The Calm before the Storm

My first ride in three weeks felt so good. I’d immersed myself in a ‘Ride as much as Possible’ winter programme as a means of keeping fit, getting ready for the spring riding and generally making sure that I don’t waste my time during the dark winter nights. The purchase of some more lights meant that trail riding, interval training and longer endurance rides in the evenings were now all on the cards, 1700 lumins of power to light the way. In fact this was a deal worth mentioning. Planet X, the online bike shop were doing 700 lumin lights for £12.99, reduced from £25 and I couldn't resist. By putting these on my bars and my trusty Lezyne 1000 Lumin on my helmet, I was good to go. If the cheaper light lasts me a winter then thats money well spent. So far so good and I couldn't be more impressed. However, anything over and hour on full whack and i'd be sceptical as to whether the battery would last, but for what I've been doing it's perfect.

Before you get the wrong idea, I'm no fitness fanatic, I just like to stay healthy. I've been mixing up my training with some HIT sessions on my Mountain Bike, with some skills too, but fourteen weeks in, a family funeral, a dog bite to my finger, and some really bad wet weather meant that the majority of my riding was on hold. The only bike time keeping me sane happens on a Friday evening when I drop my lad off to Football Training, throw on some Dance tunes on Radio 1,  and I ride around a car park on my Dirt Jump bike, practicing manuals. I’d better take a moment to explain to those that don’t know, a manual is really a wheelie without pedaling or sitting down. It’s about finding the balance point, keeping one finger over the back brake to avoid looping out and ending up on your backside. A great skill to have when out on the trails, to overcome roots and ruts,  and progressing with these has been my savior for many a cold Friday night.

Back to the point. Storm Eunice was due to arrive on Friday 18th February with expected gusts in excess of 100mph and the South West of England was battening down the hatches and bracing for the impending battering. I’d almost given into yet another week gone of wet and wild weather, stuck indoors, and not even looking at my bike and it began to feel like every weekend was a wash out. Being so exposed in the Wild West of Cornwall, there are not that many places to hide. huge There is no woodland areas for trail riding, or sheltered bike parks, we are mostly baron moorland or coastal trails, with the odd bit of woodland tucked away here and there which is amazing for dog walking and bushcraft, but not suitable for riding Mountain Bikes.  I'll do a post on an amazing piece of local woodland soon.

Strangely leaving work last Thursday evening there was no wind, it was like the ‘Calm before the Storm’. No wind, and yet all day the media had been hyping up the storm but right then at 4.30pm there was nothing, all day we had watched clouds moving in with an eerie calmness and I was sure that rain was on its way too. I made the decision there and then to go riding that night and this was a window of opportunity to get out and ride,  and get a few laps in of my local hill which happens to be about 1.5 miles from my house, and firmly at the heart of my local radius for outdoor fun. I’ll write more about this hill but for now I’ll say that it has become one of the most important places to be, and my relationship with this place is pretty special.

Excited like a little kid, I ran into the house, informed my family I was going riding and within ten minutes I’d grabbed my kit, my bike and my lights,  and  was in my van and heading back out. Yes I could ride but, time is sometoimesof the essence and when a storm is brewing, the window was closing fast. It was actually still light when I got to the hill, and that was my annual realisation that a ride after work with no lights is now a possibility.

What followed was a much needed injection of outdoor adrenaline.  A 45 minute trail ridingenduro session.  I tend to go as hard as I can, climbing  up, racing down and then repeat.  Getting my heart rate up on the climb and without pausing, find the right gear, drop the seat, take off the suspension lock and ride down as fast as I can,  with as much control as possible and as smooth as I can.  It was so peaceful that night, very calm and quite surreal, and as I watched the cloud slowly move in from the coast, the lights of Sennen a mile or so away, the building swell crashing into Longships Lighthouse and the Brisons surrounded by a mass of whitewater just off Cape Cornwall. Eunice was on her way for sure and I was smiling to myself,  stoked to be riding bikes.  

I suppose the moral of this brief blog post is making the most of these quick forrays within our little radius. They take no time, and it would have been so easy to have gone home, put the kettle on,  and taken the horizontal position on the sofa, put some Youtube video on of everyone else riding bikes and had some serious FOMO, but I actually gave myself a pat on the shoulder, an A+, and a 10/10 for effort. Getting outdoors is such a healthy medicine and should be prescribed. In fact I remember when it was once, it was called the ‘Green Gym’. Whatever happened to that campaign?  Is it still going?