MFK and More Catching Up with Friends.

I’ve been down to Milton Keynes to meet up with some of my long term University friends. I met up with Phil (who lives in MFK), Dave, Greg and Steve. We generally get together at least one a year every year, normally during the Superbowl weekend to watch the game and have a good time together. They didn't get together this year during the Superbowl so I felt we had to gather soon to catch up.

I took my bike down to Milton Keynes to get some biking in over the weekend because I really wanted to get some exercise. Normally I would just visit the gym, but because of my part time membership I wouldn’t be able to go until the afternoon which wouldn’t do.

I got down to MFK on Friday night and met up with the lads. We were fed very well by Phil and settled down with a few beers and played four player Halo 2 for the evening. Always a good laugh for some hectic gaming action.

On Saturday morning Dave and I both went down to the local Aspley Woods for some off road biking. The local village next to the woods is called Woburn Sands, we quickly found out the reason for this was because of the amount of sand on the trails in the woods. Believe you and me that cycling on sand is very difficult. If you’re not trying to avoid going sideways then you’re franticly trying to get some traction on the sand.

When looking for the woods I had some directions to look for St Mary’s church in Woburn Sands. We asked two separate people for directions to the church in the town and both replied whether we were looking for a Catholic church. It gave us the impression that they were wary of the Catholic church and wondered why we were looking for it. Quite strange and also very funny.

We hadn’t a clue of where to go around the woods so we just randomly made our way around the trails having lots of fun. There was one section where there was a steep single track downhill section. I went first and at the bottom of the steep hill there is a right turn. As you come around the turn there was a large horse turd on the left hand side. I had to take some evasive action to narrowly avoid the manure and as I did so I shouted “big poo!” which would hopefully warn Dave. The problem was that he waited a few seconds before following me and unfortunately didn’t take evasive action to avoid it, so went right though it. We came down the same slope a second time later on in the morning and I could see a definite V shape where Dave had previously ridden!

In the middle of the woods in a big bowl there was a BMX course that had been set up for some stunt tricks and big air jumps. There were a few kids playing around on the jumps. They were very good at getting some good height off the ramps and we were very impressed. Of course our bikes weren’t really designed to tackle the jumps otherwise we would have shown them how to get some serious air!

Also on another narrow single track section which involved riding though trees and bushes either side of the track, I was going quite fast when there was a sharp right turn. I applied my rear brakes and managed to slide my bike sideways on a full skid. It put a really big smile on my face and I really enjoyed it. When I came out of the trail I had such a big grin on my face and couldn’t stop laughing. For me it was one of those really scary and fun moments that I really live for.

We both had a really good ride though the woods and I can’t wait to go again with Dave somewhere else for some more off road biking.

The rest of the weekend involved more beer, talking about crap and playing more games. We always have a good time when we get together and it’s a shame that we can’t meet more often. However, we all live in almost opposite ends of the country and have other commitments so can’t get together too often. Hopefuly we won't have to wait until the Superbowl next year before we get a chance to gather.