On an ITT no-one can hear you scream!

I try to push on the pedal but it's no use, the pain is too much and the air turns blue with pain and frustration. Again I get off the bike and massage and beat the offending muscle. Back on the bike but this time it's the other leg, off the bike and attend to that. I'm on my own, I think, on the track up Great Pinseat above Swaledale and I've only done 110 of the route's 300 kilometres.

I stagger on, walking and pushing the bike even on the flat, eventually I reach the summit and can freewheel down the other side. Then there's another hill. The reality is that there's more of those ahead, a lot more. Quitting is looking the sensible option. There's an old joke about fighting a gorilla: you don't stop when you are tired, you stop when the gorilla's tired. Except this gorilla cannot tire, its unyielding stones impervious to fleeting rubber.

My companion for the last 50Km has moved ahead and the rider behind isn't catching up (I later learn that he too is suffering from cramps) so I'm still on my own for the crux of the route: the descent in to Gunnerside Gill is steep, technical and hard to find the correct entry point. I get the wrong line and resort to walking down 45 degree boulder strewn heather. The old mine workings mark the end of this and the route down to Gunnerside is dry and fast. There's a pub = food.

The idea of a Yorkshire Dales ITT had started last year when Stuart Rider had attempted the Highland Trail 550. He'd had to withdraw but it gave him an idea of a similar event in the Dales. So when he announced it, I signed up. So did another 60 or so. The original route was 320Km and had another, big, hill but with a bit of tweeking the distance dropped down to just over 300m. Oh, and the small matter of 6700m of climbing. In the event just twenty started on Saturday morning and only ten finished.

Simon Lerpiniere on Stake Moss

The gorilla is winning. I know there's a descent coming but it's nearly midnight and I'm weary and becoming prone to mistakes. The descent is fast but with some lose sections. Time to stop. Fittingly the bivvy is at the highest point of the route at the head of Cam High Road. A wall provides some shelter from the wind. It's never truly dark through the night at this time of year and I drift in and out of sleep. There's the occasional very light shower. One of my wraps suffices for breakfast and I'm on my way.

The rain arrives about an hour later. On a fine day the route over the shoulder of Whernside and across Great Wold has grand vistas, today it's grim. On the climb on to Great Wold I pass another rider with a mood to match both mine and the weather.

Temptation: I come to a T-junction. I have to take the left towards the forestry and then down to Horton-in-Ribblesdale but I know that if I turn right and go through the gate then in less than a kilometre I'll pick up the route again where it joins the Pennine Bridleway and crosses the Ribble. Local knowledge can be a cruel thing. By the time I'm at Horton, I've run out of water. I can't see any outside taps from which to refill. Head down to hide from the rain and carry on.

Stuart's idea was to include as many of the best tracks that the Dales have to offer. I'm beginning to feel like he's included all of them. The route is intestinal in its loops and there will be more such shortcuts on offer later in the day with the route ahead in sight but an hour or two's riding away.

Wet limestone is very slippery and once or twice I nearly come a cropper on the lanes leading off Sulber Nick. I'm out of the clag and things ahead are looking a little brighter. Passing Austwick I've a choice of ford or clapper bridge - I chose to walk the bridge, wet slate is also very slippery. A couple of kilometres ahead is Feizor and a cafe but it doesn't open until 0930. Completely unsure of the time I turn on my phone: 0950. Decision made - I'm having some breakfast!

The rather filling full breakfast at the cafe in Feizor

A couple of riders arrive and I dally longer than is needed but we are social creatures and company feels good. Having seen no-one since the rider leaving Dentdale I spend the rest of the ride shuffling around in a small group that is dispersed over a ten minute or so gap.

My hands are bruised and sore, holding the bars is increasingly difficult, the soles of my feet are burning and I have to continually adjust my position on the pedals. None of this matters, the end is in sight, another minute or so of concentration and there's 10Km of tarmac left to the finish though I convince myself it's only 5Km. One last climb and the descent in to town then it's just the ramp to cross the railway, "Attack! Attack! Just one metre of climb to do!" Quite what the bloke walking beside the road thought of the shouts of a filthy, smelly rider on a bike I've no idea. Turn on to the last road, pot hole avoidance and then finally ride in to the yard nearly 36 hours after leaving. My first ITT event is complete.


Here's my ride on Strava.

Back o' Skiddaw

Before I began looking at the Bob Graham Round I'd done no walking in the Northern Fells of the Lake District. Even then I only visited the summits of Skiddaw, Great Calva and Blencathra that are on the round itself, Mungrisdale Common was visited as a default since the route passes within a few metres of its "summit" (probably the least prominent summit of any of those in Wainwright's books).

In the last couple of years I began visiting the remaining fells as part of getting all the Wainwrights done and last year I completed the Northern Fells book with a day on the mountain bike ticking off the last four. Of course concentrating on the fell tops means that you leave the valleys largely untrod so with a ride organised around the bridleways of the area it was a chance to put that right.

Over the years there has been quite a bit of mining in the Lake District - the lead mines of Newlands and the copper mines around Coniston being the best known examples but there were several mines in the Northern Fells and these lasted until quite recently, the tungsten mine in Grainsgill    for example closed in 1981. One of the legacies of these workings are a series of tracks that are ideal for mountain biking.

A bit of road work to begin with then the tracks began. One thing about the Northern Fells is that they don't peter out in to lower ground, they just stop so you get great views from the Pennines all the way round to the Dumfrieshire Hills. The track snakes its way around the fell sides undulating along but generally upwards weaving its way in and out of sets of old mine workings. Eventually there's no more up and it's a blast of a descent to the next little bit of road.

A short climb up this then another section of track, greener this time, leads down to the longest road section leading round to the start of the track to Skiddaw House. I've walked down the first tarmac bit of this when fell bagging but other than crossing the tracks at points when on BG recces and attempts the next fifteen kilometres was going to be all new to me.

The challenge on the first part is blindingly obvious: the climb up by the side of the waterfall of Whitewater Dash. Fortunately it's mostly up a bit then recover on a flattish section then up again. Unfortunately the last hundred metres or so steepens and becomes loose so maintaining traction and forward momentum begins to take too much energy so it's just easier to get off and push. From just short of the gate however it becomes rideable again. Once at the high point of the track it's a fast blast down to a ford across the beck. Left line or right? Cath chooses right so I follow her and we both come to a halt in the middle of the beck! Not the only ones apparently.

A short climb up to Skiddaw House and it's an enforced wait as one of the riders behind punctures both tyres. There are a couple of teams out reccying the BG that I can see, obviously I know where to look. With the wind it gets pretty cold by the time we are moving again. The track following the Calder is singletrack for the next four kilometres or so, constantly interesting chosing the best line around and over rocks and boulders until eventually it becomes landrover track then tarmac and it's freewheel back down to the cars.

Wet Highland Way

It's always good to have a little adventure now and again especially somewhere new. Of course with having traipsed through the fells and hills of the UK for over forty years there aren't that many places that are both reasonable to get to for a weekend and that are "new". The advantage of a new sport though is that areas you know well in effect become new as the sport uses a different part of the landscape.

So it is with biking, particularly mountain biking. I'd thought about doing the West Highland Way by bike but tales of the section along the upper part of Loch Lomond being serious hike-a-bike (think carrying your bike up 20ft high steps) made me consider just doing the northern half from Crianlarich to Fort William.

Due to its popularity you have to book bikes on to the train on the West Highland Line so that immediately commits you to a schedule. The plan was thus: drive up to Crianlarich on the Friday night; ride to just past Kinlochleven on the Saturday and then finish off the WHW on the Sunday morning; get the 1140 train back to Crianlarich and drive home.

Of course there's a catch. In this case it was the weather with a deep low passing through the area on Saturday with both strong winds, gusts to 45mph, and heavy rain showers. All that you can do is hope that you miss the worst of it all.

Friday night saw us find a small hidden road where we could doss out for the night - all accommodation in Crianlarich being taken. About 2am it began to rain. 

In the morning we headed in to the Crianlarich Hotel for breakfast, as we were paying I asked if there was anywhere we could leave the car overnight. "Our carpark if you want, just leave details and when you expect to be back." Sorted!

Joining the WHW from Crianlarich is a bit of a climb, in fact the biggest climb until we got to the Devil's Staircase leaving Glencoe, at least we were in the trees and out of the wind. Once on the WHW it was a rolling track until the final drop down to cross the main road, it was fortunate that there were bridges across the burns as they were all in spate. The next few Km were in the open and quite hard work heading in to the wind but once back across the main road again we were rewarded with some nice riding along the crest of some moraine which brought us in to Tyndrum.

This was likely to be the last opportunity for a cafe stop so we headed in to The Real Food Cafe - one of those establishments who just seem to have got things right. Sat at the "breakfast bar" we had a chat with a solo cyclist doing the Land's End to John o' Groats and a bloke who was heading out to the islands to spend time studying dolphins.

Then it was back out in to the rain and onwards along to Bridge of Orchy. To a large extent it didn't matter if it was raining or not as the track was covered in an inch or two of water so you were going to get wet whatever. Bridge of Orchy came and went, we decided to take the road round to Victoria Bridge rather than go over the small hill that the main WHW takes.

Leaving Victoria Bridge takes you on to Rannoch Moor. The main road is further east and most simply blast over getting to something more interesting beyond the moor. We were on the old military road which winds its way round the foot of the Blackmount which is generally good going with long gentle ascents and descents. We stopped at Ba Bridge to grab a bit of food - a walker was there trying to warm his hands - everyone seemed to be suffering with the weather.

The descent in to Glencoe was freezing and we decided to head in to the Kingshouse for something to eat. Despite the unseasonable weather outside there was no heating in the bar! We ordered a couple of soups and I nearly dropped one of them on the floor as I was so cold. We still hadn't got enough food inside us so ordered a main meal each as well.

Then it was decision time: the WHW goes up over the Devil's Staircase and drops to Kinlochleven and is the most direct route but with the high winds we were unsure if it was safe or not. The alternative was to ride down the main road to Glen Coe village then follow the old road round to Kinlochleven. We headed along the main road for the first part and by the time we got to the point where the Devil's Staircase began my mind was made up. I'd had enough of gusty winds and traffic trying to squeeze past so whatever the conditions were like up top they were preferable to mixing it with idiot bullies on the road.

As we began the ascent (which is basically a push) three mountain bikers  were blasting down. A bit of a chat "It's OK up there" and "The descent is 95% ridable" and we continued on our way. Cath was getting tired and I was pretty soaked through despite having a winter jacket and two waterproof jackets over the top of that.

The descent was mostly ridable, I probably did 90% of it with the missing 5% being down to the wind blowing me about. We were both glad to get to the landrover track that marks the end of the technical part, it was also in the trees so not as windy. This was just as well as we were both on the edge regarding safety so we thought about getting a room for the night in Kinlochleven.

Unfortunately there was no room at the village as the World Cup downhill was on in Fort William and pretty well all the accommodation in the area was taken. So it was press on and bivvy out. 

The climb out of Kinlochleven is a push and about halfway up I found a flat spot in the trees that would have to do so began setting the tarp up. By the time Cath arrived things were ready and we just had to try and dry ourselves a bit and get in to our sleeping bags. I'd spare clothing inside a dry bag but the rain and wind had been so bad that even this was wet. With some food and a couple of shots of whiskey inside us we settled down for the night.

This was Cath's first night sleeping under a tarp and apart from the completely knackered state we both were in she didn't find it too bad though she said she took several hours for her feet to warm up and there were mutterings of "I want a divorce"! at various times :-)

In the morning we just wanted to get going - so there was the procedure of putting all our wet cycling clothes back on - not pleasant. At least it wasn't raining and we had the rest of the climb to help us warm up.

The track over the Lairig Mor was one I'd not been along before, it's steady going but with a few ups and downs. Even with no rain there was still a lot of water on the track. As the track becomes tarmac the WHW cuts off to the right, another decision time: 7.5 miles on the WHW or 4.5 miles on tarmac. With Cath being so tired we took the tarmac option. Even this wasn't as easy as it might have been, even the downhills in Scotland have climbs!

Finally we were at the top of the last descent, no more ups, and we rolled in to Fort William with an hour and a bit to spare. A supermarket raid and we sat in the station stuffing ourselves before the train from Mallaig arrived and we could relax as we trundled our way back to Crianlarich.

Here's a short video.

Wet West Highland Way from Bob Wightman on Vimeo.

I'd intended the trip to be a steady introduction to bikepacking for Cath, in the event it turned out to be anything but - the Saturday was one of the hardest and grimmest days in the hills I can remember. We were both close to the line dividing being safe and being in trouble.

Seven Stanes

I'm not a fan of mountain bike trail centres, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that I prefer being out on the fells and hills with views other than row after row of Sitka Spruce. Last year for example I visited our nearest trail centre, Gisburn Forest, just once when I did a skills course, that was it for the whole year.

What this does mean however is that I'm not up to speed on riding such trails. They have a definite "language" as it were and are designed to be ridden so you don't get a closed gate around a blind corner for example.

The Seven Stanes in Southern Scotland are a series of trail centres that have developed over the years and have proven very popular. Ten years ago for example there were few bike shops in Peebles and Innerleithen now it's like ski shops in a ski resort! This is a reasonable comparison as the set-up is pretty similar in that there's a couple of defined areas where the sport takes place and a nearby town to cater for pre and post ride activities and servicing.

A long weekend was planned with The Tribe, visiting Ae, Glentress and Innerleithen. We were delayed on the drive up by a fatal road traffic accident so arrived at Ae just as the others were setting off. We did try to catch them up :-) 

I'd not ridden at Ae before (we had gone a couple of years ago over Christmas when stopping nearby but it was covered in snow and ice) and the description of The Ae Line, the main red graded route, made it sound quite hard. In the event it was steady with just a couple of sections that I had to walk - not knowing there was a rocky hump round the corner that needed lots of speed to get over, that sort of thing. We didn't quite catch the others up.

We were stopping in Innerleithen so an hour's drive later we'd a beer in hand.

Saturday was Glentress. A leisurely start then along the old railway line now converted to a cycleway and we were ready to go. Except we weren't: a couple of mechanicals meant that the group split in to two. It had been ten years or so since I'd last been here so couldn't really remember any of it though in the main it's just follow the arrows of the relevant colour, either that or the rider in front.

Steady climbing got us to the highest point of the ride which is at the start of a section known as Spooky Wood though since a lot a felling it's not very spooky. It was here that my lack of trail centre language skills showed since within 50 metres of the start of the section the rest of the group were disappearing in to the distance! 

Knowing that a flat rock is the take off point for a jump and that the landing is safe means you can just go for it. So while the rest of the group flew over and off everything I was rolling over the obstacles and losing speed. Worst are the double bumps - you are meant to launch off the front of the first and land on the back of the second except you need to be going at quite a pace to manage this and landing short could have consequences.

With a short cut to get back to the start point of the section we had another go at it - better this time but still not a lot of air! The rest of the ride was pretty straight forward really. Time for a cafe break. 

After the break we headed off up the hill again to ride the Blue trail. Apparently a lot of money has been spent on this as it's popular with families though being later in the day it was pretty quiet when we went round. Again we did one of the sections a couple of times: a nice fast swooping track.

Sunday was the cross country route at Innerleithen, again I've done this years ago, today it was promising heavy showers becoming constant rain. The start was only just over the river from the hotel and sure enough just as we were setting out it began to chuck it down but stopped about halfway up the main climb.

The cross country route is a bit of an odd beast really, most trail centres mix up the climbs and descents so although you get the elevation gain done it's not one big hit. Not Innerleithen! Out of the car park and climb to the top of the hill with just one or two very short sections to give you a break. One of those sections is through an old quarry and is good fun - just let the bike go and gravity will do the rest.

With the wind and impending showers the summit wasn't the place to hang around so straight on to the descent with the first section being well surfaced and fast. A bit of fire road and we headed to one of the easier sections of downhill track: "Make or Break". Again my lack of trail centre language skills meant that the others were well ahead. The last section is a roller-coaster (literally) and is mostly a matter of letting your bike go and keeping off the brakes. More swooping, up, down, over, round and we are back at the start.

Here's a video of the weekend.

The Tribe mountain biking at Ae, Glentress and Innerleithen.

What's interesting (and obvious really) is just how specific skills and fitness are. I'm used to long rides with generally low technicality and rarely ride at trail centres. The others do a good proportion of their riding at trail centres so are used to shorter rides but with harder technical features. At the end of each day I felt as if I was only just warming up having only ridden 30Km or so whereas the others (of all age groups both younger and older than myself) were weary and had tired legs. On the other hand they were quite happy blasting down trails at speeds way in excess of what I was comfortable with, typically in the region of 60-80% faster.

More Long Days

I'd wanted to do a long MTB ride for some time, I'd done a 100Km ride last September but nothing particularly long since then. With Cath over in the Lakes last Saturday for a girls' ride I'd got the day free to myself.

The driver for this is that I've entered the Yorkshire Dales 300 ITT (Individual Time Trial), a 300Km ride through the Yorkshire Dales - the name might be a giveaway. An ITT is basically a long bike ride on your own but you are allowed to use whatever facilities you come across providing that anyone else doing the event or route can do so. This means that you can't pop home if you live near the route for example because no-one else would be able to do so. With one or two new bits of kit I also wanted to test them out to see how they affected the bike's handling.

I'd done the first part of the route as far as Conistone earlier in the year but I'd been both unfit and the ground conditions were slightly soft so it had felt hard work. Having had a week of dry weather that side of things should be better, it depended on me. My plan was to ride the route as far as Askrigg in Wensleydale then head home taking in parts of the latter parts of the route but with options to cut things short if necessary.

Despite a slight headwind I got to Kettlewell in good time so a visit to Zarina's for some refreshments was in order and then on to one bridleway I'd never been on: up to Moor Top then back down to Starbotton. This was basically a push up and partly a push down. Some good views though.

Once at the summit of Kidstones, time to turn off the tarmac again and head over Gilbert Lane and Stake Moss. I've done this once in the reverse direction but never south to north and had memories of big rocky steps on the climb but the estate or national park had filled these in so it was just a case of pressing on. It was here that I met the only other mountain bikers of the entire day.

This part of the Dales is a large plateau, sufficiently large that you don't really see the surrounding valleys so the effect is of the uplands beyond merging in to one. It really feels different up there, there's a similar effect further west at the top of Fleet Moss which is where I'd be heading after the descent in to and climb out of Wensleydale. 

Another cafe stop in Askrigg and time to leave the outward route and head back. There's just the little matter of the climb up the old Roman road, again I've done this once in the other direction. In the event it was just a long steady climb to join the highest road in the Dales interrupted by a chat with a farmer rebuilding a dry stone wall and a couple of trails bikes.

The change in direction has had another effect - the wind is now on my back and I've gone from only just keeping warm to being in short sleeves to avoid overheating. The clearing skies and sunshine also help.

The descent down in to Ribblesdale is a blast and I hardly see anyone until just before Horton. Another cafe stop! Then I'm ready for the last leg: a couple of big climbs, one off-road, one on tarmac and I'm above Malham with a route choice. Either head east with the wind in my face to Weets Top and then down towards Airton or short-cut via the road. 

Aware that time is now slipping by I go for the easier road option. At Airton I ring Cath for a rescue from Gargrave and by the time I've negotiated a couple more sections of bridleway we arrive at the meeting point at the same time. I've been going for ten hours including stops and have done 133Km. I'm tired.

This Saturday I'd got an invitation to join Garstang CC's annual jaunt up Great Dun Fell (and one or two other hills), 100 miles of the best, well biggest, climbs the Pennines and Dales can give the cyclist.

Come this morning and the weather isn't looking too good but despite having said that I'd retire to my man-cave in the event of atmospheric moisture I headed over to the starting point in Sedbergh, delayed slightly by an accident near Settle where the car had managed to put two rather large holes in the roadside wall. I arrive in Sedbergh to see two cold figures huddling in a shop doorway. Time to get parked up and on our way.

The route headed out up the Tebay Gorge via a series of minor roads before we headed over Orton Scar and down towards Appleby. A bit of detouring around the town and we were ready for the climb.

The first part looked easy enough but we were going reasonably slowly then out of the saddle for the first steep part. By the time we get to the first gate (open) and cattle grid we are just about in the clouds. Steady away and we reach the false flat. "From here on a clear day you can see the next bit head straight up the hillside" is the helpful comment but with 30 metre visibility you just get on with what's in front of you.

There's nothing too hard but there's little respite. The second barrier requires dismounting but it's easier now until the last 100 metres rears up again. No time to hang around at the top as it's snowing!

With the strong side winds and driving sleet and rain I take it steady on the descent. By the time we get to the bottom we are soaked through and chilled to the bone.

From here to the cafe stop in Kirkby Stephen is rolling terrain, hopefully we can get warmed up but it proved a forlorn hope. An executive decision in the cafe and we decide to head straight back to Sedbergh. Of course as we near the end of the ride the sun starts to poke through the clouds however Lamp Moss which was to be our next climb is at snow level so it was probably best that we didn't go that way.

By the time we got back to the cars we'd still done 112Km, Michael who'd organised the ride decided to put in some more miles to get a hundred miles in - keen! Weather wise it was one of the grimmest days I've had on a bike.

Long days in the Saddle

We've used the Settle to Carlisle railway before to get to a distant starting point and then ride home. One time we rode back from Kirkby Stephen via Buttertubs and Fleet Moss, another we rode back from Garsdale Head on the Pennine Bridleway.

With Cath away on a weekend's biking in Swaledale I thought I'd get some distance done on the mountain bike so headed down to Skipton to catch the early train. Except I didn't as there were engineering works on the line so a replacement coach service was in place. There were just two of us on the coach and the other lad got off (after we woke him up) at Settle.

My plan was to start from Horton in Ribblesdale and begin by taking the Pennine Bridleway as far as the tops between Stainforth and Settle then work my way to Malham, Kilnsey, a couple of moors and back to Skipton. About 100Km in total.

I started to head in the wrong direction - North - to pick up the route near the new(ish) bridge over the Ribble. Very fancy it is too. Once over the Ribble and across the main road it was a long steady climb on to Sulber Nick. The first part was pretty cut up by the resident cattle but once out of their enclosure it was fast riding over the grass covered limestone to Long Lane. I normally ride up this so it was quite nice to not have to fight upwards through the steps and loose rock. A turn left at the bottom and I was soon in Austwick.

The next few kilometres were a complete contrast to what I'd just done, instead of open views I was riding ancient valley rights of way enclosed between stone walls. A bit of road work to get to Stainforth then the first big hill of the day. Which meant get off and walk as the bottom couple of hundred metres are silly steep. Once the angle eased it was back in the saddle and full gas again. Unfortunately no sooner have you gained height than you have to lose about half of it before climbing again. At the top of this climb I decided a food break was in order as the next few Km were heading directly in to the wind.

Those next kilometres were hard work! and I was quite glad to turn uphill(!) and start to get some help.At the summit the route didn't head towards Malham but away from it, down Stockdale Lane. In dry conditions and with the wind behind me it was pretty quick. I even managed to clean one section that I'd not done before - getting the right line helps as does being able to see where you are going!

Back on tarmac again it was a left turn and over to Kirkby Malham then Malham and another chance to grab some food. Whilst sat on the bench I thought I'd check out a persistent squeak that my drivetrain was making, I thought it was one of the pedals. It turned out that the bearings in the bottom bracket had gone! Effectively the end of the ride so I thought I might as well have a coffee and cake in the cafe before nursing the bike back home.

There were a couple of bikes outside the cafe and it turned out that they belonged to a couple of club members so plenty of time for a chat. Getting home was a matter of taking the roads and taking it easy - I wasn't going to do any damage to the bike itself but I didn't want the bottom bracket fitting totally disintegrating on me.

Despite cutting the route short, I still managed to have done 75Km so not a bad day out. One internet order later and I'd replaced the bottom bracket, which had lasted about 2000Km, with a Hope one.

Jealous Guy (or Gal)

Last year I bought myself a new mountain bike, hence all the posts about mountain biking! I was looking for a hardtail to use to get in to remote Munros and the like. In the event I spent (considerably) more than I had originally planned and didn't use the bike for my original purpose. The bike handles 95% of the off-road riding I do, the remaining 5% is at trail centres, but I can muddle through or apply rule #5.

Whilst we were sorting out my bike, Cath picked up one of the display frames and couldn't believe how light it was. "I've bought the wrong bike" she thought to herself. Since then she's secretly been hankering after something similar and with a significant birthday in the offing she decided to go for a test ride on one back at the Dales Bike Centre. Originally she was looking at a 27.5 inch wheeled bike as her FS bike uses that wheel size but with her lack of height we reckoned that the original 26 inch version would be best for her so she borrowed the shop owner's wife's bike. This was the 26" version of what I have, or rather it's the original Cotic and I've the 29" version. The effective wheel diameter on the bike was actually greater than on the 27.5 wheeled hire bike, due to different tyres.

Well she really liked it so colours and parts were decided on and an order was placed. Then the waiting began. Two weeks later and the email came through that it would be ready at the weekend so we headed up to Reeth. After a bit of fettling with getting the seat the right height and so on, time for a test ride.

Proud owner of a new bike!

Riding a hardtail is a little different to a full suspension bike, you have to be a bit more active in moving about the bike. You can't just sit there and let the rear shock absorb all the little bumps you have to be up off the saddle anticipating rougher stuff and picking your line. We did a loop on the south side of the valley that we'd done before in various parts. The climb up and round the valley was in to a stiff headwind but once we began heading over to Apedale it was on our backs and we made better speed. One last climb over Greets Hill then bridleway and road (with a strong sidewind this time) back to the Centre.

Heading down Apedale.

All in all she's really pleased with it. One thing that does look slightly odd: the front rotor is the same size as that on my bike but with the smaller wheel size it looks absolutely massive as if it's a full on downhill rig!