One Gear, No Idea

T'was a mixed week during our fantastic late summer ..

Sunday afternoon was spent following my favourite person and enjoying, possibly, my favourite view. I mean that in a very complimentary way .. :-)

Twenty-odd km, including a cake stop, followed by my customary solo blast up the long, but mostly gentle, climb to the house while Molly drove home. What a good start to the week.

An early (actually VERY early) start allowed me to fit in at least a day's work and be out on the trails by 16:00 in Yorkshire. I went round my Marsden loop up onto the Pennines and then round again using an old railway bed from the dis-used quarry. Quality miles, quality time, knackered afterwards. 

Looking down on loop one, from loop two ..

Tuesday brought the only downside. A useful couple of hours in Sefton Park practising those elusive silky-smooth bike handling skills was concluded with the only mis-judged bunny-hop of the evening and a flat. Close proximity to the hotel, car, track pump etc meant I reluctantly pushed back and called it a day. I spent 45 minutes fixing the first, then trying to find the second, puncture only to have the inner-tube explode when I pumped it up. The racing-snake gossamer-thin specialized tube went in the bin and a proper Continental one fitted. Job done, ready for tomorrow.

Wednesday was a full day and, with time ebbing away, I had to go for plan B. I parked at the National Trust car park at Aber Falls and decided to ride up Drum (pro Drim). Drum is the most northerly of the Welsh 3000' mountains and it is a gentle giant compared to some of the others. However, it is quite a grunt up there and I did start at sea level and I was on the singlespeed.

Did I ride it all ? Er No (well not on the way up!) Could I ride it all ? Yes, I think so had I had taken a Yeti. Good blast down but mostly on the main track with a few diversions onto the grass to find the odd kicker and drop-off, but nothing too exciting if you know what I mean. 

Doubly knackered tonight.

Another long day, then one final stop near Cannock had me Following the Dog twice with some empty old legs but some great, dry and almost deserted, trails. 

Stats - about 100 off-road miles v two cheese burgers with chips, one chicken Jalfrezi , one lamb Rogon Josh. 

Another calorie neutral week is logged in the training diary of this awesome athlete. 

Mauritius

It's not often we read a newspaper these days. Stuff is either on the TV, on-line or on mobile. On-paper is a bit quaint. It's not often you get to the 'saga' page where they advertise trousers with elastic waist bands and multi pocketed khaki waistcoats either. One rainy afternoon in January 2013, we did both and found what we thought was a deal we had to investigate. 

A few hours Googleying later and we pulled the trigger. Seven months on and we landed in Mauritius. You can get there with two six hour flights via Dubai or from Paris direct. It's here by the way and I didn't know either until I checked.

Relevant facts .. Ex British, Ex French, now Independent. About two hour's drive north to south. They are so civilized that they drive on the left. Everyone drives at 50 mph with few exceptions. It feels more Caribbean than Indian - although I have never been to the Caribbean (or India). The people are helpful, friendly and genuine, it's a refreshing change and was very good value :-) 

Take .. Sun cream, Kindle, shorts, flops, diving kit, er that's it. 

Home for two weeks was the Pearle Beach resort in Flic en Flac and it comes highly recommended. Relatively few residents and (mainly) a-la-carte meals added to the all-inclusive luxury. 

It was winter in Mauritius and the locals had dug out various fleeces and hats to ward off the chill (26 degrees). Needless to say we had very few issues with the weather. Summer only serves up about 34 degrees in Mauritius anyway, so all we English have to do when we visit is avoid the rain and we're happy any time.  

The itinerary was brutal.

We intended to do little from the outset but did investigate the local diving via the reps at the hotel and ended up taking a few relaxed dives at some of the local sites.  The highlight was the Cathedral dive site. 

Situated a few minutes outside the reef, it comprises a convenient larger-than-Fred sized hole in the rock, leading to an underwater cave about 15m long with a sandy floored exit about 4m lower than the entrance. You can do up, down, left and right and generally explore the crevices for all sorts of sea life. Next to this is another cave with a small'ish entrance right at the bottom, into which you can fin and then slowly drift up about 4m into water that it about the same temperature as your bath at home. A bit claustrophobic with three of us in there though ! The third feature is a slanted chimney carved into the reef, about a metre wide, that allows you to drift up and then drop through a hole into another small cave. 

Note-able spots were leaf fish and stone fish - both very hard to see. And this 'little' chap .. 

A 1.5m lone Barracuda, grinning inanely, looking for trouble and cruising just a little too close for comfort. 

Lovely break with only one downside, I missed all three British Lions tests. But we won :-)

Anyone for Pimms ?

Life's been like a jug of Pimms (Δεν αγγούρι of course) recently - a mixture of nice things floating or suspended in something delicious. 

When you take a sip, you never know what you're gonna get.

Miles tick by and I get the chance for a visit to the Altura trail at Whinlatter. I haven't ridden here since it first opened and didn't think much of it to be honest. I rode both loops back-to-back and had a blast. They've made a good job of this and there's a little of something for everyone.

I had planned to meet Rich from Cyclewise  after the ride but he was finishing off with a customer, so I had the chance to test-ride some of his toys while I waited :-) First round the block was the Yeti SB 66 carbon, then the Stanton Slackline (a steel hard-core hard-tail that catapults you out of corners like you're carving on skis) and finally a 650b Alloy Cube - why is there so much nice stuff about ? 

Another good ride the next day in the Trough of Bowland started with a brutal ribbon of tarmac straight up from the B+B, but finished with some big skies, peace, quiet and nesting Curlews when I got to the top of Claughton Moor. 

Then we are at Tribemeet 2013 and Andy, Sandy, Silverfish and Plush Hill Cycles have all conspired to serve up a delicious weekend of Yeti-related fun. However, as I re check and lube the bike prior to the big ride I find a crack in the rear triangle !!!! So, good old Silverfish lend me one of their spares ..

Twenty miles on the Yeti SB95 later and I have another bike on my list. Climbs great, descends great, carries speed well and the rear Icon slides early and predictably to add to the mayhem. I loved it. Spend most of the day riding ahead and then catching up as I tried to polish the photography skills but those big wheels work very well and I did quite a bit of overtaking !

Thanks to Dan Edwards for the picture. A few actually came off coming down this !

The day finished with a great climb back up from Church Stretton and through the golf course back to the top of the Long Mynd before we ripped off down to the Bridges for another beer (or two). 

The front runners are on that trail across the valley. I then had to ride down the hill I was on and up the valley to get back on track for the real climb. 

What a great weekend and as our American friends prepare for their get-together in Telluride, CO this weekend let's hope you have a great weekend too. 

Only back for a week. Re-pack and off again ... 

Spring at last ?

It's been an eventful couple of months with some, hopefully, valuable miles in the bank.

A trip to South Wales gave me the opportunity to visit the Twrch and, now the clocks have gone forward, I may be able to ride round in daylight for the first time in a while. I finished work a bit early and on the drive over had convinced myself that two circuits would be the manly thing to do. Into the B+B at Crosskeys and a quick spin along the canal to Cwmcarn Forest Drive and we are off. This was the first time with gears since October, but glad I left the Whippet behind after an early start, long drive and some steeper and gnarlier trails than those at home.
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One circuit done and the temptation to turn left was overpowering  but, with the prospect of forfeiting the right to own a penis, turning right was the only real choice and I went round again. Mmmm - fitness is always relative. Fitness is always work-in-progress. I was wasted afterwards. Slept well.

A few days in the office and three short, fast(er) spins to the gym in as many days worked quite well and helped vary the diet. I checked out the ARC on one ride to make sure everything was working ready for the FNRttC. Back onto the Whippet for the next trip and 200 yards from the house, the free-hub breaks. I managed to jog back, swap bikes and, under pressure to get to the gym to start the spin class, I manage this year's fastest time ! 

Another week up t'North was next and into the lovely Weirside on Monday where I can explore the Pennines at great length as the evening draws out. 
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Big skies (and big ar$e) in the High Peak, grinding up the climb from Ladybower reservoir, prior to a great descent through Nabs Wood with the odd snow and ice slide en route. Snow still hanging about in April !

A couple of nights in Liverpool allowed me to put in four hours of skills practice (learning the stuff I should know and re-learning the stuff I have forgotten) around Sefton Park and then it's homeward bound via Cannock Chase and Oxford.  

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Even though I arrived late in Rugeley and rode well past dark, I managed a tour of the Monkey and the Dog with some comedy diversions due to essential (and very much appreciated) trail repairs, but had no mishaps and a great encounter with a 30 strong herd of deer just before the end. The dry trails were an absolute blast after the last year of rain!

Winter Highs and Lows

The Winter is beginning to get on my nerves.

Constant rain (or so it seems) since late summer and the weather can't make it's mind up. I wouldn't mind cold, we can deal with that, but when spare time doesn't coincide with gaps in the torrential rain, you miss out on so much. Molly and I haven't ridden together since the Christmas break.

Highs - Miles are steadily clocking up in an attempt to squeeze in some winter base training. Mainly evening rides over longer, steadier routes on the SS Whippet. My training log told me that, in December 2012, I was 13 minutes faster over my 57 km route than December 2011. Even on nights when I don't feel on fire, I'm five or ten minutes quicker .. not sure where that's come from. 

Lows - Hard on the heels of my new found speed, I take my eye off the ball during the recent freeze and come a cropper on the black ice. Nothing too serious, no blood, no breaks but a few bruises, slid across the road on my face and into a puddle, smashing my MP3 player en route. 

I have also started to add a bigger hill to the long route when I can. Trouble is that on this  route down to the coast, the major hill (on the South Downs) comes quite late in the ride when I am 'beyond warmed up' shall we say.

Two failures so far, just 100m from the top. Too slippery and steep(er) to climb out of the saddle and I haven't the strength left to pedal sitting on the single-speed. Whichever way you look at this, it is a lack of fitness ! On both occasions I have pushed for 10 metres, past the problem section, then ridden the rest. Irritating ... but it will not beat me. 

Once I have cracked that one, which will be next time, I shall add this one ...

Then, this one ...

By then, it may be clean and dry enough to break out a bike with gears !