The wall.....

Had felt I had hit a wall riding wise but the last few weeks of longer riding is starting to make a difference and the weight loss is starting to kick in again. The downside of having OA and riding more is the swelling after and that I don't rest much really but I really want to move forward.....

 Have had some great riding lately locally thanks to dry dusty trails with a few groups of mates and have really pushed my switchback and descending technique. Riding the bamboo regularly has now brought some new found confidence and made the wall at Swinley feel easy peasy! The bamboo angle is slacker and has totally changed my riding for the better. The bonus of all this is more comfy clothing becoming looser too :0)

Have planned an all day loop this week as I have some well deserved holiday time, a short ride Wed and a medium ride Sat too....there may be a Southern XC entry on Sunday if I'm not working just to get a race in really,as the next race is AYTE in July after travelling back from Scotland on the train the night before not the best race prep but hey I'm not an athlete! 

The photo are courtesy of Claire Conway Birds on bikes

Upping the riding

Apparently summers here...I did get a brief glimpse on Sunday, have to really start pushing the amount of riding up, although learnt my lesson about tiredness and illness now. Worked all night at work on Wed then decided in my wisdom to ride Thurs daytime on a single speed chasing my mate Kevin up to Swinley and back.It was nice to be a shown a different way up but was hanging on my coat tails on the 29er single speed on Swinleys fast trails they're great fun but I can see how many get caught out crashing at speed, sleep deprived and seeing stars I called it a day at just under 30 miles.

I have also joined 2 sites Birds on Bikes on Facebook and Totalwomenscycling.com to get me out a bit more with the ladies, and turned up at a Surrey Hills ride on Sunday laden with cold , damn those hills are brutal when wheezing but so worth it, really loving Summer Lightening its been yonks since I've ridden it. Most people say rest is the best medicine but I say no pain no gain and it was great to get the bamboo bike out for the dry season although I've heard enough wood and panda jokes to last me a lifetime! I'm still not 100% but the opportunity of night riding tonight is there and as its such a rarity I've gotta grab it!