Tag Archives: mountain biking

What A July! Now What? #Jul100 #Aug100

By 6 commentsCycling Challenges, Rides, , , , ,

A Record-Breaking July (Almost)

OK, we didn’t break any records. Not really.  But, a couple of weeks ago I though we might do more miles in July than we’d done in June.  Bloody Hell!

The sun came out, we got our bikes out and we did some miles.  Boy, did we do some miles?!

As I write this on the first day of the #Aug100 there are 7,330 leisure (and turbo) miles on the spreadsheet, of 8,460 miles in total.  That’s more than any month except April, when the #30daysofbiking was in full swing.

What an awesome effort.  I’m humbled, and proud, and simply chuffed to be known to you all.  Superstars, you are.

New Members, Old Friends

During July, people like Lloyd at @cyclingnirvana and Craig at @fruitmeister have joined the fray, clocking up some serious mileage.  It’s great to have you along, guys! (If you want to say Hi, or if I’ve missed your name off, drop a comment below and make yourself known!)

Once again, Mental John Berry has topped the 1,000 miles for the month, winning whatever award I want to call it this month.  Let’s just call it the “Mental John Berry Award” from now on, shall we?  He’s a nutter.  He denies it, but he’s either lying or simply wrong.

Faithful friends like Matty, Jo Simcock and Chris Byrne have quietly pedalled away, chucking over 1,000 miles in between them.  You’re fantastic.

On a personal note, a modest 132 miles puts me in 26th place, but it’s 132 miles I know I wouldn’t have done without the peer pressure.  Month after month, I owe you all big thanks and probably a bunch of years on my life (but maybe off my knees) 🙂

Below you should see a graph of the current status.  Feel free to copy & paste to your own blogs or wherever you like.  Get some more people to join, why don’t you?  That’d be lovely!

Here’s a link to the spreadsheet, have a look!

Owd Betts For A Cuppa

By 2 commentsCycling Challenges, Photography, Rides, , ,

On Saturday, I had a couple of hours out in the sunshine on the Fat Boy, and a very pleasant couple of hours they were.

Getting across Rochdale was the least fun part, dragging through urban roads before the pull up from Spotland Bridge towards Norden.  Once climbing Owd Betts though, thoughts turned to stamina and gorgeous views.

I did stop for a rest on the way up, though.  It’s a steep old pull!  Nevertheless, I was pleased with myself after 7 miles to be enjoying a cuppa from the Granelli’s burger van opposite Owd Betts pub, gazing over Ashworth Moor Reservoir one way and up towards Knowl Hill the other.  After a brief chat with a bloke who was testing his new 250cc CBR on a nice afternoon run out (he’d got rid of a Ducati for it), I headed back home, but not before the fun and swooping descent of Ashworth Road.

My knees complained a bit afterwards, but I didn’t!

Oh yeah, the ride also pushed me over the 100 miles for the month.  That’s #Jul100 done! Hurrah 🙂

Reason To Ride

By Cycling Challenges, Diabetes, Rides, , ,

Why Ride? One Reason Of Many.

I haven’t posted anything about the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride until now. It was a great day out and, thanks to the generosity of lots of wonderful people, I’ve raised £370 to date for Springhill Hospice.

As the two weeks between then and now have passed, though, a few things have reminded me about one of the reasons I do the ride, and why I’ll try to raise the £500 each year while I can.

Around me, ordinary people are living ordinary lives, coping with extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary to them, but ordinary in the grand scheme of things. Cancer is an all-too common cause of death.

Most of us will live our lives without being seriously troubled by infection, contagious disease, accident or any of the things that killed the generations that came before us. Conditions which killed people in years gone by are now managed by drugs, without serious complications if you take the drugs and the advice correctly – my diabetes is an excellent example of a condition which is managed now, but which 100 years ago I wouldn’t have been able to write about 20 years after my diagnosis.

For the people whose lives are shortened, I’m raising the money to help make their twighlight weeks more bearable. Not just the people who are leaving us, but the people who love them, too.

It’s this reason that sometimes gets me out on the bike; that gets me forgetting my shyness and asking you for money. I’m not precious about it: money’s tight and I don’t blame anyone who doesn’t contribute. I know that most people contribute elsewhere: I’m not special. But it’s heartening to think that something I do on a lovely day out on the bike is helping people at their most extraordinary time.

You can see the route on my DailyMile page if you click this link.

It was a bloody great day out on the bike though.  Let’s not forget that!

Happy Days! A Slow and Smiling Weekend Ride.

By Cycling Challenges, Photography, Rides, ,

Before the rain came to stay, I took a couple of hours to make a slow offroad trip onto the moors and (to quote a friend) stop to smell the roses a few times.

There weren’t actually any roses, but there were a few lovely views.

Up and Under The M62

I set out on a loop through Milnrow, up across the M62 past Tunshill Golf Club.  I’ve cycled down this hill before, but never up it.  Now I know why!  Running out of gears, stamina and talent, I hike-a-biked most of the way to the top of the hill before things got easier.

The sunshine and clouds were lovely and two layers were all that were needed.  Perfect weather for a lone mountain biking trek.

Once the up was out of the way, the excellent trails on the moors so close to Rochdale, Milnrow, Newhey and Littleborough were fantastic.  A long, steady, mostly downhill undulating ribbon of fun unravelled in front of me, with my grin expanding as it did so.

Needless to say, I found a few minutes to stop halfway round Hollingworth Lake for a cup of tea and an apricot Danish, before a quick dash down to the canalside and the last couple of miles back home.

Happy Days 🙂

Now, let’s hope this rain doesn’t stay too long, eh?

Where Are You On The #Cycling Venn Diagram?

By 18 commentsTat, ,

You Can’t Beat A Good Venn Diagram About Cycling

… and this is nothing like a good Venn diagram.  It about cycling though. One out of two ain’t bad (to quote Meat Loaf on a forgetful day).

What Type Of Cyclist Are You?

What Type Of Cyclist Are You?

This Explains Everything!

  • Some MTB riders are also roadies (but not many)
  • Many bad and/or inexperienced riders own MTBs (because they’re accessible, can be cheap and easy to sit on)
  • If you have a roadie, the chances of you being a good cyclist are higher, but it’s not guaranteed
  • MTBs transcend all abilities. Some MTB riders are hopeless; some are genius

It also offers a few theories about why roadies view MTBs with such disdain (some of them do, don’t try to deny it).

The MTB fraternity includes everyone from the “bought a bike from Halfords, ride it on 2 sunny days a year” to “got a Ti boutique model imported from the USA for £7,000 and ride it, or one of its stablemates every other day“.  The roadie group is smaller and better at riding, to make a gross generalisation.

I’m in Marketing, gross generalisations is what I do.  Otherwise I’d never promote anything cost-effectively.

So:

On the basis that people are basically lazy and presumptuous, all MTB riders often get tarred with the same brush by the smaller, more elite, roadie community.

By the way, I see myself as a good MTB rider, towards the bottom left of the “good riders” ellipse, just within the “MTB” one.  Where are you?

Discuss…. 😉

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