Thought I'd dust off the Mongoose mountain bike and go for a quick blast with my mate Bonus. Not ridden offroad for months so got it out of the shed yesterday to give it the once over. Back in the summer I made the decision the go tubeless and faffed around with the white gunky stuff and finally got the tyres to seal. Anyway, yesterday the pressure was a bit low so I thought I'd pop a bit of air in, took the dust caps off and 'BOLLOCKS' the valves came out of the valve stems and whoosh all the air pissed out of both, yes I managed to do it twice, dickhead or what ! I pumped them up again and all seemed fine, then this morning the buggers were flat again. I didn't have time to chuck tubes in so I jumped on the wife's Marin (which was my old bike) I made my way to the house of Bonus.
Funny how when you really get into cycling you have to get the uniform, baggy shorts and peaked helmet for mtb and ill fitting Lycra for the road bike. I fall into this trap, stupid really, you should wear what you want but peer pressure, fitting in, not looking a prick(too late for me) all have a influence, but I haven't shaved my legs...yet!
Bonus and I decided to have a blast up North Hill, a nice gentle ride about two miles uphill and then we'd see what it was like up top, it was windy down the bottom so it could be really windy up top and make a decision which way to go. It was nice off roading again even on a bike I hadn't ridden for two years. I think the road riding has made a difference and we hit the hill at a good pace for a couple of old boys. After a quick scoot up the hill we stopped at the top of the Burgundy Chapel path and had a breather and talked about life, work, money and stuff, like you do on mtb rides. We thought about going up to Selworthy Beacon but decided to go a short way on the coastal path then turn off and make our way towards the old tank tracks and hit the downhill back to Minehead.
It was then we heard the hounds and looked back and saw them streaking across a far field followed by wallys on horses chasing something innocent towards Selworthy Beacon, so glad we decided to take the route we did. Not something I agree with and it seems a bit unfair when you've got people on quad bikes joining the chase, surely that's cheating.
Bonus and I cracked on and hit the track back to Minehead, passing the Exmoor ponies. I didn't want to do anything too technical as the Marin didn't have the brakes or suspension of the Mongoose so I rattled down the hill finishing at the bottom with numb hands but with a big smile. Stopped at the house of Bonus for a cuppa and made my way home, quite pleased with keeping my mtb hand in and the pace of our ride and avoiding the wallys in the wind.
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