I’d ridden my mountain bike twice since returning from holiday and felt tired on the first occasion. Second time I was better but took it fairly easy on a 2 hour ride with nearly 1,500 feet of off road ascent. I want to do a much bigger ride in the next 2 weeks where IContinue reading “Valuable training.”
Training for a big ride.
I’ve been tired since we returned from holiday but know that I need to get back to a higher level of activity if I’m to do my planned big ride. This will involve an almost exclusively off road ride, climbing around 5,000 feet of ascent. I thought that it would be good to ride aContinue reading “Training for a big ride.”
Back to life!
I haven’t ridden my mountain bike for 13 days, which is almost without precedent. We went for an 8 day holiday in south west England and although I’d intended to get a lot of riding done in the week before we went I was thwarted by the weather. I only managed one bike ride andContinue reading “Back to life!”
A voyage of discovery?
Due to the recent rain I decided not to ride my mountain bike today. I would have got myself and the bike covered in mud just before we go away so I chose to use my pedal powered boat instead. What I’ve noticed about pedalling the boat, which is done from a feet forwards recumbentContinue reading “A voyage of discovery?”
Trying to beat the weather.
I mentioned in my last post that I was hoping for an active week this week. Next week we’re away for a holiday when I won’t do any aerobic activity so I intended to do 3 bike rides and 2 or 3 sessions in my pedal powered boat. Unfortunately, after a glorious warm and dryContinue reading “Trying to beat the weather.”
Training for our holiday.
My wife, Ali, and I are going away next week for a holiday which is likely to be a smorgasbord of cultural delights. So why should I need to train? Well this time I’m not taking a mountain bike and it’s unlikely that I’ll engage in any aerobic activities for the entire week. What IContinue reading “Training for our holiday.”
Back on the bike.
I haven’t ridden my mountain bike for 6 days which is almost unheard of, for me. I haven’t been idle in this time, though, because I’ve had 2 trips in my pedal powered boat. Using the boat is good exercise but isn’t exactly the same as riding a bike. I’m finding it less aerobic evenContinue reading “Back on the bike.”
A longer trip by boat.
I haven’t written about all my pedal powered boat trips but today was a good one. I wanted to get out early before it got too hot but it took me until after 9am to leave home. I pull the boat on wheels for 0.7 miles to reach the canal and am well practiced atContinue reading “A longer trip by boat.”
Was it all worth it?
Today I was reminded of a post I wrote in the spring entitled “Life gets in the way of mountain biking”. My wife, Ali, had asked me early in the year what I’d do in our garden if I had a blank canvas and within days we were digging up many years of work. IContinue reading “Was it all worth it?”
Messing about on bikes.
Today is hot by the standards of northern England at 26 celcius. Whilst for many around the world this may seem refreshingly cool, to us it’s rather hot to be riding a mountain bike. My plan was to ride Brinscall Woods to be out of the direct sunshine and to ride with no particular plan.Continue reading “Messing about on bikes.”
Boating with my son.
My son Dylan is home for the weekend. He’s always wanted to shoe horses and had to move 270 miles away to do so but he was half way home after a college block so came to see us. He has a kayak and was keen to try the boat. We covered a few milesContinue reading “Boating with my son.”
Cruising!
Today I took my homemade boat to the canal again, not to test it this time but just to cruise. I had a tiny crowd of onlookers as I launched and forgot to start the GPS based app. Strava straight away. In total I covered around 2 miles and the mile and a half IContinue reading “Cruising!”
Riding up Ben Nevis.
Ben Nevis is Britain’s highest mountain. OK so it’s only 4,406 feet but it’s normal to climb it from around sea level so you have to ascend the whole height to reach the summit. I’ll confess straight away that, whilst I’ve climbed it many times previously it isn’t something I’ve done recently. I’ve run toContinue reading “Riding up Ben Nevis.”
I promise you this my young friend………..
In The Wind In The Willows Ratty says to Mole “I promise you this my young friend, there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I’ve long held that it would be more true a statement if the term “in boats” was substituted with “on mountain bikes”. DespiteContinue reading “I promise you this my young friend………..”
A training ride and how I gained motivation.
This evening England play Italy in the delayed Euro 2020 football final and I hadn’t planned to do anything else today, apart from maybe a bit of gardening. By the middle of the day I needed something to occupy me so what could be better than a mountain bike ride? I thought I shouldn’t tireContinue reading “A training ride and how I gained motivation.”
Back to the hills.
On my last ride of 22 miles I only climbed 101 feet of ascent. That was mainly during my first and last half miles on my way to the Leeds/Liverpool canal, which obviously doesn’t rise at all, excepting tiny undulations of the towpath. I have a plan for a big and challenging ride which willContinue reading “Back to the hills.”
Less climbing.
My recent rides have involved a lot of climbing. In a week of 3 rides I climbed a total of 6,104 feet according to the app. Strava. I have a plan to do a big ride as a challenge for this year which should push me to the limit of my fitness and ability. HavingContinue reading “Less climbing.”
If a picture paints a thousand words…….
If a picture paints a thousand words then imagine how many more words a video could paint. I’m not an avid watcher of Youtube videos but the other day I watched some mountain biking footage, specifically routes near Darwen Hill which is one of my longer rides from home. Here’s a link to the videoContinue reading “If a picture paints a thousand words…….”
The perfect trail ride?
There are many factors which go towards making the perfect trail ride. For me, since I live in a great mountain biking area, it really needs to start from home. There’s no point in spending more time loading the bike into and out of a car and driving to the start of a ride andContinue reading “The perfect trail ride?”
6,000 feet of climbing.
No, I haven’t just done a mountain bike ride with 6,000 feet of climbing but this week I’ve climbed a total of 6,104 feet, almost exclusively off road. I set off today having already completed 4,470 feet in 2 rides so made sure that I climbed enough to get me over 6,000 feet. There’s noContinue reading “6,000 feet of climbing.”
Mountainbiker 