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It's been crappy weather, but it's always cold wet and muddy this time of year 😃
My 4 year old got a tow rope for Christmas. A couple of rides with that have been fun. He still wants to stop and measure puddles.
Sherwood pines was shut due to wind and there are some decent size trees down in my local woods as well.
A couple of very close passes have made me less keen on road riding.
Massive mudguards, while ugly, help me reduce clean up time
Yep weather has been crappy, trails crappy, so bought some new waterproof trousers, grabbed last years winter boots and spent a bit more time on Zwift as well as still getting out at least once a week 🙂
Managed to get out for my second ride this month yesterday, conditions have been really shite. Switched over to walking instead, will it ever stop raining and dry out a little????
Had a very nice 105ish km ride yesterday (with a 5km walk around Fingle bridge /Castle Drogo at the mid-point).
BWs along the river Teign, were, um, mucky to say the least 😆 but a lovely day out and Dartmoor looked stunning in the sunshine. Lots of rainbows 🌈
8 rides totalling 460km this December, so not too bad.
With some perfect timing I’ve just discovered a local group who ride MTB and gravel and seem to be happy to get out in all weathers. <br />Currently in the process of digging out the waterproofs and giving the hardtail a once over so it should be a 50km ride with them tomorrow. <br /><br />
Happy days!
Ice rain and snow today but forced myself to go out after a period of laziness. Local bimble down some trails near Dollar and Blairingone.
Mudguards. Love them. With several of the lanes I ride looking like this
https://flic.kr/p/2ppyEvM
I don’t really want shite all over my face, eyes, arse or drinks bottle. Had a great 4 hour rough stuff ride yesterday with a mate; he on his ht and me on the mudguarded vagabond. He had a gooch full of slurry after the first 3 miles along the towpath. I was a dry and comfy little camper.
Last time I checked skin was waterproof, 11 activity’s this month all mtb, 152 miles and 16,606’ of elevation, though I was out the country for 13 days and laid up with man flu for another 3.
Been riding the gravel bike more as it has full length mudguards. Cuts down on the clean up a lot. However I get bored with doing the same old routes so I’ve been running a bit too, as it’s a quick and efficient way of maintaining some kind of fitness.
Had a fab time yesterday and we only caught a bit of rain towards the end.
Christmas group ride - 21 of us. The only mechanical was one ebike throwing up a fault code and retiring after a couple of miles.
Rode over to Black Rocks for those that know it and did some laps of the spicy stuff and some not as severe. Mixed group of riders on a mix of bikes, but everyone had a blast.
One guy had his water bottle full of port, another had been up to the woods earlier and hidden a bottle of Southern Comfort and some shot sized paper cups.
A few pints at the Greyhound in Cromford before a pedal home, clean up and a meet back at the Fishpond later. 17 of us in the Matlock Bath Balti and caught the late train back to Matlock to hit the bars. Bumped into my drunk daughter later on in the night.
Excellent, excellent day, but haven't moved far from the sofa today
It has been a challenging month 4sure.
Sometimes the problem is thinking the worst,or waiting for 'that'weather window,then you don't even get past the front door.
I always plan/carry stuff for the extreme and get pleasantly surprised when extreme doesn't turn up ,like yesterday afternoon and this morning, my timing was perfect as the weather was nothing like the forecast.
I was ill or busy for most of December, finally managed to commute in on my last working day though, then do one very slow, slogging 25 miler on the MTB on boxing day (bike is absolutely caked in mud still and finally got out for 40miles with some mates on the road bikes today, again the weather did not cooperate. So I've had minimal ride time, have two bikes that need attention as a result and TBH can't really be arsed with it currently.
I'm just now pulling together a bit more of an indoor training setup, because I can only really see me squeezing the odd hour in of an evening during the week over winter, and maybe one decent ride during the weekends if the weather is on side.
An hour of zwift or whatever is going to do me slightly more good than and hour on my arse while it's cold and dark I reckon, even if it isn't 'proper' riding. So I'm going to give it a go again.
An hour of zwift or whatever is going to do me slightly more good than and hour on my arse while it’s cold and dark I reckon, even if it isn’t ‘proper’ riding.
Do a race. 30-40 mins of turning yourself inside out will do much more for your fitness than an hour of trundling around outside or watching Netflix. In fact it's about the best thing you can do for your fitness without a proper training schedule - you'll get much faster.
Last time I checked skin was waterproof, 11 activity’s this month
Perception is a funny thing isn't it.
I've done a fair bit more than that but feel like I've done **** all this month.
None of my activities have been done anywhere other than wet cold Scotland either...
Considering going out for a pedal on the HT in the morning. Will see just HOW bad the rain is when I get up
I’m finding trails are so wet that they are running really well, the usually boggy bits are big splashy puddles, the usually muddy bits are no different (although I swear some of them are clearer, rain washing the mud off?!) and the usually non muddy bits are still not muddy (less people using them?) Clean up is quicker too, no claggy mud to deal with
Getting regular short rides on the pub bike. Just got to take the weather windows when they come.
Absolutely minging this morning. So 2 of us headed out to clear the "gulley of a million leaves (and some very sodden heavy soil/mud". 2 hour on the spade and rake felt harder than riding- even in those conditions.
Way better than my planned Zwift. I expect I'll be able to move normally by mid Jan 😉
Did a 40 mile "ride around the industrial heritage of South Manchester" Well that's what I'm telling myself as I stuck to the Canal paths as it was easier. Still looked like I'd had a terrible toilet* based accident by the time i got home. But it only rained a bit, and there was a biting headwind for a mere 10km on an uphill slog along a bike path next to a dual carriage way (blame the route planner), and the temp struggled to get above 5degs, but with winter boots on feet were toasty, so I'm calling it a win. So there.
*Or "terrible didn't get to the toilet in time" based accident, more accurately.
Absolutely minging around here today. Great ride though!
I was inspired by this thread to go for a rainy ride round Coombe Hill in the Chilterns on the 31st. Turns out my 5:10 Trailcross GTX aren't that waterproof.
And the heavy rain keeps falling...
As I said to my son this morning “we have had 3 frosts and 3 feet of rain this winter.”
I’ve not touched the MTB in at least a couple of months but I have been out on the gravel bike a semi reasonable amount.
The Leicestershire Alps are as wet as I or any of my dog walking chums can remember.
The local woods are literally under water in places, we have roads closed due to flooding between Christmas and NYE, even the winter night ride cheek which tends to stay drier is sodden.
Having a dog doesn’t help as I’m dealing with mud and cleaning mud off stuff on a daily basis.
It's brutal, I had some time off due to knee problems and the bike being broken, thought I could fix it until I realised I couldn't as I needed a new mech, could have been serviced with new spring, pins and re dishing but I didnt have the tools and by the time I bought them it was cheaper to buy a new one, needed suspension servicing too so booked it into the LBS. Got it back between Christmas and New years so went for a ride NYE.
Boggy, muddy, slippy, clarty you name it it sucks riding anywhere muddy when it's like this so I tried to stick to routes I know are more hardpack and stayed off the trails. One route ended up being washed out and inpassable so had to divert through some bridleways up to a farm to get back on route and that sucked. It was like a swamp, unrideable, had to push my bike up 250ft of hill slipping and sliding everywhere, it does get demoralising.
Been out this morning, was fine when I set off, but I knew it was coming.
Wetter than an otters pocket. Even my sealskins were soaked inside
Oh, look, a 'bike' I must have forgotten I'd 'given up' 🤣
One steep grassy field I was wishing for the ebike though. Could barely stand up in my five tens when I was pushing up it
Yesterday was a short MTB group ride in the sun! But the wettest any of us have ever seen the trails. But all still ride able.
Now it’s raining onto that saturated soil. Just been out for a short ride on the road. I’ve never seen anything like it. The roads are brown streams!
But no I didn’t regret going out
PS aren’t houses brilliant! They just seem so amazing after a wet ride
Went to check out our local, local spot this morning.
Looks like we'll have to keep heading towards the other end of the valley for a few days yet...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/53437743378/in/dateposted/
I went out on the roadbike yesterday. Few puddles but okay.
Went to the supermarket today using some of the same roads.
Puddles where I have never seen any water before and lakes where puddles normally are.
If I had been on my bike I think I would have turned round to stick my buoyancy aid on.
When people claim it’s too wet in the UK to commute by bike I would normally counter that as the chances of it actually raining during commuting time normally only adds up to a handful of times per winter. This year though I’ve got wet on the way to work multiple times a week for the whole of autumn and winter. It’s been a grind.
Yep. I normally get soaked through a handful of times per winter - this year it's been a handful of times per week. And the few roads I use are actually dangerous, with drivers in fogged up cars or simply too stupid to adjust their driving to the dark and wet conditions. I have driven to work several times when I should have ridden because the weather is too bad, including today - several roads are closed locally because of floods and downed trees. That's not normal around here. It's forecast to be nicer from the weekend on though - we'll see! 😀
Not just the rain, the winds are relentless. I can't remember a time that we had such strong wind for this prolonged of a time. It's been storm after storm back to back.
Still, I promised myself I wouldn't quit riding during the winter this year and have to build all the fitness back up in spring like usual so a ride shall be had this weekend.
Fooled by the Met Office today. Was promised a dry day, it wasn't. Sat in the caff for over an hour but had to give up in the end and cycle home through yet another downpour. Feel like I have transferred to the Unterseebiken division.
Yup,weather forcast said light rain.It poured down and I got soaked!Just getting rid of a dodgy throat thing as well.Grrrrrrrr
Go outside they said. It'll be fun they said.
To be fair it was in a dark, rain-y, cold, incredibly muddy way. Until I could see the gate where the ride finished, let me concentration drop and fell into a mud pit of significant depth. Where I wallowed about like a trapped baby rhino while my friends made 'supportive' comments.
What a month to give up beer eh? 😉
What’s that stand Alex? Looks useful
In its flood reporting, the Guardian has a statement from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) suggesting that it's been the wettest July-December since 1890, and rainfall between Sept- Nov was 22% more than average, and Dec was 70% ore than average in some areas.
I got a muck off pressure washer for Xmas. Has a gentle-ish nozzle for push bikes.
Amazing bit of kits. Pi55 easy and quick to clean my bike and then blast all the mud off my clothes.
There is quite a bit written about developing good habits, a great book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Things like having the right kit ready and easy to put on, massive mud guards, easy way of cleaning your bike, planned route, target for distance or elevation for the month, options to avoid overly muddy trails etc all help make it easier to go riding.
Losing a good mate is also an incentive - as already mentioned.
Just got to take it as it comes. There are a few icy patches on some of the tracks still but I managed to avoid them. Setting off in the afternoon means there's often some lovely light to be had as the sun sets, whereas later in the year, you have to be out much later to get that.
Beaver hunting....
My daughter was adamant we were going riding today, despite me having "The Cough" and not feeling tip top this morning!
So we packed up and headed out, it didn't rain too much but bugger me, the endless mud. Sick of constantly being covered, can't stop and do anything cos everything you touch gets covered, everything is a PIA.
But..... we had a great time! Felt shit on the way out, but once you're out, everything gets better! And once again, the little one didn't moan half as much as me!
Taken just before she otb'd on some loose rock. Immediate tears but zero damage and quickly forgotten!
Got a date on Sunday to clean the bikes.
On Tuesday I did ride as wet as any I’ve ever fine from the house. Brown water walking in from the fields every where
Today was a a dry ride. I have to say that was really exciting
The weathers been terrible since September here. Roads are like rivers and off road is wetter than a swamp.
Sick of constantly being covered, can’t stop and do anything cos everything you touch gets covered, everything is a PIA.
One thing I've started doing is using a hydration bladder (with a bite valve cap) instead of a bottle. Means you don't need to touch anything below your top tube which will be inevitably dirty.
Perfect cross-bike weather.
My bike is fairly placid no matter what the weather. Have you considered anger management tuning?
@richardkennerley Stanley Chattertrack? that's one of my local BW's which loop did you do?
I did High Cup Nick on Thursday, absolutely covered in shite and wet through, but great to be out, even though there were no views!
Lovely out this morning, muddy still, but sunny. Fresh though.
12.6 miles on the HT. Was aiming for a bigger loop closer to 20, but my mates CB Mallet fell off the spindle
@benjim not sure of the name? It's out the back of Chipping. Can do a 7 mile loop from there that's easy going, makes a nice change to trail centre riding and finishes with the cobbled corner for a hot chocolate and a massive slice of carrot cake 😜
Going to push it in the drier months and do the full figure of 8, doubles the distance and goes over to Dunsop, be hard going for her but I think she'll enjoy it if we take plenty of time
What’s that stand Alex? Looks useful
That's a venerable 'AndyStand' - not sure he's still doing them. Must be 10 years old. Tredz do/did a version that's not quite as good but I have one for cleaning the bike outside.
Thanks!
@BenjiM having checked Strava, I realise the correct answer is yes, it is!
You got any other recommendations for round there at all? With our without a 7yr old! Slim pickings?