I know, darkside content, but still with the prospect of the Friday Night Series of Mountain Bike Races ahead I needed some training and road riding is a great way to get the miles in and base fitness going. I may be about 4 months too late to even start to aim for a podium place but hey I enjoyed the ride.

So what did I learn today on the road – well you get plenty of thinking time to look at your bike set up so I started thinking – the saddle nose is slightly too low forcing me onto the drops more than is comfortable, my neck hurts, even with a proper roadie helmet my neck is just not used to that position of being on the drops and having my head up and I need to go shopping for some better padded gloves, the mountain bike gloves I have have no padding on the hands – great for my MTB but not so good when you spend time on the hoods with no padded hands.

Then this got me thinking , maybe this is what new mountain bikers are like on the Intro and Novice courses – a little uncomfortable, a little wary of going over loose stuff in case they wash out and haven’t got completely suitable kit that works for them.

Maybe it is good once in a while to force yourself back to basics and experience life as a novice sometimes – its all too easy to take things for granted on a mountain bike but you forget what the new rider feels like.

Just don’t tell anyone I was on the road bike though eh – it’s not good for my reputation!

Thetford, the Lakes and the New Forest are all great mountain bike areas but also the best places in the UK for finding ticks as well – that said I’ve had a chat with a woman who was bitten in her garden in Birmingham!

Prevention
Use DEET from the chemist in a spray form, Calendular Oil (as a natural repellent) and long sleeves (year right for the summer!) to prevent them coming close to you.

If you don’t them carry some get some tick removers in your first aid kit – we do – yes seriously they are in the first aid kit for instructing with – I feel I have to add that no one has ever needed them yet though!

For more info and some pictures please see the Tick Prevention Week Website or see the Woodlands Site.

Designed to be a full Red route with Black options (rock gardens/skinnies etc.) compared to the FTB which has bluish tinges within the red – hey roll on Easter when it opens!

Piccies of the new trail are on the chase trails blog to give you a flavour of it.

Talk to your local Bike club who if you are in their area (Leighton Buzzard is!) then they may be able to fund you have some capital for bikes or equipment and hire a technical leader in – if nothing else speak to your local Country Sports Partnership – you never know what funding they may have up their sleeves!

If nothing else – I hope we’ve helped you get a few more riders out there

If you want to try some then get over to the good guys at Squirt to request your sample.

First by the end of a days instruction the milk in the hot chocolate from the flask was going a little sour -now you can’t beat a nice warm drink when you’ve finished the day and are washing down the bikes so its a pretty essential problem to overcome. So up pops a friends wise words:

“Well why don’t you used powdered milk and water then?” – BINGO! problem solved, back on the warm drinks.

Then I was trying to be healthy and when counting up the fruit and veg I eat each day there are very few days that I actually get my ‘five a day’ yet my diet isn’t unhealthy – having plenty of fibre & protein but watching the saturated fats. Then I was reading the newspaper and it says to ‘add dried fruit such as dates and apricots’ to your meals as a supplement – out goes the maple syrup and in come the dried fruit – a bit chewy but good enough for me when I’m in an ‘thou shalt have a healthy diet moment’ – It’ll last at least 3 days!

Why are some things so obvious that I just don’t see them – cold weather freezing the brain I think – now we have the sun roll on the warmth

OK so its is a bit cold with the wind chill but with the correct kit on you don’t mind, the trails are empty as no one else has go the bike out of its winter hibernation or they are at work and its just you, the birds and the occasional rabbit.

These are the days you wait with the weather we have had, just when you don’t expect, one out of the blue they turn up and you have a great ride when everyone else sits indoors and wishes they were out riding.

Just book the day off and sneak out for a cheeky ride (just don’t pick the same day we are out riding the trails!)

Once I heard his background in sport you know that the chances are he will pick up correct lines to take across things quickly if he already isn’t there with it from the skiing, bike balance should be good with the motocross skills – just needs a bit more fitness to pedal with rather than twist the accelerator. On the day, once I’d done the basics he started off rather tentatively, once he settled down he got into the riding and started to enjoy himself and by 4pm was a different rider to the one that started at 10am. He admitted it all had started to come back to him, the feel of the bike, how to control the wheels from slipping by minor balance adjustments, front wheel lifts etc.

Yet take horse riding – we know who you are that horse ride a lot and then book the Intro course with us as you are all gripping the saddle! – STOP and take a look at where your legs are – they give you less balance and slow down your reactions on the trail if you are gripping the saddle so just make sure they in a similar line to your feet – good poise and a great start to controlling the bike.