I see it's been almost a year since my last post. Then I did herald the arrival of the mountainbikedurham.com website.

Obviously things have been delayed somewhat.

In the meantime check out this website for details of some great riding in the North East of England.

http://www.visitnortheastengland.com/mtb/

You can even win an iPod!







http://www.visitnortheastengland.com/mtb/

Mountain Bike Durham is not well....

So after not posting for months and months I decide to post to say that I'm working on a new website - www.mountainbikedurham.com which will be up and running very very soon!

In the meantime here is a short film about the dangers of the sport:

New links list....

Added a new links list to the page ( over there, left at top of page). This will link to google maps of routes described in this blog. There will still be links from posts but I plan to make them accessib from the side bar as well.

You 'll see that the Cassop Vale route still not complete with description! But a 1:25,000 map will show you the way without problem! It will be complete tomorrow - thats a promise!

There's also a new link to the CTC's cyclehero campaign. Worth a look - you can win a spesh!

Make some noise...

Out this morning with youngest daughter on trailer bike and old friends G & F and their daughter on her bike. G took us on a circular off-road route from Seaham , taking in South Hetton, Murton and Dawdon. There seems to be a lot of new off road tracks in that area and they seem worthy of further exploration.

Joined the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) today - they do a lot of work around rights of way access and trail building. I've added a link to their website so take a look and join.

Concert for Diana on telly tonight. P Diddy shouted out: "If you miss Princess Diana - make some noise!" Priceless.

Its been a long time baby.....

Far too long! Seem to have lost my way a bit since last post....Gary Bainbridge (edit: Gary Grainger - link works OK!) tells me that's common for newbies. We manage up to about 10 weeks concerted effort and then fall by the wayside! Well thats not for me. I ain't no goddamn quitter.

So I've added a new link to the non-mtb links and google mapped more of my route! Gary left a useful comment about trail-gator.com. I actually thought it was a trail mapping tool, until I checked it out myself and its an ingenious way of making a trailer bike out of a proper kids bike!

I've had a long think about this blog and decided that I need to stick to it and develop into what I set out to create way back in April. I need to add more photo's and colour and news. So there!!!!

Sunny Sunday afternoon....

Sunny Sunday afternoon ride..... P persuaded me to venture out. I was feeling like an afternoon in front of the TV but he talked me into a quick blast out towards Finchale Priory, on the banks of the Wear. Explored some bridle paths and tracks to try and make a bigger, more exciting ride but that part seems a little limited. Perhaps linking it into a bigger loop might work...

On the way back stop off to the bmx track so P could get some "air". Or try to get some "air" anyway. We decide that the jumps are too close together and blame the designer.

Email from Fred - he's been reading about my difficulties with PDF, jpeg etc and made a great suggestion. It wasn't the answer I was looking for, but seems to have given me a solution. A screengrab can be saved as jpeg so why was I struggling to find a way to convert pdf?

I 'll see how that works. I want there to be a printable written description of routes as well as a map. Thats why I want a jpeg version as that can be zoomed in on and manipulated at ease and takes up less space on here!

Wot no biking? Coffee, ID Cards & Dinosaurs

Bank Holiday Weekend: Family trip to London - in dreadful weather. We stayed with my brother and his family. It was really good to see spend some them. Went to Redbridge Green Fair. It was very wet and soggy - but did find out about the anti-ID card campaign. Also picked up some Zapatista Coffee, which I'm told is "excellent". More info here .

At the Green Fair looked over some Metropolitan Police bikes with my brother. There was a very "keen" community support officer who gave us a guided tour of the bikes. Much amusement! After dishing out some police balloons to the kids he then promptly gave chase to our group (on foot) and informed us that he was going to take them away from aforementioned children as there was a health and safety issue! Result - 1 child in tears and an important lesson learned no doubt.

Took in the Natural History Museum which was absolutely heaving - but worth the visit. Dinosaurs are good - if you get the chance go see.

Also got to the Doctor Who shop in East Ham - kids loved it and we spent a fortune.

No biking done but did discuss a future trip to Scotland with brother - likely to be in October.

As you can see the pictures in the header didn't work out as I hoped so I reverted to the basic! Oh and no progress on the google maps yet!

Durham Big Ride

A great family day out - it says here. Hmmm... Remind the kids of that if its pouring down, and their bums and legs are sore and they are fed up.....

But seriously folks (!) - there is a big ride in Durham for all the family on 16th September 2007. Actually there are two rides - I guess that's a little big ride and a big big ride.

Go on! You know you want to!

Mad dogs, horses and flies!

Great tea-time ride today. Great weather - lots of sunshine but not too hot - added to the enjoyment! P and me got out after he finished work and we tackled one of our favourite "doorstep" routes. After much discussion as we started by the time we got home we decided it ranks as moderate route due to a couple of steep climbs along the way and the distance (19 miles). The fact that I took a spill probably confirms that grading - although strictly that was my own stupid fault when I stopped to take a picture of a turning on the route:
I'm still pondering the best way to put routes up here! So far I think I will use OpenOffice's Write - convert to PDF and then on to jpeg. Jpeg can be posted as an image which can then be opened and printed out. Write will save as Html but that doesn't get around the problem of enabling routes to be easily printed out.

The title of this posting refers to:

• The big bad barking dogs you encounter on route - they are behind a fence.... except once they got out!
• Horses - apparently young 'uns can be a little unpredictable. Yes they can be!
• Flies - a huge one and an open mouth sucking in air as I powered up the hill. You get the picture...?

This week I'll format the route and see if it works!

Rain limits play... and a route for little beginners.

Lots of rain severely limited the opportunities to get out on Sunday.

A brief trip out in the morning took in Rennys Lane to Sherburn to Running Waters and then back towards Shadforth and then homeward bound via Crime Rigg. A few pictures taken and I'll illustrate a route map with those later in the week.

The afternoon saw a trailer bike outing with youngest daughter by railway path to Langley Park and return. This is just over 8 miles and relatively flat although with a few "swoops" to liven things up a bit. These are where bridges are now missing.

The trailer bike is an Edinburgh Bike Co-operative Revolution Glider trailer bike. We have black ones to match my politics. It connects to the seat post of my "old" Kona NuNu and pulls along nicely. Both girls offer added "jet power" at times and to give them credit it does make a difference.

This was the longest that youngest daughter has done so far. Previous outgoings will have been no further than a couple of miles maximum. Due to the torrential rain and hail we'd experienced over the last few days there were a number of puddles and she asked that we go through them all. I was happy to oblige and soon we looked as if we could have come out of Glentress - smiles and all! A drink stop at Langley Park and we turned for home.

Route details:
Suitable for: All - families and children, especdially those just starting out or as a warm up for others. Can be extended easily!
Starting Point: Broompark

• Approx 3 km (2 miles) by road from Durham City centre (A690 south west to the Stone Bridge roundabout, then west on the B6302)
• Grid Ref. NZ 251 415
• There's plenty of car parking. No other facilities. Pub and garage at Stone Bridge Roundabout. Pub in Broom 1km past location.

The route itself is simple - follow the Lanchester Valley Railway Path to Langley Park (Grid Ref NZ 211 457 ). Langley Park has shops and pubs in village centre which is a short distance from the route. Diggerland is at Langley Park and the railway path runs adjacent to it for a stretch.
The return is simply that! Turn around and come back.

As stated its relatively flat and well surfaced. There may be puddles in wet weather. Two roads to cross: Aldin Grange: caution as although minor road cars approach quickly around corner, and at Witton Gilbert old station - road ends at path so little traffic except for dog walkers. There was a good quantity of dog turd at Witton Gilbert so careful!

Plenty to see - we saw pigs, hens, sheep ( and lambs) , cows (and calves) and horses. Ruins of old Beau Repaire a former monks retreat, makes a good picnic spot and is just off the route.

So that's first route done! A bit of a cop-out I admit. I'll get something done this week of more interest.
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Durham City's pedicabs...

Bumped into Stephen Murphy outside Clayport Library at lunchtime whilst doing a bit of shopping. Stephen is the guy who is launching Durham's first pedicab service (that's a bike taxi). I know Stephen from work. We chatted for a while about his plans and the process of getting a hackney carriage licence. The City Council is treating the pedicabs as proper taxis so there is a lot of paperwork that needs sorting out.

Local council are supposed to be encouraging cycling as a healthy, non-polluting, sustainable and enjoyable means of transport. Bike taxis will also add to the attractions of Durham as a tourist spot. Whilst I can see the need for safety checks, in my view any other bureaucracy must be kept to an absolute minimum.

Stephen is looking for other drivers - I'm going to give this some serious consideration. It would be a great way of training as well as having a chance to show off my adopted home city to tourists and visitors. I'd make some money as well, although probably not very much. But I could use that to fund some new bike kit.... or a trip somewhere...

Stephen has a great idea there and one that is good for the city too. I really hope it takes off for him.