Wafty Crankers

Went for a ride in the Vale on Sunday morning and the sun came out, fantastic! The canal path was fine as were any trails that had some kind of hardcore in them but the Viking Way above and the section of trail below Longmore Bridge were just an un-rideable, rutted quagmire. (An early Christmas gift from the 'crossers who illegally ride around the vale ruining the trails for just about everyone.)

I hope to be getting out for more rides over the next week or so as I have some time off work.

Went out for a local night ride with Phil last night. Almost T-shirt weather! It felt like it must have been about 12 celsius as we even sat outside at the pub to have a drink. New bike continues to perform well and my Lupine Edison 5 worked like a charm. The spread and depth of light is fantastic for riding offroad. The Viking Way was still a little slippery but nowhere near as bad as it was on Sunday. Regardless of this I very nearly stacked it near the bottom of the hill.

Looking forward to riding this weekend with Mark at Sherwood Pines. 

Got a couple of rides in this weekend: Saturday was sunny with dry trails but with a cold wind. Sunday was wet (but brightened up later) and the trails had becomes unbelievably slippery as the clay got just moist enough. Nearly stacked coming down the steep part of the Viking Way due to losing traction on my front wheel and nearly getting overtaken by the rear wheel. 

The new bike (Giant Reign X) is performing better than I had expected. A little on the heavy side for a traditionally useful trail bike (but then so am I!) It pedals extremely well though and I am a big strong lad so not too bothered about that. On the downhill sections it comes into it's own though; stable, way too confidence inspiring, plush, bottomless feeling travel and goes like stink. I love it. As Ferris Bueller once said, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Finally got my Lupine Edison 5 back. The UK distributors are not the fastest at turning around repairs. It needed a new bulb (100 quid!) so hopefully it should last me a year or so. Now I have my light back it is time to get some serious night riding in. I am riding with Phil on Tuesday night and Karl on Thursday night so hopefully getting my money's worth from the Edison purchase.

We came first in the teams of three at Dusk Til Dawn. (If you read the results in reverse order.)

I think we learned a lot about Dusk Til Dawn and now have the nesessary knowledge to improve for next year. The main thing is that Karl, Mark and myself enjoyed it immensely. Hopefully we can get Phil to join us next year as it seems it would be much better as a team of four.

Karl has some photos which he has yet to send me. I will put them on the site as soon as he does.

Not long now to D2D. We are now down to a confirmed team of 3 - Me, Karl and Mark.

After buying a Lupine Edison 5 for this event the bulb has blown on it's inaugural ride last night and so it has to go back to Lupine for repair. Oh well. Luckily Mark has also bought one so we will be sharing his lamp unit and using our own batteries. Not really a problem in a relay event!

If the weather stays anything like it is at the moment then everybody will be very happy (if a little warm!). It is a good job I am not superstitious or I would probably have just doomed the event weather by making my previous observation.

Tom has manflu(tm) and has laid out just about every possible excuse on his stall as to why he will not get a good place riding Solo. He also reckons that if he didn't have manflu(tm) he would win by at least 5 laps. Let's see what happens shall we?

More updates as the situation develops.

Well, only a few weeks to go. I think it is safe to say that we are all out of shape (apart from Phil maybe who will return as a bronze Adonis from Turkey no doubt). I think we are all looking forward to it and are currently eyeing up new pieces of kit to make the whole event more enjoyable. Everything from new lights to new forks (for me at least!)

Karl, Mark and I went for a local ride last night out in the Vale. The weather was superb, if a little chilly, with bone dry dusty trails.

In a funny kind of way we are looking forward to our winter night rides; a quick dash out into the vale followed by a couple of beers in the Dirty Duck to warm us up and then a mad dash back home before hypothermia sets in.

Phil is still out in Turkey but I reckon he missed a top ride last night. (Although he would probably argue that diving in warm Mediterranean waters is a better option at this time of year.)

We had a superb trip to Dalby Forest yesterday. We rode some of the red and black routes there and had a lot of fun with only Phil not managing to keep it rubber-side-down for the entire ride and having a low speed off. The trails there are truely excellent and in some parts very challenging. I can't wait to go back as it is a huge trail centre with plenty left to explore.

Some movie and photos were taken by Karl and will get them posted on here as soon as I get chance.

Went for a local ride yesterday with Phil. Trails are alsmost dusty again (a few small puddles and patches of mud in places). It was a fun ride with a couple of beers at the Dirty Duck. Turned very cool as the sun set though so must remember to take a long sleeved top for the ride back. I must also remember to take the camera with me so I can get some more photos to post on here.

Hopefully I will get out for a ride today as well. May be a trip over to Sherwood Pines with the kids.