You may have seen over the past few weeks I’ve been getting a regular dose of the green stuff out on the wheels, and it’s not been without good reason.
Tomorrow morning (bloody bright and early, I might add – need to get to bed basically right now), me and Chris will be joining a bunch of riders from the Brighton MTB FB group in a minibus to the startline of the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton off road ride.
We’ll be riding 75 miles of hills, trails and tracks on our trusty Specialized hardtails, fuelled by a cocktail of flapjacks, electrolytes and (hopefully) smiles.
I’ve finally decided to listen to everyone’s advice and take the hardtail over the full sus as it’s a better bike for the job – quicker, lighter (hopefully, haven’t actually checked and not going to for fear of further indecision at this 11th hour), and everyone’s telling me, more efficient.
Since getting back on the bike after my accident we’ve been doing a fair bit of riding up on the Downs, at Stanmer Park and in Wales and FoD, along with some good road rides too, so we’re as ready as we can be, given the time. I had to cancel so many events this year due to my collarbone break so I’m determined to see this one through.
Catch up on our South Downs Way Bank Holiday adventures here:
Eastbourne to Brighton / Petersfield to Amberley / Amberley to Devil’s Dyke
and read up on our tour of the mtb trails in Wales here.
I’m really excited about this adventure – we’ve never ridden this far off road in one go, and have actually never taken part in any official mountain bike event as of yet, or ridden from London to Brighton in any capacity, off road or otherwise. So it’ll be a completely new experience.
I’m really excited about the feed stations. Like a little bit too excited. I’m excited about the atmosphere and camaraderie of everyone in it together, on a common mission. I’m excited about mid-ride cups of hot tea and homemade cake and flapjacks. And at the end, a nice cold beer.
Will always ride for beer.
BHF are lending me a GoPro to film our ride with too, which I’m mega excited about, so expect my very first vlog coming your way soon after. I’ll warn you now though – I’ve never used a GoPro before, nor done any proper editing since uni, many moons ago, so I can’t promise it’ll be great, but let’s have a go and see.
Right, best get to bed, the 4am alarm is set and a tired husband is waiting for me to stop writing…
——————————-
Have you done any off road events?