Today's Ride

Does look amateur doesn’t it, he has little mechanical sympathy and wondered why I had to straighten the hanger to fix the shifting a few weeks ago.

That said the crappy bike belies his ability/fitness. We’d got to the end of about 25 miles cross country/grass tracks etc and on the road on the way back got dropped by a young roadie. The roadie pedalled by on his I’d guess £5k Specialized, socks pulled up to his knees, I had to shout hello twice to get a response out of him as he passed. My mate on his old Claud Butler let him get to the next junction then dropped him on the way home!
That’s the way to do it.
Van Der Poel clearly did his ‘explosive break’ thing because of the stamina he had built in off road.

…and I am trying to work out where you are riding … Cotswolds somewhere? North Wilts?

And Garmins. Ant has an efffing useless old model which gets us to a crossroads and then directs us left. 100m down the track is says ‘you are going the wrong way’ so we backtrack to the crossroads and try straight on. 100m on ‘You are going the wrong way’. It can’t be right. But we go right and 100m out it says ‘you are going the wrong way’. We backtrack and go left. It now likes this. And it did this the WHOLE DAY. A four hour ride took five. Grrrr.
 
That’s the way to do it.
Van Der Poel clearly did his ‘explosive break’ thing because of the stamina he had built in off road.

…and I am trying to work out where you are riding … Cotswolds somewhere? North Wilts?

And Garmins. Ant has an efffing useless old model which gets us to a crossroads and then directs us left. 100m down the track is says ‘you are going the wrong way’ so we backtrack to the crossroads and try straight on. 100m on ‘You are going the wrong way’. It can’t be right. But we go right and 100m out it says ‘you are going the wrong way’. We backtrack and go left. It now likes this. And it did this the WHOLE DAY. A four hour ride took five. Grrrr.
Surprising for many if you know the area, the first photo is actually just outside Peterborough! It’s a place not known for its scenery but if you get just outside there are plenty of nice trails and the odd hill. Morborne transmitter is in the background to the left. We usually end up more into Rutland and Northamptonshire but go all over to be honest.

I don’t have the latest Garmin but it does have a map view you follow. Honestly that and the OSMaps app combined and I’ve found/planned so many new routes on trails I didn’t know existed close to home. On the topographical map on the app I just pick out bridleways, make a circular route and send it to the Garmin, takes me about 10 minutes to plan a few hours of riding. We did have one hiccup with it yesterday but that was my error, it’s amazing when I’m effectively in the middle of a field it still can tell me if I’m following the route I plotted.
 
Short ride today to test a few things out, I don't take my phone with me usually so can't take pictures. I do wear my Garmin Forerunner 25 which doesn't do maps, its very basic. I think it was the last model where it was very simple to change the battery so I bought 2 and 2 new batteries which I fitted myself, the batteries were very hard to source though at the time and had to come from Germany.

I do have Orux Maps on my phone which I use while hiking but I'm only doing short local rides on my bike so I don't maps. Also old Garmin watch only does Running which is fine as on the bike I only wanted to find out the how far I could get on battery power using my cheap E-bike which is getting my out again after injury. I couldn't have even done today's short ride under my own steam.

1721469083007.png
 
Some lovely rides documented from everyone this weekend.

Us?

Strictly non-retro excursion to Bedgebury on Saturday for some fast single track fun. Grom on his new Transition Scout (well…new to him…completely rebuilt 2018 frame and now tight and fast - needed a bit of fettling before it started to sing in the woods) and me on Stanton ti 29er. Very humid. Weird section with gorgeous dappled sunlight, fir trees overhead, and rain. Weird. Then it cleared up and we met lots of really nice folk on the trail and in the restaurant….

Then Sunday…early hack round Thetford with almost no people in the forest. Back on 27,5 mmmBop….reliable old rig…but feels like a familiar and fast thing. Much smiling in the beechwood on the unofficial runs - for winter months we couldn’t really see the paths for the dead leaves; now they are packed and fast and fun. Didn’t rush getting ready and yet got back early. I think we might have been going quite well. Downside on doing some quick runs means having to listen to the Archers on the way back home. OOOOhhhhh Fallon…..what you ‘bin up to, moi lovely….(west country accent).
 
I’ve had a busy few weeks away with work and have not been able to cycle for a while. Really missed the restorative effects that cycling has, so very pleased to get out for a few miles before dusk on Monday.
It may be July, but there’s still mud on the South Downs 😄
IMG_4493.jpeg
A hilly and humid 15 mile loop near Glatting Beacon. I have really missed the South Downs, it’s great to be back! IMG_4497.jpeg

IMG_4501.jpeg
 
I’ve had a busy few weeks away with work and have not been able to cycle for a while. Really missed the restorative effects that cycling has, so very pleased to get out for a few miles before dusk on Monday.
It may be July, but there’s still mud on the South Downs 😄
View attachment 870510
A hilly and humid 15 mile loop near Glatting Beacon. I have really missed the South Downs, it’s great to be back!View attachment 870514

View attachment 870515
You must live near us.
 
Back
Top