Ghost Bikes, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

Not really sure where to start this post, so I may ramble a bit. I suppose this post is really more of a way of getting my thoughts down, but then that’s what blogging is in general I guess.

I’ve been going through some stuff of late that causes you to think a lot of things through. I’ve also been chatting to some other like minded cyclists, some more like minded than I thought as it turns out. Anyway, where to start…

Why ride bikes?

 

At Innerleithen Enduro, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

A couple of weeks ago, I entered the Innerleithen MTB Racing winter Enduro, sponsored by iCycles. This was less than a month after my slightly disheartened attempt at this years Strathpuffer and my first attempt at Enduro racing.

What is Enduro racing, is it like endurance racing?.. sort of…

More Me at Strathpuffer 2011, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

Well, as mentioned in my last post, I’ve kicked off 2011’s list of biking challenges with my second attempt at the Strathpuffer; A 24 hour mountain bike endurance race, 30 minutes north of Inverness in Scotland, in January! Yes, it’s cold, yes there’s 17 hours of darkness, yes I did really want to do it.

Once again I was competing in Pairs category, this year with Mike, aiming to top my last year’s pairs count of 15 laps between us.

This
weekend sees my second attempt into the Strathpuffer. I’m not
feeling much fitter than I was last year, but at least I’ve had
more than a week’s notice this year so should be much better
prepared. I’ve certainly got much more of an idea what to expect
and feel more mentally prepared for it, though I’m not sure that’s
a good thing. With December and early January’s snow I was
expecting a repeat of last years white out… but looking at the
forecast it could be a very wet and muddy one, with probability of
some ice still around to try and catch us out. I’m entered in Pairs
category again, this year with Mike (who took
the pic above at last years ‘Puffer), and hope to try and beat last
years total lap count of 15 laps. Mostly though, I just want to
survive. Mainly to help myself, but it might be of use to others,
here’s my list of things to pack to make sure I’m prepared for the
worst:

For those who were curious … The perfect “spoil yourself” pre-ride breaky.

Oaty Pancakes

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup milk
3/4 cup SR flour
More milk
1 egg
Pinch salt, pinch sugar

Mix oats with milk. Can let it stand for a bit or just carry on, depending on how hungry you are. Sift in flour, salt and sugar. Beat egg and add. Mix lightly. You may need to add some more milk, I usually do. Just keep sloshing it in a bit at a time until you get a fairly thick mix. Dollop into a hot pan greased with a little melted butter as per normal pancakes. You are aiming for smaller, thicker American-style pancakes rather than big thin crepes. Serve with your favourite topping, and expect to eat about half the number of pancakes you would usually consume – these babies are filling!

 

Final Descent MTB Marathon, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

Following on from Yesterday’s report on the CRC Road Sportive (Selkirk round) 2010, here’s the run down of the the rest of the weekend… the MTB Marathon.

Not disheartened by the puncture ridden disaster the day before, Mike and I were keen to make this a good day. I was fresh in the knowledge that some cheap dodgy rim tape was to blame for the let down of the previous day, full up on carbs and eager to go. We loaded the van and left the house with ACDC as the warm up soundtrack. The plan was to ride gently, with an aim to finishing the 84km long route, without any injuries or mechanicals.

First climb Selkirk Sportive, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

Last year I took on my first cycling endurance event in the form of the Selkirk Merida Sportive and MTB Marathon. It didn’t go quite according to plan and so I went back this year with a bit of an agenda.

Once again, I entered with the aim of completing both the 100mile road Sportive on the Saturday and the 100km MTB Marathon on the Sunday. I had great memories of superb route choices for last year, despite not managing to finish the MTB ride due to a nasty fall 30km in… however, this year felt a little short changed when Mike, Sue and I arrived at the start line to find they’d shortened the routes slightly to 95 mile road ride and 85km MTB. Never mind, shorter… should be easier, more likely to complete it this year.

Me, heading off down the black descent at Golspie.

road trip 022, originally uploaded by StoooPotter.

After a relatively tech heavy ride and much good chat with my good pal Kenny, of <a href=”Wellbeing Solutions, today has me thinking about general trail riding skills and how folk (me included) go about trying to improve on that.

Many people ride the same trails week in week out… so in effect practising the same sections on a regular basis. Compare that to other folk who ride different stuff all the time and so are always coming up on tricky techy bits they’ve not ridden before and attempting to ride it cold. Now, both of these options has an element of practice and improvement. Riding the same trail over and over again should help you get quicker and more confident on that trail, but it doesn’t help with making you prepared for the unexpected the same way that varying your routes does.

Here’s a cool pic my pal, Tally, took on our Carn Ban More ride in the Cairngorms a couple of weeks back.

This is really just to test the WordPress iPhone app. Thought I may as well use a nice picture 🙂

Here’s a couple more that I’ve always liked…

So, it’s been a while… Welcome to my new WordPress.com Blog. I’ve been busy importing all the good posts from my old blog so you can read everything here…. which is where I’ll be posting from now on.

To start things off… here’s a quick Q&A on what’s been going for the last 6 months…