Doing this blog also made me take a few more photos than I probably would have done so that I had images to illustrate the rides where possible. Some of these turned out to be pretty good ones and one even made it onto the TV! The rest have filled out the photographs section a bit. I'm dissappointed I didn't have time to include more video; but that is very time consuming to produce.

I'd like to think the year was a typical one for me riding wise? In some ways it was but in others it might not be? The trails ridden were definitely drier on the whole than usual and there was no real snow or ice to deal with. I rode a variety of bikes in a variety of locations and enjoyed them all. I got a new bike and then probably rode my old ones more! I don't think I improved either in fitness or technique over the period but I don't think I got worse either?

What else have I learned? Well I ride my bikes about as much as I think I do. 116 times during the year. That's an average of 2.23 rides a week. I've not bothered with miles covered or calories burned because that's not why I'm mad for mountain biking. I do it for fun and in the company of good friends. I've definitely had plenty of fun and had it with many old and new friends during the year. Thanks to everyone for riding with me - even those of you that objected to being written about!

Here's a few statistics. Make of them what you will?

Total rides: 116

Bikes ridden:

38% on a hard tail.
47% on 140mm full suspension.
13% on a down hill / free ride bike.
< 2% on a commuter road bike (2 rides all year!).

The Weather:

I only needed to wear a coat on 7 rides. That's 6% of the time.

Location:

25% of the rides I did were local and required no driving to start.
37% of the rides I did were in Nottinghamshire - the place I rode the most.

Trails:

29% of the rides I did were on man made mountain bike specific trails (this includes down hill tracks and bike parks).

Now what shall I do this year...................................?

Pete