The Three Musketeers

Another Saturday morning ride beckoned with the prospect of some glorious sunshine and some nicely dried out trails. We departed from our usual Leith Hill meeting place that is Milton Heath car park, but no sooner had we ridden the short road up to the first piece of bridleway, than Simon realised he'd put his knee/shin protectors on the wrong legs. A quick stop ensued to rectify the schoolboy error before we were back in the saddle and picking up speed.

We headed around the back of the houses around Westcott and then onto the steady road climb to the entrance to Squires farm. Through and around the farm we hit Mark's favourite ascent, and took a little breather before steeling ourselves for the sandy climb... oh and to wait for Simon to catch up! The climb was ok, but now getting sandy with the warm weather. A midway gasp of breath at the crossroads and then on to the top and across Wolvern's lane. We headed down towards the bottom of summer lighting, and passed the now infamous spot where Mark had managed to take about 3 hours to change a puncture on a borrowed Gary Fisher a few weeks back. I was quite pleased with myself having led the guys (me leading for the first time), to the recognised opening of the Coldharbour cricket pitch. Up the track and then off to find the route to - yep you guessed it - deliverance. We all knew we wanted to head in that direction, but none of us had vocalised it.

We arrived at deliverance with the sun bright, and the trees providing a mottled look on the descent, making the drop offs from the tree roots look bigger than they actually were - or so we thought. We all proceeded to carry out our usual assessment of the descent, looking to pick out the best route that would avoid an unecessary wipe out this early on in the ride. As usual we decided it was all a waste of time, there was no good (easy) route and the best way was to ride with confidence, no brakes and to trust your bike to get you down in one piece! I did exactly that... waited for Mark to set the video, and then just rode. Things were fine until I arrived at the bottom and needed to brake - my rear brake was not working efficiently, and I could see the shack looming quicker than I wanted. I had to use the front brake more than I would of liked, and consequently felt the bike arching forward and up.... a front wheelie? Cool!! Although I suspect that on the video it will look rather a tame effort! Still it prevented me from lurching into the shack! Simon decided he may attempt it for the first time... but his front wheel would not point straight down. Instead it led him away to the left and into the opposite bank... twice. The third attempt saw Simon being left at the bank while the bike completed deliverance on it's own. Mark's turn - could this be another deliverance fall for Mark or his second successful. Remember "No Braking" I shouted, from the comfort of the bottom! He rode it straight and true, and remarkably with no brakes for a change...nice!

Having conquered deliverance we set off for the tower for a well earned cup of tea. Arriving at the bottom of the steep slope leading to the tower, we agreed our usual forfeit - first one with their foot down buys the teas. I headed off determined to continue my good run of making the hill in one go. Two dogs at the start running around the bike thinking it was some sort of game didn't help - but I survived - only to be beaten by a particularly knarlly root - and the foot went down! Bugger! What I didn't know was that Simon's foot had already gone down - today he would be the tea boy! The rest of the climb continued to be challenging, but the top arrived like a welcome armchair after a particularly difficult day at work!

We refreshed with tea and flapjack and a review of the video we shot during our deliverance escapade, chuckling at Simon's 3 attempts, but recognising we'd all been there in the past.

Onwards then to find the play areas Rich knows like the back of his hand, but with me guiding, it may be pot luck! However my memory came good and we found what we were looking for. A sweet little hump we'd all done , cleared and jumped previously. We had a few runs, practising our skills. I even managed a little hip flick on the final jump, although I think that was more through a lack of positioning, than through any intended skill!!

We headed after a few bigger jumps and found a nice log which we'd viewed back at Christmas and determined we were never going to do that - but 6 months on, and the jump has become tame... or so we thought!! I went first and didn't quite get my weight far enough back so landed a bit forward, but nevertheless safely. Simon was next with a similar attempt. I headed back for my second run, and lined up behind Mark. Last thing Mark said to me was "must get my weight back". I re-iterated "No braking, and yes weight back", as he hit the jump, and to be fair he didn't brake, but also decided it would be good to see how far forward he get... landing on his front wheel, he was catupulted over the bars... and I mean catapulted, landing on his knee and crying in pain. I was in two minds as to whether to attempt the jump in order to get to him quickly, and just avoid the bike or shout "I'm still waiting - move your bike". I decided to do the decent thing, and ride down avoiding the jump to offer up my first aid kit.

Having patched himself up, he couldn't attach his leg pad, so tied it on top of the other one. 3 guys came over the jump and we got chatting, explaining Mark's tumble just a few minutes earlier. They were keen to see the video, and we were happy to oblige! The usual throwing the head back with a call of "owooooooo", were suitably provided by the 3 guys who unanimously said "Let's see that again"... headback and "owooooo" came for a second time. One of our new aquaintances immediately spotted the problem... Mark was wearing two pads on one leg..... we laughed!!!

With Mark's leg patched, we headed back for the car, losing our way a little but eventually spotting the tower. Why is it that although the tower is the highest point in the whole of the south east, you still can't see it until it's about 25ft away?

Past the tower and down personal hygiene and then up and around to find the Coldharbour cricket pitch again. We lost our way a little trying to find the start of summer lightning, but my navigation skills were working today - I convinced the guys I knew where we were going and they should trust me... we found it. Hacking down the first part of summer lighting, and then the second, we got some good speed up and the singletrack just flowed. We arrived at Wolvern's Lane ready to take on the nice singletrack to the left, but with a few people riding up the singletrack today, it didn't really deliver. The holly/barbed wire choice was again a no brainer with short sleeves - holly every time. Simon however bragged about the fact he had long sleeves (which he'd somehow managed to wear for the whole ride - complete with top underneath!!) and the holly didn't scratch him.

We got to the top of the Rookery and waited for a group of riders to come up before heading off down the steps. I was off, eager to achieve some speed... a little too much though - the front wheel wobbled, the back wheel fishtailed I was going too fast, I was out of control, I had to slow - not easy as each step arrived, and braking at those points would have thrown me off. Ironically the last step/jump was my saviour - once clear I could curb my speed and bring the bike back under control for the quick run to the end of the rookery. We arrived back at the A25 and headed off through Westcott and back to the car park. A good three and a half hours out on the trail in the warm sunshine - what could be better? Mark's knee could be better!!