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NEWS
Heartening
or
Disheartening?
After
work
on
Sunday,
I
drag
my
weary
body
out
for
a
small
mountain
bike
ride.
Once
I
get
going
it
feels
great
to
be
outside
again.
Now
of
late
I've
been
feeling
very
happy
with
myself.
Some
semblance
of
fitness
is
returning,
skill
levels
have
returned.
Consequently,
I've
been
seeking
out
drops
&
challenges
&
recently
some
jumps
as
I'd
been
up
to
'cream
egg'
&
'heads
roll'
&
got
the
hang
of
jumping
(sort
of)
So
Sunday
2
weeks
ago
my
ride
finished
off
on
the
'blind
terrors'
&
'numb
skull'
which
are
pretty
exhilarating
&
if
you
get
it
wrong
can
be
painful.
Having
done
'Abba
Zabba
&
'blind
terror'
I
headed
down
'numbskull'
taking
it
at
a
steady
pace
because
1.
There
are
some
pretty
steep
drops
&
2.
Jumps
have
sprung
up
all
over
the
place,
so
I'd
rather
not
find
myself
flying
off
into
oblivion.
Half
way
down
some
little
rascal
comes
whizzing
past
me,
it
was
like
I
was
the
old
lady
driving
along
the
midle
lane
on
the
motorway
listenening
to
the
Archers!
Then
another
&
then
another,
at
this
point
I
recognised
one
of
the
bikes
&
realised
who
it
was.
I
speeded
up
not
to
be
outdone
but
they
were
long
gone.
However,
at
the
bottom
they
were
waiting,
as
their
Dad
then
takes
them
to
the
top
of
the
hill
in
his
pick
up
to
do
it
all
over
again.
He
suggested
going
with
them,
so
I
(43yrs)
&
the
kids
approx
age
12-13yrs
jumped
into
the
pick
up
&
headed
back
to
the
very
top
of
the
hill.
What
the
youngsters
thought
of
having
someone
who
is
not
only
old
enough
to
be
their
mother,
but
their
grandmother
too,
tagging
along
I'm
not
too
sure.
We
hopped
out
at
the
top
&
as
I
didn't
know
exactly
which
way
they
would
go
they
were
kind
enough
to
wait
for
me
at
various
points.
It
was
an
eye
opener,
they
went
so
much
faster
down
quite
steep
&
rooty
stuff which
I
in
turn
did
faster
than
I
had
ever
done
before.
The
jumps
on
the
way
down
I
opted
out
of
but
maybe
soon
when
I've
had
a
bit
more
practise.
Skip
to
last
Sunday.
At
the
end
of
my
ride
I
headed
over
to
'Cream
egg'
&
'Heads
roll'
to
practise
some
jumps.
Already
there
were
about
5-6
young
lads,
I
would
guess
approx
15-16yrs,
with
one
bike
between
them.
It
was
one
of
these
jump
type
of
bikes
with
one
gear,
20"
wheels,
big
riser
sort
of
bars
&
no
brakes
&
loose
headset
(in
short
a
bmx
bike).
I
practised
on
a
very
easy
jump
which
I
was
doing,
but
not
too
well.
At
various
points
one
of
these
lads
would
do
a
great
little
jump
called
'ben
sinister'
which
if
you
clean
it
is
approx
13ft
long
&
lands
on
a
down
slope.
I've
done
this
one
&
you
have
to
brake
after
you
land
otherwise
you
disappear
into
the
undergrowth.
It
was
at
this
point
I
realised
they
didn't
have
brakes
on
this
bike!
So
at
this
point
I
stopped
to
have
a
little
chat
about
the
merits
of
brakes
etc.
as
they
careered
out
of
control
into
the
woods.
One
of
them
then
decided
he'd
have
a
go
at
'Blindness'
which
is
a
fairly
big
jump.
Blindness
I
couldn't
believe
what
I
was
hearing,
some
very
good
riders
thought
twice
about
this
one.
You
can
see
it
on
the
home
page
of
this
website
under
the
small
bit
about
'cream
egg'.
I
asked
if
he
did
much
of
this
sort
of
stuff
to
which
he
replied
'no,
but
you
only
live
once.'
He
headed
off
to
get
a
good
run
at
it,
then
he
launched
himself
down
the
trail
&
off
it......he
cleaned
it
by
2-3ft,
not
having
any
brakes
he
carried
onto
the
next,
much
easier
jump
&
went
flying
into
the
air,
overcooked
it &
landed
on
the
back
wheel
only
&
appeared
to
kinda
surf
with
the
bike
along
the
ground
until
he
came
to
a
halt.
It
was
amazing
&
luckily
they
filmed
it
on
their
mobile
phone
click
here
to
see
it.
I
can
only
get
it
to
play
in
realplayer
so
hopefully
your
computers
will
allow
that.
Anyway,
feeling
like
I
couldn't
quite
match
up
to
that
I
decided
to
call
it
a
day
&
headed
off
home.
So
before
these
two
experiences
I
was
feeling
pretty
cool
about
things
&
getting
a
bit
cocky
&
after
them
I
was
firmly
back
in
my
place. I
could
be
disheartened
but
I'm
heartened.
I've
still
got
levels
to
aim
for
&
the
evolutionary
process
is
well
in
place
with
these
little
nippers
coming
along
&
doing
things,
almost
too
easily,
which
we've
taken
a
little
while
to
build
up
to.
I
just
wish
mountain
biking
was
around
when
I
was
a
nipper!
Jackie
11.4.07
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