Ive been pretty lazy on here, sorry! Been cycling to work a few times but not much else.

Phil is now a fuly fledged mountain bike guide so we went for a ride round Margam country park so ho could have a look for some trails and skills areas. Unfortunately it hasn't stopped raining all week so it was super muddy and wet! I had a mini fall which hurt a but and then we did a ddgy descent that was really muddy and slippery!

some of the day was really hard but some of the riding was good, definitely not for Phils beginners though!!


Next I need to get some lights so I can ride to work more often, if it ever stops raining!!

The Wall

Sorry for no posts for a while, I've been to Spain for a week. It was nice to relax for a week with Phil :-)

So before we went I finished work early one day ( gotta love lieu time) and went to Afan. We were going to do Penhydd but when we got there decided to do the Wall which I haven't done before. We figured we had just enough time to do it before it got dark as I haven't got any lights and we missed out the first bit so we wouldn't stumble back to the car in the dark!

I was quite tired for the first bit and found it quite tough but after some food I was OK and quite enjoyed it. I had to push a bit, up and down but not too much!! Some of the down was quite hard but I think I'll enjoy it more next time.

I haven't done much riding since then, apart from to work a couple of times!

famous bike!

So its actually Phil thats been published here but my bike is in the picture too! This was just before we went riding in the FOD.

Forest of Dean

Phil and I went riding in the FOD on our day off. He was razzing around on his new Ragley and Im still enjoying my new bike! Its about a 4.5km loop all singletrack! After eventually finding the start of the route I found the first loop quite hard the climbs were quite hard and everything was rooty and rocky. We had lunch then did another loop. This time it was much better and we practiced a few bits and Phil helped me on some of the though sections even if he did mess some up, got photographic evidence of this though!

Phil is now not working so we might be going riding on saturday and holiday in 9 days - a week in spain :-)

riding and surfing

So I practiced my ride to work last Saturday which took me less than 19 minutes and only almost got run over a few times!! Stopped off to see Phil in wokr on the way back an he sorted my brakes so I can now stop! Also been for a surf a couple of times Im just learning but im enjoying it even if I can hardly move the next day!!

New bike ;-)

So Phil is now back from transwales (3rd in SS category and 30th overall!) I've got my new bike - Gary Fisher Paragon. We went down to Afan to today to do the Penhydd trail. Ive done this once before and enjoyed it but it was much better on my new bike! Found it a bit tough on the uphill switchbacks but loved coming downhill. I managed to ride some of the harder stuff I couldn't do last time and didn't push uphill which I did last time! Can't wait to go out again!

Phil is racing on the weekend but I might go out on the road bike on Saturday to practice my ride to work.

two days in a row!

Decided to go for a ride in the end. Just did the same route as yesterday but without the suicidal cat and drunkards! Did the loop a bit quicker but didn't stop this time and have been practising going down on the drop bars (on the flat and straight bits!) and drinking on the move which I can do on the mtb fine but still feel a bit wobbly on the road bike!

Might go out again tomorrow but have a busy day so we'll see.

Video

So I haven't been for a ride yet... But I did find this via Twitter and thought it was quite funny.


Going to think about possibly going for a ride now

First ride on my own

So this evening I went out for my first ride on my own, out on the road bike. To start with I needed to pump my tyres up which turned into a bit of a mare - now I know why I always get Phil to do these things! After recovering from that I went out. Only did 5 miles but it was nice to go out and do some exercise. The weather was really nice and the roads were quiet. The only two things in the way on the road was a Siamese cat that ran out in front of me which would have been ok if it hadn't stopped right in front of me between the 2 speed bumps I was heading between! And a man walking down the middle of the road swerving around... don't think he was drunk! Also got a wolf whistle from someone who looked about 12!! Haven't been sleeping well since Phil has been away (sad I know) but hopefully this will help! Might go out again tomorrow, depending on the weather!

Past rides

In the past year or so Phil and I have been out on the road a couple of times and on the mtb a few more times - locally, in trail centres and natural trails around Wales. I've really enjoyed it all, some more than others but I'm no where near as fit as Phil so he has to wait for me a lot!

We have been riding in our local forest which is cool because we ca ride there from the house, and have ridden the Penhydd trail at Afan Argoed trail centre. This was fun but the weather was pretty crap - raining and cold! We have done a natural ride in the Dimbath forestry which was fun after the longest climb ever!! Also done a natural ride from Libanus Mountain centre, Brecon. This was good again even though we got lost, it was boiling and we forgot beer money for the pub half way round! Also done the green and blue routes at Brechfa. These were awesome fun even after the long drive! The climb on the blue was quite hard but the downhills definitely made up for it, I was grinning for a while after!

My last mtb ride was at Ashton Court, Bristol. Phil had just done Bristol Bikefest there and I wanted to try riding clipped for the first time. The two didn't really go very well together... It's quite rocky and rooty down there and I fell off a few times. Got back up and finished the route but had a few bruises and a ripped top to show for it (and a very apologetic boyfriend!) Haven't been out again since...

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! So as you might of gathered, my fiance rides bikes. Lots of them, lots of the time. Apparently all his many bikes do different things... ;-) He mainly races endurance, a bit of cross country and just came 14th 24 solo at Bontrager 24/12! He even works in a bike shop.

So I thought that it would be good to get into this biking malarkey so we could go riding together. I've ridden a bike since i was tiny but never properly... I've got an Orange Evo6 - a seconds from Phil (the fiance), a Trek road bike and a Gary Fisher Paragon on its way next week. Phil is away on Transwales this week (riding solo singlespeed) so as I'm home alone with the dogs I thought I would start this blog. Hopefully it's going to be about me riding, getting fit and maybe/hopefully doing some races next year...