No ride to work again today ... legs still feel weird ...
To make me feel better the nice postman brought me some new pedals to go on the on-one ...
;-)

Sundays ride .... Due to the rather wet weather of late we decided (well 4 of us) to ride Whites level at Glyncorrwg.
It was always going to be a challenge for my sub5 keeping up with three patriot 66's but I didn't realise my legs would re-enact their complete lack of power they showed last weekend at CYB.
Still enjoyed the ride ... the trails were great ... the DH run was so good we went back and did it again ... but my little legs just wouldn't push hard enough.
Guess I must have a bit of a virus thingy still ..... and ...... I could do with sleeping a bit more to recharge ...

So I drove to work again today :-0

Thursday nights commute was a little wet! ... And it was thunder & lightning... And the car headlights were shining on the rain droplets on my riding glasses, making visibilty a little less than zero......... And it was blowing a gale......... And the rain was so heavy it was forcing the water gathering in my lid down into my eyes making visibility even worse!.



I drove to work today ;-)

Yesterday was the last commute in shorts! (depending on the temp obviously)
Decided to ride in trousers after my dismal pedalling performance over the weekend ... just wondering if the cold affected my ageing legs!
This mornings commute was ok .... one thing about wearing trousers is that I don't need to clean off all the grime/roadkill from my legs on arrival at work :-)

Looked at the sub5 last night after the weekends trail blasting ........ I still haven't cleaned it but the chainring is still looking gold....

The commute into work was a little nippy on the knee caps .... still in shorts...

CYB was the venue for the fun filled weekend. First off the naming of a section of mbr for our good friend mark (glide) followed by a couple of runs to get in the mood. Big thanks to Tony the ranger...

8 of us then set off on the mbr which turned out to be a load of fun ... I had a wail of a time but seemed to have left my leg power-packs at home and even after a couple of nutrigrains I was still lacking in the power department. I also managed to lose the bike from under me while trying to be clever over some raised roots!! ... never mind though as I became a platform for another rider to easily negotiate them ;-)

On the last section I let a lapse in concentration persuade me that a rocky platform was a lip to jump off ......... it wasn't ......... and I ended up next to my bike again. No pain though, so all was well.

Next day the cli-machx trail was the destination. My legs were even worse than yesterday and every climb seemed the hardest I'd ever done ... Still enjoyed it though and the final descent was awesome. You don't really want to stack at speed on this one! The slab jumps n drops required loads of concentration, as some of the natural rock formations wanted to grab the front wheel and run off with your bike..... loved it .... could have had more singletrack but I'm not complaining as the final descent was worth it ...

It rained most of the weekend ... apart from when we were riding ..... cool ...

Looking forward to the next trip (I'll make sure the legs are working properly though)

A nice solo local blast which took in some jumpy bits that I had meant to do for a while.

The first 4 are ok but the 5th always needed more bottle from me as it's a jump and not a drop so a certain amount of technique is required! ... It's also one of those that looks far worse than it really is .. but that's why things are a challenge.

After numerous run ups and "what ifs", I decided it was well inside my skill level so I lined up and went for it ..... and landed .... properly .....

So for the next hour I had a bit of a play around using my new found skills.

There's an even bigger one on the following descent .......... next time! ;0)

A bit off topic with regards to mountainbiking but if you go up enough hills you can reward yourself with things like this ;0) -]<

Monday commute home .. into the woods .. lights on .. batteries run out ..
Tuesday commute home .. into the woods .. special singletrack .. less powerful lights .. sketchy slippy rooty ruts .. oops .. bramble bush in shorts!! .. 2nd run much better ;-)
Wednesday commute home .. just roads and cars and rain .. should really put the crud guard on the back .. but I know I wont ..

Sunday morning ...... The Wall at Afan .....
The fireroad climb had gone as some trail diversions sent us up some older trails. I enjoyed it and gained a few downhill credits (or at least repaid last nights ale consumption)
The trails were perfect, a few puddles but the main man-made sections were brilliant considering the amount of rain recently.
The final downhill blast was awesome ......... trying to keep up with a couple of my riding buddies on 66's required all of my concentration AND all of my singletrack skill (which is asking an awful lot) but I just about managed it and it took a good few hours to remove the silly grin which attached itself to my face ;-)

Friday Nov 3rd ... Left work at 5:15 ... Arrived home 7:15

Nice urban commute with a bit of car dodging then into the woods. Forgot how scary they are at night when you're on ya own!!! I managed to wake up about 1000 sleeping crows and got buzzed by an owl and a couple of annoyed buzzards .......
The lights were perfect (for me not the crows) got a bit lost on the secret singletrack but had to go back for more. Off to the coast for a ride by the sea then back for some more secret singletrack then home ...... A nice end to the working day.

A crisp commute again and under 5degrees C ........ still in shorts!

Lights are on ready for some serious urban commuting and dark woods fun on the way home and are on test for the "proper" night rides .....

The battery has a very "home made" look to it ......... cos it is .... but it overvolts the lights and makes them loads brighter than the stock battery. The bulb life drops from 2000 hours to 200 but I can live with that ;-)

Taking pictures of the moon on a nightride with a not-very-expensive camera doesn't always capture the true image.

It should show the moon lighting up the sea with bright coloured lights from small fishing vessels, lights from a lighthouse and a plane coming into land!

1st commute for a couple of days and the temp was 5 degrees outside! but nice and sunny.
Nicely layered on top but still in shorts ........... not sure for how much longer though.