So it’s time to put away the winter toys, snowboarding is over for another year along with dark nights and cold days.
It’s such a great moment when I flash up the camper, load up the mountain bike and head for the hills. I’ve got a lot of fun planned for the summer. A trip to Scotland and the northern England trails with my mate Northern Bloke, then down to France in June to ride the trails around our apartment with Miniboy.
First trip of the year was to the Forest of Dean which is about 40 miles away. I absolutely love driving there, it’s a chance to crank up the stereo in the van and bash out inappropriate basey music for a man of my age and remember that I am living my dream.
It was a warm day and I took the electric mountain bike. There are some tough climbs over there and no point in making life more difficult with my normal bike. In truth I ride it on the minimum power settings so I maximise the exercise, but on those nasty bits that defeat my old legs I get to avoid the walk of shame.
After weeks of dry weather, the trails were in perfect condition and plenty of grip, so it was a fun day all round until a niggle injury to my knee stopped play after a couple of hours and some fantastic downhill rides.
This is the video of the Launchpad run, absolutely made the day
It is a sign of my increasing maturity that I decided to give it a miss when the knee started to hurt, and nothing to do with the attraction of a warm sunny day and a cold beer in the camper fridge !
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