Rights of way??? Its getting busy.

I usually feel obliged to ride whenever I can because I work 6 days a week. Sometimes I feel that I have to so that I can write up this blog. Thanks it gets me out on the difficult mornings. My Sunday morning rides have taken on a religious importance. But yesterday was unique as…

Bit off more than I could chew

I’ve been looking forward to today’s ride for a long time. I wanted to ride my Five Ways Loop. I’d ride alone which was what I wanted – no waiting. Jo & Barney were eaten alive on a road race yesterday, Jes was riding WECC Long Furlong event and Will was riding the final round…

New gear and offroad for a change

Every now and then I get the chance to try some new stuff and some times the new stuff is so new that it doesn’t exist yet, at least not in the way that you’ll see it when it comes around. Today I was visited by a couple of guys with some new bits if…

A Whinge

I am grumpy old man but I have reason. If you ride or ski or snowboard, or picnic or camp, (the list goes on and on) you’ll have your secret spots. They may be visited by others but when you discover them they become special. They become yours. You want to protect them and keep…

On the trails and happy

The decision was made for me.  My mates were going to ride off road. It would have been too cold and blowy to have fun on the road bike and after my last few rides what I really wanted was fun. I decided to take the Mount Vision XM8. Not my usual choice but it…

Mud, mud, more mud and wind on the Marin Riftzone XC8

I was going to go for a flat out blast on the Marin Riftzone. The plan was to ride hard using young Wil doing his first race (round 2 of the Gorrick) for inspiration. The memories of my own races would have helped me push hard to see just how good the Riftzone was.  However,…

Can technical be too technical?

We, the shop boys and a few others, went out for our annual ride on Tuesday evening. Off to Stanmer Park to ride some of those magnificent & technical trails. The last night ride that I had done was in the very same Park on a balmy (dry) evening in June. Boy was this different….

Don’t wind up your riding buddies

I need to think carefully how I write up today’s ride as there are dire consequences for getting it wrong. Last week I had what seemed like the easiest ride in recent memory. I put this down to the bike, the Scott 29er Pro, with its very light weight and the bigger wheels it made…