Week 4, rides 1 and 2
Short but nice and main thing being that it was all new territory so needed to use the map skills. I think it felt easier but might be in the head as the singletracks were almost flat. ICU Intervals looks like this...



Not an expert but it appears I'm holding fitness and for the days coming should be fresh for some efforts... Whatever, the rides have been nice

Week 5, Ride 1

After only 2 rides yesterday to which my finances this week were a little happier, I managed a trip yesterday. Part of last weeks low volume of training was also my anticipation to going out to 'train'. Anyway, yesterday I managed a decent length ride locally.

Got a fair bit of trail in there but no HAB. Though there was a short walk whery my legs couldnt pedal the terrain but previously have done. Strava told me it was a tough un andt body/knee confimred its findings. A fair few pictures but still managed to stay in limit - probably due the road sections or that I didn't do any cooking nor saying of any prayers.







22 minutes of stopping, to which I'm not overly impressed. But at least it was enjoysble..

So, week 5 has only just had one ride so far. But at least that means I'll not be struggling for cash next week as I've managed to get some proper work in aswell as cleared out the fibre insulation from the loft and cut a joist (to go in, not randomly cut one during research) as well as lots of structural engineer input for what's next. Building the loft is critical to my mtb-ing as the OS maps will make up he wallpaper as well as managing to get a load of stuff out of shed and make myself more (manoeuvreable) space.

Got myself a bigger drybag for the bars which will add 20g. Removing the Mountain Ghost 140 sleeping bag and adding the quilt has shaved me 250g. Plus pack size is hopefully smaller now and I'll lose some weight off my back as all bivy gear can hopefully go on the bars. Gonna pack the bike now and when the missus/family are at the in laws I could maybe go and explore up towards (goes to check OS map) Baildon/Silsden and get in some elevation as well as hopefully some proper ST or similar.

Keep at it Shaf - you will see a benefit!

Thanks Steve, yes I will keep trying and the bike is almost always with me (for after work).

Week 5/ Ride 2 Rated 6.5/10

Todays ride I managed to figure out a grading system. Based upon 3 factors (to keep it simple stupid/KISS) which are:

1.How much I enjoyed it at the time or how much stress was involved mid ride.
2. Did I find any tussocks and/or did I get caught in so much foliage that I worried about dropping something or losing my bearings.
3. Was there more elevation than miles (so 100ft per mile) and was there plenty rough off road etc etc.
4. What did Strava 'at a glance' tell me about my fatigue/effort and/or did my body feel it post ride.
5. Did my belly button protrusion (looks like an umbilical hernia but I'm convinced it's just a lump of fat that needs burning) go flat/down.

Pretty exhaustive list but todays ride of 24 miles gained a 6.5/10. Caught up in foliage which was meant to be the Shipley Glen (whatever that is) which even the OS maps and the BW post weren't sure qhere exactly the path lay. Stress of getting back to pick the kids and (scary fiersome) wife was high enough as I/it was getting late. Then to top it off there was plenty of muddy puddles, deep enough that I had to quickly dab and walk around carefully - no one likes a dirty training bike stuffed in the car, right..

To top it all off I just about managed to stay within the 8.8km/mark as it was 39km in 4H22. So glad I made the thread it's helping focus things as well as all that input recieved. Sadly I don't think I was as quick/passionate at the gates, but I did try to countdown from 10 (slowly).

Actually I'll upgrade that score to a 7. There was a poem about boggy tussocks on a rock.. Met the Lieverpool/Leeds canal towpath after 10 years. Used a painted bridleway gate and I'm thinking I'll be going back to explore that Shipley Glen again...

Pics can be found here - https://strava.app.link/DxXbHpsJhsb

Any GPS that had a tussock-ometer would get my money
Inspired by this I thought I'd better crack on as well rather than swanning around on the gravel bike riding easy trails and road.
After a warm up single speed killer climb (too steep to be easy but not steep enough to push) I got stuck into a humongous push from 280m to 611m. Followed this up with lengthy SS killer number 2 quickly followed by another. Everything is bone dry so no bogs yet but still did a tussock trail (about a 5 I reckon) with plenty of ups and downs and some long sections getting over grown with sitka self seeding from the nearby plantation so my legs and arms were shredded. 72k, 1700m of climbing which is approaching BB200/300 levels so happy with that; in 5hrs.

Nice1 Phil

Week 5/ Ride 3 -training rating 8

Alhamdulillah, went to work. It got cancelled. Made a ride from Congleton and headed to the Peaks. Finished ride and managed to grab another shift then told the missus. Obviously I told a mate where I was going and my route just in case..

Training rating of about 8 I think. Lots of steep uphills, enough to make me walk a little. Plenty of loose rockery up and downhill. The up was so loose that I had to drop the pressures to maybe now at 9psi. Really thought about swapping my 3 inch tyre out once and for all from the back.

No real tussocks but the rocks DH we strong enough to have me worried and Ned Overending. So had to dab a few times. All the body hurting and from the 36 mile route I'd made, I shortcut it back to the car. More faff than I needed to do and as such the kph suffered down to about 7.7km/h. Lots of gorgeous pics though and parts of the Peaks I'd never seen before, so it was well worth it. Plus did my prayers (2 units out of a total of 5 in 24H) so that made things a bit more realistic.

Elevation was about 2500 in 17 miles so that ticked another box...

Week 6/ Rides 1-4

Alhamdulillah, thought I'd only managed 3 rides but turns out it was 4.

27 miles, Stamford hillocks, 1400ft, rating of about a 6

10 miles, Nuneaton, 900ft, in the dark, rating of 5 (saw two field mice).

7.5 miles and 13 miles. Both around the northerly territory of the PBW. 800ft and 1300ft respectively. Final one was a rating of about 8 as I changed my mindset to starting to pick up (other peoples) litter and the 7.5 miler a 7. Had to cut em both short to wither get to work or get home.

So, week 6 and though a bit steady, a total of 57 miles and 4300ft of up. Plenty of trails so happy with that. Must travel faster

Week 7: nothing

Week 8/ride-run 1

Managed to not get anything done last week unfortunately. To ensure I don't go there again I grabbed the running shoes today whilst getting ready for the days oit with family. Hoping to ensure I at least get a 7 mile run in when too busy for riding...

7.5 miles with 1.5h moving time and 12 of stopping for whatever. Need to ensure I make quick recoveries and don't overdo it but, needs must! Best part was that I could see the Lakes in the distance so just ran north towards em. Most beautiful...


Met Jimmy the Gull.


Ran towards a big pond to make ablution and met this funny set of designs. vaguely exciting wouldn't do it justice.


Then readjust my bearings to keep running/hobbling north to see how close to the beautiful mountains I could get. Looks alot closer in real life or maybe the phone's just rubbish...

Week 8/ride-run 2

Another run to ensure I'm getting something into the legs. Just short of 6 miles. What I suppose could be seen as marathon/ultra pace for myself. Am wary of doing an injury but the other week a chap called Scott (I think) at the Friends of Bowling Park monthly meeting mentioned how ultras cause less injury as you're trying not to strain too much

Not sure how accurate he is but he is an ultra runner and running slowly and carefully has me feeling ok and not walking much. Maybe it's working.

1h and 6 running with about 4 minutes stopping time. Trying to have cold showers for quick recovery...

It appears that the month of August was a very poor month for cycling for me. Just as I was about to start with a trip to the Lakes this weekend, I went and tested positive this morning. So I'm working at home banished to one room of the house...Calder Divide is in a few weeks too....then the BB200 is shortly after.

Escape Goat wrote: ↑Thu Sep 01, 2022 9:55 am It appears that the month of August was a very poor month for cycling for me. Just as I was about to start with a trip to the Lakes this weekend, I went and tested positive this morning. So I'm working at home banished to one room of the house...Calder Divide is in a few weeks too....then the BB200 is shortly after.

Am I bringing you a can of Ginger Beer from Yorkshire Allen. I'll carry it for ya but I just won't give it you or else you'll be disqualified.

I've just come to work and then been cancelled (the trials and tribulations of an agency worker wanting maximum freedom!) and now planning for another little run. Seems I hit the wall even before getting out there. Should've eaten more breakkie

Sorry to hear about you testing positive Allen. Don't overstrain yourself (which with your relaxed attitude you obviously never do) and you'll be good (Hod Willing). Hope the family allow you out soon

Thanks Shaf. Very kind of you.

I’ll see what it leaves me like when I’ve kicked it and hopefully go from there.

I’ve avoided it for over two years I guess!

Good Luck Shaf! I recall riding much of the 2019 200 with you.

MarkW wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:18 pm Good Luck Shaf! I recall riding much of the 2019 200 with you.

Thanks so much Mark. Yes, that ride is amongst the best rides I've ever done and thanks for being such a good comrade. You and Jase were amazing and I still don't get how folks can do the DH track on gravel/CX wheels and tires. Hope to see you again some day and you're always welcome at mine for a ride and food/coffee mate

It crossed my mind that all this dry weather / trails will make wimps of us all so by the time the BB comes we'll have no chance of dealing with typical crap weather and soggy trails.....
Weather shocker tomorrow that said but I'm duty manager at work so confined to barracks!

I've just bought waterproof shorts, I just have this feeling...

Just an update on this (in case anyone was curious/following along). About a month or more ago the car went kaput (hence the cheap v8 I'm going to collect now). Seems a head gasket failure and that's what generally the mechanics are going along with.

Took me some deep thinking but inevitably I didn't plan to risk having Stu/Dee seee coming back after 36H and even worse, I didn't want to be the stupid casualty on the trails due to lack of proper training. Hence I dropped out (initially swapping tickets to a November start) despite not wanting to spoil my streak of 3 attempts for the past 3 years!

I will be (considering) continuing this thread though, as and when I'm sorted and back to training. Hopefully by next year I'll be like one of them robot-soldiers Hope everyone enjoys the upcoming BB200 and that the fords aren't too 'rivery'

Thanks for the update Shaf. I've not been keeping up with other threads and was wondering what had happened to your plans. Good luck for 2023.

Thanks Colin. Little update on the V8 aswell. Took the little one (I always wanted a V8) for a day out. Trains to Manchester then Hereford. Bought the csr as the chap seemed genuine enough then got ready to drive off. Aircon was warm, power steering fluid black (asked him on this during the tyre-kick inspection and told me it's normal ) and smelt of smoke.

I'd paid the price agreed and insurance already started. So i wasn't gonna make a fuss on a £70k car that I was buying 20 years later for £2150. In the ebay ad to his trade centre he'd written 'must see, amazing, rust free'. Went round the car for some reason and noticed a big blotch of the stuff around the wing mirror. So I asked him on it. He was unapologetic but decent enough (I mentioned the fact he's got Bentleys on the forecourt so I didn't expect this).

Told me I could have my money back and I said yeah Decent day out for the 8 year old and probably my first car I've ever gone to buy and said no (well, there was this Skoda or summat years ago that just felt wrong). Back to the broken head gasket and refurning coolant manually it is (and a blocked heater matrix cos I've probably used too much gasket repair selant between flushes ).

On the original advice theme, definitely treat shop stops like pitstops. Food, water, fix any niggles you've had in the last X hours... go.

Also, random advice... positive self talk. Makes a massive difference in helping you focus on what's going right rather than what's going wrong. Can get pretty dark mentally at times, I certainly had it happen a lot on the last one.

Richard G wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 5:36 pm On the original advice theme, definitely treat shop stops like pitstops. Food, water, fix any niggles you've had in the last X hours... go.

Also, random advice... positive self talk. Makes a massive difference in helping you focus on what's going right rather than what's going wrong. Can get pretty dark mentally at times, I certainly had it happen a lot on the last one.

I saw/heard how fast you cleared that one Rich... Well done

Yes, there was indeed lots of pep talking when I attempted a recent commute from Patterdale to Grasmere. Past Gasdale Tarn and somwhere near Hellvelyn. Pretty hairy and the precursor to me realising i hadn't been training at all recently

Thanks Shaf, I too was wondering.
Are you still aiming to get the BBBB (Bearbones black badge) in November?

I wonder what I would do... 2 - 3 intense rides a week, then for the last one or two weeks up to the event do 1 - 2 calm but longer rides with more focus on little stopping time, or something like that. Then only do half of what was planned, but keep that mindset of getting the BBBB and see what happens

Whatever your plan (or not), wishing loads of fun and hope you get to do what you fancy.

Alpinum wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:11 pm Thanks Shaf, I too was wondering.
Are you still aiming to get the BBBB (Bearbones black badge) in November?

I wonder what I would do... 2 - 3 intense rides a week, then for the last one or two weeks up to the event do 1 - 2 calm but longer rides with more focus on little stopping time, or something like that. Then only do half of what was planned, but keep that mindset of getting the BBBB and see what happens

Whatever your plan (or not), wishing loads of fun and hope you get to do what you fancy.

Thanks Gian... Yes, that too had crossed my mind. Like doing the Northpeaks100 weekly then taper down and go attempt it. But then I did that commute of 7 miles with lots of 'scrambling' and I kept thinking of Stu and what types of HAB he had in mind this year....

Then after getting back from that commute (back home via The Struggle which I ended up walking a little in the pouring rain. Some soul searching whilst using the washer/dryer at the YHA including my boots and I realised it was correct to just sit out this year. Hopefully once car is sorted (need to save up and maybe increasey budget alot) I'll get back on it and formulate a plan for the year ahead

Oh... and also Gian. On that scrambling Dollywagon Pike/Pyke commute in the Lakes. I did think of you and those mental Alps commutes. Put it into perspective as I was holding onto a ledge with my bike. Never again (well, not trying any uncharted bridleway around the Lakes again without full assessment. Little Tongue and Great Tongue - appropriate names indeed and the fell runner seemed impressed