Knobblies MTBing Blog

Sh*t mountain bikers say...

2012-01-20T11:21:00.000Z

This had to be shared - tickled me in all the right places :)

Alps 2012 - Part 2

2011-10-12T09:58:00.003Z

Thanks Dave, this now feels like a 'Dragons Den' pitch :)Ok, In conjunction with Dave, I've been researching organised MTB trips to the Alps. I've been in contact with a number of companies based in France and Switzerland including AlpsCycle, OTP and WhiteRoom. The objective has been to find high quality single track riding, good quality guiding from qualified and legal guides. A decent standard

Alps 2012 Part 1

2011-10-11T21:28:00.002Z

R2, Willy and I have been looking in to a number of options for next year. The main criteria being:Not scary downhill stuffSome form of guiding.Can fly or drive there.Can accommodate long weekend or full week.R2 will be blogging some details on a highly recommended mount bike specific company.Below is a place I have found that is more of a generic alpine holiday, but they can help us out with the

Cannock

2011-09-13T10:05:00.003Z

Just a short post - I had to go up to Cannock last Sunday for middle son's hockey trials. Took the opportunity to ride Follow the Dog and Monkey Trail for the first time. Was a great set of trails - what felt like a lot of climbing was off-set by some really fun descents - nothing too hairy (though I did manage to fall off and bend mech hanger close to the end). Trails were mostly very dry but

Gaerne Boots

2011-08-28T13:23:00.003Z

Gaerne Boots, is that pronounced Gay Ernie or Gear Knee? Who knows. Anyway, these are fully closed boots leather uppers with velcro fastners. First ride in them today, they are very comfortable and the elasticated ankle supports keep rubbish out and protect ankles very effectively thanks to a solid plastic protector. Grip is excellent in the inevitable muddy walking and unusually the grip

Giant XTC 4.5 For Sale - £250 (SOLD)

2011-07-30T09:59:00.006Z

This is my son's bike, which he has sort of out grown. It is a medium, suitable for someone 5'7" - 5'10" (he is now 6'2"). It has done one weekend off road (Dalby) and a few road miles(on slicks) so the knobblies are hardly worn. I would guess 500 - 750 miles, with a few minor scratches. I thought I would see if any of our crew were interested before I place it on Single Track.

Bike, Beer and BBQ Update

2011-07-13T18:02:00.008Z

To my surprise, Les turned up after a hard mornings work (?) on his bike, so that was 8 miles before the rest of us had even started. I had checked the forecast and had seen the storms the last couple of days so decided to put the mudguards back on (BGB) and then wondered why, not a puddle in sight :-).I had told Uphilla that the route was all legal, well from our FNC pub onwards it was. There

Bike, Beer and BBQ

2011-06-20T21:26:00.008Z

Hi everyone, long time since I saw a some of you. I am going to be out of action for all of August, and no it is not a gastric bypass (Chris, don’t believe a word Darren says!). So last chance to get a ride in and have a few drinks before the nights start to draw in. If anyone is interested I am planning a local ride on Saturday 9th July. Not sure whether to do the run down to Harpenden (32

2011-03-02T14:00:00.004Z

In stock from 7th March 2011 we're taking orders now, here is a picture of the final product. As you can see the cufflinks are in pearl Rhodium finish which look great and lasts really well. They have a knurled bullet clasp which is really easy and quick to fit. Shipped in a superb quality black leather case with white leather lining. These are my own unique design no one else has this you can

Bike Security Solutions

2011-01-04T17:10:00.011Z

www.torc-anchors.comFrom past blogs its probably become apparent that the bikes in my family have successfully bred over the past few years. As a result between the family we now have a total of 6 bikes stored in what is essentially an over sized garden shed. I've been promising myself for some considerable time that I will 'do the sensible thing' and invest a small proportion of the value of the

Bike Chain Link Cufflinks

2010-11-03T09:34:00.003Z

I got these made as a sample, I reckon they would retail about £19, modelled on my Sachs PC91 chain of yesteryear with even the hollow pin detail. The finish is satin rhodium, silver plate wears off and will draw black splodges on a white shirt.Taking orders for early spring, if anyone is interested let me know.Bike Chain Link Cufflinks

Help! I think I need another bike

2010-11-02T14:57:00.003Z

I went out for a couple of hours last night on the local, now very muddy trails. Half way around my Cotic Hemlock was totally plastered in mud and must have weighed about 45lbs. Should Ia) just think about changing the tyres as this is where most of the extra weight will have attached?b) join the singlespeed (or light hardtail) craze? or,c) stop complaining and struggle on with the Cotic.If (b),

FtD + MT = FAB

2010-10-31T10:30:00.051Z

After the clock change I didn't feel too bad getting up early on a Sunday morning to meet Roger and Ryan at Cannock to explore the new Monkey Trail (MT). Uphilla has recently raved about the new MT that splits from Follow the Dog (FtD) but were weren't expecting the FtD to have changed. But it seems that the trail fairies have been busy everywhere and reinforced the existing sections with huge

ROMAN CHALLENGE - Hackleton, Northants

2010-10-11T13:05:00.000Z

It is hard to believe that it has taken so long to get round to doing this ride, but finally this year I got sorted and put entries in for myself, Friend Chris and Dangerous.The event is organised by Hackleton W.I. to raise funds for the Village and offers a variety of routes to suit families and fitter cyclists. This year there was a new Maximus option which took a tour of MK giving a total of

Sleepless in the Saddle 2010

2010-08-09T12:03:00.008Z

After saying "never again" in 2008 (when I was forced to walk the course), somebody revealed my work email address to a certain somebody else which led to me being asked if I'd step up and join Team Cake. I'm still having trouble coming to terms with what made me decide to do it again...The weekend approached and once again I felt I'd not done enough training; finding the time to fit it in with

Mountain Bike Cufflinks

2010-08-05T16:47:00.005Z

I've been asked a few times and at last I've managed to get some bike cufflinks. See PoshCuffs. These are proper mountain bike design, find them here. Discount is available on application to me in The Chequers, Streatley (Friday Night Club) but you might have to buy me beer first. We have some silver ones too but they are a bit 'roadie', I'll keep a look out for more proper bike styles.

The Alps - The Second Week

2010-07-18T12:47:00.006Z

Given the lack of posts you probably all assumed I was only out for one week...Not so!On day 7 we went to Chatel to tick off a number of the black trails that run around the edge. All was going well in the morning, I cleared a northshore gap, a big rock slab drop and made it down some very steep, rooty trails with minimal dabbing.Whilst we were sitting at the bottom (Pierre Longues lift),

The Alps - Day 7

2010-07-09T18:19:00.000Z

Not much to report today, we spent the morning fettling bikes and then headed up Pleney again late afternoon to find some more steep bits off the side of the main drag. With fixed bikes, we intend to head to Chatel tomorrow. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhoneLocation:Morzine

The Alps - Day 6

2010-07-08T17:08:00.001Z

Alex had agreed earlier this week to show some local (to Cannock) whippets (on of the guys is currently doing very well in expert category) down some of the steep off piste stuff off Pleney so we met at theirs and headed up for a warm up run. We took them down 'yeah boi' but we didn't get further than a few yards before we all piled up after Alex took a poor line round the first corner!We spent

The Alps - Day 5

2010-07-07T12:26:00.000Z

We had hoped to take the xc bikes out and take a trip up to the top of Nyon to ride a trail we first rode back in 2006. However, as somebody had locked their bike to Alex's xc bike, this plan was abandoned and we headed over to Les Gets for a chilled one after my crash yesterday and to give out aching bodies a breather. We spent the morning riding the new bike park up there which features jumps

The Alps - Day 4

2010-07-06T19:11:00.002Z

Day 4 of our holiday saw us head over to Switzerland for a bit of action on the Swiss National course. We headed up the Super Morzine lift and headed along the fireroad towards a rocky trail that drops you into Lindarets. On our way we spotted what I guess was a bunch of school kids heading down a trail we opted out of on Day 2 in case it got a bit wild. After a gentle start it turned into a

The Alps - Day 3

2010-07-05T16:18:00.001Z

After a good ride yesterday on the 'little bikes', we headed up Pleney on the 'big bikes'. Given the changes we've seen year to year, we figured we'd take it easy first run down as it's been 2 years since we last rode here. I soon found myself forgetting this idea and just letting go of the brakes. Last time I was out here, I was on my C'dale Judge, and despite it being typically well made

The Alps Day 2

2010-07-04T15:37:00.001Z

Having heard the Mountain Style event was on in Chatel today, we pulled the xc bikes out and headed on over. Sitting on the lift I suddenly felt a bit exposed without a full face helmet, full body armour and a downhill bike. I thought to myself "what am I doing? This is France! I need my big bike!". From the top of Super Morzine we headed down a rocky trail down into Les Lindarets, and I soon

The Alps - Day 1

2010-07-04T14:42:00.001Z

Day 1 After leaving 3 hours later than planned, we eventually reached the QE II bridge at 6pm and powered or way onto Dover 10 minutes later. Panic set in as we hit more traffic on the M20, but using the influence of the BMW, we arrived with just minutes to spare. Over the most expensive breaded chicken and chips, we poured over a map, deciding our toll free route, with the aim of saving money.

MALVERN HILLS - another sneaky day off:)

2010-06-03T18:00:00.001Z

Living in Northamptonshire it is always a joy to find somewhere decent to ride off road that is not a major trek. We have Woburn, Cannock and the Chilterns, but it was not until recently I had thought about the Malvern Hills. Once again it was Singletrack Forum that provided the route - a kind local posted a tracklog file. After our day off to ride the new Cannock loop some weeks ago we had been

Brechfa - Gorlech - Dragons Breath

2010-05-31T06:00:00.072Z

As sw.Wales is such a long way from home I decided that I'd make the effort, get my sorry butt outta bed bright and early on our last day at Nonni Barn, hit the Brechfa's red graded Gorlech trail and be back before breaky. A great plan being back by 9.30am would mean getting up at 5am - gulp. Ah well never mind, off to sleep I dropped. Tick, tock, 5.15am and I'm wide awake - WTH! I lay there

Brechfa - Derwen - rash

2010-05-30T11:00:00.120Z

Last Sunday I showed Roger and his lad (noobie alert, aged 11) around Brechfa's gentle green/blue graded route, the Derwen. After a hearty Nonni Barn breakfast we drove over the moor and took in some breath taking views before plunging into the valley and to the busy trail head. While the gals ambled off for a gentle woodland walk our small posse cranked up the fireroad and Ryan soon began to

Ride Sierra Nevada - Spain

2010-05-21T11:38:00.019Z

RIDE SIERRA NEVADA I’m sure that most of you will remember last year's circular email proposing a trip to Spain for MTB and sun! Well, eventually I managed to gather a total of 3 riders (Chas Willy & me) and here is the full report following a long weekend's riding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains – Andalucía Following lots of Internet searching, blog browsing and personal recommendations I

How appropriate...

2010-05-18T13:33:00.001Z

What a crackin' card - brilliant

Cannock- The Monkey Trail

2010-05-13T08:15:00.003Z

Indulgent, I know, but Dangerous and I decided to have a sneaky weekday trip to sample the recently opened extension to 'Follow the Dog' at Cannock.Rain had just set in as we loaded up, but we thought this might not be such a bad thing with the surface at Cannock. However, by the time we reached Birches Valley all was dry.Interesting to see how popular this site is on a weekday, there were plenty

NANT YR ARIAN - May 2nd 2010

2010-05-06T10:44:00.005Z

Last year Chas and I visited Nant Yr Arian for the first time. We rode the Summit trail which is a very enjoyable Red graded trail but completed the ride quite quickly and were left feeling that it was somehow too short. Nant Yr Arian is located in mid Wales around an hours drive from Aberystwyth on the coast. It is a very rural and quirt part of Wales and last years family holiday was such a

Chicksands XC

2010-04-28T07:48:00.000Z

Although Chicksands is not that far from home I had never visited. It is known for its jump areas, 4X tracks and various other ways of doing serious damage to yourself :-)A trip to Bedford left me with some time to kill and a look at the map found a bridelway route down to the woods, fairly easy going, but on a bright spring day it was good to be rolling on dry trails.The Chicksands website says

HONC - 100KM 11th April 2010

2010-04-19T20:07:00.001Z

Hell Of The North Cotswolds 100kmIt's been over a week now but I reckon a ride of this magnitute deserves a blog. I completed a 50 mile charity ride last year with relative ease, and during a discussion about the various endurance events throughout the year, I foolishly questioned how hard can it be? It's only another 12 miles?How it is is something I found out, the hard and painful way, as the

Dangerous Dave Returns!

2010-03-29T11:40:00.003Z

Since the crash that killed the Gemini frame, I’ve suffered from a severe lack of confidence in anything that involves getting my wheels off the ground. Sure I’ll pop a little hop or jump over a root or log jump on an XC loop but as soon as the full face goes on, my entire mindset changes and I spend my entire time thinking “what if?” even before hitting things I’ve mastered previously.A lot of

Precious Metal - Duster Ti

2010-03-29T08:01:00.003Z

It has been a while since I indulged my addiction to bike building, but when I spotted a Charge Duster Ti frame on Singletrack Classifieds some weeks back it all kicked off again! The long cold winter had made me think about rationalising my choice of bikes. The 5-Spot is now refined to the point I am completely happy with it for the rougher stuff. The other bike that I use most is the S-Works

Harelstone Firs - Spring is here!!

2010-03-08T18:27:00.003Z

If you live in Northamptonshire and enjoy Mountain Biking it is going to hard to find anything exciting locally. Harlestone Firs is one of the only places where you can find anything vaguely like singletrack. It has been used for off-road riding for years - though you have to share it with dog walkers, horse riders and (illegal) dirt-bikes.Dahnhilla has been suggesting we have a look at his local

WINTER SHED PROJECTS - EYE CANDY

2010-02-14T18:51:00.013Z

It's been a wet, cold and snowy winter in the Chilterns and for the first year in many, by mid December I'd lost the will to continually churn mud on my local trails! When it did final freeze and firm up, it was quickly followed by snow and ice. As a result, I abandoned the trail and headed for the shed! Here is the result Project 1) Wifees Bike: I wanted her frame for 'project 3' and as a

They finally stole my bike

2009-12-02T17:28:00.002Z

Well, after a total of two years of them failing to steal my bike at the station, my Rockhopper finally disappeared on Monday. In the past they have attempted on a number of occasions to cut through the lock and have taken my front wheel and saddle. A few months ago I fitted some locking nuts (pinheads - actually quite good I think) to the front wheel and seatpost but they still bent my back

AyUp Knobblies Boost

2009-11-18T13:18:00.002Z

Over the weekend the Aussy lights doubled their foot hold amongst the Knobbly clan with AyUp noobs (Chas / myself) both opting for "kits" and existing users boosting their range (Dozer / R2). As I intend to also use my AyUp's for commuting I wanted the convenient Gecko helmet mount, Saxon and flashing option available within the V4 Adventure but not the MTB set. The V4's hardware box is

Black Mountain 'Killer' Loop - Take 2

2009-10-14T07:35:00.004Z

When the Afan weekend was planned I suggested to Dangerous that, if the weather was good, we could head North on the Sunday and ride the Black Mountain ‘Killer’ loop – we had talked about doing it in the past and I knew it might be some time before another opportunity came up. Farqui, Dozer and myself had done the ride a while back, but on the chosen day the weather was poor with rain and low

AFAN - Penhydd, 4th October 2009 (pm)

2009-10-11T19:29:00.003Z

After the disappointment of the morning’s mechanical problem I was glad for the chance to get back out on my bike. So Willy and myself loaded our bikes into the car for the short journey down the road to the other trail centre. As we pulled into the car park the attendant was there collecting money, it would appear that my (unfounded) reputation has even made it to Wales, I asked him how much, to

Afan Skills Training

2009-10-08T18:54:00.005Z

Hi,I'm sure that a few of you will recall that my first visit to Afan (2007) was somewhat of an 'in at the deep end' experience for me resulting in more then a few tumbles. Whilst my riding has improved since then, when I was offered the chance of 4 hours skills training at Afan for £38.00 I considered it would probably be money well spent.The skills training was provided by a local guy called

AFAN 3rd 4th October 2009

2009-10-07T20:18:00.012Z

After much discussion, it was decided that the camping group would go down to Afan on Saturday morning. The Uphillas decided they needed their beauty sleep so advised the remaining 5 riders (including a non regular, Jonny, my brother in law) to “start without them” and the three cars rolled into a wet Glyncorrwg car park around 10.30. Unfortunately much of Skyline (the original planned Saturday

AFAN Accommodation update

2009-10-05T15:55:00.005Z

I've just returned from a weekend in Afan and thought I'd update all on a couple of recent developments that may be of interest: 1) Bryn Bettws Lodge has just been completed and sleep 40 with mini dorms accommodating between 2, 4 and 6 in a room all with en suite facilities. It's been open for just 3 weeks and it seems that I was one of their first guests. The accommodation is small but very new

Afan, 2-4th October

2009-08-01T15:21:00.004Z

Anyone fancy another weekend in Afan? Hoping to do Fri 2nd - Sun 4th. To keep the costs down and make the organistation a lot easier, how about camping at the cente?The cafe/bar stays open until at least 10pm (Fri & Sat), so if the weather is bad we can have some comfort in the evenings.CampsiteCafe

South Downs Way June 2009

2009-07-08T16:51:00.010Z

SDW June 18th -20thFollowing on from my previous Ridgeway rides, I felt it was time to move on to a new challenge. SDW was an easy choice, relatively close to home and highly recommended. A quick review of the official SDW map and a conversion to Tracklogs confirmed that although the SDW was a similar length to the Ridgeway (99 miles compared to 87) there is significantly more hill climbing. As a

Morzine Day 6 - the final frontier

2009-07-03T18:41:00.007Z

Last day of the epic visit to Morzine and the plan was to do a grand tour taking in Morgins (where we were stranded day 2), Champoussin and Champery. We made it up to the top of the Mossette lift (sans Uphilla due to continuing rear brake issues) but unfortunately the Swiss side looked very misty and rainy. Rather than risk another 40km road trip to get back to Morzine, discretion was the better

Morzine Day 5

2009-07-02T16:38:00.005Z

The day started with the Super Morzine lift and the schweet hack over to Les Brochaux/Les Lindarets where I came belting out of a rocky section, slithered through a wet dip stradling a rut and fortunately managed to collect the 4 or 5 tank slappers B)Using the lifts :) we tackled the blue run twice at Avoidiaze but birthday boy (Willy) bust his seatclamp at the end of run#1 and had to slog back

Morzine Day 4 - Part 2

2009-07-01T18:20:00.004Z

After a morning resting, fettling the bike and window shopping in town withdrawal symptons set in and despite black clouds I headed up the Pleney lift to try something local.As soon as I reached the top the thunder started again and the lifts closed down, so my options were limited. I opted for one of the 'Blue' runs back down to Morzine, but in error started on part of one Black run and scared

Morzine Day 4 - Part 1

2009-07-01T17:48:00.007Z

Uphilla and Farqui decided to take the morning off - yesterday's experience in the storm was too much for them. Crew was limited to Willy, Les and Dozer with once again Dozer in charge of the map. Usual route down to Les Lindarets and then up to the top of Avoriaz - yes we found it finally. "OK we'll start with the blue or the green run off the top just to get ourselves warmed up" says Dozer - so

Morzine Day 3

2009-06-30T19:24:00.012Z

Decided to go over to Switzerland agin today to Morgins via Chatel (France). So far Dozer has been in charge of the navigating - Day one planned to do the Passport du Soleil - got lost. Day two planned to go to Avoriaz (ended up in Champery - Avoriaz now renamed Avoidiaz) so we were all looking forward to the magical mystery tour that was to be day 3. In fact all went reasonably well for the

Morzine Day 2

2009-06-29T17:00:00.005Z

Sunday, 28th JuneFrom Morzine Day 2Route/profile.Pic's.We ended up in Switzerland today - Champery and found a whole heap of much more flowing trails that were great fun. Oh and it's high over there :pOffs:Uphilla stacked on the G5 but his armour saved himplenty of other minor stacksPosse: Dozer (Canyon), Farqui (5Spot), Les (Pitch), Uphilla (5Spot), Willy (Cotic)Weather: absolutely fabulous

Ambergate Downhill 28 06 09

2009-06-29T00:29:00.002Z

Gareth (friend from when I used to work for Nationwide) emailed me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to ride ‘someplace’ on 28th and after a bit of searching about, and trying to locate somewhere that was under 2 hrs away and had an uplift service (this failed) we decided on ‘Shining Cliff Woods in Ambergate, near Derby. I’d been there a few times before and although the trek from the car park (

Morzine Day1

2009-06-28T16:34:00.013Z

Sunday, 28th JuneFrom Morzine Day 1The plan had been to miss the crowds and duck out of Morzine early (tick) and then head over Avoriaz/Chatel/Morgines/etc but as the route shows we ended up back at the start :rolleyes The descent was a mudfest of awkward slippery roots and was far from a gentle start to a weeks long riding.We then headed over to Les Gets where we found the trails quieter, drier

The Gap (extended)

2009-05-25T11:14:00.008Z

Yesterday Uphilla, DDave and I made good use of the excellent weather cranking ourselves silly riding The Gap in s.Wales (nr Brecon). The day started early for DDave and I who drove there/back in the same day, meaning a 4.45am start for yours truly :o but behind the curtains lay clear blue sunny skies which soon cleared my groggy bonce. Prop's to DDave who was 100% keen with a fettled rig and

Ibstone

2009-04-25T19:00:00.005Z

This morning a bunch of my knobbly chums and I met up a few miles south of Watlington in another area boasting many a red kite swirling overhead. R2 had pulled together quite a tasty route that enticed even clipperty-clopperty Robbery out of knobbled retirement :pThe weather forecast didn't look promising but after driving thru a few small showers, saddlin' up and cranking a few clicks the skys

Penmachno

2009-03-29T17:00:00.007Z

It's been roughly 3 years (to the day) since I first rode Penmachno on a set of Marin trail weakened pins. Although "rode" isn't accurate as I was completely shattered and don't remember much except the never ending pain. Both Uphilla and I were keen to revisit this trail, this time on fresh legs and also try a new loop donated by the trail pixies. With busy weeks behind us and daylight savings

Formula Oro K18 FCS adjuster conversion

2009-03-11T23:53:00.008Z

I recently upgraded a set of Formula Oro K18 brakes to K24 spec by adding the K24 master cylinder piston and FCS adjuster. The total cost of upgrade for front and rear is around £25.00. The addition of the FCS adjuster enables the front and rear brake lever travel to be adjusted in order to ensure even/balanced application of brake force front and rear. Exploded parts diagram and spares listing

Chiltern Ride Invite

2009-03-11T23:26:00.005Z

Ibstone - Chiltern Ride Invite...........Ibstone is located between High Wycombe and Henley On Thames and is in close proximity to the nearby 'Ridgeway' village of Watlington. Watlington already has two blog posts. The first an MBR killer route, the second a fine route posted by Uphilla. It's a great area for riding and admiring stunning views, not to mention some decent MTB hills! The proposed

DW Turner 5 Spot

2009-02-23T14:33:00.008Z

Hello DudesHere’s my latest bike; I decided purchase the new DW Turner 5 Spot, this was a little risky because I tested the Ibis Mojo (DW Suspension) last April and hated it. The Mojo didn’t engage the trail and felt lifeless compared to my HL 5 Spot.We rode Dalbeattie Red last weekend and the new 5 Spot is tremendous, does every my HL 5 Spot did but better, thank goodness the bike rides like a

SpiderFire LED

2008-11-06T12:45:00.008Z

With another winters commute approaching I decided that I'd like to open up my route options which would mean that my pathetic LED front light would be useless. You know the sort, ye'olde LED flashers that are more "be seen" than "see by".So I trawled the tinterweb and found Tactical4U offered a compact bar mounted LED system that ran off x3 AA's and pumped out 200 lumen's. Best of all the price

Coed-y-Brenin, MBR Trail

2008-11-01T17:00:00.002Z

After lunch we three headed out around the familiar MBR trail and the opening rocky section soon had DD doubled up with a headache. The tough lickle soldier soon shrugged it off and plodded around the rest of the trail without so much as a "where's the short cut" :pI can't recall if Uphilla somersaulted here or on a later section but as usual our rubber pal immediately jumped back on and cranked

Coed-y-Brenin, Tarw Trail

2008-11-01T12:00:00.007Z

Uphilla and I had already hatched a plan to take in a couple of the north Welsh trails before the end of the year, namely the extended Penmachno and Coed Llandegla.The day before arrived and we were pleased to see that the weather forecasts all looked favourable and before we set off we quickly checked the trails websites for the latest maps, etc. "Oh-no", Penm was closed with a rally AND Coed-L

Morzine June 27 – July 4 2009

2008-10-24T16:39:00.010Z

After a 4-5 year wait I have a pass again to return to the Alps. I have looked at a few options and decided to return to the Les Portes du Soleil area (but this time when the whole area is open).The recommendation is to stay in Morzine this time as it is more central (see dahnhilla’s recent trip).http://knobblies.blogspot.com/2008/09/cider-wine-food-and-bikes.htmlAs well as the miles and miles or

Mabie - First Taste

2008-10-23T11:13:00.003Z

After a couple of aborted visits I finally got to my knobbly's out around Mabie earlier this week.Before you ask, "yes it was wet and falling from the sky" :-( Comically it was bright and sunny when we arrived, before the heavens opened whilst I changed into my ride togs. Which then cleared for 5mins whilst I assembled the bike and then dumped big time just as I rolled off road. Fortunately I

Penmachno/Llandegla 1st November

2008-10-23T10:38:00.005Z

A while back Farqui an myself did the first Penmachno loop straight after the Marin Trail. It is a great trail, but we were not at our best and struggled a bit!We have put diaries together again and come up with Saturday 1st November as date to give this now extended and much loved trail another try.Daanhilla and myself are heading up Friday eve and meeting Farqui at the trail head Saturday am.

Wendover to Princess Risborogh Autumn Ride

2008-10-20T09:43:00.009Z

Recently I've been piecing together some new routes in order to add a little variety to my riding. As a consequence, last week I discovered this gem and suggested to Farqui that he might like to give it a go. He was particularly impressed with the route on our recent night ride and I was sure this would provide even more thrills! Unfortunately, he couldn't make it but with the help of a few

Black Mountain 'Killer'

2008-10-07T08:47:00.017Z