Half term adventure

Half term - yes i did it, i took Luca to his 1st ever uplift day. And it was well worth it ! 

I was kind of looking forward to doing this but also apprehensive about it being a waste of time, i wont be able to ride properly as i have my son with me and also would Luca be in one of his moods where he is scared of everything and wont ride the trails. 

Well he proved me wrong, what an ace couple of days we had.

I picked him up Wednesday night from his mums, armed with just his Nintendo switch for the journey and a smile on his face we headed to my house to start packing. With everything ready i said he needed an early night as we would need to have breakfast then hit the road for the 4hr journey. Long way for me to go to not ride my bike properly but this was a good opertunity to do something selfless, i do feel sometimes i drag Luca out to do something i want to do but this was all his idea and all about him. 

8am and breakfast eaten we put the bikes in the van and headed off, traffic wasnt too bad and after a stop at the services and mc Donald’s for lunch (diet out the window on this trip already haha) 

We soon arrived at Bike Park Wales just after dinner time, went in to get some uplift tickets and our passes for the afternoon and got changed, down the uplift trail we went and Luca was soon asking me to push his bike up to the uplift .... 🙈 here we go with the moaning i thought, but he is only 7 years old and his kona stinky 24” probably weighs the same as my Santa Cruz. Straight onto a bus with no waiting the driver moved the pin on the end bike slot and Luca’s bike fitted nicely, put my bike on and off we went. 

Luca was amazed with the view and the journey up, helmets on as we reached the top we grabbed our bikes and headed for the trail. First up i thought sixtapod was the best one to start on, Luca was a bit confused as the start is flat and he had to pedal. He didnt come to pedal haha but soon started to enjoy himself when it went downhill. 

Straight off i was pleased with his speed and attacking the trail and could see he was in a good mindset and enjoying himself, 1 stop half way we reached the fire road and headed down willie waver and back to the uplift. 

Back up for run no 2 we went onto melted wellie, started off well but then there is a small uphill. We jumped onto the fire road and walked up to were boniville is. The sky went dark and a snow storm came over us, we headed into bonniville to get some tree cover. Luca did not like this trail, far too much peddaling and he said sixtapod was much more fun. 

Bikes washed off we packed them into the van and went to the b&b twin trails, gave the bikes a proper clean and lube we had a shower and got changed to get the train into Merthyr for some food.

We went to my fave place for food in Merthyr “wood fired” i of course ordered the Merthyr monster burger and Luca had Chicken and chips. He didnt like the look of the chips as they looked burnt but after trying one he loved them, i think they call it double cooked chips. With a garlic bread and cheese we were both stuffed and i enjoyed a nice cold beer. Diet well and truly out the window now haha, oh well its a treat day. 

As we headed back to the train station the train was in so we ran up the steps and round the bridge to get onto the train and then sat in the station for 10 minutes, typical 😄. Back at the B&B we watched Ace Ventura on the iPad in bed and got an early night, big day tomorrow ! 

Friday we had our cooked breakfast and a chat with the lady at Twin Trails before packing the van up again for our full day at BPW. 

Day 2 back on the uplift we hit Sixtapod again into willie waver to warm up, Luca said “can we not do the pedal one again please dad” so on run 2 we went over to popty ping. At the start of popty ping it looked like terry’s belly was re opened (was closed Thursday the day before) so we went down popty ping to start. He came off his pedals after the first of the 3 small drops (prob quite big to a 7 year old though) and it looked as though we were about to have our first crash but he composed himself as i was shouting get back on your pedals he did and even popped off the last drop and landed on 2 wheels. Good lad very proud dad following him down the jump line he even took off on a couple and landed on the top of the table tops.

As we got the end of popty ping there was no sign of terrys belly being closed so we headed down. After a break half way Luca was amazed at how long this trail was. He wasnt so amazed at the end when he had to pedal and then walk back up, yes time for daddy to push his bike back up to the van ! 

At the van we had snacks and a drink break and grabbed the go pro.

On the way back up we agreed to do a run of sixtapod then stop at the fire road so dad could walk up and do the bottom half of A470 line. Go pro on we hit sixtapod again and Luca was flying, into the woods he even got some great air off one of the step down jumps. At the fire road i showed him the black run drop ins to show him how much bigger they are, there was a guy eyeing up coal not coal double drop and we got chatting, he just done die hard but was unsure about this double drop so i did it to show him you dont need much speed. He then hit it perfectly and carried on down that trail. We walked up the fire road and i said to Luca you can wait here while i walk up and do these jumps you can see me and i can see you. 

He said “can i do it dad ?” I said yes sure if you want they are all rollable.

Good effort considering the jumps are twice as tall as he is ! Daddy’s go but i slightly cased the first one so lost my speed and didnt clear them all 😩 i didnt make Luca wait while i went back up i thought we can go do popty ping again and i will have a run on my own. 

Video of sixtapod into willie waver .......

We decided that run no 4 was the last run of the day as Luca was getting tired and hungry and we also had a 4hr journey home. 

Over at the entrance to popty ping Luca sat down and had some snacks while i did a run of popty ping on my own and stopped at the cut off and came back up the fire road to him. He saved me 2 mini eggs 😄 

So terrys belly open we headed down........

Luca was absolutely spent at the bottom but he did ride up to the car park and i only had to push his bike a couple hundred yards to the van haha, i had told him he could have anything he wanted from the cafe for being such a good lad and doing so well. 

Our day was done, burgers for lunch we got changed and packed up to head home, i was so proud of how he did. I never expected him to hit a red trail or hit it so well. Get air, do back wheel hops and generally get sketchy and pull it off. So so proud of him.

Here is a video of what i though were his best bits ...... and some words of encouragment from dad 😂

Wow simply wow ! I am so Lucky to have a son who loves to ride his bike, not so lucky that this is now his fave place to ride 😏 this could get expensive 😩😆

I made the mistake of showing these videos to him mum 🙄 she nearly had kittens and said that is so dangourous 😳😆 but she is proud of how good he is. 

Saturday we went to our local trails to do some digging and remove the mud left by winter. We then washed our bikes properly in the afternoon before he it was time for him to go home. Luca back at his mums i was knackered and made a start on the washing. 

Sunday i rode Greno with Jimmy and Drew, great day and just shows how good mountain biking is when your group of 3 people are 17, 42, & 53 years of age and you have such a good day. Very very tired now as i write this and its back to work tomorrow to have a rest 🤣🤣🤣 

Is winter over yet ?

Well its still winter ! Cold wet and dark. 

Welcome back to my ramblings, complaining, blabbering, waffling and generally talking rubbish blog 😆

Been trying my best to do as much as i can and not let the winter months go to ruin and get more fatter than i already am 😩 after sticking to below my calories all through Jan i have lost a grand total of 2lb since new year ☹️ so been doing quite a bit of searching on the internet about type 1 diabtes. Yes i have been diabetic for over 20 years but a lot has changed since then and you dont exactly get the proper support you should be getting from the NHS. 

But in this day and age of smart phones there are apps to help. I have been using the freestyle libre system which has had a massive impact on me, it is expensive at £50 a sensor (that only last 14 days) but its been a big help for someone who was never been into finger pricking so always guessed what my sugar level was. Years of having high levels i finally had something to help me and give me a kick up the bum, and now they have just released an iPhone app so all i have to do is scan my phone over the sensor and i get my reading ...... that would be great if i had a sensor ! They are out of stock and 3 weeks behind on demand 🙄 not only do i have to fund this miracle myself as its not available to me on the NHS but now i am waiting 3 weeks for something i have paid £100 for (order 2 at a time) 

Also i have found out that 1 click on my insulin pen does not count as 1 unit of insulin, its 3 clicks and there is also a formula to work out how may units i should be having ! Every 10g of carb = 1 unit of insulin. Where has this information been for the last 20 years ? So now i know exactly the amount of insulin to take i can lower my carbs each day and stop taking so much insulin, which has been the main cause of my big belly .... plus too many treats 😏 my belly was hard not soft fat so i knew it wasnt just down to bad diet as i eat and exercise pretty well. It turns out injecting lots of insulin 3/4 times a day makes you pile the weight on. 

With my new info and apps i now realise i was having far too many carbs, this week i have done really well, halved my carb count and exercised everyday. Let’s see how long it lasts ! Fingers crossed i can keep it up and improve my health and hopefully drop at least a stone. According to experts i am obese at 14 stone and 5,7 tall, but i could prob out pedal these experts on the trails .... makes no sense ! Ive overtook skinny guys loads of times. 

Anyway enough of me complaining about my health, there are much better things to talk about ... or write about. 

So what’s been going lately ? I took Luca top rampworx last Sunday, he was on his scooter 🛴.... cant get him on his jump bike now he has a pro scooter 🙈 not that he rides like a pro or anything he just wanted a pro scooter. I did tell him if i catch him waving it about spinning it around over his head or all over the show and saying look i can do a tail whip then i will be taking it off him 😆 

Rampworx was choka with scooters, sunday morning what else did i expect ! And the street plaza was closed so they were all in the pumptrack and bowl and main section, not much bike riding for me then. Did get into the bowl a couple times to have a scooter rat drop in without looking just as i was pumping round the wall AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH look where your going !!! 

Few near misses and i gave up and sat off and told Luca he had 30 min before we had to go, was chatting to a couple other lads on bmx’s and one of them said something that squashes my argument of there should be a scooter area and bike area. he said “without all these scooter rats these skateparks would no doubt be closed now” fair point to be honest, i guess my victor meldrew inner self needs to lighten up and be thankful we have places like this at all. 

I also went to degla AGAIN today haha, work was quiet and they posted saying they had a fresh layer of snow so off i went with the ebike. Its so nice riding in fresh snow and not ice or slush, so much grip and really fun when you can blast up the climbs. 

My legs are sore tonight though, been doing a walk / jog every morning in the gym so feeling it tonight.

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Onto some more positive vibes ..... Ive booked Morzine 🙌🙌🙌😁😁😁 me and the lads been talking about going and I thought this year it would happen but they all have other priorities with family holidays and stuff so i thought sod it, i am going on my own ! I love being on my own and enjoy my own time and have no problem with going for rides on my own but going abroad alone was something that scared me a bit, not scared of doing it but more what other people think about you. Some people call it anxiety but i think we all get a bit anxious in some situations its a normal thing, i get it when me and Luca go to centre parcs, its full of families and sometimes i think people are judging me being alone or looking at me thinking why is he here on his own with his son. They prob are not thinking that at all but thats what goes through my mind, so going abroad alone was a big thing. Ive recently finished a book by Derren brown called ‘Happy” it was such a hard read for me, im not a big book reader unless its a crime thriller. But it made so much sense, on the front it says “why more or less everything is absolutely fine” and it is fine, there is no reason for me to paranoid on what others think, no need to be afraid of doing things alone, and although life is full of challenges in the end it all works itself out with the right mindset.

So i did it, i booked, im stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something new this year. And i cant wait, i am really looking forward to it now its booked and im pretty sure being a mountain bike mecha i shall get chatting to someone. I might not be able to keep up with them on the mountain though haha. 

So i booked Morzine and next week is half term and as ive said before Luca asked a few times when am i taking him on his first uplift day ? Next week i am taking him to bike park wales, ive booked a B&B for us as we are about 4hrs away so best to stay over. There is no spaces on the uplift but i dont think that matters, Luca wont be pushing 8/9 uplifts so we shall buy the on the day passes and see how he does. Will be sticking to the blues for him but i reckon he will love it. Not told him yet, i will see him tomorrow so shall tell him then. 

I will be taking the go pro and filming him from behind letting him set his own pace so look out for that in a blog soon. 

The lads have just booked Moalfire uplift today for March, looking forward to that but nervous as well. Im not the most confident when it comes to hitting new trails and with it being one of these uplifts ran on a tractor only a few times a year i am envisioning crazy steep techincal downhill stuff which is not my best kind of riding. But i need to step out of my comfort zone and just get on with it and ride at my own pace and level and enjoy it, i wish i could have this fuck it and go attitude the young guys seem to do so well but being a 40 something who has already broke a shoulder in 2 places and many ribs and other bones its a little harder when you dont bounce anymore 😄 

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The camper van has been stripped out and i have built a bed frame and kitchen units that can be just popped in when i use it as a camper, makes much more sense for the business and myself, can be used in the week for the business, used at weekends for riding with the lads and used for camping trips. Multi use vehicle. 

Forgot to take a pic when i put the bed in, removed it again now. Will do one when we do our first camping trip this year.

Went down to bickertrax (our local trail) last week, first time since Autumn. Im one of the lads who help look after the place as its a classic ... council builds trail, council leaves it to rot and ruin 🙄 i dont ride there in winter due to the slop, its a horrible clay thick slick horrible mud. Which at this time of year needs clearing off the trail. 

Baz came came down and was good to chat with him while we done some digging, first time i had spent some time with him since the BPW broken arm day. He seemed in better spirits and was looking forward to the summer as well, he seemed to be a bit more uplifted about getting back on his bike as well. He was under the impression i didnt think it was very serious on the day as I calmly said to the uplift driver ‘he is ok just broke his arm” what i ment was no one needed an helicopter we just need to get him to hospital and was staying calm in the situation. I also told him he was a nightmare and wouldn’t let me put his arm in a sling in his top haha. Had a good laugh about it all and cracked on with some trail maintenance.

Meeting with the council on Saturday hopefully we can get some help and get some stones and pipes for drainage as the trails and bombholes are a mess and without us digging them out every year the trails would be ruined. 

Baz was made up with his Aldi wellies, i thought he had his wifes on 😆

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Finally got the buggy / go kart working this week, cant wait to see Luca at the weekend see if he can reach the pedals to have a go.

Damn thing has been a pain in the arse, great engine on it but all the drive and clutch was knackered, all new parts now and working. Would of been fun if we had that snow where we lived. Wish it had suspension but ive reached my mechanical knowledge on this now and it will have to do as it is. 

With trips to Cornwall to plan and Fort Bill booked and many other uplifts and trail centres to do i am going to be a busy busy boy this year, cant wait for summer to kick in and start longboarding again and planning to get into paddle boarding as well. 

Adventure is out there ! And i plan to grab it by the balls. I will sleep when i am dead 💀 

Thanks for reading and i look forward to blogging all these adventures this year, see you on the trails 👍