I am a lifelong mountain biker who rarely lacks motivation. I had always ridden bikes off road like most kids but in 1976 I bought a "scrambler" for 70 pence. This was a bike which was dedicated to off road use. In 1977 I added a homemade suspension fork. I used the front suspension units … Continue reading Why I’m writing this….
Riding the best, before the weather changes.
I’d decided to do some gardening yesterday (Sunday) so I didn’t ride, even though the weather was fabulous. We had crystal clear, blue skies except I noticed something interesting. Even though, due to Covid 19, air traffic is a fraction of the usual level a significant proportion of the sky, at certain times was obscured … Continue reading Riding the best, before the weather changes.
Getting back to basics.
I read in the magazine Mountain Bike Rider (MBR) that on every ride you should have at least one thing you want to work on. I agree that every ride should have a purpose and today I decided to go back to the basics of riding trails, particularly narrow, twisting single track trails. But why … Continue reading Getting back to basics.
The need for speed.
Today's ride focused on speed on 2 different occasions for different reasons. My intention was to ride to Brinscall Woods to use the superb downhill which I've only discovered this year and to descend 3 times. I took my usual, mainly off road route to the woods and rode the technical side of the Goit, … Continue reading The need for speed.
Looking to the future.
Having tried to achieve the 2 mountain biking targets which I'd set myself in January this year I just about made one, the climb to the top of Great Hill and back in less than 22 minutes 19 seconds. I achieved exactly that time according to the app. Strava but consider I succeeded because my … Continue reading Looking to the future.
A blast from the past.
My last mountain bike ride was the biggest I've done for many years, not just in terms of distance but more importantly the massive amount of tough climbing, often on rough, rocky surfaces. I rode it on my Whyte JW4 2004 vintage full suspension bike. You can read about my adventure here.....The Mary Towneley Loop, … Continue reading A blast from the past.
The Mary Towneley Loop, ridden and reviewed.
My biggest mountain bike target for this year has been to ride the 47 mile Mary Towneley Loop. It's almost all off road so the distance alone is a challenge but the difficulty is vastly compounded by 6,500 feet of ascent and descent in the circuit. I was unable to ride it in April due … Continue reading The Mary Towneley Loop, ridden and reviewed.
Last ride before the big one.
I've been planning to ride the 47 mile Mary Towneley Loop since the beginning of the year. My hope was to do it in April, when the weather was amazingly dry, but the Coronavirus lockdown prevented me. The weather was too wet at the end of August, when I last had a chance but this … Continue reading Last ride before the big one.
Riding Rivington.
If you were to ask a mountain biker from our area about places to ride I'm sure that "Rivington" would be mentioned very soon or possibly first. When I rode regularly with friends we used the area around the tiny village of Rivington very regularly, all year round. Recently, and especially this year, I haven't … Continue reading Riding Rivington.
Finding inspiration where I didn’t expect it.
There's a small chance that I may be able to ride the 47 mile Mary Towneley Loop on Sunday so I didn't want to do a big ride today. I decided to ride to my local hill, Healey Nab, to ride 3 laps of the man made mountain bike trails. I've done this ride many … Continue reading Finding inspiration where I didn’t expect it.
26 inch wheels.
On my last 2 rides I used bikes with 29” then 27.5” wheels. For comparison, today, I chose to ride one of my classic mountain bikes which has old school 26” wheels. This is the wheel size used in the embryonic Californian scene which developed into mountain biking as we now know it. I rode … Continue reading 26 inch wheels.
