Monthly Archives: October 2011
Inspiration
The bike bus. Without this we wouldn't have even got started. Excellent service!
I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for some time – I’d made a booking with the brand new Edinburgh bike bus to take myself and Iain (aged 10) for some fun biking at Glentress!
Having collected him at 8 (I had to ride there with lights and he looked like he had just fallen out of bed), we made the short trip over to the pick up point. I had a moment of panic when the driver, Karl, said “does he need a booster seat?” What?! I don’t drive, I had no idea … luckily, he did, and had put one in just in case – phew! We were soon safely ensconced and on our way.
Good work on a short rocky climb
I wasn’t sure how Iain would cope with the first long climb, so was pleased to find that we got dropped off at the top and picked up at the bottom! 🙂 We set off from the near-deserted car park to ride the blue route. I was immediately impressed with the improvements since last time. He was putting in efforts to get up hills, using his gears properly and not giving up at the first difficult bit. We were at Betty Blue before we knew it and I was delighted that it was declared ‘really fun’ and that the following fast fire road descent was equally exciting; “I’ve never been so fast on my bike before!”
Unfortunately the first tumble followed soon after – it’s heart stopping watching from behind as someone else’s child that you’re responsible for suddenly goes shooting forwards like superman, whilst the bike somersaults away …. Luckily no harm was done and we were soon snacking on a cereal bar and laughing about Iain’s attempts to learn to fly! 😀 Another climb and we were at the top of Blue Velvet – a bit he had been looking forward to all day. We started off at some speed and I was very impressed at how he handled the turns. Until … oops … another ‘flying’ attempt. This time a little more serious, as complaints about a sore wrist were persistent. After some cuddles and words of encouragement we set off again. Luckily Iain wasn’t so traumatised we couldn’t give it another go – slower! And much slower on ‘crash corner’!
Looking like a pro!
Berm Baby Berm came next – now that the sun had come up and everyone else was out of bed, this section was proving popular; kids, teenagers and grown ups alike were queuing to go down. We had a good first run and were soon climbing up for another go. And another one. A slight squeak from me as Iain nearly flew off the edge of one giant berm, but it was well rescued. I had decided that the best general policy was to let him experiment and learn for himself where his limits are – within reason! – whilst picking trails of an appropriate grade. I think it worked and he will soon develop the judgement he needs and become better and better.
One thing I especially noticed was how well Iain responded to instruction. By the end of the ride we were on to standing up, level pedals, knees out and looking ahead. He really looked the part! What an opportunity to help someone young acquire all the skills I wish I haven’t had to battle to learn as an adult. I also realised I was being copied, so I was very careful to have perfect positioning myself!
Given the choices of heading down for cake before we left, or doing more riding and having ice-cream back in Edinburgh, Iain opted for more biking straight away. Must have done something right. The final run down to the bottom was fast and fun. After some hesitation and a discussion of line choice, the steep bridge was conquered (“Did you like it?” “I was scared!” “Never mind, next time it will be less scary and more fun!”) and we did a good job of racing back to the bus to arrive, ahem, just a few minutes late.
Iain’s parents were right when they joked that they should have charged me for the loan of their son – I can’t wait to take him again! I’m already thinking what might make it even more fun – knobbly tires? Less air pressure? New bike?!
Just rewards for hard work and super riding!
ps If you like the look of this ice cream, thick Spanish hot chocloate and churros, then you can find it all at The Chocolate Tree. Very tasty!
Ginger Biscuits and Salty Chocolate
Last week during our Italian class, we had to talk about what typical things we would offer guests to our house.
One girl suggested ‘biscotti alla canella’ (cinnamon biscuits). Malcolm next to me went for ‘biscotti alla mandorla’ (almond biscuits). Now, I love biscuits, which is why I almost never buy them because they would get eaten too quickly and they are not full of healthy things, like cabbage is (which I was eating at dinnertime today, in a cider, cream and mustard sauce with butterbeans, leeks and thyme, served with stove-top butternut squash scones … but I digress).
The best tasting ginger biscuits?
So I chipped in ‘mi piacciono molto i biscotti al zenzero’ (I really like ginger biscuits). I didn’t get round to explaining they have to be the ones with big chunks of stem ginger in them.
Next thing, I’m being asked by the lovely Carlo (our stand-in teacher for the week); ‘se veniamo a casa tua stasera, ci serviresti i biscotti al zenzero?’ (if we were to come to your house tonight, would you serve us ginger biscuits?). Unfortunately, no, I have no ginger biscuits in the house (see above). But, luckily, I have something else very special. ‘Non, ma offrirei il cioccolato alla sale. Solo cioccolato che è fatto di 70% cacao, minimo’.
Salty dark chocolate. Ranks up there only with soft salty caramel wrapped in dark chocolate. I’ll also eat dark chocolate with chilli, lime, spices or orange. But it has to be dark.
For any evening
For special occasions
According to Carlo, I’m very ‘cutting edge’, but I have to admit I was introduced to these delights by someone else, to whom I am forever grateful!
* Apologies for any language gaffes. It’s so much easier to hide mistakes when it’s not written down!
Making a habit of night riding?
I started out riding my mountain bike off road in the dark when I decided to do the Strathpuffer some years ago – what an introduction! I’ve been out sporadically since, either training for the occasional race, or just for fun. It is possible to get up into the Pentland Hills outside Edinburgh from work, ride and get back without a car – though it’s always further home than I expect!
This year Andreas, a friend from work and the bike club, has decided he wants to ride his mountain bike more. The only time to do it is after work, when it just happens to be dark. He has a car and needs someone to go with – I am happily obliging 😀
The trails are almost deserted and are more interesting than they are in the daylight. I have been testing out the head light I won at the Trans Wales event – an Exposure Diablo. It’s an awesome light; bright enough to ride with on its own, providing you’re not out for too long. And a good job too, since my handlebar light detached from the bracket and stayed that way (new part ordered)!
Andreas seems keen on animal spotting. This week we got:
- Rabbit – 5 points
- Bats – 10 points
- Squirrel (unverified) – 3 points
- Small amphibian – 7 points
- Large OWL! – 20 points
- Black beetle – 6 points
- 4 other humans – 0 points
Total: 51 points
We’ve already headed off to Glentress twice recently, so it looks like this might become a regular thing. Fits in very well with my plan to ride my mountain bike more, but not so well with my plan to do the club running sessions more, since the evenings keep clashing! Since one is more fun than the other, I can see which might end up winning 🙂
Lynskey + Andreas and his midget-wheeled bike! A cold, misty and moonlit evening.
* Picked up a team jersey from Ronde today. Very exciting!
Haglöfs Open5 series – Staveley
The first event in this series seems to have come around so quickly – it doesn’t seem a year since I stood at the start of my first solo event in Slaidburn feeling a bundle of nerves. I was nervous this time too, but only in a healthy pre-race kind of way.
I’d arrived in Staveley on Saturday in time for a hearty lunch in the sunshine at Wilf’s (definitely recommended) before going for a spin in the afternoon. I was trying to get a feel for the lie of the land and the state of the trails without wearing myself out. What a shame the 3 hour ride turned into more like 5! However, I had taken advantage of the unseasonable sun, topped up my tan and got an extremely hearty meal at the Eagle and Child in the evening, so it felt like a good day.
Sunday was still warm, but damp. I registered and collected my map in good time. Before each of these races I have a look at the map, try and guess where the likely event area will be and then study it hard to fix it in my mind. Familiarity with what you’re looking at on race day is a great help! It doesn’t always work, but this time it did, as I had the bike area almost exactly right. In the comfort of my B&B I planned some routes with options depending on control values and then rolled back down the hill to start.
I came across this control on Saturday's ride, when it wasn't raining and I wasn't in a hurry!
In the last of these events in April there was loads of great biking with lots of points – which I missed out on because I totally over-stretched myself on the run. I was determined not to do the same this time and set off rather conservatively. The first small loop was over rough ground up and down a hill. My knee was complaining slightly. I went over on my weak ankle. Again. My navigating wasn’t quite precise enough… I put all of this down to being totally out of practice – from both running (practically zero since Ben Nevis) and foot orienteering. Added to which, the new shoes didn’t even seem to be gripping on the tarmac!
I reminded myself I was in it for fun, adjusted my route and after a mere 10.6km in 1h39m I happily set off with loads of time for the biking.
The only way is up and over
I whizzed along the roads and tracks to the first few controls. My bike was munching up the kilometres and I had a big smile on my face! I had a slight nagging worry about the funny noises emanating from my bottom bracket and about another, which just turned out to be me breathing … I concentrated on whooping on the fun bits, riding faster than normal on the technical bits and keeping a nice rhythm on the climbing bits. All was going wonderfully. With about 1h40m left to go I had bags of time for an 11km loop back on the hills, so nipped along a road for a low scoring 10-point control. I even started fretting that I had cut the run too short and would be back early.
I had to push up the next short section – which I had anticipated, so it wasn’t a surprise. However, I suddenly I ran out of water, hit some sort of metaphorical wall and with over an hour still to go, my mood had taken a massive swing in the opposite direction. I couldn’t think straight, I started falling off, and I slooooowwwed down. I stopped more than once to debate an extra out and back (total 2km) that I blatantly did not have time for (luckily my fuddled brain did work this out eventually).
I finally started to see a few more people heading back my way and was inspired to find some new source of energy when Dan Halliday from Team Accelerate caught me up. I couldn’t quite keep him in sight, but it did give me a kick start that I needed. Sadly a little too late – I blasted down the last hill to the finish but came in just under 3 minutes late – 6 penalty points for me.
Good enough to get 2nd in the female solos, though it was very close between the top 4. It wasn’t my perfect tactical race, but neither did I make any glaring errors. What did let me down was the running. The race analysis showing your position between any two controls demonstrates the point nicely; out of all competitors, I was in the top 10 for every bike leg that I did, except one. On the run, I managed to clock in at 92nd on one of the legs – ouch! I did speed up as I went along, so maybe there’s hope yet. A trip to the physio on Friday and some determined actual running training and I’m sure I’ll be back on form in no time :D. Meanwhile, there’s always the promise of more night time trail riding later in the week to keep me happy!
The results and the photos.
Planet Byde 
