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….
High and dry.
After May being the sunniest month ever in England, June was not so good. 2 days into July and things haven't improved. At least I've got mountain biking to cheer me up! I have to take weather conditions into account to plan a ride. Even if it had been sunny earlier today the ground is … Continue reading High and dry.
Summer rain.
Looking on the bright side rain in summer gives us some different ground conditions to try! We’ve had rather a lot of rain since my last ride so I expected that it would be muddy today and this was confirmed when I walked the dog. At first I thought that I could ride to Birkacre … Continue reading Summer rain.
Exhaustion and recovery.
On my last ride I became concerned that I might exhaust myself at an early stage if I put too much effort in on a big climb. It seems to be too tough a gradient for me to have a chance of riding the whole of without stopping at my current age, though 25 years … Continue reading Exhaustion and recovery.
Riding on a hot day.
In England we don't often suffer from heat. Today it's likely to reach 27 celcius or 81 farenheit which is hot by our standards, particularly in the north of England where I live. I had no special plan for a ride today until I saw the picture which appears when I access the app. Strava. … Continue reading Riding on a hot day.
Don’t over think it!
I’ve been giving my riding technique a lot of thought recently. I’ve tried to get my weight distribution just right to get the perfect balance of front and rear wheel grip. The problem that’s occurred to me is that on downhill banked corners I’ve felt uncomfortably far forwards on the bike, with my head above … Continue reading Don’t over think it!
Great Hill.
Great Hill rises to around 1,250 feet above sea level and is at the northern end of a line of hills in the West Pennine Moors. The highest point is Winter Hill at 1,498 feet but it also has a TV transmitter rising another 1,000 feet. The whole area provides excellent mountain biking with countless … Continue reading Great Hill.
Enjoying a trail ride.
I was rather tired yesterday so didn’t ride the mountain bike. I’d ridden 164 miles on my scooter on Sunday to Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire dales with a group of friends and was surprised how much it exhausted me. Today I started by replacing the bottom shock absorber bush and mount, which had developed … Continue reading Enjoying a trail ride.
How it used to be.
I've been giving the handling of my mountain bike a lot of thought recently and made some changes to try to improve things. Bikes have changed a lot over the last 7 years or so. Wheels have generally become bigger and tyres wider. Bikes are longer, throwing off their road bike geometry which persisted for … Continue reading How it used to be.
Technique.
I've ridden a few times recently where I've concentrated on my riding technique. I've also looked at my bike setup to see if I could benefit from any changes. I've lowered my tyre pressures because I found that I could improve the grip on corners yet after a fair test found the bike not to … Continue reading Technique.
Tyre pressures and speed.
I have always believed that higher tyre pressures offer less rolling resistance so make bikes quicker. The counter argument to this is that lower pressures give you more grip on corners so allow you to maintain more speed on a twisty trail. As usual I’m only thinking of tyre pressures of mountain bikes, here. I … Continue reading Tyre pressures and speed.
