August 2017

[Sweder]

It also means broken collar bones and expensive dental reconstructive work. Sorry if I'm sounding like an Eeyore, but at our age we need to be bloody careful! That said, you go for it: I don't have the bollocks. I'll just sit here quietly and have another drink. I'll visit you in hospital and sneak the booze in while matron's not looking.

And surely there is a halfway house... trail riding without the white knuckle downhills? In the same way that trail running doesn't have to mean scrambling down fells.

As ever, MLCMMan is the Harbinger of Doom, MarathonDan the calm voice of reason. 
And CharlieCat is ... CharlieCat. And he won't forgive the LBMB, no matter my perfectly valid reasons* for buying it

I complete a fairly hilly circuit in my 30k per day but rarely do I find myself other than vaguely on the level (no Masonic reference intended). It's enough of a variation to make me work at it - the bike battery cuts out at 25kph (Legal requirement in the UK) and is merely supportive, not a sit-alone option. My average speed is +28 kph, so, whilst I'm getting help to get up to speed, I maintain and exceed that speed under my own drive. 

I do have off-road options, and take them when the weather is clement and I'm not totally banjaxed. The drops ARE hair-raising, the climbs, even assisted, shirt-soaking. I love plummeting off Blackcap towards home. It takes me about 4.5 minutes of cover the 2.5 miles. I hope to do more of that as my legs grow accustomed to this twice-daily session. And as the nights draw in, in the twilight to boot. There will come a day when I take on the mighty Ditchling Beacon but not yet, not yet. I'm less Chris Froome, more Frank Spencer at the moment.

Any road, it's all academic as I remain incapacitated until further notice.
The time has arrived to cash in those Dad's Taxi shares. I have a bikeshed-load : )

   

*lame-arse excuses