sunday 29th

Bikes ok now after a new rear mech - 9 spokes - mech hanger - chain ;-)

8 of us for todays ride

3 hours of singletrack/jumpy/droppy ... steep descents and steep climbs ....... what more can you say.

The weather was ace (apart from the dust in my contact lens)

Didn't want to go back to the car ........ but I'll be back for more soon .......

The commuting weather has been pretty good lately ........

Many urban runs ...... it's been hard getting home on time with the weather as good as this ...

Tried a few different routes just to add interest ..... still can't get home on time ......

Been having a good droppy/jumpy session in the hospital ........ at least if anything goes wrong I'm in the right place .... All the doctors/nurses/surgeons pop out for a quick ciggie in the bus stop so I'm not too far from help ...

April 22nd ............

nice local ride ...... the trails are dry ....... everythings going well ....... the rear mech looks different.......... don't know why ............ after an hour it decided to creep into the spokes and snap in two which locked the rear wheel solid!

I tried to stay onboard but twas not to be ;-)

All was ok though ... apart from the bike.

Managed to get the back wheel back on for a push and freewheel back to the car....

First time I've been home early on a Sunday for ages!!! ;-)

Loads of commutes and rides of late ............






The weather's been perfect for riding if not farmers!











Found some new ways to get to work which includes a nice little trail through some woods and a cycle path along the river. Still close to main roads but far enough away to be pleasant.....

weekend rides have been bl**dy ace. have been riding the same stuff for a while but doing a bit more stuff each time, sessioning different sections etc ..... making the most of the weather ...












A bit of singletrack here, a bit of jumpy/droppy stuff there ... all good fun and I've almost forgotten what muddy trails feel like (won't be for long though as the weather man has forecast a bit of the wet stuff )

The sub5 is over 4 years old and has had a fair amount of off road abuse, but has fared well with only the usual expected items being replaced (this doesn't include bars, stems pedals etc which have all been changed for a different bike set up).

The swing arm pivot bearings were replaced over 2 years ago and the time has come again. The back end has become a little wobbly recently. As the bearings only have to rotate a small amount, they tend to wear in one spot due to the small arc of movement (if that makes sense)

It was a nice sunny day so the bike came outside and with the help of a couple of allen keys, a rubber mallet, some gt85 and copper slip ..... not forgetting 2 cups of tea ... the maintenance was complete in what seemed a few minutes without a rude word uttered (unlike the first time I did them ;-)

Time to test the pivot on some nice trails methinks ......................

Thursday's commute home was in glorious sunshine only slightly spoiled by a puncture!

The usual urban assault commute was mildly hampered by a constant squealing of the rear brake which messed about with my concentration, but after a few wall drops and pedal wheelies on and off things I felt a lot better ;-)

A nice hour and a half ride home ..... far more pleasurable than being stuck in the car..............

couple of days off so after a bit of tyre pumping up, had a nice chilled 2-1/2 hour ride with my daughter.

She hasn't been out for a while but was ace ............ I also managed a few jumpy bits to keep my hand in ............... and we saw some ducks ..

Next day had a 1-1/2 hour urban play fest which included "bus stop wall" riding along/jumping off .......... cornering practice (cornering isn't my forte) ........ jump practice and wheely drops ....... and other general malarky ... all within a mile of my house ;)

Sunday 1st April ............

The weather is nice and crisp plus it hasn't rained for a while ......
Decided on the same loop as last week, plenty of time to session some of the jumps plus a decent leg workout joining it all up.

Had a good half hour with the full face on to see how warm it was....... warm but not as warm as I'd expected .... which was a nice feeling ........

3 hours of clean mtb fun ;-)

couple of commutes in the week both including a visit to the local bmx track (or pump track for mtbs as I've been told)
The track is great fun for learning how to use your (ones) body to move the bike along without pedalling. It's also bl**dy hard work and a good workout. I can't really manual but was able to manual roll a couple of small doubles which is a neat feeling when you get it right ;-)

I enjoyed myself so much that Fridays commute took 2 hours!