Muddy Ground
New Member
AD was in his 49th year, fast approaching his milestone 50th. Our wives got together to decide what present would suit him. A weekend away mountain biking! Of course. Wales or 7 Stanes, brilliant.
Dorking.
That's 8 miles away.
They sent us to Dorking.
So we didn't expect much but were intent on enjoying ourselves all the same come what may. Naturally there was much piss taking; hope they've got double beds in the hotel kind of thing. [They did!] Anyway, there we were at the meeting point and Aidan introduced himself. Imagine a tall, slightly socially awkward teenager with gangly legs and that's him. Yet this same man just rode 3,000 miles of the Great Divide, solo on a singlespeed. In 19 days through the Rockies. I've been to the Rockies. Driving 200 miles a day through them can be hard work. I simply cannot conceive of the physical and mental effort required to cycle 170 miles a day through that kind of terrain. I just can't. we asked why he did it, how much was the prize? No prize, just for fun.
And then Jessica turned up. Initially we didn't know what to make of Jessica. One suspects she knows this, and faces people like us most days - unintentionally judgemental middle class gits. But by heck did she turn us around quickly. She wasn't forceful, just really nice and unjudgemental herself. She accepted what we were, and got on with life using her own cycling skills to do the talking. Quite frankly she's bloody fantastic. By the end of the weekend AD was talking about her solid little engine. Boy could she ride. She'd just failed to do the South Downs way double - 200 miles to you and me. OK Aidan would do that in one day, then do it every day for ever really, but he's mad. Jessica ended up being like all the best bits of all your best riding buddies rolled into one.
Sorry, I've jumped on a bit. Can you tell I enjoyed myself?
So Dear Reader, you ask was it hard?
No. Not at all. Easy as anything. We were just riding bikes and chatting. Easy. So why by the end of the first day were we knackered, and why on the second was AD plotting to go home four hours early?
Day one: Aidan and Jessica.
Basic training today. We got there and Aidan was sitting in his car. He introduced himself as being a guy who'd just cycled the Great Divide, solo on a singlespeed. He'd also done the Iditarod. Twice. This is not normal thought us. Then Chris and Mark turned up, both from Reigate. They took the piss about us being thrown out of our homes, which was good so we were happy. Then Jessica turned up. We weren't expecting a girl instructor. There was, to be fair, a lack of excitement over this but she was pleasant enough and had brought coffee and munchies.
Then some guy with ginger hair turned up. He was odd. His bike was bunged into the back of his car and he explained that it had fallen out on the way in.
OK, some introductions and we were off. Any initial doubts against Jessica went out of the window. She didn't tear up the trail, she just kind of flowed. OK we were all sweaty, but you know when you ride with people what they are capable of pretty quickly. Jessica we sussed as being one of those people that can go on and on. This was proven true over the weekend.
The first thing we did were a few simple moves. Braking, turning, that kind of thing. Naturally they were so simple that we moved on quickly.
Yeah, right. We were asked to slalom through some cones. My front end washed out at the end and I moaned that my tyres were a bit sketchy. Jessica just looked at me. She then showed us how to actually turn a bike. Outside pedal down, stand on it near vertically, don't go near the saddle. Man were those bikes low when we did this and my front end just gripped, and gripped, and gripped. Amazing really. And the downfall of my whole weekend. Why the downfall? Well have you ever actually tried to self-criticise your own riding style? To think about what you do on a bike?
Example: you go into a corner. Easy. But where did you brake? Where's your bum in relation to the saddle? Hands gripping too hard? Have you got the outside pedal down? Are you upright on the bike? Are you looking to the next corner? We do most of these things naturally, but it fudges you up when you have to think about a few of them. A lot of us got a bit flumoxed and ended up pedalling backwards.....
The afternoon was a group ride out. And what an eclectic mix it was. Us with all the gear and no idea, and the others; no gear and no idea. Quite frankly it was the oddest bunch I've ever ridden with. Some turned up in polo shirts, tennis shoes and borrowed bikes. Then there was the middle ground - myself and AD basically. Then there was the downhill hero who struggled to ride up hills then monstered the downs in an odd fashion. One elderly retired guy rode us into the ground, but spoilt any respect through constantly asking how much bits of kit cost. Initially I answered honestly, but this clearly fuelled his need to diss any answer given. You know the type: You can buy a car for that! In the end I played him at his own game and started to make up ridiculously low prices for things. Tubeless tyres for a tenner a set; my Pike forks for £30 type thing. He seemed happier then. Apart from this annoying trait he seemed amiable enough, and when I'm approaching 70 I'd be more than happy to ride at his pace.
The downhill guy I eventually caught on one downwards bit through adopting his technique; monster everything and hang the consequences. He seemed happy to have somebody chase him down. Naturally Aiden beat us down on the Singular singlespeed, and Jessica beat us whilst still managing to look as though she'd been in the Post Office queue for 20 minutes. I'd love to have half their skills sets on a bike. But then if I did I'd not be me, the Muddy Ground you love and adore now would I?
Naturally after patiently explaining to Mr How Much! I managed to lose the inards of my Maxle. Now the bike was pefectly fine to ride, but nobody trusted it so that was it for my weekend unless I could find a replacement. The cycle shop in Peaslake didn't have one so it looked like I'd have to go home and get a new one. But then brainwave caught up - pilfer one from one of their hire bikes. This they agreed to do so long as I paid full price. £40 later Mr How Much! was having the time of his life. "£40 this, £40 that. Saw him coming they did. Wait 'till they find out what he does for a living!" Naturally it didn't seem prudent to explain that I built the bike up and the Maxle inards have always been a bit wibbly. But why the device decided to lunch itslef on this weekend when it's been in place near 18 months is beyond me.
But mine wasn't the only mechanical. On one climb near Barry Knows Best AD's chain snagged and bent his granny ring, then broke itself in the process. I had a split pin, so we were able to carry on. And here is my only criticism of Jessica, and this applied to day 2 as well when my rear brake went AWOL. I think she's so keen to keep things moving that she jumps in to effect a repair pretty much instantly. Before AD knew what was happening she'd split his chain down and was inserting the split link. Same with me the next day; she jumped in and tore my bike down before I could say Boo. Personally I'd let the rider do the repair, especially here in these situations; the chain was easy to do, as was my brake problem. And this isn't said in hindsight for these were my thoughts at the time; why's she doing this? But I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.
Oh yes, top tip here. If you're on for a full weekend [as you should] then don't chase people down on the first day. I kept chasing Mr How Much! down all the time. Whilst I caught him up every time, I suffered that night and the next morning with tiredness. Best invest in an heart rate monitor and pace yourself, or just keep mid pack for the ups, and front pack for the downs. Which is my second tip; don't get caught behind somebody wearing trainers. You'll not be behind for long though, so it's not a biggie.
Day 2: Pretty boy Rob.
Rob can do things on the back wheel of a bike that you or I would shy away from doing at a quarter of the speed and on two wheels. If you've never met Rob, this is him; tall, very muscular, good looking in a foppish way and good natured. He'd have been the coolest guy in school. One of life's doers. He was on a borrowed Orange hardtail. He could have been on a butcher's bike. The bike didn't stop him doing anything he wanted with it. He made the notion of suspension seem silly. I don't want to "Big him up" too much, but at the end of the day he can lay claim to being a Champion cyclist. Can you? I know I can't.
The day was split into two: a morning learning how to do drop-offs, and an afternoon spin around Leith Hill. Neither AD or myself were too keen on the spin. We were both tired from the riding the day prior. Had nothing to do with 5 hours sleep, or being in the pub the night before....
Drop-offs. These I don't like. I'm not sure if I was in full wuss mode or that my back brake made things worse than they were, but I just couldn't do these at all. Each time I tried the front end would smash back to the ground. Each time I tried, I'd fall off or land heavily on my inner thigh. But the day was structured around the assumption that we'd all do the small ones and gradually progress to the three foot ones. So I was falling off gradually higher drops, and it gradually hurt more. So I called a stop to it and did no more. Naturally this made me look like one cool mountain biker in front of the others. Er.... Perhaps not. AD gradually got better but even he called a halt to the big one. Quite frankly AD was the best of the four by a long way, so he could easily have done the bigger one. I was glad he didn't try as my ego was hurt by then enough as it was. Oh Saturday's riding buddies were good guys, Mike and Chris, but today's I didn't like at all. They were both pushy and dismissive of others. There's no need for that. What were they doing? Well we'd all take it in turns to learn a new skill. Supposed to. What was happening was that as somebody set off one of these jokers would suddenly cut in front. You know how this went don't you? They did it twice then our elbows came out, or we'd cut in front of them, or pull up short on the trail. All a bit silly and avoidable if they'd just take turns at something.
Ah well, things moved on quickly and Rob was a very positive guide. many thanks Rob.
The afternoon we didn't want to do. It was a ride around Leith Hill with Jessica. But we decided why not, and I was glad we did, even though my ride was screwed due to....
On one shortish downhill my rear brake boiled and seized solid. Only letting off pressure by removing fluid freed it up. I was accused of dragging the rear brake downhill, something I denied but mud sticks. I had to continue my ride up and down Leith Hill with only the front brake working. This with three people on full suspension bikes who were intent on hacking about everywhere. That my ride was a hard one is an understatement. You don't realise how useful a rear brake is in settling a bike down until that brake goes AWOL. I did it all, and was happy to do so, but I did do a few silly things. However this wasn't helped by the guy on the Trek Fuel who'd stop on the crest of every rise. I mean, every one. AD would then have to pull up short just prior to the crest, whilst I'd be stuck at the bottom of steep 2m rolling climbs. Have you ever been last man up, where your ride has been fudged by the first guy? They stand around waiting with a "you're hard work" kind of look on their faces, whilst politeness stopped me from calling him a bit of a twat. OK I may have done the same, but that's not the point of a moan is it? To see their side of the discussion is pointless when they are so patently at fault. He was a nice enough guy, and faster than me on the downward bits [as he would be as I'd only the one working brake] but the stalling habit grated a bit towards the end.
Turns out in one of my early falls the rear brake got mulched and the fluid wasn't returning back to the piston; the system was stopping in a pressurized state. I didn't notice this, but it does explain why the bike felt like a brick and I got unreasonably tired within an hour of setting off in the morning. My bike has been in my LBS waiting a brake rebuild for some time now.
Overall it was an excellent weekend. The only fly being the hotel stay on the Saturday night; we both drank too much, went to bed too late [after midnight] and got up too early - 5am in my case. Add in a fried breakfast, which I've not had for years, and whilst the evening was fun, it was perhaps avoidable. But Jessica was a wonderful coach and has opened my eyes as to what the bike can do. At the end of the day I was Mr retro for over a decade, happily riding my 1995 Orange Clockwork until 2009. That's long stem, short top tube, sit in the saddle type riding. My Pace is of the out of the saddle, hang off the back, load the tyres by standing into corners type machine. In essence Astounding Adventures have shown me that things have moved on, and so should I.
Thanks Jessica, Rob and Aidan.
Note: I've no commercial connection with Astounding Adventures - just really enjoyed the training. I'd advise anybody who has moved from older long-stem bikes to the new short-stem ones to do a semi-basic skills course. They'll change your riding way more than you'd imagine possible.
Dorking.
That's 8 miles away.
They sent us to Dorking.
So we didn't expect much but were intent on enjoying ourselves all the same come what may. Naturally there was much piss taking; hope they've got double beds in the hotel kind of thing. [They did!] Anyway, there we were at the meeting point and Aidan introduced himself. Imagine a tall, slightly socially awkward teenager with gangly legs and that's him. Yet this same man just rode 3,000 miles of the Great Divide, solo on a singlespeed. In 19 days through the Rockies. I've been to the Rockies. Driving 200 miles a day through them can be hard work. I simply cannot conceive of the physical and mental effort required to cycle 170 miles a day through that kind of terrain. I just can't. we asked why he did it, how much was the prize? No prize, just for fun.
And then Jessica turned up. Initially we didn't know what to make of Jessica. One suspects she knows this, and faces people like us most days - unintentionally judgemental middle class gits. But by heck did she turn us around quickly. She wasn't forceful, just really nice and unjudgemental herself. She accepted what we were, and got on with life using her own cycling skills to do the talking. Quite frankly she's bloody fantastic. By the end of the weekend AD was talking about her solid little engine. Boy could she ride. She'd just failed to do the South Downs way double - 200 miles to you and me. OK Aidan would do that in one day, then do it every day for ever really, but he's mad. Jessica ended up being like all the best bits of all your best riding buddies rolled into one.
Sorry, I've jumped on a bit. Can you tell I enjoyed myself?
So Dear Reader, you ask was it hard?
No. Not at all. Easy as anything. We were just riding bikes and chatting. Easy. So why by the end of the first day were we knackered, and why on the second was AD plotting to go home four hours early?
Day one: Aidan and Jessica.
Basic training today. We got there and Aidan was sitting in his car. He introduced himself as being a guy who'd just cycled the Great Divide, solo on a singlespeed. He'd also done the Iditarod. Twice. This is not normal thought us. Then Chris and Mark turned up, both from Reigate. They took the piss about us being thrown out of our homes, which was good so we were happy. Then Jessica turned up. We weren't expecting a girl instructor. There was, to be fair, a lack of excitement over this but she was pleasant enough and had brought coffee and munchies.
Then some guy with ginger hair turned up. He was odd. His bike was bunged into the back of his car and he explained that it had fallen out on the way in.
OK, some introductions and we were off. Any initial doubts against Jessica went out of the window. She didn't tear up the trail, she just kind of flowed. OK we were all sweaty, but you know when you ride with people what they are capable of pretty quickly. Jessica we sussed as being one of those people that can go on and on. This was proven true over the weekend.
The first thing we did were a few simple moves. Braking, turning, that kind of thing. Naturally they were so simple that we moved on quickly.
Yeah, right. We were asked to slalom through some cones. My front end washed out at the end and I moaned that my tyres were a bit sketchy. Jessica just looked at me. She then showed us how to actually turn a bike. Outside pedal down, stand on it near vertically, don't go near the saddle. Man were those bikes low when we did this and my front end just gripped, and gripped, and gripped. Amazing really. And the downfall of my whole weekend. Why the downfall? Well have you ever actually tried to self-criticise your own riding style? To think about what you do on a bike?
Example: you go into a corner. Easy. But where did you brake? Where's your bum in relation to the saddle? Hands gripping too hard? Have you got the outside pedal down? Are you upright on the bike? Are you looking to the next corner? We do most of these things naturally, but it fudges you up when you have to think about a few of them. A lot of us got a bit flumoxed and ended up pedalling backwards.....
The afternoon was a group ride out. And what an eclectic mix it was. Us with all the gear and no idea, and the others; no gear and no idea. Quite frankly it was the oddest bunch I've ever ridden with. Some turned up in polo shirts, tennis shoes and borrowed bikes. Then there was the middle ground - myself and AD basically. Then there was the downhill hero who struggled to ride up hills then monstered the downs in an odd fashion. One elderly retired guy rode us into the ground, but spoilt any respect through constantly asking how much bits of kit cost. Initially I answered honestly, but this clearly fuelled his need to diss any answer given. You know the type: You can buy a car for that! In the end I played him at his own game and started to make up ridiculously low prices for things. Tubeless tyres for a tenner a set; my Pike forks for £30 type thing. He seemed happier then. Apart from this annoying trait he seemed amiable enough, and when I'm approaching 70 I'd be more than happy to ride at his pace.
The downhill guy I eventually caught on one downwards bit through adopting his technique; monster everything and hang the consequences. He seemed happy to have somebody chase him down. Naturally Aiden beat us down on the Singular singlespeed, and Jessica beat us whilst still managing to look as though she'd been in the Post Office queue for 20 minutes. I'd love to have half their skills sets on a bike. But then if I did I'd not be me, the Muddy Ground you love and adore now would I?
Naturally after patiently explaining to Mr How Much! I managed to lose the inards of my Maxle. Now the bike was pefectly fine to ride, but nobody trusted it so that was it for my weekend unless I could find a replacement. The cycle shop in Peaslake didn't have one so it looked like I'd have to go home and get a new one. But then brainwave caught up - pilfer one from one of their hire bikes. This they agreed to do so long as I paid full price. £40 later Mr How Much! was having the time of his life. "£40 this, £40 that. Saw him coming they did. Wait 'till they find out what he does for a living!" Naturally it didn't seem prudent to explain that I built the bike up and the Maxle inards have always been a bit wibbly. But why the device decided to lunch itslef on this weekend when it's been in place near 18 months is beyond me.
But mine wasn't the only mechanical. On one climb near Barry Knows Best AD's chain snagged and bent his granny ring, then broke itself in the process. I had a split pin, so we were able to carry on. And here is my only criticism of Jessica, and this applied to day 2 as well when my rear brake went AWOL. I think she's so keen to keep things moving that she jumps in to effect a repair pretty much instantly. Before AD knew what was happening she'd split his chain down and was inserting the split link. Same with me the next day; she jumped in and tore my bike down before I could say Boo. Personally I'd let the rider do the repair, especially here in these situations; the chain was easy to do, as was my brake problem. And this isn't said in hindsight for these were my thoughts at the time; why's she doing this? But I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.
Oh yes, top tip here. If you're on for a full weekend [as you should] then don't chase people down on the first day. I kept chasing Mr How Much! down all the time. Whilst I caught him up every time, I suffered that night and the next morning with tiredness. Best invest in an heart rate monitor and pace yourself, or just keep mid pack for the ups, and front pack for the downs. Which is my second tip; don't get caught behind somebody wearing trainers. You'll not be behind for long though, so it's not a biggie.
Day 2: Pretty boy Rob.
Rob can do things on the back wheel of a bike that you or I would shy away from doing at a quarter of the speed and on two wheels. If you've never met Rob, this is him; tall, very muscular, good looking in a foppish way and good natured. He'd have been the coolest guy in school. One of life's doers. He was on a borrowed Orange hardtail. He could have been on a butcher's bike. The bike didn't stop him doing anything he wanted with it. He made the notion of suspension seem silly. I don't want to "Big him up" too much, but at the end of the day he can lay claim to being a Champion cyclist. Can you? I know I can't.
The day was split into two: a morning learning how to do drop-offs, and an afternoon spin around Leith Hill. Neither AD or myself were too keen on the spin. We were both tired from the riding the day prior. Had nothing to do with 5 hours sleep, or being in the pub the night before....
Drop-offs. These I don't like. I'm not sure if I was in full wuss mode or that my back brake made things worse than they were, but I just couldn't do these at all. Each time I tried the front end would smash back to the ground. Each time I tried, I'd fall off or land heavily on my inner thigh. But the day was structured around the assumption that we'd all do the small ones and gradually progress to the three foot ones. So I was falling off gradually higher drops, and it gradually hurt more. So I called a stop to it and did no more. Naturally this made me look like one cool mountain biker in front of the others. Er.... Perhaps not. AD gradually got better but even he called a halt to the big one. Quite frankly AD was the best of the four by a long way, so he could easily have done the bigger one. I was glad he didn't try as my ego was hurt by then enough as it was. Oh Saturday's riding buddies were good guys, Mike and Chris, but today's I didn't like at all. They were both pushy and dismissive of others. There's no need for that. What were they doing? Well we'd all take it in turns to learn a new skill. Supposed to. What was happening was that as somebody set off one of these jokers would suddenly cut in front. You know how this went don't you? They did it twice then our elbows came out, or we'd cut in front of them, or pull up short on the trail. All a bit silly and avoidable if they'd just take turns at something.
Ah well, things moved on quickly and Rob was a very positive guide. many thanks Rob.
The afternoon we didn't want to do. It was a ride around Leith Hill with Jessica. But we decided why not, and I was glad we did, even though my ride was screwed due to....
On one shortish downhill my rear brake boiled and seized solid. Only letting off pressure by removing fluid freed it up. I was accused of dragging the rear brake downhill, something I denied but mud sticks. I had to continue my ride up and down Leith Hill with only the front brake working. This with three people on full suspension bikes who were intent on hacking about everywhere. That my ride was a hard one is an understatement. You don't realise how useful a rear brake is in settling a bike down until that brake goes AWOL. I did it all, and was happy to do so, but I did do a few silly things. However this wasn't helped by the guy on the Trek Fuel who'd stop on the crest of every rise. I mean, every one. AD would then have to pull up short just prior to the crest, whilst I'd be stuck at the bottom of steep 2m rolling climbs. Have you ever been last man up, where your ride has been fudged by the first guy? They stand around waiting with a "you're hard work" kind of look on their faces, whilst politeness stopped me from calling him a bit of a twat. OK I may have done the same, but that's not the point of a moan is it? To see their side of the discussion is pointless when they are so patently at fault. He was a nice enough guy, and faster than me on the downward bits [as he would be as I'd only the one working brake] but the stalling habit grated a bit towards the end.
Turns out in one of my early falls the rear brake got mulched and the fluid wasn't returning back to the piston; the system was stopping in a pressurized state. I didn't notice this, but it does explain why the bike felt like a brick and I got unreasonably tired within an hour of setting off in the morning. My bike has been in my LBS waiting a brake rebuild for some time now.
Overall it was an excellent weekend. The only fly being the hotel stay on the Saturday night; we both drank too much, went to bed too late [after midnight] and got up too early - 5am in my case. Add in a fried breakfast, which I've not had for years, and whilst the evening was fun, it was perhaps avoidable. But Jessica was a wonderful coach and has opened my eyes as to what the bike can do. At the end of the day I was Mr retro for over a decade, happily riding my 1995 Orange Clockwork until 2009. That's long stem, short top tube, sit in the saddle type riding. My Pace is of the out of the saddle, hang off the back, load the tyres by standing into corners type machine. In essence Astounding Adventures have shown me that things have moved on, and so should I.
Thanks Jessica, Rob and Aidan.
Note: I've no commercial connection with Astounding Adventures - just really enjoyed the training. I'd advise anybody who has moved from older long-stem bikes to the new short-stem ones to do a semi-basic skills course. They'll change your riding way more than you'd imagine possible.