Want to ride downhill? Here’s the basics March 24, 2012

For most keen MTB-ers, downhill sections are the highlight of a good ride. However, they also tend to be the place where it’s most likely to go wrong.

I had a few horrors last year, including a stack at Glentress that took out my rear mech, and bottling it at Gisburn, braking too hard and flying over the handlebars, among several other “near misses” and cuts and bruises. So, before I hit the trails this year, I’ve been having a look at a few refresher lessons and tips. This was the best one I found, by ZEPtechniques:

This guides you through the very basics of downhill, which is getting a good riding position and keeping your centre and balance. And advises riders to look out for hand strain, which may indicate that you are gripping too hard on the bars because your riding position isn’t well centred.I thought this was worth a look even if you’ve been riding for years.

Happy downhilling!

Hate the gym? How to get fit and actually have FUN part 1 March 21, 2012

I’m on a bit of a mission at the moment. I want to get fit, but I’m trying to do this without resorting to using a gym. I just don’t get on with gyms. The equipment is scary. There’s always a slightly unappealing scent of stale sweaty trainers, and unless you are prepared to pay for one of the high end clubs, the changing rooms are inevitably pretty manky. I did have a Virgin Active membership at one point, which was heavily discounted through the place I worked at the time, and that was the only gym I could honestly say that I LIKED. They had classes I actually enjoyed doing, and instructors who didn’t wear full Lycra. OK, so there were still a few men there who had bigger boobs than me, but you could ignore them, because most of the people there were fairly normal, just trying to curb the wobbles on the way home from work and earn themselves their morning cappucino.

However, once I quit working for that place, the cheap membership was no longer mine, so after enquiring about the (astronomical, as it turned out) full price, I baulked and left. Even with the cheap membership, I’d hardly been a devoted gym aficionado, still some days preferring to skip it and go to the pub, so knowing my own motivation, I couldn’t justify the cost. I had a brief flirtation with LivingWell at the Hilton, again, another work-sponsored deal, but couldn’t hack the sleazy businessmen wandering round fresh from the sauna in Speedos (newsflash guys, just sitting around sweating won’t get rid of that beer belly). I’m a part time MA research student, and did join the gym at my university, again because it was cheap, but I’ve found that the classes don’t fit with your schedule when you work full time as they are geared around full time students, and inevitably, as a mature student, everyone in the classes is much younger and much fitter than you are. On the other hand, if it’s eye candy you’re after, a university gym will definitely provide more of that than one in a hotel, trust me on that one, but don’t expect sparkling clean changing facilities. Students are a pretty skanky lot.

So, having finally realised that I am never going to morph into a gym bunny overnight, I’ve had my thinking cap on recently of ways that I could get fit and actually have some fun while doing it. I’ve got my mountain biking of course, but it’s mainly a weekend thing. I do go for evening rides after the clocks go forward, but it can be hard to fit in after work by the time I’ve done the commute home and then got ready and out to a riding location. Living in central Leeds means there aren’t too many places for a decent ride close to home.

I came across City Bloc whilst on my search for fun fitness stuff to do in the city:

http://citybloc.co.uk/index.htm

It’s a bouldering centre. Bouldering is basically free climbing, without ropes. You don’t go as high as you would on a climbing wall, but there’s still plenty to challenge, with walls at different angles, different grades of climb which are marked by different coloured holds, and different types of climb to do. We got an induction from one of the staff, who showed us the ropes, and helped guide me down when I got the heebie-jeebies after going a bit too high and  I realised I couldn’t quite figure out how to get down. There are massive crash mats though, and by the time I’d jumped off the wall a couple of times after getting stuck, I’d lost the fear.

Today, my shoulders and arms ache like buggery – you will KNOW when you’ve been bouldering, because you will have sore hands, arms, shoulders, and just about everything! But if you get the bug, you will want to go back, again and again, because it’s addictive, the buzz you get when you master a route, or get that bit further along a route that’s eluded you. It’s definitely a more fun way to strength train than those poxy weight machines in the gym, because you are using your own bodyweight as resistance and you have to use so many different muscles to manoeuvre your body into different positions on the wall. I just wished I’d had better upper body strength, because I would have gone on for longer if my arms hadn’t given out on me. It’s a full body workout.

I’ll definitely be going back. At £7 a session, it’s not the cheapest form of fitness, but once you’re there, you can climb for as long as you like, and your £20 induction includes your membership and a free session, as well as shoe hire and a chalk bag. Students can climb all day for £4 on a Friday, so I can take advantage of my student card while I’ve got it, and that’s 50p cheaper than a class at one of the local council sports centres! You won’t need lots of fancy equipment either, unlike conventional climbing with ropes – just a pair of shoes, and some chalk to ensure your hands are dry and can grip, and you’re off. They do recommend you buy your own shoes if you start to get into it, but you can hire them to start off with while you decide if you’ve been hooked enough to get your own.

So, a good start to my fitness-and-fun quest. Tonight, British Military Fitness in Roundhay Park…..

Chocolate fondant….food sinfulness on a plate March 19, 2012

Photo courtesy of BBC Good Food

OK, so this wasn’t the healthiest start to the week, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to try Carluccios’ gluten free chocolate fondant to round off the meal tonight. It was gooey, sticky, and chocolatey, as promised, and I needed the peppermint tea afterwards just to render me able to walk (as opposed to roll) home. I was definitely more impressed by the pudding than the mushroom risotto, which was such a huge portion I felt overfaced, and was definitely too salty, but I can’t fault Carluccio’s for trying – their gluten free menu is extensive and they make  a massive effort in the kitchen to avoid any sort of cross contamination, using separate pans, utensils and a gluten free preparation area. They seem to know what they’re talking about, and it’s a good thing as a coeliac when you can go out and eat a meal without feeling like you’re being the fussy one. And knowing that your soup won’t arrive with a massive crostini on top of it, like my experience last weekend in Birmingham. OK, so the crostini wasn’t actually IN the soup, it was balanced artfully across the bowl,  but I had to then explain to a waitress who looked at me like a lunatic that I couldn’t risk eating it because some crumbs may have fallen off it into my soup.

I kind of want to tell people sometimes, look, I wouldn’t willingly be this awkward if it wasn’t necessary, OK, so just spare me the looks of death and get me a bowl of soup without the baked decor and let’s pretend it’s all normal.

Thankfully, I have a few days to metabolise the chocolate-fest before my first proper ride of the year this weekend, and a good supply of peppermint tea to ensure I’m not crippled for the rest of the night!