Fantasy MTBing

Leg still bothering me, but getting better. Doc said I may need stiffer soled shoes - that'll be SPDs then!! Even my Doc says I should buy bits for my bike!! Whoop!!

Stuck in the house - decided to do some fantasy mountain biking instead (bit like fantasy footie!!). Had an idea many moons ago about doing the annual charity Gower Bike Ride but with an alternative route taking in a load of off-road trails. Never brought it to fruition. Thought I'd revisit the idea.

It's quite difficult to pull legal off road routes such as bridleways, byways and county roads into a set route without going miles off course. That got me eyeing up the footpaths and open common land enviously - there's a body of thought that we should be allowed on some of this land anyway - http://www.ridetoroam.org/ . I also started pulling in urban routes (e.g. a path through a housing estate down a steep hill - the path has a number of short flights of steps - could be interesting on an MTB!!) It would appear that the National Trust are pro-MTB, so anything on NT land is fair game - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-countryside_environment/w-activities/w-activities-cycling/w-activities-cycling-good_practice.htm . By the time I'd done it turns out to be a tad harder than I thought - instead of the 29 road miles of the bike ride this would be nearly 60 miles with some tough off-road sections, can't see me doing it this year - maybe next?....