Shock!
Over the bridge and across the moss on the old drover road… Gravel bike is still creaking.
Two Rides in Two Days
Category: Rides
Whinlatter to the Top
Went back up to Whinlatter in the Lakes and this time, having not destroyed any wheels, made it over the road and did the second loop. The climb up to the top was pretty uneventful, other than getting overtaken by a couple of dudes on eBikes.
Local Trails
Sun came out, the trails were dusty and it was time to hit the gravel. Gravel bike still has some annoying creak coming from the cranks, I think it’s the chainring on the crank, which I’ll probably forget to look at before the next time I ride it.
What it really needs is stripping down and cleaning with brake and clutch cleaner and butting back together to see if it cures it.
Telegraph Trail
A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
He made a home in the wilderness…
– Telegraph Road
Bluebird skies and dry trails. Good time to be out riding…
Spring is definitely shaping up nicely. No Dire Straits to be concerned with today.
Riding with the Boys
Ride out with the boys down to Crosby Promenade with the boys for ice cream. Good weather, better company. The lads are growing up quick, they’re going to be needing bigger bikes pretty soon…
Another Place
Local riding including heading out onto the beach at Crosby for a very low tide.
Another Place is a modern sculpture installation by British artist Antony Gormley located at Crosby Beach in Merseyside. It consists of 100 cast iron naked figures facing towards the sea. After being exhibited at two other locations, it was put on display at Crosby on 1 July 2005
Back to the Peak
I thought I’d close up a great summer of riding on the Scott by heading back to an old stomping ground and riding some of the trails that first introduced me to the Dark Peak. In about 1997 when I moved to Manchester it was one of the first rides I did, back then on a rigid hardtail with 21 gears. Riding into Edale is one of my favourite routes. I parked up in Hayfield and road in over Jacobs Ladder and back via Mount Famine. All was good until about 30 seconds after this photo when I got a pinch puncture.
I drew blood on both thumbs trying to unseat the beads of the tyres and then when I eventually did, they then wouldn’t seat properly again. To top it all the patches I put on the tube didn’t stick and ten minutes later I was stopped again this time by the river getting eaten by midges whilst I changed it again. After that I was back on it cleaning the ascent up Chapel Gate and nailing it all the way back to Hayfield. Proper ride.
Back to Glentress
Thursday. Leave work drive completely the opposite way to home back to a place you haven’t been for 13 years. Find the same place to stay and the same place to eat. Welcome back to the Tweed Valley, Glentress and Peebles.
Friday day off work and riding to be done. Glentress Red Route (I had completely forgotten what this trail was like) kicks things off. The trail head is completely unrecognisable. Bike park is new. Quick loop around and back for a coffee. Refreshed out to do the black, ah this is more like it. Those trails that Wee Ben and I did in the snow. The ones I rode with other friends over the years. Still a bugger of a climb. Body armour on for the descent. Deliverance feels slow today, bit over grown. Redemption, still that cramp inducing grind back to the fireroad. Yes I still hate you climb. Spooky woods and the rest and back to the trail centre for lunch.
Refueled, it’s time to head off to Innerleithen. Jon Woodhouse and I rode this not long after it opened. We got lost. It was miserable. The downhill run on the insane course we did was far more memorable. Still today I’ll be remembering that climb to the trig point. That goes on. And on. Then the false summits. It eventually ends and I’m on top of what feel like a mountain with a cracking view. This is why.
Gisburn Full Spectrum
Headed up to the Gisburn Forest in the Forest of Bowland for some riding. It was a first time trip there for me and finding the place is a bit of a mission, but managed it in the end. Having taken in the black, the red and the blue routes I have to say that there is some great riding to be had and that made it well worth the trip. The black run down the gully is a bit of a giggle and flows well but I suspect many are put off by the step down at the entrance. I’ll be going back for more.
Penmachno Again
It’s four and a half years since I last rode Penmachno in North Wales. Then I was fitter and riding more regularly than now. I some how managed both loops on the Singlespeed. Today I returned with the Trek Remedy and vague memories of the trails. Still ended up getting simultaneous cramp in both quads again!
Rode the whole trail without seeing a soul taking in the beautiful scenery. Sunshine and dusty trails gave way to some very waterlogged and wet sections, which made me think as I cruised round in my IMBA shirt that some trail maintenance is probably now needed. My arms now bear the marks of the over grown undergrowth lining the trails with brambles having grown a lot this summer.
My view having ridden this a few times now is that although there are some good bits this is a very rough trail and not that much fun. The rationale for this rather critical view is that there are big chunks of trail where you’re contouring slightly up or down and that this is just a bit dull. The slight downhill sections are so rough that they don’t flow and that you don’t really roll very well.
I was really tired by the end and had a very near miss clipping the bars on the penultimate singletrack section rounding a hairpin and grazing into the hillside bank. This led to me getting very out of shape whilst riding one handed at high speed. I’m going to put that down to honed natural instincts and baseline skill… still a bit of a moment because the consequences would have involved an inappropriate descent of a steeply sloping wooded hillside…
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