A new training tool

As i now live in Newcastle during the week i now have the luxury of being able to go mountain biking from my back door, its not that my parents house is situated in a great mountain range but unlike Nottingham i can access some woodland trails in return for only a few minutes of road riding..a fair exchange.

So Monday which was my designated day of rest, in the new regime monday = Night Riding.

After repairing my singlespeed after last weeks rock/chainring incident i managed to get out just after 7.

With the Ay Up's lighting the way i headed off to do my normal lap through Holywell Dene, along the sea front by St Mary's Lighthouse and then a spin back along the road and cut back inland at Tynemouth.

It was tonight that i rediscovered one of the greatest training tools... a method least practised by some of the greatest athletes of our time... a method that can only be used in dense woodland in the pitch black.. FEAR!!

I have always been blessed with a vivid imagination, where others can watch horror film after horror film with little or no affect i'm reduced to sleepless nights...

Just entering the singletrack section of the Dene tonight the imagination kicked in and fear took over.. singlespeed was spun out all the way to the coast... great work out and i'm pretty sure that even with daylight aiding the cause i couldn't better the speed carried through the singletrack.

The rest of the ride was thankfully without any fear inducing environments and even the head wind home didn't seem to matter tonight so long as i was in the safety of the street lights..

Home in a round time of 1.08.44 ... 950 calories gone.. average HR of 158bpm...