NYE- High Raise

Decided to do a trail out of trail magazine.

Up from Grasmere via Easdale to Steel fell then climb up to High Raise at around 800m.

We were above oceans of clouds with peaks peaking through as far as the eye could see and no signs of civilisation below- awesome. We were bathed in sun at the summit and hardly wanted to go apart from the knowledge we needed to get down by 4pm before the sun set!

We lost our way on the way down and ended up a much longer route making it 7hrs of stomping! amd we got back in to Grasmere at around 5pm just in time for a hot chocolate and a honycomb crunch Yummy! Top day. Sore feet!

I had a fantastic snooze as I was whacked out! Then we had M&S party nibbles for dinner and NYE celebrations with great pressies from Isobel in crackers and a berghaus top! Then we hit the White Lion in Ambleside for Auld Lang Syne and seeing 2009 in. I headed home around 1pm and to bed but the others drank on til 3am. I just can't get in the drinking mood it seems. Prefer my sleep and to feel well in the morning.

Helvellyn via Nethermost Pike

Climbed up from Patterdale to Nethermost pike and down Swirral Edge as the exit via Dollywagon was covered in mist whilst Swirral was bathed in sunshine!

Views forever above a sea of clouds as we had an inversion.

Whinlatter Altura Trail

MTB in Whinlatter forest- The Altura Trsail North loop and South loop- 18km.

I drove up to the Lakes last night and stayed in Bowness at Laurel cottage,a great B&B,cheap, nice staff, parking and great brekkie. I wanted to get a couple of rides in before the rest of the gang arrive for scrambles and walks.

Thought I'd check out the new built trails at Whinlatter forest near Keswick. In the car park at 10am it was -2 degrees and I did not like the thought of cycling in so many clothes but I braved a compromise and set off. My 66's were way too tall so the climbing up the North loop trails was slow going with my weight so far back but the trails were fast, rock hard and frozen but dry as the sun was shining all the way- and the views were breath taking. The trails and the little black stunts were great fun to do and after the singletrack then doubletrack climbs the rolling trails and downhill singletrack were awesome.

I carried on up the south loop but these trails were on north facing hills in the shade and were completely frosted over with hoarfrost. My back wheel skidded on almost every switchback and I was off. Then once at the top it was a lot of rolling down with no brakes or skidding a lot! Pretty tough going. On the last DH track with berms and TTs I rolled 3x TTs then decided to jump the last one as I had so much speed, I landed fine but... headed for the berm to scrub speed off but ended up skidding on it and taking a tumble. The guy behind me almost landed on me too. I took off in front of him again only to come off again trying to make the turn at the trail exit. He went ahead and came off on some rock slabs enetering the last bit of singletrack. I tried to ride past but skidded off the rock too! After that it was plain sailing but I think I'll stick to the sunny trails for now!

Great day riding- so glad to be back on a full sus with proper working forks, be even betterif they were the right height!

Must be 10 or so years since I was last in the Lakes and the beauty today reminded me why I used to love it so much- I really should make the effort more, (I know a 6hr drive is painful but this has to be worth it!)

Boxing Day North Downs Ride

I watched the boxing day sunrise over box hill from my bed and was almost as excited as the kids to get out of bed and start the day but for me it was to "get out and Ride".

Sure I had no new presents or gadgets to go test out but I had just built my Cove Hustler back up and added a new hope quick release seat pin so was excited to get away from it all and enjoy the crisp countryside again.

My bike unfortunately had a seized jocky wheel as well as a bottom bracket that did not like turning so in the 1 degree temps I stripped it down washed them and lubed them up til they were operational again and I was outta there.

Glorious views over Denbies as I rode up to Ranmore- sunshine and rows of vines. Every set of walkers out with their family I cheerily greeted and got big smiles and greetings in return. I headed up to White down across to Holmbury and then climbed to Leith hill. Fantastic clear views and warm sun even though the air was chilly at 2 degrees and my thumbs were numb.

I played on rollercoaster and then shot along Summer Lightning.

Oh what a pleasure to be back on a full susser again, even though its heave and laid back too much with these 66 forks on it will be sooo great when I get my 55's fixed or replaced with a lighter lower fork with travel adjust.

Once down Summer Lightning I had to grind back up towards Denbies and over to Westhumble and although it was a shame to finish my thumbs were very cold- I washed my steed down,packed it up and shot inside.

The house was empty now sp sneaking a slice of pavlova I watched Wallace and Gromit in peace, showered and headed home- so nice to have been with people but so nice to be back home on my own and do what I want when I want!

Great Boxing Day- I feel mellow!

Stockings are full

Christmas day started at 6am for me. Woken gently by an over excited Ella (aged 6) and yanked from my bed into the master bedroom where 4 hyper kids were shouting "he's been" and starting to pull presents out of stockings.
Each present unwrapped met with a yelp and a "look what I got mummy!".
After an eggy bread breakfast they all sat round the tree gasping in awe at the number of presents there and hardly able to contain their excitement to start opening them. Gareth handed the presents out and the next unwrapping frenzy began.
I snapped away getting pics of delighted faces from each one that opened my presents.
Then it was my turn to open all their boxes and unpackage the toys that are sooo tightly tied in! Place batteries in there and snap pictures of them playing for those of the family not present.

Too soon they were dressed and whisked off to start Xmas day all over again with their other parents (the exes). And we became a group of knackered adults.
The sun broke out briefly and we climbed Box Hill, meeting Jackie and Richard on our way back down and taking a swift couple of pints in the Stepping stones as we walked back.
The parents then snoozed in their chairs and dinner cooked way to late for my poor stomach to cope. By 10:30 when dessert and Articulate came out I had overdosed on company and interaction and just wanted to snooze in front of the TV. Instead I washed up and headed to bed.
A good Xmas day considering I was due to be a passenger on anyone's Xmas this year and would rather have been over in Canada in the snow having my own Christmas.
My only disappointment is that no-one watched the annual review in pics that I lovingly prepared again this year and its so disappointing after all that hard work not to be there to see the reactions on people's faces when they view it.

Last Afan fling for KL

For Ken's birthday we went to Afan for his last mountain bike fling before leaving the UK for real. We stayed at the Llynfi B&B and rode from there to ride the Wall trail in the morning and the Penhydd trail in the evening, clocking up about 40km all in all. After the traumatic start you can read about below we had a great ride despite the mood. No rain, barely any wind, glimpses of sunshine. 

That night we watched Wales lose to New Zealand and England to South Africa dismally at Glyncorrwg bike centre over a great meal and beer and hardly anyone there so we had deep sofas all to ourselves.

Sunday we rode Whites level, the long long climb which we barely stopped on. We rode the black run on our hardtails which added a whole new element of excitement to the ride. I managed to ride the rock ride at the bottom but almost felloff on Ken passing me on the left.

Windy pass was extremely windy,energy was excellent and grins were all around. Everyone was chatting at the end of each trail cos they were enjoying it so much. After yesterday it was glorious to be among a community of riders who share their fun as much as they shared in supporting someone in need.

I rode the Darkside with packed down forks- (I think they are broken again so will have to go back to windwave)- I made it. It started to rain just as we got into the visitor centre and we had lunch with Tim and Dave who we'd met at the B&B- all grinning with post-ride glows!

Back in London we grabbed a meal at the pub to say farewell to Ken- I don't know when and what countyr we will meet in again and now I'm home. 

Eventful but great weekendnin the end.

Life Support on the Mountain Bike Trails

Today we got wrapped up in an attempt to save a life of a mountain biker on the Afan Argoed Trails. We believed at first that he must have fallen or crashed his bike on the singletrack and been knocked unconscious but in fact he was just cycling along the flattish bridleway when he suffered a heart attack and just collapsed off his bike.

So what happened... well we headed out to Afan on Friday night and stayed in the Llynfi B&B. We had a late breakfast and set off at about 10am, after debating which trail to take we decided to head off on the Wall trail first. We were pretty mellow chatting away and relaxed as we pedalled the easy going doubletrack route at the start. We lifted our bikes through the gate at the Rhyslyn car park and started to pedal into the valley when a runner was coming towards us with a panic look on her face and arms flailing. Out of breath from her sprint she told us a biker had fallen off his bike and we could hear the ambulance sirens on the road across the valley, heading the wrong way. She asked us to go and intercept the ambulance as we would be faster on our bikes than her running. So we started off and I looked over my shoulder and said is he unconscious to which she said "Yes". 

Adrenalin kicked in and I sprinted back to the gate, threw my bike over and cycled down to the road and back up to the junction of the A4107 and B4287 at Pontrhydyfen. Of course I did not know any of that detail at the time but as I cycled along I took note of all the signs ahead and behind me.

No sign of the ambulance so I rang 999 and spoke to the call centre to get the Ambulance back to us. The forest warden arrived first and Ken went off to direct him and I stayed for the ambualnce. When that arrived I directed it up and cycled after it,  then I heard the 2nd ambulance so I turned around and pedaled back to them and told them where to go on the bridleway.

Only now did I pedal up to where the casualty was and it was pretty clear to me he had had a heart attack and 3 paramedics were doing CPR. I immediately worried for his survival as it seemed such a long time since we first met the runner and he was still in need of CPR.  

Watching from the side it suddenly brought back memories of the first 2 CPR casualties I had ever dealt with and I welled up with emotion before I quelled it again, feeling helpless now I'd done my bit. I hoped they could revive him but felt it was hardly possible to do so.

The helicopter ambulance came to take him to hospital and suddenly all was gone from the trail and we pedalled off to continue our ride in silence.

Later that day we were able to find out that he never recovered and our mood was very sombre thinking about his family and what he had left behind.

The whole incident has made me revisit my first aid skills and equipment. I am planning to renew my CPR and 1st aid skills and carry a resusci-aid to give my buddies a chance if the same should happen.

This was not an incident caused by mountain biking per se, but the remoteness of mountain bike trails just make it much more important that we mountain bikers can take care of our buddies if an accident or illness arises. I will urge those I ride with to get the skills too.

Here is a checklist of things to be aware of -

1- If an accident happens evaluate the full situation , get a history of what happened

2- Carry a mobile and contact emergency services asap

3- Pay attention to where you are at all times, even mountain bike trails signs have numbers on it that help the emergency service locate the casualty.

4- Carry a first aid kit and know how to use it.

5- Learn how to do basic CPR- you are the ebst chance your buddy has until the emeregency services can get there.

6- Send someone for help but make ure they know where you are excatly and what the incident status is.

I think the guys here did the right things, they sent runners to get help, they called the ambulance, they started CPR. I did the right thing in calling the ambulance again and telling them where to go because I'd look at all the signs around me. I was worried I might be interfering calling again but the more accurate the information I could give the quicker the services can respond. I should have asked for more info from the runner before I rushed off though, as I was unable to answer all the ambulance call centre questions. Easier to think that in retrospect of course.

My thoughts and condolences are currently with the family of this mountain biker, who ever he was, I'll probably never know.