Archive for the ‘Biking’ Category
South Downs Way 2011
Yes I really did just ride the South Downs Way again – this time with my cousin Steve.
The ride came about when last Christmas he mentioned that it’s always something he really wanted to do. Never one to turn down a cycling opportunity I agreed to do the trip straight away. So, a little later in the year than we’d thought (due to me being in Mongolia for 3 months) we set off on the 3 day, 100+ miles, hill climbing marathon from Winchester to Eastbourne.
And… it went almost entirely without any problems. No fallings off, some light rain on the 3rd day but nothing to slow us down, no mechanical breakdowns, relatively few aches and pains and most of all: NO PUNCTURES! After my previous experiences (with between 4 and 8 riders) having just 2 people (and 2 bikes – both in good working order) made things a lot more straightforward.
Thanks again to Liz for luggage support on the first day (after that we carried it).
We also discovered some amazing vegetable curry pasties in the general store in a little village called Jevington – last stop (and 2 hills) from Eastbourne. So good we went back for a second one (though they got my second one wrong and it turned out to be cheese and onion – still bitter about this!).
Here’s a video I put together of the trip – some gimmicky stuff in this one:
A great way to round off the summer of cycling. Now I’m not commuting I’m looking for some more cycling challenges to motivate me to keep the fitness up through the winter. Anyone???
Afan 2011
Team A’s third visit to Afan this year was as usual packed full of incidents. By now the B&B parking routine seemed like an old friend (you can only really appreciate this if you’ve been there but essentially parking dominates the first evening).This time both Chris and I hired full suspension bikes, leaving only Andy on a hard tail and we stuck to the best two trails: The Wall and Whites Level.
Afan Valley – Whites Level Black Run
Full write up of Team A’s weekend in Wales coming soon but to whet your appetite – here’s a video of just the black run on the White’s Level trail.
Mountain Biking Mongolia
The best of my summer with Hutch mountain biking in the vicinity of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Biking through Ulaanbaatar’s Ger Districts
Rather than riding south as usual, Hutch and I thought we’d head up through the Ger districts and up onto the hills overlooking the north of Ulaanbaatar.
This ride brought some sights I’d not yet seen in Mongolia including:
- A large white date marked on a hillside built out of either chalk or light stone. Thing was it was the correct date – presumably updated daily by the inmates of the prison in the valley below.
- Stunning panoramic views of Ulaanbaatar (see photos)
- Rubbish! Tons of it – on the hills just outside the Ger districts – sometimes we were riding over whole hillsides of broken glass and other rubbish. The hills just beyond that though – beautiful.
At one point we attracted the attention of a group of young boys who decided to ‘help’ me up a hill by holding onto my seat post and running alongside. Eventually I had to give up as I could barely manage the hill even without the unpredictable tugging on the bike in all directions. After exchanging lots of grins and waves I managed to break clear of them when the gradient eased. We ended the ride with a fast descent back through the Ger districts – great fun.
Ulaanbaatar Mountain Biking
I’ve had my first taste of biking in Mongolia – Hutch and I took a ride out of Ulaanbaatar up to the hills that are still partly covered in snow. It’s just a 10 minute ride out of the city and what a contrast – in a few minutes you go from heavily congested roads, to open roads and then mountain trails.
Our ride took us up a valley, past lots of Gers (traditional and still much used Mongolian homes) and along some snow lined ridges and single track. I was struggling somewhat with a cold and with the altitude (Ulaanbaatar is at 1,350m and we rode up from there) but it was great to get out of the city – hoping to get more riding in soon.
Downs Link Ride
Just back from a 3 day bike trip focusing on riding the Downs Link – a route along a disused railway that connects the North Downs (Guildford) with the South Downs (Brighton). We made it a 3 day ride by adding in some of the Thames and Wey towpaths and some of the south coast cycle route.
Lets start with the trip video:
Planning a weekend bike trip
A few people have emailed me asking for advice about planning a bike trip so here is a handy guide to get you started. These tips are aimed at someone organizing their first overnight bike trip with a few friends from picking a route through to types of accommodation, training and what to take… Read the rest of this entry »
Tachyon XC Micro – cycling with a helmet camera
For several months now I’ve been using a helmet camera to record first person video footage of all my cycling endeavors! After quite a bit of research I bought a Tachyon XC micro camera – having looked into rivals such as the Oregon Scientific models and the Go Pro. The main reasons I picked it over the competition were battery life, ability to take up to 32MB cards and (based on reviews) good value for money in terms of video and sound quality.
Winter Commute to Portsmouth
I’m currently commuting most days by bike to Portsmouth and I’ve even been keeping it up in the snow and sub zero conditions! Until today that is, when sadly I had to abort.. it was just too dangerous. I plan to sort myself out some ice tyres for my mountain bike as soon as I can find somewhere with them in stock and then nothing will be able to stop me!
The commute is 10 miles each way, which I reckon is the perfect distance – long enough to provide some proper training/enjoyment/satisfaction but short enough that it doesn’t take much longer than driving. (and when there is traffic – it can be quicker!)
I’ve found my regular gear is very comfortable – I’m warm within a few minutes of riding. The only issue I have is that (despite wearing ski gloves) the tips of my fingers get painfully cold for about a third of the ride – usually from about 10 minutes in and then they warm up towards the end.
Here’s a short video of me riding in a variety of wintry conditions throughout the last week – just to prove I’m hardcore:
And here’s the route on EveryTrail – showing a very useful little cycle lane round the top of an industrial estate that allows you to cut out all of busy Havant and it’s roundabouts and lights!
See larger version at EveryTrail
