Ups and Downs

The main positive to report is that my bike is sorted! After dismantling (with the help of my illustrious dad) the cassette and playing with the freewheel, we came to the conclusion that the problem was a combination of a broken spokeguard and a worn-out chain. So now my chain is sorted, I can get back to riding properly! 

I am entering the Spam Biking Winter Challenge (http://www.spamwinterchallenge.co.uk/) with both my mum and dad and one of their friends (Amy doesn't currently have a mountain bike, so is giving this a miss). Since none of us have done any offroading in a while, we went for a casual 20 mile ride on Saturday (I borrowed a bike for the day) on some of the trails that the ride takes place on. Despite a wobbly start that entailed losing the front wheel on a couple of steep leafy drop-ins and injuring my knee, the rest of the ride was good. I always forget how much I enjoy mountain biking, and it was reassuring to see how well my road riding fitness transferred itself, particularly up the hills, one of which maxed out at an unbelievable 42%....! One thing it did show me was that I massively need to work on my core and upper body strength.

My knee is now virtually healed, so (report write ups permitting) I'll hopefully get out a couple of times this week. A quick update on Amy's training is basically that she's doing better than me! She did 2 rides over the weekend, and has been riding in the week a lot more than me. Now that my bike is sorted, I'm determined to get out more so I can get some payback on the hills....