Tangfastics

It was mountain bike time today, as a promise to myself no housework done

its my new years resolution...

Just to get out there and enjoy this place called exmoor the pictures speak for themselves 

View to Selworhty from Weber's post

 My bike was seized solid as Ive not ridden it for over a month.

Brizol channel

 As we rode up from Minehead it became obvious that it was gonna be a windy route 

blowing straight at us as we reached the top of north hill.

But the view over to welsh wales was clear with a few shadows on the channel from the clouds in the sky..

Zacs best tangfastics impression

 Many people may not know but i get a little silly on full fat coke and some certain brands of jelly sweets, but Tangfastics are OK I'm not to bad. Those who have seen the advert 

must remember the silly faces pulled when eating these sweets, so a competition had to be had.

My impression, i win!!

Jelly beans

Its been nearly 2 yrs since my last blog, in the past yrs the mountain 

biking has took a bit of a nose dive and the lack of a 

computer has set me back alot. this thing called DIY kinda took over 

my life before i knew it, it was my life.

So last year i had my mind set on chucking all my tools in the shed 

and digging out old faithful.

I would just like to say a big cheers to a mate who got me back

onto 2 wheels, and exploring our surroundings Exmoor

I'm so lucky to be living in such a nice part of the country.

Last yr 2014 i covered over 900 miles on the beast including 2 night rides 

which were brilliant.

Cyclocross will be the way to go in 2015 and not a paint brush or

 hammer in sight but im gonna 

wait until it drys up a bit and i need to shake off

 this man flu.

Timberscombe common on a clear day 

you cannot beat it :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOksW_NabEk

Shoot to thrill

view from bats castle


It was a really nice day, the sun was out n the sky was blue. Time to reclaim KOM on the old strava
So i dusted down the bike and put a bit more air in the tyres and had a fiddle with the setting on my forks then set off,
 i hadn't gone far when i bumped into 2 most
hard working boys in the town out doin their rounds, i got a nice smile for the camera a quick chat
and i continued on my way.

 

As i rode i had my ipod playing, on shuffle when a golden oldie
came on shoot to thrill, that's it got my blog title..
I kept a steady pace out to carhampton building myself up for when the segment started
turned off the road and up the track like a bat out of hell !!
When i got to the top n through THAT GATE you know the one i spotted dear
and took a couple of pics,

If you zoom in a million times you might just see them.
I stopped at the bats castle settlement pushing my bike of course as its a footpath..
It was like being on top of the world, i could see for miles, and i don't think i know how lucky i am..
I stuffed down my banana and sped off down onto dunster by knowle lane and straight up grabist,
stopping at the bench on the top for a breather

 As soon as i caught my breath i was back on it it was the homeward stretch
i rode all along the top of the hill and went down the down hill track
and back home. i must admit i had a cracking ride and the weather was fantastic
here's to the next time

Here's the fun bits..


http://app.strava.com/activities/51533637


Slide show..
http://youtu.be/78x39z3TPcs

Horner water no deer just pony...

It was now or never, i have been making alot of excuses for not havin a blast.

So today was the day! I had been given for Christmas a bike rack, a pretty

hefty peace of kit, so with my spanner in hand bolted it to the tow bar

slotted on my bike.

I was thinking of taking mans best friend, he was bouncing off me like

mad begging to come but its was a little to wet for his short legs.

I parked up at Horner and payed for my ticket like a good boy,

but  as soon as i hit that green button to print the ticket it started to rain

(*********)...

I had a rough plan for a route. Horner water to the ford,

along dunster path to brockwell,

then double back along a lower track back to Horner.

As i climbed up from Horner the rain got heavier, and i was going

to stop at the ford for a snack but i was soaked to the skin so

gritted my teeth and rode along to Weber's post.

As i rode into the wood something made me jump,

2 ponies were sheltering from the rain i watched them to

try and get a good picture with the gopro, but no luck.

By the time i got back to the car park i was like a drowned rat

but pleased with fact that i had told myself to man up and get out there

here's to the next time Douglas, promise!!

here's the strava, ha ha 4.3 miles wtf, but it was wet!!

http://app.strava.com/activities/44486105

Slide show

http://youtu.be/bJ9C6YV6FX0

V.T

http://youtu.be/taKCSXw3jos

12 miles, more like 16!


It was just the other wk my mate Gaz found a new route, so i decided to give it a go with him, only 12 miles he said, excellent that would just do me as didn't want to push myself to hard as i had been feeling a bit iffy.

We started off at a steady pace until we got to Dunster i could feel the strava calling, i needed to claim back my crown ! I stopped for a moment so Gaz could take off a layer, or was it part of a cunning plan ?
As we reached the end of the segment i felt that it was in the bag.

We rode on through the woods and onto moorland we kept climbing Stopping now and then to take in the view, it was a really clear day and you could see wales in the distance, and the Quantock hills too.. It was just like being on top of the world..

We stopped for a snack at the edge of the fire road and checked out the map, we wanted to come out at the tall tree wood, do the crunchy track and back home.

It was all going good until we got to the tall trees,  the old war wound started giving me jip and i started to struggle a bit, but with a little encouragement from Gaz, and with the thought of some very useful medication waiting for me at home, i pushed on.

It was a cracking ride here's the slide show.

http://youtu.be/mtr5wYhMZB8

And the strava bit, 16 miles with over 2.016 ft of climbing!!!

http://app.strava.com/activities/37149098

Downhill dog training

Well its been ages since i last rode out on my bike

all this DIY has taken over a bit.

So today the weather looked nice so we decided it was time for doug

to start his downhill training, he looked ready for it bouncing off me and

the walls as i got my gear together keen to know where we were going.

With my bike in the boot and doug sat next to me co driving

we went up north hill, i was a little nervous to start with, as

he is of course my best mate and i didnt want loose him,

so i stuffed some sauage in my pocket just for back up. I kept him

on his lead to start with just to see what he would do

it was silly really because i knew he was not going anywhere so of it came. 

We both really enjoyed ourselves even though it was only

1.7 mile on the strava, he did get a little dirty coz hes only

got short legs. When we got back home all in one piece

he had to have a bath and a warm by the fire,while i had a

shower and got changed as im refereeing a snooker match later.

So a good ride out not far i know for his first time but

the boy done good! And heres to the next time.

Check out the slide show and VT along with the strava results.

Happy days!!! 

http://youtu.be/oIjfSOzG2M4

http://youtu.be/UfkVXAboqyg

http://app.strava.com/activities/32938587

The middle finger sportive.

MM nice forks !

Well it had been one of those wks, a busy 4 shifts in some really nice 

biking weather, what a bastard ! So as i had found out that i was 

knocked of KOM on strava and i was not having that and was out

 to get back my crown. So Saturday arrived and i went for it like the wind 

up hopcott and to Gary's bench as its commonly known, a quick  U E then

back to the top of the downhill track, camera at the ready i was going really 

good until the 3rd section, what the hell have they done! Never mind i was 

bound to have regained my crown,When i got back home and uploaded i discovered 

it had failed and couldn't make any comparison so i had recreate a new one.

 (what a tinker)  check out the strava   http://app.strava.com/rides/20458377.

Sunday arrived and Zac declared that fancied a blast so i dusted down 

his bike gave the tyres a kick but he said the only thing holding 

him back was his middle finger, so out came the spray plaster and nursey  

done his best and away we went. We decided on a short route, North hill 

Selworthy, Allerford, down to horner for a well earned cuppa with a slice 

of the old cakie, then up horner water to Cloutsham, Webbers post, Dunster path, 

brockwell and home. ( just a quickie)    http://app.strava.com/rides/20593232

Slide show at http://youtu.be/y_ddLKKuR-k


VT @  http://youtu.be/Gw1OIAlcjRc