SSUK 2010

Well last weekend saw SSUK take place in sunniest Wales. I decided that seeing it was on home turf I'd ride down rather than drive. So 11.00am Friday saw me set off from Forest Freeride Towers on yet another loaded single speed (the monster cross was having a weekend off). The idea was to keep riding south until I'd had enough, bivvy under the stars for the night before a final leg on Saturday morning.

Surprisingly everything went pretty much to plan. The slightly vague route I had in mind turned out to be a winner, the detour into the Doethie valley was a real gem, steep, twisty and narrow and lined with brake grabbing ferns!

I threw the towel in around 8.15pm, after all I'd been riding since 11.00 with two five minute stops and a ten minute one to grab a brew. Bike unpacked, tarp up and it started to rain which was perfect timing as it was just the excuse needed to climb in side my bivvy bag and try to stop my legs from turning imaginary pedals. Morning arrived quickly but any thoughts I'd had about a leisurely start also left quickly ... the midges were some of the worst I've ever had the pleasure of breathing in!

10 miles further and I was done, I rolled into the campsite around 8.30 to be greeted by what seemed to be the worlds biggest bacon butty and copious tea. All I had to do now was stay awake until the "race" at 2.00.

The course was pretty good, half climbing (the first half) followed by a fantastic and very long descent ... superb fun, the braking bump and rigid fork combo' helping keep the concentration levels nice and high. The evening saw me talking bikes with old customers, veteran WRT riders and a vast selection of other one geared weirdos ... as you can imagine I had a great time.

Normal service is resumed.

It's been a while but here I am. The Monster Cross had an outing to sunny France for some fantastic riding and a couple of nights under the stars too. 100°+ temperature, BIG 1000 metre plus climbs and loaded single speeds just seem to fit together like a glove on your foot - but it was fun non the less. There should be a picture here to give you an idea of the terrain, when they describe it as volcano country they certainly mean it. I didn't really have a defined route, just a rough idea of what direction I was meant to be heading. This gave loads of scope to explore all the little tracks and trails I came across ... some superb and some not so. I discovered that wild camping within French national parks is very much a no no, so late camps, early starts and stealth was the order of the day.