Adios 2025

The mission for the year was to get back to riding and I really enjoyed it. 2,500km target for the year was rather smashed, I managed quite a bit more than double that in the end.

The bikes had a good year too, managed to get out on all of them to varying degrees of mileage.

Indy Fab Ti Crown Jewel

The fast road bike was treated to some new rims. I swapped out the Mavic Ksyrium SLs for some Cosmic Carbon and went tubeless back in April. I have never had as much trauma trying to get tyres onto rims as fitting GP5000s onto those carbon rims. Had lots of problems trying to get them to not leak, involving new rims tapes and going through the whole ‘let’s break some tyre levers’ again.

Yeti ARC

Hardtail of choice was trouble free all year. Did some good rides, including riding Cannock Chase for the first time. Cracking ride around the forest and heathland. Towards the end of the summer I decided that the Yeti ownership box was ticked and it was time to move it on after a very enjoyable 12 months.

Canyon Dude

The fat bike has been very low maintenance over the last few years. This year it received some attention, ending up with some Race Face Next carbon bars, a Turbine stem and a new chain. I left the chain a bit too long, so the new one isn’t the perfect fit on the cassette it should be. Lesson learned. I also has a puncture and decided I should take the opportunity to switch to tubeless. Bought a couple of Surly kits and set about the heck of a job on converting massive tyres to tubeless. It’s a thankless task. I did one wheel and left the other one. Probably until I get another puncture.

Indy Fab Ti Cross Deluxe

The cross bike has been great for years, but the 105 STI shifters are knackered. I’ve tried cleaning, stripping and generally servicing them, but the righthand shifter is not shifting properly. As part of getting back into riding I bought a Wahoo Kickr and that means you basically just leave it in gear and the trainer auto regulates the resistance. Perfect, the Ti Cross has spent most of the year on the trainer. Chris King rear hub hyper glide cassette body is a bit tired, cassette sprockets have eaten it a bit. Spares are unobtainium.

Scott Addict Gravel

New bike time. Modern bike, AXS gears, carbon frame and end of year deal. Unfortunately the original frame I wanted wasn’t available, so I ended up getting a different colour, but I am really happy with it. Full SRAM Force groups and upgraded to ZIPP 303 Firecrest rims. It has been the go to bike for most of the year and riding it has been like going back to the 1990s and riding a rigid hardtail. Epic bike. After 2,350km it’s needed new rear brake pads and really needs a new tyre. The Schwalbe G-One Bites have been brilliant – try getting some replacements – hen’s teeth. Didn’t come with a power meter, so added one on.

Scott Spark World Cup Evo

The replacement for the Yeti. Top drawer cross country race bike. Won everything worth winning. Nino Schurter’s ride and the one Nick Craig won the national championship in his age group. More AXS gears, but most critically Flight Attendant Rock Show wizardry. Added a mount for the Wahoo Roam and had the power meter swapped from an axle to spider based unit and it’s been amazing. Slashed the rear tyre at Llandegla, plugged it, but it’s still leaking. So needs a new tyre and the brakes over heat, so getting some floating rotors for the New Year. 376km.

Friends Reunited

20 years ago I met a South African through work and we discovered that we were both mad about bikes. Much mountain biking ensued across the North of England, literally across Wales (on the Trans Cambrian Trail), but into the 7 Stanes north of the border and 18 years ago we raced the Cape Epic together. The Epic and the TCT ended up as magazine articles in Singletrack, the latter with stunning photos from Paul.

So today Tyrrell and I rode Dalby Forest and caught up after years of not seeing much of each other and it was good! One broken chain (it’s a thing), a few spills and lots of giggles. Mince pies and coffee after and plans for more riding in 2026 hatched. Roadtripping can be totally worth it.

Smashed it

Sometime at the beginning of June I passed my annual riding target of 2,500km. As June comes to an end I’m on track to be nearing 3,000km. Last year in the same time period I’d ridden 140km and to further emphasise the difference, earlier this month in a ride out to Delamere Forest for coffee and a bacon barm, I did close to that distance in a single ride. I am lighter, fitter, and enjoying riding again.

The best bit is that I keep finding new trails like the gravel track in the photo above. In my earliest days getting out exploring on the bike, riding new bits, having those revelatory moments – ‘ah, this comes out here’ and ‘so I can use this to link up this and that’ – were always the highlights.

Right now that sense of adventure biking, complete with top tube mounted frame bag comes in the form of a Scott Addict Gravel bike. What a machine. Looking forward to the next 100km+ adventure at the weekend.

Chasing Memories

It’s Tuesday evening, after a final day for the foreseeable future spent in Oxford, I’ve taken the executive decision to break up the journey home with a tactical riding opportunity (T.R.O.). 45 minutes later, I’m just over half way around the red route at Cannock Chase and I’m contemplating the similarities of Thetford Forest and the Midlands.

No flint. Where have all these rounded stones and pebbles come from? Same abundance of ferns. Thankfully few nettles and brambles (compared to my local pinewoods). Most starkly, there is vertical variation. Ups and downs beyond bomb holes and gently undulating Breckland. Lots of trees and threaded trails. Very quiet with a sense of in the wild

It feels more built, with hunks of stone slab and rockgarden sections, even boardwalk but somewhere into the final third of the red, it just seems to come alive, great down hill trail sections, fast flowing Singletrack sections. The latter makes me think of Thetford, in particular the rollercoaster.

Bang on 9pm I roll up to the pay and display machine, wince at the extortionate parking fee for less than two hours, load up and carry on my journey home to north west coast. Plenty of time to reflect and review. That was a great ride. I should go back sometime. Maybe this hardtail business has run it’s course – wouldn’t it have been more fun on a cross country trail bike?

Gravel, Roubaix, Singletrack & Quieter Roads

The year started with a simple goal: Ride more. The plan worked and 15kg weight loss later, achieved through hitting the gym and riding a variety of Peloton, ICG & Matrix stationary trainers whilst away on business and getting back out on the bike.

With the riding happening again I set some targets, new gravel bike after 10kg weight loss and a mission to ride to mum’s house in North Wales on the edge of Snowdonia. A custom spec’d Scott Addict Gravel Bike, with full SRAM Force AXS and Zipp 303 Firecrests and a Wahoo Roam arrived courtesy of J’s Cycles. There’s a full Syncros frame back set to go with it too.

Mileage has been clocking up with several 100km+ rides in the bag for the year already and a whole lot of bigger ones planned. Let’s keep rolling…