And did those feet in ancient timeWalk upon England’s mountains green?And was the holy Lamb of GodOn England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance DivineShine forth upon our clouded hills?And was Jerusalem builded hereAmong these dark Satanic mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold:Bring me my arrows of desire:Bring me my spear: OContinue reading “God save the King.”
Category Archives: MTB
My first big ride for a while.
I had a target for this year which involved an almost exclusively off road ride of 40 miles with a healthy 4,583 feet of ascent. I rode the route on the 6th of June and since then have only ridden 5 rides of over 15 miles. I have realised that my fitness has suffered somewhatContinue reading “My first big ride for a while.”
Facing a big challenge.
In January I set myself 2 targets for the year and added another later. I have accomplished 2 of the targets so far in the form of a downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest ever time on the app. Strava, and an off road ride of over 40 miles with over 4,500Continue reading “Facing a big challenge.”
Third time unlucky?
They say “Third time lucky, third time unlucky”. I set myself 3 targets for my mountain biking this year and I’ve already accomplished 2 of them, but will I be unlucky with my third? I didn’t seem to be doing enough training for the first challenge, a ride of 40 off road miles with 4,500Continue reading “Third time unlucky?”
Trying to train.
In January I set myself 2 mountain bike riding targets for the year, then added another later. I’ve achieved 2 of the targets in the form of a ride with over 4,500 feet of almost exclusively off road ascent and a short, twisty, downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest time recorded byContinue reading “Trying to train.”
Cramps.
The older I get, the more I seem to suffer from leg cramps. This week the problem has been in my calves but it can appear anywhere from foot to hip. I may have allowed myself to remain dehydrated after gardening in the relatively warm weather and never really got on top of my hydration.Continue reading “Cramps.”
Any harm done?
Most of us nowadays think about our impact on the environment and wish to do no harm. Mountain biking may be a healthy outdoor pursuit but we can impact on the environs and are often blamed for erosion of the trails, usually by walkers. I get particularly annoyed by riders leaving debris such as foodContinue reading “Any harm done?”
Training again.
My last ride involved 5 laps of a 10 minute circuit with 178 feet of ascent on each lap. It was an excellent training ride and I wanted to do something as good today. I haven’t yet succeeded in my challenge to ride a local circuit in under 14 minutes, which I set as anContinue reading “Training again.”
Riding 5 laps. The biology and the psychology.
I feel like I haven’t been putting my usual, consistent level of effort into my mountain biking, so today decided to do something about it. It may be because I’ve already achieved 2 of my 3 annual challenges that made me relax but having tried for the outstanding target I was shocked. I was wayContinue reading “Riding 5 laps. The biology and the psychology.”
When you just need to get out.
For a variety of reasons I haven’t done any exercise more strenuous than dog walking for 5 days. I stayed away on Friday night, then had a busy weekend with rainy days so I couldn’t get out on either bike or pedal powered boat. Today we were also told to expect showers before a moreContinue reading “When you just need to get out.”
Mountainbiker 