If you google Hardknott Pass you'll get plenty of pages about 'the hardest climb in Britain'. If you continue on into the forums you won't go far before you then reach discussions on which direction is harder; east or west? These latter discussions refer to Hardknott and Wrynose as a pair because you go up one side of them and there's kind of a plateau in between. Generally the discussions, as with so many internet arguments, come to no conclusion with plenty of support for both sides. So when I managed to get a few hours to ride in the Lake District I decided to plot a route that took in both directions of both climbs. To be honest I didn't
Author: MuddyGoose
My Kinesis RTD Build
So in my last blog post I wrote about my new frameset and the fact that I had chosen a Kinesis RTD as my new bike. However what I didn't go on to talk about was the build - the parts chosen to complete the bike. So let's delve into the world of bike components and take a look at what I've put together. And I might even indulge you and give you the build weight too. As mentioned in my previous post (or at least I hope it was), the RTD is a frameset only option from Kinesis. If you see it available in your local bike shop, or online as a complete bike it's the bike shop's build, not
New Road Bike – Kinesis RTD Self Build
So it all began with a new pair of tyres. Seems a bit extreme to buy a new bike when all you need is tyres! But that of course is not the whole story. For a while I've been considering a new frameset, I bought cheap carbon originally and in general I've not been impressed with the quality. The geometry is good and the frame is a really decent weight, especially for the £650 I paid for the bike originally. It was the right choice at the time. But a couple of the cable routing covers no longer stay in place, I've taken to taping them in place with black electrical tape, fortunately the frame is black so the colour match
New Tyres for the road bike – Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance 11storm.
There are only so many miles you can eek out of tyres and I think with my recent set of Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Seasons I had pretty much reached that limit. A long time after they lose their peak performance, run out of tread and square off you start to spot patches of the tyre where there's no longer any rubber and the carcass beneath shows through. This is when you've definitely got your money's worth, for sure! These had a good few miles This tyre was on my front wheel, so it completed significantly more miles than the rear one did. When the rear needed replacing last year I chose to try out a Hutchinson Sector tyre. Just the one
Hutchinson Toro 26″ MTB Tyres
It seems that by 'lack of action' I have now found myself in a minority group. Not in ethnicity or sexual orientation but on this occasion by mtb tyre size. Maybe not across the entire population but certainly within the enthusiast realm. There may still be millions of cheap 'supermarket' bikes out there on 26" wheels but if you're looking for a new tyre for proper mountain biking, particularly if tubeless is your thing then the choices are limited these days. Maybe I should take this as a notification to upgrade to 27.5" but that would require a new frame, fork and wheels. Pretty much an entire new bike. And having assembled my own wheels several years ago I've since become
On the mountain bike in the Peaks again.
"Same again?", "Yeah, why not." - It could be a conversation about all manner of things. Another glass of a fine red wine or a good beer on a night out for example. But on this occasion it's the annual trip to the Peak District for some serious mountain biking fun. I've been going with a small group of like minded guys (not sure I can get away with using the term 'lads' these days), for several years now. Usually in January but this time in February, making the most of whatever the weather chooses to throw at us, riding for several hours on the Saturday and then again on the Sunday morning and staying over in the Youth Hostel in
The Thorny Topic of Tubeless Tyres!
Lancashire Stop Off – Forest of Bowland
The UK doesn't have any alpine climbs; this is something that will remain true even after Brexit. What it does have though is plenty of short, sharp and very steep ones. Almost as if to make up for the lack of total elevation gain, the road builders factor in as much steepness as possible. Or at least that's how it seems when you're grinding your way to the top in a low gear, barely turning your pedals and feeling like walking would be faster. Fortunately in the Forest of Bowland I didn't encounter any of these! Nope, not at all. And after a punishing time in Devon a couple of weeks earlier it came as a welcome relief. 1517
Head to the hills, Day 2 – #ExmoorEpic
Day 2, early morning, the tarp and bivvy combination seems to be working a dream. I'm snug, I'm dry, it's raining, I got some decent sleep overnight, it's raining... Oh, no - it's raining. And so we have that dilemma moment; do I stay warm and dry where I am and slowly watch the time ticking by or do I get up and get wet packing everything away in the rain and starting the day's route in the rain? The answer is of course a scramble to find my phone, it will know what to do! Have I got a signal? Yes. Have a got a weather app? Of course! Will the rain stop? Probably, in about an hour. Time
Head to the hills, Day 1 – #ExmoorEpic
There really shouldn't be any need for an excuse to head into Exmoor for a couple of days of cycling. The north Devon & Somerset coasts host some outstanding scenery and provide a multitude of challenging hill climbs. However, for me the underlying purpose of the trip was to tick off some more of those hills in Simon Warren's book, numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 in fact. This along with the previous 45 that I'd completed so far would take me up to 50, a significant milestone for any sort of best 100 list! The fact that I could ride this as a two day trip with my cycling mate Phil and include a bivvy overnight by the