Svarta & Blue

Getting there munch on, how teeny is little Blue!

Reiver & Rhubarb

Sharing some celery :-)

Inspirational Bike Quotes

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."
- H.G. Wells

A Beautiful Walk

After getting back on the bike lately and noticing my drop in fitness I decided to get my sorry backside off of the sofa and take the dog on a nice walk. As I am over west I decided to have a go round the famous Ingleton Falls Trail to check out the waterfalls and as I knew it wouldn't be too easy with lots of stairs and up n' downs.

http://www.ingletonwaterfallstrail.co.uk/trails.php

It was such a lovely surprise, I actually don't mind paying the £5 entrance fee as the path is remarkably well maintained and marked and the views along the way are just gorgeous. As I set off quite late in the day I was lucky enough to barely see another soul too so was a perfect way to get my mind sorted and think nice thoughts after a pretty stressful past few weeks.

One of the best sections for me was about half way round at Thornton Force (see picture), really majestic and beautiful, one of the most perfect waterfalls I have seen in this country and for me it rivals high force in Teesdale pretty closely
.
Its days like this when you realise what matters in life, what's real and what's not real and exactly what we are all capable of. I have the choice to be a good person and to minimise my negative impact on others and the environment and today has just steered me back on track and reminded me of my values and who I am. Thanks to the simplicity of nature and the wondrous beauty forged by the force of the water of years for making my day so pleasant. Found a great quote from the Dalai Lama that kinda sums up how I feel today....

Endomondo Hiking Workout: was out hiking 4.22 miles in 1h:17m:03s using Endomondo.

Back Weight Training For the Bike This Morning

A nice early morning weights session built in to my day at Oxygym this morning, did a nice mixture of free weights and body weight exercises just to get back into it ready for picking up the bike again and getting out there.  Few race entries for 2013 are now starting to appear so its time to get serious and get my legs strong enough to keep up. Felt good to be back doing something after being ill for so long but my thighs hurt already and I am a long way off all my old PB lifting weights... onwards and upwards, soon be back to it again and better than before, with the extra encouragement of Loeka and my other sponsors and girlie biker pals I am sure its gonna be a great season :-)

Endomondo Doing weight training Workout: was out doing weight training - 219 cals burned and strencht gained in 30m:00s using Endomondo.

Great Post From Katie C - Top Guinea Pig Tips

.:Cadbury and Carlton:.: What We Eat: We require quite a particular diet.  We are one of the few mammals, like humans, who can become vitamin-c deficiant, also known as scurvy,...

Rescued Animals

Svarta the Guinea Pig

Lacie and Marley the Bunnies

Well guys, been a while since I posted due to ill health but here is some news for you!  A couple of weeks ago now I rescued two lovely female bunnies and a cute little boy guinea pig from Stockton Council where they had had to seize all the living animals from a local pet shop which had left the animals in a sorry state.

After nursing the guinea pig back to health from conjunctivitis and flea infestations and the bunnies are being well fed and cuddled after much neglect they are turning into amazing little pets. Marley is the grey/black rabbit (so called as she has a dreadlock in her mane and Bob was more of a boy's name...) and Lacie is inspired by Lewis Carrol and his famous book Alice in Wonderland (tenuous link to white rabbits), however I must admit she has the look of the demon rabbit off Monty Pythons' Holy Grail- but I thought that didn't really match her sweet, cuddly, temperament ;-)

Am going to visit a local guinea pig breeder next week to find a buddy for Svarta (Norweigan for black thing) the guinea pig as he seems a bit lonely and timid so am really looking forward to that and will post some piccies up for you guys to see how cute they all are.

Visit Susan the breeder's page for more information, its great!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ken-wise/Aboutus.htm

Check Out The Lads at Roots Cycles

Ace video filmed by the lads at Roots Cycles earlier this year whilst playing down at the freeride park in Cannock Chase woods. Loving Tom's gay intro so much and they make the tracks flow look amazing don't they! These are my new team mates to be now mind so I'd better get my skills up fast :-)

Lucky boys are there again this weekend whilst I sit at home pitifully waiting for my lost voice to return to its not so careful owner!

Roots Cycles Extreme Adventures Ep.1 on Pinkbike

May Have A Cheeky Go At This Just For Fun....

FUND RAISER EVENT - "REMEMBER THE TROOPS MINI DH"

WHEN: REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH 2012
WHERE: FAST TRACK, WHARNCLIFFE WOODS SHEFFIELD
START: 10.00AM SHARP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEmmn072_M&feature=plcp

http://urbanxminidownhillevents.blogspot.co.uk/

My Fab New Race Sponsor

Well I am lucky enough to have picked up a great sponsor for my new race season, am entered into loads of winter enduros and just picked up a rad DH rig so... see what 2013 brings guys!

Am really gonna work hard at it and see if I can beat my 'slightly below average' trend with a bit of support and a lot of determination I am sure its possible.

Check out these guys new range of clothing and the rest of the team!



http://trail-militia.com/#/login/4565485441

Hamsterley Pootle

Back out on the teeny trek full suss, steady test ride out with a few breaks and a cuppa tea stop at the descend hut. Great weather, great company, good laughs, top day out!

Kielder Race

Lovely weather for the duatholon race up at Kielder for the marathon series weekend. Really easy surfaced trails but plenty of undulating bits and some cheeky climbs that worked me hard. Although my Uncle John ran a cracking pace I set off quite near the back of the bike bunch, loads of elite runners though so John did a brilliant leg considering he had them pushing him on hard (also considering it was 11k rather than the 10k he was expecting....)!

I really pushed myself on the bike, managed to overtake a fair few but also got smashed past by some super fit blokes on cyclocross bike, wow they can fly on the smooth trails! handed over for Aunty Sue (ran like a trooper given the short amount of time she had to train up after a while out of running- and got heckled over the line ;-) to do the last leg and had a horrible steep transition but made better by having Steve Cram there marshalling. Wow he is super hot!!! OMG!!! I was cheeky and got him to sign my race number, what a lovely man he is, oh and did I mention exceptionally good looking too? hahaha.

Our team cam in 11th overall in just over 3 hours 20 in total, bloody good show from the family team I say, ace fun and a great day out with top freebies and a medal!!!

Our results, pace, speed and split times can bee seen on this page :

http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/result.aspx?raceid=2583&bib=1513

Kielder Marathon - Kielder Run Bike Run

Kielder Marathon - Kielder Run Bike Run

Doing this as a family team with my aunty and uncle, I get the bike ride - Phew !!

Durham Flood Ramblings

Little bit of post-weather carnage to negotiate in Durham on my pootles today!

I am loving these!

Really Interesting Girlie Bike Facts!!

http://girlbikelove.com/2012/08/things-your-bike-shop-probably-didnt-tell-you-sex-in-the-saddle-and-other-unmentionables/

Bike Rides n' Stuff over t'Lakes Way

Nice little ride out over near Staveley yesterday going up and over the Garburn pass, way more tecchie than I'd expected, nearly came off a fair few times and a fair bit of bike carrying involved also. Had to go really slowly on the last road home as I had taken josh the dog and he ran so far and so fast that his paws were worn down to the quick and bleeding...poor mite. Better toughen him up, poor little dude!

Think a little spin this morning to make the best of this nice weather then back to Mick's shop to put my Trek together and tidy up this little on-one

Ah, so got a bit carried away with the riding part and less so with the bike putting back together part.... Still, I love my hardtail bike so much the full suss can wait another week or two :-) Thanks to Louisa for her second hand forks i can now have both on the road / trail at the same time = woop woop!!!

Guisborough

My First Proper Guisborough Ride Out.

Taken on a tour of the little single track bits n pieces by Chris Tweddle aka "Twed" from ATGNI. Busting day (including plenty of his lung-busting style climbs / hike-a-bike) with some real good laughs and a few impromptu history lessons en route. What a blast, got to keep coming back and find some more of the fun stuff!

PS: Strava, I am not impressed that you put the mens' leaderboard above the womens' and there is no option to chose one or t'other, gotta have both... hmmm, yet another sexist assumption made by a mountain biking related industry? Sort it out guys :-)