If you ain't readin' this you ain't nuthin!

1999

Went on a handful of rides with the guys from work. Only trouble was, they were only organised during work time so we all had to take a day off on holiday. Consequently, we only managed to organise one Spring and one Autumn ride a year. These were all day events, starting from Ashford in Kent or from Chichester racecourse.They were epics at the time (25 miles usually in appalling weather for someone who only got on the bike every six months is an epic) but it was hardly very satisfying.

I did try and get out on my own in the local area but I wasn’t sure where to go and you know how boring it is going out on your own. Plus it’s impossible to motivate yourself.

I remember the last ride in early November 1999. Four of us (Shavey, Adam, Pete and myself) started from Chichester racecourse on an extremely cold morning and I dragged myself around the South Downs. After a couple of hours I bonked really badly and could hardly pedal even on the flat. I could feel the others getting frustrated with me as I held them back for the rest of the day. Even after a long lunch stop in a pub and with some warm food inside me I was still hopeless in the afternoon.

The bike was covered in chalky mud that sticks everywhere. I got home from this thoroughly pissed off with mountain biking and put the bike in the garage without cleaning it where it stayed for the next five months until spring 2000 without being touched.