It started in New Zealand. I had been saving up since I left university to go to Tibet. Then Tiananmen Square happened, and visiting China didn't seem such a good idea. Back in the early 90s my passion was skiing. So I plumped instead for travel in Asia sandwiched with work as a ski leader in Europe and I snuck in a ski season in New Zealand in the middle. In New Zealand I sat on a mountain bike for the first time . The snow had melted and we rented bikes and rode down the ri

The way that we improve at anything is to leave our comfort zone and push ourselves, and mountain biking is no different. But many of us achieve a certain level of skill and then plateau, and stop pushing forward. There are probably many reasons for this, but I'll hazard a guess that one is a result of being overfaced, scared stiff, or injured. I know this from experience. Following two crashes in quick succession, one resulting in a badly broken wrist, I found myself bailing

Last weekend we held our first guided mountain bike weekend and I'm delighted to say it was a great success. We ran it in partnership with Mazzard Farm - really comfortable and well kitted out cottages perched on the hill above Ottery St Mary. We started with a delicious meal out at the Rusty Pig on Friday night, and were ready to ride first thing on Saturday. We started with a bit of exploring on East Hill - a nasty shock of a short, steep climb up from Mazzard Farm, but so

I'm pleased to announce that dates for guided group rides and weekends are now on our website. Guided rides We aim to offer three guided group rides a month; one in the evening, one at a weekend and one on a weekday. They will either be on the hills around Sidmouth or on Woodbury Common (or both). Some of them will be women only, and all will specify a skill and fitness level. Hopefully everyone will find something that works for them. See guided ride dates here. I am also ha