Due to the trail conditions, a mixture of ice, snow and sticky mud, my riding has been a little limited recently. I decided to improve the situation yesterday, by planning a trail ride for today suited to dry conditions and pretending it was summer. Yesterday was dry and windy whilst last night we had aContinue reading “Pretending it’s summer.”
Boat building. Part 1.
I don’t really know why I feel I must build a boat. I had a dinghy when I was a kid and my son, Dylan, and I briefly had a dinghy when he was younger. My boat will be pedal powered from a recumbent seating position, so it will give me similar exercise to cycling.Continue reading “Boat building. Part 1.”
Brushing up on my cornering technique.
Each month I receive a copy of Mountain Bike Ride magazine (MBR). I bought the first ever edition many years ago because it was clearly aimed at adults, whilst the other UK options at the time seemed to be oriented towards the youth. I haven’t always read the mag. but for a few years I’veContinue reading “Brushing up on my cornering technique.”
The difference between bikes and boats.
Stupid title? Read on if you’d like to know how differently bikes and boats perform as the speed increases. I’ve ridden bikes the whole of my life but only now am I building a boat. I haven’t had a big project for a good few years and had always intended to build a sixth sportsContinue reading “The difference between bikes and boats.”
Riding in the sunshine.
After days of rain and slushy snow the prospects for a mountain bike ride didn’t look good. This morning I walked the dog in a very muddy Duxbury Woods but towards the end of the walk the sun broke through. I realised that I might not get a better day for a while so IContinue reading “Riding in the sunshine.”
A new project.
Today I walked my dog, Freddie, up the canal bank. Our nearest canal is the 127 mile long Leeds/Liverpool and although it no longer carries commercial traffic it’s still busy with leisure craft. When I got back home I returned to the canal on my mountain bike. About 25 years ago I rode 100 milesContinue reading “A new project.”
A better ride.
The weather has been warming to a heady 7 celcius over the last few days, thawing any remaining ice and snow. A warm front has passed over giving rain but today was dry in it’s wake. Dry is not something which could be said of the ground but mud would be preferable to the iceContinue reading “A better ride.”
A sensible ride!
It rained quite heavily last night, washing away the remnants of the snow at home. After the horrible trail conditions on my last ride it seemed prudent to do a road ride and not allow myself to be tempted onto the dirt. I wanted the ride to have some training value so a hilly routeContinue reading “A sensible ride!”
Not worth riding?
There have been few times in my entire mountain biking life when, after a ride, I’ve thought that it hadn’t been worth getting out. After almost a fortnight with snow on the ground the temperature has now risen causing the remnants of the snow to turn to a mixture of slush and hard, compacted iceContinue reading “Not worth riding?”
The Iceman Cometh.
I know nothing of the play in the title, only that it seems like a good description of today’s ride. Below freezing temperatures at night have preserved quite a lot of the snow and a little more fell at breakfast time so I walked the dog and set out on the bike. Grip is reasonablyContinue reading “The Iceman Cometh.”
Mountainbiker 