Today started with a frost but by the time I’d walked the dog it was starting to warm up, though the breeze was picking up as well. I built my self designed pedal powered boat last year and had my first sail in March. I think I tried to make the boat too complicated byContinue reading “My first boat trip of the year.”
Can you ride a trail too many times?
I’m going to answer the question in the title straight away. No, I don’t believe you can ride a trail too many times. On a good trail it will never be exactly the same twice. At the top of the page is a heat map generated by the app. Strava of my riding in BrinscalContinue reading “Can you ride a trail too many times?”
I made a really good decision.
Last year I built and developed a pedal powered boat and having not used it since October I’m now keen to get on the water again. I’ve found that when using the boat, unlike when mountain biking, it’s much more enjoyable if the weather is warm and sunny. As well as the obvious dangers ofContinue reading “I made a really good decision.”
Is it spring?
The modern interpretation is that spring begins on the first of March though the spring equinox around the 21st is a more traditional view. In my garden things are certainly starting to happen with the snowdrops almost finished with their life cycle. The Helibores are in full bloom and many early plants such as camassiaContinue reading “Is it spring?”
Riding without climbing.
A couple of days ago I had a strange experience. I lifted my arm gently to reach for a pan on the stove and felt a sharp pain in my back. I’ve never had back problems and I couldn’t tell, and in fact still don’t know, if the pain was emanating from my spine orContinue reading “Riding without climbing.”
A very hard training ride.
We had 2 glorious days last weekend but Monday was really wet. Today the skies are back to almost cloudless splendour so it was an ideal opportunity for a mountain bike ride. Looking back at my recent rides on the app. Strava I noticed that I haven’t done any tough training rides recently so IContinue reading “A very hard training ride.”
A mountain bike adventure.
Today I expected that, despite 2 days of glorious sunshine, the trails would be rather damp. I thought about a longer ride and remembered last year riding to the “Egg Hillock”. It’s a curiously egg shaped mound on a remote Moor. I decided that the trail conditions were likely to be unfavourable so chose insteadContinue reading “A mountain bike adventure.”
An angel twice in one day!
The title is a vast exaggeration but I hope I’ve done a couple of good things today. The story started 2 days ago when I walked our dog, Freddie, up our local hill, Healey Nab. After 3 named storms in a week we had some trees fallen across the trails. I couldn’t do anything toContinue reading “An angel twice in one day!”
Riding without a plan.
I usually plan my rides in advance, usually with some target in mind. Today, though, I started my ride with no particular plan because of the recent weather. We’ve just endured storm Eunice. Naming storms in Britain is a recent idea and Eunice was the second named storm in a week. The last one reallyContinue reading “Riding without a plan.”
Stormy weather.
We’ve had a lot of rain since my last ride and today was predicted to be very wet. A weather warning for strong wind and rain had been issued but this morning, despite a good breeze, things didn’t look too bad. I decided to risk a ride before the predicted deluge rather than wait intoContinue reading “Stormy weather.”
Back to the hills.
I took it easy on my last mountain bike ride because I had some discomfort and swelling in a tendon at the top of my calf. It seems to have recovered so today I wanted to return to “real” mountain biking rather than riding along the canal bank. We’ve had plenty of rain so IContinue reading “Back to the hills.”
Injury.
I’ve suffered various injuries over the last 30 years of mountain biking. I’ve had a few broken bones and have lost plenty of skin but this week something different has stopped me riding, until today. I had some discomfort behind my left knee and on investigation I found a swollen area at the top ofContinue reading “Injury.”
Wettest ride in ages but still a good one.
We’ve had plenty of rain in the last few days, especially last night, but after 4 days without riding my mountain bike I wanted to get out. I don’t often ride the hills around Rivington at the weekends because they’re are usually a lot of walkers, many with dogs, so it’s better as a midContinue reading “Wettest ride in ages but still a good one.”
Demotivated.
I don’t usually have any problem with motivation when it comes to mountain bike riding, I love it and often wish I could get out more. Today, however, I simply couldn’t get excited about a ride. The weather was dull and gloomy with wet ground after overnight rain. The inevitably wet trails just weren’t callingContinue reading “Demotivated.”
Making the most of a small trail network.
We’re enjoying a very dry period and today we also had some sunshine. This is giving us excellent mountain biking conditions with the trails almost dry, even with temperatures in single figures on the Celcius scale. I decided to ride locally on my nearest hill, Healey Nab, and wanted it to be an essentially unplannedContinue reading “Making the most of a small trail network.”
Do I have a problem?
Today had me wondering once more if I have a problem with my mountain biking. I thought I’d go to a fairly small riding destination at Birkacre, the site of a mill until 1939. Since then all the buildings have been cleared, leaving some interesting trails surfaced with grit and dirt. I’ve been riding hereContinue reading “Do I have a problem?”
5 laps for valuable training.
The weather has remained dry and I’ve heard that rainfall has been half what would usually be expected in January. There’s also little expectation of rain for the remainder of the month which is excellent news for the mountain biker. I thought it was time to start training for the coming season when I haveContinue reading “5 laps for valuable training.”
Riding Great Hill on a winter’s day.
Today, like yesterday, was glorious. Cold but with blue skies and sunshine it was a lovely day to be outdoors. I walked up Great Hill with my dog, Freddie, just 24 hours before and thought that the ground looked dry enough to ride by mountain bike. It’s actually difficult to assess the state of playContinue reading “Riding Great Hill on a winter’s day.”
Walking up Great Hill with Freddie.
The weather was glorious today, after a windy and wet start. This is one of the joys but also penalties of living with a maritime climate. The Irish Sea, about 15 miles to the west, sends us an ever varying diet of weather conditions, which can change quite quickly. I loaded the dog into theContinue reading “Walking up Great Hill with Freddie.”
In search of single track.
A single track mountain bike trail is a narrow track with little option to alter your line. The picture above shows a trail I rode today, a perfect example of the type. I’d looked on Google Earth, which is a fabulous resource for finding new trails, and noticed a dotted line across a section ofContinue reading “In search of single track.”
Mountainbiker 