I spent a lot of 2021 riding big bouncy trail mountain bikes, riding in South Wales most weeks and taking a couple of trips up to Innerleithen, it ended up being a pretty big part of my free time and something i’ve missed doing.

For a multitude of reasons that faded away a bit and i’ve hardly touched the big bike for the last year. The perfect opporfunity to get some time on it presented itself last weekend with the usual crew of Andrew, Sam, and Ayoob who were all keen to sample some Scottish steep tech.

To begin with things were feeling pretty alien, and I felt a bit uneasy about how much harder and more frightening everything felt than when i’d been more in tune with this stuff. This sort of riding definitely doesn’t come naturally to me and It takes me a bit of time to get warmed up, relaxed and feeling comfortable, especially if i’ve not ridden in a while. After the first couple of days it all felt like it was all beginning to make sense again and I’m chomping at the bit to get some evening rides in Wales on the go as soon as the daylight allows.

It was great to be riding with three guys who were new to this stuff, and seriously impressive watching Andrew and Ayoob get to grips with thier hire bikes, going from a steady first few runs to sending it down some steep and tricky tracks within the space of a couple of days. I didn’t want to inflate his self confidence too much at the time, but Andrew was absolutely flying and seemed to have huge confidence on the tasty Megatower he’d rented from Tweed Valley Bikes. They are a great shop, and later helped Sam out with a leaky shock and a few missing rotor bolts.

A highlight for me was a new trail and tribute to the late Rab Wardell ‘The Wardell Way’. This dropped in from the rough and rooty top of 3G before popping out of the woods and in to the open, flowing through some dreamy turns in the sunshine. It felt like it ticked a load of boxes for things a great trail should have and I would encourage anyone heading up there to take a few runs on it! check out somebodies video here.

Right now I’m writing this sat in the window, in glorious sunshine, and nibbling at an easter egg. Yesterday I rolled out on a 4.5 hour road ride with Kieran, got a tan, and had dinner with the family, and tomorrow im heading down to Dartmoor for a couple of days hiking, camping, and paddling in rivers.

When you’re a person with multiple hobbies and interests (even if several of them are different kinds of bike riding) it can often feel hard to balance them out and give each the time it deserves, but the last week or so has felt like a perfect mix. I’ve ridden mountain bikes, road bikes, been running, played my bass, and am going camping tomorrow. It’s amazing what a difference the clocks changing and the sun coming out can make!