Offa's Dyke

Me and Richie had been planning a trip along part of Offa's Dyke for some time, co-ordinating our time off work was the main problem. Offa's Dyke is a hiking path that runs the whole distance between Wales and England, more or less following the border itself.. Originally built by Offa a king of Mercia, to keep out marauders from what is now Wales. It is 177 miles long and Richie had prepared a route for us to cover about a tenth of that distance over the weekend.

We were to set off from Hatterall Hill heading north hoping to break the back of the walk and then bivi on the top near Hay Bluff as it grew dark. This would leave a nice leisurely stroll into Hay on Wye on Sunday morning.

The forecast on Saturday was for 50mph winds and maybe a little rain, before the wind dropped and the rain cleared by around six that evening.

The day started off quite pleasant and the climb up Hatterhall was was warm under blue skies and fluffy clouds. The views from here were stunning, looking over to England on the east and Wales to the west. The views of England were markedly flat and of square fields bordered with hedges and dry stone walls ...all nicely ordered. The large looming mountains signifying the unfettered wildness of Wales on our left side. There was something wonderfully ironic about a Welshman and an Englishman walking together along something originally designed to keep us a part :)

The wind up this high was incredible with some of the blasts almost knocking me over, it was becoming apparent that we'd have to drop lower to set up camp.

A more pressing problem was water, or the lack of it. We were both carrying enough water to drink. But finding water to camp was a problem. We'd both brought filter bottles with us, Richie had the katadyn here : katadyn and I had the travel tap from the most excellent Backpackinglight.co.uk We'd bargained on getting water from streams. But after such a wonderfully dry September even Wales was short of water :)

It was hard going, the terrain was uneven and the wind was blowing us all over the place.

As we neared the highest point of our trek, dark clouds began building to the east and within half an hour we were being blasted by freezing horizontal rain. Here we revised our plans and Richie suggested we push on to Hay Bluff and drop down from there. Luckily from here onwards the trail was large stone slabs, laid to prevent erosion and these made for good speed.

As we descended the Bluff it was hammering down and we decided to forego the camping and pushed on into Hay on Wye.

It was a great hike and we accomplished what we'd set out to do, the full 17 miles. We are going back to bivi another day :)

X vuelta a Ibiza

La pagina web dice -

- Estamos trabajando en la edición 2010 de la Vuelta a Ibiza. Pronto pondremos a vuestra disposición los nuevos programas, recorridos y paquetes de inscripción.
Las inscripciones comenzarán el 15 de enero. ¡Reserva estas fechas: 2, 3 y 4 de abril!

It's a week earlier this year.

Sant Josep extrem -

The race started with the usual Ibicenc firecrackers and smoke and we were off. We started with a loop around the astro turf running track at the campo desport, a bit like the Paris-Roubaix but with the track at the beginning!


Me and Jane had decided to ride together today. Up the main road through Sant Josep we caught Julie, Keith was long gone. The next 2km was downhill on rocky stuff interspersed with sand traps, we squirrelled quite a bit on these -later we learned that Julie had hit the deck on the final one and scraped her knee and face :(

At about 12km we hit the very rough, technical climb - Sa Serra Grossa and everyone was off and walking. The sun was high now and I had sweat dripping off my elbows. I couldn’t actually work out where it was originating, my sleeves where tight so it wasn’t from my armpits. Here we passed Mari - eventual 2nd place senior lady, also the girl Jane had been 2nd to in the Vuelta Ibiza. We took some water at the top, Mari went straight through. The next climb-Sa Capelleta- we recognised from the Vuelta Ibiza. Nicely technical but rideable, Jane pulled away from me on the last steep section up to the first check point.

Danny from Kandani, whispered to me that Jane was fourth girl and only a minute down J

A long technical down and a short hard up took us to the 2nd cp overlooking the bay, we grabbed some coke and aquaria (isotonic drink) and set off up the road overlooking the bay. Up a slightly technical climb, we saw kb. He’d begun to cramp and had eased back, he gave us his wheel and pulled us across the flattish section and we began the climb of Puig D’en Serra. This was 4 km of rippled concrete, long sections at over 20%. Many people were walking this, I was in my 22/32 granny the whole climb and fighting to keep the front wheel on the ground. We crested this to ride fast wide gravel hairpins to the bottom and the last cp. This cp was at the base of Sa Talaia, the last climb of the day. This was a wide gravel hard pack climb, not too steep and a nice middle ring ride. But somewhere between the last descent and here Jane had hit the bonk. I’d been feeding her gels for the past couple of km but she hadn’t recovered yet.

We began the last climb steadily, Jane still had her head bowed and was suffering like a dog, but she pushed on. I rode ahead with Pepé one of the organisers, keeping an eye on her. Suddenly, a couple of km’s into the climb, she appeared alongside us smiling and chatting. The gels and the coca cola at the cp had kicked in and we spun up to the top.

It was all downhill now into Sant Josep! We had hiked up and down this trail a couple of Christmases ago and I remember at the time joking with Jane what a good downhill it would make. At the time we were struggling to walk sections of it J Juan Ferrer had warned us a little earlier that it was worse than ever because there’d been a downhill race on it the week before.
It began with a very steep, loose drop in with the obligatory guy with a video camera that dangerous bits attract J Because of the previous race the trail was covered in loose marbles and dust which continually slid you sideways on the off camber towards the big drops off the edge :-o

Jane rode more of this than she (or I )thought she would J At one point there was a huge climb down with the bike on the shoulder. I left the bike at the bottom and clambered back up to carry Jane’s down. Just at the top she rode past me, into someone’s garden and down their drive and came out way down the trail!!! Damn! she’d found the chicken run and was way ahead of me. I finally caught up with her on the tarmac run into the finish, where we shared the work with a local guy.

At the finish the paella party was in full swing, these events are always popular with non riders and family and they make a day of it.
Kb came in a minute later and Julie had taken a few wrong turns on the course and was about an hour later.

We got changed and sat around cheering the last few home and waiting for the award ceremony. First they had a raffle, pulling race numbers from a bag - Jane won a maillot and some pantalones. Then she and Julie were called up for 1st and 2nd over forties ladies. And surprisingly I was called for 3rd in the 50+ class……hurrah!


A great day out

Pulborough Bird Sanctuary

Today we decided on a long ride because the weather was nice :)

 We hadn't been on the South Downs yet this year. So at 7.30 am and the temperature a fabulous 20'C already, we headed off over the North Downs via Peaslake to Cranleigh.  Our aim was to reach Amberley in around four hours.

We reached Cranleigh  four minutes quicker than when we came this way three weeks earlier on our way to Southwater - the trails are much less crowded this time day :)

We pushed a bit on the Downs Link and reached Southwater at 40km in 1 hour 53, last time was a long 1.59 hurrah! I filled a bottle here and we pushed on.  

The downs link was remarkably clear of other users so we made good time with Jane on the front :)  We reached the end of the link in 2.44 . This is where it got tougher because now we turn on to the South Downs Way and encounter.........some hills!! 

We'd been pretty much in the shade until now. As we climbed up onto the Downs, the temperature climbed too, reaching 27' C in the most exposed points......lovely :)  We climbed from here over Annington hill, then up again after the level section to Chanctonbury Ring all the time enjoying the lovely heat. Next was the scary loose descent to the even scarier A24! :-o

At the top of the next climb we came across a guy with his bike upside down, emptying the bits of his broken suspension seatpost from the seat tube :) the next section across Kithurst ,Springhead and Rackham hills is great fun all a gently rolling big ring blast on hard narrow chalk paths. It was getting close to four hours so we hammered it across here and skidded down into Amberely at 3h 49m.....hurrah!  We would normally grab teacakes and coffee at the cafe in Amberely, but Jane hadn't stopped complaining about the small size of the teacakes since we were there a month ago. So we pushed on to have tea at Pulborough Brooks (Where I'd had some normal sized tea cakes a few weeks ago when I was out with the A group.)

The teacakes met with Jane's approval, meeting all of the criteria for the perfect teacake. Two weeks ago at Southwater she and Eric had worked out the formula for teacakes. Eric had had a similar teacake trauma some time before.  I don't remember all of the details but it had to be around 8cm wide, not 'capped' (sliced evenly so that the top and bottom are of even diameter), cooked in a toaster to avoid being tainted by smells of other food from the grill.......and so on....etc

After tea was a two hour hard slog into the wind to home. A great mixed six hours on the bike.

Sundayriders lsd ride

First proper wet ride of the year - well in the UK anyway :) So we had to dig out las guardabarras

Today's ride was to the tea shop at Cripplegate lake, Southwater.  JD needed some steady km and decided that hanging on to the back of me and Jane for 80km's would suit her down to the ground :)

The way it went was that me and JD failed to hang onto Jane's wheel for much of the way down. Jane is sooo strong at the moment.  Her form is coming good in time for the Ibiza race, she'll need it because la campionata del mundo -
Marga Fullana will be there!  
I don't know how they do it in Ibiza, last October they had Miguel Indurain and Abraham Olano turn up for their road sportif.

It took us 2.15 to do the 40km to the café - surprisingly quick considering it was hard going and  muddy. We were filthy. The lake was quite busy with people canoeing and others sitting outside in the now bright sunshine. 

We had a nice tailwind for the return and got home a minute faster. JD fluffed the little climb near the end "the cows looking at me put me off" And we had to hose down the bikes (and JD) for the first time this year!

Sunday ride con Dinsdale

The Mighty Dinsdale out on the bike again so soon!  Qué bien. Pero por qué?  Well the reason is that she's coming to Ibiza to race the San Josep Extreme.....hurrah!  The other reason is that she has a new recipe for wild garlic soup and most of Surrey seems to be blanketed in garlic this year :)

Off up over Leith Hill to see if we could bump into Greg and the guys on the shop ride from Moosecycles.com

As we climbed, so did the temperature warming up the woods for an olfactory smorgasbord of spring :-o The lovely pong of bluebells, the may, garlic, pine and the azaleas. To cap it all just as we reached the highest point we heard our first cuckoo of spring.......yay! :)

We did the usual singletrack stuff, all still amazingly dry. (The forecasters keep promising us a bit of rain, but it keeps moving on.) On the way to the tower we went via 'impossible climb' - a loose very steep climb that takes you up to 'summer lightning' Jane led the way up the left side then scrabbled across the loose marbles in the middle to the  right side. She eased a bit on the grippy bit near the top so I attacked on the left, but she pipped me to the top :)  - her first ever clearance of this climb.......well done Jane :)

None of the guys were at the tower so we rode over to Peaslake via Belmont - at Belmont we went through the school grounds and through the rhododendron woods, which have grown over to form a tunnel. Me and julie got under it but Jane was too tall :)

Next was over Holmbury through the singletrack to Peaslake, where we'd missed them again...doh

We did see Eric, his bro, clive and Dave Fignon out for an mtb ride though.

On the way back we had to go to get some garlic for Julie's recipe. We rode back through the vineyard to the stepping stones where Julie stuffed her backpack full.

Sundayriders Monday ride - up the Downs

Paul turned up early today!

We decided to do a few steady hills on today's ride in preparation for the San Josep Ibiza Extrem 

We have a little route that traverses the North Downs escarpment- up Clag, down Cold Kitchen, up the one next to Cold Kitchen, down Netley Heath, up Juniper Hill, down Halfpenny Lane,up to St Martha's Church, down the back and loop around to come up the south side of the church, up Water Lane.  We were now on the way back across the escarpment, but this time we rode down the climbs and up the descents :)

We did our usual head banging 'line out' across the Roughs to round out the day......fabulous :)

Steady ride to Amberley

Jane is getting excited about being fit for the Sant Josep Extreme, so she is eager to be out on the bike once again :)

Amberley is one of our favourite tea stops, with it's view of the South Downs.  It's also been our salvation in times of foul weather when riding the South Downs Way.

It's a road ride  but on winding, rolling lanes. So we often do it on the mountain bikes because the relaxed position allows us to enjoy the views :)

Nature has suddenly bloomed this last week  and almost everything is in full growth, including the St Mark's flies! We run into great swarms of these things this time of year. They're hopeless at flying and have big scary dangling legs that brush against your face, I always try to hold my breath until we're through the swarm :)

It's a very jolly area an has a number of roads named Gadd  and Gay.

Sundayriders Friday Ride by Jane

The weather is fantastic and Julie has  a rare day off so she's joined Paul and I on our regular Friday ride. The countryside is heavy with blooms and foliage and we roll out through fluorescent fields of yellow rape and take in the climb of Clag to wade through acres of bluebells. Despite the fabulously dry weather we manage to find some muddy rutted tracks to descend to the woodyard, then climb back to the North Downs Way and head for Newlands. A fast descent down water lane follows and we take in the long drag up Pond's lane - remarkably dry - through the Silent Wood and follow the gnarly track up to Jelley's Hollow. After descending into Peaslake we climb through Hurtwood, blast down telegraph and head back over Paddington Farm. A classic SundayRiders Friday ride! and the best day of the year so far:) Paul was back on his old bike as, having done two whole rides, he's already worn his new baby's race tyres down to the carcass and wants to save the remaining noblets to race the second round of the National Points Series next weekend in Dalby.  Julie was on fine form and will soon have the miles in her legs ready for the upcoming Ibiza Xtreme, she has threatened to come out both Friday and Sunday next week too.......................the Mighty Dinsdale is back!!!

Jane

The Sunday ride

Today is forecast to be the last dry one for a while, so we thought we'd make the best of it and see the bluebells. I love the bluebells, but the pollen affects my chest.

The trails we lovely and dry, we've had very little rain this year. This encourages hooligan riding!! :) Which is why I'm sitting here in pain from body surfing down the fastest singletrack in Surrey :(

Jane had chosen a route taking us over towards Epsom race Course. The first part is one of my favourite rides for testing my fitness. I led the way up Staine street, which was dry enough to climb out of the saddle, I kept it steady to keep the three of us together. Paul was on his new bike and so was eager to attack and test it :)

So we kept together until the start of the 'longest singletrack in Surrey' where I moved over at the top to let Paul through, but he slowed and moved over to let me through :)

I accelerated hard along the 30 metre asphalt stretch by the house and launched off the step into the loose rocky stuff and big ringed it to the farm, where I saw a dog from the corner of my eye and eased a bit. I accelerated again into the twisty section. As I hit the straight section The bike suddenly veered up the banking, I pulled it back down to the straight but something was wrong. The front was sliding and twisting - then the sloooow mooooootion kicked in and the sound went. I could see that the front wheel was locked and sliding to the left - I thought, I'm going down. I looked up and because I was near the ground already, all I could see was a series of tree roots. So I tried to superman it :) I was pretty horizontal as I hit the ground.I felt my shins and knees bounce off every root as I twisted to slide on my back. Then normal speed and sound returned as my helmet hit the ground....ouch!

As I lay on the ground performing a quick triage :) I heard Jane shout look at the wheel. The front tyre was off and the inner tube which was still inflated was enormous, as big as a tractor tyre and wrapped around the forks :-o (no pictures I'm afraid as Paul and Jane were far to bothered about my well being - bless 'em) I'm sure had it been Paul or Jane the second thing I'd have done would be to take some pics ;)

I'm not sure whether the tyre wasn't seated properly or that I'd hit a rock or root and dislodged it, but this is what had locked the front wheel.

Next the pain hit me and I felt sick and and wanted to go to the toilet at the same time. This was my autonomic nervous system freaking out when the body dumps a load of hormones into the system. 'Dumps'being the operative word :) I think that this was probably my hardest crash ever. Later my gps showed my speed dropping from 32kph to zero in an instant :-O Better than any disc brake! lol!

Once the nausea had passed and I'd reseated the tyre. I was on the horns of a dilemma. Which was: a. being full of adrenaline and wanting to go hard. b. frightened that my tyre might come off again.

Ten minutes later we were hammering down the singletrack to Given's Grove :) This is super-fast and narrow. At the fastest point the owners of one of the local mansions has built a raised driveway across the track. We hit this flat out and took off,I skimmed across whole thing about three inches off the ground.......whoaaaaaa!!!

Ten minutes later I'm off the back on the slightest climb and everything's hurting :)

So, now I'm sitting here and slowly stiffening up. My left elbow won't fully extend and supination is very painful, I have bloody knees and shins,  scrapes and abrasions on my shoulders and scapulae and a huge lump on my right sacroiliac. The good news is that I'll have some fabulous scabs to pick later in the week! :)