i need your help, i want your encouragement/abuse etc!

if you stay in the brockenhurst/lyndhurst/burley area you should be fine

Re:

tintin40":3af8jn4w said:

stay in and keep warm. What's that at the top of your seat post near the seat??

Click to expand...

that is part of the linkage to set the angle of the seat rails. There is a collar that slides up and down the post with the link to the seat rail clamp.
this should make it as clear as mud.

yesterday i hit llandegla, what a nightmare of a ride, don't get me wrong, the trails were still good but there were just simply too many people on them. enough said of that ride!

today though i went to coed y brenin, epic by comparison, the car park was full but the trails weren't!

i did record the downhills on my gopro, i might bore you with that when i have edited it to make it look like i am a legendary downhiller

anyway, pic of the day (on modern )

P1090849 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Nice pic, I cant quite make out the model of the bike what it it?

orange ST4

Pyro Tim":2yapgang said:

I haven't done much this week, but the wife has asked this evening if we are going on a ride tomorrow. Any suggestions on where to take an unfit newbie out?

Click to expand...

sika trail Wareham forest

we ended up at Moors Valley Country Park. They have well marked easy routes. She had fun on the singletrack, as did I. Albeit at completely different speeds

Moab

today was one of the hardest rides i have ever done, 4 hours of hard plugging away on some really weird trails!

i drove out to the trail head which is 3 miles off highway I190, the Klondike bluff trailhead.

initially the trail is very sandy then climbs up on to some slickrock, the going was tough (i found out later why) you follow painted lines on the rock as it would be a little hard to drive in a post with an arrow!! after riding some rock i then rolled out on to some more sand and it was really hard going especially when i rode near snow, as it was melting it then gets the sand wet which turns it into clay to the point where it's pretty much unrideable! the trail i chose was called 'Babysteps', it's sort of a joke because it's not easy! i spent alot of time in the granny ring, a place i don't like (no dirty jokes you sick gits!) as Heathy says "granny ring is for losers" and today i was losing!

the trail took in sections called baby steps, mega steps, little sally, EKG, dino, all a mix of slickrock and sand, my favourite was EKG but it was near the end and i felt pretty dead by the time i got there.

when i finished i got back to the Gonzo Inn where yesterday i bumped into Dave from TI cycles in Portland, he was riding here on the way back from NAHBS with some friends, he had invited me out for a ride but i missed them this morning. however when i got back i bumped into Dave's friends wife Chris, who invited me out for dinner with them, so i have just got back from a restaurant having had dinner with Dave, John and Chris and their other friend Eric, so tomorrow we're hitting a trail about 45minutes away, but we're getting the shuttle there which means it should be 17miles downhill then another 9 back to town, i have to say that after today i am a little worried, John is pretty fast apparently, Dave said 'i'm a builder, i don't ride much!', so i reckon he's a sleeper! he'll be way faster than he lets on! Eric, i'm not sure about but he looks strong!

oh and the reason i found it particularly hard? Dave told me that altitude here! i thought Denver was quite high at 5430ft (1655metres) but i thought Moab was alot lower but it's not that much different at 4026ft (1,227 metres) so the altitude does not help, i'm hoping tomorrow will be easier on my lungs as being from southampton i'm right at sea level


anyway, here's some pictures from today, i have some gopro footage aswel but i'm petty tired so i'll play with it later.



P1100059 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

getting to the trailhead was fun!

P1100057 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1100054 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1100055 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1100053 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

the bike has a name

P1100051 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

my ride, good and bad

P1100048 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

i didn't get too many pictures of the ride tody although i did get some good gopro footage which i'll edit when i get home.

i am so glad that i met Dave, John, Eric and Chriss, they have been awesome these last few days. Chriss dropped us all off at the top of the Mag7 trail, so it was basically a 17 mile gradual descent!, sand, slickrock, snow! but what a difference it makes when you're riding with others who know the trails! but crucially i felt ok with the air so i felt pretty good on the bike, the trail is basically endless fun, drops and little jumps and slightly dodgy lines next to cliff edges etc but surprisingly you get some speed going in certain areas, when we got down to the bottom of the trail there is a climb back up a sandy dirt road where there was a competition to get to the top with a 'deliverence' theme! i managed to get to the top second which i was pretty pleased with but i sprinted the last section as i don't think i could have coped with the inevitable piss take i would receive!

if you ever go to Moab you have to ride that trail, but don't do it on your own, if you have a problem out there just think '127hours' :shock:



I mean seriously, how the hell is that still up there? by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

riding with Dave, John and Erik, so pleased to have met these guys, they and Criss (John's otherhalf) made the holiday by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

P1100063 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

riding in Moab with Dave (red), owner of Ti Cycles Fabrication, his friends John (yellow) and Eric (black and on a bonty privateer )

this is the Mag7 trail.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUIC17UvLn0