The Ice Mile - 3 Years On
Cold water swimmer, Becca Harvey, takes us over the course of a year as she prepares for the challenge of an Ice Mile.
A Week of Adventure - Mountain Biking
Written by Alex Clasper /
Our Week of Adventure
We had to kick off our week of adventure in style and the mountain bike was a popular choice. Biking holds a perfect combination of adrenaline, grit and superb views all in one go. A sport where you have to really work for your rewards!
With the daylight hours reducing with every day in the Northern Hemisphere the bike holds the ultimate craft for a quick zip after or even before work. For us we decided to hit our local trails at Haldon Forest. The familiar riding adds an added confidence even if it’s just in knowing where the nearest first aid station is. Haldon Forest is a family friendly environment maintained by the Forest Commission. During the week you will find throngs of people enjoying a dog walk, bike ride or just a natter in the café. Riding on maintained trails adds to the added thrill of knowing the trail is built just for you and your two wheels. A range of trails in a rainbow of colours from blue to black providing all the fun!
Like most of us with a busy schedule you can’t really plan the weather, just pick a day and commit! We struck gold as we arrived in the car park greeted by a superb Autumnal day. Shorts and the Long Sleeve Performance Top had to be the order of the day, after all, how long would it be till we get to ride in such warmth again?
With our chosen route only a short thrash we could ride light which is always a nice change from the usual back-pack and clobber. One of our new favourites is the dry pouch which is the ideal size for packing a spare tube, your phone and some leavers. The heavy duty velcro system allowing us to attach the pouch on to our handlebars with ease and off we go, no messing!
With an early start behind us we had the forest to ourselves snaking our way through the odd dog-walker to find our trail for the day. The trail leads you in gently allowing you to find your rhythm linking your turns and getting that flow on the trail. As with all things containing gravity and speed. It doesn’t take long before an increase in speed combined with added confidence merge together. To conclude with a yelp or shrill cry.
A quick breather and a dust off and we’re off again out the woods, in the woods hopping on to the fire track then over a wooden bridge (why do they get smaller on the approach?) then flying over greasy rocks holding on for dear life. It’s at times like this that make you wonder if you did fall off, where exactly would they land the helicopter?
The flow of the trail continues over roots, rock ledges and sweeping turns made just for the mountain biker. A great feature of mountain bike trails is they pack plenty of punch for the work you put in. A quick meandering loop up and over rolling over the last few corners and we were back at the car park. Just in time for a quick coffee before heading back to the grind. A quick thrash to get the heart rate pumping, seems to have kicked off our week of adventure nicely.
Mountain Bike Equipment
We used a host of Red Original products whilst out biking, all can be purchased online. All clothing is available in Men's and Women's. And don't forget FREE SHIPPING is available on all orders (up to the value of £25) placed before 2pm (GMT) on 22nd November with code OPTOUTSIDE.
- Cool Bag
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