I used my pedal powered boat as late as the 26th October last year so I may still have another 7 weeks when it’s reasonable to get out on the water. Cold water is dangerous so even though I’ve never had even a moment when I felt in danger in the boat, it doesn’t seemContinue reading “A boat trip whilst the weather is still good.”
Flower of the Week, 4th September.
Facebook reminds you of your life in previous years and a brief view informs me that autumn is coming early this year. It’s possibly due to the fairly warm and dry summer. Maybe the plants have flowered and seeded earlier than normal and are now gathering their energy back in the roots. We have veryContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 4th September.”
My first big ride for a while.
I had a target for this year which involved an almost exclusively off road ride of 40 miles with a healthy 4,583 feet of ascent. I rode the route on the 6th of June and since then have only ridden 5 rides of over 15 miles. I have realised that my fitness has suffered somewhatContinue reading “My first big ride for a while.”
Facing a big challenge.
In January I set myself 2 targets for the year and added another later. I have accomplished 2 of the targets so far in the form of a downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest ever time on the app. Strava, and an off road ride of over 40 miles with over 4,500Continue reading “Facing a big challenge.”
Third time unlucky?
They say “Third time lucky, third time unlucky”. I set myself 3 targets for my mountain biking this year and I’ve already accomplished 2 of them, but will I be unlucky with my third? I didn’t seem to be doing enough training for the first challenge, a ride of 40 off road miles with 4,500Continue reading “Third time unlucky?”
Trying to train.
In January I set myself 2 mountain bike riding targets for the year, then added another later. I’ve achieved 2 of the targets in the form of a ride with over 4,500 feet of almost exclusively off road ascent and a short, twisty, downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest time recorded byContinue reading “Trying to train.”
Boat training.
My pedal powered boat is now a good form of training as an alternative to mountain biking. It’s powered by a paddle wheel which only wants to turn around 30 times per minute at cruising speed, which is walking pace, and I have geared it down with a chain and sprockets so that the pedalsContinue reading “Boat training.”
Cramps.
The older I get, the more I seem to suffer from leg cramps. This week the problem has been in my calves but it can appear anywhere from foot to hip. I may have allowed myself to remain dehydrated after gardening in the relatively warm weather and never really got on top of my hydration.Continue reading “Cramps.”
Flower of the Week, 19th August.
Our garden moves on. As one flower fades another grabs the attention. The perennial rudbeckia, Black Eyed Susan, is finally showing her black centred, blazing yellow flowers. We originally bought 2 or 3 inexpensive plants which grew big. You can easily dig them up and split them or just dig a clump out to spreadContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 19th August.”
Any harm done?
Most of us nowadays think about our impact on the environment and wish to do no harm. Mountain biking may be a healthy outdoor pursuit but we can impact on the environs and are often blamed for erosion of the trails, usually by walkers. I get particularly annoyed by riders leaving debris such as foodContinue reading “Any harm done?”
All grown up.
Our son, Dylan decided, at around the age of 13, that he wanted to shoe horses for a living. The craft is called farriery and he has qualified this year as a farrier. It’s no easy task because Britain insists that every farrier is trained to a very high standard, which takes nearly 4 years.Continue reading “All grown up.”
What, no mountain biking?
I’ve been away on holiday for over a week and haven’t had access to a bike. This has meant no hard exercise beyond walking, often with our dog, Freddie. I took some running shoes which have only been used once in the last 6 or 7 years but have decided not to run whilst away.Continue reading “What, no mountain biking?”
Boating at last.
I built my pedal powered dinghy last year and after much development I’ve been able to use it as supplementary training instead of always riding my mountain bike. The boat never forces you to put additional effort in. It entirely lets you decide how hard you want to work and setting off with the boatContinue reading “Boating at last.”
Flower of the Week, 3rd August.
Crocosmia originate from Southern and Eastern Africa and are also known as coppertips. We have 2 types in the garden, the orange form and the much taller Lucifer variety. Both types are sometimes seen in the countryside as escapees from gardens but I’ve been surprised to find the bright red Lucifers in remote locations onContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 3rd August.”
Training again.
My last ride involved 5 laps of a 10 minute circuit with 178 feet of ascent on each lap. It was an excellent training ride and I wanted to do something as good today. I haven’t yet succeeded in my challenge to ride a local circuit in under 14 minutes, which I set as anContinue reading “Training again.”
Riding 5 laps. The biology and the psychology.
I feel like I haven’t been putting my usual, consistent level of effort into my mountain biking, so today decided to do something about it. It may be because I’ve already achieved 2 of my 3 annual challenges that made me relax but having tried for the outstanding target I was shocked. I was wayContinue reading “Riding 5 laps. The biology and the psychology.”
Flower of the Week, 28th July.
We have several types of lily in our garden, which flower at different times in the summer. We don’t remember the name if this particular one, which spent years struggling under the shade of an oak tree. In 21 years from the acorn the oak became too big for us, spanning the entire garden. NowContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 28th July.”
When you just need to get out.
For a variety of reasons I haven’t done any exercise more strenuous than dog walking for 5 days. I stayed away on Friday night, then had a busy weekend with rainy days so I couldn’t get out on either bike or pedal powered boat. Today we were also told to expect showers before a moreContinue reading “When you just need to get out.”
Flower of the Week, 24th July.
We don’t usually have areas of the garden with colour themes but by accident a border near the house is predominantly orange. We removed some over grown geranium and have planted a rose, the Lady of Chalotte. The crocosmia are coming into flower to join the orange and red nasturtiums.
When the stars align.
Sometimes a mountain bike ride just seems perfect and this may happen for a variety of reasons. The stars simply align. Today I had just such a ride which started as an idea with very little ambition. On my last ride I tried to ride a circuit of around 14 minutes in a fastest everContinue reading “When the stars align.”
Mountainbiker 