We are proud to announce our new working partnership with Rivington Park School.
Within the next few weeks we will be running all our our Rivington Pike beginners mountain biking courses out of the school premises allowing us to make full use of their infrastructure including plentiful free parking, conference facilities and cafeteria serving hot and cold food. Not only that but the school will be promoting our services as part of their range of weekend and holiday activities, allowing us to bring the pleasures of mountain biking and the local area to a wider audience.
For further information on Rivington Park School, visit their website at: www.rivingtonparkschool.co.uk
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
FREE CASH..? Simply follow my beginners guide to commuting by bike!
Yes, its actually true, in 4 months I have 'made' the princely sum of £300. How might you ask did I raise this mighty sum?
Well, the good news is its painless, its easy and its good for you! I simply stopped driving to work and fighting for a parking space and started to commute to work on my old trail bike, 'Rocky'.
I started in May and in the 4 months to the end of August I have covered almost 1400 miles (my daily commute is a 20 mile round trip). To equip myself for this I bought some Kevlar city tyres instead of the heavy rolling 'mud eaters' Rocky was used to, a new set of lights and a bell. I then inflated my tyres nice and hard and started testing some routes to avoid the traffic as best I could. With very little effort I found route options that were between 50 and 95% off road, so depending on my mood I can breeze along the banks of the River Tyne or hammer it up the Scotswood Road. I normally take the river, unless I have an alarm clock disaster...
I then with little or no effort secured a bike locker at my place of work for the very reasonable sum of £0 thus slashing my parking bill by 100% for the price of one politely worded e-mail.
'But surely this takes longer I hear you shout, you must be getting up an hour earlier'... Not so!
To drive, park and then walk to work used to take about 40 minutes on average, a little less in the school holidays a lot more some days for no obvious reason. To bike it takes me between 30 and 35 minutes depending on the direction of the wind (which can be fierce to say the least). I then grab a quick shower at work and I am set for the day, alert and awake from my morning spin, sat at my desk 45 minutes after I left home.
My calculated financial savings are;
Cost of Petrol (@40mpg and 99.9p per litre) = £160
Cost of Parking (80 days @ £4.50 per day) = £360
Grand Total = £520
But I have spent;
2 x Kevlar Tyres (Specialised Nimbus Armadillo 26 x 1.5) = £50
1 x Bell (Specialized, of course!) = £10
1 x Set of lights (Cat Eye with big candlepower as some of my trip is unlit) = £100
2 x Inner Tubes £10
1 x New rear wheel £50
Grand Total = £210
The proof of the pudding is there for all to see, I am leaner, fitter, faster on trail, have kept a good few miles off my car (saving even more money longer term), and just as importantly, I arrive at work now in a good mood!
And you know what the best bit is - I can spend my £300 on something not dissimilar to a fine weekend in the company of http://www.fat-tyres-mountainbiking.co.uk/.
But Ladies and Gentleman it does not stop there! I don't know if you know but there's a very tidy scheme out there called the cycle to work scheme (for more information see http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/) which your employer can sign up for if they don't run it already. What this gives you is the option to buy a bike tax free and save up to 40% of the cost you'd pay over the counter. I am looking into buying a new commute specific bike through the scheme, something with hub gears and brakes to make the winter commute a lot easier to maintain. The fact that I can save even more money by doing this puts a big fat smile on my face. I will let you know how I get on.
Job's a good 'un! :)
Well, the good news is its painless, its easy and its good for you! I simply stopped driving to work and fighting for a parking space and started to commute to work on my old trail bike, 'Rocky'.
I started in May and in the 4 months to the end of August I have covered almost 1400 miles (my daily commute is a 20 mile round trip). To equip myself for this I bought some Kevlar city tyres instead of the heavy rolling 'mud eaters' Rocky was used to, a new set of lights and a bell. I then inflated my tyres nice and hard and started testing some routes to avoid the traffic as best I could. With very little effort I found route options that were between 50 and 95% off road, so depending on my mood I can breeze along the banks of the River Tyne or hammer it up the Scotswood Road. I normally take the river, unless I have an alarm clock disaster...
I then with little or no effort secured a bike locker at my place of work for the very reasonable sum of £0 thus slashing my parking bill by 100% for the price of one politely worded e-mail.
'But surely this takes longer I hear you shout, you must be getting up an hour earlier'... Not so!
To drive, park and then walk to work used to take about 40 minutes on average, a little less in the school holidays a lot more some days for no obvious reason. To bike it takes me between 30 and 35 minutes depending on the direction of the wind (which can be fierce to say the least). I then grab a quick shower at work and I am set for the day, alert and awake from my morning spin, sat at my desk 45 minutes after I left home.
My calculated financial savings are;
Cost of Petrol (@40mpg and 99.9p per litre) = £160
Cost of Parking (80 days @ £4.50 per day) = £360
Grand Total = £520
But I have spent;
2 x Kevlar Tyres (Specialised Nimbus Armadillo 26 x 1.5) = £50
1 x Bell (Specialized, of course!) = £10
1 x Set of lights (Cat Eye with big candlepower as some of my trip is unlit) = £100
2 x Inner Tubes £10
1 x New rear wheel £50
Grand Total = £210
The proof of the pudding is there for all to see, I am leaner, fitter, faster on trail, have kept a good few miles off my car (saving even more money longer term), and just as importantly, I arrive at work now in a good mood!
And you know what the best bit is - I can spend my £300 on something not dissimilar to a fine weekend in the company of http://www.fat-tyres-mountainbiking.co.uk/.
But Ladies and Gentleman it does not stop there! I don't know if you know but there's a very tidy scheme out there called the cycle to work scheme (for more information see http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/) which your employer can sign up for if they don't run it already. What this gives you is the option to buy a bike tax free and save up to 40% of the cost you'd pay over the counter. I am looking into buying a new commute specific bike through the scheme, something with hub gears and brakes to make the winter commute a lot easier to maintain. The fact that I can save even more money by doing this puts a big fat smile on my face. I will let you know how I get on.
Job's a good 'un! :)
Monday, 31 August 2009
We tackle the Nan Bield Pass - so you don't have to!
Here at Fat Tyres we're always on the look-out for new, exciting trails to ride - trails that test the endurance of man and machine over some of the country's most extreme and demanding terrain. And in the fabled Nan Bield Pass route, we think we've found one and it's not for the faint hearted...
(Above, the Nan Bield Pass. Knackered mountainbikers not pictured)
Starting from Wheelbase Cycles in Staveley on a fine, summer's morning it began somewhat innoculously enough, with a spin down the cyclepath alongside the main Kendal-Windermere road before a right turn kicked us up into the hills, firstly on tarmac and then a rocky bridleway which became grassy before a tumultuous descent into Kentmere. So far, then, so good. Next, we traversed Green Quarter Fell and plummeted into Sadgill down another corking, if a little hairy in places, descent with a few massive drop-offs and switchbacks into the bargain.
(Above: Steve descends into oblivion, er I mean Kentmere)
Lovely, so what's next?
Erm, hell on wheels. That's what. We hung a left up Longsleddale and there we saw it. Stretching miles into the distance was the veritable monster that is the Gatesgarth Pass. However even so, we weren't worried. The previous month's issue of MBR even had a feature on Lakeland passes and stated quite confidently 'only the best will make it to the top without dabbing'. OK, so we knew we weren't exactly Nick Craig but we're both experienced cyclists with over 40 years riding between us. It's fine, we thought, it's not a race we'll just spin up to the top then when it gets really tough, hop off and walk. No sweat. Within a mile the trail kicked up and we were scrabbling for traction and gasping for air. No go, we were off and pushing. And pushing and then pushing some more. The gradient was relentless and the surface loose and greasy offering no respite as we struggled manfully onwards, only the thought of a cracking descent keeping us going. And then just when we reached a gate, and the trail flattened out did we spot the next section of the pass, curving round the hillside and up into the clouds, getting steeper every stride. It was clearly going to be a long day.
(Above: your correspondant carbo-loads on a Ginsters steak and mushroom slice halfway up the Gatesgarth)
Several weeks later, we crested the summit, dropped our saddles and prepared to be blown away by a long, sinuous descent to Haweswater. Sadly I appeared to have missed it as all I could find was a steep, rocky singletrack which had to be ridden at 1mph to allow us to pick the best line and then we were at the bottom. Oh well, at least there's the Nan Bield Pass descent to look forward to. The only problem was we had to get up there first and the famous Lakeland weather was starting to turn. The mountains over our left shoulder above Haweswater were shrouded in mist and looking menacing so guess where we were going?
I'll keep the next part mercifully brief as was the riding. For almost three hours we pushed, carried and generally manhandled our bikes across rock gardens, scree slopes and up a corrie that didn't even look manageable with crampons on let alone disco slipper racing shoes before we finally made it to the stone shelter at the summit, passing more than a few incredulous walkers in the process. "Have you carried those up there then?" was the general greeting. "No mate, we were dropped in by helicopter." I thank you.
And so we began the descent which under perfect conditions would have probably been rideable but the howling wind and sleet pelting our by now battered bodies meant that no chances were taken and the switchbacks at the top negotiated with maximum care. From there we skidded, squealed and generally hobbled the six miles back to the valley floor and the relative safety of a marked bridleway.
However, we'd done it. It had taken three hours longer than my initial foolish estimate of 5 hours but with the exception of one of Steve's carbon bar ends, which to this day remains halfway down the Gatesgarth pass, we'd come through it relatively unscathed.
Same time next week then.
(Above, the Nan Bield Pass. Knackered mountainbikers not pictured)
Starting from Wheelbase Cycles in Staveley on a fine, summer's morning it began somewhat innoculously enough, with a spin down the cyclepath alongside the main Kendal-Windermere road before a right turn kicked us up into the hills, firstly on tarmac and then a rocky bridleway which became grassy before a tumultuous descent into Kentmere. So far, then, so good. Next, we traversed Green Quarter Fell and plummeted into Sadgill down another corking, if a little hairy in places, descent with a few massive drop-offs and switchbacks into the bargain.
(Above: Steve descends into oblivion, er I mean Kentmere)
Lovely, so what's next?
Erm, hell on wheels. That's what. We hung a left up Longsleddale and there we saw it. Stretching miles into the distance was the veritable monster that is the Gatesgarth Pass. However even so, we weren't worried. The previous month's issue of MBR even had a feature on Lakeland passes and stated quite confidently 'only the best will make it to the top without dabbing'. OK, so we knew we weren't exactly Nick Craig but we're both experienced cyclists with over 40 years riding between us. It's fine, we thought, it's not a race we'll just spin up to the top then when it gets really tough, hop off and walk. No sweat. Within a mile the trail kicked up and we were scrabbling for traction and gasping for air. No go, we were off and pushing. And pushing and then pushing some more. The gradient was relentless and the surface loose and greasy offering no respite as we struggled manfully onwards, only the thought of a cracking descent keeping us going. And then just when we reached a gate, and the trail flattened out did we spot the next section of the pass, curving round the hillside and up into the clouds, getting steeper every stride. It was clearly going to be a long day.
(Above: your correspondant carbo-loads on a Ginsters steak and mushroom slice halfway up the Gatesgarth)
Several weeks later, we crested the summit, dropped our saddles and prepared to be blown away by a long, sinuous descent to Haweswater. Sadly I appeared to have missed it as all I could find was a steep, rocky singletrack which had to be ridden at 1mph to allow us to pick the best line and then we were at the bottom. Oh well, at least there's the Nan Bield Pass descent to look forward to. The only problem was we had to get up there first and the famous Lakeland weather was starting to turn. The mountains over our left shoulder above Haweswater were shrouded in mist and looking menacing so guess where we were going?
I'll keep the next part mercifully brief as was the riding. For almost three hours we pushed, carried and generally manhandled our bikes across rock gardens, scree slopes and up a corrie that didn't even look manageable with crampons on let alone disco slipper racing shoes before we finally made it to the stone shelter at the summit, passing more than a few incredulous walkers in the process. "Have you carried those up there then?" was the general greeting. "No mate, we were dropped in by helicopter." I thank you.
And so we began the descent which under perfect conditions would have probably been rideable but the howling wind and sleet pelting our by now battered bodies meant that no chances were taken and the switchbacks at the top negotiated with maximum care. From there we skidded, squealed and generally hobbled the six miles back to the valley floor and the relative safety of a marked bridleway.
However, we'd done it. It had taken three hours longer than my initial foolish estimate of 5 hours but with the exception of one of Steve's carbon bar ends, which to this day remains halfway down the Gatesgarth pass, we'd come through it relatively unscathed.
Same time next week then.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Rivington Beginners Course: 2nd August
Another glorious day in Lancashire, more fine weather for our latest mountain biking beginners course. Not to be outdone by the international triathlon taking place across the road, our very own Ironmen (and woman!) scaled the heights of Rivington Pike bathed in warm sunshine before tackling the rough and ready descents like true naturals and coming through unscathed, the only injury being yours truly today sporting some quite unique sunburn.
Pictured above: Niket, Alex and James share a moment at the summit.
More information on our Rivington mountain biking beginners courses.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
New dates for Llangollen Weekender
We've just announced an additional date for our Llangollen weekend mountain biking holiday.
October 3rd-4th
£150.00 per person
Click here for further information and to book online now.
We've also a few places left for the same weekender on 17th-18th October so get your skates on to avoid disappointment!
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Mountain biking gift vouchers launched!
Stuck for present for your other half, relative or buddy? Our mountain biking gift vouchers make ideal presents for birthdays, Christmas or Father's Day or simply as a gift for someone special.
Vouchers can be purchased for the following activities:
Beginners mountain biking courses (£70)
Rivington Pike or Delamere Forest locations
Our easy-going rides offer advice and instruction on riding techniques across a wide variety of carefully chosen trails. This is combined with straightforward advice and guidance on basic bike maintenance in a relaxed and informative atmosphere.
Monday, 4 May 2009
Rivington Beginners Course: 3rd May
Under fine skies and a light breeze the latest beginners group of Emma, James and Martin scaled the summit of Rivington Pike before taking in a spot of lunch and embarked on a mammoth tour of Anglezarke and Rivington Moors. All cleaned the final ascent of the tower and barrelled down the final Wilderwoods descent, giving huge smiles all round before indulging in coffee and cake at the visitor centre. 'Knackered but fun' was the quote of the day - just the way we like it!Pictured above: James, Emma and Martin on the summit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
