A ride with Natalie-it´ll be dry she said...

Natalie wrote me an SMS. Fancy a ride, she said. It´ll be dry, she said. ;-) Now dry it wasn´t, but fancy one ride I did. And I thought, well, get an early start, drop by the Deele café and have some lunch and do some foraging beforehand, and this I did. Had some delicious bun with homemade meatballs and a big mug of coffee at the café and then I was off to the hills. Got some blackthorn (prunus spinosa, in German: Schwarzdorn) for mead spicing and syrup...

An was on my merry way over old hills and far away for the rendezvous at the lake.

It wasn´t raining cats and dogs exactly, but I still got wet a tiny bit... Let´s ride, she said. IT`LL BE DRY, SHE SAID!!!! ;-) Anyway, I actually liked the drizzle and the calm atmosphere. I met no one out there, which was cool.

The forests lay dark and enchanted and were singing their rustling song in a gentle breeze.

I stuck to the fireroads, just toodling along and smelling the spring air.

Then I came across some sweet woodruff (galium odoratum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galium_odoratum, in German: Waldmeister) for syrup and mead spice and stuffed it into my bag, too.

Don´t take them when in flower, because they become mildly toxic and you end up having headaches.

Then, some singletrails later, I met with Natalie at the trailhead and made fun out of her weather forecast, and we started our ride along some swampy trails.

Like this, see? ;-)

It was simply cool to see everything in blossom... and the weather even got better, mind you... ! ;-)

We rode a load of forest trails, single- and doubletracks, sometimes pausing to chat or just to smell the roses.

Lots of scenic vistas, and for a rookie, Natalie deserves a lot of respect, for she mastered the sometimes challenging trails and had fun in the process!

There were rolling hills and ups and downs through dense forests and fine clearings.

...

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Through the Ennepe valley we rode towards the small village of Rüggeberg, situated on a hilltop.

The singletrails were often flowy and a lot of fun!

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Near Rüggeberg we came across an old site of a fortification, which marked the border of two countries. We used the old ramparts as launch sites and caught some air. There´s a message hidden somewhere here... forgot where I put it... can you find it? ;-)

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Along the ridge of the hills...

... and still more fun trails to ride.

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Even if it started to RAIN AGAIN!!!! ;-) On the ridge my bike collapsed again for a change and I fixed it under the driving gusts of stormwind.

I have to thank Natalie a lot, because she kicked my lame butt to go out riding, and is just a fun person to have around-it is very motivating to have someone like her kicking you out to ride. And the best part: The virus is spreading, and we get more in number!

Ride with ´em crazy rookies ;-)

 

 On Sunday the folks from the ironforge and myself decided it was some really fine weather to go for some mountainbike ride along some technical trails. A lot of the guys and gals actually ride, and some of them have developed an appetite for some chain banging, no pun intended;-). So we met up at the trailhead, and the day started with some talking complete nonsense and horsing around.

 After some riding the local enduro track@Harkortberg trail, where we met Marvin, one of the semi-pros of my former club, we were faced with a cool singletrail descent and the resulting in-your-face climb, where all of us had to bail at the end.

 No harm done, what with an open fireroad and birds twittering all over the place and cozy temps.

 There was more climbing waiting, but nothing could wipe that smile off our faces!

 Still more climbing, still more fun!

 Then we hit a former railroad track:

And glided along, talking a pile of shit, for a change... ;-). Now these tracks are quite an asset in our region. A lot of former railroad tracks have been converted into bike lanes, offering scenic vistas and a really cool way to get to places fast. I often use one of them when commuting to work, and that´s a real asset. It´s outright relaxing not having to constantly being afraid for your life because one or the other car driver wants to kill you just for being existent!

From the lane, we took another singletrail over open heath.

 Natalie and Thiemo did a really great job, by the way. I had tutored both of them how to do the bunny hop, and they respectively needed 5 minutes (!) to get it wired in a basic form. Hats off to them!

 The trails we rode were not exactly rookie level, too, but part of an almost legendary bike race, the Ruhrbike marathon race, which is famed for the challenging terrain it covers. We did not overdo it, and took in a relaxed way, but they rode almost everything. Even the chicken ways on a downhill course posed no challenge to them. Thumbs up!

 I really like the atmosphere of the forest these days, so warm and cozy and springy and fragrant!

 Then we passed along some rutted doubletrack, where it happened...

 ...that Thiemo...

 ...who was that fond of the trails...

 (as was Natalie)...

took a sample of dirt.... ;-). But, no harm done, we were able to continue on our merry way, after a brief pausing to relieve the shock.

 At the Böllberg, site of a local secret spot ;-) we met with these licce goaties...

 ..who did not let the world put a care upon their shoulders except from grazing the --- erm... grass? ;-)

 And up again we climbed.

 Then we wanted to visit Willy at the Bethaus smithy, for Natalie as his daughter just wanted to say hello. Turned out Willy was not there, but we had a nice chat with Patrick, who is also forging at the smithy now.

When we went for our way home, it was already getting dark. We split up in Wetter, and the two of them slowly took the climb to the parking at the trailhead, where they had left their car.

It was a really cool outing, with fun companionship and fun trails, and laidback and silly talk... what more could you wish for!

Thanks, folks!

A rookie ride with catastrophes and cake and coffee...;-)

 Two weeks ago we met again @Felsengarten in Hagen to get in some technical basics. The smiths and crafties seem to have developed an affinity for fat tires...;-) I claim to be innocent, no really, I am ;-). Nick showed up with his new Stevens Taniwha 29er (Dom, dom, the Taniwha has come...:-)) he really enjoyed.

 It was really, really cool that Kai showed up to help with the tutoring and have some fun. He has got a lot to do at the moment, what with his studies and his eagerness to be the best... ;-). It was good fun to have him around, have a chat and do some sicker lines to impress the folks... ;-)

 We also foraged for some sage and lavender and did some owl-watching... but alas... the owl family was not at home... ;-) and we did some smelling the roses.

 The vicinity is really beautiful and you can do everything, if you do it sensible. Basking in the sun is one thing...

 

 We did some braking practice, and then Henning came to me and asked about some funny noises his bike made. Then it turned out there were some huge chunky tires fitted, and while the stays offered plenty clearance, the front derailleur obviously did not, and the only way was to take the big/big combination...

 Turned out that with a shortcage rear derailleur and a chain that was a bit short and a 100kg body weight that was a combination that was less than ideal.

So Henning tore off his derailleur hanger. #shit, if you ask me. Henning is fighting quite some adversaries taking up the sport, and I am really sorry for this (but cannot help it any). Mountainbiking is a hard sport, and you WILL fall, and you WILL hurt yourself, and you WILL wreck your bike. Mastery comes with controlling the circumstances, so that if you hurt yourself, you do not hurt yourself permanently, and if you wreck your bike, you are prepared to repair it. A torn derailleur hanger, however, is just about SNAFU.

Since it did not work out, Henning packed up and was off for a BBQ, and we continued tutoring Nick and Kathrin. I was really fond of Kathrin, who is making some huge progress at the moment. She has to overcome some mental barriers still (some anxiety and the plain refusal to do some essential things such as getting accustomed to riding with a lowered seat in technical situations, but as is, her composure and body tonus are way good already.

Lowering your seat in technical situations is not only a requirement of style. It often is crucial for survival, and even on some leisurely and casual rides you always encounter steep inclines where a high seat will ultimately send you over the bars. This is often not easy to understand for beginner riders, why you need a high seat for some situations and a low one for others, but it is an essential technical basic to know when to say when. A lower seat, even if you are not accustomed to it, will offer you more control in steep inclines and when climbing over obstacles.

 

 

We did some more braking practice and some first practice on off road terrain. Kai gave some valuable additional input with his background in trials and hardcore freeride mountainbike riding.

 

 Then we rode out to Käse Deele trailside café to do some practice in balancing a cuppa coffee and a piece of cake while having a laughing fit ;-).

Just having a good time and relaxing after a cool day riding!

Folks, it just feels cool to just go out with you, and as I have said on countless occasions - I really look forward to showing you some real rides and to open up the "heart of the wind" for you! But even so, it´s cool to have you around! For this to me is what mountainbike riding is all about: hanging out with some friends at places where it is really cool, pushing your comfort zone and playing around on a bike, and some good foodie afterwards which you can delve into with relish.

Simple. Fun. ;-)