Yesterday was a rainy day. The forecast suggested light rain all day but when I was walking the dog the sun came out. It was a good opportunity, with a window in the weather, to get a mountain bike ride in. We’re doing a big garden project so I thought a fairly short ride wouldContinue reading “A window in the weather.”
Gardening.
I peruse a number of different hobbies. Mountain biking is possibly the one I’m most passionate about but I also have a classic Italian scooter and spend time doing various activities associated with the Scooter scene, which in Britain is vibrant. Another thing which I spend a lot of time doing is gardening. Behind theContinue reading “Gardening.”
The full Great Hill experience.
Great Hill might seem like a misnomer for a mound rising to just 1,250 feet above sea level but from some viewpoints it looks quite big. Also I was beginning my mountain bike ride from home at under 300 feet, dropping lower early in the ride. I’ve replaced the front mech. cable on the TrekContinue reading “The full Great Hill experience.”
Second test of my homemade boat.
I tested my human powered boat 6 days ago. It’s powered by treadles oscillating a fishtail. Well, why be conventional? It was dismally slow but on a positive note it didn’t leak at all. As a Consequence of this I’ve done some modifications. I increased the size of the fishtail by about 350% to getContinue reading “Second test of my homemade boat.”
Back to my favourite downhill.
It was around a year ago that I pieced together a downhill mountain bike ride which is now my absolute favourite. In truth it begins at the top of Great Hill but today I had to abbreviate my ride so I didn’t ride right from the top of the hill. Instead I climbed Brinscall WoodsContinue reading “Back to my favourite downhill.”
Launching my home made boat.
I’ve mentioned before that I have been building a boat. As a mountain biker I wanted it to be pedal powered so I designed a treadle system to transfer leg power to the water. Treadles seemed better than rotating pedals in a boat because my legs would stay lower, aiding stability. Yesterday I finished workingContinue reading “Launching my home made boat.”
Out of my depth.
I used to ride absolutely any trail I came across. Today, though, I rode a trail which I’ve ridden before but found myself completely out of my depth. My problems started before the ride when I tried to replace the front mech. cable on the Trek 29er. It is routed through the frame and aContinue reading “Out of my depth.”
A Fartlek ride!
One of my brothers often entitles his runs, on the app. Strava, as “Fartlek” runs. Curiosity got the better of me and I Googled the term to find that it is a Swedish word meaning “speed play”. It’s an unstructured form of interval training where you intersperse periods of high effort with more relaxed parts.Continue reading “A Fartlek ride!”
A road ride for training.
The main difference between mountain bike riding and road riding is that the off road terrain constantly makes you change the amount of effort which you apply. Yes, a hill on the road will force you to up the power but off road the differences are more marked. It’s much rarer to be able toContinue reading “A road ride for training.”
Birthday Boy!
Yesterday was my birthday. It wasn’t a significant one. I didn’t change age category on the app. Strava, that’ll be next time. We’re doing a massive garden project at the moment so I didn’t have the time for a long and indulgent ride, which is what I really need. My last ride was a shortContinue reading “Birthday Boy!”
Mountainbiker 