my cycling blog.

Intended to be a reflection of my own thoughts, feelings, perceptions and experiences around cycling.

Primarily I’m a mountain biker, so the off roaders out there might find this more interesting than your typical roadie, but I do ride road as well, but not nearly so much. I try and keep my wheels mainly ON the ground, so this isn’t going to be a collection of jump pictures and (hopefully) huge crashes.

Started primarily as a record for myself, we’ll see where it goes.