First things first – I won at Pirate Golf.  Huzzah!

Went to Dalby today and really enjoyed it.  The previous times I’ve been to Dalby it’s been a bit…meh.  Nice enough, but I’d find it’d outstay its welcome after a bit.  Today was great though – I don’t know whether it was because I was on my own bike for the first time (the previous times I’ve hired Konas with the stiffest…forks…ever…), or whether it’s because…I actually did some of the red route.

I’ve got to admit, I was bricking it slightly.  The only red route other than Follow the Dog I’ve ever been on is Llandegla, and I was riding with Mr Toast.  Both of those reds are known for being a touch on the easy side, and here I was, galumphing onto a ‘proper’ red, on my own.  I didn’t do a huge amount by any means, but I’m chuffed with what I did do – it highlighted again how much I’ve come along since I’ve started.

My route took in bits of the green, blue and the red, as loving illustrated on the map below – my route is marked in yellow, going clockwise.

We started off at Dixons Hollow, and I took the green route for a good while.  The green route actually starts with a nice little bit of friendly singletrack, complete with berms – it reminded me a bit of the skills loop in Glentress. After that, it was a rocky surfaced bit of track to the normal fire roads.  Following the instructions from a chap on Bike Radar (cheers Matt!) I got to post number 26.  I took a deep breath, and hit the red.

And…it was awesome.  It boosted my confidence to realise that yes – I can actually ride new red routes without stopping every twenty seconds in sheer panic.  I found myself tackling stuff that I wouldn’t have dared to this time last year.  For example, these log drops – they’re not huge, by any stretch of the imagination, and your average mountain biker would probably scoff at them even being regarded as an obstacle.  But for people who are new to the sport/lacking in confidence, they can be pretty intimidating – as the sludged up section around the side where people have chickened out demonstrates! 😉

I think it was section 28 when I had my first real ‘WTF’ moment – there’s a steep descent, with huge berms making the track zig-zag down the hill.  One of these berms has a big rock in the middle of it – being a bit inept, I couldn’t really see what line I could ride down safely, so I’ll confess to a bit of shuffling down that one bit.  The rest of the berms were of similar size and gradient, but were so much friendlier as they didn’t have big rocks sticking out of them.  I had a little giggle as I rode down them, remembering the bowl berm on Follow the Dog.  It’s taught me well.

‘WTF’ number two came on…I think it was the following section, it might have been the one after.  Basically, there’s a big drop (by my standards, it’s over a foot!)  after a corner.  Valuing both my bike and the integrity of my limbs, I walked down that bit too.  I decided to give the red a bit of a rest after that, as I was worrying that there might be more of that sort of thing, and I bailed on post 33.  I headed up the hill to the blue, and ended up at the start of section 26 of the red again.  Hooray for my complete lack of navigation skills – still, it wouldn’t be a trip to Dalby if I hadn’t gone completely the wrong direction at least once!

I followed the blue back the Purple Mountain cafe, and ate cake.  Delicious, delicious cake.

Then it was back onto the blue – the start of the blue is shared with the red, and I’d forgotten how bloody knackering it was.  It’s odd that the rest of the blue is very similar to the green (fire roads ahoy!), but that the start is so gruelling by comparison.  Or maybe I’m just rubbish at switchback climbs.  Well, there’s not really any ‘maybe’ about that…

Took the blue a fair way, and rejoined the green to head back to Dixons Hollow.   Good day all around! \o/

Ride: Dalby

Trail: Green, blue, and sections 26 – 33 of the red

Highlights: Getting onto the red

Bad bits: None really, although I bizarrey found the start of the blue after my cafe stop a bit hard going.  Possibly because I’d gorged on cake and tea….

Post ride food snaffled: Went to the Purple Mountain barbecue with Mr Toast

Good dogs seen:  Loads – a greyhound, a husky, numerous Jack Russells, lots of collies, a trio of border terriers, loads of labradors.  All of which were looking expectantly at their owners whilst they ate food from the barbecue.

 So we’re once again Oop North.  Such a beautiful part of the country, and so many more awesome biking opportunities than back home in sunny Leamington.  Today we decided to get warmed up on the ‘Moor to Sea’ route.  OK, it’s got a terrible (yet descriptively accurate) pun for a name, and it’s a fairly tame route, given that it was built on the old disused railway line.  But not every ride has got to jam packed with berms, switchbacks and jumps, has it?  Sometimes it’s just nice to pootle along and appreciate…

MINI-MOOS!  TINY, TINY MINI MOOS!

They were very sweet, and very inquisitive – as opposed to their mothers.  Jeez, if looks could kill…

You probably can’t make it out from the photo, but the middle one was bald on his forehead.  He did look a little like a zombie mini-moo.  He was still very nice though.  Not sure what’s going on with the crazy leaning action, I think they were preparing some sort of choreographed song and dance routine before we showed up.

We carried on, and took a little diversion at Hayburn Wyke to get a good look at the sea.  Mr Toast’s bike had some more upside down time as he tried to sort the play on the rear wheel…

…and Mr Toast then took a well earnt break, and looked at the sea.

No rest for the wicked though.  What goes down must inevitably go up again (sometimes), and Mr Toast was ready and waiting to be all manly and chivalrous.  Two bikes and steep rocky steps are no match for the might of Mr Toast!

We rejoined the main route, and carried on to Ravenscar.  By this time the weather had turned a bit nasty, and Ravenscar looked strangely bleak and melancholy, yet still fantastic for it.  More fantastic was the tearooms.  If you ever find yourself there, their bakewell slices are the best you’ll find outside of the Peak District.

Tomorrow we’ve got a non-bikey day, where we’ll head to Whitby and play Pirate Adventure Mini-golf.  Naturally, I’ll win.  Then on Sunday we’re off to Dalby.  Huzzah!

As anyone who’s been reading this blog will be aware, I’m in the market for a full-susser.  So far I’ve tried:

A Specialized Safire

An Orange Diva (long)

A Lapierre Zesty 514L

A Santa Cruz Juliana

A Commencal Meta

A Trek Fuel EX 8

All of which have either been great but over budget, not had quite the right fit for me, or just felt a bit ‘meh’.  So, the quest continues.  On Thursday morning I’m heading to Mike Vaughn’s in Kenilworth (where I got my Trekadee from), where I’ll hopefully get some inkling as to whether a small Specialized Stumpjumper will fit me.  Fingers crossed!

After that we head up to Mr Toast’s parents’.  We’ve got quite a bit of biking planned – Dalby at least once, and we also want to do part of the ‘Moor to Sea’ route too.  This will be the first time I’ll be hitting Dalby on my own bike – the previous times I’ve hired a bike up there.  I really need to do a little research beforehand – I want to work out a fun route in advance, possibly incorporating some of the red route.  Need to make sure it’s within my ability level first, though!

On Saturday I decided to have a rare run around FtD with Mr Toast.  He duly killed his speed (not the wife), and I certainly ramped up my speed to keep up with him.  He noted that I was slower than when I had been on the Meta, but overall I didn’t do too badly.  I think he found the waiting around in between sections a bit tedious though.

Him: Go now?

Me: Yeah-no, wait, there’s someone coming.

[Biker goes by]

Him: Now?

Me: Er, not yet, that guy’s friends are about to come by

[Bikers go by]

Him: Now?!

Me: Yeah, go…oh wait, someone’s coming…

In my defence, whilst riding the trail I did have to launch myself into the soft, soft bracken twice as much faster riders approached – it completely breaks what little flow I have.  Although in their defence, they were perfect gentlemen, saying things like, “You don’t have to move for me!” and a cheery “You should keep going!”.  Awesome encouragement, but I wonder whether they’d still be saying as I pootle through the section at a third of their speed…:P

With Mr Toast’s encouragement I did the long section 8, and rode it at a reasonable speed.  The jumps I could have done with tackling with a bit more speed, as I could have been a lot more stable, but otherwise I was pretty pleased with myself.  It’s funny, I’ve been putting it off since I started biking again this year, mainly because I’ve mentally built it up into something that it’s not.  Yes, it’s quite a fast bit of track, with jumps, but nothing I can’t handle, and I even came out of the climb the other end a lot better than I had last year.

I’d say overall that my fitness (and knees) have improved, I just need to get my confidence back up to start tackling stuff at a decent speed again.

Random event of the day: nearly running into a lady of advanced years who thought that having a little walk on Ill Phil’s Hill was a good idea…

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: FtD

Highlights: I think section 13 was a highlight today

Bad bits: Not being as fast as I was on the Meta.  Curse cheating full-sussers!

Post ride food snaffled: Dotty Cookie

Good dogs seen:  Bit of an exotic batch.  There was what I think was a shar-pei and a St Bernard, plus a sweet puppy that seemed to have the head of a russel, the body of a corgi, and the soft folds of skin around the ankles of a bassett hound.  Believe me, it was a good combination.

What’s this?  Yes, it’s the lesser spotted ‘post-work weekday ride report’.  Hooray for British summer time!

So, we got home, got our biking gear on, and got outside.  The aim was to pootle through the country roads until we got to Burton Dassett, which is pretty much the hilliest area around Leamington, as far as I’m aware.

The lambs were out in force, and we reflected how different they are to when they grow up.  Lambs – highly entertaining, bouncing, frolicking lunatics.  Sheep – they eat grass, shout ‘bear’ every so often…and that’s about it.  It’s like they get to a certain age, and they get lobotomised, with all trace of personality erased.  Which is shame, but probably for the best – it made me feel less guilty about the delicious lamb rogan josh I made after the ride.  Nom.

Anyhoo, I’ve been on a couple of pootles around the country lanes with Mr Toast before, but this was the first time I’d actually biked up Burton Dassett.  I think last time we got less than partway up before I threw a tantrum…

Got to the top, and took in the views.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget what we have on our own doorstep.  Admittedly, there’s not a lot of interesting trails around us, or even accessible bridleways, but as far as country roads, farmland and country parks go…well, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Naturally, when we got to the top Mr Toast had to spend a good few minutes fiddling with his bike.  Normally, excessive fiddling leads to complaining, then complaining leads to parcels from Chain Reaction and Merlin arriving at work.

Ride: Bishop’s Itchington to Burton Dassett – and back.

Trail: Mainly country roads, bridleways on Burton Dassett.

Highlights: Laaaaaaambs!  View from the top.

Bad bits: Getting my lace wrapped around my crank and nearly coming off my bike

Post ride food snaffled: Lamb rogan josh.

Good dogs seen:  Four jack russells, all different owners.  Three were wire-haired, one was smooth.  Jack Russells, the dog for this season.

So, this weekend was the weekend of reckoning.  We picked up a small Meta 5.5.3 from Leisure Lakes in Wolverhampton, and then headed to Cannock Chase.  How would Mr Toast’s favourite full-susser fare against previous competitors?

Initial impressions weren’t great.  My thoughts as I wound down the short version of section 8 was that the steering was nasty.  Mr Toast pointed out that this was probably because of the handlebars, which are exactly the same width as the ones on his XL Meta – and wider than the ones on his Stumpy and Zaskar.

I’m used to my hands being right on the end of the grips, and was doing the same on the Meta.  I made a conscious effort to move my hands in as much as the brake levers and gears would allow, and the bike became a bit more managable.  Running it through sections 9, 10, and 11 definitely had its moments.

Of these moments, my favourite was following Mr Toast.  I don’t think I’ve actually ridden with Mr Toast since Llandegla.  I was following Mr Toast, when he  slowed, stopped, then pulled over.  Given that I’d been having a bit of trouble stopping and starting on the Meta (more of that in a minute), I decided to pass Mr Toast.  The look of surprise on his face was priceless.

Basically, he had slowed and stopped to wait for me.  Last time we went around Follow the Dog together, he would often leave me for dust.  He’d stopped because he thought that I’d be quite a bit behind, and moved to the side when he heard someone behind approaching – not imagining that I’d actually be that close.  He was impressed with my speed, and it was a nice reminder for me how much I’ve improved.

I have to admit, I did do that wooded section a lot faster than usual – on my hardtail, I struggle to keep up momentum on anything other than descents.  A combination of fragile knees and slightly too-small bike means that I really struggle with the attack position, and the terrain saps my speed- but not on a full-susser.  Mwahhahahaha!

There was one major problem with the Meta though.  As mentioned earlier, my mounting and dismounting of the bike was somewhat…ungainly.   Eventually, I figured out why.  Length of the bike?  Great!  Height of the bike?  Great!  Stand over height?  NIL POINT!

Yes, when I got off the saddle, the top tube was trying to firmly embed itself in my nether regions.  Bugger.  Realising that this would be a fairly big problem, we realised the Meta was off the list.  We went back to the café for the obligatory cookie with heavy hearts.  Whilst being hailed on.

But, we still had it for another day, so today we took it out again.  Not really feeling too confident on a bike where stopping and starting was a bit of a saga, I decided to do part of the green – unfortunately, our time was limited as we had to get the bike back to the shop.  Yesterday was heavy rain and hail, but today marked the start of British Summer Time…

British weather, eh?  Got to love it.

It was a pleasant pootle, and it was nice making friends with the Meta in a controlled environment.  Despite the reviews, I found climbing on the Meta easy – a lot easier than on my hardtail.  I also felt compelled to explore, and to ride through streams – several times.   I also took it down section 13 again for a fond farewell.   Again, it felt really nice, but the complete lack of standover was always there at the back of my mind.

So, the search goes on.  Something that feels like the Meta, and has basically the same geometry as the Meta…but with more standover.  I’m considering maybe a Stumpjumper or and Enduro – I don’t know whether I should go for a lighter option, or for a ridiculous amount of travel that I’ll probably never need, but will fill me with confidence.  I’m also considering trying a couple of Cannondales if I can, and maybe re-testing the Trek, the Orange and the Zesty.  You know, just to be sure…

No Meta to test, sadly – Leisure Lakes managed to get it Saturday afternoon, but that was a bit late for this weekend, especially as the Sunday was out for biking because of Mother’s Day.  However, we’ll definitely be able to test it next weekend.  Woot!

Anyhoo, for this ride, instead of doing FtD, I decided to hit the green loop.  Last time I did the full green route was the end of June, just before the wedding.

I was chuffed with how fast I did the green loop.  Last time I really struggled on the climb – it’s not that steep, but it’s quite long.  In fact…well, I took a lot of breaks.  I was happy at the time, because I didn’t know if I had the stamina to do a 19 mile route.  Yes, yes, I know that’s fairly pathetic, but we all have to start somewhere.

This time, I pretty much flew around.  I was still slow on the uphill climb, but at least I wasn’t having to stop every couple of minutes!  Most of the stops I made were to take photos.  Speaking of which…

Obviously Follow the Dog isn’t exactly ugly, but it is nice to have a change of scenery.   There’s a lot of intriguing little trails off the track, which I’ll maybe one day explore.  For this ride though, I stuck to the road more travelled, through the packs of orientating kids, families out walking and Power Ramblers.

Unfortunately, my inability to accurately follow a route to completion meant that I took a wrong turn.  I managed to lose sight of the route markers in an area full of caravans – I think it was some sort of gathering of the South Staffordshire Caravan Club, not entirely sure though.  So, I picked a random direction, and sought out…ADVENTURE!

Thankfully, my sense of direction wasn’t as bad as I feared.  I ended up emerging near the end of section 16, where I found a familiar face, fiddling with his upside-down carbon Zaskar.  Yes, I’d managed to bump into Mr Toast.  Huzzah!

He was travelling light, so he was grateful that I had my multi-tool on me – he’s recently fitted a new saddle and seatpost, and the saddle kept tilting.  After a few fruit pastels, we decided to carry on…well, I’d finished the green a lot faster than I’d expected, how could I not throw in a bit of FtD?

So, I threw myself down 13, 14 and 15 before heading back to the cafe for a cookie.  I think on weekends when we do two days in a row that I might spend one day doing Follow the Dog, and the next doing the full green route.

Ride: Cannock Chase

Trail: Most of the green loop – missed out the last section or so due to my risible navigational skills, but made it up by eventually finding my way back!

Highlights: Realising how much I’ve come on since June, even with the operation.  Perhaps the progress is a sign that the operation was a success?  Also, riding with an MP3 player – flying through section 15 with Queen’s Bicycle Race blasting is an awesome experience!

Bad bits: Um…none, really.   Maybe large packs of orienteering children forming a solid block across the path, but hey…it’s nice that they’re getting out and enjoying the countryside.

Post ride food snaffled: Heaven’s Own Cookie.  Smartie flavoured.

Good dogs seen:  Again, jack russells with pleasing head-to-body ratios, and a variety of well-groomed westies.