Its been a while and I'm Sorry

My god it's been ages since it last wrote - and yes true believers I am back. The sheer deluge of emails, letters and teenage girls crying on my doorstep begging me to resume became unbearable.

Where have I been and what have I been doing I hear you cry? Well simply image that my since we last spoke, I have been on numerous Bond like adventures and we will pick up my mild mannered alter ego at around Easter time.

April 3rd, 0530, Worthing. - Mountain Biking in Wales!!

How exciting it was, the story begins at Crossbush McDonalds, known locally as The Angry Fanny, where the convoy of Sussex MTB escape children and wives to become Superheroes for 4 days. Accountants, Plasterers, Salesmen, Techies no more - we were gods!!

A swift blast in the Citroen Picasso (L'Oeuf Bleu Sportif), down the M4 later and we arrived at Cwmcarn MTB Playground, and rode up a very big hill, jumped off loads of stuff and then rode down it very fast. That is basically it for 4 days, we just did that, with varying degrees of severity on climb, jumps or downhill.

I have also got rid off the nasty habit I had of dragging my rear brake. That is where you constantly have the brake on as a comfort blanket, when you should just roll with it. How did I do it?

The brake stopped working!!!! Tippytoeing gingerly downhill on front brake only, nearly crashing as I was too slow at Cwmcarn I thought "screw it, how bad can it hurt?" I let the brakes off..................I can honestly say that in 4 days I learnt so much, simply by watching the other riders, where they brake, body positioning etc.

The sad thing is that I have reached the end of the road with parts of El Steederinho. The performance in Wales was admirable - and we were not shamed in climbs or downhills - but my god my arse hurt like a mofo! I have decommissioned the frame and front fork of El Steederinho, and replaced with a full suspension Specialized Pitch Comp. It is still The Steed, but pimped up, kinda like Dark Phoenix is still Jean Grey but with extreme PMS.

April 18th, Swinley Forest

The new improved "Dark Phoenix with PMS" El Steederinho and I took to the trails for the shakedown ride and oh my god!! It is phenomenal! As with "Jean Grey Steed", the only standard parts on this are the frame, shocks handlebars and seatpost. The rest is pimped up, top of the range shit.

The Dark Phoenix is just better handling, faster, more stable, more comfortable, better climbing, better downhill and better on the flat.

And it jumps!!!

So that is where I am up to....... had the biggest crash of my life with The Phoenix - hurtling downhill I caught the wider bars on a branch and the front wheel slipped out. I was in the air long enough to see the bike slide under me and think "This is gonna hurt".

I am having soo much fun, but i had better get back to the serious side of this journey and get some serious miles in.

Until next time

Rock on.