Bolsover & District Cycling Club

7.2.12 Tues night MTB ride

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:00:00 +0000

A tale of 2 falls

Jon Wardle and myself braved the wintry conditions to head round the Kitchner circuit at the Pines. After a bit of faffing from me (I got lost trying to get into the pines- its amazing how different it looks in the snow!) we headed down the hill to join the service road. cruising along chatting away suddenly Jon hit the deck. He was okay but we suddenly realised the road was like glass and proceeded with caution as any deviation saw the bike wanting to go from underneath you.

We made it safely to the end of the road and joined the Kitchner trail. This passed without incident. we hammered it as fast as we could with a bit of slip sliding and whoops as we went. It was great fun. I love bombing round the pines in the dark, its all a bit samey in the daylight, but this was something special. one of those magic rides :-)

Anyway the second fall was mine. Over confident with my bike handling skills, on the same bit of service road, I decked with no warning on to my hip and elbow. Didn't hurt, Honest!! A quick huff and puff back up the hill and we were back in good time.

Thanks to Jon for making the effort to come out, but where were the rest of you??

Hopefully see some more faces on the Saturday ride

Cyclo Cross; Steve Crapper - Well Done.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Congratulations to Steve on taking club honours as number one rider in the NDCXL competition. The snow started as five of us - Steve, Craig, Alan, Martin and myself - headed to the start line of the final race in this year's contest. Steve clearly had it in mind that he wanted to demonstrate that he deserves the honours and did so by badgering The Badger for a number of laps; he sat on his wheel and jumped him from behind - they really are the best of friends.... - off the last bend, sprinting to finish a rims width ahead. I seem to recall leading a rather sickly Steve to the finish of this course last year. He did the same to me...

Well done Steve.

Spiralling Thursday 2-2-12

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:40:00 +0000

I decided that I'd missed a couple of outside rides recently that I was going to spiralling Thursday no matter what (Well almost) - but as it was dry I could always dress against the cold. huh

Paul, Bob, Dean, Myself and one other set out from the offices at 6 and split into 2 groups fairly quickly, we were due to do three laps and so paced our selves a little on the first, Although, after setting out 7 minutes after us Lee caught us up by the Mast on Oxcroft - Fantastic effort. It was cold so we chose to continue directly with the second lap. This time round with Lee in tow, the pace quickened, even though we had to stop for the customary Lee pee break near Elmton. I reccon the Turbo sessions might be paying off a little - cos, whilst not totally on Paul and Lee's pace, i was able to stay with them for the most.
The First lap was quickened up moor fruita, Paul doesn't like me to have a wheel in front of him going up there, but I managed to edge him on the first, but he wasn't about to let lightning strike twice and on the second he burned me, although neither of us could match Lee. The third lap was cut short due to a puncture heading toward Whaley Crossroads, ah well, it was turning too cold by then anyway so a quick jaunt along Mansfield road after a puff of air got me home. Cheers for the ride Lads. I'm just about thawed now!!

Sunday Epic 29th Jan

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:40:00 +0000

You would have expected that the combination of the plans to take an extension on our usual Rivelin ride out into hard man territory of the Strines and up to Langsett Cafe , together with sub zero temperatures and snow clearly visible on the peaks would have severly effected turn out on this ride.

Not so at all...

Twelve riders turned up at the Blue Bell, Me , simon Travell, Lee Hyson, Paul Chapman, Alex Whiting, Graham Whiting , Conor McGuigan, Dan Booth , Nick Clark, Bill Seddon and Xavier Scott.

We debated the sensibility of riding out into what might be potentailly icy conditions. reports of several inches of snow were ignored and we threw caution to the wind. My measure of risk is now Graham Whitings attitude. After a hard fall on ice on a previous Sunday ride, if he is willing to ride out, then so must I.

So off we went, freezing our little dangly bits on the drop down past the Castle. Dave Martin was riding up towards us, and was full of enthusiasm that he had nearly got to the top of the hill when he saw us coming the other way. He turned around and followed

As we were taking in a long one today, Graham had planned a more direct route out towards Rivelin. A route that had many of us looking at each other, wondering what the hell this ride was as we took in urban sections galore with junction after junction. Better routes outward exist for future Rivelin rides, but Grahams logic was sound, saving energy we would all need to make it round the main route.

The roads through the city were clear, but as we road up Ringinglow Road out towards Rivelin a scattering of slushy patches and frozen puddles in the gutter kept us sharp (and nervous).

Dave Martin did a great job of keeping with us, despite the fact that to gain comfort on his bike he has to ride with a position that is most un-aerodynamic. Dont forget this guy made it all the way to Paris riding like this though. New guy Dave helped keep a close eye on him and we settled into a fair routine up the long climb out of Sheffield.

As we met the junction with the Strines , a quick roll call was took, asking who was brave/daft enough to take theStrines extension of what was already promising to be a 50 odd mile ride. Only the two Daves thought better of it , leaving eleven riders ready to tackle a route that is one of the favourite hard training routes of the Downing brothers.

The Strines is an amazing bit of road, crossing over about 6 valleys and ridges , the roads are super steep with switchbacks and tight turns. In warmer, dryer weather you would bomb these descents and try and carry as much momentum as possible as you drove up the other side. In the conditions we rode in this wasnt an option, great care was needed as you dropped into the valleys, as the promise of an icy corner was always ready to catch you out.

This made the upslopes a killer, as you were almost driving from a standing start each time, and there are plenty of them.

Langsett cafe provided some refreshment...Dan Booth thought a cheese sandwich would see him back home, the side salad offering no calorific value at all..we did double check that he had plenty of gels available.

The return leg is slightly easier than the outbound run. Well , that is my opinion, im not sure if any one shares that. as we hit the road past ladybower, Down into Bamford & Castleton, the pace stepped up a gear as home was sniffed. Id saved some energy to battle with simon up Surprise hill but the Cramp Dog cjhased me all the way from the bottom, Ive even had to look up what the muslcle impacted was called, its a Rectus Femoris, a bleeding big one.

Just outside Dronfield ,Lee took over the front, with Paul riding alongside and both of them proved their strength and endurance after such a long ride...big diesel engines forcing their way through a stinging rain storm.

Many riders peeled off at various stages along this return leg, for their solitary journeys home. A journey I can guarantee would have been a slog, with tired legs and depleted energy reserves.

A real big well done to everyone, Especially Lee and Paul with their endurance helping us all home. And Dan Booth can tick off the Strines on his first ride out with us. It was great so see many people getting fitter and fitter, or getting back on the bike after a break.

Thanks especially to Graham & Alex for surveying the route several times to guid us through it

Im going to tempt fate, but nearly a thousand miles rode as a group, no punctures, mechanicals or falls...now that must be a record !

Check out this bad boy ! i logged nearly 7500ft of climbing today

28.1.12 Wye Valley MTB ride

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Yet again the Badger picked a great day for a little trundle in the Peak District. It was cold, dry and sunny with a dusting of snow higher up. Unfortunately this made some of the climbs on this ride harder than normal. Sorry guys!

Five of us met at the car park in Millers Dale. Simon Gaddes, Ty Jones, Tony Patterson, Dave (Tony's mate from Worksop) and myself. After a bit of chat and bike adjustment we set off down the road towards Litton Mill. We then hit the first climb of the day up grassy swithbacks towards the top road into Cressbrook. We then dropped down the road towards Monsal Head. Just as the road starts to climb we branched off right onto a trail that climbs up to meet the steps up to the Monsal head pub. There was then a little technical descent with a tricky entry and either a blind drop off or slippery right hand alternative (We all chose the get off and push option). Ty had a little tumble here when he ran into the back of Tony?

We regrouped on the viaduct and decided to look at the alternative bridalway to start the next climb. The first short section was a push up, but the next bit would be ridable in dry conditions. We soon hit the rocky climb up towards Brushfield were we all put in sterling efforts. I am now confident I can clean this section given better conditions under tyre :-)

The next section is great rolling tracks which lead eventually towards Blackwell dale. We then joined the pennine bridalway for a fast slippy descent into Chee dale followed by a hard slog back out in the gloopy conditions. Farm tracks and road with a small dose of grassy climbing led round to Wormhill. We were distracted on this bit with a couple of guys with a pack of hounds who were out hunting rabbits.

From Wormhill there was a great walled rocky singletrack descent down into the bottom of Monk Dale. This is starting to become a regular place to repair a puncture as Simon ended up with a flat. Its getting the balance right with enough air to cope with rocky descents but not too much to give traction on the greasy climbs.

A slog out of Monk Dale on tarmac, led to a great cyclocross style mud sliding descent down to Millers dale were the final few minutes back on the road saw us at the car park.

We finished off by heading up to Tideswell to the Vanila Kitchen for drinks and cake. IMHO this cafe is the best in Derbyshire and one we should incorporate into the road riding.

All in all it was a great ride with a good bunch. looking forward to the next one!

Tuesday Mucky Road Ride

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Three of us set out this Tuesday Paul, Ian and Myself, and with the absence of Lee it was up to Paul to take over in the talking department. Good ride never the less - As I was running Late Paul and Ian met me at my house and from there we picked our ride - which - as many of you will know who have been with the Tuesday ride before, bore absolutely no resemblance to the route actually taken. For a start we were to ride to Pleasley, however a quick decision later and we were turning and heading to Glapwell, ah well, in for a penny, A run down Batley lane took us toward Norwood, Up to Teversall, Down to Hardwick and then the long steady climb to Heath. From Heath to Sutton Scarsdale, then Carr Lane took us up to Palterton (the first of two Virgin Hills for me tonight), a quick trip took us into Bolsover - it was there I decided that Paul wasn't to get his bragging rights of how he had to climb Bolsover hill in the first place to get to us, so I took that on as well, (The 2nd Virgin climb for me) - Not sure of the Mileage tonight - but it doesn't matter really - We got back a little muddier and wetter than started but at least the weather wasn't too bad.

NDCXL Cross Round 13

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:00:00 +0000

This course at Draycott farm was a new venue for the NDCXL. The circuit was predominately through some farmers fields that were on a hillside. The long Eaton Velo club has managed to squeeze every bit of the available features to make the course interesting which included some tricky wooded sections and of course the steep hill side. The course offered almost no shelter from the prevailing winds and combining this with the grassy fields and long climbs made the course a bit of a slog.

Flying the Bolsover colours was myself, Alan and Vern making a welcome return, unfortunately Steve was unable to make the race.

After breaking my chain on the last race I was hoping that I would have a problem free race, unfortunately my start was anything but. Unknown to me, on the starting grid my break blocks had slipped past the wheel rim and jammed into the spokes so when the whistle blew I was unable to move off. When I eventually realised what the problem was and sorted it the rest of riders were nowhere to be seen. Setting off on my own was strange but I had lots of encouragement from the supporters and I did my best to claw my way back into the field of riders.

Alan Maddocks had arrived early to survey the course and he was not overly impressed due to the exposed nature of the course. Alan had set off and was making his way around the course and was finding it difficult. He had a couple of incidents falling off twice but he managed to dig deep and finish the race with a smile.

It was good to see the return of Vern and it looked like he was having a good race until his rear mech hanger snapped on the fourth lap. Not to be deterred Vern shouldered his bike and carried on managing to finish the race on foot.

Sunday Ride 22nd Jan

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:25:00 +0000

Bloody tough ride...

MTB ride 17th Jan - Clumber

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:40:00 +0000

The temperature had been reading minus 3 in the Carburton valley all day so it was one of those ‘shall I wear three layers or four’ nights.

I even brought gloves just in case!

To the sound of Teat owls echoing in the woods Steve, Scott, Jon, new members Ty and Mark and I set off on to the frozen hard Clumber trails. We all seemed to get a buzz from the twists and turns of the trail, even Clumber security came and said hello!

Mud on my front mech had frozen solid leaving me on the granny ring all evening so I hope I didn’t hold anyone up too much?

The pub conversation twisted about as much as the ride ranging from stressed sleep patterns to Ty’s extraordinary bike know-how so all in all another fine B&DCC evening methinks.

Thanks all.

Frosty spin

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Although tonight was very chilly with a dash of frost here and there myself,Paul&Mark risked a quick 25ish miles (my Cateye doesn't like the cold and wouldn't work even with a new battery !! ).

We decided a decently lit route would be the safest option so we went from Bolsover to Cuckney,Church Warsop,Shirebrook,Pleasley,Houghton,Hillstown and then finished along a very frosty Oxcroft Lane to drop Mark off ( i expected a slide at anytime but thankfully all three of us stayed upright).

The pace was forced a few times on the well lit main roads around Warsop/Shirebrook area so staying warm wasn't a problem and the legs got a decent pump on.

Although i love to get out on the bike whenever possible over the winter the conditions tonight were about my limit for what i consider riding safe riding and as there's snow forcast for next week i can see the turbo trainer getting more use:(

Cheerz:D

14.1.12 MTB ride - Calver Circuit

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:40:00 +0000

What a great turnout for our first peak MTB ride. The sun was shining and 10 riders met at the Curbar Gap car park. I was joined by Simon Gaddes, Martin Young, Bob Smith, Scott Ellis plus a mate, Conor McGuigan with his 2 mates Nick and Chris and new club member Ty Jones. Apologies to Scott's mate for forgetting his name.

We set off along the top of Baslow edge, dodging people and horse riders. Bloody sunshine brings out the crowds! We then dropped down below the edge for a great bit of muddy technical single track, that will be even better in the dry. The final section that climbs back up to the parking area was a little too slick and saw everyone pushing for 50 meters or so.

A rapid descent down the hill to Calver before cutting through the village to meet the Hassop Road. we branched off straight away and started the long slog up towards Longstone Edge. Just as it levelled out Conor's rear mech hanger snapped. A bit of mechanical work ensued and Ty converted it to a single speed to allow Conor to continue with the ride. He very quickly earned the new nickname of Michael Flatley as his legs became a blur keeping up on the flatter bits!

We soon reached the track which descends down to Rowland and proceeded to have a quick blast down to the village. We then turned towards Hassop and had a couple of run ins with irrate female drivers coming towards us who decided that they had to give way to bikes because there cars were too big....

Very soon we turned onto the track which leads over towards the 13 bends road and Si decided to wipe cowshit all over my arm with the bottom of his shoe. Cheers mate! The next section was icy ruts followed by a rocky roller coaster down to the ford. A great section of riding that needed to be much longer. Hardpack then followed through the woods before we hit the 13 bends road with a quick stop to change a flat on Martins bike. The next climb up to Pilsley was muddy and rutted at the bottom, which I was pleased to ride clean. The climbing was starting to take its toll on Nick at this point, and we regrouped at the top before a quick road blast down to Baslow.

The long climb back up to Baslow edge followed past the Spar shop up Bar Lane. Nothing technical about this one, just a long slog which we all started to notice. A fun section back down to the road saw Bob turn right to head off back home and we headed left up the road back to the cars.

It was a good ride with a great bunch of lads. I think we all enjoyed it and hopefully these rides will continue with a large group getting out. Potentially there could have been at least another 6 riders out with Dave Ford last minute apologies, big Kev only just getting back from a trip to the states, Scrapper, MBS being in London, Lee, Matt and Dan, Gav, Tony etc.

Already looking forward to the next ride round the Wye Valley on the 28th January

Sunday flat ride

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Although rather chilly and white over with frost it was a cracking ride today.

I met up with Ian,Mark and Paul at 10am at the cenptaph (no sign of any other 10am riders!!) and we headed out through Langwith,Church Warsop,Sherwood Pines,Wellow,Clumber Park(cafe stop),Carburton,Norton crossing,Elmton,Clowne and Bolsover which chalked up about 46miles.

Myself and Paul tagged on a cheeky spiral lap to make 56miles in total.

At times it was bitter cold...(especially after the cafe break when i thought my hands were going to fall off)..... but overall it was decent weather and great to get some brisk fresh air and keep the legs&lungs working. Cheerz guys:D

MTB Ride 10th Jan

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:30:00 +0000

Despite Simons careful calculations to make sure that this week’s ride was to start from the Black Horse at Whaley, to take advantage of the free chips on offer after their pool tournament, i managed to balls this up by announcing it was to start from the Horse & Groom.

Simon was obviously disappointed, and shared this several times with the other riders that turned up, Bob Smith, Scott Ellis, John Wardle and Craig Devonshire.

The evening was incredibly mild, and the trails were very fast as a result, especially as i was feeling particularly good that evening, and as always if the ride leader is feeling brisk then the actual ride is likely to be brisk. The sharp pace through Roseland wood and Langwith wood caught those that take a little longer to warm up by surprise. Langwith wood had some greasy trails that made even the flat sections fun as the bike fishtailed around.

Scott missed a bend on the fast single-track down to Langwith junction, but didn’t hurt anything other than his pride.

At the entrance to Boon Hills wood , most chickened out over the "bamboo" bridge and then we played hop the log and dodge the puddle till we arrived at church Warsop. This game then turned into dodge the dog egg, and im sure that everyone managed to win this little game.

For some strange reason at the head of the trail from Sookholme up to Shirebrook, a debate started attempting to identify what that spot just inside your elbow is called? I’ve now Googled it and I still don’t know !

After then seeing two other MTB riders on 6" travel DH rigs and full face helmets, we wondered what we might have been missing so we took some time out to explore what looks like a quarry near north lodge farm on the outskirts of Mansfield Woodhouse, we did find a "den" with what must have been 250kg of drinks cans just begging to be recycled, but didn’t find the quarry, although everything looked promising! Instead we will return in daytime.

Back to the pub via a fast loop behind Pleasley Vale, through Pleasley Pit and back to Scarcliffe and we were soon enjoying some nice pints, some crisps & pork scratchings and the open fire of the Horse & Groom.

I opened a conversation up on "leg shaving" something that cyclists have debated the merits of for years. Scott decided to divulge his own personal shaving habits at this point, much to the astoundment of all the riders there. Simon "fingers" Gaddes sat there, looking on and laughing as he realised his crown was slipping and that there was a new guy on the block able to be the one taking all my sarcastic comments. Indeed Scott provided many more snippets of ammunition, and we ended up telling him to stop as he was in mid flow, and we really only wanted one bit at a time....

Great ride, great trails and a great bunch of guys to ride with...

Greendale Oak next week and another blast around Clumber

Sunday club run 8th January - Route 5

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:55:00 +0000

GOOD WEATHER, VARIOUS MECHANICALS AND 11 OUT!

I guess those were the main headlines from todays 55 miler - Jess broke his chain en route to the start, but a chain splitter loan and 10 mins worth of greasy fingers and we were all away.

Club puncture King, Alex, joined us at Church Warsop, having split a tyre and destroyed a few more of his vast stock of Halfords cheapo inner tubes en route. Added to his rainswept treble with Steve C and I and a simultaneous both wheels in the dark, in the Peaks, he's setting a formidable standard!

Pace was good throughout and we averaged 16.5 mph. I used 1550KJ, which roughly equates to 1550 Calories, so some riders will have edged 2000 Calories - meaning every excuse for serious eating is available, or the less popular alternative - weight loss.

Cafe stop outside Southwell was excellent as usual, with the Bolsover now having their own premier dining area. Route 5 became anouther Route shortly after, (7 maybe) as we turned into Southwell and headed back thorough Blidworth Bottoms and Woodhouse. Rumours that this was driven by an urgent need by some to see the Manchester derby are of course without merit.

Great to have a good peleton out and I hope we can match or improve on this as the weather permits.

Kids Ride, Sherwood Pines

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Georgia, Luke, Aaron, Joel, Fraser and Rory made up the little gang for our inaugural kids ride of 2012. Judging by the way the Dads (Martin, Conor, Steve and I) were banished to a separate table by happy kids in the cafe afterwards the Blue route ride of a little under 2 hours was a success. True to form Mr C stamped his usual competitive spirit by sitting his lot on cyclo cross bikes which they handled with ease and equally true to form my two had the heaviest MTB's I could find. Luke and Aaron meanwhile seemed to make short work of the trail and the diversion onto the downhill section of the red route. After pleasantries swapped with the cafe girls and speedy and efficient loading of bikes onto racks we were all good for another go in a few weeks time........

NDCXL Cross Round 12

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:10:00 +0000

The twitter buzz around this race suggested it would be a mud fest , and they werent wrong.

Another big field had cut up the course considerably during wanrm up, and it was certainly very muddy. Under normal circumstances this would not be so much of a problem, but as the day was warm , and as the mud began to lose some moisture it developed into something more akin to glue

A glue that decided to seize up both your wheels , and just so that carrying wasnt an easy option, double the weight of your bike with various twigs, leaves and crap.

The start was fine, Pauls coaching had certainly helped and i got a pretty reasonable start, but as the race wore on it became apparant that the first rule of the physics of mud is that as you travel a little slower, you pick up more and more and more and more mud

The faster riders obviously benefitted from frequent pit stops for a clean bike and came flying past you just to demotivate you a little more.

The only other B&DCC Senior participant was Martin Young, who had a pretty decent start, and i think was gainiong on me, until his chain snapped...he did the walk of shame over the line at the end to bag a few points

On the last half of my last lap, everything stuck solid and i had no choice but to pick up and carry the bike the last couple of kilometers...i belive the inuit call this type of mud..."sticky Basta** stop evrything mud"

bitch of a race

Turbo Charged No2

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Clowne Cricket club saw a few fresh faces mount the Turbo Trainers this week...several of the previous weeks riders were absent.

I am confident that this is due to family pressures and not that the pain of the session has scared them away. Mark Renshaw in particular had a good excuse as it was his Birthday !

Instead, Andy Wagstaff returned for more , joined by Simon Travell, John Albanese and new member Nick Clark...

With these additional faces im hopeful that next week we should have sufficient numbers to fully cover the room cost and be able to pop a few quid into Pauls pocket as a return for his coaching advice.

We kicked off with another set of descending spirals courtesy of Sufferfest , then Paul hit us with an evil little session.

8 repeats of a 20 second effort with 10 second recovery (i.e. no recovery) really, really hurt....

Paul was hsouting us along all the time to make sure that we kep the effort up, Simon and myself had previous rides/runs in our legs and were really struggling but the other guys worked hard.

Another good session, hopefully a good chance of double figures next week....

Next week if you can bring £2 for the room hire cost , and an extra £1 for "Pauls pot" it would be appreciated, i might even see if i can get Graham to come over with his device for measuring saddle height accurately

Pines MTB Ride 29th Dec

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:45:00 +0000

I slept fitfully the night before ,listening to the howling wind trying to outdo my double glazing and the hammer of driving rain outside.

At 8am my thumb hovered over the send button on a group SMS intended to kill the ride, but then the weather seemed to ease a little...the "get out and ride" devil victorious in a battle over the "daytime TV" devil on my shoulder

As the wife was working, kids were ejected at my mothers and i drove over to the Pines , to park up alongside dozens of other mountain bikers all seemingly with new bikes for Christmas. No sign of and B&DCC riders though !

In due course i was joined by Conor McGuigan, Simon Gaddes and Pete Steed, so the ride was on !

Pete took ownership of the first section, peeling us off the early part of the red route and taking us exploring out into the wider world on an enjoyable route around (consults google maps) the rear of Edwinstowe , looping around Ollerton, on some really enjoyable trails. The ruts did their best to have us off, but other than a few minor slips we all survived

We rejoined the red route at the point nearest the fireroad behind Centre Parcs, just ahead of us was a group of Notts Clarion kids , many of whom i recognised from the Cross racing circuit. They pulled over and allowed us to pass, which gave the perfect opportunity for simon to demonstrate his falling down skills as he went down hard after slipping on a transverse route.In no way did he deliberatley do this in front of a bunch of kids...luckily he wasnt wearing club colours at the time !

Myself and Pete were slightly ahead it this point, hearing only Conors cries of "man down" we paused and looked back , Simon was recovering and appeared to be back on the bike ok so the two of us. continued ahead, pausing at the next marker point.

The Clarion kids passed us by with only a few polite comments about Simons fall, kids these days !....Conor and Simon came back to us a few minutes later.

It appeared that Simon had gone down harder than me and Pete appreciated..hitting his head hard on the floor. It was fortunate then, that Pete had pointed out earlier that Simon was about to leave the car park without his helmet, as it could have been nasty.

Instead Simon seemed ok , but as we progressed he complained of headaches, vision issues and pressure behind his left eye.

From this point onwards we kept a very close eye on Simon.......

........The way we did this was to ride ahead of him on each section as fast as we could, then wait patiently at each marker post for him to catch up, wondering if we would have to ride back the last section to scrape him up off the floor.

Take note that if ever you are out riding with someone potentially suffering concussion that this is the most effective method of being sure that their condition does not deteriorate, none of this modern thinking that you should get them to hospital as quick as possible....

We completed the red route, signing off another enjoyable ride in adverse conditions... Pete bid us farewell as the rain returned to ride home on a softening front tyre. I remebered after he left that i had my track pump in the car (sorry pete)

Conor insisited on buying tea and cakes in the cafe , where we had to fight for chairs , capping off another good ride nearly cancelled by poor weather. Im sure someone said once something along the lines of "there is no such thing as porr weather only poor choice of clothing" and if you are going to ride anywhere on a shitty day, the pines is a good bet as you are well sheltered.

I did keep tabs on Simons condition with a couple of phone calls/texts throughout the afternoon so im pretty sure he survived !....best text him again now

Cannock Rnd 2 - 28th December

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:50:00 +0000

After a bit of bike carrier shuffling at MBS's house we set off for Cannock. MBS, Big Kev, Mik Shields (rides with Nonna's in Sheff) and myself were looking forward to pristine weather and a great ride. My back was playing up from X box kinetic the night before but strong painkillers and excitment got me to the start line.

We geared up quickly and set off as MBS was on a tight time scale. From the off it was a bit skittish under the tyres (well thats what me and MBS thought). The compacted cobbly single track and cold conditions did not suit our tyres.

MBS let some air out but I stuck with it as I always seem to get pinch punctures if I run lower pressure.Things went smoothly until the first black option (the one Conor knows all about) Mik and Kev rode it well but MBS and I wimped out. (MBS has not been riding much and I am just a wuss) The next black option saw Kev off and a broken rear mudguard, but no damage to him so on we went.

After the upper cliff descent we headed round to the downhill park which took a bit of finding but we soon arrived. MBS got a flat and started trying to find the puncture but we were chomping at the bit so he stuck a new tube in and we started down one of the easier black runs. This was ok and most of the obstacles were rollable but it was rutted and fast. We then decided to show all the schoolies with full face helmets and downhiil rigs what xc bikes are good for as we rode back up the push up track.

We then headed down the red route which was great. Kev and Mik crashed out at the double jump with Mik almost pulling off the perfect front wheelie until he got deposited on the bank. MBS lost it a bit lower down while my slightly more cautious approach saw me down safely.

We then rode back to the xc trail and rejoined where we left off with the climb to lower cliff descent. This descent is great fun, swoopy and fast. I nearly lost my front end on some loose gravel but managed to stay with it, whereas MBS lost it and ended up with a front wheel like a taco. No damage to him just a long walk home. ( or so he thought!) Big Kev the vice managed with his bear like strength to straighten the wheel enough so it would turn and clear the forks.

MBS then gingerly set off with a wobbly wheel tpo try and make it back to the car park. He did pretty well eventually peeling off onto the blue route and a bit of tarmac and made it back about 5 minutes after the rest of us.

All in all it was a great ride. The downhill park justifies a bit more time, but maybe midweek when the school kids aren't there showing up the oldies.

Real Ale Road Ride

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:45:00 +0000

So having been promised 4 or 5 pubs, and a nice ride out into the Peal I dragged myself out of bed to ride up carr Lane to the meet point for 9.30. Nice to see 6 others there, Steve, Simon, Lee H, Paul, Mark, Ian . Plan was to ride out to the cafe at Braithwell, I say it like I know it, but never ever been that way self propelled I believed the others. Pace was decent, I had 50 Peak miles yesterday but hung on ok. Nice to chat with everyone on the way out. As we apprached Braithwell, ( another bit of Rotherham that sounds posher than it is) rumours started of the cafe being shut. Sure enough it was, but no problem, a garden centre somewhere toward Scunthorpe was open, we headed off, it was also shut. We then set off back to Maltby into a nasty nasty headwind, group got split up in Maltby, but then re joined. we found the road with the most pot holes in the UK, Mark, punctured, we talked horse and squirell genitalia. nb, google wanking kangaroo.

Off up yet more subtle hills and wind, I then punctured in Harthill, CO2 everywhere, I have crap replacement tubes with tiny valves. Steve blew the tyres up with his lungs again.

Met up again by the windmills, Paul then needed some tyre gas, we then got back to Bolsover minus a couple who headed home.

No cafe, no pub, bloody great :-) Another puncture on the 7 mile trip home, limped back and spent the afternoon sticking on patches. 54 mile ride for me, 4500 feet climb according to computer. Have now got long valve replacements in the saddle bag, and 30 Co2 cannnisters coming from Ebay for 25 quid.

Great ride out guys, keeps me going trying to keep up with you, all the time on the bike is less time eating a nd drinking, so got to be good.

Shall head out Friday into the Peal if weather ok, legs too knackerd for full turbo tomorrow, 200 miles this week!