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Date: 21st December 2008
Riders: Richard,
Road Ride
Weather: 12.5°C

What a change in the weather this week. It's the winter solstice but the weather has been mild and mainly dry.

Having missed out riding last week I wanted a fairly simple outing this week to get some miles back into my legs. I was also fighting off a sore throat and a bit of man-flu that everyone I see at work, at home and on the train and tube in between has been trying to give me for the last two months.

So I set out on Sunday morning on the Bianchi Via Nirone for a nice route covering 35 miles, saving the two stiff climbs up to the quaintly named 'Fanny's Farm Shop' and Park Lane for the end of the ride so that I would have that 'almost home' spring in my legs. I also spotted another hill that is just begging to be included in the route next time.

Although it was mild I was wearing this month's 'favourite bit of kit' to keep my throat warm. It's a warm fleecy 'snood' from Altura that at the pull of a cord converts into a beanie as seen under my lid a few weeks ago.

I always like to just get out and ride on this particular weekend of the year as it feels like you have broken the back of the miserable winter weather and the dark cold evenings will now start to gently recede. There will be colder weather to come no doubt but that always promised hard and fast trails so that's no problem.

I also managed to get the old style bottom bracket out of my Raleigh road bike (real old school with separate axle, bearings and bearing cups) by paying a flying visit to Huey who of course had the right tool for it. In fact, could we call him "Huey the right tool"? No? didn't think so. So I'm now about to order a 68/113 square taper BB to get my turbo trainer back in action.

Elsewhere and for those of you not into road riding, Davebus was doing a great job arranging and leading two off-road rides on Saturday and Sunday so there was no excuse for you not to be out this weekend.

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Date: 27th December 2008
Riders: Richard, Cas, Gary and Lee
Boxhill
Weather: 2°C

The whole of south-east England was once covered by a huge dome of chalk which over the last two million years has been eroded to form two ridges: the North and South Downs.

At 193 metres, Boxhill stands at the corner of one of the few big gaps in the otherwise unbroken line of the North Downs. Since Roman times all lines of communication have had to pass through the gap carved by the River Mole right beside Box Hill: the Roman Stane, or 'Stone', Street, linking the then seaport of Chichester with London.

And that's great because Boxhill and the surrounding area is one of our favourite riding destinations and it's within riding distance of my doorstep.

The cold weather has meant that the trails are dry and firm and with the right gear on it's a great time for riding.

Whilst I have ridden many road miles with Cas during 2008 I can't even find the date on my own site when we last rode our MTB's together so it's a pleasure to see him out on the Klein this morning.

Lee and Gary make up the team and we set off for Boxhill via Stane Street followed by the 'Secret Singletrack' on Headley Heath and then down the Alpine descent.

Cas's knee has been giving him problems but it appears to be holding up well and Cas has lost none of his off-roading skills during his long lay-off.

A climb up Boxhill and a break for tea (or Bovril for me as I have been riding 'caffeine free' since the middle of August this year) at the National Trust Cafe and then back across Headley Heath again and down the 'Rocky road' to complete a good ride at a decent pace.

I also fitted my new Shimano UN 53 68/113 bottom bracket to the Raleigh road bike. It's been a while since I bought one of them and it's a refreshingly cheap £9-99 from Evans in Canary Wharf.

The only slight concerns when fitting were firstly the plastic rivet which holds on the gear cable guide and extrudes inside the bottom bracket shell meaning I had to grind it down before the bottom bracket would fit. And secondly, the old school separate axles had nuts on the end of a thread whereas the square taper requires crank bolts and I could only find one of those in my spares box so I am on the search for another one to complete the job.

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