Sherwood Pines Mudbath

A group of four of us rode the trails at Sherwood Pines in Nottinghamshire yesterday. The temperature was mild for this time of year (9-10 degrees c) but it had been raining all week, so it was extremely muddy. Here's what my MTB looked like afterwards:

It was great fun, but the sucking of the mud made it so much harder than usual that I was exhausted by the end. The character of the course changes a lot when it's wet. Even on the harder and less muddy parts of the trail your speed is affected, as there are lots of puddles that could have tree roots at the bottom, so you can't safely splash through them.

Annoyingly we had to stop after the first quarter of the course to get one of the hire bikes changed, as it had bad brakes, gears and wheels. Another Sherwood Pines Cycles classic. The hire bikes are cheap, but we've had so many problems over the years that it's hard to avoid the conclusion that you get what you pay for!

Some more pics from the day:

Boots, Gloves and a test ride

The last items I thought I needed for my winter wardrobe were a pair of gloves that are warm enough to keep my poor hands warm and that I could use with a phone, plus a warmer pair of boots. I don't know what the problem with my extremities is, but they get painfully cold when it gets down to 10 degrees celsius or below. I've invested in a pair of Lake MX303s on the boot front:

They are seriously toasty when paired with thick hiking socks and fit me well. Not bloody cheap mind...

On the hand front I wanted something that would keep my little and ring fingers together like my lobster gloves, but that were also touchscreen compatible. There was a deal for some E-Glove Snowboarding mitts that sounded perfect on a site so I bought them blind:

Obviously I removed the wrist protector (that is seriously uncomfortable when trying to climb hills out of the saddle) and there is another niggle in the forefinger, once the touchscreen tip is deployed from the insulated outer, it's basically impossible to get it back inside without removing the glove (defeating the point!). The thumb inner is fine on that front though.

The skiing version of the E-Gloves are probably a better choice for upright cycling as you can cinch the cuff to prevent the ingress of rain. On a recumbent with tiller steering however this isn't a problem as the cuffs are pointing downwards! Might need to tuck them in to my sleeves if I'm riding my brompton and it's raining, however.

My rides today were slow and difficult. It's been 11 months since I pulled the trailer on the Nazca and I was definitely feeling it.

As for those being the last items I thought I needed, it turns out that most of my winter wardrobe is now too big for me. Great.