I've been thinking about my plan to ride the 47 mile, 6,500 feet of ascent Mary Towneley loop at the end of the month. I haven't done any rides on that kind of scale for ages so I thought it would be a good idea to fit one in this week, with only around 3 … Continue reading A long trail ride.
I've heard the route from the top of Great Hill down to White Coppice described as one of the best downhills in Britain. I like it but wouldn't rate it so highly. It's only a few miles to the hill, though the climb takes some time. Back in the late 1990s I rode the hill … Continue reading The best downhill in Lancashire.
I don't often fall off my mountain bike but today it happened 3 times. I wasn't hurt by any of the falls, each being a trivial affair but because of the number of incidents I thought it worth mentioning. Occasionally I'll have a little roll on the ground but not mention it in my blog … Continue reading Falling off 3 times in 1 ride.
I'd hoped to ride Great Hill, which rises to around 1,250 feet above sea level, on my last two rides but had to change my plan for various reasons. Today I had plenty of time and the weather was dry, though I knew the ground wouldn't be so good, especially under the trees. I checked … Continue reading Returning to Great Hill.
It's not often in Northern England that you need to change your planned ride because the weather is hot! Today we've had winds blowing from continental Europe and so the kind of heat we rarely enjoy. Add to that some humidity and it was enough to persuade me not to ride to the top of … Continue reading Hottest day of the year.
I haven’t been able to ride for 4 days so was glad to get out today. I almost didn’t. My wife informed me that she needed to waste 2 hours of my time in the afternoon and when we arrived back home we had a short rain shower. This made me change my plan to … Continue reading Finding grip in wet conditions.
Those 2 words in my title sum up my experience since the beginning of June. Before that we had 3 of the driest months we've ever had. May was also the sunniest month on record in England but then something changed. It's been a regular pattern in summer since around 2006. We get a good … Continue reading Muddy summer.
Due to Covid 19 I haven't had a weekend camping trip so far this year but last weekend a wrong was righted. I left my wife and dog at home and spent Saturday night near York in my tent. 7 of us had ridden our old scooters for another memorable trip. Needless to say we … Continue reading A recovery ride.
In a recent post I described 2 types of corners and the different techniques you need to apply to ride them as quickly as possible. On my ride I’d gone to the man made mountain bike trails at Healey Nab where all the corners are of only one of the two types. To avoid degradation … Continue reading Riding corners at the limit of grip.
There are 2 main types of corner and I use different techniques when I ride them. You may read different interpretations in mountain bike magazines like Mountain Bike Rider (MBR) but I believe my ways are better! Many corners have a berm, a banking which allows you to maintain your speed and helps to steer … Continue reading There are 2 types of corners. Here’s how to ride them.
