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@dancing james
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116761149
Today Tom. and I went off to Swinley for an off road jaunt.
We have been going round the forest there at least a couple of times a month for a while now, but each time there are new parts to discover. We set off to do one of our usual routes, but I suddenly thought fuck it and at a junction where we should have turned left, we took a right and found a whole bunch of new trails for a while, this then led us to some familiar territory, hidden in which there is the Corkscrew, a short very technical twisty turny section of rooty singletrack. After chasing our tails for a while we finally found it.
We used to do the Corkscrew when we first started riding out there, but have been unable to find it since we both lost all the waypoints on our Satnavs. I struggle in the forest, one puddle/tree/muddy track looks much like another to me. It was a day for good traction and grip for both of us, and we both managed to get through the corkscrew twice without putting a foot down. It used to take a few passes to nail it, so clearly both of us have developed our skills a little.
I did however note that my foot had clipped a couple of roots. I then looked at my shoe to discover half the sole was coming off. So we decided to call an earlyish lunchbreak and pick up some superglue at the same time. After a brief trip to Sainsburys, we sat at the Lookout and ate our lunch and I fixed my shoe. It was busy out there, and there was a huge group of people who all seemed to know each other and were all riding rather expensive full suspension bikes, though we had seen a few of them out on the trails and they were even slower and less adept than us! The seated area did have its usual share of chavscum, I was particularly worried by the obese couple who had a child and 3 attack dogs with them in what is effectively a playground for kids, Tom and I played the game of what comment would they make if the dogs set about attacking a child, such as "Satan only gets aggressive if people look at him." I am baffled at why people have such animals, especially when the rotund owners looked like weebles struggling not to be pulled over by their much stronger animals.
After lunch we decided to hit one of our more usual trails, and really gave it some beans. Tom looked like he really had control over his bike today, it just appeared to be driven by telekinesis. It was one of those days where the bikes were behaving perfectly, no mechanicals, tyre pressure appeared to be spot on and traction was great. If felt like a day with nearly no unforced errors, no crashes or spills, and even when pedal strike occurred and the moment my bars clipped a tree nothing untoward happened.
Today was a great day on our bikes. They are not a frequent occurrence, but so much fun when they come along. Am tired and still dehydrated (it was surprisingly warm) but the contented inner glow makes it all worthwhile.