The second of the training rides from Pearce Cycles, and with the weather looking good Bircher Common was on the menu. Only four riders this week, Carla on her S-works Stumpjumper hard tail, Gibbo on his singlespeed, and Matt and I on vintage steel Stumjumpers. We set of just after 10:00am, it was very chilly, but with the first hour and a half mostly climbing we soon warmed up, and by the time we rode across the top of the common we had a good sweat on.After stopping to admire the view, and negotiating a huge fallen tree we headed into the forest, and down toward the pools. What was so far a clean ride now turned into a very mucky one as we slipped and slid along the tracks.

Eventually we left the forest behind to return to Ludlow along the lanes. We had two and a half hours hard riding under our belts and I was starting to feel a little weary. Luckily for me, it was Carla who was cooked first, and we eased a little on the climbs so that she could hang on. Just under three hours saw us back at the start, tired, dirty, and hungry. Cannot wait until next week.