Jan 20th - snow day

Me and Jimmy had arranged to get out on Sat this weekend but seeing the forecast of rain and sleet he cancelled Friday night and left it. I packed the van as seen there was snow but no rain in Llandegla, alarm set for 6:45am i was set to go.

Woke up and checked the weather app to see it had changed and there was more rain and sleet than snow, but i decided to go anyway. Stopped at Lymm services for breakfast and ditched Greg’s for a mcdonalds today, ive been really good counting my calories all this month and then found out 2 mc muffins was enough for breakfast and dinner. Oh well i was riding today its ok. 

On route into Wales i didnt see any snow, disappointed ! Pulled into he car park just after 9am and got changed, base layer top n pants, downhill pants, body armour, buff neckerchief, another top, fox coat, socks and waterproof socks plus knee pads and elbow pads.... i nearly put a full face on just to keep warm. Not your normal trail centre get up but i was warm and prepared. 

Off i set, it was damp and a slight drizzle / wet mist. As i left the woods i seen white. Yes there was snow on the hill and it started to fall from the sky as well. Bombing up the climb passing loads of people because i was on the ebike 😏 when clunk ! I turned around to see my crank and pedal on the floor 

😩. Problem was my multi tool was stopping me from getting a good angle and i got about 10% of a turn each time so it took a while to get back on, 10 yards on it was still loose. Back off the bike and tighten it up more, meanwhile all the people I smuggley overtook earlier were now passing me with a smug look. Prob thinking ha serves you right ebiker. A couple did ask was i ok and did i have tools. Fixed and seemed to stay tight so off i went to overtake them again haha. 

I was surprised by how much grip i had, i did do a couple wheel spins uphill but the bike was gripping well, guessing because the snow was fresh i was still finding grip on the hard surface underneath with no ice. It was time to have some fun in the snow. 

Back at the van i closed the door over and put my gas heater on while getting changed, my feet were freezing so i put my socks on the heater just for a few seconds. I turned around to find my socks on fire 🔥 oh man what an idiot, when it says “do not cover” then do not cover ! Off to the shop to buy a pair of socks to warm my feet up, it was pretty nice putting nice new socks on. Pork pie and a hot chololate to warm me up and it was time to head home. 

It seemed i timed the ride just right as they had to shut the car park due to the heavy snow fall now, i crawled down the road out in the van to be safe then when i hit the roads it wasnt long before the snow turned to sleet then back home it was rain. Just over an hour away and such radical change in conditions. Made up with my ride i got home for a hot bath before going to get Luca, we were taking my little sister out for a birthday meal tonight.

Popped into Chris’s and he sorted the hub in Luca’s rear wheel for me, love a good friend who’s good with bikes 👍 cheers dude. 

Weather is set to improve next week so there may be trip further afield going down, we shall see how work is and how the weather is. Is it too cold still to sleep in the van ? We shall see maybe ! 

No.3 Bikes !

So the obsession shall we call it started with a Btwin - rock rider, yep i know haha, hey we all started somewhere before the bug bit us. It had v brakes and non existent front suspension that didnt do much at all. Now this bike was purely so I could ride down the canals and get a bit fitter, i had a 3 year old to keep up with ! At this time i didnt even know trial centres existed or there was people doing races or even a world cup, i had no idea who Steve Peat was and the last time i rode a bike i was 15 years old. 

I was always into watching Xtreme sports when i was a kid and i loved watching x games, i did grow up in Cornwall so skateboarding and surfing i knew there was a scene and knew there was a bmx scene but no idea about mountain bikes. I had one when they first came out when i was young but i since found drink drugs clubs and forgot all about the xtreme sports love i once had. 

I did a few rides down the canal and enjoyed the freedom it gave me the times i did not have my son, gave me something to do and got me out. Then a Facebook friend commented on a page about a mountain bike trail near me being built, i was intrigued as to what i would find and pedalled down for a visit. Now its only a small place, little 5 min loop and 2 short jump lines. But i was hooked, i was scared Haha. I knew straight away i needed a better bike ! At least i needed disc brakes as i had never dealt with gravity along the canal. 

The rock rider went and luck would have it that the business was picking up through the week and i could just about afford a giant trance hardtail, it was great, the brakes worked and the suspension actually moved a little. But i thought it was too big in medium for me, i am 5,7. I sold it and got a small frame which felt better for me at that time, more control and more fun. The adventures started from there as on this little local trail i met “proper mountain bikers” they were on full sus bikes and they could go much faster than me, some of them could even jump the 18ft table top jump (funny story to come later about this jump) and these people told me about these places called trail centres. What was this ? A place like this but bigger ? That sounds like fun. 

A couple Sunday’s later i didnt have Luca so off i went on my first trip to Llandegla (degla) i was advised to do the blue as i had never rode anything like this before. Now if you have been reading the previous 2 posts you will know that i am not fit at all, i am overweight and spent 15 years drinking doing no kind of exercise at all. Well the climb ............ i pretty much walked 😩 but then the blue is mostly downhill back to the centre. I frigging loved it ! Being battered about on my hardtail, going to quick on a corner, being bucked off the bike on a roller (i had no idea about riding positioning or anything) wow what an adrenaline rush this was. before i knew it i was back at the car park and gutted the ride was over, it was 12:30pm so decided i would have my butties and give the red a go. Why not the blue was pretty easy and fun and i had been told about a fire road back to the top.

Dinner eaten and up the fire road i went (walking again its just as steep) now the red was a little more bumpy but i was loving it, between puffing for some kind air in my lungs and wishing the aches and pains would go away. It seemed to go on forever, surely i was near the end now ? How long is this trail ? I hit Julias trail, those who have been will know the climb that awaits, yes its a climb pretty much back to the trail centre. I was dead ! I walked pretty much all off this uphill section and asked myself why did i do 2 runs 🙄 lesson learnt but finished the day with a very strange feeling, i was absolulty knackered, could barley get my dripping wet clothes off to get changed, struggled to get the bike back in the car and felt like i had been run over by a train. But ....... but i also felt good, felt like i had achieved something, remebered the adrenalin pumping as i went downhill faster than i had ever been on a bike, well fast for me at the time. I was hooked ! That was it, i had found my hobby, what i thought was a hobby anyway, a year or so on i found out this was an obsession, an expensive one at that 🙈😆