Social Media meet up ride with Mr Jim Bodley ‪@thaijimbo75‬ this started off as a

Approximately two years ago, Jim and I began chatting on the old Insta, mainly MTB of course but lots of stuff and we regularly said, "we should meet up and go for a ride". Of course life gets in the way and it took quite some time to finally meet up.

Now, if you check out his channel, or his Instagram feed, you'll see he is a very capable and confident rider. Happy to ride steep and certainly happy to get his wheels in the air. So I knew full well what I was getting into. Originally from the Birmingham area he had only visited this area of the Peak District on one previous occasion. That was with ‪@bikeandbeyond‬ and the Adventure Trails crew @AdventureTrailsMTB and its fair to say they didn't enjoy the best of weather (full on blizzard) and as a result of this I guess ended up riding what appeared a limited route (Video link beow). So when I suggested showing the offpiste stuff he seemed well up for that.

I will happily say that there are much better riders out there for guiding people on these trails. I am neither that good or that knowledgeable (of which trails are where), but I suppose I know just enough. Having visited the hill on only a handful of occasions over recent years I tend to stick to a similar few familiar trails. Actually half the battle is working things into a proper "route". This place is so steep that it really is great for an ebike, and you'll not hear me say that too often. So in total we managed about 4 proper runs plus a nod to the old school showing Jim "the Beast". Ok, we also got lost, as I tried to be clever .....always a mistake!

Its fair to say I soon learned my place. One run down and I was conscious of not holding Jim up. Jim took everything in his stride for a first timer and as you can see.... he drops me on all the runs, whilst I huff and puff and chunter at my lack of skills and commitment. Thing is it's not all about that (well that is what I tell myself) ... it is about meeting new people and having a laugh and I am sure we did that! Top day!

So, what did we learn.... if anyone else out there wants to meet up for a ride ....put it in writing approximately 2 years in advance :)

Jim features in this video on his last visit to the are:
   • Mountain Biking the Ladybower Loop