We're not alone!!

All this week, attempts to get out on the bike have been scuppered. Until last night - my mate D and I got out onto Penhydd. As I wasn't on my own in the dark, for a change, I nailed it and impressed myself with my pace. (Considering it was dark and I ate a small farm at a friends wedding at the weekend and I think our office is averaging 1 tin of Chocolates every two days!!)

We got to the junction part way up "To the Top 3" and heard the faint sound of brake squeal. And then, lights in the trees on the valley side just a few hundred metres away, some (other) nutters winding their way down Hidden Valley.

D's Kona Dawg started life as mild mannered trail bike, but has started to take on the look of a full-on downhill machine. With larger tyres, a front mud guard and big disc brakes it's purpose is changing. As too is the ease with which he climbs!! Horses and courses I guess.

I've used my Ay Up lights quite a bit now and I'm absolutely chuffed with them - a real discovery. If it hadn't have been for the MBR magazine review giving them 10/10 I'd never have gone for a brand I'd never heard of, I'd have spent that large a chunk of cash on a well known one.

It's freezing out there - literally!

Christmas is approaching and the gorging has begun. I've polished off two pots of cream this week, pretty much single handedly! The sweets have started to appear. The office gannets (off which I'm one) can destroy a tin of Quality Street in less than a day. When Christmas does arrive the excess will go into overdrive. It's my old pal, Spot's wedding at the weekend, so with that and Christmas shopping not even touched, I see the mountain biking is going to be difficult to squeeze in. Work's hectic, but despite this I'd hoped for a half day off to grab a spin around Afan or Glyncorrwg. Yesterday it became obvious the morning was scuppered. I took the bike into work with me, but at lunchtime the afternoon evaporated in front of my eyes. Fortunately I'd foreseen this and bought my AyUps with me!!

So, as soon as the clock struck 5, the meeting I was in wrapped up and I shot out like the proverbial off a hot shovel. A quick change and repack of my Camelbak and I was off. I was going to be solo, in the dark, on a cold frosty night, in a deserted forest/hilltop. I figured it prudent to go for my safest route - Penhydd. I know this trail like the back of my hand - it was only last Sunday when I was up there last.

It was magical. No one around, just animals moving in the undergrowth and owls hooting in the trees. The fire-roads were beautiful in my lights with the frost, like someone had sprinkled my route with glitter. The puddles were rapidly freezing over and the muddy bits were starting to harden. I had a moment when a muddy patch couldn't decide whether it was soft or hard and finished up deciding that either way I was better off in the adjacent ditch - Oiks! Apart from that it was comfortably uneventful. I even did one climb with the lights out. Once upon a time I suprised a small herd of deer there and I wanted the element of surprise on my side again, but saw nothing. It was surreal climbing up the fire-road, by moonlight, alone!

I didn't really have enough clothing to be safe: shorts with a liner, a lightweight long sleeve and a short sleeve. I had my lightweight waterproof jacket in the pack, just in case, but never used it. However, I was warm enough moving, and stationary pauses were kept to a minimum. By the time I'd got back to the car my shoe laces and the neoprene headset cover were frozen!! Cool ride - in more ways than one.

Revelation of the, er, month!

Revelation of the year? That was Mountain Biking - so can't use that one!!

I've been having gear shifting problems. No amount of fettling seemed to fix it. I'd bent my derailleur drop-out twice, most recently on my Sarn Helen trip. So a new drop-out went in (Pilo - nice kit). It helped, but the real fix was new cables and (crucially) new sheaths. What a difference!! That will always be my starting point from now on. Bought a Lifu (Ice Toolz) cable cutter to help complete the task. Cheap - but works fine.

Fatty goes flatty!!

Couldn't resist that as a title!! Converted to flat pedals recently. I was wondering if it might give me a little more confidence in corners and reduce the chance of painful offs. Usually I get my feet unclipped with SPDs but not always! Maybe a dab can come a bit easier with flatties?? I started with a set of DMR V8's - what a pile of poo they were, felt like they had sand for bearings and the axles weren't even straight! They just felt cheap. Settled on Wellgo MG-1's. They feel much better engineered and I think they're lighter and for nearly the same money.

First impressions - I thought I'd gouge the flesh off my legs with flatties, but so-far I've not had a problem. They're grippier than I expected - I thought I might slip off them in extremes, but not so far. They don't get the power in the up stroke like SPD's but you drive more of the stroke than I thought. My only concerns are the size (which I should eventually get used to). I keep striking them on tree stumps and rocks, etc. If I forget to put my seat down on techy downhills or neglect to put it down far enough, the seat presses the backs of my legs and tries to lever me off the pedals. That's not good and gets very unnerving. But that's down to technique. The other issue is really rough rocky downhills, The jarring feels like it's lifting you off the pedals. However, the normal pedal of choice on a hardtail is probably not a flatty. The grippy nature of the pedals means that if you place your feet awkwardly on the pedals, repositioning is difficult, especially if you're trying to keep the power down or you're mid-way through a descent. Don't know if bike specific shoes would alter this issue, but I seem to have difficulty getting my feet at a comfortable angle, the alignment of the pins and the shoe tread seems to put my feet either side of my preferred angle.

I bought some 661 MXE knee/shin pads to go with the pedals - nice bit of kit for not much money. More comfy than I expected for climbing in and confidence building for downhills.

I've extolled the virues of cheap hydration packs earlier this year. However, feeling that I could do with more capacity (both cargo and liquid), I took the plunge and bought a Camelbak. I'm afraid I'm a convert. If you can afford Camelbak's prices then you should buy. I got a Mayhem and the quality of the product certainly shows. It's well thought out and fits much more comfortably than the old one. However, the old one did it's job, and will still get used when I want to go light.