14 November 2009

the longest-shortest birthday ride

tomorrow i slip cleanly into the 30+ age category and what better way the put off impending gifferdom than to go and play on bikes. my vague plan of riding somewhere in hayfield was given a sprinkle of magic, secret trail dust thanks to
rich. local trails for local people.

normally when we get together our rides tend to be long affairs, early starts, late finishes, mile munching terrain and ending up sleeping on the fell side. today's ride was a different beast. the distance was short, so short in fact, that jane actually ran further than us.

but no mile was easily won. winching ourselves up, faces gnarled into the headwind. divert from the path, seeking the easy line. there is no easy line. tyres sinking into peat, then the boots. keep on pushing. a warning of such is given, "you can give it the beans but there are some drops". i get to the back of the queue. brakes squealing like a pig, trying to make the turn. too steep, too scared.

a promise of the best singletrack in the peaks. a bold statement. today, i think we where shown a glimpse of it. some excelled, some pushed too hard. me, i excepted defeat too soon. but to get better you have try what you can't. it's just playing on bikes really. i felt like a big kid. thanks for coming guys...

8 comments:

trio said...

Happy birthday old woman! Great day. I am tired! Oh and Ali went to bed at 6ish so you broke her!

Richard said...

Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuu :)

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday!

*shoves over a G&T*

Runningbear said...

A warm welcome to gifferdom Kate. Sounds like a top birthday celebration to me & be glad that as new entrant you didn't have to wear red pants in public. Happy Birthday to you...

jumbly said...

Glad you managed to have a fab day despite being practically ancient! Welcome to the giffer-dome.

Pedalling Polarcherry said...

happy bday & welcome to punterdom! i love hayfield. short & hard.

Martin Rye said...

Happy Birthday Kate and have a good one.

Groover said...

And? Is it so terrible to be 30? You spring chicken! :-)

Happy Birthday!