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

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.

On Sunday, however, the sky was a funny colour.  After much scratching of heads, I eventually recalled that this colour was ‘blue’, and that glowing yellowy orb was ‘the sun’.   We’d already decided on Friday that we’d go biking on Sunday ‘no matter what’, so the fact the weather was actually pleasant was a winner all around.

In addition to being the first time back on the bike in a fair few weeks, it was also my first Follow the Dog effort of the year - and the first time since November!  We got there about one, and the car park was rammed!

I was very shaky to begin with, and with it being very busy (ah, the sun!) I was having to pull over quite a lot.  Didn’t ride the end of two, as there were people about.  Six and seven were closed, so we (’we’ being Mr Toast and myself, he decided to take it easy) pootled along the diversion to eight.  I was quite pleased I rode up the big hill, and mostly in the middle ring (mostly!).  I actually seemed to go at a fair pace - faster than it takes Lita Ford to belt through ‘Kiss Me Deadly’, anyway.  At the top of the hill we took a breather, and I took a couple of pictures with my new phone.  They’re now in widescreen!

Fortunately by the time I got halfway around eight, I was feeling a lot more confident.  Rolled over the jumps in an even more half-arsed way than usual though, and didn’t ride the exit (there were people about!!!)

 9, 10, 11 and 12 all went fairly well, although I nearly came a cropper on the one section.  I was being approached from behind by a much faster rider,  and went to pull over to the left on a flattish bit - unfortunately Speedy Gonzales decided he was going to overtake on the left.  No harm no foul though, he missed me and sped along.

With it being alot drier than it has been over the past few months, I took section 13 a lot  faster than I have for a good while, and it felt great.  By this point though, my energy levels were seriously flagging.  Got partway around 14 before having to pull over for a group, and suddenly felt exceptionally flimsy.  And lo, I did vomiteth on section 14…before I even got to Ill Phil’s Hill.  Felt better, but started to feel increasingly spaced out over the remaining sections.  By the time I got to 16, I felt decidedly surreal - I was weaving through the trees with perfect control and balance….but incredibly slowly.  Then a faster rider (there were a lot of them…) approached me, and I pulled over.  Unfortunately I was on a hill, and could I get going again?  Could I hell.  Walked to a flatter bit, got back on the bike, realised I was actually right near the end.  Got to the cafe, narrowly avoided passing out in the queue.

Although this entry might make the ride sound hellish, I absolutely loved it.  Loved being outside, loved being back on the  bike again, loved marvelling that chihuahuas are actually the same species as huskies.  I need to get back into the swing of things again and reclaim my lost fitness, but hopefully that shouldn’t take too long!

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Follow the Dog

Highlights: Sunshine!  Vitamin D!  Exercise!

Bad bits:  Realising that I’d let winter steal my confidence and fitness again

Post ride food snaffled: Tea.  Felt a bit flimsy.

Good dogs seen: Chihuahuas - do I like them or not?  I can’t quite decide.  Definitely like huskies, minature schnauzers and minature daschunds, all of which were present and accounted for.

Finding it a bit hard to get out at the moment - it’s not so much the biking in the cold that bothers me, it’s the two and a half hour round trip to get anywhere with decent riding.  We actually went out for a ride last weekend, just around the local lanes and the one ridable bridleway.  It was nice to get out, but the wind left me with a stabbing pain in my ears (even buffed up!), and road riding is just grey and depressing in winter, even in the countryside.  I’d bloody kill for some decent offroad riding near us!

Still, we’ve got to get ourselves out next weekend for the final big push to get Phase II finished - it’ll mainly be focusing on surfacing, so everyone’s been asked to bring along a wheelbarrow if they can.  We don’t own a wheelbarrow, but we’ll still be going along, I’m sure there’s something we can do!

In celebration, I made the MOST HIDEOUS poster ever.  Initially it was going to be quite classy and arty, but I was a bit pressed for time, so settled for MBUK early 90s garishness.   Eww…

Unicycling - pretty hardcore

Unicycling offroad -really hardcore

Unicycling offroad in the snow - I don’t think even MBUK has a term gnarly/rad enough for it!

Earlier in the week, we’d looked at the weather forecast to decide which day to go.  Both days were predicted to be chilly, but with clear skies and sunshine.  Young master Ovide, who joined us on our adventures today, expressed a preference for Sunday, so Sunday it was!

The sunny weather was as predicted for Saturday, but Sunday looked a bit cloudy.  It looked dry though, so I left the waterproof at home and settled for the thermal.  And so it was…until we started heading past Longdon.  Suddenly we were hit by a blizzard, which was surprising to say the least!  Pulling into Birches Valley was bizarre.  It was snowy!  SNOWY!  However the snowfall had stopped, so it looked like I was safe without my waterproof.

Having not been on the bike since December, and being a bit of a coward in inclement weather, I decided to take it easy on the green route.  Fortunately, I’ve not lost much fitness over the past few weeks of indolence, although that’s possibly because I had very little to start with!  And (this may be justification for my latest purchase), I actually found it a little easier going.  This may be down one or more of the following three factors:

1) New shoes!  No, really.  After three or four years of faithful service, I’ve finally bought a pair of proper biking shoes.  Not SPDs, but Five Ten Karvers.  They are incredibly comfortable, and incredibly grippy!My feet no longer creep forwards on the pedals, or slide around, and I don’t have to push as much. How odd.  I clearly should have bought new shoes a lot earlier.

2) Since New Year, I’ve made a concerted effort to lose some weight - seven pounds shed so far!  I think losing a bit of weight helps, and cutting back on the cakes is cheaper than smothering my bike with carbon and titanium components!

Anyhoo, back to the weather. Riding with a layer of snow on the ground is a bit of a novelty, and I think it’s only the second time I’ve done it - the first time was a bit lighter too.   I definitely prefer snow to bog standard dampness!

It started off a bit like this…

…and there was a bit more coverage the higher the route got.  There were lots of people out though, especially dog walkers and other cyclists.

So far, so pleasant.  Nippy, but nothing my new merino base layer couldn’t handle (er yeah, been on a bit of an accessory spending spree this month…).  But as I started the climb out of the valley and towards the Tackaroo, I detected a few light flakes of snow.  Then, after reaching the top, I got my reward…

Now, I still hold my newly found opinion that riding in the snow, even in a heavy snow shower is AWESOME! It does present a few logistical problems, however, like “Not actually being able to see” and “Collecting snow upon one’s person”. By the time I returned to the start of section 13, both myself and the Professor had collected snow in various nooks and crannies.

By this point Ovide and Mr Toast had caught up (they set out slightly later due to Mr Toast having a slight mishap with his new Camelbak).  Apparently they’d been trying to track me by following my tyre prints.  Once again, I inwardly marvelled at my husband’s bike geekery, he’s always able to identify tyres by their tread.  He should have gone on ‘You Bet’.

We pootled off down section 13, which is still awesome.  And snowy.  Unfortunately Mr Toast and Ovide were in a bit more of a state than me.  Being manly men, they don’t do accessoring, so lacked the layers to ensure warmth and comfort.  HAW HAW!  So we went back to the café and drank tea and ate cakes.

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Green loop

Highlights: Snoooow!

Bad bits:  Snoooow!

Post ride food snaffled: Tea, Quavers, chocolate chip flapjack

Good dogs seen: A malamute, a rather bouffant Alsation, and a variety of jack russells.

Checked the Chase Trails forum for details where the digging would be taking place, and somebody had handily provided a postcode for the nearest parking.  So, off we went, GPS at the ready.

Our GPS is occasionally set to ‘Lucien’, normally when Mr Toast likes to torment me.  Lucien delivers directions in the style of an over-enthusiastic American gameshow host, and insists on calling roundabouts and ring roads ‘traffic circles’. In fact, watch that episode of Red Dwarf, where Holly restores her IQ at the expense of her lifespan. The Talkie Toaster and Lucien went to the same finishing school.

So generally, the GPS is set to Simon.  Simon sounds like a slightly snide butler, but at least he doesn’t sound obnoxiously cheery.  Unfortunately, on Sunday, the ever reliable Simon failed us.

The GPS directed us through Upper Longdon, then up through Stile Cop.  He said we had two miles to go…then, rather unexpectedly, demanded “In nine hundred yards, make a U-Turn”.  Er, excuse me?  “In two hundred yards, make a U-Turn.  Make a U-Turn”.

Slightly bemused, we found somewhere to turn, and headed back up.  Simon, bless him, was then quite insistent that we should take the bridleway through the Special Events Area.  Ignoring his increasingly demented demands - honestly, I swear he was starting to get a bit Skynet - we looked at the GPS map, and figured out how to make it there ourselves.  As we got onto the A460, Simon suddenly realised his mistake, and calculated a route that didn’t involve off-roading a Nissan Micra through the forest.  BIT LATE NOW, MATEY.

So, we arrived late, missing lunch (D’OH), and started on our Big Build…afternoon.  I was thoroughly impressed with the turnout - given that it was a) below freezing, and b) just after New Year, I expected the turnout to be a bit sparse.  But no, over 60 people were there, braving the cold, and had already dug a sizeable length of trail.

After a quick venture up and down the track to find some tools, we starting digging near the trail exit.  Here, Martin had found the best tool - the chainsaw.

Conditions weren’t actually too bad - the ground wasn’t as hard as we were expecting, despite the freezing cold, and it didn’t take too much digging to get to the good stuff.

I became distracted by an exceptionally good dog - Leo, a black collie cross…wearing a coat. He looked very dapper.  He was trotting around with a disc in his mouth, looking for someone to play with him.  How could I not.  I threw the disc and VOOM!  Off he went!  And came back, dropping the disc in front of me and looking at me.  This was repeated over and over again, making it rapidly clear that I do indeed throw like a girl, and that border collies never, ever, ever get tired.

Despite his energy, he was exceptionally well trained.  His Grimey Lymie Level 80 Resto Shammy (don’t ask, you’ll get an answer!) owner proudly demonstrated Leo’s repertoire of tricks, and also explained how his was the perfect trail dog…apart from the time he left his riders behind and joined two other riders instead.  Sounds a bit like Mr Toast!

More pictures and information about Sunday’s Big Build Day can be seen on Chase Trail’s blog.

It’s fairly similar to last year’s, with a couple of additions and changes.  Main additions are the 7Stanes trail centres - Kirroughtree, Mabie and Ae.  The cunning plan is that this year we’re going to spend TWO weeks in Scotland - one around the south-west border, probably near Mabie.  Hopefully we’ll have time to hit Dalbeattie again, but we’re not counting on it!  The second will be our usual anniversary trip to Glentress in July.  Huzzah!

Thetford, Afan and Coed-Y-Brenin are still on the map, hopefully we’ll actually ride them this year!  I’m strangely intrigued by Thetford - it’s a bit lonely in the south-east, and as you can see from the map, looks a bit…flat.  It’s not a part of the country I’ve ever been to before, so I’ll be interested to see what it has to offer.

Tomorrow will be our first biking related ‘engagement’ of 2010 - the first ‘Big Build Day’ of the year! So, you can probably expect an update from that over the next couple of days…once I’ve thawed out!

After my knee operation at the end of 2008, I resumed biking, kicking of 2009 with a few different demo days.  I quite fancied the Lapierre Zesty 514 L, but I realised that most other women’s specific bikes didn’t really fit me that well…

Whilst at the Bike Radar demo day, entranced by a border terrier, I signed up and became a member of Chase Trails.

In February I created the ‘Map of Joy’, pinpointing places across the UK we wanted to visit for biking purposes.

The first addition to the Map of Joy was a pair of rather lovely mini-coasters from Chase Trails, and Cannock Chase was set up as home base.

The first sojourn to non-Cannocky climes was to Dalby, when we visited the Toast-in-Laws.  I ventured onto the Dalby red route for the first time, and thoroughly enjoyed it - although I chickened out on some of the downhill drops.

Not these drops though!  Although I suppose they’re more jumps than drops.  Didn’t jump them though, that would be silly…

In April, my quest for a full-suspension came to an end as we welcome Professor Von Stumperson, a 2009 Stumpjumper FSR Elite.  Unfortunately, me getting sorted with my bike also signalled the start of Mr Toast’s rear-hub woes.  Even now, he gets a twitch in his eye if you mention XT wheels…

The most depressing of the rear-hub instances was after making the 2.5 hour drive to Llandegla.  Still, at least the Professor and I had a good time whilst Mr Toast sat glumly in the café for a couple of hours.

In May, we helped marshal the Nice Price Special at Cannock Chase.  The weather was actually pretty nice on the day, but had been spectacularly grim in the days before hand, leaving the course a slidy mudbath - so, pretty much a traditional MTB event!

The end of May saw the first ever Bike Radar Live at Donington.  It wasn’t originally on the Map of Joy, but it got added with various bits of tat.  It was a great weekend - good atmosphere, great weather, and there’s something distinctly charming about flying around Donington race track on a tandem and folding bike.

It’s a shame that we won’t be going to Bike Radar 2010, but unfortunately it a) clashes with our anniversary, so we’ll be in Scotland, and b) is in Kent.  Kent!  I mean, really?  Kent?

June saw me venture to the Peak District.  As I was holidaying with my mother, it meant that my bike adventures would be strictly solo.   Well, apart from that day when I hired a wheelchair bike and strapped my mother to the front.  Other than that, it was adventuring around Castleton, going up Mam-Tor, and generally admiring the views.

In July, Mr Toast and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  And what better way to celebrate it than throwing ourselves around some of the finest trails in Britain! We revisited Glentress, went around both the blue and red routes at Dalbeattie, and flirted briefly with Innerleithen.  If you count ‘flirting’ as ‘crying whilst carrying your bike’.

At the end of July, we revisted Llandegla - Mr Toast had a fully functioning bike at this point!  Also along for the ride was Sir Jaggy, on his newly acquired Cannondale Prophet.  A seasoned road rider, Jaggy had limited off-road experience, but fortunately a more than healthy level of competitiveness meant that he threw himself into it with great gusto.  He also threw himself into trees, but we don’t talk about that.

Alas, although we continued riding for the remainder of the year, we never did make it to Thetford, Afan or Coed-Y-Brenin.  This was due to an unfortunate combination of work, illness and the weather.  We still kept ourselves busy though, assisting marshalling the Midlands XC race in August:

I also finally managed to ride all of the new rock features on FtD, and get a lap time of under an hour for the first time.  We also ventured outside of the trail centres when we went Oop North again, riding across moorland and getting chased by pheasants.

October was notable.  Why?  Because it was the start of THE LURGY that I’ve now had for three months.  Fortunately the only symptoms I have now is a persistent cough.  Could be worse, eh?  The remainder of the year has been me battling to get out at the weekends despite the cold -  at the moment, I’m actually giving biking a couple of week’s break in the hope that the cough will bugger off.

We helped out with a couple of the Big Build Days at Cannock Chase throughout the year, hopefully we’ll be able to get a bit more involved next year.  Really looking forward to Phase II, which will hopefully be opened Easter next year!

BIKES OF 2009

Hello to…

January: GT Carbon Zaskar (Mr  Toast’s)

April: Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Elite (Mrs Toast’s)

December: Ibis Mojo Carbon (Mr Toast’s)

Farewell to…

June: Trek 4500 WSD (Mrs Toast’s, sold to a younger and more talented rider)

October: GT Carbon Zaskar (Mr Toast’s, died due to manufacturing fault)

Last Sunday I did a couple of sections of FtD, and the green loop.  It was a freezing but entertaining ride, although I do sometimes wonder if going out at the moment does me more harm than good. :s  Started with sections 1 & 2, rode a little shakily, and couldn’t do the exit - I haven’t ridden it since the ‘ribs’ incident last month, and certainly couldn’t ride it with Mr  Toast and Ovide standing at the end, looking at me!

Did the green loop, and my knees were giving me grief.  They weren’t really hurting (not at the start, anyway…), just felt very tight, and I struggled to put any pressure on them on the climbs. Once I’d warmed up, I could absolutely fly down the flat sections and had no trouble keeping up, but I fell behind on any climbs.  I’m just incapable of giving them any welly at the moment without my knees going on strike.

Naturally on the green you have to slow down a lot for walkers and horse riders, and Sunday was no different.  And, I’m pleased to report, there were some EXCEPTIONALLY good (if slightly dim) dogs about!  We approached a family with some sort of mid-sized dog that looked like a mini-lurcher and a black poodley-terrier thing.   Slowed right down, naturally, but we were still expecting the dogs to move as we got near - most do it automatically.  Mr Mini-Lurcher just stood his ground however, like a smaller, hairer Gandalf.  “You shall not pass”, indeed!  Instead of having a bit of a scuffle and pulling him into the fiery depths of a Dwarven mine, I came to a complete stop waited for him to move.  And waited.  Gandalf just looked at me, looked around, and ignored his owners slightly bemused calls, and I eventually had to shuffle around him.

As we slowly set off, Gandalf’s smaller poodley friend decided that this would be a good time to launch himself in front of Ovide’s wheel.  As I said, we were going slowly, so Ovide stopped with no incident, except that his slightly shonky v-brakes sound like something dying.   This noise seemed to be slightly more effective at getting dogs (and pedestrians!) to shift…

We also saw the world’s happiest whippet.  Now, I’m a huge fan of whippets, I think they’re adorable.  But there’s no denying that both whippets and their larger cousin, the greyhound, generally look a bit…folorn.  Not this chappy though!  It’s the first time I’ve seen a grinning whippet, but he was loving his life, bounding all over the place.  Like Gandalf and his poodley friend, he wasn’t the most obidient of dogs, with his exasperated owners trying to call him back.  But no, he was flying up the hills, down the hills, all over the shop!  Shortly after we saw him, we saw our first frost on the trail - not sure why we hadn’t seen any up to that point, whether it was down to shelter or height of the route at that point.  Regardless, we decided that the Whippet brought the winter.  The Whippet Of Winter!

Just before the big climb at the end, my iPod died (my own fault, haven’t recharged it in weeks), so I climbed up with nothing except the sound of my own wheezing.  Found the big climb quite hard - not only were my knees protesting, but my lungs and throat decided to join in, and the steady production of phlegm that I’d been suffering throughout the ride kicked into overdrive.  Bit hard to explain (and possibly too much information), but it felt like my throat was completely slimed up, and every time I coughed, my noise was exploding as well.  My face was a slime factory, which was making breathing a bit tricky.  Got to the top (all in middle ring, it’s not all bad news!), had a coughing fit, and was slightly sick.  Epic!

Carried on over the top and through the Tackeroo, then back to the start of 13.  Seemed a bit rude to ignore it, so I rode 13 and it was ace.  Given Toast’s recent reports I was a bit worried what it would be like, but it was reasonably smooth and well drained, and rode really well.  It was evident that the trail pixies had been about!  I didn’t join Toast and Ovide on 14 onwards, as I really didn’t feel too sparky by that point, but they said that the rest of the sections had been given some TLC as well, with 14 riding as well as it does during the summer.  Had a look at the Chase Trails blog when we got back, and it’s certainly impressive how they can make trail mashed by bad weather and make it rideable again in the space of a week.  Good work, Chase Trails!

Got backed to the cafe, nearly passed out.  Feasted on a scone, because there’s nothing like good nutrition to speed recovery!

I’ve got a blood test on Monday to see how I can get rid of this cough, as after a few months, it’s getting to be a bit annoying.  It’s been six weeks since the antibiotics, so…meh.  Modern science 0, virus/bacteria 1.  On the plus side, I’ll be humanity’s salvation if Martians ever invade.  In other news, Chase Trails have another Big Build Day coming up!  The first build day of 2010 will be on Sunday 3rd January - what better way to welcome in the new year!  And what better way to welcome a Big  Build Day than a new poster!  Possibly my most self-indulgent and nerdy BBD poster yet!