Oldschool run

Not gone for a bigish ride for ages so i decided to do a Rivington route that was one of my first true off road routes. Despite not being in the saddle much this summer, my power is better than it ever was, hills that used to make me wanna cry seemed to be over quickly. When I arrived at Rivington I was surprised by how little it's changed over the summer. No vegetation, most routes deteriorating at a very speedy rate, never mind GO APE, spend some money and get it back to its former overgrown beauty. Any way I did the old school route, which to be honest shook me to death, could not find one decent smooth line, this was not down to the my lack of skill, but due to walkers who all seem to be looking at everything bar the noisy MTB hurtling towards them. I managed a good 29 miles in about 2.45 hours, another complaint is the A6, used to get home from Rivington in about 1/2 hour, now with the traffic lights at every new housing estate on the route it takes a further 10mins. i wouldn't mind so much but the lights change and nobody ever comes out of the junction GRRRR.

I did take some new products on the trip with me, Mavic Razor mtb shoes, and they was good, the grippy out sole worked well and they felt stiff enough when climbing, towards end of ride I did get very bad foot burn, any ideas any one? It was miles worse than my Specialized comps!! 8/10 me thinks, and thanks to the service at www.ribblecycles.co.uk simply brilliant cheaper than chainreaction and its just round the corner, happy days.

Also had a change of shifters and rear derailleur, Deore 2 way shifters how good are they, got used to them immediately and when paired with the budget Shimano SLX shadow derailleur, the shifting was clean and crisp for the whole ride, not a single slip even after hammering through sandy gritty puddles in Rivington, buy one they are only 30 sheets, that's less than a night out these days. 9/10

Cant wait to get out there again, also a night ride up that way is in order, new lights are charging as we speak, off to Leeds now, Poo.