This weekend Katie and I finally managed to get out riding together in the Peak District. We have been trying to find a weekend where we are both free for a while now with the aim of introducing Katie to proper mountain biking!
We arranged to head out from Sheffield about 11 am on Saturday – 6 Nations England vs. Scotland was on at 5, and I did not want to miss that! It’s one of the few occasions I will happily sit and watch TV. I find I am exceptional at faffing before a ride when it comes to mountain biking, and Saturday was no different! I did, however, make it to Katie’s on time…ish! Katie, however, was experiencing some technical problems – she has borrowed a bike from a friend and it appeared to have two flat tyres and no brakes.
So after a quick fix Katie, Sarah and I set off for Hathersage to do one of the longer circuits round there. It was one I had only done once before – with some map reading errors – so I was determined not to lead us astray this time. I also wanted to use it as an opportunity to practice my orienteering in time for the next Haglöf Open5 Series. I am entering the female solo race, so definitely can’t rely on Tom to correct my route reading!
Anyway soon we were off – Katie was a natural! The route has some great sections and incorporates a bit of everything, from single track to the larger paths, muddy woods and an epic downhill section (I will try and add a map of our route as soon as I can). I was also really pleased to feel that all these rides and training is starting to pay off. I felt the fittest I have in a long time and managed 90% of the steepest downhill section, made up of big boulders and rocks I would generally chicken out of! Fingers crossed Katie and Sarah enjoyed it as much as I did as it was great to get out with the girls!
Today has been a relatively relaxing day, as it’s Mother’s Day I popped over for breakfast at my parent’s house. Then this afternoon I went on a very rainy run around Burbage with Tom. Again I have been trying to practice map reading, so he’s been picking out random coordinates for me to find. I think we covered about 10km in the end, so pretty pleased with that. Hope everyone else has had a lovely weekend!
1 Comment