hmmm, I seem to have been having one of my breaks from blogging recently. No real reason, just a lack of time and I guess, inspiration. Sometimes it’s better to just get on with doing things rather than talking about them. So… what have I been doing then? Well, it’s safe to say that I’ve been doing a whole lot more cycling than climbing. Which is a bit of a shame really, and something that I’m hoping to put right this year, starting with a return visit to the Gorge De La Jonte in April.
As far as the cycling goes, the highlight of last year was probably a 100km jaunt around the Peak District in the company of Sol & Foz, which hurt me more than I realised at the time. But, I finished, and promptly proceeded to eat enough to keep a family of twelve alive for a couple of months. The bike has been perfect, of course. I haven’t really done much to it since the build – it’s still using the same groupset and wheels, only some of the details have changed a little. The seatpost and stem are now Ti from Drew, and I also had to replace the fork after a few problems with my back meant I needed to pop a few more spacers under there for a while, and there wasn’t enough steerer tube left on the original fork. As for this year, I have several things planned – culminating in an entry for the Fred Whitton Challenge which I’m quite frankly terrified about. I have about four months to get into shape for this, which is going to be hard work. The good news is that the bike doesn’t really need anything doing to it – it’s already well up to the task, even if the rider isn’t. The idea of ~5000m of climbing in around 180kms or so is really quite daunting. And the thought of ~5000m of descent is quite exhilarating. So, the exercise regime starts today. Erm, well, tomorrow actually. It was a bit chilly today and I didn’t much fancy freezing my spuds off on slimy Fenland roads.
Back on the climbing front for a moment, I did achieve a small measure of fame last year, with photos in both Climber magazine, and the Rockfax Languedoc-Rousillon guidebook, from the last trip to the Gorge De La Jonte. I can’t wait to get back there.
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