It must be spring!

After a few weeks with very little rain the mountain bike trails have dried up considerably. Today we even had a very acceptable temperature of 11 Celcius and some gentle sunshine. Unfortunately, after laying paving edges and slabs over the last week I was feeling a little fatigued so a big ride was out of the question. After the muscular struggles with the paving I thought an easy ride would help my legs by giving them a good shake out. 3 laps of the trails on Healey Nab would give me around 200 feet of ascent per lap plus a few more hundred feet on the way there and back.

I had no targets except to complete the 3 laps and took it relatively easy on the climbs. I was surprised, on such a pleasant day for the time of year, that there were less than 10 other riders on the hill. I decided to concentrate on my cornering technique on the downhills. I made sure that my body position was correct. I bent my knees and elbows which made me apply some pressure down on the handlebars. This stance increases front wheel grip because friction, of the tyre in this case, is proportional to the force pressing down on the tyre’s contact patch. On a few occasions, where I reached the limit of grip, the rear tyre was starting to let go first which is a much easier situation to deal with than a front wheel slide. I also made sure that I kept my upper body relatively upright in corners but pushed the handlebars down to lean the bike over. Riding like this makes it easy to change line or correct any diversions caused by debris like stones or twigs on the surface. If you lean the bike and your body over together you need to move everything to make a small change of line or direction.

I enjoyed 3 laps of playing around and it was useful to concentrate on some basic cornering skills. Is it spring though? Well I think my springlike impressions have been compounded by another change in my sporting life. I built my pedal powered dinghy in 2021 but after 2 excellent years of use I have been determined to build a new boat, which meant that the first one has had to go. It was collected from me yesterday but I’m not sad, I’m excited by the new project. I’ve already ordered some materials for the new build and will, of course, keep you informed on my progress.