Last ride

Last pedal of 2007 a quick blast on my fixie. See you out riding in 2008. Vikki

Country Roads

Visiting family in the sticks no internet so blogging via mobile phone, ain't technology great? Bike plus empty country roads equals big fun!

Fixie fun.

Want to get a bit of confidence up on the fixie without the added pressure of traffic so took it along the canal tow path for a short pedal. I heart my new bike...... a lot!

Vikki

First time on the fixie!

The uber skinny tyres and ice meant I only was only brave enough for a constant pedal round the block!

Vikki

Click to buy!

T'internet it's a dangerous place. A bit of looking can easily lead to a bit of naughty clicking to buy! And then before you know where you are you're explaining away the presence of a giant cardboard box in your house. Even more explaining to be done when husbands see what's in the box!

Vikki

Towers and toffee.

40 miles of trail for me (50 miles for Amy) taking in several follies. A delightful phenomenon round here is a plethora of hilltop turrets, mostly built by slightly bonkers industrialists of the past. Today we took in Rivington Pike, Peel Tower, Turton Tower and as featured in todays photo the itty-bitty tower in the grounds of Turton Gardens. We also managed a pub stop for yummy sandwich. 40 miles is my longest ever off road ride and the last bit was somewhat hard going, I've had double portions of sticky toffee pudding for dinner to apologise to my abused body.

Vikki

Big Tuesday!

32.24 miles of trail riding with Amy. In summary, not necessarily in order and some features repeated; ice, sunshine, climb, descend, crash, reattach back wheel, give praise for Giro helmets, pedal up rutted trails, push bike, carry bike, jacket off, jacket on, pub stop, delicious sandwich, cold hands, remember extra gloves in bag, back brake trouble, transmission difficulty, mad dog, discover day rides become night rides quite quickly and curse lack of lights. 

Vikki

Rude not to.

My plans for the day all involved sitting in front of the computer. But, the sun came out and the wind dropped down from a howl to a whisper, so it just seemed rude not to ride. So I did a quick 10 miles on the road, you know, just to be polite. 

Vikki

Shopping.

Went shopping with Carolyn today, not ordinary Christmas shopping round the Trafford Centre mind you. No, we bundled bikes and kit into a car and headed to Coed Llandegla rode the red route and then hit the bike shop. I treated myself to a Dakine Nomad hydration backpack, I justify this purchase by explaining that now it's winter I don't have enough room in my current backpack for extra clothes and sandwiches. I didn't take any photos on the ride because frankly it was too wet and windy to stop and get the camera out, so you'll all (I assume we have a massive readership) have to make do with feasting your eyes on a pic of my new bag. God bless it and every sandwich that rides in it!

Vikki

Sooooo, tell me what you want, what you really, really want.

It's all been about off-road riding lately so thought a few road miles were in order today. Shopping, faff factor and the short days meant I only managed to squeeze in an hour of pedaling before darkness. Took me the entire hour to cover 10 miles, bizarrely I seemed always to be riding into gale force winds! This may not have been so torturous were in not for the fact that I seem also to have got a Spice Girls song stuck in my head at the moment. Damn their pesky reunion.

Vikki

Morning, 'noon and night.

I love Tuesdays. I get to ride morning, 'noon and night if I want to and today I did. Well, sort of. I rode with Amy this morning, 19 miles of trail, rode up a section I normally only ever ride down, was utter madness, some bits of trail are clearly unidirectional! And did two descents I've never done before, came off my bike on the trail that comes down off the front of Rivington Pike, but as Amy pointed out I had managed to time my crash perfectly and was on the only squishy bit of the hill so no damage done. I actually spent the afternoon eating choccie biscuits and snoozing and then rode again tonight. Only my third off-road night ride, only 10 miles, rain and no functioning back brake (Lancashire mud eats brake pads) made me feel the need to head for home earlier than I might have done. Was good fun though and husband of mine and Flipper the dog came out to take pictures of me riding the last bit towards home and a much needed bath.  

Vikki

Is this winter?

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the sunshine and warmth here today bodes well for the rest of the winter. As a result of the glorious weather there were absolutely tonnes of people out on the trails, careful route choice kept us away from the worst of the crowds, this did however, mean the last climb of the day had to be the one tired legs wouldn't normally choose. But, a harder climb at the end somehow made me feel perfectly justified in my chocolate cake choice at the post-ride cafe.

Vikki