Last Sunday was a little jaunt over at Salcey Forest where we have a couple of non-technical, scenic loops we do on a Sunday morning sometimes. On the ride was my EWR, a Klein and a Park Pre.
Loop One - Ride details
Loop Two - Ride details
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Wednesday, July 7
Salcey Forest Sunday Mini-Meet (July)
by
Billy Goat
on Wed 07 Jul 2010 10:50 BST
Apologies for the lack of bike content here recently, been concentrating on 'other hobbies' that are very much Off Topic for this Blog. Bike builds have all but stalled but am getting out and about now and again on some rides and need to do more riding !!
Last Sunday was a little jaunt over at Salcey Forest where we have a couple of non-technical, scenic loops we do on a Sunday morning sometimes. On the ride was my EWR, a Klein and a Park Pre. Loop One - Ride details Loop Two - Ride details Monday, June 7
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
by
Billy Goat
on Mon 07 Jun 2010 14:45 BST
Sunday was a RetroBike Mini Meet for three Northants members (me, Gruff and GT-Steve). We did two loops in the Salcey Forest area of Northamptonshire, 1 at 9.47miles and a wind down loop of 4.50 miles.
The first loop became massively entertaining when GT-Steve overcooked it on a loose gravelly downhill section and vaulted into a large rocky pothole. What ensued was an arm/leg flailing 'rodeo' ride where he managed somehow to stay on the bike and assume control. At the bottom of the descent his seatpost was slammed right down in the seat tube and the front canti's were nearly torn off  Loop One: CLICK ME for trip details Loop Two: CLICK ME for trip details The day was quite overcast so these pix were 'dipped' into PhotoShop for some tweaks on Colour Saturation.....this, like Steve's downhill run were a little 'overcooked' so apologies for the slightly psychedelic 'LSD Glow' to some of the shots  Farm bridge crossing the M1  The M1  Glowing crops...  Mellow Yellow  Whoops...Rodeo damage   The damaged Alpinestars  Gruff's Kona  Tuesday, May 25
Sunday Ride @ Salcey Forest
by
Billy Goat
on Tue 25 May 2010 10:43 BST
Due to previously reported 'issues' bike riding hasn't featured on my agenda for some time but now things have changed I intend to get out and 'do a bit' again.
I figured the best way for this was to start gentle so I hooked up with fellow RetroBiker GT-Steve for a few laps of Salcey Forest ) which was probably the last time I rode a bike back at the start of March). It was the start of a VERY hot day for the UK so we started the ride at 10am and did 17.674 miles of hot dusty trails. GT-Steve tore a valve off his front tube about 5 minutes out but after he switched tubes we had no more 'mechanicals'  I did a lap of the woods on his Alpinestars Cro-Mega and I must say it rides brilliantly, much better than what I was riding on this day...   Monday, March 8
Salcey Forest - Sunday Ride
by
Billy Goat
on Mon 08 Mar 2010 12:57 GMT
Met up with another RetroBike member yesterday for a leisurely ride around Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire, despite the cold temperature, some of the first sunshine for months drew the crowds so it was a little busy there and people were blissfully unaware they were walking on a Bike Trail
 . One of the big draws at Salcey Forest is the Tree Top Walk, one day I WILL ride a bike up it  We did 17.5 miles before going our separate ways.......some pix: Klein & EWR      Tree Top Walk   Monday, January 18
Abandon hope all ye who enter here
by
Billy Goat
on Mon 18 Jan 2010 14:05 GMT
First proper Sunday ride since Xmas so I thought I'd make it a good one, headed out of town and across to Geddington to ride Clay Dick, then over to Fermyn Woods, then Aldwincle, Lyveden Way, Bear Gate Track and home.
Clay Dick is an old Byway that links Geddington to Brigstock and possibly the site of a Victorian Brickworks (hence the clay reference...). Anyway usually the top end is virtually unpassable, with the trees hanging so low over the trail that in some places you cannot even push a bike through......except this time the Byway had been 'repaired'. By 'repair' I mean they have bulldozed the whole thing flat, about 40 feet wide, ripping out all the trees, bushes, rabbit and foxholes and turning it into a mile of sticky wet clay that will take months to settle  . So I rode as much as I could until my EWR stopped working and my feet started to look like Swamp Thing and then I carried my bike for 3/4 a mile  . I fought my way to Brigstock and crossed thru Fermyn Woods which was another, barely rideable shitfest before aborting the ride near Sudborough  Wildlife count for the ride was still good, four or five Red Kites (all eluded my camera sadly), 5 fairly big deer in Fermyn Woods and six Llama's.....yeah It's true, although they could have been Alpaca, Clovius Hoofus isn't my area of expertise  Nice beginnings  Mud stops Play...  Magura 'Mud Magnets'...wheel locked   'Repaired' trail - The Long Walk  Mud Magnets Part 2  FUBAR EWR  Kapitan Billy Goat says "TARFU, Mission Aborted!!!"  Monday, January 4
World SPD Stamping Championships 2010
by
Billy Goat
on Mon 04 Jan 2010 11:50 GMT
For a year or so now my riding buddies have been extolling the virtues of SPD's and trying to sell the idea to me, you see, I still live in the world of the Toeclip so I can't see the sense. I never fall off my bike, never have much trouble 'getting in' to my toeclips and to be honest, in recent months I've gone back to flat pedals with no clips at all.
Yesterday was what turned out to be a large RetroBike meet at Thetford Forest, the largest lowland Pine Forest in Great Britain, down in deepest Suffolk with 22 riders attending. Also present in large quantities was snow and ice.....LOTS of it, which, much to my amusement, seems to be THE Achilles Heel of SPD pedals The tranquil, picture postcard 'snowscape' scenery was shattered by the sound of dozens of MTB riders furiously stamping on their frozen/useless SPD's, wobbling and dabbing the ground...hence the title of this blog post  Joking aside a great day was had by all during the two sub-zero rides we did yesterday......some pictures: Chin Wag  Art Haus  Wobble Fun  Watching the 'Bomber Kidz'  Snow Road  All Along The Watchtower  Iced Mech  Xntrick Machinery  Alien Sunset  More pictures and words can be found HERE Friday, December 4
Thetford Forest Ride - Primordial Shitfest
by
Billy Goat
on Fri 04 Dec 2009 23:28 GMT
Main Entry: penis en·vy
Pronunciation: -"en-vE Function: noun : the supposed coveting of the penis by a young human female which is held inpsychoanalytic theory to lead to feelings of inferiority and defensive or compensatory behavior. Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc. ...a little twist on this: Main Entry: 29er en·vy Pronunciation: -"en-vE Function: noun : the supposed coveting of a 29" bicycle by a man which leads to feelings of inferiority and defensive or compensatory behavior by owning a 26" bicycle when the fact dawns on him he has just been 'outgunned' by superior technology.....so, NEVER try and keep up with someone on a 29er, especially when you are on an early 90's fully rigid 26" MTB It was like a Roadrunner cartoon....Jango was off into the distance, casually pedalling while still seated, as if he was on a genteel Sunday amble. I was Wile.E. Coyote (Pure Genius) pedalling crazily like a schoolkid on a BMX, bouncing off tree roots, slipping all over the trail, vibrations from the trail jarring my body, repeatedly looking down at my gears as if there was something wrong or about to fall off.....there wasn't, I was just riding 'Old Tech' and the 29er, as horribly modern and soul-less as it is, this was was the superior machine on the day.....it was like trying to follow a Cruise Missile in downtown Bagdad (remember the Speederbike chases in Star Wars?) Thetford was cold and wet but the sun was out and the clouds had gone, only two of us turned out for the smallest Mini-Meet in history. Thetford Forest's trails had turned into Primordial Ooze.....it was a Shitfest of the highest order, gloopy brackish slimey puddles, slippery trails and a cold wind but it was great riding. We did most of the Dusk Till Dawn route, plus some of the Black Route and The Beast in the morning (12 miles) then back to Brandon for Macaroni Cheese and unedible Bread Pudding before hitting the trails again after lunch, our bottom brackets feeling like someone had packed them full of sand and refitted them and our rear mechs complaining bitterly about all the gritty shit they were being force fed  The afternoon was a shorter 7 mile route on the Visitor Center side with some great flowing Singletrack. A brilliant days riding, cold wet legs and some very dirty bikes!! Daddy Tractor and Baby Tractor  Sunny Fire road  Dangerous times?...Health & Safety paranoia  Oh well.......not NOS anymore  Halfway point  A cold, wet and HUNGRY Billy Goat  Shitfest got my EWR  Shitfest got my EWR - Part 2  Shitfest got my EWR - Part 3  Sunday, October 18
Sunday Ride - Big balls and big logs....
by
Billy Goat
on Sun 18 Oct 2009 20:55 BST
Wasted some time tweaking my rear mech so lost some valuable daylight, cutting down the ride time but I had a nice little 17 mile ride along the curiously named Clay Dick Track and across to Fermyn Woods which is a 'working forest' run by the Forestry Comission.
This was a MASSIVE load of dirt nearly as tall as my EWR that has been dug out by Foxes, Badgers or Rabbits.....I've no idea which  Badass MoFo Bull giving me the eye (check the size of his balls  ) Woods Bike in the woods  Forest trail - Fermyn Woods  Original Woods Bike on the woodpile  Thursday, October 1
Mr K's Day in the Peaks - RetroBike Meet
by
Billy Goat
on Thu 01 Oct 2009 13:16 BST
Mr K's Day in the Peaks came around again for another year and despite initial scepticism about numbers, around 23 vintage MTB's turned out for the 22 mile ride in Derbyshire's Peak District. A good day was had by all and no serious injuries were incurred. I took my Pace RC200 as it seemed the perfect choice for the terrain, plus my EWR wasn't quite ready
The Pace has Gore RideOn cables to keep all the mud and shit out, excellent brakes and 22-32-42/11-32 gearing for all them big hills It got ridden hard all day, getting airborne more times that I would have liked and ridden over large rocks, tree roots, loose gravel, streams and anything else that got in the way. Lots of comments and pix can be found HERE and some great photo's can be found HERE. Below are a few pix of my Pace in action... Nearing the end of the climb to the Radio Mast near Brough (Gus, me, Mark and Ned)  Amphibious Pace....  Meet the local wildlife  Mam Tor heading for Hollins Cross  Jaggers Clough  Tuesday, September 22
Summertime, and the living is easy...Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high
by
Billy Goat
on Tue 22 Sep 2009 10:17 BST
Well almost......actually we never got much summer here but Friday was a rest day for me so to contradict the term I went out and nailed 30 miles of local trails on my Pace RC200.
Lyveden New Bield is a bizzarre thing to stumble across in the middle of knowhere (Aldwinkle St Peter) and is an unfinished Summerhouse built for Sir Thomas Tresham back in 1604. Nobody knows for sure why it never got finished but it looks very surreal in the surrounding landscape. The route took me 2 hours 45 minutes and I never saw another human on the trails, instead I watched Red Kites gliding and calling to each other in the midday heat, saw squirrels and rabbits going about their business and enjoyed the silence....  Lyveden Way Trail  Lyveden New Bield  Bearshank Track (Green Lane) - Red Kite territory  Byway near Aldwinkle 
Monday, August 24
Sunday Road Ride - Feel the pain...
by
Billy Goat
on Mon 24 Aug 2009 10:21 BST
Trying to build up the quads so took a painful road route yesterday on my Pace, It's Loop Three on my personal list of stuff near to where I live that I can ride from by front door with no driving involved. The route runs into Rockingham, through Caldecott to Uppingham and up to Rutland Water in Rutland then back home.
Some boring facts...Rutland is the smallest County in the UK I believe and measures only 18miles by 17 miles, has only two towns and perhaps the coolest of all, its the only County in the entire United Kingdom with no McDonald's restaurants  There's some serious gradients on this route, the worst being in the last 10 minutes of the ride where the road passes Rockingham Castle, the climb runs from 171ft to 446ft in 0.87 miles and had my heart trying to punch its way through my ribcage like Alien I really should have a road bike but they suck so this was done on a Pace RC200 F6 with 2.1 mud tyres  Them hills  Rutland Water  |
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