New blog, new bike

My aim? To share my fat-tyred experiences on the trails of this glorious county we call home.

With a little help from my friends (the boys at Ride in Ashley Cross) I hope to bring you maintenance tips, interviews with leading industry figures, and riders of national and international pedigree.

Throw in videos from the rides, maintenance guides, photo galleries, and dream bike reviews, and we should have a blog worth your time. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin… To be a mountain biker and to live in Dorset is to be blessed.

The rides on our doorstep are among the best I have known, and yes, I've ridden the trail centres of Wales, and yes, the riding is superb, but a) it always, always rains, and b) Wales is a long way from Dorset.

For a door-to-trail experience, try beating a spin along the cycle lane through Lilliput, taking in the jaw-dropping view of Brownsea Island as you descend Evening Hill, and boarding the ferry at Sandbanks to a network of trails from which stunning views of the Jurassic Coast are never far.

That's a 10-minute ride from my neck of the woods, and takes in more breathtaking scenery than the good folk of Croydon see in a lifetime.

It had been a while since I tasted the rough stuff, my inclinations having led me towards skinny-tyred supermodels, effortlessly elegant on the concrete catwalk but which would squeal and puncture their tyres at the first sight of gravel.

So when I debuted my new steed recently on Purbeck's Godlingston Heath, I was initially more occupied with the sensation of riding off-road than noting the bike's handling characteristics.

Oh, the sheer fun of it all! Jumping of ledges, pedalling furiously at downhills, then clinging on for dear life as the bike shimmied through deep sand, snatching at the shifters for a lower gear to pedal out of the mire.

Off-road climbs, sadly, were as brutal as I'd remembered, another world from the relentless but rewarding progress of a tarmac ascent, where one can block out the pain by imagining battle with Contador, Shleck et al on the slopes of the Tourmalet (yes, I'm that deluded).

I still found little spiritual reward in battling gravity and terrain simultaneously as I made unstately progress up one of the many of the climbs from Godlingston Heath to Ballard Down.

The reward, as always, justified the effort. Views of Corfe to the West, Swanage to the East, and Poole Bay back over my shoulder were of the kind tourist boards dream of.

A friend once compared his regular rides on Purbeck to going on holiday three times a week, and I was relieved to find myself still in agreement.

Thousands of my neighbours had the same opportunity on that gloriously crisp Sunday morning and chose instead to visit DIY stores. Discuss…

Once I'd acclimatised to riding off-road, I began to notice that the bike's temperament was happily at one with my own.

A carbon hardtail, the 9.7 is nimble and lightweight, with an aggressive race set up that demanded my full attention.

That said, the carbon frame, seat post and bars absorbed much of the trail abuse, and was more comfortable even than some full-sus aluminium bikes of my acquaintance.

The XT/SLR kit was as reliably precise as one would expect from Shimano, the Reba SLs worked well, and the PopLoc (new to me) was a welcome addition on the brief transitions from trail to tarmac.

The one area of modification required are the summer tyres, a constant source of hilarity to my fellow riders, who, to quote Vic and Bob, "wouldn't let it lie". Winter tyres are needed for my next ride.

Any recommendations? Send them my way!

So that's the first post. Hope you enjoyed it. Like any blog, the success of this one will depend as much on your input as mine.

So get in touch, have your say, let me know what you're riding and where you're riding it.

Send me your pics and videos, your top trails and top tips, and we'll build our own off-road community on-line at the Daily Echo's cyber trail centre.

Let's ride!