I enjoyed my last trail ride up Great Hill on my Whyte PRST4, a full suspension mountain bike from 2004. A lot, however, has changed in bike design since those days and I was left wondering if the PRST4 could handle some of the trails which I routinely ride on more modern bikes. It onlyContinue reading “Improving my Whyte PRST4.”
Flower of the Week, 22nd June.
Plenty is happening in the garden at the moment. We bought Galenia Trifoliata last year and it’s thriving in partial shade. Fox and cubs prefers full sun and the flowers close by early evening. Our water lilies also like the sun, whilst the goldfish beg for food.
A trail ride on a classic mountain bike.
I walked the dog up Great Hill the day before yesterday and could certainly feel the effort of the climb in my legs afterwards. Yesterday I decided to climb the same hill again by mountain bike and thought it would be fun to use a classic bike from 2004. The Whtye PRST4 has a radicalContinue reading “A trail ride on a classic mountain bike.”
Fabulous Friday.
I rode my mountain bike on Friday and it was a fabulous ride. On Wednesday I’d felt really tired on what should have been an easy enough ride and I still don’t know why that was. On Friday things went well with me back to my expected energy level. I wanted to include a downhillContinue reading “Fabulous Friday.”
Flower of the Week, 17th June.
Things are progressing so fast in the garden that I now need to feature more than one flower at once. We have cirsium in several places and it self propagates well. Unlike most thistles its leaves are hairy rather than spikey. Peonies are flamboyant flowerers and we have a few in our front garden. DelphiniumsContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 17th June.”
Using the techniques I practiced.
On my last 2 rides I practiced riding techniques on jumps and corners and today visited a different trail environment to put that practice to use. The last rides were on the purpose built and beamed (banked) trails on Heakey Nab. Purpose built trails usually consist of berms to prevent riders from sliding their wheels,Continue reading “Using the techniques I practiced.”
Finding a use for my boat.
I built my pedal powered dinghy for several reasons. Firstly I just wondered if I could build a boat that floated and moved along in the water in a useful way. Last year I enjoyed the fabrication and engineering involved in the build and I also hoped the boat would be an alternative form ofContinue reading “Finding a use for my boat.”
Flower of the Week, 13th June.
When we moved into our house 25 years ago the garden was largely composed of lawns and rose beds. We reduced the amount of grass until we had none but even before that we’d dug up and disposed of every rose bush. I suppose that was our reaction against a style of garden we didn’tContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 13th June.”
Practicing riding technique again.
I would have liked a trail ride on my mountain bike today. Weekends, though, often mean that the trails are also used by lots of walkers and the inevitable need to slow or stop can be frustrating. For this reason I thought it would be better to repeat my last ride which involved 3 lapsContinue reading “Practicing riding technique again.”
Riding skills.
Before my mountain bike ride today I read some pages in the magazine Mountain Bike Rider (MBR) about riding skills, particularly on the subject of jumping the bike. Jumps can be intimidating to riders and way back I’m not sure if the majority of riders, including myself, had much in the way of technique. IContinue reading “Riding skills.”
Mountainbiker 