Category: Words

It’s done, thirty days riding for at least an hour. It wasn’t easy, but it’s something that defines my passion and commitment to the sport I love. It wasn’t all offroad, but there was no indoor riding and all my memorable rides involved getting wet and muddy. The final outing today was the logical conclusion for me. It combined the new trails discovered over the last month with the ambition to ride to Marple Lakes.

Today I made it out there and then for good measure did a lap of the circuit we used to run Harry Hall demo days over. Then it was time to head off home. Very cold today, a good four inches of snow on the top of Werneth Low and it was muddy everywhere. Absolutely caked in mud after the first offroad section, but the stunning views of the Peak District dusted in snow made up for it. Very, very cold feet, possibly with a bit of frost nip. Nice to be home now.

<a href=”http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/manchester/362396936″>30 of 30</a><br /><a href=”http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-kingdom/manchester”>Find more Bike Rides in Manchester, United Kingdom</a>

Well not a strict Breakfast Club Ride like MacPuppy used to promote, but it’s the Easter Break and I was home by 9.30 for breakfast and a brew. It’s the earliest proper ride (not counting commutes) I’ve managed during the entire year so far. I knew that Ivy Brook must join the Mersey, but it was actually flowing the wrong way for some reason, which was a bit weird. In the end I gave up following it and the chance of following the Transpennine Trail home and wound up back in Chorlton Green. Now the prevailing winds are westerlies so it generally makes sense to work outwards to Sale and then take the tail wind home. Not so today. We’re still in the grip of a bitterly cold north easterly and it made the ride home a pain. Still I reckon it only cost me a few minutes, but it felt like a much bigger effort.

Based on the unexpected outcome of one of yesterday’s detours I extended today’s ride by linking up some new bits and finally riding the Goyt Valley Lane. I’d originally thought that this would be an ideal way to get into the Valley, but it’s not. The previously scouted route has much nicer woodsy singletrack. The Lane turned out to be wide, potholed and hardpacked and rather dull. Despite a puncture above Reddish Vale, I made it home just before an enormous hailstorm which was nice.

The mild warm weather of yesterday that had Simon wearing shorts for the first time this year has been replaced overnight. Opening the curtains this morning resulted in a vista of shark skin grey skies and more than a hint of moisture in the air. Normal service for this time of the year has been resumed then. I rode the singlespeed in again today with the intention of riding from work once more tonight.

As the day went on the weather deteriorated and I decided to keep this ride as short as possible. Long circuitous route home, dump courier bag in garage head out immediately with some exploring in mind. Rode for a bit longer and ended up in some places I wasn’t expecting, but I think that’s the charm of navigating by sense of direction and what feels right – whether a particular option has a good vibe about it. Ended up soaking wet and a bit cold, but that’s another one done and some new singletrack through woods discovered.

I decided that having always skirted around Audenshaw, it was probably worth actually putting a ride in that took me through the area. Cold again tonight with a much more noticeable Northerly wind adding to the chill factor. Took the bottom bracket out of the road bike today whilst cooking dinner. The threads on the frame are fine so I stuck in a new Ultegra unit and put everything back together and it seemed okay. During the ride I noticed that there is play in the assembly. This is not good. It means that the axle has worn out on the Bonty Race X Lite cranks, so time for a new chainset then… I have put in the wrong king of bottom bracket for my cranks and need to order the proper unit. Doh!

Last night I watched an episode of Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory. People have been talking about this for a few weeks and it has been fairly interesting to hear about it. There’s not too much of a surprise in the story of an entrepreneur setting up in business and finding that it’s a lot more hardwork and difficult to achieve than might have been expected. The interesting thing for me was that there was an interesting focus on Willie and that he turns out to be a bit of a dab hand at cooking and (perhaps not that surprisingly) has the same passion for dark, spicy chocolate that I share. So as he spent a good segment of the show making hot chocolate, it seemed wrong not to follow suit.

Now I didn’t make the same – consistency of thick cream – drink that he produced, but I did have a good rummage in the ingredients cupboard and the end result of a very generous portion of Green and Blacks 70% Cocoa Powder combined with ground black peppercorns, a dash of red chilli powder, freshly grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon and some fresh orange juice with hot milk was probably the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. So hat’s off to the man and I’ll be keeping a look out for his chocolate billet which is being stocked by Selfridges (will have to have a look next time I’m in the City Centre) and there is some more discussion on this forum. I’ll be experimenting a bit more over the next few days I think.

Tonight’s ride was a good one. Leg has improved over the day and I hardly noticed it on tonight’s ride. It was very cold again and I had to dig the Buffalo jacket out. I’m fairly sure it was still a bit breezy, but I can’t honestly say it was hard going in any particular direction, so maybe it wasn’t at all. Probably could have ridden for longer, but my inspection of the bottom bracket revealed stripped threads on the non-drive side cup and I didn’t replace the unit, so I’m probably pushing my luck to be doing too many more miles on it before I get it fixed.

Friday was a nice evening for a ride and I headed out with grand plans of an extended loop around the back of Stockport towards Marple and home. This plan was rather scuppered by a puncture on one of the climbs. Now this wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a normal puncture, but no a piece of glass had slashed through the top of the GP4000 and if the tube was pumped up beyond about 40 psi it bulged through the carcass. So it was a slow, careful and squidgy ride home.

I dusted off my rugby boots on Saturday for a game. I felt much better this year than on previous occasions because I feel like I’ve put a good number of miles in this year. Shortly after the kick off for the second half, a crushing tackle from one of the oppositions front row, left me feeling a bit green. It was one of those moments where you get that sickly feeling in your stomach. Pause and assess: Well I’m still standing so my leg can’t be broken…. Phew, just a dead leg then, but this one is a humdinger. Hobbled about for the rest of the half trying to run it off, but no luck – this one’s a keeper. Home, shower, slap on a load of Deep Heat and then head out on the Singlespeed. Not feeling too great, certainly no power, so kept it local and the pace comfortable.

Slept all Sunday morning, eventually waking up and then faffing around before limbering up enough to get out on the bike. First 10 minutes were really uncomfortable, but eventually the leg seemed to free up a bit. Managed to ride out to the M60 exploring some old bits of trail I first explored a few years ago. there’s been a lot of changes, with new housing developments coming up. Nasty north easterly wind coming in made the ride out hard work, but otherwise okay.

30 from 30 Riders

Simon | Sara | Grant | Ali | Samuri | Jenn | Steve | Marty | dRjOn