Anybody in the UK?

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet this
year 🙁

Your best bet would be the whatmtb.co.uk forums or the bikemagic forums
- They organise quite a few get together type rides in there.

Whereabouts in NW England by the way?

R

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet this
year 🙁

Link up with the Bogtrotters, there's a contact on

http://www.bogtrotters.org/index.php

Just to look at their photo gallery gets the heart pumping, well it does that to me

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet this
year 🙁

Bogtrotters Programme
This Wednesday evening - Rivington - Easy
Saturday morning - Grizedale - with the Venture Scouts - thats got to be Easy

Just what you need to build fitness and refresh skills.

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet this
year 🙁

Amongst the other suggestions, try the forum at singletrackworld.com

dardruba said:

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet
this year 🙁

Bogtrotters Programme
This Wednesday evening - Rivington - Easy
Saturday morning - Grizedale - with the Venture Scouts - thats got to be
Easy
Just what you need to build fitness and refresh skills.

good call. am hooking up with them tomorrow! They seem like a right
friendly bunch.

dardruba said:

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet
this year 🙁

Bogtrotters Programme
This Wednesday evening - Rivington - Easy
Saturday morning - Grizedale - with the Venture Scouts - thats got to be
Easy
Just what you need to build fitness and refresh skills.

Hi David
I've just read your Ride Report (Crash Report) on Sundays trip to the Peak District.
And there was me proposing you take an 'Easy' ride with the Bogtrotters

Their next Sunday and Wednesday rides are in the Borrowdale area of the Lake District,
they sound like more suitable outings for you, and you can enjoy the scenery as you
walkout after your next crash !!
Best of Luck, Mike

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet this
year 🙁

If you're round Manchester Bike Shack in Altrincham used to
coordinate rides.
--
Tim.

[email hidden]

dardruba said:

dardruba wrote:

Hi David
I've just read your Ride Report (Crash Report) on Sundays trip to the Peak District.
And there was me proposing you take an 'Easy' ride with the Bogtrotters

Their next Sunday and Wednesday rides are in the Borrowdale area of the Lake District,
they sound like more suitable outings for you, and you can enjoy the scenery as you
walkout after your next crash !!
Best of Luck, Mike

Having looked at their website, I think that their moderate rides are probably at about the right level for me. I am going to go on one or two easy rides to get my face known and to make sure that i am not jumping in too deep!

"dardruba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David Waters said:

Particularly in the north west that fancies meeting up for a ride
sometime? I ride XC but am lacking a bit of fitness at the moment as
work has caught up with me and I have not been able to get out yet

this

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

year 🙁

Link up with the Bogtrotters, there's a contact on

http://www.bogtrotters.org/index.php

Just to look at their photo gallery gets the heart pumping, well it

does that to me

Quoted message said:

Nice link... You guys have some "big stones".

I lived in New Mexico (USA) during the 70's. We used to get cycling
magazines from the UK before US publications became popular. We were
really intrigued by several articles on "Rough Stuffing" - riding off
paved roads on dirt roads, tracks and trails in the UK. The folks were
riding slightly modified road bikes with big clinchers and cantilever
brakes.

During a road race in 1975 a friend and I got dropped really badly by
the pack on a climb up a 3850 meter (12,600 ft.) mountain. We gave up on
chasing the pack and turned onto a dirt road. We kept riding and
eventually the road turned into a single track. We ended up riding all
the way to the top of the mountain on a dirt trail with road silks and
gears.

My friend owned a bike shop and I managed it. We were importing European
cyclo cross bikes with long wheel bases, relaxed angles and cantilever
brakes but had never tried them off road. We sold them for use as
touring bikes. I was also building frames at the time.

During the next week we put together some off road bikes and took them
out that weekend. That was the start of our love for off road bicycling.
My friend continued riding a cyclo cross bike with dropped bars. I built
a lugged frame that was similar to early commercial models that came out
during the 80's. I also opted for upright bars with some motor cycle
components. We rode cyclo cross sewups on soft surfaces and I used some
cheap Wolber 700 x 35C commuter bike tires for rougher rocky trails.

Over the next 4-5 years we road all over the mountains in Northern New
Mexico and Southern Colorado. I ended up in Northern California working
as a manufacturing engineer in metal working and machining. I had
connections with many of the frame and component builders in the area. I
still ride a lugged Reynolds 531 frame with 700Cs that I built about
10-12 years ago.

Getting back to the original post, here's a quote from the link for the
Rough-Stuff Fellowship (RSF) below:

"The history of the RSF goes way back to its foundation in 1955, long
before anyone had ever heard of Marin County. It was formed by cyclists
who wanted to get away from roads and cycle on tracks, and byways.

Bikes then were a world away from their modern-day counterparts. Steel
frames, no suspension, no V-brakes and gearing to make your hair curl."

http://www.rsf.org.uk/index.htm

So in part, US mountain biking owes part of it's heritage to the UK!

Chas.