Greg©️

Into the slop! Very wet & muddy XC ride with an exploratory loop around Pleasley Vale Wood and also Shirebrook Wood. The small section alongside the River Meden "Riverside Path" was a real struggle as the mud was very sticky/claggy, locked both my wheels solid, ended up carrying the bike the last 150m. Fantastic to get out on the bike although the welcome change to the dusty/dry Summer Trails is wearing a bit thin. Hard work but still fun in the wet muddy/squelchy/slippery very changeable surfaces.

Cold Cloudy Sunshine with an interesting mix of frozen solid ice & slop after the last few days of low temps and rain. Found a great link between Holmewood and Doe Lea, avoiding the main roads and M1 at Heath junction 29. Minimal tarmac, some splendid woodland singletrack linked together by gravel trails (Five Pits, Rowthorne, Teversal & Silverhill) Took the mtb option up through the Trees to the Miners Statue on the top of Silverhill and found a nice mtb descent to the far pond. Another fun ride in the conditions, correct clobber again meant I was warm and dry. Got plastered in mud, just bunged jacket, trousers & gloves in the Washing Machine, shoes on the radiator, clean and dry underneath!

Sunshine, cold wind and a mix of slop & solid ice, some very slippery parts with water lying on sheet ice. Difficult to suss the surface especially when the low sun is in your eyes. Another XC loop with some interesting link sections, not as sloppy (in places) as it could have been if it wasn't frozen but still plenty of mud flying about!

Bright Sunshine but Frrrreeeezing Cold chill factor -5, lots of layers and a Snood/Buff/Neck warmer, (whatever it's called). Thick windproof togs and gloves, 2 pairs of socks, got it just right, splendid XC Loop. Most of the slop (not all) frozen solid, loads of gravel & woodland, perfect ride for the conditions.

New Year's Eve and a guaranteed lovely & mellow walk around the beautiful Linacre Reservoirs. Plus an extra loop around Kitchenflat Wood to the North East. It's a shame the iconic wooden Boardwalk has now mostly been replaced by a "Rubble Mound" crushed stone walkway, similar to a breakwater in a sea harbour. With plastic (imitation wood) handrail/fence. Still a fabulous walk anytime of the year suitable for all people on a good firm & wide surface (not including Kitchenflat).

Another chance to forage some Rat's Ears, plentiful at the moment in the damp woodland. Mild & not raining it's so nice walking on the mulched Autumn leaves through the wet woodland. Very slippery where there are no leaves, the streams are running nice and full again. Reaquainting myself with the River Rother, the source being in the area, North Wingfield Nature Reserve is sandwiched between the river & the railway line.

Magical in the woods, pleasantly warm, misty & moist, foraging for Rat's Ear mushrooms a popular and indispensable ingredient in Chinese cuisine, considered a delicacy and a medicinal food. Always great watching Doggies having fun.

Dry & bright day, fairly mild but very wet and sloppy, no claggy stuff. A different challenge riding along and through streams of water and getting traction up slopes. Brilliant fun, warm & dry under waterproof socks, trousers and jacket, mud flying everywhere, bike slipping about underneath. Some cracking good woodland trails in, around, over & through the rivers Moss & Rother and their tributaries.

Dry, mild & bright day, the worst of the rainwater has flowed away and the streams are running mid-full. Plenty of wet & slop about, thankfully no claggy stuff on this route. Mellow start through The Avenue Washlands, Chesterfield and the Holmebrook Valley up to Linacre, all off-road. The classic Linacre North Loop and back via Walton Dam, Wingerworth Woods and the fun descent of Bolehill Woods With the correct togs on it's just fantastic, a few fallen trees spoiling some of the runs but also adding variety manhandling the bike over/through them!

Bright Sunshine burned off the morning fog to leave a cold & beautiful day for a ride around some of Clumber Park's more obscure singletrack delights. Well togged up to contend with the ever plentiful mud & puddles, once you're acclimatised it's great fun. My customary pause in Wellbeck Holloway, the canyon always amazes and catches the afternoon sun to make a splendid photo. Then crossing the Northern tip of "The Great Lake" which is otherwise hidden away inside the Private Welbeck Estate.