The best in a long long long time!

The weather has been kind, we've been out!

This weekend saw an XC Tom style jaunt with Dave 2 and his mates starting at the Star in Dorking, and heading off along Abinger Roughs to get to Holmbury. Up Holmbury and, after a chain fix for Mr Edwards, a quick jaunt down Barry's!! First time some of us have done that in probably over a year!

Surprisingly it was a good run (wish I'd had my Nukeproof!)... and a quick enduro style climb to get back.

Yoghurt pots was a bit sticky and then Rich's new way back up to Leith was, despite the moans of others, the best way up....

A cup of tea and an essential flapjack was needed for me at the top of Leith - paying some rather inflated prices at the new tea window!! However, after 2.5 hours my legs had failed, so it was a gruelling ride back to Coldhabour, and an easy flow down the road back to Dorking.

The weather smiled on us.... the best in a long long long time...

FoD 2012

Finally got round to putting this together, and Simon thought it would be ready a week after riding! This was back in September 2012 when it was warm and the baltic winds were not blowing.

When will the summer start?

Knackered two ways...

Despite having slimmed down by nearly 2 stone, but my riding will be curtailed (more so than over the past 4-5 months) due to 2 knackering factors...

1. 'Mallet finger' - ruptured tendon on my left ring finger, caused by being hit by a tyre swing trying to catch Ruby when she fell off. 6 weeks in a plastic splint, sticking straight out... Nice.

2. Ruptured disc in my neck (C5/C6, apparently). The specialist has advised agaist anything which might induce further neck trauma (which is pretty much any riding for me, as falling off is always an option). This has also meant that instead of boarding this weekend in Morillon, I will be skiing - not exactly in line with the consultant's explicit instructions, but life is not risk-free... I will be having an operation to remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae, which will take a few months to recover fully from.

So, all in all, a big old bunch of arse....

Happy riding, chaps.

Dunnie

Redlands

Wow, 2 months into 2013 and this is the first post on the blog since last November. I guess it's a reflection of the awful summer/autumn/winter we've had and also the non-biking distractions occupying everyone, myself included.
In fact a quick scroll down shows there have only been half a dozen posts on here since last June and two of them were about road bikes.
On saturday the two Marks and I took a quick trip up into Redlands. Conditions on some trails are remarkably good and the light snow and solitude provided an atmospheric backdrop - unfortunately there was no photographic evidence to corroborate this.
We had a bit of fun, most trails will be better once they've dried out a little more but it does look like the trail pixies have been active over the winter, opening up some new lines and re-establishing some old ones.
Fingers crossed for an end to the interminable rain and a dry spring - perhaps 2013 can be the year MTB makes a comeback!