Its a beautiful baby b….bike?

Sadly a few weeks ago me and my other half came to terms with the sale of the beautiful Whyte as it was, if only slightly too big of a bike for the both of us.

Me being me had seen this as a opportunity to ‘give ‘ my other half my Cube Reaction as it was better for her size and start shopping for a bike for myself.

So as I cleaned her for the last time (who am I kidding, I will end up cleaning her!) I handed her over to my other half like a sword at a ceremony and very quickly grabbed the laptop got on google and started hunting.

I already decided… I wanted to stick to a hard tail but I was originally looking at a second hand bike.

That was until I locked eyes on this beaut

 

This bike was exactly the spec I was after. Originally £1150 to buy off chainreactioncycles.com but as they only had a handful of 15″ frames left and as it was 2015 model it was further reduced to £849.

So I was in love? Or was it just rebound?

I gave myself a cooling off period and went on eBay to check out what this spec and model was actually selling for online. I found the lower spec still selling for £500 and as a cube owner many times before this I know they tend to devalue as soon as the sat on similar to when your car clocks a mile!

So I read some reviews.. had a butchers elsewhere. I wanted to buy from my local bike shop but the hardtails there just didn’t float my boat.

I sat there looking at the screen. Read though the spec again, Worked out Cubes incredibly complicated  geometry and realised the tiny frame was perfect for me.

 

I still read into the bike a bit more. Suddenly I remembered I had a British Cycling membership. Sometimes as a member I get voucher codes. So I quickly logged into my online account and found a fantastic 10% voucher code.

Mind made! Bike bought.

Sadly It was a four day weekend (Easter Bank Hoilday) so I had to wait that little bit longer to receive my new baby. I kept checking my tracking info and as I was sending it to work I spoke to every single member of staff and told them to not sign for my bike. I wanted to see to it that I knew the condition of the box before it was in my grubby little hands.

Then, as I was working away I heard a bellow of one of my colleagues indicating that Parcel Force had a rather large box for me. I quickly hurried to the door ( not breaking any health and safety rules I assure you ) And with a massive grin on my face I signed for the box and wizzed it in the office.

As soon as my break came along I put the beast together. ( okay just needed to pop the pedals on and adjust the handlebars) and Bam! Happy new bike day!

 

Its been 3 weeks.

 

Shes already covered many many miles with me 🙂

We have commuted! Played on trails and climbed some lovely hills.

 

I had to change the seat to a lady friendly seat though. As nice as the seat was that came with it, it was as comfortable as sitting on a plank so it just had to go!

Just look at the Makeup she has.. Sexy hubs love!

She has well and truly been broken in now anyway!

I have already had to strip her down to give her a lovely bath!

Here is too many many miles together… With all her friends!

The bargain hunter

Being a cyclist can become a terribly expensive hobby. More so when the winter shows up.

From bike lights to gloves it’s important to get the accessories ready so you can continue to commute and to train!

Been about today looking at goodies to buy to help me stay peddling through the winter.

Cree lights. Nice and bright. Two wheeled disco time.

I have purchased a number of lights. For both the MTB and the road bike. Although I think the road bike will be going for its hibernation soon. She’s too pretty to get cold and wet.

I have also purchased some rear lights. You can never have to many red flashing lights! It’s more important to be be seen from the rear so a car dosent clip you when trying to over take you!

To celebrate the upcoming release of the 7th Starwars film I purchased some hand warmers and an insulated coffee cup ( which fits marvelously into my bottle cage) the hand warmers are reusable and will fit in my gloves or will provide some relief after a brisk cold ride. Can’t provide a price for these as I have no idea of the RRP.

I bought some gloves too. They’re not here yet, postman shall bring them Monday! From Rutland leisure they have some windproof sealskins for sale at 9.99! (On their ebay page ) Free postage too. Winner.

Also… more for my upcoming hoilday I have purchased a Cube beanie 😀 (£17.99)

Anyway. For those of you that live in the UK you would have noticed that Aldi and Lidl have sometimes got some cracking deals in on cycling accessories. Most of them perfect for the beginners and some even appreciated by intermediate riders.  Today I purchased a set of cycling glasses and a floor track pump.

Logan likes my glasses

The glasses come with three sets of lenses. Okay they chip, scratch a bit easier, but they were £3.99 and decent looking. I have a habit of leaving these at pubs or them falling out of my pocket when I take a break and take them off. So paying the prices of some of the brands out there that are superior isn’t a clever option for myself.

The track pump I bought is fantastic for the price. £4.99 so much better than my car foot pump I am using now. Compatible with both presta and car valves even if it won’t last a season I will be happy for the price.

It even has a pressure gauge. Check that out! Fancey and stuff. You also get a football connection too. Awesome.  Four of the bikes have been pumped up by it and I have no problems to report as of yet.

As a part of being ready for the bitter cold English winter. I invested in thermal socks. Currently sports direct have some reduced from a tenner to 3 English pounds! Ignore the picture this was purchased online but clearly picked in a store. Sportsdirect.com

If your local to Runcorn Sports Direct have just opened their doors! Located in the Trident Park next to Runcorn Shopping Centre. They have a few opening sales on and plenty of running and cycling gear.

Anyway. Still more bits to buy before I can battle the winter head on. Better being over prepared than under!

Hopefully there may be a week or two left of some form of warmth. So I can stil ride my pretty looking old bike.

Delga Days

Yesterday I went to north Wales with the Runcorn Cycle Clubs Mud Club.

We went to One Planet adventure bike trail located in Llandelga just next to Wrexham roughly a 50 min drive from sunny Runcorn.

With a number of different trails to take part of  from beginner to ‘let’s try not to kill ourselves on the black route’ it’s a fantastic day out for any keen mountain biker (or enduro or whatever you want to call it )

Me and my other half ended up doing the black route. As much as I didn’t want to do it I did enjoy it overall. But I will be sticking to the red routes until I have more confedence to not cover the brakes so much.

We started off with a group of 8… soon this turned into 7. Not through to an injury. Well not an injury to a person  anyway. Sadly one of out guys rolled over a small hill (no fantastic air jumps I assure you) and crumpled his frame.

Here’s a video. Please excuse the swearing. I am a lady but it seemed necessary at the moment it happened.

click here to see it

Sadly that was the end of his day out. A most deverstating way too start your trail trip I think I personally would have cried my wee heart out.

We Continued to proceed with the black route.

Roughly 11 miles through the trail challenged by boardwalks,single trails and lovely jumps I finally discovered how unskilled I was.

Also I realised I left my water in the car. Rookie mistake not having hydration throughout the route :(.

Taking in the fabulous scenery of the Welsh countryside I tried to keep going without worrying about he lack of water. I had plenty of snacks so I wasn’t completely unprepared.

I was flying at first. We did sections with ease but we soon discovered that these sections were becoming alot more intimidating.

Boardwalks didn’t bother me. However looking back at some of the videos I didn’t quite realise how high I was. I was to busy concentrating on balance.

We had some mighty climbs too! Even some of the boys  couldn’t cope with them.  I noticed that one climb was a lot harder than the rest and it wasn’t even steep. I soon realised my tyre was flat.

We stopped had a look. Could we find a puncture? Could we hell. We pumped it up and left it. So one enough it came down again…. and again…. till we stopped once more to take it out and have a look.

Realising no one had a spare inner tube I thought I was walking the rest of the way. Thankfully a stranger was kind enough to give me his spare. So I could continue to finish the course.

I started to make alot of mistakes by now. Fatigue was most definitely setting in. Lack of water was making me suffer and it was 24 degrees. I was dripping sweat and I was starting to walk with the bike more than riding it. Hills looked steeper, drops looked more terrifying.

However a gruelling 4 hours later if not more we completed the course. With plenty of stops as no man was left behind ( but one man was constantly waiting for our slow arses)

If we didn’t stop so much this would have been done within two hours.

I was grateful to have been in a group. I would have probably walked more of he course than I actully did.

Encouragement of the guys was great. They were awesome and helpful with some coaching tips.

Although I will not be doing the black route anytime soon. Skills need to be improved.

I will be returning again! But need to remember water, better MTB gear including knee pads.

My lovely bruise from banging my frame so much.

Thankfully the RCC mudclub don’t always do such technical rides. If your a complete novice they take full advantage of the tow paths and countryside the northwest have to offer.
Last week we went to sunny Southport. A 40 mile ride that I jumped the train back while some of the harder cyclists rode back.

Weather was kind, roads were flat, views were lovely.

All clean

More miles on my lovely mountain bike. And with the winter nights drawing in I think it’s time to prepare my mountain bike (also used as my commuter) for the months ahead.

Time to shop for gloves, waterproofs and lights 🙂

Well women like to shop. This should be fun.

Trail Adventures

The British weather was excellent yesterday. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of the rare sun we get?

Well I wanted to use the lovely sunny weather while it was here, so me and a friend went to Delemere.  This would be my first taste of forest trails. Sadly though because I started changing my handle bars on my Cube Reaction I discovered a bolt that was worn to the point of non removal. And as I didn’t have any tools about to remove it I was forced to use my other halfs steed.

The Whyte 802.

Can’t complain it’s a cracking little bike but I had just got used to my Cube so riding a bike I have not ridden for a few months would be difficult I found myself playing with the seatpost alot and I nearly came of it just riding to my local bike shop.

After adjusting the gears so they stopped skipping I set off towards Frodshams swing bridge towards Delemere Forest.

After 15 miles (including my journey to the bike shop and back) we sat down for a quick stop and refuel at the visitors centre. After that we headed towards the summit of old pale.

I was lead to a path covered in gravel. This windy path was quite steep and went on forever!

I had to get off a few times to push my bike. It was extremely hard work. Fair play to my mate who made it to the top without dying.

Once there the sights were priceless I wish I took a decent camera to take some pretty shots! You could see all the neighboring towns and it was perfect weather for it too. Not a cloud in the sky and you could see for miles around.

Coming back down I was lead through a trail that was a bit beyond my skill level (which has no existience just to point that out) and it was fair to say it was very difficult. I speeded though the small mounds gaining some air. However I didn’t seem to have the ability to corner.

I approached a sharp left turn and had to stop. My brakes were squeaking to the point it was distracting me.  I was trying to use ‘one finger braking’ but I thought I was going to die (dramatic I know) I was using all four of my fingers to bring the bike to a halt.

It took me over six minutes to get down the trail. I think the record is just over a minute.  Somehow I managed to get my first Queen of The Mountain badge in strava…..

This may have something to do with being the only girl to do it this year…. but I am taking it as a win…… After all I am still alive!

We decided that this sort of trail is a bit to advanced for my level of baby bunny hopping and weak steering.

So we went to manly hills skills centre another mile or so on. ( were we proceed on getting a slight bit lost.)

We approached a small trail that looked a hell of a lot less scarey. However it semmed to be occupied by a bunch of 12 year olds.

This made me more nervous. I remember when I was that age. On my bmx. Doing all sorts of stupidly dangerous stuff. These kids were riding entry level bikes too and doing jumps like pros.

Also conducting the annoying tom foolery children normally take part in (do I sound old?) Such as running in front of each other an other stupid stuff.

Thankfully they cleared off after 20 minutes of being annoying.

So after preparing myself I manged to man up and go.

Here is my 3rd attempt. Where at the end of the video I came off. Not badly though. I was still standing when the bike slid in a bog at the end of the trail.

The Whyte did me proud. It may not be my baby cube but it was quite a good little mountain bike

Covered in mud though. Awaiting it’s bath in muc off.

Hopefully I shall be returning soon but with my baby.

Hopefully get my skills up with a bike I feel more comfortable with.

I shall return!