16/03/2010 by Missus Toast.

What better way to celebrate Mothering Sunday than a nice bike ride?  Unfortunately my mother won’t ride a bike, and has slightly put her back out, so encouraged Mr Toast and I to go out biking instead of sitting in - we went out for a meal in the evening, so don’t feel too sorry for her!

Well,  Sunday’s ride was awesome!  Again, I felt a lot more confident on the bike, and was making a conscious effort not to constantly dab the brakes - a lot smoother.  Sunday’s minor successes included:

* Not screwing up the last berm approaching the exit of 2

* Riding the exit of 2…eventually

* Actually holding my speed on the turn before the last set of jumps on 8, taking them faster.  Still rubbish, but faster!

* Riding the exit of 8

* Overtaking people (it happens!)

* Not actually feeling ill at any point!

…and to top it all off, I managed to shave off yet another 15 minutes, down to 1 hour 15!  I might actually be back to my best in a couple of weeks.  I think the secret of my success was the massive Chinese meal I had the previous evening.  Mmm, delicious MSG!

I didn’t actually ride the exit to 2 first time around - I actually did it right at the end of the day.  I was going to (honest!), but there was a large collection of walkers standing in front of the exit, and I didn’t really fancy ploughing through them.  Managed it at the end, although there may have been the odd obscenity uttered.  I think that’s the first time I’ve ridden it since I smashed my ribs up on it…

After the ride and a stop off at the cafe, we decided to go and have a pootle around.  Originally we were just going to stick to the greens, but we ended up taking a look at what used to be sections 3 and 4.  They’ve actually held up remarkably well, and 3 in particular is bloody good fun to ride - I felt waves of nostalgia, as it was the first section I ever tackled.  I even rode over the log, which I remember being some sort of unsummountable obstacle.  Mr Toast named my technique ‘donkeying’ - I took it at speed, and had my weight slightly too forward, so it was a bit lacking in grace…

Not sure if we’re allowed to ride 3 - it’s not brashed, and there were a few riders on there, but unfortunately that doesn’t mean much.  Brash can be removed, and once one group are seen riding something, others think it’s OK.  It’s kind of the curse of new/repaired trails, I just hope it doesn’t apply to old sections.  I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough if it does…

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Follow the Dog

Highlights: Shaving 15 minutes off yesterday’s laptime! Getting more confidence back, riding stuff instead of crab walking over it

Bad bits:  None really!  Good ride all around!

Post ride food snaffled: Tea and a cake - some sort of rice crispie concotion.  Omnomnom!

Good dogs seen: Border collie pup, Lassie

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16/03/2010 by Missus Toast.

Saturday was a bit grey and gloomy.  This, combined with us arriving quite late, meant that the Chase was rather quiet, leaving me to pootle around Follow the Dog in relative peace.

Saturday’s ride was rather similar to the previous week’s in many ways.  I felt incredibly ill by the end of section 12, culminating me throwing up yet again at section 14 - this time, right at the start.  As I stood there, marvelling at my rubbery pink gut litter, I had several things going through my head.  Like, “Maybe I should actually take a proper look at my diet - woman cannot bike on Weetabix and Scotch Egg alone”.  And “Christ, looks like my childhood nickname of ‘Flimsy Lynsey’ still applies”.

I didn’t ride the rocks at the end of section two.  I didn’t ride the exit of section 8.  But on the plus side, I actually rode 16 rather well, not even a slight bit of shakiness.  Well, not until I got to the cafe, where I felt I was going to pass out.

The trail pixies had been out again, this time changing the markers for the 19 mile green loop to blue ones.  This will bring it into line with the likes of Dalby, where the blue route is basically fireroads, but covering quite a distance.  Hopefully it’ll eventually be like Glentress, and include friendly blue-graded singletrack! It does have a couple of EXTREME features though - road crossings!

Anyhoo, despite the slightly grim state I finished the ride in, it was overall rather successful.  I felt my confidence returning in handling the bike, and was a bit speedier, and trying for fewer and shorter stops.  As a result, I managed to shave fifteen minutes of last week’s rather lethargic time of 1 hour 45, down to 1 hour 30.

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Follow the Dog

Highlights: Shaving 15 minutes off last week’s laptime

Bad bits:  Throwing up at the start of 14.  Particularly when it adamantly stuck to my lower lip. It is impossible to detatch vomit from one’s personage elegantly.

Post ride food snaffled:  Just tea.  Felt a bit flimsy…again

Good dogs seen: Huskies - they seem to be the on-trend pooch for this season!  And the ubiquitous border collies.

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