stuff from the outside

half fat TD:1

2011-05-06T16:14:00.000+01:00

Chasing the Dream

2011-04-10T22:43:00.001+01:00

Chasing the Dream

So, for those of you who don't know, Monday is the last day at our 'old' jobs.

From Tuesday we have keys to a fantastic shop on Hilton Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

We have two weeks to make it fabulous.

Check out the new website www.keeppedalling.co.uk- it tells you all you need to know about the shop, what we stock and a little about us.

Get excited, there's a NEW BIKE SHOP IN TOWN!!

Shona & Rich

www.keeppedalling.co.uk

2011-03-14T08:00:00.000Z

Righto, big events are afoot in our lives.

We've just signed a nice long lease on some fantastic premises in the Northern Quarter of Sunny Manchester and we're going to open a shiny new bike shop. Hell, we're excited.

We're going to be shamelessly plugging away on all sorts of media in the short time until it opens. Check out the holding page on our website for links to follow our updates on Twitter and become friends of the shop on our Facebook page.

We know that this stuff won't make a Great Shop so things may go quiet from time to time as we get our heads down and make stuff happen. In the meantime make yourselves useful and spread the word...

See you there,

Shona and Rich
x.

Ingleborough

2011-01-02T21:34:00.000Z

moody skies today as we ambled round the Yorkshire 3 Peaks. Enlivened by the short appearance of the cutest sheep dog puppies hiding behind hay bales in the farm yard, super fluffy winter coats on 'em.

food, bath, bed - knackered, these feet weren't made for walking!

when you...

2010-12-27T15:18:00.000Z

...just have to find that stabbing implement in a dark tent only the limited edition glow-in-the-dark Spork will do.

the Christmas donkey parade

2010-12-25T18:48:00.000Z

with added Vimto.

2010-12-23T12:50:00.000Z

will walk for cake.

2010-12-20T18:11:00.007Z

first big walk out since the 3 peaks weekend, how bad is that? we worked that out because I aquired the most orange boots ever way back then... Salomon something or others. Bright, super warm, waterproof and the grip was surprisingly good even in the snow. We also took a borrowed Osprey Manta 25 and took turns carrying the soup. As usual no complaints with Osprey stuff. Loads of little stuff pockets and places to stash stuff. Comfy and adjustable too. We could have done with an insulated tube on this occasion though. Brrr.

As we didn't fancy moving the van from under it's blanket of snow we walked straight out of the front door and did the first couple of miles through the urban sprawl. Not so bad as it was early and nothing much about.

Proper winter wonderland or flippin' bleak. Depends on your point of view I guess. Not much to see once we got up onto the hill proper, even some virgin snow this late in the weekend as we got onto Marsden Moor. Once we started to drop onto the far side things started to warm up a little and our Buffs got a chance to thaw slightly. Quicker than we thought we were almost at the cafe, whoop!

Never has a scrambled egg bap tasted sooo good. We ummed and aghed over the cake choice and succumbed eventually before heading home, retracing our steps, hot bath was calling. Once back onto the Oldham side the skies brightened and the moon came out. Not before getting colder though, grrr.

One final pack swap before the last couple of miles in the dark. The moon shining bright behind us casting long shadows on the snow.

21 miles too far for cake? Don't think so. We're pooped though, great day out. Get some while it's still crispy...

the fat envy

2010-12-18T14:55:00.000Z

2010-12-01T23:26:00.000Z

TD:1

2010-11-14T19:29:00.001Z

A day of riding and running. Just had to get out on the newly built up Ragley TD:1. Recycled most of the bits from the old Superfly and pinched Shona's Bonty forks. A 9 speed set up with a 36t ring up front held on by a Gusset 1-er, seemed to work fine with a little fettling required to stop it rubbing in lower gears. 21lb dead before putting the pedals on, that'll do. No surprises in the handling - skips up hills quick enough, it's super comfy and goes where it's told on the downs. Sorry about the guards. Coincidentally the frame bag from my old Karate Monkey fits a treat so some bike packing might be in order. Thinking about it, wouldn't this just be the best bike to race the something like the GDR on? Might just be what I spend most of my winter on, at least until the Troll arrives early next year.

After 3 hours playing out on bikes we took a run round the local fields to see braying donkeys, vicunia and nibbling friendly horses, ouch. Wash bikes, put a curry on, bish bash bosh, everyones happy.

2010-11-03T15:42:00.002Z

Bike - Life is Complicated. Sport is Simple from howies on Vimeo.

2010-11-02T21:11:00.000Z

now that's what I call Cross

2010-10-26T07:53:00.000+01:00

2010-10-11T20:54:00.000+01:00

we went up to the Dales and had some great riding fun for a couple of days

we slept and ate cake here Dales Bike Centre

they even provided sunshine.

sunny days

2010-10-07T22:22:00.001+01:00

even though it's been pretty good here for the last couple of days (bar the odd thunderstorm) I found some sunny pics from earlier in the year that I'd forgotten about.

not the best exposed or even technically good but they made me smile.

and to think at the time I was cursing this little camera.

all good though.

Last Sunday in September

2010-10-03T12:54:00.003+01:00

3 Peaks weekend? Must be time to get the shiney cars out! Around a dozen 3 wheelers in the pub car park. Moto Guzzi engines, yum.

Went for a walk to the cafe in Horton and met up with the forever fashionably late.

What did I learn this year? A lighter bike helps get to the top of Ingleborough quicker that's for sure. However, for next time I'll remember to,

not get a cold

refrain from going to Italy at 1am Thursday and get back to Manchester 5.30am Saturday

eat properly for the week before, lots.

My during the race stuff could've been better too. Getting into a higher position on the start grid certainly helped. A whole 6 minutes quicker up Ingleborough was a good start, sharper refuelling at Cold Coates too. Thanks again Shona. Got into a steady group on the road over to Whernside so held my position pretty well. Not too shabby coming down either and then on towards Pen-y-ghent where it all went pear shaped and fatigue proper sat me on my arse. Walked a lot more than last year going up. People passing me, that shouldn't happen either and the top couldn't come soon enough. That euphoria was short lived as I started my (very) shaky descent, scrounging a gel on the way down, cheers Harsh. Much slower here meant that I was passed by the top 3 ladies on the descent before getting back to the short road section. This is where I realised that I'd really totally ballsed up my feeding as I got calf cramps for the first time in my racing history. Anyway, head down, passed one rider on the way back and once through the timing tent proceeded proceeded to eat. Absolutely everything. Even the last mince pie. Ta Julie. So, realised that sub 4 hours is do-able for me on the singlespeed so long as I get the simple things right and don't just try and wing it along with everything else. Arrive rested, well fed and hydrated. Roll on 2012. Despite everything I got wrong it was still a grand day out.

Boys winners, the same but slightly different.

A couple of pics found elsewhere.

More here - http://3pcx.blogspot.com/
Rich.

Venice, Italy

2010-10-03T11:59:00.000+01:00

okay first up. had a little jolly to Italy for work the other week. I joined a bunch of other UK Bianchi dealers on the flight from Stanstead to Treviso to take a look at the range for 2011. Not much change from last year, brakes here, forks straightened there and not much else. That's not a bad thing they look great, this is the new Oltre in a custom stealth paintjob.

Bianchi had also been busy raiding the museum at the factory. Peeks at bikes that won a bunch of stuff over the last 60 years or so. Fausto Coppi's well used ride...

One of Pantani's...

Cheers Bianchi UK!

Don't Panic

2010-09-12T15:07:00.003+01:00

Only two weeks til we head up to Yorkshire for the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race. Although I'm feeling prepared as in I know what's coming I've done almost nothing in the way of specific preparation, at all, eek. Though I do feel much more bike fit than last year after the last 6 months bike adventures. In the words of another participant, it'll be reet.

So, time to get the mudguards off, put on some fresh rubber, agonise over the state of the rear rim and change the bars to something closer to 50cm. Guess I should throw a bucket of warm water in its general direction too.

Out today to do 52 miles at the bottom end of the Pennine Bridleway and it feels okay. After the miserable rain and cold earlier on it all brightened up. As I death gripped the bar tape drifting round a loose gravel corner wondering if there was another water bar coming it was all good.

Rich.

more Scotland, more bikepacking

2010-09-10T21:11:00.001+01:00

Sheez, taken a week to get round to this. Those last 9 days left us a bit washed out and achey. All worth it though as this view over a relatively dry Rannoch Moor testifies. We'd heard a lot about the West Highland Way recently. Mostly the challenge to do the whole 95 miles from Glasgow to Fort William and back in 24 hours. We certainly weren't going to attempt that. From our experiences on the banks of Loch Lomond on the first day I can't see that record being set any day soon. Chapeau to the rider who did one way in 14hrs but come on, it's gonna take one phenomenal athlete to turn around and head back up the Devils Staircase and back to Milngavie. Probably at night, eek.

Our plan was to head up the West Highland Way to Fort William and onward to Loch Ossian. After 2 days getting just as far as Bridge of Orchy we decided to skip a Bank Holiday trip trampling walkers on the Devils Staircase and head straight over Rannoch toward Blair Atholl. The WHW starts off innocently enough through

urban areas and finally into open country, some stunning fast swoopy stuff. Then we hit Loch Lomond and the path that runs along the waters edge. Starts off doable, in fact great fun fast tracks thru the woods but after that turns to a nightmare of dragging bikes around rocky outcrops. The tree on the track is lame by comparison. We were so happy to find this idilic camping spot.

As the trail left the side of the loch and the wheel swallowing water bars subsided we hit the road for a bit to grab some time and a rest on the way to Tindrum. We stocked up a bit here for a second night out and headed off towards Bridge of Orchy where calories awaited in the form of coffees and desserts, scrummy. Ignoring the designated wild camping spots we headed straight out onto the track that heads to Kinghouse and found a lovely spot to pop the tent up. This is what we were here for...

It's a screamer of a descent down to Kinghouse, just enough to blow the cobwebs away. Rannoch was far drier than we'd expected though finding a discernable path was hard at times. Was a long-ish day today all the way over to Blair Atholl. Winding lochside lanes eased the hunger pangs til we hit the first village and raided the shop for quick fix calories to sustain us to the pub. Good beer and food at the Atholl Arms.

Last year we'd ridden up to the iron bridge and waterfalls half way up Glen Tilt and now we pressed on to find some great riding further up that took us over towards Braemar. Here we found the grumpiest campsite manager in the history of the world so we left and headed for our one night of luxury at the SYHA across the road.

next morning we left in our only rain of the trip. Over to Balmoral estate where we found the most pristine tracks and fences, not too surprised given the local residents I s'pose. Fast rocky decent to Loch Muick and a sweaty push out the other side to our campsite for the night. The push went up that almost vertical track at about 11 o'clock in that pic, how anyone drives anything up it is amazing but the obviously do. In the middle of the moor there was a building marked on the map so we headed for that and it turned out to be a stable and paddock. Obviously in regular use but why anyone would choose to stable their horse so far away from anywhere was a mystery?

Fantastic blue skies next day as we headed down into Glen Clova. Big slabby challenging rocky descent in blazing sunshine made for the morning of the trip so far. Well worth the loop if you're up that way. Now we were heading for the coast and Dundee to join the Perth Coastal Path. After a reasonable day in the saddle we found the first campsite on the map no longer took tents, grump. So after a bit of a stomp around and general unhappiness we headed a further 15 miles to St Andrews. To be fair it was a lovely evening, sunny and warm as we span along through Tentsmuir forest. Took a whole day off on Friday, looked around town, ate, drank and ate some more. Mostly ice cream.

Saturday was a real mix of beach, gravel tracks over farmland, roads through quiet seaside towns and a cracking bit of woodsy rooty singletrack. More sunshine, it was hell... The coast path was very different and we enjoyed it's variety, lots of stiles though as it is primarily a walkers path. Everyone we met was jolly though, sunshine and smiles goes a long way.

After reading reports that the camping in Kinghorn was ropey, noisy and right on the road we found a small site tucked away in Largo just up the coast. Up and away early the next day saw us in a fairtrade coffee shop on the main drag in Burntisland, deserved to be busier than it was, good coffee! Tearing ourselves away we had a train to catch. Never ending cyclepaths took us to Hendersons Bistro in central Edinburgh for a good feed before heading home.

This trip left us with more ideas for trips to come as usual. It was one of those that packs in so much that you forget by the end what you were doing a couple of days before. Perfect. A technical mix up left us carrying stuff on racks that should've been carried easier but that'll have to wait til next time. Many thanks to Julie's grandma's old sewing machine that patched the holes in the frame bag. From Revelate since you ask. Shona's Scandal performed a good as ever. We were left wondering whether it's just too 'bling' for dragging (literally) over, around and thru rocky obstacle hike'a'bike stuff. Things to ponder. The Surly 1x1 worked great as a 1x8 with an Alfine hub. It's got no squish up front though which in great 'most' of the time. Maybe a Troll?

Much more to come.

Sunday

2010-08-16T09:02:00.000+01:00

45 miles around the South Pennines. On cross bikes, mostly offroad - packhorse trails, that cobbled descent down to Watergrove from the quarry on the MTL - followed by a 30 minute run, ouch. Must be a 3 Peaks panic attack.

Harsh's first cross bike ride

2010-08-11T20:22:00.001+01:00

Harsh and his new crosser.

Lessons learnt first of all.

Keep your tyre pressures up.

Bring the right sized tube.

That's enough words for now.

mud, blood, cobbles and crossers

2010-08-06T14:51:00.000+01:00

Nice and fresh out in the drizzle.

beaches & hills

2010-08-06T10:11:00.000+01:00


Mum


Shona on the Pugsley

Ma & Pa

Them's some tracks.

Woodland Imp

Northern bits of the Pembrokshire Coast Path - tough running.

Dad

been touring on our bikes

2010-07-17T19:11:00.002+01:00

hey look, it's one of those funny bikes...

2010-06-22T23:40:00.000+01:00

We took advantage of the evening sun to go out and ride our bikes. Amy and Ali made the trip over from Bolton, tempted by the prospect of (mostly) leaving the world of 26ers. Oh, yeah and pizza.

It must be one of the few times so many clown bikes have gathered since the 69er Gathering earlier this year. Can you count the funny wheels kids?

No. it. wasn't.

2010-06-20T19:12:00.001+01:00

Broken rib = no Mayhem for me this year. Left leg's not working too well either. Seem to be having a little run of it lately. The biggest event in the mountain bike calender has kind of got automatic over the years, which probably isn't a good thing. Anyway, spent the last couple of days wandering around the White Peak taking photos, eating cake and drinking coffee. Also getting stuff and routes ready for the Iceland trip that's looming excitedly on the horizon. It's been good.

Hit the North - get entered!

2010-06-13T10:35:00.000+01:00

If you're a mountain biker in the North West then here's a couple of things happening that you should know about.

Hit the North is the fourth big fun race from the same people that brought you the other three. Fab varied racing raising cash for local charities. Check out the website and get entered. Just a week left and filling up fast...

On a smaller scale British Cycling are hosting fortnightly hour long races in Clayton Vale. Thursday evenings, home in time for supper. We did the first and loved it. Turn up, pay up and get yer racing boots on :o)

knee deep across pathless moorland

2010-06-01T20:52:00.003+01:00

Old packhorse sign on the road near Pistyll Rhaeder

Idyllic campsite, oasis of grassiness amidst all the heather and gorse

Land of my father, or something.

Can you see the path? No, we couldn't either. All weekend.

Nice...

2010-06-01T06:58:00.003+01:00

Steamroller

2010-05-28T22:12:00.000+01:00

I had some handlebars lying around so decided to build a new bike. What frame goes with H-bars like PB & J? It's a Pug!

Got a new toy. Took it for a ride across Marsden Moor to the coffee shop today. Lots of fun pointing it in the right direction and letting it roll over anything and everything. See what I mean? Surly must have been been thinking of something else when they named their urban fixie thing the Steamroller This is the real deal. Although it's not very intuitive in the steering department. More like point it to Nome and don't change course til we get there.

Riding back on the road from the shop it had 20 psi in the tyres. That was dropped to 16 for the start of today's ride and dropped a further couple while we were out. Nice and grippy. What other bike lets you run such low, traction happy pressures? If in doubt, let some out.

Used a Mr Whirly chainset because of it's multi use adaptability and it's very shiny. The MRP chain keeper is there for keeping the chain on when gears are needed. 36:18 wasn't the right gear choice by the way, tyre diameter is similar to a 29er so 36:20 would be more useful.

So, there it is. Pugsley is fab. Go ride one.

Been away

2010-05-16T22:25:00.001+01:00

Just back from a month in sunny Spain. Lucky to get away on the morning of the Icelandic volcano eruption. Fortunate to get back too as it happens. We're left wondering whether our planned travels to Iceland will happen?

First ride out on the mountain bike was a bit of a disaster. Crashed and bashed my hand. Bruising and swelling that still hasn't completely gone meant that I was confined to the road bike for a couple of weeks. Good job we both took 2 bikes! Not such a bad position to be in as the roads out in the Granada region are absolutely stunning. Plenty of routes to keep us busy. Mostly long, hour plus, steady climbs followed by big, grin inducing, hairpin infested descents. Plenty of coffee and cake stops kept us fuelled.

More later...

We don't get climbs like these in the UK

2010-04-30T21:39:00.000+01:00

Blimey, pooped.
125 k. That's all.
Span down the highway towards Motril and turned off
just before I fell into the sea.
38 minutes later was at the top of the first climb.
A super quick descent got me to the t junction at
the bottom just 4 minutes later. Wow.
So then to business. The climb up to 1200m doesn't
half go on a bit - one hour thirty nine minutes in
fact. Sod Crag Vale, this is the new test when you're
next down this way.
The descent off the other side wasn't as descendy as
would've liked. Though the last bit down to the
motorway was long and swoopy.
Caught up with a Spanish chap from Pinos after much
effort after Durcal. He was riding a lovely gold
Orbea - that's about as far as it went as neither
of us spoke each others language. I must try harder.
Got taken back to Si & Em's for tea which was nice
and saved me from cooking.
Will see if my thumb is useable tomorrow before
helping out with the Irish downhillers on Sunday.
Fingers crossed.

Spanish exploration

2010-04-23T21:14:00.000+01:00

Day 9 - off relatively early towards Granada. Turned off a while before
getting there and headed up into the countryside. Past the sound of
shooting and keep on climbing. All the way to 1200m or thereabouts
between Sierra de Chaparral and the stunning spiky peaks of de Sierra
de Tejida. We lost most of the mornings climbing shortly after that as
we hurtled towards the sea, turning off before Motril to grunt over a
super steep but thankfuly short climb towards Molivar. Short by Spanish
standards that is. Dropped down to the main road to hit a coffee stop
before a steady 'undulating' route back to Motril. Another ice cream steeled
us for the last few k back to the cortijo. Tomorrow we'll continue the search
for more routes to quell the rumour that this area doesn't have enough riding!

sunny days!

2010-04-09T20:53:00.007+01:00

Before we go any further we must announce that this ride is sponsored by the stoats of the doldrums, or maybe that's too local a reference... or maybe it's not even a stoat but he was very cute and not camera shy at all!

In view of all the sunshine bouncing around we abandoned the planned road ride in favour of a spin to the ice cream van in Todmorden. We'll always ride for ice cream. Another nail in the road ride's coffin was the arrival of a new camera. Haven't had any retail therapy in ages and cracked big time.

Even though I was glad of the gears on Monday's epic with Jon there's nothing like the grunt and grind of a good singlespeed ride. Especially around the cobbles of Todmorden...

Here's Shona looking for a repeat of the stoat show, one rider and her bike...

B-Side on the moor after Littleborough...

Ice creams in Walsden. Probably the only place someone would shout 'nice bike, love!' out of a white van to someone on a singlespeed, 650b bike. We were only 50 yards or so from Brant Richards' house though, that could explain a lot. Me, AKA Mr Whippy.

As ever we did the ride the wrong way round. Either we need to think about gradients a bit more or councils should just sign the trails correctly!Nearly home now,

the great chick pea tragedy

2010-03-28T20:13:00.005+01:00

After a long lay off the camping thing we headed off to Bala for elevenses on Saturday. After filling our bellies we headed South a couple of miles to the end of the lake, booted up and headed out. We got a little impromptu Welsh lesson from the local park ranger on the way up onto the Aran ridge. As I have a CSE Grade 4 in the languageI think he had a bit of a cheek...

We didn't quite get the solitude we're used to around these parts as there were plenty of people around. It wasn't crowded like the Lake District would've been though. It's still mighty chilly this time of the year at the high point of 907m, especially when the wind's gusting around 40mph. After 6 hours or so we'd bagged a couple of peaks and done the obligutory squelching through a forest. Unusually for a Welsh forestry though the path had remained almost navigable.We arrived at the designated camp spot high up just off Y Gribin at around 600m. We had a restless night as it was still very windy and flippin' cold. A touch below freezing, brrr. This is the spot,

It was sometime during the food prep process that we found the limitations of an unsupported MSR Pocket Rocket and a decent sized pan on a grassy, uneven surface. We lost alomst 50% of our luke warm chick peas to the slugs. It was a particularly gutting moment.

An early start the next day dropping right down into the valley just to climb back out through this basin after the cloud had cleared.Would be nice to live here, just to ride that track!
We climbed this track ...
Via this rubbly section, if this was Scotland we'd be back down here with bikes in a flash.

This up and down routine carried on for the next few hours, up and down another couple of 700m hills. The downs are always hardest. Knee killers.

Managed to hit Bala for mid afternoon tea after a calmer time trotting through the valley back to our start point. Great to be out tromping across pathless hillsides again. Now planning a faster and lighter Rhinog traverse...

fat

2010-03-28T20:08:00.003+01:00

Fat hub, fat rim & fat spokes. All for one man and his dog.

2010-03-21T18:26:00.000Z

delivering the goods

2010-03-01T19:29:00.002Z

201k audax followed by a trip back out to Pat's house.

Early start Sunday morning. Weather didn't look too promising as we threw the bikes in the back of the van and headed round the M60 to Cheadle. Splatters of rain on the windshield. Parked up, pulled on the overshoes, grabbed our brevet cards and we were off. Usual minor roads away from traffic and into Cheshire. Radway, Newport, Audlem, Middlewich and back. 200k and just a little spatter of rain. Thankful for the sleet that never came.

Audaxes are funny things. Seeing the same people multiple times throughout the day as we pass each other then stop at a cafe while they ride on and grab food at another favorite spot. Meet up at the end for soup, cake and a chat. Ambitious plans to complete one on a fixed someday soon. Definately looking forward to the 400 from Mytholmroyd in May.

Due to the hospitality of Rachel and Phil we didn't have to travel too far to Bredbury and grabbed some food. Bowls of pasta and big mugs of tea. Yum. Bit of chat then a couple of hours nap. Up at 11-ish to get ourselves together. Fired up the laptop at midnight to download the Mountain Mayhem registration form. Just to make sure of an entry in this classic event we headed off into the night for our yearly pilgrimage to Pat's house. Meeting up with Julie along the way we found out again that Long Hill is indeed long and hilly. Rewarded with flutters of snow at the top and the full moon peeping between the clouds. Quite a bit of snow still up there. Lovely riding up there on deserted roads with those views under a full moon.

Arrived at (Hall of Fame) Pat Adams' house around 3 and were greeted by the usual incredible early morning cheeriness. Coffee, cake and the ever enthusiastic Digit the dog. Sat, chatted and warmed up for an hour or so. Some of the first visitors on bikes again this year. Photos taken and we were off, guaranteed a place in the 11th Mountain Mayhem. Sunrise ride home. Actually back to Rachel and Phil's again. We sneeked back into the house like roadie ninjas so as not to wake Brutus. Think he must have woken up but by some kind of bulldog sixth sense knew we were too goosed to steal his snacks.

All too soon it was time to drag ourselves from the spare room and greet the day. Sun and blue skies though after 291k in 22hrs it must be time for a rest day.

Hit the North

2010-02-20T15:13:00.004Z

Well, that was bloody fab. Got there in plenty of time, registered and had a chat with some folks. All too soon we were corralled between some tape, given some instructions and the we were off. Whoop! Took me a couple of laps to get into my cross bike groove and then started to enjoy it in a "this hurts but it'll do you good" kind of way. Many photos to come of people grinding and sliding their way around the 20 minute laps I'm sure. Surely there can't be a repeat of this one? Scroll down past the video to see some arse on a cross bike holding up 3 mountain bike riders. You'll be pleased to know the silly bars have gone and proper cantis now do the stopping. Those KoolStop canti pads are fab by the way. They've battered around all winter since completing the 3 Peaks and there's still half of them left even after today. Front tube didn't fare so well - at least it waited til it had been washed and blow dried before giving up around 6 hours later. Good timing.

Results are in. Surprised to see only 150ish of the original 200 actually bothered to turn up. 18th place for me, disappointing. Well done to everyone else.

Thanks to all those involved in the organisation, especially Jason and his mid race encouragement - it really works. Great spirit in the race too - no bad tempered racerheads that I saw - a great atmosphere.

See you next time!

Some Core bike stuff...

2010-01-27T21:16:00.006Z

Some stuff from the Core bike show.

I think I've got a customer for this one...
Shiny aluminium fenders from Extra. All sizes around £45.
Fixie hub prototype using HG cassette cogs. Easier to swap cogs and use bigger ones than are normally available to screw on.Neat looking bar/stem solution

A great looking fixie from ID £650

Saddles on the same frame, from the same factory as the Charge Spoon - so they should be comfy.
New Gusset outboard cranks and bearings in pretty colours...

Pivotal saddles coming soon,
many coloured fixed cogs,
New Salsa Vaya, coming soon. Crosscheck with discs and a 'slightly' lower bb Note the proper front lowrider mounts on the fork, just like an LHT. £1349
Salsa Casserol, Pacer with all the fixings for racks, etc.
A new fix from Extra, the name escapes me. Nice and reasonably priced frame.
Folding bike from Topeak, replacement for the Birdy mebbe?
Mmmmmm. S3X and other Sturmey stuff stuff maybe coming from Ison soon.
Sustainable cork from Portugal made into grips and packaged in recycled card. Below are GR2s now with rubber ends rather than magnesium. Warmer on those chilli mornings and about the same weight.

snow biking!

2010-01-14T21:22:00.003Z

Drifty out there, and pushy and slidey too. Hopefully a return to almost rideable trails soon.

A walk in the snow

2009-12-25T20:04:00.009Z

So, we dragged ourselves out of bed at a ridiculous time for a Christmas day morning and were out the door for 9 o'clock, eek! By the end of the walk some 7 hours later I looked and felt a bit pooped, Shona as usual was fine and still 'Tigger-bouncy'.

We stumbled across a huge flock of geese snuffling around in the snow for some mid flight food. They could have just been killing time though as no-one would want to fly in the pea souper the day had become. It had started out full of blue sky promise but rapidly deteriorated.
A smackerel of lunch was provided by Jetboil Inc and Knorr Soups Unlimited washing down several large slices of Barm Brack, yum.
More scenes of Northern Snowiness. Its really is quite deep out there in places and lots of fun. My newly won Arc'teryx jacket got a proper workout as we rolled and frollicked in the snow. Thanks go to the Canadian tourist board and Heason Events for providing that!

We leave you with a question...

How many snowy expeditions did it take the likes of Bonnington, Cave, Kirkpatrick, etc before snowfights wore a bit thin?

(It would take about 50 for us I think, tee hee.)

RoadRideSpain

2009-10-11T19:06:00.003+01:00

just got back from a week in spain with everyone at FreerideSpain in the very sunny Alpujarras region. We took the roadbikes for a last fling in the sunshine for 2009. It wasn't the plan but somehow managed to ride every day...

up to the alledged second highest village in Europe, Trevelez, for the first run. A couple of hours up followed swiftly by a howler of a descent back into the valley - nearly missed our turn off as there was a van parked in front of the signpost - eek. Now that could have been a long detour into the wrong valley.

next day, off to the coast with Simon (our host). it went something like this,

rich "*gasp* so is this *pant* your comfortable pace then *wheeze* "
simon " yeah, pretty comfy"
rich "*gulp* oh, help... *gasp*

made it to past the coast and half way back to Orgiva before things started to go a bit squiffy. note to self: if the first 40k out to the coast are at an average 38kph bloody slow down.

Another ride out to the coast on Wednesday. This time over to Castell de Ferro on the coast via Haza de Lino on the top of the hill and the never relenting climb from the coast through Polopos on the return. For a frame of reference the bar at Haza de Lino is at 1200m. It was very warm.

Saturday was a fab big 130k ride out almost to Granada before turning left and heading to a steady loop into the hills thru Jayena and Agron. There really is so little traffic out there that it seems like we had the place to ourselves. A bit cooler today but still around the 28 degree mark. Keep drinking and slapping on the sun cream. Never, ever pass up a chance to fill that water bottle out here. Some of the Spanish guys we saw out and about were already in arm warmers and tights but we were feeling close to fried a lot of the time.

If you own a road bike then maybe you should get out here sometime. The roads really are something else. The climbs are immense and the surfaces really are smoooth. Spanish drivers really have to be experienced. We were passed within 6ft a handful of times all week, y'know what? they all had UK plates. It's almost like the locals would rather push another driver into a ditch than pass too close to a cyclist. Simon, Emma and Lee are great hosts. They'll take you out and show you the best routes, leave you to explore with a map or anything inbetween.

time to give the legs a rest, easy commuting only for few days :o)

rich.

ps If you're ever snacking at a cafe in Lanjaron and a cute pooch that looks a little like a German Short Haired Pointer comes begging, could you take him home to FreeRideSpain? He's probably escaped again and has no shame.

it's next weekend, eek...

2009-09-20T13:30:00.001+01:00

just back from 45 miles on the crosser. Lovely Sunshiney Day. hope it's like this next Sunday, i hate walking up hills in the rain :o)

many Madones go mad from Manchester.

2009-08-16T23:08:00.003+01:00

Okay, finally got the image from the event photographer. Number 346 in daft things to do is pop down and see your friends racing around a field in the middle of the night, in the middle of the night...

It started as many things seem to around here as one of those throwaway comments. Must stop throwing those around. Shona and I worked all day Saturday while our mates were starting their racing at Sleepless in the Saddle down in sunny south Derbyshire - about 75 miles away. Harsh meanwhile was driving up to the Howgills to run around a bit for a couple of hours. He got back to Manchester at 4 and we finished work at 6. Rendevouz at his place at 7-ish, he thought it might be a good idea to finish getting his stuff together, then we left.

Somehow the mis-communication went around that it was about 50 miles to our beds, oops. Our merry, at some points not so merry, band pedalled our way thru Macclesfield, Leek, Ashbourne and finally hit Catton Park at around 00.30 Sunday morning. 'Funny' points, depending on your perspective, included two of us colliding tyre with bladed spoke - you couldn't puncture that way again if you tried...

Walking into Catton Park was weird. We all knew where we were as we'd been here before under racing orders. Seeing the lights of riders whizzing around the hillsides was a familiar and comforting sight. As we hopped off our bikes and wandered thru the campsite looking for familiar tents and vehicles it seemed a little odd to be asked by a resident camper where the nearest standpipe was, dunno mate we really have just stepped into the arena.

Three of us headed straight for the food tent of course. We were all starving and it's the most likely place to hook up with the straggly racers we were looking for. Sure enough pretty soon we'd scoffed baked potatoes, pasta, coffee and flapjacks and *bonus points* found some familiar faces. We followed back to the friendly village of tents and popped ours up ready for later.

After confusing some with our sudden appearance we headed off to heckle nightime encouragement at some bike riders, mostly team players though as the soloists seemed to be in their own special place, caves or something. I don't pretend to understand.

After a few hours sleep we hit the food tent again, heckled a bit more and said our goodbyes. Throwing our excess gear at Sherpa Dave we headed North and were home in time for tea in Manchester, cheers Harsh ;o) The funnest 24hrs we've had in a while.

Well done to everyone who raced, everyone we know placed well.

You stand on the start line, you're already a winner.

check yer rims!

2009-08-15T17:03:00.002+01:00

it's not big and it's not clever.

thought it was about time to do a rim swap on Shona's CrossCheck front wheel. Popped my relatively new Phil build on to keep her going and slipped the Landcruiser on her old wheel for one more time to ride into work where the wheel jig is. Only got up to about 70 psi, it was at 90-ish when on her bike, and BAM! whistling ears.

don't leave it too long kids...

y'know...

2009-06-30T08:13:00.002+01:00

...it's time to do a bit of running. 3 Peaks forms out tonight y'all.

more of the Original Source Mountain Mayhem stuff.

2009-06-28T12:16:00.007+01:00

So, now the dust has settled and the legs have returned to their normal state of just a dull hum. We did okay. That's 'we' as in me and Shona. All I had to do was ride. She gets to add up calories and carbs, fill my pockets, wash the bike and poke me with the sharp stick at low points. Fab.

As is now the norm we filled the Van Bleu with almost everything on Thursday morning. Leaving after work and getting down there on Thursday night is just so much more relaxing than fighting with the Friday night traffic. The M6 was fabulously quiet. Once at Eastnor picking the right place to pitch up always takes time when it's empty and there's so much choice. We found a flat bit in the end, got sorted and had some supper. One of the best bits about Mayhem is having 3 days off to submerge in an alternate reality. All the prep is generally done during the week before and our house looks like a complete tip. It does mean that once we're pitched up we're in the strange place of having nothing to do for 36 hours or so. Kind of enforced rest. Weird.

Friday just gets busier the longer it goes on. A steady stream on 4x4's, caravans and even a couple of tiny little Daihatsu campervans flood onto the site until it's packed to the fences. Time to wander around and catch up with people you haven't seen for a while. Even if you have seen them it's nice to see them off the bike and in civies. Relax. it all seemed a bit subdued this year, less trade stands and stuff to see - is everyone cutting back or did Pat just have his mind set on what's happening next year? Somewhere along the line we fitted in a lap of the course. That was fun, relaxed pace and Shona got to find out the new 650b bike cuts the singletrack thru the trees, or something.

Saturday started in a relaxed fashion. We wandered around a bit. Found Crispin camped totally inappropriately miles away from the solo area. His gazebo was soon installed next to our dining tent and he seemed to spend the rest of the time before the start fiddling with shock pressures. As it had rained all night I stupidley had a panic half hour with mud tyres that I ended up not using, fool. We caught up with the guys from ID and checked out their new fixie frame, nice. The Gritty Kittys and Bury Leisure Lakes weren't too far away either. Had a spot of elevenses then relaxed some more...had the rider breifing...chilled....

Wow, two o'clock already. Trotted around the half mile run course with Crisp letting the teams rip each other to shreds at the front, in another world. I've never done a proper run start, mebbe I should...? Still loads of solos behind us and we got on with it. The course started with a grind of a grassy climb which I sometimes walked, other times just grinded it out and once or twice rode with gusto. Well maybe it was just one time near the end, in a shot blok induced frenzy. Most of the course was completely recognisable from previous years, nothing too shocking. The stuff in the woods started damp and just got better. Polished from thousands of wheels it was lovely for most of the 24 hours. Once out of there it was time for a drink and snack on the straight before the weird marbly section on the way back to the campsite. Using tubeless tyres at low (25psi) pressures I can only imagine what that section must've been like for the raceheads with their pumped up semi-slicks. A bit of grassy stuff followed and then it was on to the Kenda climb. Just a boring concrete track to allow a bit of overtaking, no joy in that and I rarely rode much past the first gate. Once that was out of the way things got a little more interesting on this side of the course. Up thru the woods, bit more dirt track, that kind of thing. Nice muddy descent with a right hander followed by another, sharper right hander. The second one had a root strategically placed that 16 people who happened to be in front of me at the time messed up completely, grrr. That was followed by the obligatory off camber section which shamefully I never completed. The 2 feet above the big slippery root lay just out of my grasp.

After being spat out of the ferns onto the dirt it was all plain sailing to the start/finish. A nice loose dusty zig zag of a descent down to a short sharp climb was given an easier 'chicken run' after some riders came a cropper on practice laps. Maybe they didn't realise they had entered a Montain Bike Race and failed to get enough practice at 'riding off road down a hill'. FFS. At the rider briefing we were told the run for chickens was slower and longer. After a couple of laps everyone realised that the alternate route was actually faster and quite fun too. It had a little jump half way down and had the challenge of having to slow down enough top rejoin the course 'proper' at a t-junction. Then through the dips, skips and jumps where everyone got their photo taken getting 2 inches off the ground. Followed by a screamer of a grassy descent back to the start, and repeat.

After each lap pockets were emptied and refilled. Early in the evening, I think, I switched to plain water instead of energy drink. The go juice was just making me feel squiffy. I stopped for a bigger feed at 9 ish after getting it just right passing through the timing tent just before 8. After then I would have had to stop too early to put lights on. So 7 hours into the game and I swopped from the Surly 1x1 (comparatively heavy but with knobblier tyres on) to the Trek 69er ( semi slicks and sooper light ) The course was drying out nicely and I just love the 69er, just comfier and faster. No dramas with lights this year. Cateye double Shot on the bars just for added light in the twisty bits. Using a homebrew cree 4led on my helmet and a lipo 4hr battery taped to my seatpost that lasted all night. I rarely powered up above half way and it was plenty bright enough and no changing batteries faff.

Stopping for food at 9ish was an attempt to ward off sleepiness in the middle of the night and it worked. By 5am I was goosed though and had 30 minutes slumped in a chair, damn my weakness. Those above me in the rankings just kept on going. I've got to develop some strategies for coping when it all goes a bit squiffy.

Once that little episode was over though it was great. Sun was up, birds were singing, etc, etc. just another 8 hours to go. It had rained a bit during the night, just to keep us on out toes and parts of the course were really quite damp. By mid morning the mud in the woods was getting that plasticine quality to it. Not too bad at all really. Still eating and drinking well and the sun was shining. People out on the course were mostly quite chipper and the banter continued. Things started to get a bit frantic as they always do after midday. The top teams battering out some continuously stunning times. Can't help but think that some of the impatient people were battling for 83rd place though.

So that was almost that for another year. Pulled out another couple of reasonable laps for the last ones and timed it quite nice to be in at 2.20ish. I felt reasonable too. So I scolded myself for not putting more effort in and spending more time pedaling instead of eating noodles.

Stats? 18 laps of a 8ish mile course in 24hrs and 20 mins. 12th soloist overall. 1st solo singlespeeder. Acceptable. See you at the next one.

ps if you dropped your empty gel packet on the course then your a git. you shame the tribe of mountain biking :o(

pps well done riders Jason, Mike, Crispin, Julie, Ros, Amy, Gav, Rob and everyone else who was smiling. The pit crews, what would we do without you? Shona and Andrew ( and Mrs Andrew and baby ).

that was Mayhem.

2009-06-22T08:24:00.002+01:00

I'd like to thank big wheels, carbon XXX seatposts, tubeless tyres, the sun gods and Crispin for being the wind in our sails.

seriously tho' thanks Pat for the organisation and especially Shona for looking after me and poking me with a sharp stick at 5am when i really didn't want to get back on the bike.

it's Mayhem time again...

2009-06-16T19:44:00.002+01:00

Ready?

* I know I'm not.

Lace mine 650b...

2009-06-12T22:00:00.004+01:00

ain't it cool? 1st proper outing on sunday - the sun will shine...

ps title credit to this fab site

Rhinogs

2009-06-11T08:01:00.002+01:00

Aching, blistered and scuffed now. Two days in the Rhinogs really took it out of us. We haven't been scrambling and hiking for a while now and now we're hurting. No running today.

Had a new tent on loan from North Face. We tried out a Big Fat Frog - its a bit heavier than the Tadpole but has an extra loop in the front so that while one of you is messin' around in the main body the other can sit and cook comfortably in the porch. Would be great for storing wet gear too - we seem to do a lot of that...

Anyway, those Rhinogs are big and deserted, didn't see a soul on the hill. Lots of goats though, some big uns too. You should get out there, or maybe not - we like it quiet :o)

R.

Bee Em Ex

2009-06-05T08:03:00.002+01:00

Got the little bike out today at work after too long off and hell it's fun. A couple of us are heading down the track soon - probably monday week. If you're mad ferret let us know. It may even have stopped raining by then.

Eeek...

2009-05-23T08:30:00.002+01:00

...that was a bit wet. Bailed after being soaked for 2 days solid. looking forward to some good weather for the holiday weekend - big road miles i hope.

see you out there.

Toasted legs

2009-05-10T16:53:00.004+01:00

still finding new back roads in the next valley. Joined up some of those with a blip along the canalside and kept myself amused for a few hours. rain stayed away and i can't help thinking a cross bike would be more apt than a Madone for this stuff.

watch out for the next one - lakes, 3 days, 150 miles - self supported, Dutch style ( oh, yes, we'll be opening all our own Edam and relying on no-one to carry those clogs )

ps well done to the Fred girls & boys - hear it was tough going for a bit.

2009-05-05T13:47:00.001+01:00

direct drive bikepacking, sparse boondocking, and various random tangents

gotta love that Matt Chester...

long live long rides, in the sunshine....

2009-04-13T17:06:00.002+01:00

bike - 69er ss
distance - 100k off road
time 8.o ish
ave - 12kph
fig rolls eaten - all of them
legs - goosed

that is all.

Scottish skiddadles....

2009-04-12T16:07:00.018+01:00

We had started off planning to ride from Inverness back home to Manchester but quickly changed our minds when we sat down and thought about it. It was, after all, supposed to be a holiday - so we treated it as such with a couple of random epic days thrown in for good measure.

Arrived Thursday mid-morning and assembled the bikes from their boxes in blazing sunshine. All good and looking shiny - not for long. Plan was to head into Inverness and pick up some cooking gas for our newly acquired Pocket Rocket. This stove turned out to be a fab little thing. Smaller and lighter than the multifuel we have been carrying around, we'll keep that for adventuring where gas isn't available. Got that on board and headed out of town and onto the Great Glen Way, via a disagreement with inconsiderate driver in a 40 tonne wagon - grrr. The GGW more or less follows the banks of Loch Ness all the way down to Fort William. We weren't going that far, aiming to turn off inland at Fort Augustas. So, we had two days warming up on fire roads and singletrack in the sunshine. Shona's birthday that first day so we indulged in birthday tea of beer and chips - offset by salad sandwiches.

Evening of day two saw us diverting out of Fort Augustas to a bothy along the canal a bit - really lovely location right at the end of a steep climp out of the valley. Made us realise for the first time this trip how much it had been raining lately. The ground all around looked reasonable but as soon as we stepped a little further into the surrounding area it turned out to be extremely wet underfoot. Next morning we set off into the rain back along the same route we had come out the evening before. Except this time it was a steep descent into the valley - whoop! Saw our first deer of the trip that morning too, scarpered as soon as they sniffed us of course.

Pretty much as soon as we left Fort Augustas the track started to climb. We've since found out that the Corrieyairack pass is the highest in the UK and it certainly felt like it as we battled wind, sleet, rain and low flying hares to get to the top. Pretty simple double track route finding took us to the snow covered tops and a zig zag descent through drifts to the valley below. Talking to a local later in the trip the horrendous eroded condition of the track was due to flash thaw a couple of winters back and plans are afoot to renovate it. Today was one of those days when Shona found it easier and surged ahead while I did a bit of pushing. After exchanging pleasantries with a Duke of Edinburgh Award group pitched up on the edge of the woods we smugly headed for the warmth and comfort of another bothy. This was the third of the trip as we'd brewed up in another on the first side of the pass. It seems we could have stayed out for weeks in this area and not had to carry a tent as bothies are dotted all over the place, though we found out later in the trip they can get a bit congested and we were glad of our tent.

We replaced the wood we'd burnt the night before in an early morning raid on the woods. It was still wet under our wheels as we set off under bright blue skies. The other side of the river from us was a herd of maybe approaching 100 deer, difficult to see on the photos as they are so well camouflaged against the heather. Amazing sight. After whizzing along the valley floor for the morning we arrived in Newtonmore to find everything shut up tight. It's the self proclaimed walking entry to the Highlands, apparently. We pushed on to Kingussie where we feasted in the chip shop and raided the supermarket. If you're ever there and faced with the choice get yourself into the independent supermarket at the west end of the street, good choice of supplies. Resisting the temptation to take a closer look at the ruined barracks we had a good spin through the woods and up to Glen Feshie. After crossing the rickety bridge and rolling a bit further up the glen we found our fourth bothy. Popped our heads in the door - bear in mind this was 4 o'clock-ish - and found a couple of guys already in their sleeping bags! Catching up from a boozy session the night before they said they had all good intentions of going for a walk but just couldn't summon the enthusiasm, tsk. So, while they got their act together on the fire making front we took a walk further up the glen to see what we'd be missing the next day. Our route the next day took us west so looking down here gave us ideas for future trips. It was a fine sunny evening and great to be going for an exploratory stroll.

Two things made this trip more pleasant than our Welsh one a couple of months ago - Shimano MT-90 boots and Sealskinz waterproof socks. The boots are great for walking in as well as cycling so no need to consider other footwear. When we got to a river crossing we'd roll our trousers up, take our socks off and put our boots back on. Yes, our boots got wet but at least they got to dry out while our feet were cosy and dry in the Sealskinz. No more trenchfoot from days in soggy boots and socks!

The bothy got pretty crowded that night. There was the first two, us, a Danish family of 5 and much later a father and son turned up too. We were so glad we popped our tent up and retired there as apparently the snoring was very loud. The following morning saw us faced with the dilema of route choosing. After our initial climb out of the Glen (and it was a stiff climb) we rolled over some open moors surveying the hilltops. We were faced with a choice of high level route via the Mingaig Pass or the low level route vis the Gaick Pass. The snow on the tops and the low cloud helped make our mind up, and we opted for the Gaick Pass. Given the ferocity of the winds we were to encounter later that day that made us resort to pushing the bikes (we couldn't cycle against it!) it was probabaly the best choice. A few river crossings later and a great lockside bit of singletrack that lasted for about 2k we hit the doubletrack that took us down to the main road to Blair Castle. We were waved at ferociously by a busful of kids just as we appeared all bedraggled looking. This is where we picked up the Sustrans route 7, mostly a traffic free route spinning along the valley to ease tired legs at the end of a long day off road (and in water).

We got to the campsite in Blair Atholl at about 7, threw the tent up, grabbed a shower and headed for the pub. We spent a couple of days here catching up, eating, washing and lazing around. Well, we did for one day, on our second day here we rode up Glen Tilt, 14 miles uphill to the waterfalls. We spotted a couple of kayakers on the way back down, nutters! There's a lot of fun looking white water in that glen. So, that's the easy way out into the hills for us next time. Off the train and straight out to throw the tent up. We've got an ace 4 day route planned.

So by now it was Thursday morning and we had a train to catch in Perth on Friday afternoon. Just time for one more BIG day in the hills. Headed over to Aberfeldy via that handy route 7 again. This one seemed particularly handy for keeping us on quiet back roads between off-road bits. Out of Aberfeldy and straight up immediately after lunch - when will we ever learn? Over the moors with more brilliant views over brooding landscape. It never ceases to amaze how few people we see when out on these jaunts, it's great. Also makes for a harsher bump into reality when we do get back, it's awful to be honest. The climb ended at a singletrack road the plumeted us back to the lochside all too quickly. We then headed West for what seemed like ages on the road (and into the wind) to get to yet another steep off-road climb out of the valley and into Glen Almond. We had an appointment with a cup of tea at 09:45 on Friday morning at the other end of the glen. Pushing on so that we didn't have too much to do the next day we literally did have to push it was that steep. There was also another river crossing before we finally (it was dark) found a grassy knoll to pitch the tent on and get a load of food inside us, much needed. Just as we'd pitched up it started to rain. This was Scottish rain too and wind with it. Of course, I slept right through it all. Well, mostly. It was still raining when we were having breakfast too. Thankfully it stopped for us to break camp and it was really quite warm as we got our heads down and pedalled for our appointment with shortbread. The weather had rained itself out and it was a gloriously sunny day.

So that's it for another little while. We made the train in Perth and while waiting for our connection in Edinburgh got some top food from Hendersons veggie cafe on Hanover Street. Picked the van up when we got back to Manchester and started the big clear up that's inevitable after this kind of trip. Spent this afternoon washing mud off the underside of the tent...

Into the wild ( two get wet in Wales )

2009-03-11T22:32:00.000Z

Up at 5 for the train down to Abergavenny - rude awakening. Straight off the train and into the first coffee shop. When will we learn to ask for double strong knockout coffees? Probably about after the 100th time we get a cup of vaguely coffee tasting warm milk I guess.

Then straight out of town towards the hills. It's all a bit of a blur actually. Maybe the memories got washed away! Anyway, over towards Crickhowell and onto the Taff Trail and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. Rain and wind followed us for most of the rest of the weekend. Several ups and downs later we ended up passing up on a perfectly good campsite in the shelter of the woods to push on for 30 minutes or so extra - was it worth it? I doubt it. Somewhere in there there was a descent into the woods that would have been barely rideable on an unladen bike let alone one covered in sleeping bag and tent. Fun stuff that you only come across accidentally while forging a route cross country from point to point. Stuff that you really couldn't justify going back to do but was major fun at the time. So, after a push out of the soggy valley bottom we popped the tent up for what was to be the first of 3 poor nights sleep.

Next morning we were slow to get going - it had been a cold and restless night. Once we'd regained our bearings and realised we weren't actually as lost as we though we were we found our way through the forest out onto the Sarn Helen trail and down into another valley. Climbing out towards Llandovery we looked North and were glad we'd opted out of the snowy ascent of that big snowy hill behind me in this pic...

Pushing on towards hot food through the first of the snow showers we were really looking forward to the coffee and pizza, yum. We dragged our un-enthusiastic selves out onto the road and trail mixes towards Llyn Brianne, it's quite a climb and the weather steadily got worse until we were riding through almost blizzard conditions. If you have to ride tarmac there's worse places to do it though.

The road finally turns to track and we realised just how much rain there's been in this part of Wales recently. The first ford was tackled after donning our gaiters and was quite succesful in that we only got a little seepage even though the water was fast flowing and calf deep. Our elation didn't last long as we came to the second one which was a bit faster and much deeper - once we'd plucked up our courage and plunged in we found that it was up to thigh height. Probably a bit higher for one of us...

We looked at the map and checked and double checked gps coordinates. After getting our headtorches out and tromping through the woods for and hour in the dark we finally found the bothy, whoop! Trouble was we'd stashed the bikes and still had to go back for them. Luckily it was a clear night. We had been on the go for about 12 hours by now and were quite fraught and fatigued. Just glad to get a fire going and get some hot food inside us.

The next morning we avoided an initial thorough soaking by pushing up a track and onto a fire road. Part of the Lon Las Cymru as it turned out. We weren't to get wet again til day 4. We arrived at Devil's Bridge and hit the cafe for All Day Veggie Breakfast. This was well timed as they'd only just reopened for the year a couple of days earlier. Mid afternoon we pushed on up the hill to the bothy.

Turns out to be quite a large and well maintained one - long drop toilet, quite posh! Spoilt by the people already there planing on staying a week and using it like a hostel. We made a note to seek out shelters only accessible by foot from now on.

Next morning we left in the rain and headed North towards Machynlleth passing under Plynlimon. It didn't stop raining and there was even more water under our wheels.

We got to the last water crossing of the trip and got very wet, very quickly all over again. So did the camera - I hope it's going to make a full recovery.

There were glimpses of sunshine on the way to Machynlleth but they didn't help much to dry us out. The baked potatoe and veggie burger were very welcome in the cafe. We brewed up on the station platform while waiting for the train back to normality...

If I've made it all sound a bit grim, I must admit some of it was, though it's all better than being at work. First time I'd used the Epic Designs frame bag and fuel tank and they worked really well - gas, stove, pans, tent poles and more loaded centrally on the bike. Having the bivy bags, sleeping bag and roll mat hooked onto the bars is good too. All so much easier to handle when pushing and manhandling than panniers. They really should be kept for the road.

Roll on Scotland next month...

if you get offered a bike down the pub...

2009-02-15T17:55:00.001Z

Trek would like to know about it,
http://www.velonews.com/article/87850

2009-01-08T21:55:00.000Z

After today's work I am now CyTech qualified. Whoop!

Cross in Tod

2009-01-06T23:25:00.000Z

Snapped this one in fading light on the way back from the Todmorden cyclocross race. A fab day out and my first cross race. Fun in a painful kind of way, I was glad when the bell went that's for sure. Thanks to Jon for holding my coat...

See you at HTN 1.5

Epic designs...

2008-12-27T14:53:00.001Z

Just had to get these filled up with stuff and haul myself up the nearest hill to try them out. It's an Epic Designs frame bag and fuel tank - for fig rolls not petrol silly. They were actually ordered to fit my Karate Monkey but they happily fit the 1x1 (x8) just fine too. Once I'd adjusted my swinging baggy pants with the velcro straps there was absolutely no rubbage when pedalling. Got all my usual ride stuff in plus a JetBoil, insulated cup, spare gas (why?) and some soup - yum.
Loads of room to spare. I could tell because of all the rattling on the way back down the hill. None of it inteferes with any of the handling - it's all low slung and incredibly stable. Fantastically bivy-tastic.

2008-11-26T18:26:00.000Z

Oh my.

Proof, if proof were needed, that we can still build some great wheels even when we have to wear a
blindfold. I'm just glad they're going on someone else's bike.

No offence, like, Jono.

:o)

Brrrr....

2008-11-25T14:03:00.000Z

Hella cold this morning and i say that from inside the van :o(
All hail the hardy cyclecommuter - i am not worthy.

Terminology Folly

2008-10-26T13:23:00.000Z

I like this, terminology folly.
Sometimes the buying of a bicycle just takes too long. Is it because we all demand too much choice? Even when what's put down in front of you will do the job just right we still look for something to choose it over. FFS choose a bike you like the look of, take it for a short spin if you must, hand over the cash and away you go. Bye bye.

Tour de Scottish Borders

2008-09-22T22:15:00.000+01:00

Hey Y'all, Just got back from a fab trip up north to the Borders. Goes like this...

Get up early Saturday morning and hop on the stoopid o'clock train to Carlisle.
Bikes loaded up and ready to go on the platform

Rolled gently out of town on quiet roads. We'd planned a route towards Keilder using the Reivers Route. Later on that day we got to the forest and started our offroad adventure.

Following the Cross Border trail we ended up that evening at Keilder campsite. Trails were mostly fire road with a bit of soggy singletrack thrown in for good measure. Well signposted they crisscrossed the English/Scottish border. We resisted the temptation to rent a Pod when we got there and put the tent up before hitting the pub for some well earned nosh.

Next morning we woke to find everything covered in a foggy mist. Undeterred we packed up and headed out. We felt a little sorry for the triathlon competitors that morning as they'd have to navigate Keilder Water in the fog. After a swoopy diversion and more following of that same Cross Border trail we crossed a main road hitting the service station for coffee and cake before more confusion in the woods. After an initial bit of confusion we got onto the right bridleway. This route finding elation was short lived as half an hour later we got to a bushy dead end where a bridleway should have been.

After a while longer than it should have been we emerged the other side of this particular clutch of trees only to find a huge area of vegetation where a track should've been. This was to be a frequent event on this trip - look at the map and there's a bridleway - look on the ground and the forestry commision has obliterated it. On the upside there was a small building nestling in this trail wilderness and on further investigation it turned out to be a bothy - y'know, one of those little places restored and maintained to give shelter to those who enjoy a bit of the little wilderness left on these isles.

Next morning, early start - we headed up onto the Cheviots with the intention of a traverse - the mud, slop and motorised trail erosion had better ideas. After a brief stop for lunch at the mountain shelter near the Salters track we beat a hasty retreat from the rain and appalling trail conditions and hit the road to Craster. The campsite and Alnwick eluded us so we pressed on to the coast and the beginning of the Coast and Castles part of our tour.

That's it for now folks, more to come...

Sunshine and a rainbow.

2008-09-02T08:19:00.000+01:00

What a great wakeup call. A couple of days in the Trough of Bowland, a bit wet underfoot and midgy as hell but fun nevertheless.

Two wheels, four legs and a very long night...

2008-08-26T22:55:00.000+01:00

Have you ever uttered a throw away comment on the way to the bmx track only to have it come back and bite you on the bum?

This is the wholefood cafe in the middle of Machynlleth. It happens to be a great place to stop off on a long tandem journey, it does very good coffee and cakes.

This was actually the return leg of last weekends little adventure - which was decidedly warmer and a little damper than our outward journey. We left Sunny Manchester after work on Friday and rode thru the night and into the dawn. It seemed like a great idea at the time though at 3am on Saturday morning it was very cold and the Welsh valleys were more than a little misty - we had our doubts. After 170 miles and 18 hours into a headwind we arrived in Penparc near Cardigan in South West Wales, had a well earned bath and collapsed into bed. That evening we fell into the only curry house in Cardigan and stuffed ourselves silly.

After a little family time on the Sunday we got an early night in full expectation of a long day ahead. It was an early start, at around 5am we were gulping cups of tea and heading out into the dawn. This time of year it always surprises me how late the dawn is and how early the sunset arrives - it's all downhill till next Spring. Anyway, it was nice to get the bigger hills out of the way early on and we made much better time heading North. The wind was behind us and we were fresh from a good nights sleep - unlike Friday when we'd both been working all day after getting up early to watch the Olympic bmx. Ooops.

The relatively flat Cheshire plains were a welcome relief as we covered the last 50 miles or so back via Chester and into South Manchester. After 13 hours pedaling we hit the Saajan take away for a couple of well earned veggie kebabs, yummy. Not a bad weekend for a pair of tandem newbies (well, one of us had pedaled around the park before!).

So, next time you have a silly idea what about following it through? It might be hard work but it'll probably be damn good fun!

2008-08-17T10:03:00.000+01:00

Blimey, look everyone that old blokes riding round the track! And hell it's hard work too :o) That's my winter training sorted then - bit of bmx riding, running and i might even throw in some riding on a real sized bike. All that standing up and pedaling really seems to work my legs and i'm totally out of breath after each and every lap - maybe it's because the damn thing weighs nearly 30lbs...

See you down at the track, Platt Fields Manchester.

Marsden Moor

2008-07-07T07:50:00.000+01:00

Sunday - got ready to go riding, looked out the front door and the rain was horizontally lashing it down. Time for another cup of tea and a slice of cake, yum. Once that shower had stopped, me and my Monkey rolled out the front door. Trundled up the techy climb to the masts, surprisingly rideable. Headed up the long gravelly climb away from the local resevoirs and over towards Castleshaw. Sat for a bit contemplating the blueness of the sky and the fabness of bikes when my peace was shattered by a couple of fat geezers on motocross bikes. They struggled with the gate for a bit, dropped bikes and generally got a bit frustrated. Karma for being where they shouldn'ta been say I. Then on and over to Marsden. Stopping here and there on the moor to take pics and pick new lines where the 'crossers have destroyed old ones. It's a great moorland traverse that one, though take your eye off it for a second and it'll have you. You'll either be up to your axles in a bog or riding in totally the wrong ditch! Rode thru Marsden town and out the other side - said hello to the long horn cattle. Headed back towards Castlshaw resevoir and got totally soaked in a thunderstorm. By this time i'd kinda had enough anyways so made for home. First time i'd climbed out of Castleshaw and once the initial techy stuff is done it's just a slog up the cobbles to the boots. I think it would've been a tad more challenging on a singlespeed tho - next time...

Road ridin'

2008-06-02T07:53:00.000+01:00

Well, that's the Polka Dot Gran Fondo over for another year. I remembered it as long climbs followed by scorching descents through some of the best roads in the Peak District and surrounding areas, in blazing sunshine. That was a couple of years ago though. This year it started to rain just after we set out and just about continued for most of the day and my riding partner got a flat. This shouldn't be happening on the first of June? Anyway most looked like they were smiling through the rain and enjoying it - even if some triathletes got their fig rolls a touch damp.

So, even though we only completed the short 72 mile course we've easily clocked up well over 200 miles on the bike this week, hurrah. Just a couple more weeks of increasing time in the saddle and then it's a quick taper for Mountain Mayhem Then we'll probably be obsessing about Hit the North instead. Just off to check out some tyres....

2008-05-29T08:09:00.000+01:00

Some pics from the trip up thru the middle of Wales. We started in the Black Mountains, moved into the Brecons, over to the Cambrians and stopped short of the Rhinogs at Barmouth. Disappointed that all the chips shops close so early there and that my right knee isn't tougher...
Well that was the first hill of many out of the way. Stop for a brew outside Abergavenny before the descent into Coal Pit to find that it is actually a pit and no little shop like we were hoping for :o(

This was a great camp spot for the second night. On a ridge off Lord Herefords Knob. Punctuated by the sound of a lone moto crosser in the distance til it got dark and they fell into a hole or went home or something. First night at the campsite in Abergavenny we were treated to a massive electrical storm, no such interestingness tonight, just a fab view.

That'll be the Brecons just before the pull up onto Pen y Fan. No one around but the squaddies and loads of blazing sunshine.

Me with Ma and Pa - the support group in Llandovery. A rest day here was most welcome - loads of good food and a little beer. The cafe in the centre of town provides loads of tasty food, "home" cooked on the premises. There's the remains of a castle too with a big shiny statue outside.

More to come, probably...

Cambrian Way

2008-05-26T10:43:00.000+01:00

While walking most of the Cambrian way we found some great looking singletrack bridleway that went on for what seemed like ages... Looking into a bike 2 dayer that would link up a couple of train stations one weekend. Would be great to bivvy out somewhere outside Machynlleth one evening and head straight out the next morning followed by 2 days of full on riding in the wilds.

Must go riding...