Where havent I been?

Well its been a fun couple of months not much biking though. Chest infection managed to reduce my bikiness for a while, started riding the road bike a bit at lunchtime from the office.

At the start of August OB and myself went up to see the Jedi at http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/ and do the Jumps and Drops course.

This was great fun, Jedi started us by rearranging our bike controls and suspension settings for the session ahead. The we started by rolling over a stick on the ground to establish the 'push' technique which is the foundation skill for all jumps and drops. We then moved onto the hill, where we did drops that got progressively higher, then onto a bit of cornering and then the jumping began, wow, I didnt beleive it at the start of the day but by the end I was confidently clearing a 6 foot double, awesome. Unfortunately I was so surprised I managed to crash on the run off, as I went down my kneepad slid aside to reveal my knee to the ground, to which I generously donated some flesh, but hey; chicks dig scars huh?

This is Jedi's blog of the day http://ukbikeskills.blogspot.com/2011/08/augusts-public-jumps-and-drops-course.html

Since then the family holiday beckoned so no riding but we did manage our first mountain, with a stroll up Snowdon (and back down again).

Hoping to hit up my first sportive this weekend will start with something gentle, theres a Burgess Hill based one with some options below 50miles, which seems like a good way to start.

What have I learned...

Forgive me reader it is over a month since my last post.

Well I probably should have learned something recently.

First I went out for a ride on the downs with raa82, now he's been getting serious of late, riding road bikes almost exclusively. and as it turns out is much fitter than me, but patient, so we had a lovely ride on the south downs and I went home feeling pleasantly exhausted, with slightly achy thighs, put down to a slipping seatpost.

Then went out in Bristol for a quick mid-week hack around Leigh Woods with a colleague, nothing too strenous fitness coped, feeling good again. Except for a rational fear of steep, slimy, rooty slopes, that go on too long.

Then I lead the friday afternoon social ride; easy climbs, fun descents, introduction to off-roading, nothing to scare anyone. That was on Leith Hill on the North Downs. By which point I'm feeling much better about my riding than I have in months, I've been getting out more, and not seriously letting myself down.

So when the email came about the Tuesday Night Mile Munchers from http://brightonmtb.org/ i though what the hell, how hard can it be, I'll take it easy they're probably a bit fitter/faster but it will do me good. Cycling over Mark caught me up, and so suddenly I'm riding uphill at his pace, chatting and we havent started yet. So over the top and into the woods, OK, this is quick too, very quick, and we've not started yet. Still chatting to MArk he says "Oh there's only usually 3 or 4 of us on a Tuesday, dont worry it'll be fine"

He has a rigid 29er with only one chainring at the front, hmm. We arrive at the start and the 3 or 4 grows to 8. 7 thin blokes with hardtails, some rigid forks, many with less than a full complement of gears, i think the pinnacle was retrobike man on a mid-90s Pace hardtail with rigid aluminium forks and singlespeed and me, over weight, over sprung and over geared, it seemed. Still how hard could it be, only a couple of hours. After the usual faffing the torment began, as the kids would say "OMG!". So cut a long story short, smoked me up,down and sideways, I felt like a total beginner. To be fair they waited for me, then set off when I caught up, meaning I had very little recovery time.

I could barely walk upstairs when I got home. not been so wiped out since, I cant remember probably the C2C i suppose but possibly not even then.

Just for fun I had some time on easter weekend, and went out on the downs for a ride on my own and I thought I;d take the hardtail, the one that cost a fraction of the full suss'er, that normally has road tyres, but has knobblies at the moment. Wow, so quick, couldnt beleive it I did the training loop ive been using just to see if it made a difference, now this is not super scientific, it was dry, and stuff, but I averaged 10 mph, compared with about 7.5 mph on the previous outings. what a difference.

Anyway where does that get us. Well it seems logical at this point to buy a road bike and start using my hardtail more, especially when out with the beginners group, it occurs to me when oout with the mile munchers, i need to make sure I'm considering all abilities. I also now have a clearer view of the spectrum of abilities and fitness levels, and my place on it, I'm definitely nearer the left than the right.

I think I need to book some events for the summer/autumn to give my training some focus, maybe even a sportive to try out the new road bike. whats the worst that could happen, I might start to enjoy the pain. probably not.

...Mornin.....

So, I have managed to cycle to work through most of the winter, save for the odd minus 10 episode, when catching busses seemed more appropriate. Through this time, the meeting of another commuting cyclist, along my route, wasn't a regular occurance. This is usually accompanied by the occasional grunt, nod, or at the very least, a look of recognition. A greeting, not too friendly, but not small enough to ignore the other cyclist.
An occasional stop to rescue/chat to a puncture victim, was still not a problem.

Then we had lighter/sunnier/warmer mornings together with >£6 a gallon. The sound of shed doors and the wresting of pieces of metalwork from the clutches of the lawnmower could be heard across the land.

I now encounter 30+ cycle commuters on my 5 mile journey. Nods and grunts now seem to have been abandoned, as far too many to be friendly, and likely to be thought of as a bit odd. So what is the critical mass of friendlyness -> unfriendlyness? Not sure, didn't really notice it happen.
Interestingly enough though, I sometimes divert my route through the local county park. To get my fix of trees, tree roots & muddy tracks. I have noticed that pre 8:00am dog walkers, in this area are still civil enough for a healthy 'Mornin'. I guess there aren't enough of them.
Post 17:00 walkers are outnumbering the early visitors, and thus, fall into the unfriendly category.

So that experiment wrapped up, I feel better already. Just one addendum, how should you greet those who you see all year round ? The old man with dog on the riverbank, still gets his 'mornin', and he still looks as surprised as he always did.... I like to be a bit unpedictable

Ha Ha

http://www.thepnikshop.com/

Out again

Managed to squeeze in a training ride again, same loop as last week, a bit quicker but I think that was because its drier rather than a miraculous improvement, oh and I didnt stop for a chat at the stanmer tea rooms. As you can see the visibility was much better this week.

Struggling to get any mid-week riding in at the moment, going to be difficult again this week too, i'm over in Bristol 3 days out of 5, and Mrs Pnik's birthday too.

I went out to the garage this morning to find my bike still caked in last week's mud, not good, got the gears moving though and washed it properly afterwards today.

Mama its gone all misty.

Took a couple of hours out from the family to get some miles on the clock. Boy its misty today. Saw very little more than the 20 feet in front of me most of the time. Did a nice loop which I intend to use as my baseline training route. If I can do it once every couple of weeks I should be able to measure progress.
I'm now planning to do the Lemming Trail (South Downs Way) in September with one or two bigger rides over the summer. Possibly the London to Brighton which I've never done. There's a few other more MTB events too that could be interesting.

That's all for now.

Sent by Android.

Finally out again...

Out with some newbies from the office this afternoon, took them round some of the best bits on Holmbury Hill, Barry Knows Better, Parklife and Telegraph Road. Good times.

My time on the bike as been severely constrained the last few weeks having put my neck out in halfterm week, 1 trip to the osteopath improved but not right, 2nd visit next week hopefully will resolve.

Bike fun has been confined to the garage, fitting some brakes to friend's anti-diluvian marin and putting some bling on the Orange. new bars, seatpost and stem. Looks good first shakedown today seemed OK.

The Marin was a pain apparently there was an old post mount, slightly different to current post mount, so fitted an adaptor imported from Canada (!?) post mount to IS mount then a IS adaptor to current Hayes. then messed around with spacers until it kinda lined up. Not my finest hour in the workshop, but we got it working. bodgit and scarper, havent heard if he's ridden it yet!

Its late and i need my beauty sleep. bye for now

Mud Fest

....so the supposedly warmer days, and a couple of 'free' hours pencilled in for the Sunday, along with some renewed vigour of getting on the bike......

Anyhow, found this brill site, which may not be new for anyone else, but I think its K9's 'nads.

Side by side maps, the OS on one side and google sat view on the other. Plot your course & download as a GPX. I then convert to a route(TCX) for the Garmin.

So a 25 miler, encompasing the West Leake hills, which sounds quite grand, but since hills aren't really our thing round this way, and bridleways are only linked with tarmac, its a bit of an XC challenge.
Found some nice new pieces of wood to ride through, but with the whole of Saturday raining, the ground in places was a bit swampy. Let just say, and Pnik will get this, one steep downhill, I had to get off & push. The bike would not move. There was so much mud clay stuff between tyre & forks, that the front wheel siezed. Deft work with piece of stick get it moving again. Front mech was destined to be stuck wherever it felt.

So, although not aching on way in Monday, lets just say, it took a little longer.

...and as if by magic.,..

...the other one appears...

Well, whadya know. I just happen to glance over to the blog, and I find some recent posts.

My biking has been limited, generally, to the daily commute. A flat tarmac 10 miles a day keeps the legs and cogs moving. Quite extraordinary how the bike gets so filthy without mud. mental note to buy a chain cleaner/scrubber thing.
Running the gauntlet with Notts rush hour traffic is fun. I now have two bright flashy lights on the front, mainly to light up the canal towpath, highlighting the logs & flotsam that seems to go with narrowboats.
Ahh, there was a customary new year ride with Pnik up at Sherwood pines. We did the kitchener trail, which, I suspect, was a tad longer that Pnik originally assumed. Got to pace yourself a bit. I know we dont really have hills, but we have mud. Lots of it.

offski, backson.
J

Not so gorgeous Sunday.

Got my kicks on the turbo this morning. I have to be gentle though as the donor bike has a dodgy rear axle. So long since I've been on it had to move the collected conservatory detritus out of the way first, bags of logs, buckets and more bellies and crocs than we have feet!
Warmed up with Babyshambles and moved on to the Clash. Great tunes although I had to be old school wired for sound as the Bluetooth was as flat as Holland.

Now to parental duty. Take the kids swimming, they don't fancy the sea so to the pool. More cash number 1 has lost goggles.

Laters

Reentering the blogosphere

I've decided to start sharing again. Don't know if anyone will notice, but here goes. Jimbo and myself started this when we were doing the c2c a couple of years ago. We have been talking about a followup escapade but so far its not got past talking, fancy the west highland way, unfortunately its not looking likely for May now, as work and illness have been conspiring to keep me off the bike.
Managed to get myself out this morning on a beautiful crisp winters day. Rode over past jack and Jill to the beacon and down through some of BrightonMTB.org's twiddly bits over Stanmer way and home.
Lovely ride, ground firm undertyre only small patches of ice on the road. I didn't even mind my chain exploding, easily fixed and on my way again, got to love a speedlink. Brighton and Hove deaf and dumb ramblers were out in force though, at least that's my assumption as to why they don't return a friendly 'hello, beautiful day' greeting. It's not like I was hurtling past at light speed crashing them out of the way. Actually come to think they probably would say something then! It's not like I'm asking personal questions or looking for lifelong companionship. Perhaps I expect too much.
The first few miles on the road should be the easy bit, right? Just to get warmed up, but I'm sure I go faster when I get off the black stuff. Tarmac sucks I'm sure of it. Maybe I need a road bike to understand. Maybe ignorance is bliss.
Better stop ignoring the kids mi suppose. TTFN.