Myself and my good friend Lisa spent a few days in New York last week. Blimey. They do BIG very well out there.

We weren’t there for long, so we decided that the best strategy was to pick a few things and visit them. In the end that went out the window in favour of wandering around taking in as much as we could before collapsing in a heap.

Unfortunately I went down with a full on man-cold a couple of days in, so Lisa had to put up with my coughing fits for the rest of the trip. I didn’t let it slow me down at all though. A trip to a local pharmacy sorted me out with some Comterex, which did a pretty good job of masking the worst of the effects.

Blueberry muffins in a lake of syrup for breakfast? Aye, that’ll do me.

We carried on regardless, wandering round the city. The weather swung wildly from one day to the next, going from bright and cool one day to howling winds and driving rain the next — and right on back to bright sunshine again the day after.

We stopped off at all the big names: The Dakota Building, Central Park (beautiful), Times Square (bright and flashy), Broadway, Battery Park, the Staten Island Ferry (taking in views of The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge), Ground Zero (where many of the surrounding buildings are still being repaired three years on), Tiffany’s, Trump Tower (home of possibly the most ostentacious shopping mall on earth), the New York Public Library (an amazing building), St. Patricks Cathedral (another amazing building), the list goes on…

We stopped off in traditional diners, cafes, sandwich bars, coffee shops and good old McDonalds (it tastes much better over there). Blueberry muffins in a lake of syrup for breakfast? Aye, that’ll do me.

Sadly it was all over far too soon. There was so much more that I wanted to see but we just didn’t have the time. We both really want to go back — for more than just a few days next time. Maybe next time I’ll be able to finally meet up with you Stuart?

There’s some more pictures from the trip over in The Gallery.

Oh, and steam really does come out of the ground, just like in the movies!!!

I wrote about The Collective the other day – and the way that it captures the feeling of “flow” that you get when you’re ruling the trails out on your bike.

I was thinking back today to the last few times that I’ve really felt that. It doesn’t happen very often, when everything just clicks into place, where the trail submits to you, when you’re invincible.

Afan provided one such descent a few weeks back – Final Decent Zig-Zags on The Wall trail was the place. I ruled that descent, powered by nothing but adrenalin and a Boost bar.

Before that the last one that really stands out was the downhill course at Caersws. My confidence on the bike hit a high that day – I was flying (relatively speaking).

An all-time high-point for flow was the week I spent in the french Alps in the summer. Once my arms had acclimatised to the workout they were getting, I was able to really flow. Les Gets I, Le Canyon, the top half of Les Gets II, that run down through the cloulds and cows to Lindarets. I think I’ll be returning there next season.

Scotland has to take an honourable mention too – parts of Fort William’s DH course, Grant’s best-of-compilation route around Glentress and the Traquair trail at Innerleithen (especially that final descent, with all those whoops and drops to play with) – they all gave me that huge adrenalin buzz.

Its been a good summer for biking all in all. I’ve ridden some absolutely fantastic trails in England, Wales, Scotland, France and Switzerland, and whats more I’ve ridden them with some fantastic people. Here’s to y’all, and here comes the winter.

Riding in the rain at Gethin tomorrow then. Should be fun…