2015 in numbers

This year was so fast that's not even funny. It seems like time is getting faster and faster every year though! Let's have a look what I've been up to in 2015. 

Distance: 2350 km

Training time: 118 hours and 38 minutes

Elevation: 28969 m

Rides: 63

Races: 0

Hmmm...what should I say when I'm looking at these numbers? I'm not happy...not happy at all. I could make up a long list of excuses but I won't. I simply couldn't do more this year and that's all. 

It is very poor, 2015 was my worst year on the bike since I've started racing back in 2001. The most disappointing thing is that I wasn't racing this year at all. I've had a few races planned alright but I didn't make it to any of them unfortunately. 

The only single thing that I'm happy about is this: I set a target of 1000 km to ride on my single speed Ninerr XC bike this year. I've done that, so it's good. 

What the plan is for 2016? I've honestly no idea. We will have a newborn in the house very soon and I need to see how things will go in the next few months. Of course I'm motivated as ever and planning to do a race or two in 2016. So, onward and upward! Roll on 2016!!

My last spin...

...well, for a little while anyway. I've had my last training spin the other day. I don't want to gamble and leave the heavily pregnant Lady in the house alone. So, I've decided to stay in and I will not be heading out on the bike in case we need to rush to the hospital.

I will also take a break for a few weeks like I did when Rhys was born. I'll be helping out a lot and wouldn't have enough time to ride my bike. But I have the perfect solution this time: managed to dig out my old turbo trainer, so I'll be doing loads of training on it for sure. :)    

Back to normal after Christmas

Alright, the Festive Season was great and all but lets be honest here for a second: it was about eating, drinking a lot and doing mostly nothing. So I decided to weak up from the hibernation and to head out and get some fresh air into my lungs and get the legs turning a little bit. It was nothing really, I only hopped over to my mate to say hello. But man, it was great to be out on the bike again!!

Haha, happy as a kid in the sweetshop :)

   

Savage afternoon it was: cold and foggy as hell...but still, it was awesome!

Todays spin was only a short 20 km ride but it was totally worth it. I was out on the bike, I managed to ride in fog (which I simply love doing by the way) and I even got a hot cuppa tea at my friends gaff. What more could I ask for?! :)

Christmas in my home

Yep, it's that time of the year once again. Jaysus, it was a super fast year I have to say. It seems like it was only yesterday we celebrated Christmas and here we are again. It's mad how time flies! 

Christmas is fun and of course is always a very busy couple of days. We have been doing everything that has to be done at this time of the year: decorating, celebrating, eating & drinking all the nice stuff, wrapping and unwrapping presents, surprise each other. Of course the main thing this year was to see my Little Man going absolutely mad about the whole Festive Season. It was fantastic to be around him over the last few days! :)

Helping Rhys to unwrap the new tool kit

Yumm-yumm

A nice bottle of beer never hurts

And of course some MTB action on the telly

Yep, it was that time of the year again. And as everything, it went by so quickly as well. It was great Christmas and the next one will be even better with the two boys in the house! Can't wait!! :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is going to be a special Christmas again: my wife is about to have our second baby pretty much any day now. So, while we are celebrating Christmas we are also on stand by mode in case we need to fly to the hospital. 

Sure this is how life is, isn't it? The tree is up already, the house is in full decoration and Little Rhys is in 100% Christmas Fever also. Yep, it's that time of the year again...and this time next year will be the four of us already. Exciting times Folks, exciting times indeed!  

Merry Christmas everyone, have a great time!

Awesome choice for cyclists, isn't it?

The countdown has started

Being a dad is a great adventure. This adventure is about the start again with our second child. Baby No.2 can arrive pretty much any day now, so the whole family is on standby mode. 

So I guess I will need to stay close to home during my upcoming spins in case I have to leg it and get home quickly! 

Needless to say how excited I am! Another cool little dude that I can get into the awesome world of mountain biking! It won't be long before the three of us will be shredding on the trails, no doubt about that!! :) 

Quick tour to the Cserhát mountains

Today I teamed up with my mate Gyuszi and decided to head out to a different place than the usual. We turned towards the Cserhát mountains to hit the trails and to get some fresh layer of mud on the 29er XC beasts. 

The destination was the old castle ruins near the village named Buják. Savage spot it is indeed and the trail that leads up to it is also pretty cool. 

We left the house a bit late, so we had to cut the spin a bit short before the dark hit. But even so we ended up with a nice 2 hours and 42 km long bike ride. Even the weather was great for it, we got to enjoy a calm afternoon with 2-3°C temperature. Brilliant little spin it was, already looking forward to the next one! Happy out! :)

Wintery evening in The Shed with...

... spicy mulled vine orange peels and all that good stuff, fruit tea, possibly the best toast I ever had (made on the top of the wood burner), great company and awesome music. And of course tons of bike talk with my mate Gyuszi. Brilliant way to spend the Thursday evening, I freakin' loved it!!

Another cool weekend

When the weekend comes everything comes that's related to cycling. This weekend was no different and I gotta be honest: it turned out pretty well! 

Had a nice spin with my mate who lives in Dublin and just got home last week. Had a nice little TLC session on the bike and also had a savage chinese meal (that is one of my favorite btw). What more I could ask for? :)

All ready for some BB maintenance

Absolutely beautiful chinese meal for lunch, yumm-yumm!

So, all in all it was another great weekend, can't wait for the next one already! :)

When the weather goes mad...

Question of the day: what a hell is going on with the weather lately?! It's the end of November and here we are: yesterday I was enjoying the first snow with the Little Man and today I was riding my bike in stone splitting sun wearing kneewarmers. Crazy, isn't it? Well, I take it as it comes so bring on the good weather! :)  

Yep, this is the case alright!

Chillin' in The Shed

#messageoftheday #motivation #alwayshelps

Niner Carbon Fork // Review

Last night I've been doing some TLC on my bike so I took the opportunity and grabbed the fork to write a few words about it. 

I'm riding with Niner's rigid carbon fork since the summer. This is the first rigid for that I have experience with and all I can say I surprised in a very positive way. Sure, it has a very different feel to it compare to any suspension forks but it definitely has it's own benefits! First of all it's light as hell. Then it has zero maintenance to worry about and last (but not the least) it looks awesome. :)

It's just uner 600 gramms...not too bad for a fork that takes proper off-road beating!

But lets see the details: it's a disc only fork that comes with carbon (tapered) steerer tube and can accept rotor up to 185 mm. It works with standard QR and has Niner's classic black & white finish that gives the iconic look to this award winning fork.   

So, it's no secret at all: I'm pretty impressed! Neath looking MTB fork that's also durable and comfortable thanks to the damping charecteristics of carbon. I had some question marks at the beginning but all that went away pretty much straight away. So, are you thinking abouth making your move and gettig a rigid MTB fork? Then wast no time, go for it!   

Getting back in the game!

Another weekend means another MTB ride on the local trails. This was the first time when I started to feel good on the bike since I'm back on it. In the last two weeks I was kinda kicking the pedals but didn't really find my rhythm. Not this time though!

   

I decided to play hard and planned a proper check list for this morning:

            - get up at 5:30 am - check

            - leave the house at 6:20 am - check

            - have a 2 hours and 20 mintes ride - check

            - cover the distance of 45 km - check

            - do the whole lot in near sub-zero conditions - check

So, it was pretty hard to get going indeed but once I had the legs turning I didn't worry too much about the frozen puddles! :) Picked a brilliant mix of my favourite trails with long(ish) climbs and fun descents. 

It was a fantastic morning for it and it was great to feel that I'm finally feeling good on the bike again! It wasn't a big spin or anything, but I managed to set a pace that I was happy with and at this stage it's perfectly enough for me! :)  

You gotta love autumn!

Back on the bike!

I'm finally back on the bike! I've had 4 weeks bike-free time thanks to my surgery, but I'm ok now so I got out for a quick & easy spin this afternoon. I was absolutely dying for a spin, so needless to say how much fun it was to get the legs turning a little bit. 

Sure, it was a very gentle little bike ride. I'm still going to take it handy to avoid any hassle with my nose. But the main thing is that I'm riding the Niner Single Speed Beast again and I get to enjoy some sweet mountain biking in the beautiful Hungarian autumn! Can't wait!! 

An easy evening in The Shed

Recovery is going great

Two weeks after the surgery the recovery is going great. I'm feeling good and everything's back to normal...I mean almost everything. I was strongly advised not to ride a bike for 4 week. Now, 2 weeks are gone, only 2 more to go. So, until then all I get to mess with is this little ripper machine! :) 

Out of the hospital, surgery is done & dusted!

Ok, I'm finally home from the hospital and I think I can say that I've had a pretty rough 4 days. I've been suffering from a bad deviated septum for years and I finally managed to get over myself and got the surgery done. 

All set...or that's what I thought anyway...

Basically it was a 4 days long thing. Went in on Monday and got the operation done straight away in the morning. Luckily I was put to sleep, so I missed the "horror" part of the game. Thank God. 

Then I woke up at about 2 pm and the real suffering started. My nose was fully stuffed up with dossils to avoid any trouble and to keep the internal bits in places. I also got kitted out with this beast looking sling type gear to keep the messy things inside. 

Pretty much after I woke up...

So, there I was...with my head heavy as hell from the anaesthetics and from the load of painkillers...and my nose is stuffed up to about 3 times bigger than normal. Always sleepy...always tired...generally knackered... 

The third day the Doctor removed about half of the dossils which was definitely some relief. Then the last day she took all of them out which was good of course but possibly the most painful and disturbing thing I've ever had... 

And now I am at home and started my recovery. Feeling a bit better but I'm miles away from normal. At least I can slowly breath through my nose already and the bleeding has stopped also. Great stuff! :) 

The good news is that the surgery went well and I will feel like a new guy in a few weeks time. The bad part is that I can't ride a bike for 4 weeks to avoid any risk of bleeding and infections. But hey, you always gotta pay the price, hah? 

So, cycling mode off, gaming mode on! Here we go, loads of fun to be had!! 

My last spin before surgery

Yep, it was my last spin for a little while for sure. I'm suffering pretty badly from a deviated septum, so I'll be heading to the hospital next Monday to get that bastard sorted out. Thanks to the surgery the problem will be solved but as a result I'll be off the bike for a little while...

Knowing that I wasted no time! Got on the single speed Niner and had a savage spin around the local trails trying to collect & store all the stuff I love about mountain biking. This should keep me going through the upcoming weeks! 

To be honest I'm super glad I'm getting rid of this annoying problem...but I freakin' miss cycling already!      

What time is it?! It's MTB time!!

Niner EMD 9 - SS // The first 500 km

The first 500 km is done in the saddle of this Niner EMD 9 single speed XC weapon. So, it's time to post a few words about my thoughs just as I always do after the first 500 km on a new bike. 

First and foremost I'm lovin' this bike! It's nice and light and has fantastic geometry. Niner really nailed the 29er XC geometry alright and it's very noticeable during every spin. Climbs well and has brilliant and sharp handling too. Just the way a proper 29er should be!

I've been riding the bike on loads of different terrain but pretty much only in dry summer conditions. So, I also look forward to dip into some sticky Hungarian mud and go a bit sideways on the trails. There's not too much to mention regarding of the parts as it's a very simple bike I have to say. The Avid, Truvativ and Mavic parts are a good combination, let this be enough. 

But let's see the bit more interesting details of the bike. The rigid carbon fork definitely forces you to ride your favourite trails a bit different way. You need to pick your lines more carefully and need to be very precise about where you aim that front wheel as there's very little room for error. Once you get used to it, it's a sweet ride. Surprisingly comfortable though! And of course it looks super sweet!

Now, let's chat about what it's like to ride a single speed bike off-road. It's freakin' hard...at the first few times, then you get used to it and it turns into something else. It's clean and pure without anything taking your focus away from the ride itself. Fantastic experience it is!

So, the first 500 km was a great opportunity to bond with this machine. I'm sure I'll have countless hours of fun and many off-road adventures in the saddle of the Niner. Can't wait!    

#TheShed

Bonding

Every time. Every time my little boy Rhys comes into my Bike Shed he is absolutely stunned. He is fascinated by the bike and all the gear that comes with it. And of course as a mountain biker dad I'm super happy to see this! Brilliant to see a 3 year old to go mad for the bike and all it's details!! :)

  

The end of the tunnel

Niner Carbon Fork // First thoughts

I'm riding on this rigid carbon fork from Niner for almost a month at this point. I've done just a bit over 350 km on it, so I figured why not write a few words about it?!

Going off-road and hit the trails on a rigid fork was a completely new experience to me. I was very curious and I also had about 1% doubt. Sure, I didn't worry about the durability or strength of the fork as the carbon fibre technology is very advanced these days. I was thinking more about the technique and riding style that's requested to handle something like this.  

Alright, let's see what my thoughts are at this point:

• the font end of the bike feels very light thanks to the total weiht of 565 g that's stated by Niner
• the handling feels very precise
• the whole thing feels super stiff
• thanks to it's unique design it takes advantage of the damping characteristics of the carbon fibre and this make the fork feel very comfortable indeed 
• on rough trails it takes a little getting used to it as there's no forgiveness if you hit a big rock with a high speed

All in all I like this fork. First thoughts are absolutely positive: it's light, it's stiff, it's comfortable and it look super sexy! What's not to like?! I also like the way it changes my riding style a bit as well, it seems like I pick my lines a lot more carefully 'cause I know if I make a mistake I'll pay the price. 

Oh, and one more thing: riding a mountain bike with rigid fork is badass! :)

Back to normal

It's time for me to get back to reality. My awesome 2 weeks holiday is over, I'm back to work already. So, it means I'm waiting for the weekend like a little kid and then I'm heading out for my usual "once a week" type mountain bike ride.  

But hey! The hardcore Hungarian Summer is in full swing with it's gentle 35 degrees heat, stone splitting sun and dusty dry trails, so there's nothing to worry about! 100% pure MTB action coming my way every weekend! Bring it on! :)

Love early morning MTB spins!

Savage single speed spin // It keeps getting better!

I'm taking advantage of the free time I have on my hands, so I decided to slip out for another mighty single speed mountain bike session this afternoon. This time I wanted to have a real tester on the 1x1 Beast to see who would I manage the heavy climbs on the local trails. I picked a nice but quite difficult route mixing up my favourite singletracks and off I went.

  

I had 2 big and long climbs on the way and I have to say that both of them were pretty horrific on the single speed bike. Horrific but good of course and mostly manageable. Seems like I'm getting the hang of this whole single speed game! Happy days! :)

I've done a bit over 40 km just under 2 hours and 20 minutes with 665 m elevation gain on the way. And I have to say this 665 m was earned the hard way! So, when I got back home I figured I deserve...  

... a little reward! :)