Bicycle Race

Took a ride up to Skipton with Munny, Lukas and Robin to watch the Skipton Bike Race Criterium. A steady ride up through Cononley following the usual, slightly hillier but much less frantic route to Skipton with a couple of diversions I wasn't familiar with. This was my 1000th ride that I've logged on Strava!

We acquired fish and chips (essential), and wandered around the course, picking up Mark from work and watching the juniors hammer it around the bumpy corner next to the fish shop. We eventually settled down just outside the Beer Engine with a nice pint of dark ale to watch the senior race, with Emma joining us in time for the start. Very civilised.

The elite men were seriously fast and spat quite a few people off the back end of the group. The guy in the white kit in this photo was the eventual winner. He seemed to bridge the gap between the peloton and the breakaway group and hang in there for the win.

Skipton Crit 2016 winner mid pack

Standing on the inside of the fast corner was quite an experience, it was hard not to flinch as they came past, leaning over so that their heads were passing within a foot or so of the metal barrier. This video gives you some idea!

I cycled home with Emma, and managed to pick up another puncture on the rear wheel about a mile from home. Must have a bit of something still in the tyre from the last one. I walked it home as it was easier than faffing around changing it at the roadside. On the mountain bike today!

It was nice to see Munny and Lukas again, our paths don't cross as often as I'd like. Good to meet the famous Robin, I see his rides on Strava a lot and to chat with Mark from work for a bit. It's always good to catch up with Emma too and to hear about her family holiday in Portugal. A cool evening with cool people.

Lets end the blog on a musical note :)

Kentmere Horeseshoe

We were having a mini-honeymoon in the Lakes (more on the big day soon when we get the photos from our photographer!) so we decided to get some walking in and tick off a few more Wainwrights.

T' Wife and me at the trig on High Street

The Kentmere Horseshoe was top of my list, having had it recommended by several friends. Including the nip out to High Street, it packs in 9 Wainwrights into 13 miles of walking: Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Thornthwaite Crag, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell, Harter Fell (Mardale), Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts.

Strava log of the route

It was a gorgeous day, much nicer than the day before when we had a tired potter up Loughrigg watching the rain sweep up Troutbeck and Kentmere. Heading up Garburn Road we saw a group of mountain bikers coming down, one of whom had a properly mashed rear derailleur that had thankfully avoided being dragged into his spokes. Not too far to trundle down the road to Wheelbase I guess for for him the ride was over.

Looking down over Kentmere

Once we'd gained the ridge it was a nice steady height gain over the first peak of Yoke and onwards to the crazy slate arrangements of Ill Bell. We could see Morecambe Bay, the windfarms in the Irish sea, what could well have been the Galloway Hills in southern Scotland, Cross Fell and Ingleborough - a truly marvellous panorama.

Steady climb up to Yoke

Panorama from the summit of Ill Bell (C) foxtailphotography.co.uk aka t' wife

First view of Kentmere Reservoir

Looking back down the ridge to Windermere

Small Water and Haweswater from Mardale Ill Bell

By this point I was starting to get a bit sunburned, having forgotten to pack any sun lotion. Time to deploy the time honoured sun hat of Englishmen abroad! MY BRAIN HURTS!

Mr. D. P. Gumby spotted in the Lakes

The last steep climb of the day onto Harter Fell

The view from Kentmere Pike

Cracking day, great route and fab views. Get on it.

p.s. hard boiled eggs are now a must-have walking food.

p.p.s. My knee high red socks and Ramblers Association membership are in the post.

Fork Service.

After damaging my freehub in the Lakes I thought I'd take the opportunity to strip my coil fork down and give it a good service as it was sticky, rattly and squeaky - all the things a fork should not be. Thankfully, Rock Shox provide a pretty detailed service manual for it. Also thankfully it's a very basic coil fork so there's not a lot to go wrong and not a lot to service.

Stripping it down took a couple of hammer blows on the bolts on the bottom of the fork legs to persuade the lower legs to part company from the stanchions. Once they were apart it was fairly easy to see that there was no grease or oil remaining in either of the legs.

I stripped the spring out and also the damper, emptying the oil into the jar of bike related old fluids that now resembles the rhubarb gin our neighbour gave us. It has a cheeky nose with a hint of apples and engine oil. A bit young, could do with laying down for, say, 35 years until it's past it's half life.

Everything was cleaned and re-greased with SRAM Butter supplied promptly and efficiently by the folks at Bikegoo (along with some 5wt and 15wt suspension fluid) and reassembled. I used a bamboo cane with tape around it to get the right fluid level in the damper leg and my set of baking measuring spoons from the kitchen to get the right volume of oil in the bottom of the damper leg. Improvisation is our watchword!

The fork in the work vice, just after filling the damper leg bottom with oil

All in all, it took a couple of hours to take the fork off the bike, strip, clean and reassemble it.

Best of all, it's now like a new fork! It sags gently when I sit on the bike and bobs gently with pedalling. Taking it down through the old Riddlesden golf course it ate up all the bumps and more. It has also delayed my decision to change to a better air fork now it has some new life back in it. I should have done it sooner and it will certainly be on the regular servicing list in future. Happy bike fixing times :)

Lakes MTB: A Grind Around Grizedale and Some Pass Bashing (Got Bashed)

Grizedale Grinder
https://www.strava.com/activities/611139988

It would be rude to go to the Lakes and not take in a bit of the fantastic biking to be had in the region. Spending a bit of quality mini-moon time with The Wife (need to get used to saying that!) meant heading over to Grizedale for a potter around the fire-roads with the odd excursion onto the red trail singletracks.

Of the bits that we did there was nothing massively challenging although Louise was surprised by a step down in the boardwalk at one point causing her to utter a naughty word before falling, very gracefully, into a tree. A slightly scraped arm was the only damage.

Tis but a scratch!

They'd been doing some logging so we did get some nice views down across Coniston Water and up to Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag allowing us to trace the route of a walk we did a few winters ago over Wetherlam way.

View good. Malt loaf also good.

We were startled at this point by what looked like a bloody big hornet, causing us to head off in short order. Later research led us to finding out it was in fact a Great Wood Wasp and is in fact entirely harmless. Phew!

The threat of rain meant we headed back early instead of exploring some of the sculpture trails in the area. I think I prefer the Blue single track at Whinlatter, the fire roads are a bit boring to be honest even though the views are much better.


Pass Bashing (Got Bashed)
https://www.strava.com/activities/611937823

Last day of the holiday and Louise wanted to see the Beatrix Potter house in Near Sawrey and to catch up with a family friend. I'm not National Trust Man yet as my beige elasticated waist corduroy trousers haven't arrived from my tailors (soon, soon) so sooner than part from the mountains my love, I went for a bike ride instead.

A short sharp rocky climb on tired legs out of Ambleside up to the top of Jenkin Crag was rewarded with some pleasant views over Windermere and Bowness.

View from Jenkin Crag

The track contoured around the hillside, maintaining the view over Windermere until I dropped sharply into Troutbeck village down a slightly rocky but fun bridleway. A short road section led to the bottom of Dubbs Road and the long steady climb up Garburn Pass.

Garburn Road Climb

This got steeper and looser the nearer I got to the top, requiring the odd pause for lungs and legs to recover, before it finally flattened out. Food stop!

Top of Garburn Pass. The joys of the descent were to follow!

The descent from here was brutal. Despite dropping the seat to its minimum height and hanging my arse off the back of the bike I struggled to keep the bike pointing in the direction I wanted to go. A bike with a slacker head angle, better suspension and wider bars would have made life easier. So would being a bit stronger in the upper body, too much champagne and fine dining this week obviously. I now know how the ball in a pinball machine feels!

Down into Kentmere and then out again on High Lane heading for the next pass and the descent to Sadgill in Longsleddale. Another rocky climb but not quite as steep which was good as my legs were beginning to struggle. The descent wasn't as rocky as Garburn but made up for it in steepness. More hanging the arse off the back of the bike to remain in some semblance of control.

The exploratory climb up Gatesgarth Pass was too much to hope for as far as my legs were concerned so I bailed just at the start of the steep bit and turned around.

Don't be sad, Sadgill. you are lovely.

Time was running low, I was hungry and my freewheel had started making a clunk every revolution. Time to head back down Longsleddale to Staveley for a well deserved feed at the lovely Wilf's Cafe (lentil and black bean bake with sundried tomatoes and olives, a coffee and a big slice of chocolate cake since you asked) and good old browse at Wheelbase.

Nice waterfalls at Garnett Bridge

I bought a couple of Lakes MTB guidebooks in the bike shop and was slightly pleased to see that the route I'd taken gets a "very hard" rating in the book for the descent of the two passes I'd done. I'll come back when I'm fitter and better and smash it out properly next time. The broken freehub has been replaced and I'm servicing my fork ready for round 2!

Bikepacking 2: Kettlewell Trip

This is a slightly belated blog from the other weekend's bikepacking adventures. Chris put a shout out on Facebook for anyone wanting to join in on a trip up to Kettlewell, a camp over and a ride back the next morning. Jonny was keen, fabricating a bracket to fit a rear rack to his old Raleigh and Adam packed his panniers with samosas. Having a free evening, I jumped at the chance as I wanted to try out my new bikepacking bags from Alpkit. We met at Steeton train station on the Friday afternoon, ready for off.

Jenny loaded up with camping things. Bloody Alpkit fanboy...

It was a very pleasant spin up through Cononley into the back of Skipton and then out on the Grassington road, light sunshine and cloud. Traffic wasn't too heavy and was mostly respectful and well driven. It was good fun riding in convoy and with everyone loaded differently we looked like a proper travelling circus.

We took the road through Linton to Grassington and then the back road all the way up through Conistone to Kettlewell, this last bit proving especially quiet which allowed us to ride side by side and chat.

Tim (Full Of Win) had pointed us to the campsite in Kettlewell just behind the church on the back road, saying it had the poshest toilets he'd ever seen on a campsite. He wasn't wrong; nice sinks, underfloor heating and in very good condition! For the princely sum of £7 each we had a pitch for the night at the top of the field.

The Travelling Circus: Chris, Jonny, me, Adam

We knew it was forecast rain later so Chris and I took some time setting up our tarp properly. We were quite happy with the results too.

Tarp for two.

What did it look like inside? Have a look!

We meandered off to the Blue Bell (on another hot tip from Tim) in the search of pies of legendary status. We found them.

The meat and potato pie, which we all ordered, was marvellous. As were the pints of local ale, even the one we liked the least was pretty good. No room for pudding afterwards

It was drizzling outside so, tired and full, we quickly settled down and fell asleep, our tents and tarps resounding to the various sound effects that accompany a big tea and a few pints...

The rain kept me awake a far bit through the night, and I occasionally had to push the tarp to remove the accumulated puddle to stop it pressing on me. I got a the odd splat in the face which wakes you up very suddenly!

Adam left early to meet his family for his daughters first birthday, I unashamedly pulled my buff over my eyes and got a another hour's kip ;) It wasn't long before Chris and I roused ourselves, packed up, then stood around whilst Jonny faffed around a bit (plus ca change...) before we headed into Grassington to find a cafe for breakfast.

The roads were still damp but it was warming up and drying off quickly.

Grassington furnished us with a small bakery with some fab looking cakes but a bacon butty and tea was high on the agenda. We sat in the square, squeaky styrofoam cups of life giving tea, rustling paper bags with baked goodness inside, swallows singing on wires.

The ride back to Keighley was punctuated (ha!) by a shard of glass from a broken mirror by the roadside making it's way through my rather underinflated Conti Gatorskin tires. New tube, a higher pressure and we were off rolling again, back through Skippy town and down to Keighley.

We stopped in the cafe by the bus station for toasties where I bade Jonny and Chris farewell for their return leg to Huddersfield. I headed home, unpacked and promptly fell fast asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours, the lack of sleep the night before taking it's toll. Louise tried to rouse me to no avail, the cup of tea and apple went untouched!

A most enjoyable adventure.




Bikepacking Lessons Learned

• The tarp needs to be tensioned enough on the edges to ensure it sheds water and doesn't accumulate a massive puddle. By the time it was wet the tarp weighed about twice as much
• Try the bivvy bag outside of sleeping mat so I can sleep on my side, I cant sleep properly on my back!
• Tire pressures, make sure you've got enough in there youth!
• The Alpkit Koala setapack does woble around a bit unless you pack it super tightly and cinch the straps up really well. Once packed properly and strapped down firmly it's brilliant.
• Packing the sleeping bag inside the bivvy bag, whilst very easy to get everything out and set up, makes for a larger pack size. Sort it.
• Smaller tarp for solo adventures would be a good purchase.
• As would a comfier saddle for longer adventures, the stock Genesis one is a little hard on one's posterior

Cote Gill and Mastiles Lane

Tuesday rolls around, the forecast is nice and the trails and bridleways of the Dales are calling. Karl is otherwise indisposed (house hunting) so an early off from work sees me rolling out of the car park near Malham Tarn for what the (excellent) South Dales guide book lists as it's first Classic ride - Cote Gill and Mastiles Lane. Admittedly I'm doing it from the Malham side and not Kilnsey but there's the same amount of up believe me!

On the way up to the top of the hill

It's a steady climb up to Cote Gill top on grassy track. Nothing technical or muddy, just sit and spin and enjoy the views, the sheep staring at the intruder, the purple and yellow flowers making the most of the sun, curlews barracking you from the skies and oystercatchers and lapwings zooming around overhead. And the brutal headwind that reduced me to the granny ring for much of the climb!

About to head down Cote Gill

Over the top and a long steady descent with Cote Gill on the right. I was somewhat disappointed to not get a good view down into the gill from the trail. I must come back for a walk up it at some point, perhaps on a roasting summers day where is northerly aspect might offer respite from the sun and make for a nice cooling gorge scramble.

Before I knew it I was down in the very quiet and pleasant valley of Littondale, with my knobbly tires on freshly laid tarmac making me sound like a swarm of disgruntled wasps as I rolled down towards the main road and on to Kilnsey.

Littondale

There were plenty of climbers on Kilnsey crag but too far away for any of my photos to do them justice. Lots of lurking at the bottom in down jackets, one chap redpointing a route with an inventive heel hook rest on a ledge and someone else top roping a pale patch of limestone on the left of the crag. A good evening for it.

Turning right at the Tennants Arms I pulled in on a grassy bank, pulled on my jacket which smelled of ripe banana, ate the aforementioned fruit item and the standard cheese/marmite bagel, enjoying being out of the breeze for a moment. A man in a white car drives past, opens his door, a dog jumps out and then runs up the road with the man following behind. Most people use feet and, you know, a lead when walking their dog, not a mid price Japanese saloon car...

Up a short tarmac climb and the long climb of Mastiles Lane hove into view, extending up into the darkness of a cloud shadow looking ever so slightly foreboding. To the Granny Ring Batman!

Mastiles Lane

Not a bad climb really, steep but mostly fairly easy to pick a good line along the edges. The hardest bit was the slightly looser and rockier steep section at the top where my front wheel was feeling light and a bit of zig zagging over the width of the trail was required. The climb up Rooley Moor on the Mary Towneley Loop was much harder with it's unavoidable fist sized rocks ready to send you off in interesting new directions like pinball bumpers in slow motion.

At the top of the steep part, I paused to cough up a lung or two, noting the lack of really hard exercise of late. Now that work has calmed down a little, the dial registering "busy" instead of "frantic", I hope to he stretching my legs a bit more.

A good climb.

The ride back towards Malham along the top of Mastiles Lane was great. Fast rolling grass, the odd depression in the trail to pump the bike into for a bit more speed, middle ring riding all the way scattering sheep and skylarks. Well worth the climb up.

Fingerpost, Street Gate, Malham Tarn

I wasn't ready to pack up yet, so I headed for a quick loop around Malham Tarn, surprising groups of blindfolded children on a "team building" exercise from the field centre with dings of the bike bell.

They have a problem with spiders at the Field Centre...

A quick whip back along the road, back to the car and then off in search of chips...

First Ride With The Boy

I've been wanting to take my son out for a bike ride for a while now, but merely wanting something does not make it happen. It was a kids weekend so I spoke to their mum about taking Ben out his bike (which lives at hers) and thankfully she agreed.

So, for a nice easy first ride, we parked up at Farnhill and rode down the canal towpath to Skipton in the sunshine.

He loved it, and it was a nice man and boy moment riding along together. It's the first time he's been on his bike further than the end of his street so the feeling of exploration was ever present in his new environment. Also, he was putting the hammer down on the flat stretches and enjoying moving fast, I struggled to keep up (or at least pretended to).

We reached Skipton sooner than I thought and enjoyed a really good chocolate ice cream from the Tug Boat Ice Cream canal boat. Most of it ended up in my moustache.

Me and my mini me

We were back at the car before we knew it, Ben sailed past the turn off to the car and had to be called back. He insisted on riding around the car park a few times before letting me put his car back in the boot! I'm glad he enjoyed himself.

One of my more distinct memories from my youth was going on a bike ride from Huddersfield to Marsden along the Leeds-Liverpool canal towpath with my Dad and brother. Now, I feel like I've been present at an similar notable moment in my son's life and hopefully given him a lasting memory. Here's to many more rides to come.