Today we went to Llandegla.  Before I avail you with tales of my awesomeness, spare a moment for Mr Toast.

Remember last week’s tale, of Mr Toast’s rear wheel woes?  How he had to sit around aimlessly as he couldn’t ride his Zaskar?  Remember his comment, “XT hubs are rubbish, I’ve got 2 bikes worth of evidence on the subject!”

Well, he’s not feeling anymore charitable towards XT hubs today.  We arrived at Llandegla today, got our bikes off the rack – and his rear wheel had completely seized.  Bear in mind that today he was riding the Meta, not the Zaskar, and that it’s a completely different XT rear hub, and that it was fine going around the Chase yesterday.  Not only that, but it’s died in a different way to the rear hub of the Zaskar.

So I, rather uncharitably, left Mr Toast at the Llandegla cafe whilst I sallied forth around the red route.  Poor Mr Toast. 🙁

I’d forgotten quite how much climbing there was, particularly at the start.  I can tell my fitness has come on leaps and bounds though, as I only stopped once on the initial climb to the start of the red.  This was to take the obligatory “Professor on Location” shot, and to do up my shoe laces.  They’d come undone, and were threatening to kill me.  True story.

I did Llandegla pretty speedily, certainly miles faster than last year.  The huge downhill berms put a massive grin on my face, although there were times when I thought they flew by all too quickly compared to the amount of uphill slog. It’s bizarre, because I still find it a lot easier than FtD – it just seems to be easier to pick up speed. I think the fact that it’s a longer trail helped a lot as well – although the car park was utterly rammed, it was very rare I saw anyone else riding, so there was no leaping into the bracken every three minutes to let faster people by.

The trail was fairly damp and muddy in places, but never really churned up.  I was chuffed with how comfortably I could float over the rocky sections that really slowed me down last time.  I did the first bit of northshore (the smooth timber one), but walked over the second nobbly one.  It had somehow achieved the rare feat of being worse than I remembered it being!  I think I can honestly say I would have attempted it if I could have had my saddle a bit lower, although I can honestly say that I have no idea how successful I would have been…

The final steep hill of the trail which caused me to freeze up last year I rode without a second thought.  Woot!

Pulled into the visitor centre area, where Mr Toast was sitting glumly.  Not even cherry cake and a cup of tea could ease his rear hub woes.

The two and a half hour journey home was frequently punctuated with expletive-laden diatribes against XT hubs…and quite frankly, who can blame him? Two different sets spontaneously self-destructing over the space of two weeks.

Ride: Coed Llandegla

Trail: Llandegla – full red

Highlights: Bermy bermy descents

Bad bits: Mr Toast’s rear hub.  Groups of riders blocking the entire trail midway through a section to have a chat.

Post ride food snaffled: Cherry cake and a cup of tea.

Good dogs seen: Bit short on the dog front today, there was a chocolate coloured labrador and a spaniel.  That’s about it really…

On this fine Saturday, I finally got around to doing all of Follow the Dog.  Well, all of it that’s open, anyhoo – section 2 is still closed.  Admittedly, it took me a fair while – I was feeling fairly battered for no discernible reason.  The ride didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts – the back end of the Professor slipped off the two little planks.  Whoops!

I felt a bit ropey after that – after all, it’s so rare I slip up there.  If I slipped up there, doing the boardwalk would be stupid, wouldn’t it?

Well, I went ahead and did it anyway.  I was practically crapping myself all of the way down it – I’d tried to lower my seat before hand, before realising my seat couldn’t actually go any longer due to a combination of the length of the seatpost and the shape of the frame.  But I figured that I get to get it out of my system sooner or later, so off I pootled.

There was the odd ‘Ooooooh’ moment, partly through the knowledge that I couldn’t actually get my feet down easily if I needed too (I have to lean the bike quite a lot at the moment to get a sturdy footing, not ideal on the boardwalk), and also partly due to the fact I’d wound myself up beforehand.  “Oh noes, northshore”, that sort of thing.  But like Gloria Gaynor, I survived, and have clawed back a little more confidence because of it.

Got up to the top of the fire road hill, and had the obligatory Oatie break.  Tried to take a photo of The Professor – alas, he’s just too gleaming for a mere Nokia phone camera.

I did manage to get a fairly decent picture of the Professor’s headset.  See, we’re made for each other, he even has my initial stamped on him! *sniff*

I went through section 8, again still feeling a little skitty. However, I must have been doing something right – although I rode it utterly lacking in grace and skill, I actually did it a lot faster than usual, and emerged from the end of the section with a vague feeling of surprise – I’m sure the climb at the end went on longer than that…

Went through 10 – 12 fairly speedily, but it wasn’t until section 13 that I felt completely comfortable. Any worries about the previous sections was blown away as I threw myself down section 13 faster than I’d ever done. I love full suspension! Section 14 was…interesting. I rode up to it for the first time this year (as opposed to pushing my bike up), and was shocked at how much traction the Professor had. I felt a bit queasy and there were people behind me, so I decided to have a break. I wondered if Mr Toast would pass me on his second lap.

I waited around for a while until I felt human again, and eventually Mr Toast did catch up with me. I pootled on ahead and took the lead.

It was the first time I’d done 14 on my Stumpy, and it wasn’t without problems. At one point the back end of the Professor skidded nearly out of control in some sand, but I managed to hold it…not without some squealing though! Might get some grippier tyres than the Captains on at some point.

15 was fine and dandy, section 16…made me cross. Even though it had tranquil deer nomming grass near the entrance, I’m becoming fairly certain that I had that section. It’s just so fenickity, and I lack the control at the moment to ride it when any amount of speed.

So all in all, it was a bit of an ambivalent ride. Awesome, because I finally rode the entire track without missing any sections, including the boardwalk, but a bit…well, sucky, on the grounds I didn’t ride too well. Although it was probably still faster than my best on the little Trekadee, I know that I rode better last week. I’m pondering taking a closer look at my diet, making sure I’m not just relying on a mid-ride Oatie for energy. Delicious, delicious Oatie…

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: All of FtD that was open. Haw haw!

Highlights: Finally hauling my fat arse around the entire trail. Doing the boardwalk.

Bad bits: Just feeling a bit off. Doing the boardwalk!

Post ride food snaffled:Had a mid-ride Oatie

Good dogs seen: Labrador puppy, a husky

I’ve ordered some MG-1s for the Professor, which arrived yesterday.  Sort of.  I ripped off the packaging with feverish glee, looking forward to have bling white pedals on my bling white bike.  The smile fell off my face when I saw that the pedals contained within were black.

I cursed Merlin, who are already in my bad books because of an irritatingly sexist advertising campaign they ran last year (I try to avoid ordering from them when possible).  But then I checked the invoice and the confirmation email – both of them said ‘Black’.  I was fairly certain I’d ticked the box for the white ones, but unless it’s some sort of Firefox/website compatibility problem, looks like the cock up was my own fault.  Bleugh.  This naturally made me even more annoyed – almost as annoyed that, in addition to being considerably cheaper than their competitors, Merlin are also miles faster.  Grrr.

We’re planning on going to Llandegla this Sunday, I’m keen to see how I get on now that I’m a bit fitter, a bit more experienced, and the proud owner of a new bike.  Pondering what souvenir I can get to pin on the Map of Joy from there too.  Priorities, eh?

We’ve also booked into Glede Knowe for our anniversary in July – I really can’t wait to go back!  Again, I’m looking forward to seeing what progress I’ve made since last year, and I’m definitely going to give the red a go this year!

Professor Von Stumpy had his first trip over Cannock Chase today.  I decided that there was no better way to break him in than a full bost around Follow the Dog.  I’ve done the trail so many times on my Trek, I was intrigued to see how it would feel on the Stumpy.

The answer…very good! 😀

It was a relief to confirm that I was as comfortable with it on the trail as I was on the pootle.  I found myself capable of building and maintaining speed a lot easier, darting up climbs, and cornering more confidently.  I don’t know how much of it was down to the suspension, or the geometry, or the fact it’s a fair few pounds lighter than my Trek, and quite frankly, I don’t care.  All I know is I now have a bike that I can grow into in terms of my ability level –  and definitely no hardware excuses any more!

I set off on Follow the Dog.  As I approached the section with the log skinny, I paused.  Mr Toast pulled up behind me, a slightly pained grin on his face.  He turned his bike over, and spun the back wheel – or at least tried to.  It did about half a rotation before stopping abruptly.  After listening to his bitter cursing about XT wheels, I left him to it.

I did most of the trail, although I’ll admit I bottled it on the boardwalk, telling myself that it’s best that I get fully familar with the handling of my new bike.   Although that’s partly true, I think I’ve done the boardwalk so few times this year, I’m again mentally building it into something that it’s not.  You see, the boardwalk on FtD looks like this:

Now, from a cold, logical point of view, I can see it for what it is.  A reasonably wide, fairly flat bit of northshore, which I’ve done many, many, many times before (pretty much on a weekly basis for a good chunk of last year).  I’ve never fallen off it before – never even come close to falling off it.  Yet somehow, in my mind, it’s somehow evolved into this:

Silly?  Yeah, fairly.  I’ll get there eventually (maybe next week), but for today, it was the chicken run.  Fortunately for my nice white Stumpy, the chaps at Chase Trails have done some serious upgrading to the chicken run, turning it from a boggy pit that actually made the boardwalk look like the more pleasant option, to a well surfaced path.  It was even signposted with a rather fetching ‘Blue’ marker, the first I’ve even seen across the Chase.

I decided to play with the travel on the fork on the fireroad hill, setting it to 100mm, and switching Pro-Pedal on the rear shock.  I did find climbing easier, but again, I don’t know how much of that was down to the gadgetry, and how much was down to riding a better fitting bike.

As I approached section 12, I checked my mobile.  Mr Toast was not a happy bunny.  His back wheel was still stuffed, and he didn’t have the tools in the car (a cone spanner, a cassette tool).  I decided to do 12 and 13, and to head back to my unfortunate husband.

Section 13 was fantastic on the Stumpy.  Again, I played with the travel, this time dialling it up 140mm.  I went down feeling fast and confident, and exited the section with a huge grin on my face.

When I met up with Mr Toast, he was distinctly lacking in huge grins.  Not only had he been stuck outside Swinnertons for an hour or so, completely unable to ride around the woods, but he sat on a particularly itchy piece of grass.  It took him some time to realise he was sitting on  a baby nettle.

So, we got home, me grinning, him grumbling, and commenting on how he’d achieved the remarkable feat of knackering/partially knackering three different set of wheels.  I’d offer to swap him the Bontragers off the Trekadee, but I don’t think he’d be overly impressed…

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: All of FtD up to and including section 13

Highlights: The Stumpy!

Bad bits: Mr Toast’s rear wheel dying

Post ride food snaffled:Had a mid-ride Oatie

Good dogs seen: Two schnauzers, one minature, one regular.  Also, two Westies yapping at each other – it was like watching a pair of clouds having an argument.

Professor Von Stumpy!

Got to the Specialized Concept Store, and got fitted up.  There was a brief twang of panic when the BG Fit chappy expressed concern about the reach…but then he pointed out that I was sitting on the very back of the saddle, instead of sitting on it properly!  I guess this is because I’m so used to my arse hanging off the back of the Trek to increase the reach, it’s just become second nature to me.

Speaking of arse, I got mine measured to see what size saddle should go on, and I needed the 155mm, the widest one.   Saw that coming from a mile off – just like my arse!  HAW HAW!  Fortunately the Specialized Concept Store are very good at setting up the bike – changing from the blokes’ saddle to the women’s equivalent is free of charge, as would have any stem changes have been.  However, it was pretty much good from the go, in terms of geometry.

The suspension was set up (although the front fork required further tweaking when we got home, it was a bit soft), and it was pretty much ready to go.

I took it for a pootle around the car park, and had a sneaking suspicion that the Professor and I were going to become great friends.  Sure, he had a couple of things going against him – dual platform pedals (why, God?  Why?), plus it had been left in the very highest gear, which lead to some…comedy setting-off attempts before I twigged.  But once we got moving… it felt right.

We got the Professor home, and Mr Toast gave him the once over, checking that everything was fine.  He’s a perfectionist at the best of times, and has been pretty distrustful of bike shop mechanics ever since the cranks on his (then brand new) Avalanche nearly fell off.  And then we were off!  Local pootle ahoy!

We did quite a long ride, and numerous things became apparent.

1) I should have gotten a longer bike waaaay sooner.  It made me so much more stable, and therefore more confident.  I could take corners tighter and more comfortably…and I could indicate on the roads.  With either hand!  Without going wobbly!  No more Zoolander  “I’m not an ambi-turner” issues on the road.

2) The Professor is a miracle worker, as I was grinning whilst going up hills. I could actually steer whilst going up hills, carefully avoiding sheep poo, instead of having to jump plow upwards in a straight line.

3) Despite his awesomeness, there is one issue.

Alas, white bike, sunny day and a camera phone leads to poor quality ride photos.  Poor Professor!  The internets will struggle to see his glory.

I’m looking forward to taking him to the woods tomorrow.  I’m sure I’ll have a few ‘moments’ as I’m getting used to a new bike, but I think that we have a good future together.

In other news, I’m sad to report that my iPod Shuffle is in critical condition after a trip through the washing machine.  It’s getting progressively closer to being functional – we leave it in the airing cupboard, try it out, and it gets a little closer to being properly detected by iTunes.  Hopefully it’ll pull through, but things aren’t looking hopeful. 🙁

Please let it fit me!

We went to our first Big Build Day today, and blimey, creating a trail from scratch is a bit different from repairing an existing one.  We were taken to a wooded hill, and…let loose.  Stick to the yellow flags and go between the marked trees, and off you go!

I have to admit, when we first got there, the task seemed to be fairly monumental – digging out the track, making sure that we got down to the clay stuff. It initially seemed like we were just making a mess, but it actually started taking shape really quickly.

As you can see, Mr Toast was…ho ho, getting into the swing of things with his trusty pickaxe (I’m here all week, try the veal).  Beyond him are the Grimey Limeys, who, in addition to being thoroughly nice people and awesome trail builders, also have the Best.  Club Jersey.  Ever.  Their part of the trail looked miles better than ours, so we watched what they did, and copied them.  Eventually we ended up with something like this:

There were about fifty or so of us building today, and it was impressive how much stuff got done.  As you can tell from the photos, the weather was great.  A little too great, unfortunately – as usual, Mrs Toast’s back + sunlight = sunburn.  Ho hum.

Also seen whilst trail building:  a mother duck and TWELVE ducklings (deadbeat dad nowhere to be seen):

The ducklings were obviously very cute, and very young – they’re the smallest ducklings I’ve ever seen.  We also saw another impressive bit of wildlife – Mr Toast said, with faint tone of alarm, “Love, I’ve just seen something slither into your bag”.

I was expecting an adder, but out popped…a lizard.  I vaguely recalled that we had lizards in the UK, but this was the first time I’d ever seen one.  He was small, quite a deep emerald green, with two black stripes on his back.  Checked a book on British wildlife, and that, combined with the power of Teh Internetz, informed me that it was a common lizard (although they’re normally more olive/browny coloured.  We must have found a flamboyant one…).

Not entirely sure why they’re called common lizards, given that they seem to be seen quite rarely.  Perhaps they don’t know which fork to use in a fancy restaurant, or put the milk in first when they make the tea.

Anyhoo – ducklings, lizards, barbecue, and the immense satisfaction of using pickaxes productively.  If you weren’t there, I bet you feel pretty stupid now.

Had quite a decent ride on Saturday – did the first couple of sections of FtD (missing 11 and 12 and it was pretty busy), then all of the green loop, then sections 13, 14 and 15 to finish off.  I rode with Mr Toast, which pushed me quite a bit.  I felt like I was going slower, but we actually finished the green loop quite a bit faster than I do normally.  I think that I tend to stop more when I’m on my own, which leaves me a bit more refreshed and zippy when I’m riding.   The breaks are not so much because I need a break, more because I’m taking in the beauty of nature.  Of course.  Ahem.

Speaking of the beauty of nature, take a look at this little chap!

We saw him slithering near the start of section 15 – it was quite hard to get the camera out and get a picture of him in time. It’s only the third adder I’ve ever seen, and only the second live one!

FtD was a little odd – as I’ve mentioned, it was very busy with more ‘casual’ riders, so I actually managed to overtake quite a few people! 😛  At one point, I heard people whooping and hollering behind me on section 8, so I pulled over as a couple of kids went belting past, flying over the jumps (with no helmets, tut tut).  I was able to activate smug mode as I passed them on the climb at the end, as they pushed their bikes up the hill.  IN YOUR FACE, KIDS!

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Most of FtD, green loop in the middle

Highlights: Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!

Bad bits: Getting a bit panicky because someone was nearly on my back wheel on section 13.

Post ride food snaffled: Cookie

Good dogs seen: Not many. There was a scottie, and a pair of chihuahua…I think they were puppies, but they could have been fully grown. Although I normally don’t like the breed, I actually thought these ones were quite sweet. Maybe I’m mellowing with age…Mr Toast still referred to them as ‘horrendous little shit rats’, however.

We’re hoping for a good weekend, weather-wise.  I want to get a good day of biking in on Saturday, then on Sunday it’s the Chase Trails Big Dig day.  Mr Toast and I have our spade and rake ready, and are looking forward to seeing (and contributing to) the progress of Phase Two.  I’m hoping I can rake, although admittedly that’s mainly because we only have one spade…

Anyhoo, if you can, get yourself along there – 10am at Swinnertons!