Only two of us out today, Baz is on holiday so only me and Clive which means a slightly later start as we dont have the eary morning tornado which is Baz arriving at 5.15 am demanding that we be ready to go! Set off about 7.15 am and it was quite chilly at 2.5 centigrade.
The later start meant there was no need for lights today so off we set up the first 2 miles of singletrack, Clive in the lead and me puffing along at the back. As we climbed the track there are numerous rocks strategically placed that you can either cycle over or around. Clive went over one such rock with a sharp six inch edge and I remarked " that one could be a tube puncturer", sure enough within 100 yards his tyre was soft. This was repaired with a spare tube in about 10 minutes and pumping it up to pressure again certainly warmed us up!
About another 2 miles up the trail we came to Clives nemesis, an 18 inch or so drop off that he used to clear every time, but for some reason he developed a mental block to it. However he'd overcome this and we decided a photograph of him clearing it was the order of the day. Using my camera phone in a style I thought would do justice to David Bailey I attempted three times to snap him going over it, but for some reason or other only succeeded in videoing my foot!
Dont ask me how......... in the end we gave up!
Next week we mean to take part in a mountain bike race named very "Scottishly" the Hairy Coo Mountain Bike Challenge and as always happens in the week before any event we have ever entered a mechanical problem arises! With about 5 miles to go today Clive said he thought there was an unusual noise from his bike. I tried to reassure him it was only his seat creaking or my stomach rumbling but no, true to form his bikes bottom bracket began to emit terminal creaks and groans. So thats the job for this week, get it fixed for next weekend.
I forgot to mention apart from the mishaps it was a great ride!
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