Bumper half term week off!

I was lucky enough to have the week off for our schools half term holiday and as the kids didn't need me much I decided to get some good miles in. 

My first ride was on Monday and I decided to go with a bit of a classic. I took a direct route to Market Harborough and then joined the Brampton Valley Way. Unlike the day before I'd remembered my lights so the tunnels would be no problem.

The direct route for me took me through the village of Braybrooke, on the Northants/Leicestershire border. I've always been amused by the trickle of a stream they grandly name the River Jordan. Those awful brown signs are inappropriate at the best of times. There's another brown sign in the south of the county which proudly announces us as the 'Rose of the Shires!' It is a pretty place away from the towns, why why why the brown signs????

Onto the Brampton Valley Way which runs on a disused train line from Market Harborough to Northampton. I grew up in sight of the Northampton end and remember when the odd train still ran on the track. These days the BVW makes a nice direct cycling route to my parents house.

Without doubt the tunnels at Great Oxendon and Kelmarsh are the highlight of this route. I can't ride them without lights, despite being able to see the light at the other end of the tunnel. I'm not scared of the dark, I just get disorientated when I can't see my front wheel!

That's a better sign. It's one fo the many National Cycleway markers. I left the BVW at Merry Tom Lane which goes up into Brixworth. It's a fun downhill or a good training climb. I might use Merry Tom Lane a bit more as I get ready for the Friday Night Summer Series.

From there I went round one side of Pitsford Water. I love this place. I've cycled it many times, walked round it, ran round it, sailed on it, fished on it and sledged down the slope from the original car park. When my mates and I started driving we used to have Friday night camp outs with a barbecue and a few beers here too. 

My ride name was 'Chasing the Sun.' That was literally the case as the Sun set on a crisp but dry day.

The next couple of days weren't as good weather wise so I was limited to dog walks as I waited for the dry days to come back.

I still had a good time with my super furry animals.

Thursday was another nice dry day and I decided to leave the MTB at home to venture out on my Giant Propel. Normally this bike stays under wraps until at least Easter but my winter bike was in the shop. I have to keep some of the bikes in the shed and this led to a very stuck seat post. I'd tried many things to shift but had to concede and I took it into C&D Cycles for Andy to have a go. I have to report that my good friend and top bike mechanic has indeed freed the troublesome seat post. This is very good news because I think it will be a good fit for my son Sam very soon. I was hoping for a couple of rides with SuperSam over the half term but he had bigger fish to fry including going to work with his brother for a couple of days.

I only did a little 20 mile loop using one of my favourite training routes. This one will feature heavily as a before work ride when the mornings get some good light. I've learned my lesson the hard way about trying to do this too early in the year as I've broken a wheel on a pothole in the dark and one one frosty morning took a tumble and ruined a rear derailleur. 

Once again my ride took me through the picture postcard villages we have around here with red phone boxes, impressive churches, thatched cottages and an abundance of Northamptonshire Old Red Sandstone.

Friday was not being my friend as we had some family issues to attend to. I had a good walk with the dogs and my wife Lee at east Carlton Park much later than we had intended. we also had an extra dog with us. Bruce our Black Lab had his first ever swim in the lake, once he'd worked out that swimming was just running with your legs off the ground!

We were home by 2pm so I decided I did still have time to ride afterall. I zipped around as quick as possible to get over to Wakerley Woods where one of our very few dedicated bike trails, The Scar Tree Trail, is a good place to test your skills. It's also a good place to work on the fitness as 'Cardiac Hill,' is very well named!

I gave myself a break from riding on Saturday as it was another dog walk with Mrs Lindsley in the morning and more swimming for Bruce. In the afternoon it was a home match for Northampton Saints who just managed to squeeze past bottom club London Irish. It's been a frustrating year following our great old Rugby Club! We'd got used to being a top team for a few years and in the wise words of James: "If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor!"

Having questioned my sanity last week it will come as no surprise that once again it was time for a Sunday mud fest. I wasn't sure about going really, there was a good cricket match on the telly, it was cold and foggy out and did I really want to exhaust myself in the mud again? The ride to C&D Cycles to meet Andy and Josh Brown plus Chris B was all I needed to sort out my Sunday morning melancholy. It's weird how this affects me at times. I love cycling, why would I ever want to avoid it? I know if I had stayed home I would have been disappointed later.

This route was the reverse of last Sunday but without me getting bits wrong and Andy Brown is completely right. It's a much nicer ride this way around!

This selfie early into the ride shows how misty it was. We saw a few other groups out, mostly road riders and waved a cheery hello to the KCC social ride gathering in the bus shelter at Sainsbury's. Josh made sure he put on a good show by zooming past.

I'm not sure why someone has coloured in this bend marker but hey it's Saints colours! We were having a really nice ride as we'd passed through Rushton and made our way to Desborough. Chris was on a new steed which shows what great bargains are to be had if you go for the currently unfashionable 26" wheels. Having owned 26, 29 and now 27.5 I have to say my jury is currently out. My favourite MTB ever remains my 26" wheeled, no front suspension Orange P7. However my current MTB, which is way less expensive possibly only because of the brand, is very good too! That's the other thing on bargains. Some big or well known brand bikes are better. Not all of them though. On that...I really like Andy Brown's Forme Calver.

There goes our club mountain goat on that lovely CX bike.

In parts, some of us had to push....

Not all of us though!!!

Here's Chris's new bike. Sunn had quite a reputation in the MTB world. The history makes good reading here!

After a spin down the Brampton Valley Way we made our way back to Lamport and across the fields via Faxton to Mill Lane, still my favourite cycling road. I left the others and made my way home from here by road via Orton. I stopped at the church because there's a geocache there which keeps evading me. Amazingly on this occasion I found it in seconds. It was also a good excuse to take a picture of my bike in front of yet another impressive church.

Look at the state of the filthy beast!

Ten minutes later it was all shiny and I made sure the chain had plenty of lube!

Right then. That's a great week of cycling and a really big chunk of my #NHS1000miles completed. Back to work tomorrow and the rollers in the mornings. I can't complain though. My weight is going in the right direction and I'm feeling fitter.

Time to make Sunday dinner!

Happy Pedalling!!!

Winter miles = Summer Smiles...we hope!!!

Riding at this time of year is both encouraging and frustrating in equal measure. Off road riding at this time of year is both bonkers and a lot of fun! Mother nature is teasing us with Spring. The snowdrops are out, lambs are in the fields and the light is improving. However bitter winds, snow flurries and intense mud are also a strong feature.

Today, Marcus, Andy P and I met for just one of those rides. Incredibly kindly Andy planned a route which lent itself to my personal schedule of needing to be back for lunch at 12.30. More on that later. That route was one of Andy Brown's creations and that may well have been our first error. Sorry, no, THAT was our first error. Mr Brown is not at fault here. Not even one jot at fault. The culprit is in fact Garmin, with our lack of local knowledge playing a major supporting role.

Very early into this ride we were lost! We left Kettering and tried to pick our route around the so far undeveloped Cransley Park and frankly it was a shambles. Andy P was doing a sterling job trying to make sense of his Garmin and Marcus and I were clueless in our ability to help! We traversed down a bank onto what felt like the route. Then from a perfectly good trail we liked the look of a gate in front of what most certainly was a disused railway line. We soldiered on through that impassable trail to a bridge that only a complete fool would cross before common sense got the better of us and we dropped back down the embankment to inadvertently rediscover the route! In the process we invented the new sport of bike-a-teering.

Now if you think that was bad take a look at the magnificent picture at the top of the page. We did not ride for very long across this field. In fact the mud clogged us up so much we couldn't even walk our bikes. We had to carry them! The field directly followed the bridge.

This is the dodgy bridge. The bridleway goes under it. Traversing down the side of the bridge is optional!

Why is Marcus pushing his bike?? Well it's because the mud on some of the bridleways is just flipping impossible! To get here was at times really nice. We made our way from Cransley, over to Mawsley, and then via Mill Lane to the abandoned village of Faxton (history here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxton, Marcus you were right, it was a plague village!)

That looks rideable doesn't it? Nope, nope it wasn't. Andy P had the most joy but this was a boggy surface which chucked up cloggy mud into our wheels. At times we questioned our sanity and then decided we knew what we were getting into. Despite the suffering we all considered the mud bashing to be fun!

We crossed more muddy fields into that bitter head wind before finally popping out onto road at Lamport. It was some relief. After an hour of riding we had covered 7 miles! In this company I have easily travelled three times as far in the same time. From there we made our way down to the Brampton Valley Way. I have never been so pleased to see that familiar old track with it's hard packed surface. A couple of miles down the track we could see the black rubber of our tyres again as the mud flew off in all directions

As we approached the Kelmarsh Tunnel I decided it would be wise to peel off and head up to Harrington via the bridleway that goes over the tunnel. It wasn't wise. It was in fact quite foolish. On a day when I thought it couldn't get more muddy...IT GOT MORE MUDDY!!! I wish I had stayed with Andy and Marcus, both for the company and the better riding surface!

Once back on tarmac I made my way to Harrington via as many road puddles as possible in a futile attempt to clear the mud. The village was quite beautiful with snowdrops, views across the valley and picture postcard features.

I arrived home with 40 minutes to spare before our family lunch date. Lee took her traditional Sunday picture of filth. She thought the mud on my legs camouflaged me against the paving slabs. This is the third week running I have arrived home in this state and frankly it points to a failure to learn! I'm also convinced that given the chance I will jump at the chance to do it again next Sunday!

First order of the day was to hose the bike down and I did my shoes and legs at the same time. I prefer to ride in shorts but at this time of the year I may review that option. The scratches on my legs are the result of trying to ride on the last dry bits of bridleway as close to the hedge as possible!

My reward for all this effort was lunch at the best restaurant I know, the Thai Garden in Rothwell. We were spending the money we were given by Lee's cousin for looking after their dog for four weeks. So not only was it a great meal we also felt like we were dining for free! The diet may have been wrecked today but who cares? Back to clean eating tomorrow!!!

So that's today...what else has gone on this week? Well SuperSam and I continue to train before work/school as many mornings as possible. I'm really proud of his efforts. He drags himself out of bed and struggles to get going and then he really really goes for it. 

Work has got in the way of some of my training this week. On Wednesday I had a workshop  attend in Reading. On Friday I was interviewed live on Radio Northampton about Children's Mental Health as part of Northamptonshire Mental Health Day. It was a very worthy day with the main campaign coming from the Talk Out Loud project http://www.talkoutloud.info/

I'm lucky enough to have the half term week off. For now it's time to relax in front of the fire! I suspect there will be many more cycling adventures over the next few days!

Happy Pedalling

More mud, less cramp, another great ride!

I need to bang this blog out quick, Italy v England in the 6 nations is on, I need to do the ironing and my good friend Malcolm is pestering me by text about all things rugby!

So four of us met up at C&D Cycles this morning for another off road mud fest. Our happy band was Andy Brown and his son Josh, Chris B and me! I'm not sure why numbers were down this week. Perhaps people were still shattered from the week before. I know my legs were questioning 'why are we doing this again?' as I made my ride into Kettering.

This Chris B out sprinting Josh on a hill...at least that's what this picture shows...

In his promotion of this ride Andy had stated that the mud wouldn't be as bad this week. Well at this stage Andy I was struggling to tell the difference. However it was a lot more fun to ride down the hill from Warkton Lane than it had been the week before with my legs cramping and the wheel coming off!

Slightly more made up than above...my clumsiness persists?

Andy took the picture

Only saddos take pictures of their bike

Erm...except MTB, pics of your MTB are cool...

The difference this week is that not long after these pictures were taken we were on the trails around Stanwick Lakes. It was nice to be on a firmer surface and we made good time dodging the dog walkers and the joggers. We popped out of those trails in the 'hell on earth,' that is Rushden Lakes. I think it's great that Northants has a decent shopping resource given that our towns are diabolical and Milton Keynes was getting all our money but...like Titanic and the X-Factor I plan to never see the thing properly!

Rushden Lakes Bridge, Like Sydney Harbour or The Golden Gate except it's in Rushden and a bit pants!

Boys will be boys

bumpity bumpity bump

Good skills

No Josh's were harmed during this ride

The bridge was a lot of fun. I avoided the step challenge on the grounds that I didn't want to explain a mishap to Mrs Lindsley. I'm months away from that sort of grace...further injuries may result in my bikes being melted down.

It was back to the roads for a bit after this. I thought we might go to Finedon but in fact we headed into Wellingborough and then across fields to Burton Latimer. It was all new to me so thanks to Andy for the route.

The mud wasn't done though as we headed back towards Cranford and then down a lane which took us back to my nemesis from last week. I was still the slowest by far but this week I made it back up that muddy hill and into Kettering on Warkton Lane.

After a brief piece of separation where Chris and I failed to follow Andy and Josh we all headed home. I did say to Chris that I would head home by the shortest route but I just couldn't resist the track from Glendon to Rushton. I was rewarded for my efforts with some low flying kites and the Llamas at Rushton.

Okay that's it this week.

Happy Pedalling