10 miles offroad
I nipped out last night for a quick zip around the HTN course on the singlespeed. Everywhere seems to be dry and fast at the moment – let’s hope this lasts for a bit. I was hurting a bit on the way home though – Sunday’s ride and the run on Saturday had taken their toll. I’ll be taking it easy this week in preparation for the 12 mile cross country race on Sunday.
37 miles offroad
I left the house later than I should have on Sunday to meet Simon and Dave for a “local” ride. Even though it’s a ride on the local hill I still had over 10 miles to ride to get to the meeting place at Peel Tower. The poor lads had been waiting for an hour! Oops.
We set off on familiar trails, Robin Hood’s Well (now a high speed descent rather than a technical slow-speed rock fest), Irwell Vale and over to Edenfield. At that point, it all got a bit mysterious. Even though I thought I knew the whole area, Simon was leading me to trails I never knew existed. Highlights included a mad trail through a disused quarry that reminded me in parts of the trail at Innerleithen – laugh-out-loud Big Dipper-style mounds of earth with a distinct trail linking them all together, the odd burnt out car here and there for a splash of colour. Ace. What’s more, the weather at the moment is fantastic – sunny but cold and no wind at all.
Simon was taking the photos, leaving me with no other option but to (try to) look cool….
30 (offroad, mostly) miles
A lovely clear, windless night last night. Good job really, cos I had a ride planned. Quite a straightforward one this; an out-and-back following the bridleway towards Rochdale, along the road for a few miles then up Rooley Moor Road onto the moors. Once at the summit, turn around and ride back. Near the top I could see the new wind farm and once I’d stopped I could see several lights, torches and car headlights, all appearing on the moor. Presumably security and night-watchmen wondering who the hell is on RMR at 11pm. I decided to send Deb a text as it was getting late, then my mobile battery went. Doh. Oh well, hopefully she won’t try to ring me (and get really panicky) and hopefully I won’t crash on the way back down…..
Got back really late and downed a pint of chocolate milk. I’ve got to get back into midweek long rides – I’m not leaving the house these days until the girls are in bed and that means I’ve only been riding for 2 hours at the most…and I need the long rides. I think I’m really going to feel battered after the Gran Canaria enduro. I’ve not ridden 100k since last summer and whilst I’ve stayed on top of the fitness, a ride like that is probably going to come as a bit of a shock.
Hit The North entries are coming in and we’ve got a fairly large soloist category developing. There are a couple of guys who are entered who will be fighting over the win I reckon. We’ve also been approached by The North Face who I was talking to yesterday about sponsorship. They’re going to give us a load of prizes such as clothing, vouchers for the Manchester Ice Climbing Wall and hydration packs. In return they get some publicity and get to hang banners around the course. One thing that this race has got is an abundance of great sponsors.
News items have started to appear on cycling websites and the race is included on a number of independent race calendars. The traffic on the HTN website increased tenfold a couple of days ago (compared to the previous day), so at the moment we’re well pleased and optimistic that we’ll sell out, have a great time and donate loads.
30 miles
Road ride last night, up the Ashworth Valley climb, past Owd Betts and down into Edenfield. It was dry-ish last night but cold and REALLY windy. At a junction I hit a patch of ice or oil or something equally slippery and the back wheel just let go. Down I went, sliding along my arse on the tarmac. Luckily, the car next to me stopped because the driver was checking I was ok, rather than because she’d just run over my head.
No big damage to clothing apart from a big hole through one of my overshoes, a big bruise and some raw flesh on my bum , I had to put my front mudguard on at the side of the road and I’ve lost yet more bar tape. Thankfully I didn’t crash a minute or so earlier when I was tanking it at 35 mph+ down into Edenfield.
It was a good ride despite the crash. I made it to the top of Ashy Valley quicker than I’ve done before so something’s doing me good. I had planned a road century in the Peaks on Sunday but the much-hyped incoming snow might put paid to that plan.
20 miles
A proper brutal climb-fest of a ride last night. Only 20 miles or so, but an out and back that basically starts to go uphill from our back door and heads up towards Birtle, following the bridleway.
I was determined to ride all the way to the top despite choosing to ride The Tank Bike with its 36:16 gear ratio. Mud tyres didn’t help either. Limited time = big pain.
Jase 