We had a hot, dry Easter and the weather afterwards looked good. Since the beginning of June, though, things haven’t looked so bright. Today’s Wednesday, the eighth day of rain and the future is looking different to what we’d expect in June. The jet stream is the main determining factor in our weather in England.Continue reading “Summer?”
Tag Archives: strava
Mind over matter.
Today the weather was fabulous but the rest of the week is unlikely to be good, so that made today a good day for a ride. I decided to ride a loop around Brinscall Woods with it’s rough but exciting downhill section. First, though, I had to get there. I took a mixed road/off roadContinue reading “Mind over matter.”
An old school trail ride.
In the mid ’90s I’d often ride a trail with as little road riding as I could manage, not repeating any section. More often, though I’d ride to a favoured area or section of trail and session it. Riding the same part repeatedly to improve my riding. This is a very valuable tool to improveContinue reading “An old school trail ride.”
Every day’s a school day.
I may have left school over 40 years ago but I’m still learning. I suppose we all are. Today I thought I’d try another one of my mountain biking targets set in January, a lap of the healey Nab red graded trail in under 11 minutes. Last time I rode it in anger I wasContinue reading “Every day’s a school day.”
Suprised. Shocked, even.
It’s Easter Sunday and almost too hot to sit in the sun. something we’re not used to in northern England, especially not as early in the year as this. What suprised me next was that when I said “We can’t just sit around all day” to my wife, she said “I suppose you want toContinue reading “Suprised. Shocked, even.”
Mountain bike paradise.
Within a reasonable riding distance of my house, most riders would say that the closest to an MTB paradise is the area around Winter Hill, which is often referred to as Rivington, after the small village at the foot of the hill. To the north of Winter Hill you can do a high level route toContinue reading “Mountain bike paradise.”
The World’s longest second.
There are 60 seconds in a minute but I’ll explain later why one second of today’s ride became massively significant. I’ve done 3 days gardening this week so I might not have been in the best condition to set any records but I felt driven. Last year I rode up Great Hill and my timeContinue reading “The World’s longest second.”
Horses for courses.
Just as you need the right horse to perform best on a particular race course you need the right mountain bike. Today I wanted to push myself on 2 different pieces of trail. The first is a climb which takes over 2 minutes, so is equivalent to an 800m running race on a track. TheContinue reading “Horses for courses.”
A pleasant surprise.
I’ve been thinking of going to an area which I rode regularly 20 years and more ago. Today I did and was pleasantly surprised. I rode the segment “Drop to Birky” where I set a new fastest time on my last ride. I noticed how much easier the Boardman is to ride fast on theContinue reading “A pleasant surprise.”
2 rides whilst tired.
I’ve been doing plenty of hard work at home in addition to daily dog walks so on my last 2 rides I’ve felt tired. I don’t know much about the science of training in this state. If I start out already tired will training improve my stamina? I realise that I won’t be out forContinue reading “2 rides whilst tired.”
Mountainbiker 