Hardly any riding this week because of work, and being stoopid busy, I rode in and back today, this morning was freat felt fresh and fast and raced a street cleaner the little ones that do the gutter, obviously on the way back to the depot, it was ace. Young lad bent over the wheel smiling and urging it to go faster, as I pulled away up the hill in Hackney. A brief battle but I soon had him and was gone with a smile and wave. Then half a mile later I’m braking and hopping onto the pavement to avoid the car that’s coming towards me and turning right, it all worked out fine in the end though and I actually felt ready to work for the first time this week.
Ride home a big storm cloud was moving in from the west so it was a constant battle to just stay a head of it everytime I turned  north I’d get caught, home as the rain drops started to fall in Walthamstow and showered just as the thunder started. Out for a curry and I’m just smug and happy again reflecting on my day…

Blimey that was ace, it started well enough with an early start and getting a train I thought I had no chance of catching. On arrival in Brighton it was proper windy and yes I had to head straight into it for five miles. A quick cuppa later and it was onto the front for a monster breakfast at Carratts. After ham eggs and chips it was a spin out of Brighton onto the trails, the first climb is a big long one four miles apparently and Steve’s exertions from the previous days riding were showing although he soon got into his rhythm. Jo led us up and downhill at equally high speed some of those big grassy descents are just ace, feeling like you’re just going to ride straight off the edge of the world.
All of a sudden we were at three sticks a wickedly steep climb that Steve cam tantalisingly close to clearing on his 29er on the third attempt, then we were off again dropping down and then up again.
Then Jo started playing team car up the next big climb whispering in turn yo me and steve that we could take each other on the climb. I jumped first and opened up a gap which  Steve bridged, I was just getting into my rhythmn to go again, when Steve went and using his dirty old school road tactics had me straight into the banking, a gringd to the top and it was all smirks and giggles.
After the next descent we met up with Biff Ruth and their boys Thomas and William, queue a quick photo session lots of laughing and a descent down to the pub where Biffs eldest rode with aplomb according to Jo, they weren’t down that long after me and Steve.
A quick pint and then back up to the top, no daft racing this time and then long bumpy descents back into Shoreham an ice cream on the see front and back to Jo’s for buns and tea. A tailwind back to the station a quiet train home and then a tail wind all the way across town. The downside I’m bight red but really what could be better than friends trails beer and sunshine, I might just go and flick the dust of my bike with a cloth, summer RAWKS.

A bike magazine like an academic journal with proper articles that make you think and question. I guess this will never happen it’s a shame.
In utopia the magazine I’d like would look and feel like Rouleur, be and have a history section by Les Woodland, a technical section by Mike Burrows or someone of a similar ilk and a couple of main articles by say William Fotheringham and Paul Kimmage, pictures by Graham Watson.
It’ll never happen but it would be something if it did…….

Well that was fun I watched the MTB worlds on the internet yesterday and today I had a short blast around Epping, I’m feeling like I should be doing longer rides but as long as I’m commuting then short blasts round the forest are fine.
I managed to get air a couple of times today on a fully rigid singlespeed, which is something I’ve not tried before, I even managed to land it as well.
A ride on the South Downs next weekend with friends, that’ll be fun, summer is ace ;0)

Back from work a bowl of pasta and out the door at ten past seven, two and a half hours in Epping Forest followed, just riding whatever I saw and trying to do as much climbing as possible, booyah I feel proper ace again, well apart from my ankle which is a bit sore.

Ooh and I saw a fox and a couple of bats and USE Joysticks are really quite good as well.

It’s been said before bikes are ace!

Been off of the bike since last Tuesday, bored, fed up and generally miserable, ankle is feeling at least alright for walking which is cool, I’m going to try for Epping tomorrow night, I need to get some dirt sorted under tyre and get my xc rage on. I really need to get out on a bike, tomorrow’s plan is for quick past, I know what I’ll have and then a good hard ride.

Well Nicky came over for Curry on Wednesday which turned out to be fantastic, my local curry house, Priya on Hoe Street in Walthamstow really is fantastic, they’ve got a huge range of southern Indian vegetarian food that’s all fantastically cooked, the Paneer Tikka is marvelous though. Bargainous prices too three of us for less than £40 which is incredible really, meat dishes and traditional pisshead dishes are considerably more expensive, which is an eminently more sensible approach although no more than usual.
Before curry though I managed to fall down the three inch step outside of my flat and land twisting my ankle, it’s nastily sprained I can’t stand and this is my second day off of work, I’ve got a huge black egg shaped bruise on my foot which hurts when I stand on it, no riding for a while as I can’t imagine clipping in and out of pedals is going to feel even remotely pleasant…..
Time with my feet up is letting me catch up with reading I’m currently working through Will Self’s The Book of Dave, which I have to say is certainly less Ballardian than some of his other work, and is fantastically dark, as well as being massively entertaining, if I could capture one ounce of Self’s glowering cynicism in any of my writing I’d be eternally happy.
I’m also listening to Radiohead, I appear to have a lot of their music in my Itunes library and I’ve never ever listened to any of it, so I’ve got time to listen to the whole lot and and make an assessment, watch this space…
Oooh some Radiohead is actually really good I reckon having an initial listen to everything today that Amnesiac is their best album, some of it is proper electro goodness,  who’d have thunk it.

So last weekend I went to stay with Chris and Claire just outside of Newcastle, it was fantastic, lots of riding and beer drinking all in all what a weekend should be.
Memorable for good things that included riding in and around Chopwell Forest is fantastic really fun twisty rooty singletrack, lots of it in a confined space really close to Newcastle, I don’t understand how it’s not over run with cyclists, the trails are a lot more fun than Hamsterley Forest, it’s nice that it’s quiet though. The Derwent Walk pub in Ebchester makes possibly the biggest and best burger and chips I’ve had anywhere, and they also have Jennings beer on tap as well which was ace.
No thanks to nettle stings, horse fly bites idiots and stag do’s on trains or broken power lines at Bethnal Green or National Express Anglia’s refunds policy.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

I should have known yesterday was going to be a bit dull, the first day back at work after a wet bank holiday weekend, it was confirmed at 7 a.m. by a bowl of Museli that contained nothing but oats and bran, no fruit no nuts,  nothing of interest not even a solitary sunflower seed, if that’s not a dull mouthful I don’t know what is. work was dull although I did win twenty pounds in the office Eurovision sweepstake, although the rapture of this was somewhat dulled by Sir Terry of Wogan’s threat to resign his position as Eurovision commentator.
I got home and decided I’d go for a ride in Epping Forest and with the pollen dropping I was having problems breathing and missing entrances to trails and when I found them riding badly, then after a while the pollen went and I found my Mojo and the sweetest bit of Singletrack that just kept going and going and going, until I was truly lost, a quick climb to a high point and I found a climb I’d done on a previous ride as a descent and took a fork to lead me out of the tress, I was immediately confronted by a view over all the north east London reservoirs in the setting sun, fabulous, and annoyingly my camera was at home, which was irritating.
A bit of a long way home through Chingford following cycle path signs as I was a bit lost and home to a shower and bed, ace.