Second day of riding in the Peak for us.
After yesterday's over the bars on the Beast I was feeling a bit battered and the bruises are now starting to show so decided on a short 10 miler
The Peak is so dry and some of the tracks have worn away. It's leaving more exposed rock which at some point I expect will need some repairs.
Loads and loads of walkers out even away from the main trails. Was stopped twice by people who were lost.
Didn't see that many out on bikes
Healing vibes being sent. Could really do with some rain up there to dampen down the loose surface material. Peak District MTB do a fair amount of trail maintenance in the area and have opened up a couple of link trails in conjunction with land owners. Hope you can get out for something more adventurous tomorrow.
My local trails have been savaged.
Thanks. With under two weeks to our next European trip I think I might have to reign it in 🤣
Just hope any repairs are done sympathetically 🤞
Rode one of the links yesterday from the bottom of Potato Alley to the back of the Beast to re ride where I came off. They have made a good job of it. 👍
WRPT Bank Holiday
No it's not.
WRPT in Scotland.
Another solo night ride. This time on my full sus. Took a few miles to remember i had gears, and active rear suspension. I kept thinking i had a rear flat!
No monsters again, but loads of movement just off the trails either side, so they might be getting braver. Or just loads of deer and badgers. Heard the owls coming out from their slumber too, which was pretty cool.
Dodged loads of little toads at one point, too.
First night ride since around April for me, took my brother out who had never been out at night before. He loved it, and I enjoyed the company as I usually night ride solo. Forgot to take pictures as we were having too much fun!
Any monsters?
Did Cut gate Derwent edge loop with the kids today - one of my favs, and it was great when we were moving, but man the flies were bad, never seen the like in the Peak (was barely a breath of wind today). Ended up being quite a hard ride as we couldn't stop as often as we would have liked. Double whammy of big slow heather flies and raging clouds of tiny wee midgies. Hopefully this was their day in the sun and they subside.
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No holiday here but two rides anyway.
Saturday was Reeksy1's coaching session so I went off on my own. Then he called to say he was feeling sick so I bailed...but picked up a couple of strava cups on the way.
Sunday was out to Bottle and Glass Mountain for a couple of fun runs of jank, jumps, drops and drifts. And a chance to ride with a mate I never see.
Been in Japan for just over a year now. Back from a 3 weeks stay in Hong Kong with the family with no riding, now gone back to Japan (just me) for the last 2 weeks to get everything packed up and shipped back to the UK. So uplift day on Saturday and a quick 2 hours road ride today, making the most of my last weekend here. Other than the 35 deg heat, it was absolutely perfect condition, dusty trails with unlimited grip. Perfect weekend of riding especially after a tough week at work. Thank you Japan!
@nicholas_yiu: the biking part of your time in Japan would make for an excellent article in a future STW magazine.
@nicholas_yiu: the biking part of your time in Japan would make for an excellent article in a future STW magazine.
Thanks but I don't think there would be enough material to make it. I'm out here with a demanding job and a young family so everything I've done are local to where I'm staying (around Mount Fuji).
I only had time to go to bike parks where everything was served to me. I spoke to the LBS owner and there's apparently quite a few local places that I could have explored, again, not had the chance.
Early sat spin for me up Pirongia to test out some new bars on a new trail . 
How do you like the rise?
Bit of trad Calderdale wandering this afternoon . Not one speck of mud or surface water to be seen. 
Three hill mission at a very hot and still Dunkeld. Thought it would be as dusty as Rees-Mogg's bulb-end, but there was just enough moisture to provide a bit of tack.
Bonnie Birnham Hill, just about to drop into Rake and Ruin
Less-bonnie Newtyle Hill (aka The Mast). Had a wee lie down on Rudder after clipping a pedal.
Finally, Atholl Hill, finishing on Sacrifice (aka "Red My Arse!").
Feels like one of the last big rides of the summer. Autumn smirking in the shadows, everywhere you look.
My first mtb ride in about 20 months. The bike took me for a ride. I took it for a walk. Mellor, Roman Lakes, Marple. 
More horseing around in North Yorkshire on me tod. Fast and loose, loads of dust 
I had a bad night last night think I may have cracked some ribs in my over the bars on Friday so sacked of the ride and hiked some of the trails we would have rode.
Still had a great day out and apart from pain killers not alot more I can do.
First night ride since around April for me, took my brother out who had never been out at night before. He loved it, and I enjoyed the company as I usually night ride solo. Forgot to take pictures as we were having too much fun!
Any monsters?
No, they only come out when I’m on my own 😂
Riding, swimming, same thing really
Back up at Les Mossettes briefly today.
Oh, me too!
We were on our way to Morgins to ride what must surely be the steepest techiest blue on the planet. Wow!
How do you like the rise?
It's definitely not made it worse but maybe not had as much as an improvement as I thought it might but it's only one ride so far , I think it definitely helps me get into a better riding position on steeper trails which helps with confidence .
. To be fair I've gone from 30mm to 50mm so it's not like I've gone from a flat bar to 50mm .
How do you like that ripmo moonsaballoon? My son is riding the same one in that photo I posted above - we swap between my anthem depending on whether we're going up or down. Love the ripmo pointing down but find it a beast to pedal, I'm just too used to short travel bikes - some folk happy pedalling them all day.
I think you've nailed it . I've got a flare max with some silt xc wheels and skinny tyres and it feels like an ebike if I've been riding the ripmo a lot 😁
It feels great going down and I'm a big fan of the coil shock on the back but it does seem to suck the life out of me climbing although I think it's pretty good on rooty climbs which there are a few of local to me .
I think the suspension is pretty effective in terms of pedaling so my thinking is it's probably down to the ibis wheels and the fact I tend to go for bigger grippy front tyres as it's my bigger bike .
If my kids would stop growing for 5 minutes so I didn't have to spend all my money on shoes and bikes for them I'd love to get a lighter trail type wheel set for it and see how it feels .
Double post
I just moved from a Ripmo AF to a Pivot Switchblade. I'd read the Ibis was a great climber but I found it a bit of a lump, too.
WWPT for me. Saw the great weather so decided to pack up my tarp and camp out on one of the Yorkshire tops. Totally silent up there and absolutely glorious ♥️
Winchester to Petersfield on the SDW, about 60km? That includes a stop at QECP after about 52km, though my hands and legs were grumpier than planned - a quick mince on the Blue revealed I was just finding decision making at pace hard, so I left it for another day. Rolled down to Petersfield and a train. Great day for it tho.
Not many mountains in the near vicinity, so gravel all weekend for me cos there's loads and loads of gravel routes 😁 exploring some well known routes for the first time for me, and some glorious weather. Pretty dusty out there too.
Horrible bought of near fatal man flu over the previous 48 hrs, managed a few gentle miles out today in the sunshine.
No bank holiday for me and no MTBing either - full weekend of kids waterpolo and CCF left no time (or energy!) for a ride. Well, apart from the sneaky pre-work on the dropbar around local trails, catching the sunrise lighting up the trees. It took all of 30mins at work before that feeling of bliss had ****ed off...
I think you've nailed it . I've got a flare max with some silt xc wheels and skinny tyres and it feels like an ebike if I've been riding the ripmo a lot 😁
It feels great going down and I'm a big fan of the coil shock on the back but it does seem to suck the life out of me climbing although I think it's pretty good on rooty climbs which there are a few of local to me .
I think the suspension is pretty effective in terms of pedaling so my thinking is it's probably down to the ibis wheels and the fact I tend to go for bigger grippy front tyres as it's my bigger bike .
If my kids would stop growing for 5 minutes so I didn't have to spend all my money on shoes and bikes for them I'd love to get a lighter trail type wheel set for it and see how it feels .
I've had two RipMo's - pretty much the first V1 off the boat and a second hand V2. Total of around 6,000km ridden. FWIW my view was it was a fantastic climber especially on a more technical trails. Probably the only trail/enduro bike I've ridden that was better was my Revel Rascal (the bike with all the pivots). Still all my bikes are built on the heavy side, so it would never compare to a XC type bike.
I took the hopefully mostly healed collarbone out on a "shoulder approved strictly XC ride" in the FoD. Three hours of that was enough before the soreness became a bit unpleasant. Still fab day and a little bit of confidence coming back. Failed to take any pics and we didn't go to the pub afterwards. Dangerous precedent 🙂
Also for the first time in ages, I can now hang all my (and two of the offsprings) bikes* on the shed wall. It does feel like we've been burgled tho, and for reasons I cannot even begin to rationalise, I keep looking at 120mm ish trail bikes. That Tallboy thread has triggered me 🙂
*not the Orbea E-Pub bike. Even with two working shoulders, no way that's ever getting lifted onto a wall!
Some great photos up above ❤️
We managed 100 miles of St Andrews gravel today which finished with some ludicrously beautiful piney pump track goodness and Laurens Sweeck impressions on the sandy bits in Tentsmuir forest.
Needs a week to edit photos so I'll just cheat and use next week's WRPT 😎
Just a couple of photos I grabbed on phone...
After trying to follow the number 3 sprog down the steeps in the valley and failing I needed to revisit them at my OG
pace.
Why does the camera always make it look flat? This is steep and with the alpine dust we have here at the moment, just don't touch the brakes or hit the tree.
Great view from one of my favourite spots. Lots of trails out there
I spent most of the weekend with the motor pulled out of the eeb, to replace the brakes...
So this is the only photo I have:
I fitted the new rear brake through all the gubbins and battery obstacles. Replaced the motor.. and the bike wouldn't power on! Was late, so left it til the morning, but did pull the motor out again (it's a pain to get it back in!) then found a wire had come unplugged from the display unit... simple fix, so that was good. Then fight the motor back in. Oooh, bikes weren't like this in my day, I tell thee!
Anyway, we did get to ride to the beach on Monday and it was lovely (despite my partner getting a puncture and me spinning 5 miles back home to get a tube. Only time I've wished by bike wasn't restricted to 16mph!).
Epic Ebike loop around the Black Mountain. Usually impossible due to bogs but the exceptionally dry summer meant it was 100% rideable. Started with accent of Cribbarth, a really impressive limestone ridge, then across the moor to the site of a tragic WW2 bomber crash site for lunch. Then into the heart of the mountain, possibly the most remote place in southern Britain, before a climb to the Camarthen Fan ridge. Finally an epic descent off the tops back to the vans conveniently left next to a pub for a well earned cold cider. EPIC
the site of a tragic WW2 bomber crash site for lunch.
Wow, I think we walked up there when I was on a school holiday in the Brecon Beacons (unless there's another wreckage of a WW2 plane somewhere up there). Amazing it's still there. I know some pesky brats from my class took small souvenirs!
the site of a tragic WW2 bomber crash site for lunch.
Wow, I think we walked up there when I was on a school holiday in the Brecon Beacons (unless there's another wreckage of a WW2 plane somewhere up there). Amazing it's still there. I know some pesky brats from my class took small souvenirs!
There are several wrecks scattered across the beacons. But probably only 3 with any substantial structure remaining to be seen. And yes, they do suffer from souveneir hunters though I feel probably less now than years ago.