First (& Second) Ride of the Year

The first ride of the year was on New Years Day. I got out for an hour with my eldest daughter. She is 7 1/2 and rides a pink Specialized Hot Rock 20in Mini MTB. We are lucky that there is a disused golf course not far from out house where people walk their dogs. I've been teaching my daughter to ride off road here. It's not bad at all. Some single track and lots of different paths to follow. The Golf course has long over grown but you can see clearly from the Google Map shot what it once was. It would make a great venue for a cyclo cross race but it would never happen as it's private land and I'm not sure your allowed to walk your dog there let alone ride a bike there.

What was Tradegar Park Golf  Course

The scond ride of the year was on my own. I had planned to ride the South Downs Way on the Bank Holiday Monday but plans don't always work out. I stayed in Wales a day longer and headed out to Cwmcarn like I do often. I had planned to get a good six hours plus in but feeding my children and a quick rebuild of my Crankbros
rear hub meant I got out of the door a full two hours later than planned.
Over the New year the temperature outside was quite mild. I was in my garden fixing my bike and it felt OK. So I headed out in leg warmers, clubs shorts, no overshoes, one thermal top my Assos Jacket and a Gilet. I'd only ridden about 2 miles and it had started to snow. my buttocks were pretty damn cold. Why spend £175 on winter tights if your not going to use them. Riding fast to keep warm down the canal tow path that runs from Newport all the way to Cwmcarn and I was OK.
Getting to the Trail Centre car park the snow was like the slight dusting on the top of a Victoria Sponge cake. The lower sections of the trail were still very muddy like they had been a few days before. It was quite slippy over the rocks but that adds to the fun right? With my legs getting cold as I stopped for a drink and a chat in the car park I decided the training starts now. I hammered it up each climb like I was in a race.
My legs felt very good. You get enough of a breather in between climbs to recover quite well. On my second lap the snow was coming down quite heavy. The Trail was pretty much covered white now. Just brown where the tyre tracks we pushing the fresh snow down into the wet mud. The massive snow flakes were annoying as I had forgotten my Jawbones (glasses) and the odd one was hitting me in the eyes. On one occasion I closed my eye, hit a tree route and went over the bars. So glad I didn't hit anything hard.
Second lap was the same as the first. Fast up the climbs recover on the flat and downhill bits. Third lap wasn't quite as fast but only 90 seconds down on the previous two but it wasn't down to a lack of effort. The snow was getting pretty heavy and it was getting a little slippy out there. I don't think I have put my foot down so much apart from when we had the solid ice. A muddy ride back home on the canal path. Long bath and relax.
A good days training. I felt a lot better than I did on the ride a few days before. Time to get back on the road bike and get some miles in.