Missus Toast in “Actually going biking” shocker

After a slightly demented week, I really, really needed to get out an ride this weekend.  It’s been a week of things that are awesome, exciting and terrifying – some of which manage to be all three at one.  In the less awesome camp though resides stumping up an eye-watering £450 for new tyres (for the car) and getting evicted by our landlord who wants to sell our house.

Still felt a bit sheepish in the car park, taking the bikes off the rack and getting ready to go out.  Mr Toast enquired when the Big Build Day was, and I instantly answered “March 6th”.  Of course I knew, I did a poster and everything.  There was a moment’s pause, and I said, “Is that today?” followed by the less than eloquent, “Shit!”. But like I’ve said, I’ve had a lot on my mind – sadly keeping up to date with what day it is seems to have slipped by the wayside. >.<

On the plus side, I did have an fantastic ride, although slightly melancholy in that it’s only the second time I’ve been out on the bike since mid-November.  I seem to function much better when there’s a bit of sunshine – with it being a few degrees warmer my knees weren’t complaining too much until the last couple of hills, and I wasn’t too bothered by my cough.  I was left thinking that I’d really like to spend more time biking – I remember that it was a lot easier when I was fitter and a stone lighter…

I did all of the blue and felt I had enough energy to do the last section of Follow the Dog.  Minced along the start of the Tackaroo section quite merrily – it was a bit bumper than I remembered, and this was my first ‘proper’ bit of mountain biking in nearly four months.  Ended up stopping on a couple of berms that were quite cut up, not because I couldn’t do them but because there was someone right on my back wheel, and negotiating cut up berms isn’t made easier with the constant paranoia that someone’s going to slam into the back of you.  So a friendly word to the racing elite – buzzing my back tyre doesn’t make me go faster, it generally makes me slow down to a complete stop. Don’t be a dick.

The trail soon smoothed out though, and I felt a bit more back to normal.  As normal I chickened out of Werewolf Drop (along with the other five mincers hanging around it) and took the rest of the trail cautiously, but with a bit more speed.  The two step drops had been worrying me a little – the first one in particular looked bigger than I remembered, but I took them both fine and without any sense of imminent death.

I really need to get more biking in and get my fitness up, as in a fit of madness I volunteered to ride Mountain Mayhem this year.

ERK!

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Blue route, followed by the last section of Follow the Dog

Highlights:  Going at speed, not dying at the top of the fireroad, much better lap time.  Chatting to various people at Swinnertons and in the cafe.

Bad bits:  Lack of fitness, general mincing on FtD.  STONES, OH NOES!

Post ride food snaffled: 1 cookie, one ham sandwich and a cup of tea

Good dogs seen: Mostly spaniels.  Many, many, spaniels.