All good intentions...

It was planned I was going to meet Gideon, to head out on the trails at Swinley Forest a little earlier than the others, to get some footage on the GoPro, to make a little video. Then hook up with the other guys and continue the ride.

The alarm went off, got my stuff together and headed off out... Something did not feel right. So I checked my phone and the exchange of texts from the night before. We confirmed 7 30 meet!! It was 8am and I'd only just left!! 1 hour behind, oops!

I arrived at Gideon's and after a quick coffee, loaded his bike on the rack and headed out.  

No more than 10mins of riding and I'm losing pressure in my back tyre... I run 'tubeless' tyres so added some air and carried on. After a minute or so I'm flat again... As I did not have any fluid that self seals my tyres, my only option was to put an inner tube on the wheel.

We pull over and Gideon and I get the tube on as fast as possible... At this point no footage has been taken as we were only just getting to the good sections of the forest. 

Tube on and ready to ride we head off on probably my favourite section in the forest. Railing the burns and getting air at any opportunity, we are in business. Or maybe not. I take a burn fast and my tyre is flat again. We pull over to the side of the trail to find I have a pinch flat. I have pinched the inner tube taking a corner. Great!

So now we have to fix a pinch in the tyre. Out comes the puncture repair kit. Quick repair and the wheel is back on the bike. I'm pumping the tyre and not getting any pressure. We take the wheel back off, we check the tube and we find a second pinch. That gets repaired and now we are back in business, again!

We ride to meet the others and then had an enjoyable hour or so ripping it up. No GoPro footage: all good intentions, but it was just one of those days. 

The trip to North Carolina has given me loads of confidence and I'm finding myself attacking the corners and hardly using my breaks. Which means I'm going fast, feeling the need for speed!

Had a lot of fun on the trails today after a very frustrating start. Looking forward to getting out again and hitting it harder and faster and getting the footage to make a kick-ass movie.

This two pictures sum up the ride...