A ride around the surrounding tracks n trails of Hetton Lyons Country Park inc the BMX track

I went some where a little different for todays ride as I had to nip over to Houghton Le Spring after the rain has stopped in the morning. I parked up at Hetton Lyons Country Park for a spin around some of the old tracks, trails and old railway lines surrounding the area that I used to ride in the past for many years. Well I can tell you nothing has changed much over that neck of the woods and the old pit heap side of the country park where I did most of my cx courses is massively overgrown in places and lots of old tracks have now gone. The bmx track has ben tarmacked now and pleased to see some very young kids whizzing around. I did a couple of laps myself for the fun of it, brining back my old days when I had bmx bikes! The sun was out for most of the ride but still quite windy but a lot warmer. Below are a few snaps from the ride. All in just over 15 miles in 1hr 19 mins with just under a 1000ft of climbing, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

A sunny and very windy post storm ride along the old railway lines

 

The rain has finally stopped so I decided to have a spin out on the bike. It has been 12 days since I last slung my leg over the saddle. I had a route planned where it offered some shelter from the strong wind and was hopefully not too muddy after the storms over the last three days. I hoped onto the old railway line at Langley Park and had a headwind all the way to Broompark picnic area junction. I decided to turn left and keep on going into the headwind to Bishop Auckland. This stretch of old railway line was a lot more drier and less puddles. All the blown down trees have been cleared apart from one. It was early doors so not many others out n about apart from a few dog walkers. There was a lovely sunrise after 7.30am and it started to warm up. After a lap around the market place and a quick drink I headed back now with a very strong tailwind! By now it was busier with a lot more people so there was a lot of slowing down and speeding back up again. All in 29 miles in 2hrs 12mins with just under 1000ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

Fresh Goodies - Lezyne Tubeless Pro Plug Kit & SRAM X-Sync 107mm BCD 42t Chainring

 

Firstly apologies for no blogs over the last couple of weeks as we have been away for a couple of breaks and the storms have now hit the North East of England. So I have a couple of fresh goodies which landed whilst we were away, first up I come across this kit by accident and did not know that Lezyne made a kit to patch holes in tubeless tyres. I have had very mixed success and failure on tyre to patch tubeless tyres in the past and this kit might have stopped me throwing away some tyres which still had some tread left on them in the past. It comes with three different sized plugs / two in each size, sandpaper and two tubes of glue. The rrp £16.99 and I paid £14.82 inc 48hr p&p from Ebay. If you are passing Team Cycles, Gateshead or live near by they have the kit for £13. Hopefully I don't need to break open the kit in the very near future. 

Secondly when I was on Ebay I searched for another SRAM chainring in 42t for my Creo 2. I bought a new one for my original Creo 2 but thought I would also fit one on my S-Works Creo 2, if there was one going cheap. The rrp is £100 and you cannot get the Wolf Tooth alternative in the UK at the mo. I found a lightly used second hand one for £44.30 inc 48hr p&p which I am going to fit to my older Creo 2 and  swap the new one over onto my S-Works when I get it back. 

Talking about my S-Works Creo it is still at Infinity Cycles with the squealing front brake. They have faced the fork mounts again, fitted another set of new pads, bleed the brake, bedded in the brake on the machine, cleaned the rotor and it is still squealing. So they have removed the front lever and calliper and sent them back to Zyro Fisher at Darlington to see if there is anything wrong with either of them two parts. 12 days later no update so not too sure what is happening at the mo. 

Fresh Goodies - Gobik Deep Winter Merino Socks, Icon Socks & Silca Ultimate Sealant Remover

 

I used these Gobik deep winter merino winter sock last winter and have never used any winter socks over my 40+ years of cycling as good. I have tried to buy a second pair for nearly a year in my size and they have just come into stock. These are going in my spares box for when the first pair wear out. I highly recommend them to anybody and are defo worth the full rrp of £24.00. 

Also these caught my eye when looking at the winter socks some Gobik Icon summer socks. If they are as any where near as good quality and performance as their winter socks I will be happy. RRP £16.50

Last but not least I also bought some Silca Tubeless sealant remover. Stans is a pain to wash off your bike and clothes when you get covered but the original Silca tubeless sealant is a hundred times worse. This stuff is supposed to be excellent so time will tell and hopefully I don't need to use it very often! RRP £20. If you shop around the net you can get it for less than £18.