At my first mountain bike race of the year at Stile Cop, I had wanted to shoot something a bit different to my usual head on race shot. Climbing a bank to get to an open section of track I took out my Fuji X100V, activated the built in ND filter, and slowed the shutter speed right down. On this frame I had managed to get the riders eyes and number board mostly sharp, which is easier said than done. The rest of the frame was a bit chaotic, which sums up a downhill mountain bike run to me. I had not planned to shoot in black and white, but prior to the conversion I felt there was something missing.
Spectating at the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages was one of my highlights of 2024, there were a couple of images that I could have chosen, but there is nothing quite like seeing a 911 sideways on gravel.
Despite riding a lot with Owen, we did not actually visit the skate park much, this was probably from a Saturday morning when Jen was doing Parkrun. Environmental portraits, like this, are my favourite way to capture the boys, as it avoids them pulling any silly faces, I felt that this one just sums Owen up really well.
Another from the War Memorial Park, whist Jen was doing Parkrun, except this time the boys were staying with my parents, and I had just received my X-H2S, so I explored the park on my own. this guy was meditating on a bench on the bowling green, and I liked the framing between the leaves. This photo reminds me of how lucky we are having a large park near the centre of Coventry where people can relax amongst nature.
The first of two photos from the Coventry ring road photowalk I did in November. We started here at the Canal Basin, which was like a mirror first thing in the morning, so I concentrated on capturing reflections. On this day I had actually made the conscious decision to shoot in black and white, and had set my X-H2S set to the Acros film simulation.
I took lots of photos of Henry at the local cycle speedway track in 2024, most of them riding shots, but this one of him messing about in the grass, whilst waiting for his heat was my favourite. I fell like it just sums up Henry.
The second image from the ring road photowalk, this time about halfway around the ring road, in the subway that goes to Central Six, for those that know it. On the day this was not my favourite of the more tradition street style photographs, but it has grown on me over time. The framing in the square and the silhouette make it for me.
I had these trees in mind for a sunset photo across the valley for a few years, so when weather conditions for a decent sunset combined with a free evening, I drove over to Kineton to see if I could make it work. The sunset was not quite as good as I had hoped, but the concept worked well. It was also nice to get out for the evening, watching as a sun dipped behind the horizon.
When I was sent out on a Christmas Eve mission to deliver some emergency red cabbage there was only one car for the job – my little MR2 Roadster. I had just received my camera back from a warranty repair at Fuji UK and wanted to test it out. This was a super quick shot, as I also had Owen in the car with me. It was a misty evening, and the shot I had envisioned was the MR2 parked under a streetlight in the mist. Sadly where I decided to stop – an industrial estate in Nuneaton, was not particularly misty, but I still like the shot. Rather than including the streetlight I was parked under in the frame, I went for tighter framing, using the light to accentuate the shape of the car. We were probably only out of the car for a minute, but the shot came out well.
It was still misty on Boxing Night, and having been stuck in the house all day, I decided to head out and get the misty photograph I had not achieved a few days prior. Instead of taking the MR2 out, I decided to walk up to Hearsall Common, to photograph the Hearsall Star, a local festive landmark. I had taken a few different compositions, but this one with the cars was my favourite, as the cars and their lights added a bit of an extra something that was missing from the frame. I was not sure if there would be much traffic late on Boxing Night, but I am glad that there was. Walking home from this I slipped on some mud and bashed my knee, but it was worth it for this photo.
I started 2025 as I mean to go on – riding my bike! We saw the new year in at home, after a tasty roast dinner, one of our friends came round with her son, who is friends with Owen. The boys played together nicely – although Henry wreaked havoc on their Minecraft world, by releasing all the livestock from their farms. Then the older boys started making some videos on their tablets. The grown ups were able to chat and drink Select Spritzes (a throwback to our trip to Venice last year). All the boys managed to stay up to see in the new year – a first for Henry.
Thanks to their late night, the boys gave us a lie in this morning and after a very late breakfast of pancakes and bacon, we got the fire lit and settled in for what was forecast to be a cold and rainy day. However, the weather improved, so I got out for a short local ride on some muddy trails. It was a slow ride, but it was good to get out for some fresh air, especially as I was not expecting to be able to get out.
Usually going into a new year we have a lot of plans, but do not really have anything firm for 2025, we have a few ideas for holidays – all we know is that we want to get Henry on a plane, and we would like to go back to Scotland. We may combine these ideas, but we could also go to France, or somewhere completely different, and drive to Scotland as a separate trip. There may be some big exciting changes coming, but they are just ideas at the moment, so I do not want to jinx anything. Our lives are still going to be busy with activities for the boys – Owen has decided that he wants to join Henry at cycle speedway and Henry wants to join Owen at karate – whilst better than two new activities being added, it was nice that they both had their own things going on. Hopefully not having too much in the calendar will leave plenty of opportunity for spontaneous adventures.
A carry over from 2024, but it was the topic of the group chat with my friends last night, so will continue to make more of an effort in 2025.
Make my blog more robust
Another carry over from 2024, but I did not get around to it – I have an idea of how I want to do it, and it should be easier than my previous plan.
Refresh my photography portfolio website
Like the previous goal, it is carried over from last year, and I have got some ideas, although in typical Lewis fashion I have started by sorting out my Lightroom catalog, to make it easier long term to find my top images. Writing this now, has made me have a rethink, so my portfolio may end up getting updated more than once…
Do something car/motorsport related every month
Some of my favourite days last year were motorsport events, watching a rally, and going to Festival of Speed. So I want to make sure that I do more of it. I have got a things lined up for the next few months – karting this month and Race Retro next month.
Get the MR2 to Wales
The MR2 has not had enough use, so I want to make sure that I get it out, and Wales is my favourite place to drive, so combining the two seems like an ideal plan!
Ride somewhere new with Owen
Owen’s riding has come on so much over the last few months, so I want to keep the excitement going. I have a few ideas on where we could ride, but it comes down to holiday plans.
Do some bike trips just myself and Henry
It is too easy for me to ride with Owen – we can ride fun trails together at a decent speed. However this has meant that Henry has not ridden with me as much as Owen had when he was the age Henry is now. Which means that Henry is not as confident on the bike as Owen was. I know Henry will appreciate some daddy and Henry time and hopefully it will help his confidence on the bike.
Get to the summer with three working bikes
At the moment I have one working bike, but only just. I have been riding my hardtail, a lot, but it is desperate need of a full rebuild. However in order to do that I need to get my full suss bike working again, and ideally my town bike, neither are big jobs though.
Ride at Bwlch Nant yr Arian
A goal carried over from 2023, Bwlch Nant yr Arian in Mid Wales has some great looking trails, and is also known for their daily Red Kite feeding – which is enough of an excuse for me to go for a ride. It also seems like somewhere that might be worth visiting with Jen and the boys as part of a Mid Wales trip.
Ride the “Ladybower Loop” with Partho
This is a more focussed version of the “Ride one of the 10 of the best XC trails in the UK” goal, which I have had for a few years. And also another goal which relied on my full suss bit being rebuilt. I last rode there in 2018, it was a tough ride, but very rewarding.
Tidy my garage
Another long running goal, which should help with other goals.
Take my niece Sienna to the zoo
Being an uncle is fun, Sienna is two and half now, which is the sort of age
Get my weight down to 90kg
For the last ten years, at least, my goal has been to get my weight down to 85kg, which has clearly not happened. 90kg is more achievable, but if I get there, I will try to keep going to 85kg. My plan is more riding and less pizza.
The lack of any firm plans for 2025 is exciting, the year has started well, and hopefully that will continue.
As the sun sets on 2024 (photo from earlier in the year, the weather is rubbish tonight), I am sharing my look back at the year. 2024 has been a pretty good year, especially after the rubbish end to 2023. The first exciting thing of the year was our weekend in Manchester, for the Bricktastic Lego show. Owen and I went to Wales in the spring, then again in the autumn, riding at Bike Park Wales both times. I also went to Wales to watch a rally with my dad, which was one of my highlights of the year. We had some good holidays – Dorset with Jen’s family, the South Downs with my family, and Jen and I went to Venice, but I have been a bit rubbish at blogging, so no posts to link to.
2024 has been a decent year on the bikes, although mainly the hardtail really. In previous years I have mainly ridden on my own, but I have been more social this year. I have ridden a lot with Partho – my favourite ride of the years was when he demoed a Cotic bike in the Peak District, natural trails are great fun, but the hills are tough. In the summer I joined the local mountain bike club, the Godiva Trailriders, for a few rides, although I still struggle to keep up with them on rides. However the highlight has been riding loads with Owen towards the end of the year – his riding has come on so much with regular riding. With all the riding I have neglected workshop time – I am almost at the point where none of my bikes are rideable. More time in the workshop needed.
I have had a great year behind the camera, helped by upgrading my camera. I feel like I have really gelled with the new camera in a way that I was not expecting to, harking back to 2009 when I bought my Canon 1Dmk2, and I felt like I produced my best work. I have shot a lot of mountain biking, mainly the local races at Stile Cop, but I really enjoy the vibe they have on the hill, and I have been getting to know the regular racers. It has not only been action photography, I have also dabbled in both landscape and street photography, including a fun morning shooting around the Coventry ring road with some other local photographers. I have found myself taking a lot of black and white photos, the Acros film simulation on my Fuji cameras is great. Naturally, I have taken a lot of photos of the boys, and also both my nieces – being an uncle is fun!
Work has been particularly busy this year, with a few projects being delivered, and some diversification in to app development, which has been interesting. It has been a double edged sword though, as I have often ended up working late into the evening when I have something to finish – I love what I do, so do not mind, but it does mean that I have not been able to work on personal projects as much as I would have liked.
Owen has had a much year than 2023, his year started off with a small operation to remove a Hickmann Line from his chest, but he has bounced back. He started getting into photography and we have enjoyed some great days out together. He has also made great progress with his karate – achieving his yellow belt, and then his orange belt. He has also competed at both regional and national level – both times being knocked out in the first round by the same lad, who went on to with both titles. However riding with Owen these past few months has been great, he rides at a good pace now, so I have a decent ride, rather than just pootling along behind him. He also enjoys when Partho joins us on rides, he feels like he is one of the boys.
Henry has also had a good year, he is a right character, and takes his role of “annoying little brother” very seriously. He is so different to Owen, especially how they dress, Henry likes to dress smartly – or to wear a princess dress. He often has multiple outfit changes a day, which is both cute and frustrating. He continued with cycle speedway, making great progress, especially towards the end of the season, and he want to ride a “proper” speedway bike without brakes next season. The biggest change for Henry has been that he can now read and write, that first year at school has just a dramatic change, over the last few days he has even started reading books to himself, which has been nice to see.
At the start of the year, I set myself some goals. I posted a halftime update in June, but here are the final results:
Spend more time with my friends
Must try harder – I have spent a lot more time with Partho, mostly mountain biking, but also various other trips out. I have found it more difficult to meet up with the rest of our group, and we did not get to all celebrate our fortieth birthdays together. We did meet Rich in Manchester when we went to Bricktastic. The photo above was from the only time that we managed to get the whole group together – for lunch and an autumnal walk in the Peak District.
Make my blog more robust
Fail – As mentioned in my mid-year update post, perfection has been the enemy of progress here. I probably just need to spend a day on it, however finding a free day to spend sat at the computer is proving difficult
Refresh my photography portfolio website
Fail – I did make a start on this, but did not finish it. It looks like there have not been many changes to Adobe Portfolio, which I use to power the pages, so it is just going to be a case of choosing some more images.
Photograph a rally
Pass – I actually photographed two rallies – a single stage rally at Donington Park and the Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages in Wales. The trip to Wales to watch the rally was one of my favourite days of the year, so I am hoping to go to another rally next year. Owen seems keen to join me.
Fail – Owen hardly did any riding at the start of the year, then we did loads in the last four months, but focussing more on quality, rather than quantity. His longest ride was actually at Bike Park Wales (spoiler for the next goal!), where we rode 21km, which did not include being driven to the top of the hill four times. Owen’s technical riding has come on so much…
Ride at Bike Park Wales with Owen
Pass – Another goal that I can check off twice! We had a weekend in Wales in May, which included an afternoon at Bike Park Wales, then we made it to the Little Rippers Halloween ride, after many years of clashing dates/hospital visits. Bike Park Wales more than lived up to the hype, it is the best place I have ridden, and I am looking forward to visiting again.
Ride at 417 Bike Park with Henry
Fail – Henry is very different to Owen, and is less of a daredevil – he enjoys riding his bike on the cycle speedway track, or on the blue graded trail at Hicks Lodge. I am sure that he would enjoy riding at 417 (when it eventually reopens), but he would hate the idea of it and I do not want to push him. I think I’ll get him to ride at Newbold Comyn, as the trails are similar in difficulty, but it is nearer and free to ride.
Ride at Bwlch Nant yr Arian
Fail – Again. This will be carried over to next year (again), with higher priority given that Natural Resources Wales seem to be giving up on their mountain bike facilities, including Nant Yr Arian.
Ride one more of the “10 of the best XC trails in the UK” with Partho
Fail – This one is on me – Partho is keen to ride the Ladybower Loop in the Peak District, but I have some bike maintenance to do before I can tackle it, as my Orange Four is currently out of action, and I did not fancy it on a hardtail.
Sort out the boys toys
Fail – We did make a good go of it before Christmas, but then Christmas happened, and the boys got loads of toys, so the house looks like there has been an explosion in Toy R Us…
Tidy my garage
Fail – The garage is still a mess, with bikes and bike parts everywhere. I thought I had a goal to “tidy my office”, so I spent this afternoon sorting out my office, which was needed, but unfortunately does not mean that I can tick off a task.
MR2 jobs
Partial pass – As with last year, this has been hampered by a messy garage/too many bikes and not enough space to work on the MR2, however I did get some jobs done. And it got new brake callipers when it was in for service, and also the paint blemishes were sorted.
Make sure that my pensions and investments are working for me
Pass – Just about. Sorting out my pensions was a boring task that I had been putting off, but just in time for the end of the year, my old pensions have all been moved into a SIPP with Interactive Investor, which seems to be getting me better growth and lower fees. Once I had worked out what I wanted to do I thought it would be a quick process, but every step of the way seems to have been slow, especially getting money out of old pensions, but in the final days of the year the last cash has been transferred from an old pension, although it will take a few more days to arrive and be invested. I had reviewed my other investments and was happy with them, but in the last few weeks the provider has put their fees up, so I need to look into alternatives for those.
Get my weight down to 90kg
Fail – Every year. Must try harder. I had a good second half of the year, but you can tell when the weather started getting bad in October and I was not riding my bike as much. Looking at the past week or so the trend has been downwards, despite a few meals out, so hopefully I’ll be able to keep that going in to 2025.
Once again it looks like I have failed to achieve more of my goals than I acheived. I think for next year I need to try and ride (and work) less, so that I can focus on other goals.
I had a fun bike ride today at Hicks Lodge, with Jen, the boys and Partho. Hicks Lodge is Henry’s favourite place to ride at the moment, especially as the playground has just been refurbished, and the cafe does a good hot chocolate. I had also noticed the cakes in the cafe, so a plan was hatched for my birthday weekend – for me it does not get better than a family bike ride with a cake stop! My best friend Partho also came along too.
We woke up to rain, poor weather is one of the downsides to a December birthday, but the forecast was improving and Owen was super keen to ride – he actually hurried me along to get the van loaded up, asking me what he could do to help. The weather was pretty grim driving up the M42, but the rain had stopped by the time we were ready to set off. The trails were still wet and muddy though. Both boys were riding well, despite the conditions and lack of snack stops. I think we have also got to the point where Henry is faster than Jen on a mountain bike trail.
Photo: Partho
After most of our first lap Partho and I left Jen and the boys at the new playground (next to the yet to open skills area) and set off for a second faster lap, Owen had been keen to join us, but decided to stay at the playground. Stopping for a breather after the first few sections of trail, we spotted a lone rider catching us up, then noticed the bright red helmet peak – it was Owen. He had instantly regretted his decision not to join us for a fast lap and had ridden as fast as he could to catch us up! We finished the lap, taking it in turns to lead out each section – when it was my turn to start, I could just hear Owen saying “I’ll give you a bit of a head start”. Hopefully he was just copying what I do, rather than being cheeky, but he did not catch me up. On the section that Partho led out he was able to get enough of a lead that he could get a photo of Owen and I at the end of the section. There are not many pictures of us actually riding together, so that was really nice to have. Owen started to tire towards the end of the ride, but perked up when we came across the new section of trail, linking what was previously the final to sections in to one long final section – some nice flowy berms replacing a section of fire road.
By the time we had finished the ride the sun had come out, so we sat outside enjoying our drinks and cakes. The cakes from the Hicks Lodge cafe tasted as good as they looked on our previous visits – I had a gingerbread millionaire, a festive take on one of my favourites, and a white hot chocolate. As we could see the playground from our table, we could carry on chatting whilst the boys enjoyed exploring the newly refurbished playground – they seem to have kept all of the best bits from the old playground and added lots of new equipment, and the boys loved the new set up. Henry was really in his element – he is not the most confident mountain biker, but he really loves Hicks Lodge, it is a lot calmer than other trail centres we go to, but I think that suits him. I am pleased to see that it is seeing some investment, as it is such a great facility for the littlest mountain bikers. Even with “tame” trails, with a lot of water on them, I still had a great ride – sometimes it is who you ride with that matters more than where you are riding!
In Coventry we are proud of our ring road, which loops around the city centre, just outside of where the old medieval city walls were, it is notoriously tricky to drive on, with junctions merging into each other. The secret is to ignore usual best practices and stay in the right lane unless you are leaving at the next junction. When I heard that a group of local photographers were going on a photowalk around the ring road I was keen to join them, and somehow the stars aligned such that I was free on the day, and it was not raining either! It was a dry day, but the weather was pretty dull, so I made the decision early on that I would try to shoot in black and white, feeling that it would work well with the grey skies and grey architecture. I considered using my X100V, as it is a camera made for street photography, but I wanted the flexibility of switching lenses, so opted for the X-H2S, mainly with the 35mm f1.4 prime lens.
We met at the canal basin, and took some shots around that area whilst waiting for the whole group to arrive. I like the canal basin, it is just across the ring road from the city centre, but feels so much calmer, especially on a chilly Saturday morning, when the canal was as flat as a millpond, which made for some great reflections. That is until a couple of swans swam through and spoiled my fun.
As we left the canal basin for the ring road, my inner car photographer was coming out – I was trying to combine a silhouetted person walking across the bridge with a car driving under it. Then I saw this hot rod truck approaching – it did not quite give me the shot I was aiming for, but in my view an interesting truck makes for a better shot than perfect timing/composition with a Toyota Prius.
We crossed over to the inside of the ring road, and walked around anti-clockwise, stopping to take photos. Our first main stop was Nauls Mill Underpark – somewhere I had not been since I borrowed an X100V from Fuji a few years ago. It is an underpass which has been done up as a park, with seating, a climbing wall and logs planted into the ground. I used some of these logs as framing, and waited for someone to walk into, or out of the shadow of the bridge – my plan worked! Although I think I would have been happier with a slightly faster shutter speed, I think having the slight motion blur works for this image.
Our next main stop was the abandoned housing estate at Spon End – the flats have been empty for a while now and are due to be demolished, it felt strange to be walking around what would have once been a busy area. Hopefully something nice will be built there soon, as it is a good location near to the city centre, with the River Sherbourne running alongside.
From Spon End we carried on round the ring road, criss crossing through the many subways on the south side of town. I liked this composition with the light and the square hole, I just needed to wait for a subject to walk into frame. We did not have as much time here as I would have liked, but it is somewhere I can revisit.
I thought I knew Coventry well, but I had never previously noticed the Frank Whittle building at Coventry University, with its hexagonal patters was pretty spectacular. I have driven past it loads, but you cannot see if from the road, as it is hidden behind the old Whitefriars monastery. I felt like I could have done better here, I had some shots with cyclists riding past, but I needed either a faster shutter speed, or a much slower one to get more motion blur. Another area to return to…
I did not take many photos on the last section of the ring road, but I did notice a few areas which would be good for some static car photography, so next time I have a free afternoon and a clean car I will give those a go. As we got back to the start we stopped for a well earned hot drink and cake at the Transport Museum cafe – we had been walking for more than four hours and I had done over 16,000 steps! It was great to get out exploring my home town, and to meet some other local photographers, the fact that I got home and was pleased with a number of my images from the day is the cherry on top!
Last weekend I took the boys to Northampton Bike Park for their first junior race event. Owen and I have ridden at Northampton Bike Park a few times in the past, and it is one of Owen’s favourite places to ride, so he was entered into the “Intermediate” category, racing on the blue graded trails. Henry had not ridden there previously, so he was entered into the “Beginner” category.
Henry’s race was up first, and was held in the skills area, it consisted of a run down the “turns” line, a short back climb back to the top and a run down the “jumps” part of the skills area. After a few practice runs Henry had the downhill sections of the trail sussed out, but still had not managed to complete the climb. When it came to time for race runs, Henry was last to drop in, so had a bit of a wait, watching everyone else. Fortunately Owen was able to do some practice laps ready for his race, so was not also left waiting. Henry did well on his race run, even making the climb! However, when it came to the awards presentation, the reality of being a five year old racing in an “under sixteens” category meant that he was way down the order. However, this was not the end of the racing for Henry – there was also to be a dual slalom race, on the “1460” dual track – which Henry had not previously ridden. Henry’s finishing position meant that he had to qualify, against some of the other smaller children, so his first run down the track was actually a qualifying run – which he won! Hies second run, in the quarter finals, was against a much bigger rider (probably three times his age), so although he rode well, he stood no chance. The most important thing though was that Henry really enjoyed himself, particularly on the dual track. We will be returning to have some races amongst ourselves in future.
Whilst Henry was racing dual slalom, Owen had gone up to the top of the bike park to wait for his race run – which would be one run down the “Blue Nunn” trail, taking the jump line. As soon as Henry was knocked out of his dual slalom race, we rushed across to the bottom of the blue trail to try and catch Owen. We made it in time, as Owen was also one of the last riders to drop in. Unfortunately, on of the riders before him had a fairly big crash, so the racing had to be stopped for a while, with only a few riders left at the top. When racing resumed we did not have to wait too long for Owen to come down. It looked like he also had a good run, and really enjoyed it. He said that the wait at the top had not been too bad, as he was chatting with the start marshal and other riders, and doing star jumps to keep his muscles warm. Again, this was an “under sixteen” category, so Owen was one of the smallest riders, amongst a field of teenagers, so his finishing position reflected that.
Owen also had a dual slalom race after his downhill race. This time there were no qualification races, and Owen was straight up against a teenager. I know from experience that Owen is pretty fast down the dual track – if I give him half a ten second head start we are pretty close at the end. Unfortunately he did not get a head start in this race, and he was up against a teenager, so did not stand much chance. The only silver lining was that he had a swimming party to be at, and would have been late if we had to hang around for a second round race. Not only did Owen ride well, but he showed great independence and resilience doing his own practice, and getting himself up to the start line for his race whilst I was with Henry.
The team at Northampton Bike Park are doing a great job of maintaining the trails, and generating excitement about the bike park with events such as this – I wish that there was similar at the Bedworth or Newbold Comyn trails which were built before/after Northampton Bike Park. Whilst it was frustrating that all the categories were “under sixteen”, with five year olds (and younger) racing against teenagers, I understand why they did it. Hopefully they will be able to tweak it slightly next time they run races. Having the fun dual slalom racing after the main race was a nice touch, especially as there is space for everyone to gather around the track to cheer the riders on. The most important thing though was that both boys enjoyed themselves, and Owen got to his swimming party on time.
Owen and I had a great day riding at Bike Park Wales for the Little Rippers Halloween ride. It is an event that we have wanted to attend for a few years now, but holidays and hospital visits have got in the way. It was more than worth the wait, it was one of the best days on the bike this year!
We drove down the night before, after I finished work, stopping at McDonald’s enroute. Problems with their app led to me accidentally doubling Owen’s order, which he thought was the best thing ever, as he got to eat the extras. I have no idea where he puts all the food. The same could be said at the hotel the next morning, where he took full benefit of the breakfast buffet!
We got to the bike park in time to get signed on before the uplifts started, and to get the Little Rippers group photo! For our first run we decided to explore the far side of the hill, which we missed on our previous visit – Terry’s Belly top sections, back up to the new skills area, down Popty Ping, then the rest of Terry’s Belly back down to the uplift. Owen particularly liked the skills area, he rode the drips line a few times until he got it perfect – some of the drips were pretty big too.
On our second run, we rode Sixtapod then Willy Waver – both fast trails that finish at the uplift. I think the was my favourite run, Owen was looking really confident on his bike, especially considering he had not previously ridden these trails. Owen was getting hungry by this point (how?), so for our third run we aimed for the visitor centre, via Melted Welly, Fforest Bump, Roller Disco, Bluebell and Bushwhacker. Fforest Bump was the first of the “tech” trails we had ridden there, chosen because I had hoped it would bring us out after the climb on Melted Welly. It did not. The trail was different to the “flow” trails we had been riding, with a looser, more natural, surface and more drops than rollers. Owen coped well with it, I think sessioning the drops line in the skills area in the morning helped.
We ended up having a long lunch – hotdogs from the cafe, and catching up with some of the other Little Rippers, whilst Owen waited to get his face painted. He also got a Little Rippers Halloween goody bag, and a second to bring home for Henry. By the time we started our fourth run, my muscles had got cold, and judging by how slowly he was pedalling over to Terry’s Belly, Owen’s had too. Owen rode Popty Ping again, and I decided to ride the red graded Hot Stepper, which runs parallel. The red graded trail was a step up, with a lot of drops, I based my chainring on one and had to stop and bail out of another as it was too big and I was riding too slowly. In the end Owen had a bit of a wait for me where the trails rejoined eachother. My arms were feeling tired on the rest of the long Terry’s Belly trail, and I was not too surprised when Owen said he did not want to do another run when we got down to the bottom. The problem was that we were right at the bottom of the bike park and we needed to get back up to the visitor centre, so we had a small climb, which just about finished Owen off, and a short descent on Norkle.
We had had an excellent days riding – over 21km according to my Apple Watch, which makes it Owen’s longest ride! Do not be mistaken in thinking that because we were mainly riding downhill it was easy, riding long downhill trails fast is hard work, and muscle groups that we are not used to using on our normal rides. Owen certainly got a taste for this type of ride and is already asking when we will next be doing an uplift day!
It was a long drive back to Coventry, traffic was OK until we got past the M40, then it was very busy, even in Coventry, which meant I was too late to take Henry to his Cycle Speedway Halloween Spectacular, so Jen had to ride up with him, and Owen and I met them there to catch the last half of the session. Henry was riding fast, and even managed to ride a lap one handed. I had set him the challenge of learning to ride one handed before the 2025 cycle speedway seasons starts, but he managed it on the last session of the 2024 season!
Ten years ago I bought a mountain bike, a Vitus Nucleus hardtail. After years of going to the gym multiple times a week, I wanted to switch up my training, and I thought that after buying the bike it would be cheaper than the gym membership. I was wrong on that count, but can definitely say that my fitness has improved! What enabled me to buy a mountain bike at the time was actually having somewhere to keep it, after the completing of my garage build. If I knew that ten years later I would be squeezing ten bikes into the garage alongside my MR2 Roadster I would have made the garage much bigger!
In addition to the family’s bike collection growing, I have also had to buy a van to transport the bikes around, as although I can ride from home, getting out an exploring new places on the bike is my favourite thing to do. Especially if I can ride with other people. I am lucky that Jen and the boys occasionally come out with me, Owen especially seems to enjoy riding, and I love being able to share a hobby with him.
I still have the frame of the Vitus hardtail, it is hanging from the garage ceiling, as although it was a good starter bike, and a good second bike when I got my Orange Four, I eventually replaced it with a better hardtail, my Orange Clockwork Evo. I did over 6,000km on that bike, albeit with a lot of upgrades over the five years I was riding it. I have also learned a heck of a lot about working on bikes – ten years ago I did not know anything, but these days I would not think twice about building a bike up from scratch, or building a wheel – I just wish I had more time to do it, and a bigger workshop of course!
Mountain bikes have also crept into my other hobby – photography. I love either going out on my bike with a camera in by bag, or shooting mountain bike races. To me, mountain biking feels more like a way of life than a sport, and I am glad that I found it, after buying that bike ten years ago.
This year Owen and Henry are starting back at school on the same day, so I am doing a combined post and an elusive picture of both of them together – easier said than done!
Owen’s First Day of Year Four
After a busy summer holiday, I think Owen is glad to get back to school for a rest. For someone who reads a lot, Owen left his holiday homework until the last minute, and was reading “How to train your Dragon” well past his bedtime last night.
In addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:
Height: 123cm
Shoe size: 2.5
Bike(s): Vitus Nucleus 24 for mountain biking and United Recruit 16 BMX for riding to school and at the skatepark.
Favourite colour: Red
Favourite food: Flying Cows bacon cheeseburger
Favourite book: How to train your dragon
Favourite thing to watch on TV: Hot wheels let’s race
Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Going to the Wave waterpark in Coventry
What do you want to be when you grow up? A chemist
Henry’s First Day of Year One
Henry is keen to go back to school, although I am not sure that he prepared of the structure of being in a proper class, rather than the play focussed reception. Henry does not seem to be as academic as Owen, but I think he may play it down somewhat, as he sometimes reads quite long words unprompted. He was so keen to go in a meet his new teacher that he did not even look back or say bye to me.
Henry also answered the back to school questions, at least he has a more realistic career aspiration than last year…
Height: 101cm
Shoe size: 12
Bike(s): Orbea MX20 (Owen’s old bike) for mountain biking, Frog 52 for cycle speedway and riding to school (until the brake get removed) and a Haro Frontside 16 BMX for the skatepark and riding to school once the brakes are removed from the Frog.
Favourite colour: Pink
Favourite food: Spaghetti bolognaise
Favourite book: A squash and a squeeze
Favourite thing to watch on TV: Sofia the first
Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Our holiday in the South Downs (blog post coming soon)
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher
One of my goals for 2024 was to do a 50km bike ride – I had a few routes planned, but had not yet got around to riding them. I had planned to take a full day, ride at a casual speed, maybe have a lunch stop etc. However, sometimes things just fall into your lap…
This summer I have been trying to join the local mountain bike group, the Godiva Trailriders, on their Wednesday evening group rides, as I find riding with faster riders helps me to push myself. This evening was a prime example! The pace was faster than I am used to (16km/h average), and my first experience of riding off road, at speed in the dark. On trails I do not know. I did lose the rider in front of me a few times, as I was right on my limit but fortunately the group waited for me.
As we got to the end of the group part of the ride I realised that it was one of my longest rides to date – no wonder I was struggling, but also that I could push on to 50km if I took a slightly longer route home. So I did, and ticked off one of my goals!
