I bought my first mountain bike magazines in 1992 and found that the US mag. Mountain Bike Action was the best at the time. The UK mags. seemed to be too orientated towards the youths, not the adults but were in other ways more relevant to the developing UK MTB scene. Cross country racing eventsContinue reading “The mountain bike press.”
Returning to the source.
Today I contemplated riding to the Egg Hillock. My last ride was memorable, having made a climb which I hadn’t achieved in years. The problem with that was that if I didn’t make the tough climb it would all seem like a waste of time. I decided instead to return to the source of ourContinue reading “Returning to the source.”
A recovery ride, or not?
My last ride involved a fully committed section of trail which took over 15 minutes. OK, so it was a mainly downhill piece of trail but if you want to do it quickly you should still be maximising your effort when the trail turns down. Not only that but I had to get to theContinue reading “A recovery ride, or not?”
For the ride. For the ultimate ride!
I’ve quoted from the movie “Point Break” in my writing in the past, as in the title of this account. The movie centres around surfing but it could perhaps have been written about mountain biking instead. Surfers and mountain bikers often seek that ultimate ride. Just as a lack of the right waves may hamperContinue reading “For the ride. For the ultimate ride!”
Things are improving at Healey Nab.
Every time I’ve ridden up my local hill, Healey Nab recently, the mountain bike trails have improved. After 2,500 diseased larch trees were felled in March it looked as if we’d never get our man made trail system back but amazing progress has been made. The Coronavirus has prevented any calls for volunteers, so whoeverContinue reading “Things are improving at Healey Nab.”
First wet ride in over two months!
Today started with drizzle. You wouldn’t really call it rain, it was more like mist but it did dampen the ground. I’d walked the dog early on, before it started, but it didn’t look like it would wet me so off I went for a mountain bike ride. After my last ride on my 2004Continue reading “First wet ride in over two months!”
A target beaten. Just!
Today started cloudy with a light breeze wafting from the north. I decided to have my second try at one of the two targets which I’ve set myself for this year’s mountain biking. It’s a simple matter of beating my best time from last year from the top of Edge Gate Lane to the summitContinue reading “A target beaten. Just!”
Exploring a new hill.
Today I rode to my nearest hill, Healey nab. So what made it a new hill to explore? The felling of 2,500 larch trees and massive damage by the tree felling equipment left little available to ride but in just a month trails are now emerging which I’ve ridden a number of times. Today IContinue reading “Exploring a new hill.”
13 minutes 50 seconds.
Thirteen minutes and fifty seconds was the time I set last time I rode from the top of Great Hill down a big, mainly downhill trail to the Goit, which is a straightened river. Today my plan was to ride the same downhill but making sure it wasn’t a race against myself, with the inherentContinue reading “13 minutes 50 seconds.”
Back to reality.
My last ride was something special. I rode a long downhill, shaving over a minute and a half from my previous time. I also set a new fastest ever time for a segment of the downhill on the app. Strava. I beat my previous best time by 2 seconds and crucially was a second fasterContinue reading “Back to reality.”
