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School's out! But still thought I'd squeeze in my usual Friday evening after (not) work ride.
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Tomorrow's plan is a road ride to Skeg Vegas - my longest ever ride at 115km (lightweight!), then Sunday will be a gentle leg loosener round the woods.
Naughty ( fairly ) low level stuff on the very eastern fringes of the Lake District ..
yay had mud on my tyres when I got home this morning 🙂
Out in La Thuile for the EWS and after a week of riding dusty trails the rain came fast and furious all night long which made the first stage a nightmare for the riders. Don't think I have ever seen as many crashes as I've seen this morning
Had to climb for two days to get to the trails as the lifts were only for competitors
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All clean after practice and ready for the race
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A shortish 12 mile loop with a mix of trails at Llangdegla followed by a well earn’t Welsh Breakfast.
After my legs were inexplicably uninterested in power training up hills yesterday, repeated The Meon Quad segment again this morning and got PBs up three of the four cat4 hills (in their longest forms) plus a new ~19.4 mile segment PB... Much happier than yesterday lunchtime!
Well, we're now officially in trouble !
My boy turned 10 a couple of weeks ago and today we went to Swinley for a ride... He was simply night and day compared to any time i've seen him ride before. We did blues and reds and some just messing about over in Crowthorne woods. First thing i noticed was his ability to climb.. Which is really good.. But what worked the most was his cornering, we did Stickler that's twisty and flat, through the trees, constant changes of direction and berms... I wouldn't go as far as struggling to stay with him, but i wasn't exactly slowing either ! My PR is 7:53 but most of my times are over 8min... today was 8:50... So pretty impressive for a small lad.. Some of the next sections of climbing he just stomped on the pedals and disappeared up the hill.... He took me on in a race and i could have beaten him on the climb, but i'd have had to work for it !
Shocking and proper proud moment !
No pics as was having waaaay to much fun in The Dark Peak today descending Potatoe Alley, Hagg Farm, Cutgate, North America, Cheeky Derwent😉, Ladybower Inn and a cheeky off Win Hill.
Bit knackered after 60k and 1700m, but well worth it and defo deserve a beer or 3
Climbed Beinn Narnain with Mctrail Rider today. Was typical dreach scottish weather. Had a comical crash on the way down. Thankfully only a few scrapes. will post video later if I have any usable footage.
My afternoon involved Rocks, Roots, Road and Moorland.
Racing at Tidworth tomorrow so no riding today. Off for the next 2 weeks though so plenty of riding to look forward to 😎
Bikepacking from Maidstone to Bournemouth via Sustrans routes 18, 21 and the South Downs Way. One too many tyre cuts and a snapped chain forced a retreat to Goring-by-Sea and the train home after 100ish miles 🙁
Spent the day being expertly instructed by Luke from Singletrack school in the Surrey Hills. Brilliant instructor and bunch of classmates. I was the mincer a few of the others had minor wounds! Big grins all round and I have never seen anywhere so dry and dusty. Thanks guys great day 😀
Well, first (metric) century done.
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Hoping there's enough left in my legs for a little MTB bimble tomorrow morning...
New tyres, 4.8 Jumbo Jim, arrived yesterday, along with a bottle of the OKO Off Road Sealant. As we were out last night round friends, I rushed to get them on the bike, so I could get out early doors this morning, but put the front on the wrong way round... 🤬
We have friends coming round today, so no chance of getting a ride in. Hopefully I'll have enough time to switch the tyre around, fit my new slightly longer seat post and get the bike ready for a quick loop on Monday morning.
P.S. 4.8 Jumbo Jims are ****ing massive!
Some pics from yesterday ..
Heading towards The Harper Hills
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/43516996422/ ]20180721_104940[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/ ]Neil Hodgson[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]
A little "test piece " ..a lot steeper than it looks
Jaco having a go ..
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/28676279457/ ]20180721_130217[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/ ]Neil Hodgson[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]
Heading down towards Haweswater..Nan Bield in the distance ..
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[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/28676281177/ ]20180721_134615[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/156204930@N03/ ]Neil Hodgson[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode_lite ]Flickr2BBcode LITE[/url]
.would have taken more but my phone ran out of charge !
Great day out though ..but very humid.
nice pics as always neil
here is my vid from Saturday - its a bit long so here are the timelines.
Top of the decent 1:52
personal message 2:52
decending in the dreich 3:35
OTB Crash 6:06
Lower decent 7:07
A very greasy Scolty Hill yesterday. Binned it quite hard at the bottom of this.
hurt yourself or more of a pride dent?
Just a few scrapes and a sore front brake finger. I’ll ride it again today, particularly now I’ve seen it from a different view 😀
video it next time just in case lol
After a morning of chores, it was scorchio Hassop way <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">😁</span>
Slow roll round this morning. Legs a bit heavy after yesterday.
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Cheers Ross..yours aren't too shabby either..
I haven't got around to watching the video yet ..but the front cover shot is a good start !
Somewhere new, south west of Salisbury Plain; hot, dusty and empty. Lots of climbing. No flies. Dry and stony descents. A pub lunch, a post ride pub dinner then headed back home after a great day of xc.
P.S. 4.8 Jumbo Jims are **** massive!
They are! Totally mint though!
Out on mine Saturday for a cheeky little spin around the lofty heights of Warwickshire.
After two days of hiking and watching Abigale compete in La Thuile we drove up to Verbier last night and ready to ride the trails
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[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/928/41776052710_fca9c8b7fd_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/928/41776052710_fca9c8b7fd_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/26DBc1S ]20180721_165538[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/dave-lowe/ ]Dave Lowe[/url], on Flickr
Two Towers ride. Darwen and Peel. Lovely day out and didnt see one other biker.
I did the Evans Ride It 100 (the 100km shorter route). The drizzle for the first couple of hours was perfect; I got round in 3 hours 45 which I was happy with (at 110kg); I can see why there are loads of roadies in Cheshire, the lanes are generally pretty quiet and it's easy to get a decent distance in.
Did an long loop using canal towpaths and NCN routes. Absolutely zero technical interest but for us country lovers quite different.
Basically Skipton to Wigan on the Leeds-Liverpool canal then the Bridgewater canal to pick up the Transpennine Trail then NCN 67 back to Leeds and the Leeds-Liverpool back home. About 320km in total with 2100 metres of climbing. We bivvied a few km before the Woodhead tunnels
First ride of my new Solaris on the Quantock Hills
