First ride in Sanxenxo, Spain 2008

Hot day in Sanxenxo, on the south coast of Galicia. The bike is now fixed up with a new rear wheel to match the front one - a Swiss DT5.1 rim and Hope Pro II hub, which is much lighter the the old 729 downhill rim, on a broken XT hub. Only thing is it makes a clicking noise, which will take some time getting used to. Old front type ripped too, so I now have Larsen TT front and back, which seems to the preferred tire in for XC in Spain.
Rode over the hill behind Sanxenxo in hot sun, feeling the lack off fitness, and own for lunch at the Lores watermills. After lunch 1 1/2 hrs ride over the hills, up fairly steep fireroads and overgrown tracks. Coming down there is a new bike bike, mountain bike race loop in the soft brown earth. Excellent to be back on the bike without the usual rain and mud of the Pentlands.


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First post for a year

Not much riding this year for various reasons, at least on the bike. Lots of do with having no one to go out with. HTe city bike has been converted to a single speed, well, it converted itself, which saved me the bother - both gear cables snapped, so i set it up in a reasonable gear to climb hills in Edinburgh and have been riding it that way for several months. It is great, there is much more variety, and challenge, trying to spin fast enough on thr flat, and really stand up and crank on the climbs. Sure I have stronger legs!
Yesterday I went with a someone from work, Bart, who is a keen cyclist ( into fixies), and has a pretty nice mountain bike, and hit the usual Pentlands look. Raining and extremely wet and slippery, but great fun. Came to the path done from Torphin road and the summer growth in grasses and nettles was ridiculous - it is a very narrow path with big stones, which invisible. gets pretty steep a points, so managed to end up with the bike on top of me twice!



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Off to Spain this week, hopefully with a new rear wheel - Hope II hubs and Swiss DT 5.1 rims - and new Shimano XT shadow rear mech, which is much lower profile and should be less prone to taking direct impact of falls.

New path in Pentlands

Having been off the bike for most of 5 weeks with illness and travel, it was great to go out again on Sunday for a short turn round the Pentlands. Still seem reasonably fit, but have to improve endurance to do the 5-6 hr rides in Spain in July. Went up Balerno to the top and turned left and over the the col above Dreghorn drop. instead of riding right the way down, I took the sheep path right traversing around the north of Allermuir
. Pretty steep drop, and long, which meant I kept unclipped for a while, but nice addition. Steep drop down to path that eventually does down to Dreghorn - would not like to do it in the wet.

Longer rides: Kelso, Carlops

Three weeks of pretty good rides. A colleague from work persuaded me to ride to Kelso and back over the Lamermuirs. Beautiful ride out, sunny, but we felt we got a bit lost going though the Border's countryside by the end. 4h10m, 85k. The way back was into the wind and quite a bit of rain, we took the longer road, bypassing Longformacus. 5hrs and 97k home. Longest road ride I have done. I was tired the next dayl,but not too bad. Graham was on a titanium racing bike, and me on my steel city bike which meant we were eveny matched. He is training for a 500k 'race' from Trondheim to Oslo - lunatic!

Keeping up interval training - getting faster on long intervals but have not done so many 2 min intervals recently. Doing the long intervals starting on the bottom road of Arthur's Seat, and doing 4 circuits.

Went out early with Neil one Sunday to ride to Carlops and finally do the track back over the Pentlands. Pretty fast over to Nine Mile Burn - managed to ride up the single track on Exponential without putting down a foot - that really is one of the hardest sections in the Pentlands. However Neil burst a gear cable that we didn't manage to fix with zip ties, so everytime he wanted to change chain ring I had to stop and help! The ride up to Borestane is great, can't wait to do it North to South. The log broadworks on the way down are boneshakers on a hardtail though. Boring field back to Harlaw and back to town via the Mushroom field, Community Compost path and water of Leith. 60km, 4h10min. Route on 'Map my Run'.





Planning all week to do the Carlop route in reverse, down to West Linton and over Caulstane Slap - the only part of the Pentlands we have not riden.

Found a new lunchtime ride - up to Craigmiller Castle, round the park, down past the New Royal. They have cycle path, with loads of steps, and then they have blocked off the paths coming out the back of the site - they built bridge foundations to cross the stream, but did not build the bridge. There are 2 ways round - either out to the main road and onto the new cycle path, or down the field from the Castle. Both lead across a wide field towards the playing fields behind the Jack Kane centre. There is a fun path though the woods there. Did this with Dermot one day, and Neil on the Friday afternoon. Had a great fast ride with Neil, who has his new second hand Epic. We set off fast, Craigmiller - River Esk - into the back of Dalkeith Park - and back home. Riding at 85% MHR for more than an hour. Slowed a bit by the end. 1:15 28k. Approx ride map on 'Running Map'

Sunday morning feeling a cold coming on, but up early to go to the Pentlands - cold and very windy, we take it easy and just ride out to Exponential, returning via Red Road, Black Hill, Den's cleuch and Phantoms cleugh. Hadn't done that loop for a while, so good to see it again. Had just changed by rear tyre from a Conti Vertical, which had been great for winter to a Conti Speed King, which was fasater, but felt much more insecure on the unexpectedly wet ground. Had an interesting run in with some highland cows. Probably should not have gone, since I have been down with a sore throat and cough all week and no bike at all.



Also replaced by front wheel with a stronger DT5.1 with Hope Pro II hub - feels heavier, but I am not worried about bending it like the old 117.

Spring

Again, a long period of neglect on this blog, although I have been out on the bike a fair bit. Since November the snow never returned, but there has been a fair bit of mub. The last month in particular has been deep mud in the Pentlands, not even worth trying to ride round it, so we have got better at ploughing straight through, or pulling a small manual to get the front wheel over the worst.

We have been setting a few challenges in the Pentlands: riding up Harbour hill a few times, and sliding down, racing down to Glencorse - which I still win, and racing though the woods around Harlaw reservoir.

In order to ride down Black Hill path, we used to ride upthe field, but I realise I should be able to ride the narrow path. very narrow, and a sharp drop on the left hand side, but it can be done mostly, except for the bottom section.

Beautiful Pentland morning in Feburary

A great new place to play is the beach at Harlaw - covered in rocks which makes it a good place to practice balance, choosing lines in rocks, but also being able to ride straight through piles of 10cm stones, which is a useful skill for the mountains of Spain. Shame I ripped a few teeth of the chainwheel after riding over a 50cm rock a few times.

These new routes have made the Pentland routes much more interesting - I think of all the time we wasted riding round the landrover tracks, when we should have been ducking though the trees, riding the beach and climbing the hard paths.

Looking down Harbour hill to city

The last ride Neil and I did was pouring with rain, and very windy, so we decided to climb the steepest hill this side of the Pentlands, up from Dreghorn. There is one point it is impossible to ride, especially when most of the effort is going into stopping oneself being blown off the bike. On the way down we swapped bikes, so I couldh ave a go on a FSR and Neil could remember what a hard tail is like. A strangely soft ride, no hard jolt when coming off a little jump. Unfortunately his front brake was not working - the Bike coop had been meant to fix it the week before, but apparently had broken something when they bled the brakes.

It was my turn to break the brakes the following week. After doing some long interval training out to the Pentlands and up puke hill I realised the rear disk pads had worn right off, after only about 6 rides. the clip was grinding on the disk, so I took them out and rode home without them. Of course I then slammed on the brakes and broke of a pin fromthe piston - had to by a whole new back brake. grr.

Glentress in the snow

Packed 3 guys and three bikes into the car for an early morning trip to Glentress on Sunday. After surviving the Pentlands, thought we would throw Sampsa down Spooky Wood on my old bike! A cold clear morning had snow on the hills - pretty early since it is only mid November. After fixing on my new saddle - I broke the last one, after breaking the seat post, take a gentle climb up to try the 'green' training circuit. Wooden rideways covered in a smattering of snow and ice, just to make them more exciting. Pretty good place to learn, wish I had come here in the Spring before facing the V-trail. Gave Sampsa a taste of things to come,and Neil and I a good practice, especially over the jumps,as it has been 5 months since we last jumped anything. Round the red trail - definitely harder than 2 years ago - I reckon the builders have been planting more rocks, and letting it get rougher to allow for more demanding users. Except for a few bits, it is not much easier than the V-trail. What that offers is a chance to do some proper climbing and knacker out the legs before getting to the technical stuff, but probably needs volunteers to make more challenging alternatives.

Anyway, as we get higher, the snow is hanging on the tress, the sky blue and the sun rising. Glorious up on the final ridge, breaking the ice in the puddles. 3 guys reached the top before us, we had seen them before, on their 5inch sus bikes and leg armour. They were being cautious as their mate had wrecked himself badly the week before. Great descent of Spooky woods, taking all the jumps, but still not clearing tabletops - not sure I should with a hard tail. Ride back up the return path and past the new helipad - obviously air ambulance gets plenty of clients these days. Second run trying harder, but somehow not so smooth as before. Still need to clear the drop-offs cleanly, somehow I chicken juming them nearly all the time, but when I don't they are straight forward. Good to watch confident riders with plenty of suspension hitting these things. Great riding down the rest of the trail. Fail toto find the switch to the V-trail, but do a fun run through the woods and wet roots. Neil is the only one who braves the final 10ft vertical drop!
Have time this week to do the final descent through the woods - do the log obstacles no problem. I seem to remember last year I could not believe anyone would ride off them.

Great day out! No injuries, or any bits of bike broken either.

Long time no blog

No entries for a while, partly because I was not riding much for a few weeks, and then just being too busy at work. However we have had a few rides. A couple of times to the Pentlands, now the mud is here I changed to a really knobbly rear tire and it is great, no sliding around. Last week Neil and I took a visiting colleague from Finland (Sampsa) for his first proper mountain bike trip round the easy loop (Bonaly), and were very impressed with what he would do through and still keep up. I have also got back into lunchtime training rides with Dermot - out to Prestonpans or intervals round Arthur's seat against the gales! Another new thing is a spinning class, on the new bikes in the University gym. Only short (30mins), but pretty hard going, pushing the aerobic limit much of the time. Definitely a good one for rainy days.

Last week we had an early start at Glentress. Only 3 cars in the carpark at 8:30, and no one on the trail the whole way round. We hardly stopped, except for trying to align my new seat post (I had bent another one hitting it with my arse going over a bump). Nearly did all the final gullies without putting a foot down. Took about 2:15hr. By the time we got back to the forest road there were crowds riding up, at least 50 bikers setting off at the same time, and near on 150 cars in the carpark.

Knackered and new wheel

Pretty hard training week last week, intervals, sprint etc, so after 3 hour ride in the pouring rain on Snday I was Knackered - decided to take a few days off. We rode down the Innocent path to the river Esk, and then to Dalkeith Park and played around in the mud there. Flat tyre. It poured down for the whole morning, only hard core dog walkers were out.
Got my new wheel though, it is massive 29mm, much bigger than Neil's wheel, which in the end was only 21mm. The profile of the rear tire is now amlost flat, which should give amazing grip, but huge rolling resistance. Went out for a ride down the cycle paths on Thursday taking the mountain bike, not my bike with road tires- I was still feeling a little tired,a nd maybe low on bloody sugar, but Dermot was way past me on the intervals we did not the way home. I wonder if it was the right way to go to get such a big wheel. It was a bit flat, which did not help, but a slicker tire might be in order for rides that are mostly on paths.

A couple of links - a study by an academic that shows car drivers drive closer to cyclists wearing helmets than those who do not Link
And an article on how early Tour de France riders rode fixed gear bikes off road.

riding and new wheels

No great adventures. After having all the new drive parts on my bike replaced by the Bike Coop, I set out for a ride last weekend, and realised a spoke on the rear wheel is broken, and the rim warpped. So much for the mechanics in checking it over, or maybe it was just falling apart. Coop cannot fix it for 10 days, so try the Bike Works who can do it straight away. Decide to buy a decent wheel anyway, and use this as a spare. After trying to make head or tail of which rim opts for the Mavic XM 719, but then change my mind to Mavic EX 729 - should be bomb proof and I don't have to pay for braking rims either .- and 200g of weight is not so much of a problem. However after 10 days they still haven't got it in stock. Neil said it took then over 3 weeks to do his wheel.

Anyway, a short sharp ride on Sunday tested out my last 2 weeks of good training: some shorter endurance rides, interval, sprint and tempo training at lunch times with Dermot. A very foggy morning soon cleared to sun up in the Pentlands. We went fast up Puke Hill, down to Glencorse and up Maiden's Cleugh. Neil still had something to prove on Harbour hill and carried on straight up while I was snacking. He very impressively got to the top without stopping, only putting his foot down once. I had to stop half way - but he wasn't looking! Down through the technical sections in Terror woods (White Hill) - chickened the first technical section, but managed the steep steps - wet roots can be a bit scary since they are like ice. Went over the shoulder of White Hill, did some of the steps that I fell off a couple of weeks ago. Final climb up the bottom section of Allermuir hill in order to do the fast run across the field. Home with a few sprints. Easy 2hrs.26k

I still think there is something up with the front forks, they seem to clunk a bit. ...not that I can afford new forks.

Week of riding - Sunday rain

Good riding week, experimenting with different training exercises based on the Bragenzer article. Lunchtime ride to Prestonpans (30k), some long tempo intervals round Arthur's seat, and then a sprint session on Arthur's seat with Dermot on Wednesday after reading this. Didn't seem to hard at the time but I could really feel it afterwards. The best was the ride out to the seaside, off road to Joppa, and then on quiet roads. Work at maintain a steady easy heart rate. Now I understand why people train on roadbikes to get the steady hours in. I took the child seat off the cross bar of the city bike and that works pretty well though.
Sunday morning Pentlands ride was the wettest I can remember. Not so muddy, by huge puddles and steady warm front all morning. Nobody else out. Easy ride out though the reservoirs then return via the Redd Road, Black Hill.Couldn't see a thing with wet glasses, so had a harmless fall on taking a wrong line. Maybe the last time until we can ride these until the ground freezes - muddy season starting. Climb up Maiden's Cleugh, followed by Harbour Hill. Met a guy at the col: ' never seen anyone ride up there!'. Had to stop a few times, but rode everything. Cloud at the top. Neil pushed up. A few weeks training needed to crack this one. Neil was getting tired, although I could have done a few more hills, descent to petrol station and home. Soaking wet, covered in mud and starting to get a bit cold by the end. 47k, 3:20hr.
Think I need 5 bikes - Road bike, city bike, hard tail, Full sus and street bike. Chances of getting them, nil! Have to make do with bits and bobs from the Bike coop sale.

Now for something completely different

As well as cycling, I go yacht racing every Wednesday evening in summer on the Firth of Forth, underneath the bridges between North and South Queensferry. I am foredeckhand on a 707 called Jetstream, owned and skippered by Dave and Demort, assisted by myself and 2 other blokes, usually Colwyn and Nick. Click here for a set of photos I took last Wednesday night.

Bike training: 6 x 2min intervals on the ride round Arthur's seat, 3 on the hill, 3 on the flat. Makes the ride quite a bit more active. 15km, 340m climb.

Some weblinks

Lots of photos of someone's trip to North Shore in BC. Pretty craszy stuff.
Spudhucksters. I Need body armour, lots of time, and probably a silly beard helps to do this stuff. They have loads of pictures and reports from places in North America.

Fitness test

Went out for some lunchtime circuits of Arthur's seat with Dermot, a ride we have done quite a few times this summer. Dermot is pretty fit, and does these crazy 10hr bike marathons. We are usually pretty much the same fitness and go round at the same pace. After a month of regular cycling I was hardly raising my heart rate and Dermot was already panting. Did some hard sprints up the hill to push my heart rate up. Assuming he is pretty much as fit as before, I am clearly much fitter. The problem - how to maintain that fitness.

From the Pleasance, 3 x round Arthur's seat is 15k, and takes 50mins at a not too hard pace.

Old bike, old routes and nice crash

Fixed the old bike up while the Rockhopper is in the workshop. Looks and feels crap to start with - smaller, hardly any suspension, flat handlebars etc. Get the brakes working, chain on again, but the rear hub is a bit rough. Neil is sick, so can't make it for the Sunday morning ride. I head out of a couple of hours - get lost looking for new route up Craiglockhart - carry the bike up through stinging nettles. Everything is so overgrown in just 6 weeks. After crossing under the bypass at Bonaly, I try to ride the narrow path over the shoulder of White Hill skirting Bonaly Tower. Much of it ridable, except for 2mins of steep steps - even more so if I had easier gears of the other bike. Quickly up to Bonaly Res, down to Glencorse (not too wet today) and up over Maiden's Cleugh. The hills are beautiful today - all the heather is purple. Only 1:30hr gone, so follow some other bikers back up to the col and spend time chatting. A guy with a new bike arrives slowly and is promptly sick - not sure if it was the hill or something he ate. I hope he got home OK. Another bloke arrived and climb up Harbour Hill. Always looked too steep, but looks like it just needs a low gear. The 3 bikers said they had ridden much of the other side, which is steeper. Down to Glencorse and and back up Phantoms Cleugh. Meet an aquaintance, then two other cyclists ask if I know a good way down. One has a big heavy FS bike, but they are both a bit slower than me. I lead them down through Terror Woods (WHite Hill)- i.e. the very steep and rough gorge of Dean Burn. I manage to ride much more than I have ever done before. One of the guy's say "Do you do base jumping?!". Back over the path towards the bypass. One of the guys takes a tumble down the steep slope that falls away from the narrow path. Looks spectacular! On the next very narrow set of steps I try to ride, but a log across the path makes me brake more than I should, and I tumbled down the steep hill about 20ft - the bike twice as far. Land in the nettles, but everything seems fine. Gear lever bent though, so stuck in 8th gear, and calf well bruised I can hardly walk later. Luckily the hill was just earth and plants - very different to Spain where it would have been sharp rocks. Anyway, feel I can ride much harder things now - just need to clear the logs first! 31k, 2:55hr, 660m.

Back from Galicia

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From El Escorial we went to Sanxenxo, a town in the south of Galicia on the coast. Most people stay on the beach or go on the water, but there are extensive forests and rural areas with vinyeards and small farms. Completely different biking country. Hills (Monte do Castrove) rise behind the town up to about 600m near Pontevedra, about 15k East. The hills are covered in eucalyptus forests with some pine. Loads of forest trails I have run over before, linking tops and small villages. Quite a few deep valleys and steep paths and fire breaks.
Click here to get to more images on Flickr.




First day I did a 5 hour trip to the highest of the hills, Alto de Castrove, stopping frequently with the map and compass to find my way though the maze of paths. At the top chatted to the fire vigilante. He said that the hills were very dry and fires frequent.



Great views over the whole area - the Ría Arrosa to the north, and the Ría Pontevedra to the south. Lots of wild horses around. Tried to find a technical descent to the south, ended up an a very steep path that was ridable, except the brambles aross the path ripping in the legs and mechs.

After finding a dead horse in a small reservoir and getting lost trying to find a path around a tiny village, managed to find a way back home. 5 hours ride, 1000m climb, 40k.
Couple of days later did another ride, furthur to the north, getting lost in a small village next to the Monestario Almeneiro, then by road over to Cambados, and back, with a final climb through tiny farms of Meaño. 40 degrees in the sun, 55k in about 4 hours.

Then the forest fires started: people were setting fires all over Galicia, the sky was covered in smoke for nearly a week. Forest close by were burning out of contol. The bike was also playing up, gears slipping all the time. First bike shop did not have a clue, so I worked about I had a bend gear hanger, and another shop tried to fix it. Much better, but the whole thing snapped 1/2 hr into a fast climb. Tied it all up with strips of bark and freewheeled down.

Off to Pontevedra to "Motobike" a very well stocked shop, very helpful, to buy new hanger and a spare.
Two more rides out, pushing much harder for 3 hours, trying to keep pace and heartrate up. Took similar routes to before, but this time the forests were almost completely burned. Had to turn back at one point, and another day the fire came down to the path in the time between riding out and riding back.


Set of photos of the burnt and buring woods I rode though.
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Final day down the hill the front fork suddenly rose up 5cm as I reached the bottom of the best steep technical section - I guess a value broke, but it made technical climbing very strange with the front end much higher in the air and clunking. Then the rear dereilleur gave out too - spring came out. Bike in a very sorry state by the end of the holiday, and now in the repair shop for 2 weeks for lots of new parts, and shocks (Rockshox Tora) sent off for a warranty claim.

Spent some time practicing technique in Sanxenxo. Lots of kids in bands of various ages out with their bikes practicing tricks around the steps and curbs of the town, some very good. Picked up some ideas and tips from watching them. Met a couple of bikers in the woods on days out, for chat and some riding together, but in general the woods are deserted.

Great holiday , nearly 500km in 15 trips over the month. Learnt lots about the bike and good to spend hours and hours covering technical climbs and descents, building up skills and fitness.

La Jarosa- Cerro de Salamanca tour

UNfortunately I could not leave early to go with the bike club on their trip to the Segovia side of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Instead I took the bike in the car to La Jarosa at midday to climb up to Cerro de la Salamanca and do the path we climbed on Wednesday in reverse. Hot day, 40 in the sun, but with some breeze. Got lost in the woods near the reservoir, but found the road I descended a couple of years ago and climbed to the Camino de Mines on steep exposed forest road. 1:05hr. 'Marco's' website of Tiraleras de Madrid says that there are two 5* techncal descents near here - the Cerro de la Salamanca, and Cerro de Cueva Valiente (he has a little map). Dropped down to the start of the climb to Cueva Valiente (1903m), but it is a 2.3k carry of the bike - could'nt be bothered, so climbed back to the road, and up the path to the Refugio. Marco reckons he can do it without putting a foot down - but a long boulder strewn path is still beyond me. Fantastic descent of stones and rocks to the col, (collado) and then down in the La Jarosa valley on the same technical path as last week. Followed the road north instead of south, passing two lost bikers whom I pointed in the right direction. Took a sort of twin path to the one on the other side of the valley down through the firebreak. At the end there was a very steep and loose earthed gulley to slide down followed by a travesing path. One surprise jump on the road and a final climb back to the car. 29k, 3:50, 870m.

GR10 again!

Climbed up Abantos to meet Miguel half way with his car, which we parked at the top of the road, and cycled to the ridge. Followed the same route to the Refugio de Naranjera, but continued to climb the next 2 peaks. Pretty hard going on rock, loose stones and sand. Miguel climbs well - I need to learn more control. When he turns on the rear suspension there is no stopping him. Very staisfying climb to Cerro de Salamanca which is nearly at the Alto de Leon pass from Madrid to Segovia. Definetely need to do it in reverse, with the final descent to La Jarosa. Got to the top just before 9, so took the road down and a long climb back to the car, rewarded with a fabulous sunset at the end.



17 photos on Flickr

Cecelio from the bike club sent me a link to photos that Jesus Ruiz took on last Saturday's ride.

Getting hot

Getting hotter here, but still fine for going out in the mornings. Gentle 30k ride this morning with Miguel, from Escorial via tracks to Fresenilla, which was a mistake, since we meant to go to Zarzalejo. Made it back on the road and enjoyed the descent of the Calzada Romana. Miguel lent me his bike so I could try the full suspension. His bike is much smaller, but I can feel the difference - jumps are much softer, just pedal over the big stones no problem. Mind you he says that he could feel the control of the hard tail control much more, just needs more strength and technique. Cecilio who does the Club Luis Valtueña pages remarkes on his blog that I 'gave a demonstrationof climbing and descending using a hardtail! Since nearly everyone has full sus this is getting to be more and more of a rarity.

What i really miss in Edinburgh are clusters of rocks to practice technique on and rocky paths to descend and climb - as Miguel says - it is a mountain biker's paradise here.
Juan Antonillo of the club mailed to ask if I wanted to join them on Wed for a trip to the Camino del Ingeniero, from San Rafael, the other side of the Puerto de Leon, but clashes with taking the kids to school. I will try and go on Saturday.
32k, 2:20hr

Zarzalejo

Morning trip with a friend Miguel. Up to the Silla Filipe II, a road in a park called the Herreria where he watched the building of the Monastery. Then along to the old Roman road, which is not as smooth as it once was.

(The only smooth part of the Calzada Romana)

Miguel descends very fast on his dual sus Stumpjumper, but climbs slowly. Puncture in Zarzlejo.

View back to Zarzalego and Las Machotas.

Climb up through the woods to the ridge near La Puera de la Cruz Verde, and descend a great path, with lovely views. Lots of loose stones and sand which makes the back wheel skid all over the place. Return to Escorial. Miguel shows me a tehncail descnet from la Silla that I have never seen, even after looking frequently. This place has so many great hidden trials. 30k, 3 hrs.

Club LUIS VALTUEÑA

Went on a morning ride with members of the Mountin bike club LUIS VALTUEÑA whose webpage I found a while ago. they just happened to be doing one of their weekly trips from Escorial. Very nice bunch of guys (an one woman). about 17 of us climbed up the Llanios switchback and to the top of Abantos. Groups with a mixed ability - some very strong, others normal. Only a couple had rigid frame bikes. Plenty of waiting for the end group to catch up, but incentive to try to climb on the loose rocks when eveyone else is doing it. Same route as I did the last few days, but a different descent at the Refugio - big rocks, most people dismounted. Saw a fox. Did a great technical descent near the Embalse del Tobar - lots of rocks which most people mismounted for, followed by a hot climb to Malagon. Final steep hard descent on very loose stones and sand on the Via Pecuaria - the old cattle trail which goes straight down. First time I have ridden with a group - great fun. UNfortunately they say the Sierra de Guadarrma is being closed to all motorised traffic and bikes included above 1300m as part of the creation of a national park to stop proterty development. All the cyclists are mad about it, but it seems not much can be done.
23km. 5hrs in lots of stops. 1150 climb.

GR10 to La Jarosa

Another trip to try and do the route I missed on Tuesday. Much hotter day today, but with a nice wind, and the new helmet, so a 4pm start in over 30 degrees was not too difficult.


Gentle climb to Malagon, then along the road and up a very steep climb to the hill next to Abantos, Los Tientos.


Along the ridge that goes around the Valle de los Caídos with it's fascist-style monument, and down the rocky descent, which I did much less smoothly than before. Might have been the rainstorm that made it much softer.

At the little house I managed to keep on the path - which involved quite a bit of pushing up hill - I just cannot ride through piles of big stones. Eventual reached a hill called Carro de la Carrosqueta with great view of the valley called La Jarosa. I have beeen down before, but reaching it via the road. Saw 2 bikers descending the opposite hill - first I had seen all day.


Pretty technical descent and then a right turn down a really excellent rocky single track path about 200 m to the forest track.


Skirt round to the right until I find another track down to the lake. this is excellent! some bits are really steep and fine gravel, so the brakes hardly work.


Down the road, via a small piece of regular smooth single track and 10 ride back to to El Escorial along the main road.
40k; 4:20hr, 950m. quite a bit of carrying the bike.
Full set of photos on Flikr

Abantos and GR10

Monday evening managed to get out for an hour to practice jumps and manuals on the roads and field near the house. Tuesday morning time to skip work and head for the hills. Climbed up the road to Malagon, then on the track to the sumit of Abantos (1750m). took at wrong turning and had to carry the bike a bit. Here is a photo of the Sierra de Madrid from a previous ascent:
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Quick stop then ride north anlong the ridge with the aim of following the footpath in order to descend the other side of el Valle de los Caídos, down to La Jarosa, a reservoir. The path is a very wide firebreak for the first few kilometers, but with some technical moments. Then it starts to descend, and basically turns into a storm stream - steep and full of rocks and roots and loose stone. Excellent! Descent to an old refuge, thenI think I took at wrong turning, following the stream down the valley - I was having too much fun! However this meant I arrived at the track though the woods on the wrong side of the ridge, by the childrens camp ground - which is in the middle of nowhere. The air is fresh and cool, the horses run wild in the woods - very beautiful spot. Ride north along the track looking for a way up to the ridge again - one false turning and arrive at the tarmaced road that leads over the mountain. Ride up, but realise I have only one hour to return home, so turn back, judging that that goingback will be marginally quicker than going on. At least it is cool up in the mountains, and avoids the ride back from Guadarrama on the main road. Fast return on single track inthe woods, then back along the forest track another 5k. JOin the road again for 2-3k climb - this time the sun is out and it is hot. Time running out too, only 20 mins to descent. Take the same path down as Monday, but faster. Had to stop a for breath a couple of times. Just great to have 400m unbroken rocky singletrack.
Next time I will take a compass and read the 10,000 scale map more carefully!
40km;1000m disnivel;3:45hr

First day in Spain

Arrived in Spain on Thursday, reassembled the bike, which survived the plane trip, and went up the hill on Friday morning. The house where we stay is at the bottom of a mountain called Abantos. The house is at 970m, the top of the mountain pas - Puerto de Malagon, at 1547m, and the Abantos 1750m. Click for the Google satellite picture of the area Abantos is the mountain just north of the village.
Steep ride up to the Embalse de Romeral, then along the track to the 16 Zs - 250m of climb up narrow zigzag singletrack in the pine trees. Gets the heart racing. From Los Llanios the final 200m up to road to the top is very steep. They once ran the Giro de España up here, and have local races, so the road is painted with names of cyclists. 1:15hr to the top. Found a great new descent from near the top of Malagon down a rocky footpath, lots of roots, rock gardens etc. Cross the road again and onto the steep path down the valley - 15mins to descend.
View to the village from half way up.
16km;600m;1:45hr.

Pentland crash!

Early morning start on Sunday for a long ride over the Pentlands to do the descent from Cap Law on a small ridge called Monk's Rigg. Straight out to Harlaw along the Water of Leith, then up Black Hill, a gentle but slightly technical ascent. Push up from Green Cleugh to the 'Redd Road' which goes across Haw Hill, and up the pass between West Kip and Haw Hill. Fast climb all the way.



Then onto new tracks- the Monk's Rigg descent is fast on grass, no rock, so let go of the brakes. Great fun.


At the bottom we turned left, rather than right, hoping to avoid the road and get along to the track up through the farm at Eight Mile Burn. However the path just goes up and up - a couple of pushes included, and a slow hot ride back up to the pass again. Fun ride across the top with little jumps and then aiming down towards Bavelaw. I jumped off the path and fell off slowly, and when I caught up with Neil he was lying in the heather not moving. He was not too hurt, but the bike was - he had landed very heavily on the front wheel and it was rather an odd shape.

When Neil recovered we stood on either side of it and managed to straighten it again, but the disk brakes were rubbing. At that moment a very friendly bunch of mountain bikers came by and helped out with assorted tools and suggestions. Wheel back on, nearly straight, no front brake, but fine to descend and fast back home along the Water of Leith from Balerno. 49km round trip - 5hrs out, 4 riding.

Playing on the Links

Bike as been serviced (£40 ) and time to take the children down to Bruntsfield Links to play. They love to ride down the hill and over the bumps.

I was practicing manuals and jumping as usual.

Neil puntured a tire with a pin so he was wheeling my bike.

Glentress again

Early morning start down to Glentress, only to find the place full of people setting up the Scottish XC Championships. Went up to 'Spooky Wood' a build section at the top of the red run that we had not done before. Lots of jumps, berms and a few drop offs. The first time were were distinctly careful, but after a couple of steep climbs back up we were getting some speed and managing to jump off, if not over, all the tabletops and little bumps. Still braking too much, so some parts not enough speed. By the 3rd time round there was a crowd at the top - people with all sorts of bikes - a couple of old hard tails, full sus, hard tail jump bikes etc. One group were putting on armour. I wonder if by next year it will be normal to do this, given the greater number of jumps being built, and the higher incidence of injury. The manager of the Hub, who was setting up the XC race told us that lots pf people were trying to do the red jump course on XC bikes with the seat up! The advice they give on the signs is full face helmets and body armour.
After the jumps we headed off to the V-trail - the Boundary, and down the boneshaking trail and a long climb up though the rain forest section that is hot and full of flies. Managed the log piles and rooty drop offs no problem, and even the rock steps, but still defeated by the sharp left hander in the deep dark woods. No injuries though. Fantastic day, although I was compeltely knackered by 9pm. 3:25hr out, 30km, 800m climb. Rear derellieur not working well in gears 2-4, so time for a professional service.
Picture of Neil

and me after the ride modeling 2006 bike fashion.

Links:
Plans for a big new visitor's centre at Glentress
Forestry Commission mountain bike portal.

Couple of winter photos

Now that I have got a Flickr account I can easily post some photos. Here are a couple of Neil taken on the winter Pentlands ride, using my phone.

Buckles and bunny hops

Managed to get a pinch flat and buckle the back wheel slightly just hitting a curb at a shallow angle outside the local shop! The front wheel also seems to be buckled. A few months ago I could not see the point of learning something like wheel building and aligning, but now I do, since new wheels are pretty expensive, and they bend fairly easily. Neil managed to buckle his wheel too, and damage some spokes. Repair man said his hubs were damaged from heavy riding. Must get mine checked too. Suddenly have to start studying differences between wheels, rims and hubs. Am I overdoing it on the light XC rims?

Some good news on technique progress: I managed to improve the bunny hops. Instead of just trying to jump higher, I did was everyone recommends, and practiced jumping over things in a farmyeard where we spent the weekend camping. The main thing was to get the correct technique, which I did on a 2 inch log, then found a piece of 2x4 and stood it on end. Soon sailing over it every time, concentrating on a good frong fork compression well before the jump, looking ahead, and pushing the front wheel down as soon as it is over the obstacle. Now to work up to 6"... I still managed to hit the large scab on my leg from last week's practice session - should have been wearing the shin pads I bought from the hockey shop. That came from trying too hard, not just relaxing and letting the feet come up naturally. My shoulder is still sore from bad technique bunny hopping, so I will give it a week's rest.

A couple of links this today:
Shimano parts catalogue
Sheldon Brown's Wheel building page
National Bike week 17-25 June