Riding with Dan

Dan and I used to work together.

Since he left the college, I've hardly seen the bloke. So it was nice to catch up with him last weekend, especially when that catch-up involved mountain bikes, forests, hills and cake!

Although we certainly hadn't it planned it so, it ended up just Dan and myself riding that morning. All our other cycling friends were doing something different that day (road cycling, lying in bed, taking the missus out, feeding chickens etc.)

We headed out on a beautiful autumn morning, setting the pace to 'relaxed' so we could have a chat on the canal to the Lickey Hills. Once in the hills, there was a moment of nervousness on my part as the gradient increased. Had all of my recent indulgence (pies and beer) ruined my climbing? Happily I was able to hold the pace with Dan and still have a gossip. I know Dan must have been taking it easy, however...

We cut through the hills until we reached 'Bono' - the superfast trail that runs down the side of Beacon Hill. Dan made it look easy, managing to look agile even on a fatbike, while I tiptoed down on the wet leaves like Bambi on ice. The fact that my eyes were watering in the rush of cold air didn't help.

At the start of the Waseley hills we decided to do a bit of riding in the lanes to get to our cake stop. A wonderful recent discovery: Lizzie's Farm. The slices of cake were huge and the tea was good. There were two shops: one selling food and the other selling arts and crafts. A lovely place to be. Plus, they had the posh handwash in the loo when I went for a wee. I like that stuff.

ShotokanCyclist at Lizzie's Farm. Photo by Daniel Phillips Photography

After that welcome break, we headed back to the Lickey Hills via some fun urban biking. As usual, the fatbike attracted lots of attention as we cycled past the locals on our way back to the forest. Once we were back among the trees, and the sun was making pretty patterns through the reddening leaves, Dan took some more shots of me on the bike. He has built up a pretty impressive portfolio of photographs, some of which you can see at http://danielphillips.co.uk/

Photograph by www.DanielPhillips.co.uk

Photograph by www.DanielPhillips.co.uk

 We got back to Dan's via the canal. I drank tea while Dan seemed to do the lion's share of washing the bikes! We exchanged birthday presents (our birthdays were in August and September!) and I was very pleased to receive a new updated copy of Matt Rendell's excellent The Death of Marco Pantani along with Project Rainbow by Rod Ellingworth - the Team Sky manager's account of the recent success of British Cycling.

A splendid Saturday morning.