Your mail, photos, ideas and rants
Write to: MBUK Send it! Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST
Email: mbuk@ourmedia.co.uk Visit: www.mbuk.com
STAR LETTER
MIND OVER MATTER
Summer is finally upon us (maybe?!) and it was great to get out for a postwork ride for a couple of hours the other week without lights on my bike. Mountain biking can have such a positive impact on relieving stress and improving mental health, whether riding solo or with others. It’s great to see local MTB groups on social media organising open rides and regularly welcoming new members.
Dry weather and trail variety are bonuses but, for me, the most important thing is getting out into nature, which provides its own form of therapy. For those of us lucky enough to have that on our doorstep, we shouldn’t take it for granted. There was a great article in MBUK a while back talking about the Ride Together initiative and mental health. Given the huge importance of this issue these days, could mental health become a regular feature in the mag?
Chris Collier, Bristol
Like you, Chris, we’ve been enjoying the longer evenings and the spring weather enormously. We couldn’t agree more about the positive impact of mountain biking in terms of stress relief and mental wellbeing – nature truly does do wonders for the mind. It’s not something we mention that often in the mag, simply because the benefits are fairly self-evident to most riders. However, it’s fantastic to see conversations around this topic gaining momentum, and past stigma being left behind.
SHOT OF THE MONTH
WINNER!
On a recent trip to Sierra Nevada, Spain, Chris Owen managed to time it right to miss the snow and get the gorgeous sunshine
Tomasz and Amelja got to enjoy the amazing views in the Malvern Hills after a hard climb in the sun, with a little help from dad Adam Smith
Aubrey Carter sent us this pic of bluebird skies and airtime between the trees
Cameron Jackson hitting the slopestyle line at Phoenix Cycleworks in Suffolk and putting his Canyon dirt jumper to good use
INSTA-BANGERS
Tag your Instagram pics with #mbukletters. We’ll pick four each issue and our favourite will win the complete Motul bike care range worth £97.50. Usual T&Cs apply.
Winner!
A magical snap from @justincarrick up Wolstonbury Hill in West Sussex
@aaron_mtb looking comfortable in the air off a North Shore drop
@tommyr4a4 and pals bagged this summit shot – three is the magic number!
@emzarmstrong enjoying the panoramic views from Black Crag in the Lake District
THAT’S GOTTA HURT
WINNER!
Rupert Wenn did a number on his collarbone during a recent trip to South Africa – not the 50th birthday present he was hoping for!
“I used to live in South Africa, so headed out there for six weeks to go mountain biking and visit old friends. Lucky me, eh?” says Rupert. “Three days after arriving, I decided to do a warm-up before meeting a friend to ride the trails at Newlands in Cape Town. About an hour into my ride, I came off the trail, the front wheel went into a ditch and I smashed shoulder-first into the hard ground. I still don’t really recall much about it.
“This crash caused a displaced fracture of the clavicle, which in turn punctured the top of my lung sack… oh, and I cracked some ribs, too! Thankfully, the loss of vision and slurred speech was temporary, and a CT scan came back OK. One emergency chest drain operation later, I spent three days in an ICU, before having surgery to repair the clavicle with a long plate and eight screws, followed by two days in hospital.
“For the rest of my visit, I was unable to do much but sit around, and I had to cancel my first ever safari trip to Kenya – I wasn’t allowed to fly due to pneumothorax [air in the chest cavity]. Full movement has still yet to come back, and I’m not able to ride yet, the surgeons said, but I hope I will be soon!”
We’re glad you seem to be on the mend, Rupert. Hopefully another chance will come up for a Kenyan safari – maybe leave the riding for afterwards next time!