Out for some fresh air and exercise to help clear my head and de-stress. It has been way too long since I have been out on a bike, so today I went for a test run on a hardtail. It was good... very good... and very, very fast! Climbing was a breeze with bits cleared that I struggled on last time when I was fitter on my bouncy bike, and descending was rapid (particularly as the front brake was not working!).

Anyway - a reprise of a photo from ages ago since this is my first successful ride since the start of last September, and it shows. I am now broken. I do love this view over Coniston though from the top(ish) of Grizedale.

Tags:   Grizedale Forest Coniston Mountain Bike MTB Mountain Biking Hardtail View National Park Lake District Lakes South Cumbria England UK

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Second ride out for Jen - The Forest of Dean. For a "Blue" route it was getting very deep red! Loads of filthy fun though, and Jen cleared the whole lot which isn't bad going given how steep and savage it was!

Nice to be back on the trusty old steed again too!

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An utterly filthy day, so I went out for a bike ride to try and kickstart "Operation De-Blubber (v3.0)". Cheeky trails around Rusland and Grizedale for an hour and a quarter, I was utterly spent at the end!

I took this one holding the camera (Olympus OM-D E-M5/Lumix 14mm f2.5 Pancake) over the front of the bars pointing roughly backwards... pressed the button and hoped for the best! I quite like it - catches some dynamism and filth!

Tags:   Mountain Bike Mountain Biking Cumbria England UK Whyte T129-S Mud Muddy Filthy Wet Grim Urgh

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First time out on a bike in AGES. I have decided that even if I can't get out for a "proper" ride, a half hour slog up the hill to the windmills and back will provide a decent and rapid workout to start things moving in the right direction (with proper riding fitted in as and when I can manage it too, naturally).

Here is a photo from today's painful endeavor. Not as far out of shape as I feared, but a long way from where I was. I think in a week or two of regularly attacking this climb I should be clearing it (then I will start adding a little more on at a time or working on doing it faster than snails pace!)

Nice to see the Lakes hills in the distance though... reminds me of where the bike SHOULD be ;-)

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Out for another ride - managed to clear the whole climb (284m) today which is a pretty good achievement! It wasn't fast, but I made it....

I think I will stick to that (or perhaps a "proper" ride) for this week, and then start tacking on some of the climb up towards the windfarm - see how far I can get!

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