Dartmoor mountain biker

   For those who don't know, this is the birth of mountain biking (though there are those who believe that this was not the only birth of mountain biking). On Mount Tamalpais, California, during the 70s, a group of pioneering riders took their modified Schwinn Cruiser bikes and raced them down the mountain, in a race that became known as Repack. The name was coined after the fact that riders would have to Repack the grease in the roller brakes, as they would heat up so much on the descent that the grease inside would boil off! I've long lusted after a Schwinn Cruiser of my own, though the original 1940s bikes command premium prices these days. I've seen several very cool models from Electra (Trek), with Bosch motors, but I wasn't after another ebike. Though my knees could never power me on a real mountain bike ride, I am able to ride my static bike and most normal bikes, if ridden on the flat. Riding to the park is within my abilities, for now, so I've been looking ...

  One of my real pleasures in riding, is mastering steep, technical trails. Fortunately for me, the flanks of Dartmoor provide a wealth of such opportunities. Within riding distance of my home, I am spoilt for choice. From the big, all-day epics that take me 70kms or more, to a couple of hours spent riding roots and rocks in the valleys, I really do have my pick of the trails. The only thing we really lack here is elevation. The trails I rode yesterday, for example, whilst technically quite demanding in places, take a maximum of a minute to descend. Compare this to Gawton (a downhill centre near Tavistock), where the runs are three minutes long, or Wales and Scotland, where the choices are almost endless, never mind The Alps! I mustn't complain though, especially right now, when we can't travel and most people are severely limited in their riding options, I really do have quite a blessed life. One thing I can and do do, to keep my riding interesting, is coach others. It's q...

  It was time for my first overnighter in a couple of years, but this one would see all my kit loaded on the bike. My aim was always to get all of my kit loaded into a saddle pack, a bar bag, a frame bag or two, and the two fork frames. It was pleasing to be able to realise that, though I learned a few lessons on this trip that will see a few changes on the next one. First up was the saddle pack, which really needs to be loaded and strapped up very carefully. I may even go as far as adding another strap, at the end of the saddle rail extension, to add more stability. The pack is a 15ltr Topeak Backloader, which overall is a very good pack and can handle a large volume of kit. As is always the way, the lighter you can make it , the better, so I loaded my spare clothing, spare gas canister, bivi bag, sleeping mat, and down jacket. I'd say this, whilst not being onerous in volume, was probably on the limit for weight. One other thing was the tightness of the saddle rail clamp bolts, w...

  I'm planning to do some big rides this year, some single overnight trips and some multi-day rides. As such, I've been steadily building up my bikepacking rig, which I got to take out for it's first proper test ride today. Now, I have to admit that I essentially just packed stuff to make up the weight, so what I rode with wouldn't necessarily come with me on my trips, but I wanted to see how the rig performed and rode. It certainly got a proper test today! The original plan was to follow a 40km loop I frequently ride, which would have tested the battery life of the bike, the ride characteristics of this setup, the performance of the individual pieces of kit, and given me a good insight into future planning. However, it quickly became clear that Dartmoor is just too saturated to ride responsibly. The ground was too soft to be ridden, without risk of causing severe damage, so I changed my plan and stuck to the well surfaced tramway. That's not to say this was an easy...

Dartmoor has a way of continually providing new challenges. This latest spell of cold weather (read windchill temps of between -15 ⁰ c and -10 ⁰ c) has frozen The Moor solid. Only the largest bodies of water have remained open and large swathes of the previously sodden landscape are now covered in sheets of thick ice. There's little snow, at least on the south side of The Moor, but the landscape has taken on a very pale hue. Just one more of Dartmoor's many personas. As a Soldier, I learned to love challenging myself, though I think that had always been a part of who I was, and it's no different now. I love to see what I can push myself to achieve, though am also aware of my limits. I remember a ride, a few years back, where the weather was horrendous. Gale force winds, whiteouts; I remember deciding to turn back and live to fight another day, on the exact same route that I rode today. In order to ride safely in this environment, I need to carry more than would fit in my n...

With a winter this wet, the question of where to ride crops up. Anyone who is conscientious about their impact on the trails, be they open moorland or hand cut woodland, has a struggle at this time of year, but especially so in this current climate of lockdown restrictions. Fortunately, I have two choices open to me; the old tramway, running out into the middle of the southern moor, or the man-made trails at Plymbridge Woods. I can choose The Moor when I want solitude (though that's increasingly rare, as people have more time on their hands and seem to spend more of it on Dartmoor), or Plymbridge when I want to get loose. Yesterday it was the latter option. Sometimes it's hard to beat the option of carving smooth, clean turns on a smooth, clean trail! I'm going to do some more detailed posts about my bike set-ups, suspension settings, pressures, and such, but I have to share this little revelation with you! In an effort to get my trail bike set up for some bikepacking adven...