Today was beautifully sunny with temperatures of around 16 celcius. A mountain bike ride was tempting but since the weather is unlikely to be so good for much longer I thought it more prudent to sail my pedal powered dinghy. The forecast was for some strong and gusty winds. I’ve sailed the boat in windyContinue reading “My boat, in windy conditions.”
Flower of the Week, 16th October.
We have a dozen or more acers which are starting to show their fabulous autumn colours.
Trying my winter bike.
Winter is hard on mountain bikes. The wet and grit cause lots of wear of all moving parts. The transmission is especially vulnerable but suspension bushes can also suffer badly. Ideally you wouldn’t want to put your best bike or bikes through this and classic mountain bikes are even more prone to wear from muddyContinue reading “Trying my winter bike.”
Boating whilst the weather holds.
I did a long trip on my scooter on Saturday and didn’t feel like putting in a big effort on the mountain bike yesterday. Today the weather has been good, with plenty of sunshine, so I thought it was an ideal opportunity to use my pedal powered boat. It gives me a useful training sessionContinue reading “Boating whilst the weather holds.”
My other two wheeled life.
Although I’m a fanatical mountain biker I’ve had an equally long association with motorcycles. I was desperate to get on the road at the tender age of 16 and have had a powered 2 wheeler ever since. In 1999 I bought my first scooter for the automatic transmission, practicality and more accommodating riding position. I’veContinue reading “My other two wheeled life.”
Flower of the Week, 7th October.
The colours of autumn are ephemeral, though no less attractive than the shades of other seasons. It’s worth going into our garden often to see sights which may only last a day or so.
Adding spice to a ride.
I didn’t have much time to ride this morning but after 3 days was keen to get out on my mountain bike. After a few days with heavy rain the trails would inevitably be muddy which would mean more time was required to clean the bike afterwards. A fairly short blast on the canal bankContinue reading “Adding spice to a ride.”
No pain, no gain?
To improve or even to maintain fitness, do you have to hurt yourself whilst training? I’m not training for any other reason than to enable me to continue to enjoy sport, especially mountain biking. Since, due to my age, I’m past my athletic peak it’s more about stopping the decline in my ability being tooContinue reading “No pain, no gain?”
Electrolytes and water.
I’ve always pursued athletic disciplines but have rarely given nutrition much thought. In my early 20s I can remember running in the mountains of the English Lake District for over 5 hours with no carbohydrate loading, no food along the way and water provided only by the mountain streams. I have occasionally made sure I’mContinue reading “Electrolytes and water.”
Training and enjoying it.
I have found that I have inadvertently allowed my fitness to slip this year so am now determined to reverse the decline. I’m now at an age when I should be playing bowls or ruining a perfectly good walk by enduring a game of golf, but mountain biking is still my greatest sporting passion. TodayContinue reading “Training and enjoying it.”
Mountainbiker 