In The Wind In The Willows Ratty says to Mole “I promise you this my young friend, there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I’ve long held that it would be more true a statement if the term “in boats” was substituted with “on mountain bikes”. DespiteContinue reading “I promise you this my young friend………..”
Tag Archives: strava
Back to the hills.
On my last ride of 22 miles I only climbed 101 feet of ascent. That was mainly during my first and last half miles on my way to the Leeds/Liverpool canal, which obviously doesn’t rise at all, excepting tiny undulations of the towpath. I have a plan for a big and challenging ride which willContinue reading “Back to the hills.”
Less climbing.
My recent rides have involved a lot of climbing. In a week of 3 rides I climbed a total of 6,104 feet according to the app. Strava. I have a plan to do a big ride as a challenge for this year which should push me to the limit of my fitness and ability. HavingContinue reading “Less climbing.”
If a picture paints a thousand words…….
If a picture paints a thousand words then imagine how many more words a video could paint. I’m not an avid watcher of Youtube videos but the other day I watched some mountain biking footage, specifically routes near Darwen Hill which is one of my longer rides from home. Here’s a link to the videoContinue reading “If a picture paints a thousand words…….”
The perfect trail ride?
There are many factors which go towards making the perfect trail ride. For me, since I live in a great mountain biking area, it really needs to start from home. There’s no point in spending more time loading the bike into and out of a car and driving to the start of a ride andContinue reading “The perfect trail ride?”
6,000 feet of climbing.
No, I haven’t just done a mountain bike ride with 6,000 feet of climbing but this week I’ve climbed a total of 6,104 feet, almost exclusively off road. I set off today having already completed 4,470 feet in 2 rides so made sure that I climbed enough to get me over 6,000 feet. There’s noContinue reading “6,000 feet of climbing.”
Adding interest to a ride.
It’s important to me to keep my riding exciting and I have a few techniques which add interest. Timing the whole of a ride keeps you focussed and working hard but you can equally time sections and allow periods of relative rest. Sometimes I create a challenge by targeting a usually uphill segment, which isContinue reading “Adding interest to a ride.”
Challenging myself with lots of climbing.
Having cancelled my plan to ride over 100 km with perhaps as much as 6,000 feet of climbing last Saturday I started to think more about my current fitness. Would I really have been fully prepared for such an enterprise? Since my big ride is postponed for an unknown amount of time it has givenContinue reading “Challenging myself with lots of climbing.”
A small world.
My mountain biking world seems rather small these days. I used to occasionally ride trails centres in North Wales or the Lake District with friends but they’ve all given up riding, now. I was going to expand my horizons this coming weekend with a ride of over 100 km but I’ve called it off becauseContinue reading “A small world.”
A different way up.
After a ride of around 45 miles on fairly level ground, much of it along canal towpaths, I wanted to do another slightly longer ride than usual today but incorporate some climbing. I had the idea to ride a long climb to Hordern Stoops, which is a high point when you take the tarmac roadContinue reading “A different way up.”
Mountainbiker 