Got home from work a little early but had to do the family thing and attend the wifes grandma's 88th birthday tea
After a few cakes etc. fancied a spin out on the bike, the wife declined as she had ironing to do so that left me to go play on my own
Got changed, got the bike out and set off, had a new Michelin Ct on the front that i wanted to try out as well.
Passed loads of other bikers along the way, was going really well and the new tyre felt quite planted even on the looser surfaces.
Managed to take a few snaps...Oh yeah its a push bike i went out on my 3rd ride since about 6 years ago
This was my first stop to catch my breath, these trees were bare sticks that had been stuck in the ground and tied at the top, in the 5 or 6 years since ive been here they're now live trees :
The Beast :
This bike used to my regular use bike back 5 or 6 years ago when i used to go out with a bunch of others, dug it out of the back of the shed about two months ago after giving up smoking, bought a new handlebar set up and stem, bit of oiling, new tyre on the front as the other had cracked from lack of use but the rear is fine.
Gears are still faultless and the frame is as light as the modern bikes which is a rarity, so its a keeper and now a project bike
My New front Michelin
Country
Trail Tyre
Anyhow, back to the ride.......
As i get further along the path i remembered the route from years ago which is all tarmac but fancied a change, so spied a gravel hill climb, this was marked up with a difficulty level indicator so knew it was for proper bikers so thought i'd give it a go too
This is the normal path :
Gets 3/4's of the way up and had to stop as i'd tried to get up there in 8th instead of 1st so needed a breather
Came up from here :
On my way puffing and panting up here :
then i got passed by two proper bikers all togged up like this just peddling up this fuck off hill like its flat :
yeah you know the type, they give themselves whiplash the speed they flick their nose up in the air as they pass me on they're spangly shiny suspensioned up bikes, peering through they're riding glasses at the peeling stickers on the frame, the mismatched wheels, rusty nuts and bolts in my hand where i'm adjusting my seat, old frayed brake cables and block brakes but i love 'er
Got to the top puffing and panting and amidst a cloud of vultures circling above waiting for me to keel over, no wait i meant midges that managed to keep up with me as i was going soo slow, buzzing all around me until i got on a straight section where i could let rip and lose them.
Now this flat bit i was on was all fine and dandy apart from the fact that i had to come back down again, found the log steps down and a rough gravel path to the side of it that had been used by aforementioned proper bikers no doubt.
After having just passed a couple walking their dog they were in full view of me stood there contemplating this treacherous path (ok so 5 years ago i'd have flown down it)
That was it i had to do it i had people watching, be a pussy or man up!
Started off slowly draggin the back brake, no suspension on the front so my vision started getting a little blurred at this point, 'oh shit my back brake's broken' nope that would be it being ineffective as i picked up speed on the loose surface that was getting rather steep and rough at this time as i bounced off rocks with my vision becoming more and more blurred to the point that i couldnt see a thing.
Eventually with a totally twitched out arse i got to the flat bit where i had to stop for a breather.
Trundled onward toward the pond, this pond is a natural reed bog thats been here for centuries, my old man found an old hand made clay smoking pipe in the mouth of one of the drain offs after some heavy rain a few years back and i have it to this day kept safe.
Seems someone has dumped some fish in there or as it was quite new the last time i was here they hadnt settled then, there were a few chunks of bread floating about that the fish were taking bites out of :
Ahh now i know what those bikers were staring at, must've been my lack of proper biking attire, pale legs from never seeing daylight and a cut on my leg where i'd dropped a bottle of gas on it in a cellar a few days ago
By now i was ready to turn back after so long in the saddle, ooh look a red ring, much like my arse was feeling at this point :
Set off for home, this aint no dead sheep mountain but there were still sheep :
(note the blurry picture as an indicator of how fast i was going, mustve been all of 10mph)
Eagerly awaiting the delivery of my new Cube Analog moutain bike in the next few weeks
