Saturday road ride to Nutcracker Fremington inc The Stang

Today was the final round of the Nutcracker mtb series @ Fremington, N Yorkshire. Arrans race was at midday so me and Angus got dropped off at Scotch Corner for a less direct road ride to Fremington via The Stang! Its been a couple of years since we have done this route and is nearly all on very quiet country back lanes / roads. Today the sun was shinning, well not all the time, light rain showers but the biggest killer was the 30mph head wind for nearly 22miles. The Stang is hard work when there is no wind but today it was a full on headwind all the way up, at the top you were nearly blow off your feet. The descent down the other side was a pedal job otherwise we would have been blown backwards up the hill. Its wasnt until 1/2 way down the final descent to Reeth with finally got a good tail wind but we were only 3 miles away from Fremington at that point! We missed Arran racing and the wind was still blowing, cloudy and a rain shower started so jumped in for a lift back to Richmond to do some shopping. Below a few pics from the ride

A CX bike would have been a better option for this lane!

Plenty of debris washed off the fields from the recent storms on this lane

Quick drink stop next to the old phone / post boxes

Coming to the top of the first climb section on the stang

Nearly at the top of the second section of the stang

Passed a bloke pushing up, he looked tired

Then it was Angus's turn to pass him

Then he passed us as we took a photo at the top

Check out the TDF bike still on top of the wall

All quiet at the Nutcracker signing on tent

A very wet holiday in Scotland

Just got back from a break away in bonny Scotland. We were stopping at Peebles and took in a few trail centres during our stay - Glentress, Inners, Newcaslteton. We also did the MTB Marathon Series @ Drumlanrig Castle and Jane completed her 100th Parkrun @ Edinburgh. The weather was wet to say the least inc plenty of wind and cold temperatures - real wash out. Below are a few pics from the various locations and a link to a gallery -here

 

Fresh Goods Sunday - Part 1 - Elite Bicycle Book - Portraits of great marques, makers & designers

Im by no means a book worm and dont normally read books but if they have plenty of photos and not a huge amount of text i can normally get through them ok. I was looking for an interesting book for over the winter months / cold,dark,wet nights and come across this one. I havent started on it yet but had a quick flick through and looks very interesting covering many brands / manufacturers that i know and love. I got a hardback copy and is quite a large book but not to thick - ideal for a coffee table ! Here is the book description -

On a modern bike, carbon fibre, titanium and ceramic are combined with hand worked steel, CNC'd aluminium and finely tooled leather. There's also a deep and rich tradition of engineering excellence married to artisan eccentricity in all parts of the bicycle industry. In Brittany, top quality racing tyres are still hand made from cotton, silk and latex while in Germany they are made on huge industrial presses. The approach to both couldn't be more different but the end result is the same.

This in-depth, lavishly illustrated book looks in detail at some of the world's finest road bicycle and bicycle component companies. Old-world craftsmanship and modern process engineering will sit side by side on the page, while photographs of the factories show the different processes and environments that go towards making these superb machines. The finished product is featured in use or in a studio set.

Like all things in life if you shop around there are some massive discounts from the rrp.

New Fat Tyre - Schwalbe Jumbo Jim

Another new Fat Tyre comes onto the market -

"We spotted the new Schwalbe Jumbo Jim fat bike tire aboard the new Felt LEBOWSKe electric fat bike, and they say it’s the first appearance of the new tread.

Claimed weight is around 1,040g, which puts it on par or even under the weights of many 26″ downhill mountain bike tires. The tread pattern resembles Schwalbe’s Rocket Ron XC tire, but with a lot more space between the knobs. Sidewall markers indicate it’s got their Pace Star rubber compound for low rolling resistance and good durability. Underneath is the Evo carcass, which offers improved puncture and tear protection, combined with Lite Skin sidewalls. The latter is found more on their cyclocross and road tires and is a thinner, more supple sidewall used to save weight and offer a more compliant ride.
There’s nothing suggesting these are tubeless ready, though, but we suspect it’s a see what the market thinks move and more options may follow." 

New Cycle Event @ Bishop Auckland Wed 6th Aug