Almost wished I hadn't bothered.....almost.

Home after work, cycling gear on, waiting for Jez to get back to go out riding. Dragged the Titus out as it hasn't been out this year and it's an expensive bike just to be sitting in the garage. Pumps tyres up, air in shock, change Garmin mount...hear the racket of Jez's motorbike engine...Jez arrives with a big CBA to riding. I go anyway, thinking I'll get a good spin in before it gets dark, being on my own will mean minimum faff (yeah right!).


Drive off, a bit of thought about where to go, as I'm on my own decide to ride Great Hill but where from? Abbey Village is the closest and most sensible time wise so get there unpack bike, get rest of kit on, lube the chain. Whilst back pedalling the chain to lube it it falls off the cassette and jams between cassette and spokes, grrr. Had to undo powerlink to fish it out, get it out and make note to do some serious bike cleaning (of all bikes) as chain is black and so now were my gloves.


Put it all back together and linked it up but failed to notice between threading it through derailleur and joining the powerlink it had fallen into the spokes again, grrrrrrrrrrrr! Undo it all again, rethread, join it back up, gloves even blacker, put car key in jacket pocket, jacket pocket now covered in black, oily fingerprints. So much for a quick and faffless start!


Set off riding, a few pedal revs later the grinding noise tells me I've done my usual crap job of threading the chain through the rear derailleur, seriously, seriously tempted to chuck everything back in car and go home but the prospect of dry, moorland trails is too much.


Pull over at Sawmill, undo it all again, thread chain through properly this time and manage not to lose powerlink in the long grass, off again with no grinding and working gears. Quick map check to locate the first piece of cheek I was intending to ride and head off to it, getting used to a squidgy bike again which was creaking annoyingly from the swingarm. It felt a lot heavier than the On One, particularly lifting it over gates.


Off up a section of relatively well packed double track onto the moor, will be a bit of a grassy slog in the wet but only one section looked like it would get boggy, mainly due to tractor tyres. Get up onto the moor and pick up one of my favourite pieces of running singletrack. In the spirit of minimising faff I stopped to take some pictures, it was lovely:



On again towards Great Hill and I'm finding the rear suspension (and the front to an extent) a bit of a liability to be honest, was like riding a pogo stick. I remember that last time I rode it I found the same and it needs some settings tweaked, more rebound damping I think, the rebound adjuster on the shock is turned wholly to one side (technical description) so I turned turned it completely the other way to see what happened.


Onwards onto the big track to the summit of Great Hill, more photo faff and the creaking seems to have stopped from the swingarm. Cracking view of the sun dropping, more picture faff and general staring:


Up to the summit of Great Hill, stare a bit at the sun dropping then head down again. Just as I was setting off I heard the low battery beep from my mobile, oh great. So now if something does go wrong with bike or me the mobile is about to die. That did make me pause a bit, original plan was to head to White Coppice but maybe it would be more sensible to take the big track back.


I got to the decision point and headed to White Coppice, it looked more fun. I do ride more cautiously on my own (especially with a dying mobile) and fluffed a few things across the rutty moor that the application of a little more speed would have probably fixed but it was fun and mainly dry. The rear suspension seemed a bit better so will need to twiddle the forks a bit soon.


The sunset was gorgeous and one of the reasons I headed up here, I know from past activities that the view is pretty good from Great Hill and I did watch for a bit, however I had lights/layers and food with me this time, the working and charged mobile phone thing obviously needs some remedial work though:



The bit I was worried about was the rutty drop to White Coppice but I had a whale of a time on that and was briefly tempted to ride/actually push (let's be honest) back up and do it again. Sense prevailed and I pegged it along the new bridleway for a bit then back up through the woods to pick up the moorland singletrack. I got down, just, without putting my lights on but fired them up for the last short bit of road back to the car.

Quick drive home for Chinese after a mainly satisfying ride and a cat runs across the road in front of me, I stop in time, just.

The New Year (and all that)

Happy New Year!

Unusually for me I actually was able to get out and about on New Year's Day, being on call meant a return home on Hogmanay and being spared the normal excess of a Scottish New Year.

It was a baltic but clear day so three of us headed over to Abbey Village for a ride. Due to the complete absence of snow in Lostock Hall we thought the trails would be pretty rideable, wrong. There were a few patches of ice at the lower levels which I was happy to ride round, even briefly on but the start of the climb to the tower was just a rink. Frozen compacted snow.

Jez actually managed to ride it but about half way up decided to turn back and then proceeded to successfully ride down it. I could barely stand on it:

I did actually manage to get back on further down when there was a bit more of a verge. We took a different way back, which entailed more ice and lots and lots of people walking where I wanted to ride.

The bridleway down from the visitor centre started off ok then was just about rideable at the edge - if there weren't people on it, it was mobbed. I did have one little lad who must have been about three or four tell me to be careful as it was slippy. Then to be extra careful going round the corner as that was even slippier and to be extra, extra careful at the bottom. It was quite sweet and he wasn't wrong!

Once back on the main trail it was back to patchy ice and dodging people. Into the heaving pub for a pint and some chips. Decided not to bother going running here the next day.

Ti 456 first ride

I got out for an afternoon spin on the ti 456 last Friday. It took a while to actually get out the door, idly flicking though BBC iPlayer is not conducive to removing oneself from the sofa to go ride in strong winds.

As it was my last Friday off I eventually crowbarred myself out about 1pm ish. I decided on just a short ride, didn't want to end up too far in case things weren't ok, though my bike mechanic is usually pretty reliable! I also chucked a pair of running shoes in as I should do at least one brick before this month's looming duathlon. So, was aiming for no more than about two hours out total, run included, back well before dark. Except it didn't quite pan out like that....

Legs felt tired and heavy on the initial climb out (running speedwork), this was partly helped by increasing saddle height, which was the only faffing I had to do. As lots of people on the main track decided to do the fence track which looked quite dry. It wasn't, it was really stodgy, standing water further on but it had a covering of deceptive dry leaves. Bike was filthy within ten minutes, as it should be.

Off up the long climb to the tower, thought I was out of the wind but no it swirled round the hill so it was a bit of a grind. Along the top and the sun was out, just for a change:

Arriving at the tower and effectively on the other side of the hill I realised that what I thought was a headwind was just a slight breeze! Strong winds made the rutty descent difficult. I decided to try out a new track which started off well but got a bit rocky/droppy/rutty for me. It's the kind of track that needs a bit of knowledge as sometimes what looks like a good line suddenly gets a bit dodgy. I could also have done with lowering my saddle and having someone to follow (and a big dose of bravery).

Will be fun to run though! Back up towards the tower again, blown up by the wind then back to the top of the long climb I did where I had a bit of a think about where I wanted to go next. As I wasn't riding fast I thought a bit of exploring was worthwhile.

I keep meaning to ride across the top of Darwen moor. I've done one of the tracks (the straightest one) on a very dry day a good while ago but I actually prefer running on the other one as its not quite so rutty. The ruts are vehicle tyre ruts so I find them hard work running. The other track also has a great deal of hard pack on it too.

It wasn't too bad at all on a bike, only a few little bits where I had to get off bike and jump over stuff, though it was pretty soft in other places and is probably best avoided after a big downpour. I would say its more rideable than the other one, especially at this time of year. I was the only person on that part of the moor, which was just lovely after the busy tower area.

As I was enjoying myself on the windswept empty moor I thought I would continue down the Witton Weavers Way to the A666, ride briefly on the A666 then turn off and pick up the Catherine Edge bridleway back, which would give me a nice tailwind.

Started dropping down the track, it has some stones/cobbles and as I was going over them I remember thinking that it was much more comfortable on my steel frame. Then I realised that due to the headwind I was actually sat down pedalling downhill not stood up flying over them!

Some considerable time ago I rode down this track behind a group of lads who then did a short hike a bike onto another parallel track which eventually ended up at the A666 as well. I had no map with me but thought I would try to find a way to get up to the other track.

Rolling down I keep an eye out for likely places to try. A broken fence had me having a look but it ended with a large concrete drainage channel too wide for me to jump. I could see a footbridge further down and did briefly entertain the idea of climbing onto one of the concrete walls and shuffling along carrying my bike. Realising it was a reasonable distance to shuffle and I'd probably fall off I pushed back up to the main track.

I rolled down a bit further and a stile appeared, so over it and down to the footbridge and:

Hmm, there is a bit of a track off to the left so follow it up and round shouldering my bike onto a grassy plateau. See the where I want to get to and start riding, then have to get off and start yomping through marsh grass, which was hiding a nice (not) mossy bog.

Most of the grass is up above my shoulder height, a couple of times as I step into a deep bit of slop it goes over my head. I realise that at times I am probably invisible, in the unlikely event anyone heads down the main track anyway. I entertain myself with thoughts of being stuck out on the moor, waving my bike at the helicopter as it searches for me...hee hee.

I get there eventually, no idea how long it took but realise those lads didn't come the way I just did! I walk along the track I've just arrived at, heading back up the hill to see what's what. There is a stile, so there is obviously another cut through. I gave up after a short while as the track degenerated to stinking slop, oozing the stench of sheep poo:

More pedalling down hill against the wind, get to the A666 and realise its a bit gloomy so try to ride as fast as possible to the turn off before I get flattened. Get to the gate at the start of the Catherine Edge bridleway and realise I am really hungry. I chucked in a Chorley cake just in case so fished it out and sat down for some food. At some point around here I realised that the red lights on the Winter Hill mast were really bright...... which means light is fading fast. The time was well past 4pm, oops no wonder I'm hungry.

Luckily, I had thrown my joystick into my bag so I had a front light but the rear light is still on the Titus. I flew back along that bridleway due to the wind, a lot better than the last time I crawled along it. I was riding at least four gears higher!

I rode to Slipper Lowe car park and took the descent down through the woods. It was very murky and the leaf cover made things slippy but it wasn't dark enough for a light. I got to the ford at the bottom and there seemed to be loads of people around so rather than slalom through them I headed for the road, it would get me back quicker in the gloom.

Got near the road, it was indeed very gloomy, car headlights very bright, remembered about the rear light not being on the bike. Had a vague memory of buying a little emergency LED on a cord a month or two ago and chucking it in the Camelbak, had a rummage and found it (sometimes I amaze myself with moments of sense). Hung it off the LED loop, set it to flashy, got on the road and hoped no one flattened me.

A fast whizz down the road to the car, packed up while briefly entertain the idea of getting running shoes on but it was now pretty dark so I chucked the bike on top of the shoes so I couldn't get at them.

A fun ride, the ti frame definitely accelerates better than the steel one, bursts of power (the few there were) we rewarded with an immediate jump forward. Need to get it out on a long ride, that will be the true test.

Friday 2nd Oct: A Two Towers Ride...

...or three if you count Turton Tower. 30 very wet, windy, cold and sometimes plain miserable miles. The On One was out to play as the knocking headset/brake squealing was actually due to the brake hose connector coming loose and spilling fluid all over the brake, making for juddery stopping - oops. I was under orders to get the disk covered in crap to help clean the pads up.

I set off from a grey, not very windy Lostock Hall for a local ride and arrived at the car park just off the A675 Tockholes turnoff to driving rain and gusting winds. Its a little exposed there. Anyway sat in my car for ages being not remotely tempted to get out:

Finally, wriggled into waterproofs before even stepping out of car and got ready. Hands were wet and freezing cold before I had even set off and trying to wrestle them into gloves resulted in a few choice words! Saddle very wet too but hey ho. Had a near off within three metres of the car as the front wheel slid along a piece of wet wood edging the track. Ignored the demons telling me to give up and headed out.

I had no plan other than a vague wish to ride over to Peel Tower. In the end I did manage it by making myself ride "just a little bit more" rather than think about the whole ride. I learned that trick from my Hebden Bridge ride. The final route is here.

I decided to do a bit of downhill in the woods first then head up to Darwen tower, a vain hope it would stop raining. Nope. I took the most sheltered way I could think of up to the tower and I was almost at it before I could actually see it:

I sheltered from the howling wind for ages and ate a bit of my first butty - only about two miles in! If I'd been riding with someone else and they had suggested heading back home I think I would have gone like a shot! As it was I had to head back past the car to go anywhere else so I put off the decision until that point. The clag got really bad for a while, just as well I know the hill:

So off towards the car, drop down off the moor and the combination of wind and descending speed meant the rain stung my face hard. At the decision point the wind was behind me so I thought I would continue up over the moor again, drop down to the A666 then pick up the Catherine Edge bridleway back to the car. I couldn't be bothered with the faff of trying to pack up in the rain quite yet really.

Up and over then a fast, wet descent down towards the A666 where the cloud lifted briefly and it seemed to be brightening up:

Cheered up by the thought I continued off down the hill, unfortunately the cloud had other ideas and chased me down the valley:

Once at the road I then had a decision to make, back to the car or onto Peel Tower. I was sheltered from the wind and the rain so decided to head to Peel Tower. Some fairly straightforward track and road riding led to the bridleway along Holcombe which I really enjoyed. A short but steep pull up then I was at Peel Tower:

The cloud had actually lifted quite a bit and I could see Ramsbottom below. I stopped for a proper butty stop and just as I was getting ready to ride the cloud closed in again.

I decided just to head back the way I came up rather than chance one of the paths across the top. Back along the bridleway back to the road. As I was rolling down to Edgworth the rain seemed to start in earnest. It was hard to see flying down the road and my waterproofs were beginning to get a little overfaced.

I found the Turton tower track (handily signposted) then made my way across the golf course to Egerton. I did think about heading up to the Pike as although I was cold and wet my legs would have probably made it. However, once through Egerton I picked up the road past Delph Res and the full force of the wind and the rain hit me.

I decided to just head back, the last three miles from Delph along the bridleway back to the car were just awful. There was nowhere to hide from the wind and rain and its a gradual climb. I was very cold and just wanted it to end. Once finished I think I just chucked everything in the car, got a towel on the seat and drove home with the heating on full blast.

As I got on the M65 the sun came out.......

A short Wednesday night ride

First Wednesday evening ride in what seems like ages and its night riding time again. I had company too which seems like the first time in ages too, even though I am surprised at how much I am enjoying the solo rides it was nice to have someone else there to chat to, especially in the dark.

Setting off a bit later than normal due to me taking the mog to the vet, the sun was dropping nicely when we were getting ready to ride with a lovely sunset just like Monday, except this time I had lights!

Trail were dry, just a few soft patches and it was a lovely evening for a ride. The On One front brake wasn't binding and only squeaked in use (it is a Hope brake), I was really chuffed and the bike felt fine on the uphills only my heavy legs holding me back.

I was coping well with riding with lights, normally it takes a couple of rides to adjust, probably because it was so dry. Right at the end I decided to have a silly off and land in some stodge, not sure what happened but I wasn't hurt and just for a bit of variety it was my hands that got covered in bog not my feet.

Just under 10 fast, dry and polar bear free miles.

The puddles of doom are breeding

P8050501
Originally uploaded by julie.lundrigan.t21

Why when my front wheel drops into stuff like that do I go over the handlebars????? That is going to be fun to negotiate in the dark and wet of winter, at least we normally climb it so won't be travelling fast.

There used to only be one real PoD on this ride, there are now at least four.

On last nights ride I'd taken the slightly drier line to the right but still almost came off as what I thought was a grassy bank was just some grass hiding a ditch. The stench from the bog was foul.

A good short evening spin, just Ed and I out which made sure I didn't dawdle, quite enjoyed pushing hard up a climb to see if I could make my head spin.

Back etc ok, I was early and spent a while riding up and down setting saddle height etc to be good for both legs, noticed my left leg wants to splay out slightly if I don't concentrate on it, could do with my foot moving in a bit perhaps.

An investigation of the cleats revealed (when I scraped all the mud out anyway) some room for maneouvre. Unfortunately bolts are quite stuck and I stopped trying to adjust it before I completely rounded them off. Will scoosh some WD40 around the bolts to see if it helps, I did grease them before I put them in.

The long motorwayed drag up/down to the tower was fun to fly down and is slowly but surely getting some character (i.e. erosion), this winter will liven it up again.

After getting my eyeballs rattled out on the descent to Tockholes I need to make time to check the settings on my forks and possibly get them serviced, to be fair they are definitely due one.

Dry trails!

I love MTBing in daylight and on dry trails, it feels like cheating after slogging about in the mud and darkness over winter. The ride on Sunday was planned as an easy ride to spin my legs out after my long (ahem) run and to get the On One to Pam to ride whilst she sorts out a replacement bike.

I got outside before packing the car up to the unusual sight of my On One with a handlebar clamped to the seatpost rather than a saddle. The seatpost still wasn' t moving and it took some serious brute force from Jez, the extra leverage from the handlebar and each of us sat on a wheel (not comfy) to finally get it out of the frame. It had corroded a little, so it has been regreased and SPD pedals put on. It was greased when we originally built the bike up but its not something I had thought to check regularly. I very rarely change my saddle height out riding but its nice to be able to.

We also found an old saddle of mine to put on as I know that Pam really doesn't like my Flite saddle (weirdo, love my Flites). She has to go through all the faff of getting another comfy saddle, Specialized don't make the one likes any more.

It was greased when I originally built the frame but its not something I had thought to check regularly. I very rarely change my saddle height out riding but its nice to have the option and Pam needed the saddle a lot higher than I did anyway.

My legs were pretty up for riding but it was very warm again. We set off just after 10 and took it nice and easy. It was horse central today, I've never seen so many horses out and about around here. We came across a huge organised ride too, everyone really smiley and friendly. We didn't see any horses up around the Tower not sure why, they are entitled to ride up there?

It was quite nice to just cruise up to the tower though the trail is now very boring. The rutty trail was fantastic as you could look way ahead and pick the best rut and there was no mud to slide around in, fantastic. Over the top, down to the road then off down the cobbly Mill Lane descent. Huge grin at the bottom, the Titus makes it all too easy really. Pam seemed to be getting on ok with the On One, the only slight complaint was the reach but we do have completely different body proportions. She has long legs short torso whereas I am the opposite so it was never going to be a perfect fit.

As it was quite busy the cheeky path through the woods was out of the question so back up the main track. We diverted up to the fence track and rode that in the opposite direction from normal. As it is mainly downhill this way it had a completely different feel to it, the fact it was almost completely dry helped too. A quick game of dodge back to the car then to the pub to sit outside for some lunch and a cold beer, I could feel my peely wally Scottish skin burning a little, the sun is getting really strong.

Hmmm...missing post?

I was convinced I'd posted about last weeks Wednesday night ride but I can't find it, I'm probably imagining it!

A very windswept ride last Wednesday out of Abbey Village and up to the tower etc. At least it wasn't raining and it wasn't really that cold but listening to the wind howling across the field as we were getting ready just made it feel more miserable than it was. I had good layers on though, it wasn't that warm either.

Stu was late so Ed and I set off into the shelter of the trees. We chanced the fence track which was a bit a boggy mess and I had at least three moments where I had to unclip as I was pedalling but going absolutely nowhere. Still, it slowed us down a bit to help Stu catch up. We bimbled on towards the tower, out of the trees the wind was there again. At the bottom of the climb to the tower it was obvious they had been continuing with their repairs, we decided to take the long steady climb up to check it out, right into the wind.

As we got higher the wind got stronger and we skirted round the hill a bit and it really started coming in, it was a bit of a crosswind so we were getting blown across the track a lot and doing a few seated trackstands as well at strong gusts. They have completely motorwayed it again, which ordinarily would have been a shame but tonight was just as well as there was no way I would have managed to ride it in its previous state, I would have been blown off/into ruts/side of the hill.

Along the top was a tail/crosswind and Ed and I were both glad we were on full-suss as we had no control over what line we took, where the wind blew us that's where we went. The suspension allowed us to stay seated and as small as possible and pedal over the rocks, I didn't want to have to stand up and turn myself into a sail.

Stu arrived at the tower about the same time we did, he took the shorter but steeper way up and reported that they had pretty much finished repairing that track too. So its now a choice between a longer, steady but now dull and untechnical climb or a shorter, much steeper and more brutal but thankfully just as untechnical (apart from the sneaky waterbars) climb to the top.

The rutty track from the tower was fun as the wind just seemed to be swirling everywhere. I resolved to take the widest ruts possible, avoid the really narrow ones but then I seemed to end up exactly where I didn't want to go! How I didn't get blown off sideways I don't know, it was close a few times.

Over the top of the moor, which was surprisingly dry due to the wind then down towards the fast cobbly descent (fantastic fun as usual on a full-suss, I can see properly all the way down as my eyeballs aren't being bounced around in my head). A quick whizz down the cheeky track through the woods then back to the car. Short at 9 miles, but enough on such a windy night.


I didn't do any running/riding Thurs/Fri of last week due to the wind (lazy, I know!). On Saturday I got myself out for a long run. I had thought about getting the run done early but when I woke up I just wasn't in the mood. I had to pick up my car so I cycled there and to the library on the way, it was just under 5 miles and it really perked me up.

I got out for my run about 1pm, it was really cold. I had my thermal running top on which has handwarmer sleeves and I really needed them a few times. I had planned to do 16 milesish.

I headed out to Cuerden Park, ran down to the Kem Mill end then back again, then I wanted to check out a couple of paths in Leyland. So I headed off there and it turned out to be a lovely woodland track that popped out near Farington Moss. I decided to do a bit of exploring, I knew there were some footpaths round the fields and I would pop out near New Longton. The paths were very flat but it was nice to be in such open area (hands froze here due to the biting wind) and good stuff to add to my repertoire of places to run.

I popped out on the main road to New Longton then spotted a blue cycle sign for Penwortham, so I thought I would follow it. It took me down some more lovely little lanes that I had no idea existed at all and popped me out at Booths in Penwortham and I finally knew exactly where I was. I had covered 12 miles by this point and I knew that if I ran back the way I cycle to Booths that would give me about 4 miles which was perfect.

So off I trotted. At about 14 miles things started to hurt, by 15 my hamstrings and glutes were hurting a lot but quads and calves were only a little bit achy which I thought was a bit weird but it hurt less to run constantly than stop and stretch and try to start running again. I ran until I got stopped at the traffic lights about 1/4 of a mile from home, I had done 16.2 miles by that point so walked the last bit back home shaking my legs out as I went.

My hamstrings were very, very sore the next day but I realised it was probably caused by all the tidying up I've been doing in the garden, they always ache in the when I do lots of that as I think I overstretch them by spending loads of time crouching down or bending over, its mostly sorted now anyway. I hope its that as otherwise they need to toughen up a bit, the thought of doing another 10 miles with them like that doesn't appeal!

16.2 miles at 9.20 mm, didn't realise it was that fast, will try to take it easier on the next one, its even longer.

Night Ride

A bit of last minute e-mailing found us agreeing to meet at Abbey Village at the usual time last night for a bit for spin. Weather was best its been in a while, not raining, pretty still but misty. Usual setting off faff and the usual suspect being late meant we set off at a slow pace until he caught us up!


The tracks were quite stodgy and my legs felt pretty tired, though I was expecting them to perk up a bit later as that's the way riding seems to be going for me at the minute, except they didn't. We rode along chatting for a bit and decided against the boggy fence track as judging by the state of the main trail it would be a mess.


We were all together by the time we headed out across the road towards Dean Lane, my legs were heavy as lead. As we set off down the descent I thought things were going dark! By the time I got onto the really bumpy cobbles I couldn't see much ahead, my front tyre and the ground underneath the bike was being illuminated in glorious detail though as my light had swung down on the bars (I didn't put it on I hasten to add).


No point stopping until the bottom but it did make it somewhat interesting as I couldn't see any of the waterbars/trail obstacles until I was almost on them, resulting in a lot of frantic attempts to lift the front wheel before I catapulted myself over the bars - as it turned out this would be a recurring theme for the evening!


At the edge of Earndale Res I sorted it as the others rode off ahead. By the time I'd finished their lights were no longer visible and it was very dark! I caught them up and we headed across the field to the bottom of the long climb to the tower. I set off onto the field and almost immediately nearly fell off as the back wheel slid. I managed to pretty much ride all the rest of it but it wasn't elegant and I was feeling quite weary. I rode the little drop out of the field badly and only just manage to haul my front wheel up to stop it stalling on a pointy rock, oh dear.


I was realising I was more than a little tired now so I thought I would put it in the granny ring and spin up the climb to the tower, about a minute after setting off I got bored with twiddling and put it back in middle ring (I cannot spin to save myself now!). The boys were riding at a pretty nice pace so I just tagged along behind. Some parts were very soft but it was generally ok.


Almost at the top where the track disintegrates and it gets interesting I managed to jam my back wheel in between two rocks and had to unclip, I knew that I was tired when I couldn't be bothered going back to ride it again. I felt like I used to at the end of a hard 30 mile Lakes ride, which was a bit worrying as we'd only covered about 4 miles.



I managed to get going again and rode the rest. We were now well in the mist, but it was drifting a bit so it would clear a little then mist up again. You could see the beam of lights really clearly. The upshot was you could make out the trail but not the detail, so more bouncing around off rocks but at least I managed to actually stay on. I had a gel at the top, then Ed offered round some tablet. The sugar boost really helped and I managed to get some concentration back.





Which was just as well because the next section was just porridge, slow, slow, slow. Lots of skidding and sliding and peering through the mist. I did somehow manage to find a completely clear and dry line up the last little rocky climb to the Witton Weavers Way. I normally can't do that when I can actually see!





We set off again and I manage to sail past Jez and Stu as they had ridden into a really soft rut while I took the higher line. It was great until I was dropping down and the mist meant I couldn't quite make out what the track was like. It was either a tyre track or a narrow tyre width rut, I decided it was a track but it wasn't. My front wheel clipped the edge but I managed to get a foot down before I tumbled off into the heather, hee hee. A bit of a push up and more slip, sliding over the top of the moor.


We decided to take the more direct track towards the road then onto the singletrack at Hollins Head Hall. The track was quite stodgy but off we went and the mist had cleared so visibility was excellent on the way down. It was still clear as we got to the singletrack past the Hall. Now, there is quite a bit of marsh grass at the side of the track and my light was reflecting off it like lots of little sparkles, I've seen it before and its fascinating.





So fascinating in fact I didn't notice the deepish, just wider than tyre width rut that had opened up in the middle of the track until I heard the noise of my front wheel sliding along the edge of it, oh b*gger. I got the rear brake on, tried to unclip, couldn't, braced for impact but then managed to pull the front wheel out and carried on my way....eejit.





I need to rememeber to get the camera out here but I do wonder if the light has to be moving to ge the full effect of the sparkles. One stodgy climb later and its time for the fast descent. The mist still seems to be sitting in this area so a combination of mist and mud/spray being thrown off the front tyre meant I couldn't quite see anything so I just pointed the bike downhill and hoped. I do remember it absolutely walloping off a large rock in the midle of the track, the front wasn't too bad but I felt the vibration from my back wheel hitting it all the way up my legs and back.


Last fast, swoopy section through the woods and then throw the bikes in the car and get some food from the Chinese then home. I'm normally a very slow eater but tonight I couldn't shovel it in fast enough, starving.

Wednesday Night Ride

I was expecting a wet and muddy ride last night but it turned out not too bad actually - though we did miss out two short sections as we knew they would be minging.

There were five of us originally intending to ride but Pam couldn't get there in time due to traffic so it was just Jez, Stu, Drew and me. It's usually a faster paced ride if it's just the boys, at least my legs were feeling better after yesterday's rest day, they needed some zip tonight.

We set off without Stu as he would catch us up as he had more faff than us to do (he's far too fit these days anyway so no quarter given). We set off up the fireroad track past the reservoirs, it was freezing here as all the cold air sits on the water. The overflow was really giving it death, couldn't see the water rushing under the bridge as it was too far down but could certainly hear it.

The track was quite stodgy to start with and there was a definite stream running down one side of it but as we climbed a bit it dried out. I was enjoying having a full range of working gears due to the new mech (old one was completely bent apparently) when the chain chucked into the spokes. I managed to stop as soon as I realised something wasn't right and it hadn't gotten itself too emeshed so I managed to pull it out easily. The above makes it sound like I'm really in tune with the mechanics of my bike, I'm not but I've tried to pedal through that kind of resistance to pedalling several times before and destroyed things - I have learnt the expensive way.

I caught up to Jez and he did some trail side adjustments and things were fine after that. We took the decision not to follow the fence track as it would be boggy, Stu did do it and it was indeed exceedingly soft!

I had my first tyre/pipe altercation on the next section as I dropped down into a new rut that has opened up and just caught the edge of a plastic pipe at the wrong angle. It wasn't a dramatic slip so I got my foot down ok. I stomped up the next road climb to get the heart rate up a bit before the long drag to the Tower.

Stu caught us up just as we were about to go over the field, there was a lot of water running down the field which made the start of the track very boggy. I don't think I've seen it like that before. The rest of the track was pretty stodgy mud and I was really struggling to ride it, the front wheel seemed to be pinging all over the place rather than rolling over the rocks and ruts. I just thought I was having one of those nights and decided I would be careful going up the climb in case I rode off the edge again (done that before on a night when I was riding badly).

At the bottom of the climb I happened to look down and notice that my forks were still locked out from the road section. Ahem! Forks unlocked and off we went up the climb. Lots of water running down on the bottom section and it was pretty soft. It was quite slow progress, not helped at all by the wind being directly in our faces. I picked an effort level and plugged away (learning from running against the wind).

I eventually overtook Drew and was in front (Stu and Jez were gabbing when we set off else Stu would be a red dot from his back light in the distance and not behind me). I successfully negotiated the orange pipe that got me last time and got over the rock step even though I was slower than I normally am due to the wind. The next section of the climb is the most technical and as it was dark I couldn't see what state the trail was in until I reached it. I have been taking the centre line but that had now changed to a deep narrow, twisty rut that I didn't think I'd ride out so I took the left hand line but there was a pipe that caught me out (and Drew and Jez). Stu saw me spin out on the pipe and went up the less attractive (to me anyway) right hand side quite easily, though that doesn't necessarily follow that I can do it.

Drew had a go at the right hand line and didn't make it, Jez took the left and spun out but just pushed up the trail a bit and continued. I dithered a little then rolled down a little to a flat bit of trail to get on the bike and had a go. I cleaned it! Basically through brute strength and ignorance but I was really chuffed.

It was quite breezy on the top so we headed straight off to the Tower and then down the rutty track. This was surprisingly dry, it had the odd soft patch but it was generally pretty firm, I can only assume its being scoured dry by the wind. We decided not to do the rutty track that goes all the way round as we thought it would be too soft, instead we'd go over the top of the moor.

Setting off the track started to get really soft, more like what I was expecting the rest of the ride to be and at the turning point you could see all the water glistening on the track we decided not to do. It was pretty soft over the top but I followed Drew and whilst he dropped into a deep puddle I managed to skirt round it.

At the road Drew decided he didn't want to do the Mill Lane descent and headed off right to do the other track. I love the Mill Lane descent on a bike so the rest of us headed off that way. I had a scary front wheel slide on the little section of singletrack past HollinsHead Hall, I really thought it was all about to end badly but I somehow managed to get it back and bimbled down the rest of it until I stopped hyperventilating.

The Mill Lane descent was not surpsisingly very wet, lots of leaves on it hiding the rocks but still probably my favourite descent. The Roman Candle effect was back with a vengeance and even though for once it wasn't spattering my face it was really hard to see past it.

The last section through the woods was as good as ever though because of the leaf fall it wasn't always that obvious where the path was, you knew pretty quickly if you'd ridden of it because it changed to stodge. Stu had a rapid desceleration moment when he rode off the track on a downhill. He just seemed to stop dead. He did say he had to try hard not to go over the bars, if it was me I would've tipped.

It was a quick ride, I don't think we were out for more than an hour and a half total. Such a shame its so short but not everyone's lights last much longer.

Night Ride - New Light

What a fantastic evening for a ride, trails were pretty dry really and my new Light and Motion HID is superb. I knew my old HID wasn't working properly! I'd forgotten how much my ability level regresses on the first couple of night rides until I get used to not being able to look so far ahead on the trail. There were 6 of us in total, which is such a contrast to last winter when it mainly ended up just being Stu and I who got out regularly in the evening.

We didn't do the full route in the end due to two major chain mechanicals. I came off the the nice little rutty track to find Stu with his bike upside down and a snapped chain. Jez stayed to help Stu whilst Drew and I set off to meet up with Pam and Ed who CBA'd riding that section and had gone over the top and to let them know about the delay. A couple of metres later and Drew's chain was on the ground too. That's never happened before.

I rode up to the other two and we sat and chatted until the other three joined us, byt this time I was quite cold from doing nothing. We took the shorter route back down to the cars as it was getting on a bit too. Well actually Stu rode along to do the other descent which in the end I wished I'd done too as its one of my favourites and it would've taken the ride over 10 miles. I feel short changed these days on less than that. It'll be done plenty of times over the winter though.

The descent was ace, the new light allowing me to go faster. The section through the woods is at its best at night.

Wednesday 30th July: Sacrificial Offroad Ride

Hurrah some bike time! The reason I have described this ride is sacrificial is that it was something that had to be gotten out of the way rather than enjoyed - sacrificed on the altar of my (and Jez's) return to fitness, much like yesterdays run was really. It was a case of reminding my body what it is like to ride a bike. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't really that enjoyable but it was needed.

In the end only Jez and I headed out and we took it pretty easy (and cut it short, lazy sods). It took a while for me to get into it, my heart rate climbed high early on and kind of stayed there, which is what I was expecting and it made everything seem hard work. I also hit 190 which isn't territory I visit very often thankfully. My bike handling skills were still ok and on the few occasions I did mess things up I managed to wrestle the bike back to where I wanted it, though as I was on the Titus I was being let off relatively easy. It was quite soft and weton some tracks to we decided against the track round the back and took the swoopy path back to the ford at the bottom of Mill Lane. The rough Mill Lane is one of my favourite descents but it is generally always wet, even on the driest of days and I hadn't brought my glasses. I have almost come off my bike on that descent in the past due to the amount of water and crap that ended up in my eyes due to lack of glasses. I enjoyed the change of whizzing down the smoth track and we headed back on the cheeky path through the woods .

It ended up being just under 9 miles which is pathetic really but hopefully things should improve now.

It looks like the bearings on the Titus swingarm are not long for this world, will need to get on Fattreads website or give them a ring to get some more. I need to get Jez to take a look at the bottom bracket too as I think its a bit grindy, kerching!

Sunday 8th June: MTB Ride - finding new trails

Distance: 27.96 Ride Time: 3:37:51 Map/Faff/Food Time: Lots! Probably at least 1.25 hours. Av HR: 134 Max: 181

I have been poring over the West Pennine Moors OS map in conjunction with Lancashire County Councils Bridleway Strategy document for the last couple of weekends to find some new trails to ride and to link them in with our current trails around Rivi and Abbey Village. I had decided to investigate heading over to Turton Tower and coming back over Winter Hill and dropping down to Belmont, at that point I could make a decision to carry on out towards Lead Mines or to head back to Abbey Village along Catherine Edge. I had put an e-mail out on Wednesday asking if anyone was up for riding and Ed responded saying he was likely to be up for it and on Saturday night he rang to confirm. I suggested we do a bit of exploring and he was up for it, no-one else was interested so just having the two of us meant it would be perfect for exploring.

We had decided to try to get out earlyish as the forecast was for a warm one, Ed would pick me up from mine at 9am. I had gotten my Camelbak bladder organised the night before as I would be using the Torq energy drink (first time in anger really) and wanted to give it plenty of time to dissolve. I filled the bladder full, 3 litres and stuck it in the fridge over night. I was awake at 7am so had plenty of time to get my stuff together. As it was due to be hot and this was probably going to be the longest ride I had done for quite some time I was quite liberal with the Assos creme and the factor 30. I got the rest of my kit together, summer stuff only for a change. I took my Camelbak itself downstairs and put the bladder in and realised how bloody heavy it was, I haven't carried a full Camelbak for quite some time.

Ed arrived some time around nine and we loaded the Titus and other gubbins into his Audi then headed off for Abbey Village. It was warm stepping out of the car but there was at least a breeze
but this wasn't going to be a day for pushing hard. The usual olympic level of pre-ride faff was undertaken, putting bikes together, shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses etc etc. I had a major faff with the Garmin as I had managed to put it into auto multisport mode somehow, I pressed the buttons randomly for a while then it seemed to do what it was supposed to. After all that we were ready to ride, until I put my hands on the grips and realised that I hadn't put any gloves on, cue more faff while I found my short finger ones. Then we set off to do the Abbey Village loop in the usual direction.

The inital climb up through the woods was warm but not too bad due to the cover provided by the trees, which is now very dense indeed. We headed off along the fence track which was nice and dry (apart from the usual seepage bogs but even they were drier than usual) but the "log people" had been out in force again laying logs across the track, I'm assuming they want to make it difficult for bikers but it just adds to the technical challenge, one of the logs placed just before the first wooden bridge actually made it easier to get up onto it. We rode off to the steep bridleway which we managed to ride down with only one slowing down to pass a dog walker at the start of the cobbly section, which is a good place to pass people. The track across the field was fast and dry too then we were at the bottom of the climbs to the Tower. A couple of other bikers tried to encourage us up the steep climb but we declined for the longer climb as we still had a lot of miles to go and we would be riding into the breeze. It was a nice climb, made easier by the dryness of the trails and I didn't have any problems at all.

I flew along the top track to the Tower enjoying the fact I was on the Titus and it was letting me away with silly line choices, I normally ride the hardtail on these tracks. I built up some speed to attack the last short rocky section to the Tower, forgetting I wasn't on my hardtail, normally the rocks do a good job of scrubbing off the speed on the On-One but on the Titus I was still carrying loads of speed at the end of the section and nearly piled into the two lads we had spoken to earlier. Ed was caught out on his hardtail and went back to ride the section again then had a chat to the two lads, I enjoyed the view and took a picture of the Tower though it was the only time the camera came out on the ride.




We carried on the normal route round to the rutty track which was very fast and flowing due to being so dry, we popped back out onto the wide track but instead of climbing back up towards the tower we veered left and headed up to Darwen moor. There are two tracks across the top that I have run on several occasions, they do suffer from being wet and boggy but today they should be dry. We decided to go on the left track as that was the one I had run most recently so I knew what the conditions were like and there was also a group of mountain bikers heading along it already. It is quite a rutty track, vehicle tyre ruts so although it was dry still needed some concentration. I had warmed Ed there would be some unrideable stuff at the other end due to drainage ditches and so on. There were at least two wet feet moments as we had to get off and jump over bogs with the bikes, then a short ride to the end of the path. Our original intention had been to carry on down a descent which would drop us onto the Catherine Edge track, however the group in front of us headed off left over some more moorland track. A quick check of the map showed the track was part of the Witton Weavers Way (as would practically every other track seem to be) and headed to the A666 which was where we were headed anyway. The track started off as more grasy moorland path but then opened out into a very well surface track, much like Catherine Edge, basically all weather. We carried on down this quite quickly but then noticed that the other group were pushing their bikes up away from the track we were on. We carried on for a bit then had another map check, we could see the other group on a track, quickly descending, the track they were on dropped them down to the A666 but closer to the junction of Green Arms Road than we would be, a track that needs exploring on an evening. We arrived at the A666 then rode along, turning onto Green Arms Road. We road along here for about a mile and a half until we picked up the track I was looking for which would take us to the back of Turton Tower. It was another motorway wide track, not very challenging really but did have one fast lumpy downhill section that was fun. We rode past the Tower (probably, don't remember seeing it) and headed for Egerton. The tracks continued to be wide and easy going, this part of the ride was punctuated with lots of map checking which slows things down, but as it was so hot neither of us was bothered about hurrying, we also had a food break, the energy drink was working but my stomach felt empty and rumbly. Once through Egerton we had another few bits of motorway bridleway stuff then we got onto the road and started heading for Winter Hill.

The original plan was to pick up the access road to the masts and climb the hill that way, but as we were heading along the tarmac road to Holdens Farm we spotted a footpath that said "Winter Hill 2.25km", a quick check on the map showed that we could cut some of this road section out and it was another well surfaced track. We had planned to go back on the road but it looked more interesting to continue climbing on this track. It was worth riding it to find out whether it would be sensible to ride it in the wet or not. It was a fantastic track, one that needs to be ridden again as both a climb and a descent, I have also earmarked it for running. It would probably be not too bad in the winter too as the ground seemed pretty sandy and free draining. We climbed all the way to the masts then had to turn back a bit as they have a diversion in place whilst they upgrade the masts ready for digital in 2009. This diversion was very dry today but was obviously very prone to being wet and boggy normally. The diversion brought us to the top of the descent to Belmont.

It was quite an open track and it was possible to see a long way ahead on it. It had lots of water bars of varying heights, ruts, rocky sections and smoother grass sections. As I was on the Titus I set off first, as I had never ridden it before I was quite cautious going over the drops created by the water bars eroding. I couldn't see until I was on them what the trail was like at the foot of the drop but all apart from the largest one had good trail. As I was going over the largest one I noticed a large boulder at the foot that my front wheel was heading for so I had to loft the front a bit to get over it. The smoother sections really caused me to pick up speed that needed to be brought under control for the looser ruttier sections. After a while I could feel my quads burning, this was a long descent by local standards but all too soon it was over. I stopped and turned to look for Ed but no sign, after a while I was starting to get a bit worried (as I really didn't want to have to go back up there) when he rolled into view. He had stopped to put his saddle down as he was on his hardtail.

We dropped down to the A675 and decided to head back to Abbey Village, it was too hot to think about heading over to the Lead Mines and Healey Nab. We rolled into Belmont then headed off along Egerton road finally arriving at the steep bit of road climb that my legs always hate. At the start of the Catherine Edge track we stopped for a food break again. We had a bit of a headwind back towards Tockholes but it was just a slog back then the swoopy singletrack to the bottom of the loose climb, which seemed even looser today as I had a few wheelspinning moments, I hate what they have done to this track. That meant there was only the fast rocky descent left really, we set off down this past the "re-enacters" with their swords, tunics, shields and other historic paraphernalia (not what you expect to see in the woods on a hot sunny Sunday near Blackburn). This descent was quite interesting, surprisingly not too many people on it, but the dappled light made things a bit confusing. We decided to take the fence track back as it involved the lesser of the two potential climbs and annoyingly I managed to get caught out on one of the logs this time.

Then it was back to the car. Once I got home I dug the Camlebak out of my bag and found I only had about 250ml of water left, which I promply drank. I felt fine, not starving which I put down to the energy drink but I did have a few glasses of plain water. The taste of the Torq wasn't too bad really, it was sweet without being overpoweringly sickly and the Lemon Lime flavour gave it a nice tang. The electrolytes must have done something as normally after a long, hot ride I want salty food but I didn't have that craving this time.