Ok, so if you read Part 1 and its preceding post you'll know I'm on a three step improvement plan to elevate my woeful off road riding levels after a pretty disastrous last outing on the MTB. So Part 1 was devoted to fixing my sadly neglected and slightly broken steed. With its braking performance …
Continue reading The Three Part Plan to Avoid Mountain Biking Mediocrity Part 2
Just a quick recap if you didn’t catch the last but one-ish post and hence aren’t already teetering on the edge of your seat waiting for this one …. Basically I rode my MTB, the bike was rubbish, I was rubbish and I fell off. So what am I going to be doing about this …
Continue reading The Three Part Plan for Mountain BikingMediocrity Part One
Well my first foray onto the dirt in awhile didn't go very well. My poor neglected bike let me know that just pulling it out of the shed and slapping a bit of chain lube over the crustiness infecting the chain and sprockets just wasn't going to cut it, oh and the brakes had a …
Continue reading A Three step Plan for Mountain biking Mediocrity.
Well the answer is literally nowhere really. I just haven’t been riding much at all. I haven’t been injured, had the dreaded ‘C’ word, had all the bikes stolen …….. I just haven’t been riding. Since the last MTB ride I did at the end of January Strava tells me I’ve ridden my road bike …
The basis for riding heaven? So, for those that read my last missive, here is the result of much internet auction site searching in my quest to replicate the unobtainable Santa Cruz dream machine that realigned my Mountain biking expectations last time out. It’s a 2019 Cotic Rocket frameset and this will be the basis …
One of the perhaps lesser known Biblical parables is the story of the Merchant and the Pearl often known as The Parable of the pearl beyond price. To heavily paraphrase the verses basically a rich Merchant see’s a beautiful gigantic pearl and is so consumed with the need to possess it he sells everything else …
Continue reading The Pearl Beyond Price. A Mountain biking Parable For Our Times.
I rode au-natural the other day. Casting off the shackles of my normal riding conventions I set off unburdened and free into the unknown. It was a challenge, it was painful and exhilarating in equal measure and it felt good. Don't worry I did have lycra on. It wasn't that sort of ‘au-natruale’. I’m talking …
It's been a busy couple of days in Declining Cyclist land. One might almost think I was thinking of taking my riding seriously again! Two days running I've put a significant ride in both in and out of doors. I'll give you a quick run down, I know you're all waiting with bated breath and …
There I've said it. It's out in the open. The secret is out, and the angst in my cyclists soul is laid bare, but that's fine. You see they say with age comes wisdom and experience. Well I'm not sure about wisdom and all experience seems to tell me is that getting up in the …
Continue reading I’m not the rider I could be, and I’m cool with that.
Ever had a ride when you get home and wish you hadn't bothered? One when you've spent almost the entire ride wondering if fishing might actually be the sport for you and how much a decent rod and reel would cost? Well I did yesterday. I've had such rides before and I'm sure I'll have …
The Declining Cyclist 