Category: Words

An infamous descent that people talk about and that has been illusive to date. Time to fix it, so local riding stretches a bit further to head back over towards Chorley and some of the trails from a few weeks ago, but this time in reverse…

The weather was pretty reasonable for the time of the year although after 3.30pm as the temp dropped down my fingers were freezing!

Back up and through Rivington, but this time right up to the masts on Winter Hill. Little known fact that at 778m above sea level, Winter Hill has the highest television transmitting antenna in the United Kingdom.

It was a bit of a schlep getting up to the top due to a horrible headwind, but it was good to get over the crest and make it to the top of the San Marino descent. The plaque on the stone post commemorates those who died in the Winter Hill Air Crash in February 1958.

The descent gets its name from the restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Probably a fast descent in summer. Less so today!

From there, it was back up and across the moors to above Darwen and some peaty Singletrack runs over to the iconic tower.

It was announced in October 2020 that the Jubilee Tower above Darwen was going to benefit from a government grant is part of the Darwen Town Deal and will see £250,000 go towards the tower’s refurbishment. In addition to the community fund-raising for the Grade II-listed structure led by the Rotary club it should be repaired and still standing in another 100 years…

A decent run back to the start of the loop from the Tower, but in fading light and dropping temperatures (and a puncture that required some faffing to get the tyre to seal) it was a fast finish to the ride. Absolutely tipped it down on the drive home, so the timing was spot on!

Lockdown again and a chance to look at the Ordnance Survey Maps and suss out some new trails for exploring. Didn’t have much luck!

 I was out looking for new bits today but they all turned out to be ‘no go’ options. It was really muddy and soft, but managed to dodge the rain. Have a few more trails to check out for more gravel biking adventures…

It’s lock down (again). Let’s keep the riding local and explore those bits of Lancashire that are close but untapped.

Leeds-Liverpool Canal

River Run

Skirting around Darwen Moor

Over the top of Rivington Moor

 

The iconic Pigeon Tower, aka the Lookout Tower, then the Dovecote Tower was built at Rivington between 1905 and 1909.

Leafy Woods on the way back

So after fettling the brakes, next up was trying to sort out the Chameleon a bit more. First up some more grip up front for winter.

Decided that whilst the Crossmark has been fine for local trails it’s been a bit out of it’s depth on the hills so trying the High Roller to see if it copes better.

Secondly was trying to improve the shifting. Even with the new shifter, it still wasn’t great. There was a fair bit of play in the basic pressed steel derailleur and the all alloy construction of the X01 setup is definitely better.

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It is still not perfect. About the only thing left to change is the cassette. Can it be that? New chain, chainring and cassette in the New Year will prove it…

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So for whatever reason the Lake District is significantly under explored by me. This is largely because the Peak District up until to 2014 was within riding distance and it was a case of why bother, loads to explore on my (relatively speaking) doorstep.

Now living on the coast, yes I could ride a mountain bike to either of them (Edale about 50 miles and Ambleside about 60 miles), but I’d be in no fit state to do a decent ride and the bike home again. So bike wagon it is and driving north is a lot easier than east so the Lakes is now much more favourable, particularly as the Welsh have decided the English aren’t welcome at the moment.

There is a bit of irony that one of the most mountainous regions in the England doesn’t have more trail centres but what it lacks in man-made trails it more than makes up for in bridleways and spectacular scenery. Perhaps at its best at this time of year as the leaves on the trees turn into a riot of colour.

So Grizedale Forest it was, a good base for a half day big loop over to Coniston and around back up to Hawkshead. It rained, occasionally biblically all the way around, but it was worth it. Must go back more often.

Don’t need to go to Belgium for roubaix or New England for gravel. Plenty of both on the local doorstep if you know where to look…

#Keepingitlocal

Drove North to a very quiet Lake District to just outside Keswick for some autumnal biking. Whinlatter Trail Centre is new to me and the area is named by a Norse word meaning ‘gorse covered slopes’. These days it’s mostly covered in commercial forestry. Rode the red run a couple of times which has a pretty decent descent – unfortunately in the last 100m of the finish I knackered the rear wheel and rolled into the finish on the rim protector. Turns out spare parts are not to be had either… May be off the trails for some time.

So a few years ago I had the genius idea of getting a 26″ mountain bike frame and turning it into a cross bike. My mate Jam was selling one of his fleet and in short order I had another beautiful Ti Deluxe frameset and a set of wheels. The silky Chris King hubs were relaced onto 700c/29er rims ready to run tubeless and er, I needed a load of other bits.

So I found a nearly new Cross Bike for sale in the North East and one lunch time nipped out to pick it up. It donated the initial kit for the build, with the exception of the chainset, headset and forks which came in from elsewhere. Standard upgrading bits over time followed as they wore out or broke.

This year it was time for new tyres so I upped to 40mm ones which just about fit and went tubeless. That was well worth it because the ride quality is much better and the new tyres are pretty much perfect for local riding.

Along with a new rear mech (which was scarified to fit one of the boys’ bikes), I also had to replace the big ring which was an experience as the Stronglight one that I found although claimed to be compatible, didn’t without considerable time with the file to make it fit to the crank spider properly.

The trusty seat post and saddle have transferred over having done many miles and have transformed the ride making the bike far more comfortable for longer rides.

So it’s a bit of a misfit bike. Not a mountain bike in the true sense, nor a genuine cross bike or gravel bike either. I will say 26 ain’t dead as all the good ones have all become 29ers like this.

The Big Orange Santa Cruz has been great, but hasn’t really been vertically challenged what with COVID-19 and local riding. Flinging it around Long Mynd showed it was bit under-braked so I upped the rear brake to a 180mm and the front up to a 183mm. Let’s see if that plus new fluid in the lines makes a difference.

The rear shifting has also been a bit speculative particularly in the middle of the cassette. Having tried the standard adjustment it’s not been right so I wondered if it was the SRAM gearset. I’ve started with the shifter, trying a second hand XO unit as a first cure. It’s a chance to tidy up the flight deck too.

I am reliably informed that Torridon is epic “big” mountain riding, some of the best descents that a seasoned well-travelled rider has ever done, and definitely some of the worst/best climbs available. It should definitely be on your bucket list. It looks mint.

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5 hour drive from Glasgow means it’s definitely more than a day trip… Kudos to David Dunlop for the tip off.