A new regular ‘feature’ of what’s happened over the last 4 weeks in my biking world…things I’ve done it haven’t done…things that have interested me or haven’t…a summary of ‘things’.
March was a month of shit loads of riding! The weather was improving after a standard crappy south west winter and after being denied the pleasure of a new gravel bike purchase by my wife three times over the previous 12 months, I upgraded the hell out of my 9 year old/10,000 mile Genesis CdF road/gravel/commute bike to get it up to a broadly acceptable modern standard. Consequently, the desire to get out and ride whenever possible, was higher than Snoop Dogg on a return flight from Jamaica.
Well, that didn’t last!
April has been more about smiles rather than miles. With Covid-19 restrictions on travel and meeting up with people easing, it’s been a month of hitting up some riding spots further from home and doing it in the company of some humans. Both, things I’ve very much missed since Lockdown V3 began in the New Year!
Firstly, it started off with drying trails and some lunchtime mini sessions in the local woods. I even did a little #lameedit on one trip. Quickly realising that three months of mellow XC trail rides on my own had resulted in a noticeable decrease in bike skills, I was soon thinking that I needed to get out and ride some proper trails and be chasing mates down hillsides to get them back, before my first enduro races in May!
A trip up to the enduro capital of Cornwall, Grogley Woods, was had. One of my favourite places to ride, I hadn’t been there since the previous Autumn so getting back was an exciting prospect. But with the previous wet winter and loads of people riding, the trails were looking rutted and rootier than ever. It was the first time riding my Rallon in ages and at the end of the ride, the rear swing arm bearings had been shook loose enough that it was going to have to be shelved a few weeks until I could get it serviced! Back to hardtail life again.
I caught up with some of the OG Cornwall Freeriders crew for a session at ‘Bikepark Toby’. Don’t ask where it is…I won’t tell you! Several short but fun runs and some perfectly crafted mellow turns, ripe for schralping!
Another trip back up to the Bodmin area for a proper fun ride in other woodland in the area. It’s a spot that’s just a couple of years ago had next to no trails but the Bodmin enduro boys have been busy beavering away putting in some quality descents. I’ve noticed a lot of local riders on Strava are now riding there (and yeah, that now includes me), even over the mighty Grogley, so it’ll be interesting to see how long the trails last until the Forestry England fun police turn up with chainsaws and signs in hand, ready to close them off. This ride was with my Plymouth-based enduro race brothers, Nick & Lawrence. Although we’d caught up and the few races that happened in 2020 in between lockdowns, this was the first time I’d ridden with them in over 12 months. It’s always a tough but good ride with them and a great way for me to keep my fitness and skills up by trying to keep up/ahead of the ‘Chemical Brothers’. My recent drop in both is almost certainly largely down to not riding with them for ages…no one down my way is interested in high effort riding so it was inevitable!
April finished off with another first in ages…a trip out over the county border into Devon, for a ride on the Eastside of Dartmoor with Nick & Lawrence and a few ‘Plymuff’ boys. I won’t lie…that was a hard ride for me! My weakened Cornish pandemic legs and classic Devon steep climbs were not a great combo 😧 Some top quality trails were descended and I had a rad time but, in the back of my mind, it was a little disheartening to be feeling this unfit, relatively speaking, (relative to the Chemical Bros that is), especially with just a few weeks to go until Lake District racing.
So here I am, at the end of what has been an obcenely dry month, feeling the buzz of being able to go ride nice place with great people again, but also feeling some reservations about my bike handling skills and race fitness.
I have my first race of the year mid May with the first round of the local Kernow Enduro organised by Edge Cycles. As always, it’ll be great to support the local race scene and I’ve entered the hardtail category for fun. Two weeks later, on the last Bank Holiday weekend, it’ll be a big trip up to the Lakes to really see where I’m at in one of the biggest UK enduros of 2021.
If I make it around in one piece, I think I’ll be happy on this occasion 😆
orena45blog - MTB Riding & Racing 