Hello! Welcome to Philthy Rides. I’m the aforementioned Phil. Here’s a picture of me to prove that unlike your musk/zuck types, I am not a bot and do actually consume nutrients like a carbon based life form
I do love a good pun. And as my name lends itself to this kind of shenanigans, might as well go for it. There’s stickers too. My plan is to share the routes I’ve been riding for some time with anyone who wants to see them, and ride them. If you’re about, get in touch, always happy to get out and share the love!
And why not? You only get one chance, never know when your last go around the sun might be, so pop the kettle on, have your Weetabix and get out and do some pedaling. In all honesty, I want to put something back into a community I’ve taken so much from. By sharing routes, and my love and enjoyment as others have with me feels like the right thing to do. I’d be thrilled if something came of it, even if that was a monthly group ride, or someone not getting saddle sores from some shitty bib shorts that were touted to be a cloud for your arse from some paid off tit on a marketing board.
On many occasions, I have been called a dickhead. I can’t recall this ever being unjustified. No more so than by myself in the following two scenarios:
- At 11PM on a school night, after 3 straight hours on google streetview, virtually wandering up a trail I want to ride, that’s been painstakingly added by some poor soul with a 360 camera strapped to their head.
- Riding said trail in the worst possible conditions and taking longer than it did when on streetview.
To save other people the heart ache (and back ache, arse ache, shoulder pain and carpel tunnel syndrome), I’ve collated many of these routes, and have added gpx files too. N.B, there might be the odd cheeky bit. This is of course an oversight by the route mapping, and I can’t possibly condone riding on footpaths or unsanctioned trails. Check before you ride etc.
When it comes to Kit Reviews, much of what we as cyclists see are glossed up media campaigns. And rightly so. No one wants to hear from Rod at number 42 in his unwashed shorts on his commute. It’s simply not glamorous. But it works, and no one bothered to speak to Rod. So he went out and bought some shorts that were all over the socials, and adverts on eurosport and even that young Yorkshire lad is wearing them. Rod now has bunions. On his arse.
So I thought it might be worth throwing in a fair few years of my experience, what’s worked, what hasn’t – and why. I’m also enlisting the expertise and advice from close friends with different view points and backgrounds in cycling.
Oh yeah, and whilst professional outlets might be given freebies and kit to review, I do believe that they are unbiased. However, they have full time jobs in cycling, so there’s an argument for the enthusiastic cyclists who wear and use kit as much as the people actively involved in the industry to help each other find what does work in the real world of squeezing rides in when the weather is ever so Northern, and exploring new routes can lead to depending on kit not to fail, and make the one ride you were able to get in that week, a total disaster.
If you enjoy the routes, or are just enjoying reading this instead of how some pro managed to get one tenth of a second faster thanks to a briefcase full of euros on a new skinsuit, then you can spot me a coffee below. You genuinely don’t have to, that’s not why I’m doing this.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/philthyrides
