The SkiBiker SkiBike Blog

Today was a fantastic spring day, almost hot enough to be summer, but still with a bit of a chill in the morning. I was feeling surprisingly chipper after yesterday's jaunt. You have to make the most of such conditions here in the UK, so I chose to break my journey homeward with a visit to Greenham Common.
Here in the UK the name for many is still synonymous with CND, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and in particular the Women's Peace Camp based there in the 1980's. Today, the missiles, military and political activists are all gone, the huge concrete runways have been dug up and for the most part it has been returned to common land.

The single track trails at Greenham Common were recommended to me on the RetroBike Forum, but it also has the potential for lighter mixed riding too. I "scoped out" the site before hand thanks to Google Maps and decided to use the industrial estate area as my point of entry. This turned out to be an unexpectedly busy place and  hard to find an obvious parking place without antagonising anyone.
Not wanting to find my car clamped or towed away I eventually parked on Lindenmuth Way, had a snack and a drink and got myself organised.

Busy site - I eventually parked on LindenmuthWay

The English Provender Company who make posh chutneys and pickles are based nearby, the not so posh "Monster Munch pickled onion flavour" smell pervaded the immediate area. A gate behind the factory leads straight on to the firm gravel perimeter road. From here I took a pleasant, if unadventurous, ride around the site to view; the missile silos, control tower and sundry artifacts left on show.

Sundry artifacts left on show.

At the Eastern end I found a tiny trail leading down through a gully and met a biker heading the other way searching for his dropped phone. There didn't seem to be much more to ride, even though what there is was quite a challenge with my skills. The area was hemmed in by houses and roads and not quite the epic single track I had been recommended.

Greenham Common - the firm gravel perimeter road

On the return leg back to the Western end of the site I discovered a trail leading into the woods
behind the ominous looking nuclear missile silo. This turned out to be where the good stuff is, I picked my way along tentatively, not wanting to risk picking up any speed on alien territory, this trail was above my ability level and is exactly the sort of thing I need to do more of.

The trail starts behind ominous looking nuclear missile silos

I returned to the car around sunset very pleased with my exploration of the site but feeling more than a little worn out, keeping my eyes open on the ride home was quite a struggle.

I recently acquired an unexpected opportunity to do a week's work based in Newbury, Berkshire. This pleasant home counties market town is host to the corporate headquarters of one of the UK's largest mobile phone companies. Commuting from my home in time for an early shift starting at 7am meant the only viable transport option was by car. Outside rush hour, the 75 miles can be covered in a shade over an hour and a quarter.

By contrast to my regular work, a lot of time would be spent in the car and the rest sat behind a desk. With that prospect I would soon be getting stale and needed to find myself some exercise before I seized up or got any fatter. Once again the RetroBike Forum came to my aide, I received suggestions for routes and found myself a ride companion in the shape of Gordon, aka Secret Squirrel, who had recently joined me on Urban RetroBike #3.

Leaving work on the dot of 3pm I headed for the company car park and with what modesty I could muster, changed from sober business clothes into gear more appropriate to trail riding fun. I don't know if I was spotted on CCTV, but if so, it must have given the security team a good laugh. Transformation completed, I mounted the wheels, tweaked the brakes and headed towards the centre of town.

Having consumed breakfast some hours previously, I hoped there might be time to grab a quick snack on the go, but the phone rang and Gordon was already just moments away at the train station, oh well, I wanted to shift a few pounds from my mid-rift. We met on the tow path as it runs through Victoria Park, a pleasant area complete with; band stand, early season sunbathers and the ubiquitous ice cream van.

Kennet and Avon canal - by the Rowbarge Pub Woolhampton.

Following the National Cycle Network Route 4 along the Kennet and Avon canal you pass through the town's industrial area, but the presence of so many canal barges, trees and wildlife makes for a bucolic ambiance. In spite of recent rain, the trail was dry and hard packed, which made for easy and rapid progress. There were some rooty sections plus the odd dip and bump to keep you on your toes, the trail also switches from bank to bank, so there is plenty to maintain interest.
At Thatcham you have to cross a busy road and it was not obvious where the trail continued, after a small detour, we got back on track and were riding on what was to be the best section of the route. It was smooth and well manicured, but empty, we both had some mad moments, forcing up the pace and getting a good thirst on for a swift half at the Rowbarge Pub by the swing bridge in Woolhampton.

Time for a "swift half " at The Rowbarge Pub

I could have sat and shot the breeze for longer, but Gordon was on a mission, there were kids to be collected at 6 and there were still 12 country miles to go. The next section around Aldermaston Wharf was quite rough in places, according to the signs it had been deliberately left for the grass to grow and promote the diversity of fauna and flora, etc. Furthermore, the presence of quite a few gates to negotiate made for quite a tiring leg of the journey.
At Theale we passed under the M4 motorway and soon began to sense our proximity to an urban centre. There was a notably boring slog alongside the motorway, as you skirt the Theale Waterskiing & Wakeboarding club lake, with little to please the eye and the relentless drone of drivers speeding along the M4 above.
Close to Reading, the trail rejoins the canal tow path and after passing under the A33 there are much prettier sections at Waterloo Meadows heading into the centre of town. Arriving just minutes before Gordon's 6pm deadline, there was no time for lengthy farewells, as he zoomed off to carry out paternal duties.

Plenty of fauna - Aldermaston Wharf

I was faced with a conundrum, should I grab some late "lunch" and take the train back to Newbury or turn around and head back up the Kennet and Avon canal ? My legs were already tired and this was only half way and just a couple of hours to go before nightfall descended. But there's nothing like a race against the clock to motivate you when you are running out of puff. There was a bit of a headwind to contend with and in theory you are heading slightly uphill, in consequence the ride back felt slower, but I was back at my car by 8pm, so time wise there can't have been much in it.

By my reckoning the distance traveled was 18 miles each way. Allowing 30 minutes of stoppages, I was riding for 4 hours, which makes for an average speed of 9 miles per hour, not bad considering it is only a fraction slower than the speed I make cycling in to London.

I can highly recommend National Cycle Network Route 4 along the Kennet and Avon canal, it would be nice to do again, maybe at a more leisurely pace though, or just in the one direction. I would be keen to see the continuation of the route too, which runs all the way to Bath. Interestingly by following the linked Bristol and Bath Railway Path, you can make it to Bristol too, should the mood take you.

One Life - Live it

For the last few weeks I've spent most evenings huddled over the laptop making changes to the way that all my sites are run and spent way too much time pouring over CSS/Java templates and searching Google for fixes to various annoyances. A lot of these upgrades have occurred "under the hood" i.e. out of sight, but they should help to improve both the sites visibility and stability, of which there have been issues in recent months.

The observant will notice that The Skibiker Blog and SkiBiker.org have been combined, running two very similar websites was making a lot of unnecessary work for me. Best of all the new systems will enable me to make updates and add images, etc. very quickly, even from a mobile phone (allegedly). So I hope this will mean more free time to produce content and less time sorting the virtual nuts and bolts of things.

Furthermore the email system has also faced some radical changes behind the scenes, during the changeover process, inevitably, there were periods when you may have experienced "bounce backs" or your messages may simply have been lost into the ether.

The good news is that the new system appears to have rock solid reliability, if you sent a message and haven't had a reply, send a reminder and I will get straight back to you.

CSS/Java templates you made my head ache

Skiing holidays and just how reliant they are on the weather  can be one of those great conundrums, how best to manipulate those weather patterns to get the best ski holiday. Having ski biked with the lads late in March, we decided due to the abnormally poor snow conditions of the last two years, to go a bit earlier. So early March we all set off for our favoured resort Saalbach and Hinterglemm, let the fun begin.

The boys getting ready for the days fun.

Footskis made from 1/2 blade and ice grips

The curse of the Urban RetroBike tour strikes again, yes bad weather, today was forecast to be the warmest so far, even into double figures! Unfortunately precipitation was going to be the issue this time, even my postman quipped that I should be "home by 1pm" as he saw my readying to leave in fine sunny morning weather, it wasn't a day to be hanging about.
On Friday night I found myself packing sailing waterproofs as well as the more normal riding gear. Likewise I wanted to take out the Marin Muirwoods, but went for the wet weather friendly option of my Muddy Fox Tourist hybrid, with its freshly fitted new SKS lightweight mudguards.

I met up with al-onestare at East Croydon station in fine weather, but with the forecast in mind made a steady run over to Blackheath for the obligatory picture at the statue of General Wolfe. With only moments to spare I enjoyed the delightful run down the hill to the Cutty Sark to pick up Secret Squirrel. He was easily identifiable by the blingtastic nature of his Orange, mmm carbon fibre titanium composite forks yummy! It was then that the first few spots of rain were felt and the clock was ticking.

The obligatory picture at the statue of General Wolfe

We headed straight over to Stratford via some the rougher areas of East London "Some nice places you take us to, Purley" was quipped... the joy of this ride, I explained, is in the contrasts. We picked up the Regent's Canal, stopping for a quick break at a new canal side place near Haggerston. Shortly after, the "Curse of the Kona" struck, with al-onestare suffering a puncture at exactly the same spot as fellow Kona rider Watley Meister had his first puncture on Urban RetroBike #2! The puncture was soon located in the inner tube, meanwhile I checked the outer casing, turning it inside out and feeling with my fingertips for the cause and finding nothing.
The wheel was reassembled and inflated only to immediately deflate due the large fragment of glass embedded right through it that I had totally failed to spot, what a school boy error. Luckily, I had a spare inner tube of a suitable size in my kit and the tyre was reassembled again, with better result this time.

The joy of this ride, I explained, is in the contrasts

Fortunately this was the only mechanical issue for the entire journey and with the temperature falling, wind picking up and clouds looking ever more threatening time was definitely not on our side.

Crowd barriers were already being installed at St Paul's Cathedral in advance of the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, which, along with roadworks, made the usual photo opportunity difficult. Likewise, at Trafalgar Square, a crowd was gathering to celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher, although to be honest, judging by the amount of fluorescent yellow on show, the Police presence was somewhat disproportionate in my opinion.

These RetroBikes are not for hire

As the boys didn't want to do photos at Buckingham Palace we headed straight to Vauxhall, Secret Squirrel staying with us as far as the river. Then it was heads down for the long stretch South into a gathering headwind.
I surprised myself by managing to ride the direct route up to the top of Crystal Palace Hill, al-onestar overtaking me and once he was out of sight, I made a sneaky halt for a minute's breather. As al-onestare was heading in the direction of Bromley, we tried a run through the paths in Crystal Palace Park, which were rather good and preferable to the local roads, certainly worthy of further investigation in future.

RetroBikers

The rain really set in on the last 20 minutes of the journey home, I even stopped under the Croydon flyover and donned my Helly Hansen sailing jacket to get some additional protection. Hopefully, one day we might even make this trek in fine weather, take in the views and amble along without risking hypothermia, or drowning.

Today brought an unexpected meeting with Mark Bayston, we've been swapping e-mail for the last few weeks but it wasn't my intention to meet face to face. Mark has been a keen skier in the past, but following complications caused by a car accident some years ago, he was recently told by his doctors not ski again.
Anyone who has fallen for the lure of snowsports would dread hearing such news and to make things worse a family ski trip for Easter was on the cards.

Mark began searching for an alternative snow sport and was surprised to see how much skibiking has evolved in just the last few years. Even better he was thrilled to see that his favourite resort of Les Carroz is now a popular "skibike friendly" destination. But with only a few weeks to go and faced with a dearth of local rental options, I offered to rent out one of my own skibikes. Simple and basic they might be, but they are a good tool to get around on and hone your technique.

I had planned to send the skibike to his work address by courier, so spent a good few hours sorting out a decent box, spares kit and packing method. I arranged a courier company only to find out the next day, when they were due to collect, that they won't transport bikes, how stupid is that? This was quite a curved ball, checking the calendar I realised that by the time and alternative service had been arranged and the collection made, he would be lucky to get the skibike on the day of his planned departure.

Call me cynical but I know that Murphy's Law would apply, there would be further unexpected problems and he would end up leaving for France empty handed. I hate disappointing people, so I suggested that we meet up at a mutually convenient location. Simultaneously, there was an extended spell of unseasonably cold weather, with substantial snow fall in a band from The Midlands heading North and extending right up into Scotland.

I made the bold suggestion that rather than meet at a motorway service station, why not find a suitable sledging hill and have a skibike session together? To my surprise Mark seemed quite keen on this idea, an enquiry on the RetroBike forum brought forth the immediate suggestion to try Darley Park in Derby.

Mark Bayston - on the pegs

I set off painfully early at 7:30 on Sunday morning and made the chilly trip North on deserted roads, there was little snow to be seen at first, just a dusting over The Chilterns. But on the outskirts of Coventry, things began to look interesting, I took a wrong turn and found myself on a snowy road, and by the time I pulled up at Darley Park in Derby it was about 4" deep, not much by Haute Savoie standards, but pretty good for anywhere in the UK.

I made a quick recce on foot, the hill looked perfect, exactly the sort of Green Run you would choose to take a novice skibiker on. I headed back to the car, assembled the first skibike and when Mark arrived a few minutes later, he got to build the one he would be taking to France with him.

I then demonstrated how they can be easily carried over the shoulder and we set off for the hill. Straight away we practiced some "Throw a leg out" skidded turns, before moving on to the more tricky turns on the pegs. Amazingly Mark picked up on the technique quickly and there were none of the typical beginner crashes.

Pushing the skibike back up the slope repeatedly can test your lung capacity, so for a break we used a park bench to play "ride the chairlift". We then had another half a dozen or so runs before retiring to a stunning pub lunch.

None of the typical beginner crashes

After Mark's departure, I was tempted to go hunt out some nearby "steeps" so I made a gentle drive up the A6 North to Ashbourne in search of a bigger hill, with a plan to find a bed and breakfast overnight. Sadly there was not that much snow on the ground, a good deal had been scoured by high winds and deposited onto the road, some sections of which were reduced to single track. With a heavy heart I abandoned my quest, turned the car around and headed for home.

I really enjoy these backyard ski trips, they feel really sneaky, as if you are cheating in some way.

So at some stage I thought I would take on the whole process of design, build and then trial all those ideas of mine. It may seem a little daunting but having now been through this process it was actually quite a lot of labour intensive fun with a great result, well at least I think so.

Skibike frame had to fit into a double ski bag

Scratch built - 100+ hours of time

Skibike- 3 months to fully finish

Overwhelmingly fast

Great skibike to ride but not to learn on

As far as the eye can see, lifts and yet more lifts

Old hotels on the road passes double as ski resturants in the winter