Cannock Chase

This weekend I went to Cannock to try out the new extension to the "Follow the Dog" route. Not bad. Some nice hills and some very fast track. I am not sure about all of the rock gardens that have suddenly sprung up. However, the Werewolf run is quite fun. Lots of undulating banks. Another thing that they have put in is high banked burms, so tha you can wall of death your way around the trail.

It is a matter of course that I went over the bars twice, but that is what trail centres are about. Unfortunately, I managed to get a couple of scrateches on my new bike. Boo. But it had to happen some time. A bit of model enamel paint and it should be as good as new. I do, however, need to work on my hills and speed. I am still too slow. But overall an enjoyable day.

One interesting thing. I lost my phone while out on the trail. Quite a nice touchscreen. Martyn and Steve rode back over the trails to see if we could find it, but no luck. When I got home, somebody in Coventry had phoned to say that they had found it. Picked it up an hour later. Aren't we mountain bikers a nice bunch?

So overall, I would rate the Chase, other than a few rock reatures. Some people, including the guy who found my phone, struggled with it, but other than that it was worth the petrol. Try it.

http://www.chasetrails.co.uk/xc.php

Luck

Tattoo

My wife and I have been watching programs like Miami Ink for some time. Her Grandmother recently died and one of the things that she wanted to get with the inheratence was a tattoo. This is a good way to remember somebody. It doesn't have to be a memorial tattoo or even that persons favourate thing. It just needs to be something that will help you remember the person by. She chose a water dragon.

After months of searching she eventually found the artist who would do her tattoo. The art form has moved on from dancing girl outlines and ships anchors. Now you can get all sorts of art drawn directly onto your skin. These are graphic artists. You can get portraits, cartoons, lettering or abstract designs.

However, if you hire a traditional artist to paint you a picture, if you don't like it you don't have to buy it or if you grow to dislike it, you can take it off of your wall. With tattoos it is different. Once on it is on. So find your artist with care. Look at his work. Look at the stencil. You can cancel at any time. One artist sent a couple to stencils via e-mail. They were not what she wanted.

She found the artist that would give her a one off tattoo, not a picture from a book, but an original designed Japanese water dragon, in the colours that she wants, in the style that she wanted. This meant that, in order to get what she wanted, it would cost a fair amount of money and a trip to London for the day.

Today she got the outline done and the first colour, green. She will go back for a second 2 hr sitting to get it finished. The artist is also thinking of adding flowers. She is very happy with the artwork. The only drawback is that it hurt like hell, but she got cuedos for not screaming, crying, or changing her mind. Anyway, I have posted some of the photos of her back. I is slightly bigger than she thought, but still loves it.

Alex

I Picked Up the New Bike

A production of epic proportions, years in the making, I have finally picked up my new bike. Well, when I say years, I probably only mean November of last year. However, it felt like years.

The saga started some months again when I came into some money which, due to legal reasons, would take some time to get to me. That said, I started bike hunting straight away. This involved looking in magazines and talking to other riders, notably club members. I eventually arranged a test ride day at Grapham water. For the cost of a single rental bike I arranged a fleet of five bikes to try out. There were prose and cons to each of the bikes that I rode, but the one that gave me a real grin factor was the Anthem X2. So when the money arrived in May and after some hagling on extras, the order was placed with Pitsford cycles.

I dare say that, using Podium Points from an online supplier I could have gotten more googars, but Pitsford is my local bike shop. I know the mechanics and trust them to set up the bike. I get two free services and I still get some extras. I was not disapointed. The only downside was a wait of upto 8 weeks. Great bike, worth the wait. However, I only had to wait for three.

Before picking up the bike I went around to the local DIY store and picked up some pipe cladding. My worry was that the metal of my bike rack would damage the frame and so, gaff tape and craft knife in hand, I set to the pipe cladding and attached it to the bike rack so that at no point would metal grate or bash against metal.

I then went to pick up the bike. I had my daughter for the day, so decided that, rather than just picking up the bike, we would take it for a quick lap of the reserviour with my daughter on her bike. I arrived at Pitsford an got my goodies. They then gave me a comprehensive lesson on how to set up the air shock and forks, as well as the brake adjustment etc. We then set off around the lake to break in my steed.

One of the things about the Anthem is that it is a fast bike. Normally, I could just peddle slower than normal to ride with my daughter. However, the Anthem was having none of it. It wanted to be off racing the lower life forms and shredding single track. I had to dump a lot of gears in order to ride at Hana's speed, but we had a pleasant ride, complete with ice cream and Jelly Babies.

I am going on a Dads ride at Stanwick tommorow, so the Anthem is going to be a bit of an overkill. But who cares. I am looking forward to my ride with James on Tuesday, but I am really looking forward to Wednesdays club ride, when I am going to make some of the faster riders eat my dust. (Evil laugh time.)

For the moment the bike is safely in the kitchen, put away for the night. I had to take a kitchen photo anyway, since it is an MBR tradition. So here you are MBR forum, the White Goods Shot.

Luck

Marin Rough Ride

This weekend saw me taking part in the marin Rough Ride. The clue is in the name. It is a rough ride sponsored by Marin:

http://www.roughride.co.uk/

The distances do not seem too much, since it is only a 45k or 75k on the long (That means 50 miles max). However, it also encompases 7000 ft of climbs. It started at 10 and I finished six hours later. There were great downhill bits, moorland on top of big hills, evil descents, epic climbs, impossible climbs and awsome schenery.

Throughout this ride was well organised. Direction arrows on the course made it impossible to get lost. A good spattering of marshals telling you how far to go, or manning food and water stations. The Territorial Army was also helping out with logistics. There was also the mountain rescue and paramedics on schene. In short it was well organised. There were also photographers snapping at various points throughout the course (hopefully taking pictures of my heroic bits, rather than the ignominius parts where I am pushing up a massive climb). I mean, two miles of 10% climbs, with gravel and roots?

However, at the end of it, when you come around the final corner, cold and wet, running on the last of your researves and you see the tents and the marshals and the finish line, it is the best feeling in the world. The cheap T shirt is equivelent to Olympic Gold, the veggie stew and bread (Or Black pudding stew which I would have tried if it was ready) was the best food in the world, along with the chocky cake and coffe and I now display the rough ride sticker in my car window with pride.

Might try Hell of the North next year. Oh yeah. This is why I love biking.

Luck

Why I ride

I have just posted on another blog about an article related to cyclists who were killed by car drivers. Not one, but two or three at once. I find that my answer has caused an emotion in me that is close to meloncholy and so, in order to cheer myself up and to explain why I cycle, I thought I would put down on paper, or screen, why I ride my bike and what I get from cycling. I first wrote this down as a post on Yahoo Answers, but it still encompasses what I do and why I do it:

My muscles burn as I fight to keep the front wheel in control as I slowly power up the hill. It is not easy, since this is no road or even track, but a field boudary that is grassy and uneven. I am standing up in the saddle, resulute in my determination to stay out of the granny ring. It is a struggle and sweat pours down my face in the warm evening heat. But eventually, with the last of my strength seeming to have been sapped from my legs I start to rise over the top and the peddling gets easier. I reamain standing, just to get clear of the top before finally stopping at the summit.

Below me, the fields take on darker hues as the sun becomes an orange ball on the horizon and I take this opportunity to take in the gentle slopes of the valley below me. Contmplatively, I munch Jelly Babies as my breathing returns to normal and I take a long gulp from my hydration pack before examining the map that I have bought with me.

I have never been to this place before. I am exploring possible routes for a run that I am organising for my club. There may be twenty or more riders on my run and I must ensure that, as well as hard climbs, there is an element of fun. I compare the map to the vista before me and decide upon my route.

Replacing the map in my back pocket I start to peddle, quickly shifting into the top gear powering down the bumpy, grassy hill. However, after only a few seconds I no longer need to peddle as gravity takes hold and I am propelled downwards, at high speed as my bike jumps over bumps and the rear wheel jerks beneath me as I stand clear of the saddle and pull myself backwards, abandoning all caution as I commit myself to the descent.

Shortly and all too quickly, the ground levels out and I whoop for joy as I fly past startled walkers and cannon into the woodland that was only an outline on the map. Reluctantly, I tab the brakes as I skip and bounce over roots, bringing the bike back to a more managable speed, pitting my whits and skill against this new, unpredictable terrain.

Quickly and again, all too soon, this new thrill is over and I am catapulted out onto a quiet, paved track and I start to power up the slope as I look forward to the next challenge.

Luck

The Times

The Times has been doing the rounds on the cycling forums this week, following their TV advert offering 30% off of bikes with Evans cycles. So I bought the Times on Saturday. There is a lot of junk in the paper, with various lifestyle sections and general blurb. However, there was a nice little booklet on cycling, and there was the Evans voucher. My heart sank when I read the "On selected bikes" bit, but I went along to Evans for a look.

Most of the bikes are on 30% for a reason, they can's sell them. However, I was quite interested in the Lapierre X Control 310, knocked down from £1800 to £1300. Tempting, but the only fault I can find is that it has a home brand rear shock. Otherwise, well kitted bike.

Anyway, I am looking at this bike and giving it serious consideration. There will be a different selection on Monday, so I will see what takes my fancy.

Anyway, I decide to read the other blurb and come across a few interesting articles. The first shows the best places to cycle in the UK:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/holiday_type/active/article7125801.ece

Some of my local runs are on there, including Pitsford Cycles and the Brampton Valley Way, as well as Rutland Water. Easy runs, but fun for the family.

The other thing that I found interesting is the new craze for retro style clothing on bikes. Apparently, there is a craze to dress like a 1920s cyclist, complete with woolly jersey leather cycling shoes and tweed knee lengths. Some people go for the complete tweed look and have a three piece suite. It is not just the blokes. Many women are now dressing for style and riding vintage bikes, you know, the sort of things that Mary Poppins would have felt at home on, complete with wicker basket and long skirt. Rather than sports drinks, a Thermos of tea can be found in the bottle cage. They even have clubs:

http://www.tweed.cc/

http://www.londonsinglespeed.org.uk/the-tweed-cycling-club

These are not people who are speed merchants. They amble from tea house to work, with a sandwich stop on the way. For the complete retro cyclist, rather than a Parshley or old Peugeot, you can even get penny farthings (Not the massive ones, but with modest four foot wheels).

Anyway, it appears that they also have large outings called Tweed Runs. Although they have only done runs in London, with respectable turn outs of 400 or so, they are planning runs for San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Durango, Colorado.

It should be interesting to see what happens.

Luck

New Bike

I have been drooling over a new bike for ages and I am within a hairs breadth of getting it. I have been looking for about 4 or so months and I am nearly ready to part with the cash. Bike buying is a very drawn out event, but it needs to be. I am going to spend a fortune of this beasty. I am going to spend many hours in the saddle and I want it to do lots of specific things for my riding.

I have just been onto Yahoo Answers again. There are questions like, what size bike should I buy or is this the right bike for me? How should I know? I can tell you how to size the bike and a bit about set up, but as for knowing if this is the bike you should be riding?

It is a sad fact that many people buy bikes without actually thinking about it or finding out a bit about the model or style. If they are buying a car or a motorcycle, then there will be a fair amount of discussion, looking through magazines, talking to freinds and test drives. But a bike is just something you sling your leg over and turn the crank on.

There is a thread on MBR going on at the moment about a commuter bike that one of the readers found chained up outside an office. By the amount of rust on the chain and gears, this has been left outside and not ridden much. The concern was that this was £1000 worth of Specialized hardtail mountain bike. The problem is that it has no chance of getting anywhere near XC. But this is what people do. It is the equivelent of the Chelsea Tractor. A 4x4 driven by people in afluent London addresses who will never take it off road. This mountain bike is the same, an expensive fashion statement that will never be ridden properly.

The other day a colleage was sharing her thoughts on buying bikes for the unemployed so that they could commute to work without having to rely on the bus. She seemed quite pleased that she was contemplating spending a lot, in order to get a good quality bike for them £100. I didn't tell her how much I will be spending on mine.

The point is that, when I was looking at my next bike, I put a lot of thought into it. What sort of riding do I want to do? What do I want the bike to be able to do? How much is weight, travel an issue?

To answer these questions I poured through magazines, talked to all of my local bike shops and then arranged a test day, where I could just turn up and ride several bikes (5). I then went away and reflected on the ride, read some more reviews and looked at the spec sheets, but by that stage I already knew. The bike that I would be spending the next few thousand miles getting aquainted with and exploreing it's finer points, was the Giant Anthem X2.

But I suppose that, although I put a lot of work into my choice of bike, people still order bikes from supermarkets without even sitting on them. They spend a fortune of a machine that is just going to spend it's life left in the garden or chained up at work, half a mile away. What a waste.

Oh well, rant over.

Luck