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 unitsContinue reading “Why I’m writing this….”
Following the river to the end.
I’ve followed our local river, the Yarrow, on my mountain bike from it’s source at Horden Stoops at 1,066 feet above sea level back to home. Today I thought I should do something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and ride from home to the point where the Yarrow joins the bigger RiverContinue reading “Following the river to the end.”
Great Hill. Enjoying it whilst the weather holds.
We had a very late spring this year. It snowed in May and the garden and countryside were weeks behind what is expected. I’ve been surprised, therefore, to see an early autumn. Some tree, like the horse chestnuts, have already changed colour and lost leaves. Meanwhile were having a good, dry and often sunny spellContinue reading “Great Hill. Enjoying it whilst the weather holds.”
Two downhills, two punctures.
Maybe I should have joined the modern age years ago and fitted tubeless tyres to my mountain bikes. The reasons that I haven’t are a slight aversion to change, the difficulty and expense of making the change and the fact that around 3 punctures per year are barely inconvenient. I can certainly remember 2 punctureContinue reading “Two downhills, two punctures.”
Normal service is resumed.
After a brief but welcome Indian Summer we had rain and thunder yesterday afternoon. It’s like returning to normality after a glorious period of dry trails and has meant that my last ride using the 2004 vintage Whyte JW4 may be it’s last outing of the year. I don’t like to put my classic mountainContinue reading “Normal service is resumed.”
Making hill climbing easy!
Using my pedal powered dinghy has revealed to me that I tend to use a rather slow cadence, that is the rate at which I turn the pedals. On my last few rides I’ve been practicing upping that speed of rotation and have learnt a lot. I live in an area of hills which areContinue reading “Making hill climbing easy!”
Spinning those pedals.
I’ve been giving cadence, that is that rate at which I rotate the pedals, a lot of thought recently. It isn’t mountain biking which has brought the matter to my attention but using my pedal powered boat. In the boat it’s not possible, due to the resistance of the water, to spin the pedals atContinue reading “Spinning those pedals.”
Training by boat.
My boat build is officially (almost) finished! When I launched my first incarnation of my home designed, pedal powered boat I’d painted it all nicely. Unfortunately I had to try many different versions of all kinds of parts of the boat so it ended up looking rather battered. After several successful trips, including using aContinue reading “Training by boat.”
Cadence.
Cadence is the rate at which you spin the pedals on your mountain bike, or other pedal powered contraption, for that matter. My own cadence has come to my notice not through cycling but as a result of using my pedal powered boat. A cycling cadence for a road rider will usually be in theContinue reading “Cadence.”
A recovery sail.
After 4 days of inactivity with my first cold in around 2 years I was keen to get out today and thought that a trip in my pedal powered boat was the best option. It is definitely less aerobic than a mountain bike ride and there often seems no need to work hard since it’sContinue reading “A recovery sail.”
Man flu.
It’s a well known fact that what may be a trifling cold to a woman is a serious case of influenza to a man. Personally I haven’t had a cold since well before the Covid crisis so it must be getting on for 2 years. This suggests that all the social distancing and mask wearingContinue reading “Man flu.”
