Snowy ride on the Salsa Carbon Beargrease

After another couple of snow blizzards mid morning the sun came for the rest of the day. Time to whip out the Salsa Carbon Beargrease for some snow fun action. This is the deepest snow I have ridden the Beargrease in and had no problems at all. The ride was most enjoyable when the sun was out but real chilly when it was overcast. Below are some photos from the ride, enjoy and more soon -

Session on the turbo and some goodies have landed

The weather forecast was for lashing rain turning to snow with a gale force wind yesterday. Well they got some of it right but the rain didn't last long and we only got a dusting of snow. The sun even came out through the day, not to worry I decided to have a boring turbo trainer session watching the snow showers through the dinning room window last night instead. I had a 5min warm up, 30min blast and a 5min cool down. To cheer the nasty day up a box arrived with some lovely consumable parts to stock up my supplies. Today everyone was on about how much or little snow they had and arriving at work there was a good 3" of the stuff. Durham County Council now have live weather stations dotted around the County with live cctv coverage LINK. I clicked on the Tow Law one just to see what it was like up there. Check out the A68 this morning, well what you can see of it ! Just as well as I didn't pack the road bike and the Beargrease instead, more snowy pics coming soon.

Needs must, turbo trainer is back out

A;ot cheaper to buy from Germany at the mo with the Euro being rock bottom

goodies must be in here somewhere

Another overcast but warmish/dry ride on the Dale Super X

No ride yesterday, busy at work then home to package up 12no ebay items ready for posting. It was a lovely day as well with the sun shinning but a cool wind. I have had a quick spin on my Dale Super X cx bike today taking in some of the local country back lanes and old lines to form a loop. I decided to ride it in the opposite direction to normal today as I thought the climb on the tarmac country back lane would be easier with the skinny tyres but I had a headwind nearly all the way to the top but the old girl was flying coming back down the old line off the top. Loads of dog walkers, horse riders, cyclists and walkers out and about. The lines were mainly dry as well so very little mud splatter. Snow forecast by all accounts again tomorrow so time to dig the Beargrease back out again! below are a few pics from the ride -

Time for a quick drink, 3/4 way up the climb here

finally at the top

view was not very good today

track down to crook, not today

top of the fast descent down through the woods

around the tight bends, through the old bridge and out at Watrehouses

Fresh Goods Sunday - Alpkit El Packer Stash Bag

Not exactly a cycling item or advertised as a cycling kit bag but i use for cycling kit and normal dry kit to change into. I have a large sports bag which i use to pack my cycling kit if im driving somewhere to do a ride/event etc but is far too big if i just want a dry clothes change. I often go for a ride then meet up with her in doors & the kids. When i get there i have a change of clothes/shoes etc in a bag and then drop my cycling kit back into the same bag when changed. I was sick of using plastic bags and did not want another sports bag so came across this item on an Alpkit newsletter. When i ordered mine they were pre production/sample models so had a discount. They come in two sizes med 30litre - 47cm high & 30cm dia & small 10litre - 38cm high & 13cm dia & two colour options. I opted for the medium size and paid £25, arrived in a couple of days. I have used to several times and not had any problems. It big enough to carry a pair of shoes, t shirt, jumper, trousers, Y fronts and pair of socks. Then i drop in my cycling shoes, helmet and kit on top and pull the draw string chord - jobs a goodun. As like my bike bag the construction is very good and will hopefully last for years. The rrp has gone up on the bag now, med £40 & small £35, tbh i think that is overpriced for what it is compaired to their haul bags.

Alpkit blurb - "El Packer came into this world as a special ops project for Andy Kirkpatrick. He was leading the climbing team that was assisting BBC presenter Alex Jones on her 3 day ascent of the Moonlight Butress in Zion - all in aid of Sports Relief.

Andy wanted super tough stuff bags the team could fill with sleeping bags, clothing, food etc. to simply organise the kit within the massive haul bags. They had to be easy to grab with mitts on, and be strong enough should they need to be persuaded out of the haul bag and easily clipped to to the wall or ledge. Manufactured from the same 1000D Cordura we use on our bouldering mats and duffle bags they are tough and durable. To make El Packer more practical there are 4 daisychain ribbons bartacked along the sides for clipping in stuff. Each El Packer has a simple sewn in drawcord closure and two grab handles, again bartacked for strength.
Even though these are durable bags they are NOT haul bags. They are designed to be stash bags inside your main haul bag."
and here is a LINK to the bag

Saturday morning local offroad ride on the cx bikes

There was an overnight frost again so the trails were frozen solid and icy at the start of the ride. We were out just after 8am on the CX bikes as Angus has changed from his racing wheels to his summer touring wheels/tyres. I took my Dale Super X Hi Mod so it could give it a good old blast out along the lines. Its been a while since had ridden the old girl and she certainly nips along compared to the Beargrease / Krampgrease. Todays route -  over to Baxters wood to join on the line to Bishop then a short road section through the town centre to join onto the Auckland Way to Spenny. From here we normally go through Spenny woods to come out at Tudhoe Village but we stuck to the line to come out at Rosa Street and into the town centre. From here we took the road to Tudhoe Village then the country back lane to Croxdale. Again we normally go through Croxdale woods and come out on the old bridge but the track down near the river is closed due to tree felling so we took the cycle path down to old bridge. Quick stop for some photos and a drink then through Croxdale Estate and around the back way to Bowburn then the back way to Shincliffe, up the trod and down to Maiden Castle then into Durham. By now the frost had started to lift and was getting very wet & muddy. We didn't stop in Durham, straight around the river banks then followed the cycle path up to Newon Hall and back home. All in 38miles with just over 2000ft climbing and up the naffs. Below are some photos from the ride, enjoy and more soon -