Woodland Mud Plugging.

The weather forecast ahead of yesterday once again looked promising – sunny and with little wind. A welcome reprieve then from the daily battering we've been subjected to lately.

So, feeling up to having a ride, the only question was where to go? It's been a while since I've been into Idless Woods, my nearest bike friendly woodland, but also the boggiest at this time of year, depending on which path you take. But mud is all part of the fun isn't it? Well previous experience with my conventional mountain bikes has seen mixed results. Usually a lot of spinning back wheel and coming to a halt in a most unfortunate place, and having to dab a foot down into some burping, slurping, seemingly bottomless mud lagoon. I usually end up walking the bike through these muddy bits, while keeping my feet on the well trodden path to the side. I actually don't like going around mud holes, even on foot, as it makes the scar bigger, but I'm not treading anywhere walkers haven't already trodden, so I'm not creating any fresh damage as it were. But, it'd be interesting to see how Fatty coped on some of my favourite summertime paths that I usually swerve at this time of year.

As is often the case, the day dawned not quite how the forecast said it would. There were a few hefty showers while I was slowly booting myself up with coffee, and the weather radar on the internet showed a line of showers due to pass through within the next hour or so. I could sit by the PC or something and wait for them to pass, or man up and get on with it. I knew that an hour by the PC would finish up being more like three hours, so made the decision to get on out there.

Not only that, but I had a new jacket arrive in the week, an Altura Nevis 2 in whore's drawers red, so any rain that fell would be a good test to see how that fares.

My old yellow jacket is a cheapo jobbie, blagged for twenty quid, and has done me well to be fair. It only leaks on the elbows and shoulders, but is warm and windproof, obviously. But it is also a tad on the large size for me, being, well, a large size. Long enough in the arm, a bit too long in the body, but it makes me look like a Sumo at times. Being bright yellow it also blows the highlights out in photos something rotten, so when I saw the Altura jobbie in Medium for a bargain £32, down from £55 (the label on it when it arrived said £49) I thought it worth a dip.

Given the likelihood of precipitation, I once again donned my black overtrousers, so with them and my new red jacket, all I needed was a Bearskin hat and I'd have looked like I was on my way to Troop The Colour or stomp about outside Buckingham Palace.

Of course, clear days at this time of year also means lower temperatures, and outside it was about 5 degrees Centigrade, so a little chilly, another test of the new jacket as without that generous layer of air around my body, it may not be as warm.

Fatty is one heck of a fun bike to ride! Once again I had a grin like a Cadillac's grille on my face as I sped down the road from home, tyres rasping like a Land Rover and soaking up the broken road surface to give a smooth and controlled plummet down the hill. I was reminded however of Fatty's reluctance to corner on arriving at the right hander at the bottom of the hill, and needing to practically hang off the side to get the bike to turn. (ok, slight exaggeration there, but compared to my other bikes, it understeers - a phenomi... a phenoma... something you wouldn't think could ever be used to describe a bicycle's handling characteristics).

It's only a short ride to the woods, although it had now started raining steadily, so only a few minutes later I was pounding up the first off road hill of the day. I've never yet made it up this hill. It's steep, long, stoney, and has a water drainage channel meandering up the middle. Usually some loss of control threatens to unseat me, like hitting a stone and turning the front wheel in, or a loss of traction. Yesterday I still didn't make it to the top, but I got a lot further than ever before, and only bailed out where I did because I ran out of legs. This hill does drain well too, being on the edge of the tree line and open, so it wasn't particularly slippery. I bailed out on the next uphill section too when even the fat back tyre lost traction on the deep carpet of leaves and the spin was enough to halt me. The tyres were over inflated, still being set fairly hard (about 20psi) from last week's ride on the lanes. But, it was only on the really steep and slippery section of path directly under the trees that loss of forward drive was a problem.

The topmost path in Idless Woods. All that could be heard at this moment was the gentle pitter patter of raindrops in the trees. But this ride wasn't to be about absorbing nature's therapeutic properties, it soon became about enjoying the ride. Slipping and sliding about has never been so much fun.

Once at the very top of the hill, the path turns left and along the hill top until dropping later towards the main entrance. Along this top level though, it is also pretty wet and muddy. This was a hoot to ride, even at my slow pace. Those puddles I usually walk around I rode straight into with no worries at all about grinding to a halt through lack of drive. Yes the back wheel would spin but it was still driving forwards. Not always in a straight line, granted! As the back wheel spun, so at times we ended up pointing in seemingly two directions at once but it was nothing less than utter grinning fun.

A quick stop mid-puddle for a photo in the rain.

The rain had stopped again by now, and the sun had even come out! This was turning out to be another very enjoyable ride. Normally when I'm in the woods, I like to soak up the peace and quiet, stop and look around, and just take some time to 'centre myself' as they say these days. The woods are my favourite place to flee to in order to get some sanctuary from all the other crap going on, and I count myself very lucky to have two large woods to visit pretty close to home.

But yesterday, fun took over from relaxation and contemplation, and I was more concerned with seeing how Fatty coped with various sections and individual hazards – I was just enjoying the ride.

I've said it before, but if Fatty is anything to go by, these donut wheeled bikes really do make up for any lack of skills in the rider. They just keep moving forwards through pretty deep mud and roll over or through things that would usually throw me with my lack of confidence and skill into the scenery.

There was however one fly in my fun ointment, and that was my back. I did something along the way to set it off, what exactly I don't know, but this happens sometimes. I set off feeling ok spine wise, but something brings on the pain and stiffness and yesterday I was becoming aware of the fire spreading up my spine and across my shoulder blades. A couple of times I moved a little suddenly and pain shot up my back and left a lesser pain to ease through to and radiate around my Sternum. I don't understand how it all works, I just know it's painful and uncomfortable, and I needed to get home. Oh bums.

Having to head home earlier than planned.

So I had to pedal steadily and gently homeward, (the hill up from near the entrance I use to the wood had to be walked up, very slowly indeed) only stopping to take a photo and to arch my back to try and alleviate the pain. When my back plays up I must look a proper sight, as I get bent over more and can't move so freely. So with everything being a painful struggle, I peer out from under my eyebrows, head bowed, and with pain spread large across my face, and I must look very old indeed. As old probably as I feel on such occasions.

One last photo in the woods while trying to shift some back pain. Walking on the mud without slipping was considerably harder than riding on it!

Had my crap back not stuck a spanner in the works, I would've had a much longer ride, as enjoying it as I was, I was planning to head out of the main entrance to the wood and go on somewhere else.

But there we go, it's happened before and will happen again, so I just have to make the most of those occasions when everything does go to plan.

The day was turning out to be perfect for a ride, but I was heading home. But at least I got some good riding in. Better that than none at all.

As for Fatty, well the more I ride this bike the more I love it! I still want to take the others out mind you, but Fatty is a huge amount of fun and is also very different to ride.

The new jacket also did well. It didn't have to ward off a lot of rain as I was under trees for a lot of it, but ward it off it did. Doubtless there will be bigger tests of it's water repellent qualities. It doesn't cover my trusty bum bag though and that might be a problem, as the bag isn't water proof at all, and my main camera lives in it, but that no doubt can easily be sorted with plastic bags or something.

Not as far as it looks, this ride was a whisker over 5 miles. 

Round thing in the woods just below the figure 4 is an Iron Age fort.

I've no idea what the red square is other than it's where I rejoined the route I took on the ride out and started retracing my steps back home.

Meanwhile, the weather is set to get colder this coming week – let's hope we get snow and I'm fit to go for a ride in it if it does!