Another glorious day for a cycle. Early morning fresh and bright, we met at Hurtwood control carpark 9 for a quick blast around Holmbury and Pitch. Today there were 5 of us, and Mark had brought his helmet cam, for some on trail video action. We set off for the top of Holmbury and made good progress. Quick divert to Hurtwood control car park 1 and then onto the top of Reservoir dogs. We've had so much dry weather over the last few weeks, the trails are nice and dry... if a little dusty. Reservoir dogs under our belts we arrived at the top of Barry Knows Best. On with the helmet cam! We tackled Barry Knows Best at speed, taking in every opportunity to get some air – all caught on helmet cam..... probably! We all made it down BKB in one piece and arrived at the road into Peaslake. Just as I was about to drop from the trail to the road, I was deafened by a roadie shouting at the top of his voice.... Easy man – did he think I was going to ride into him? I think the lycra had softened his head!!!
We dropped into Peaslake and around onto Pitch – heading straight for the top. Close to the top we took a little divert to the little jump double. We spent a good 10 or 15 minutes practising the jumps. This was the first time I'd attempted these jumps and it felt good. My head was in the zone... and by the looks of things so was everyone elses!!! We all completed about 3 or 4 attempts - videos of our efforts on the youtube link. After our fill we headed to the top of Pitch to admire the view.
Off again, down the steep descent which leads to the Windmill Pub. Lots of rear wheel sliding and off track lines saw us arrive at the bottom. Mark took a tumble – with the head cam not running!!! Bugger!!! Off from the pub and over to the hill to take us up to Winterfold wood. Arriving at the hill, there were roadies climbing up. Roadie after roadie after roadie.... we just had to join the throng. Crouching in behind, our speed was actually being held back by the roadies!!!! So much so, that Dave decided to take them on, Dropping a gear, he pulled out and pedalled – easily overtaking about 3 in one go. Looking fresh and upright, he reminded me of the Harry Enfield sketch with the horse riders – you know the one!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jf55VDSi-E (the second part of this)
Onto winterfold wood we tackled the big bomb holes – great fun. Mark 2 fell off this time – on the last dip – but managed to stay on his feet. Got back on the horse that threw him and did it again. We tackled a few trails in Winterfold and then headed back towards Peaslake. Rich found a nice little drop into the Pitch hill car park. He'd seen it on video and wanted to give it a go!! It was steep. There was an easier route down, but we spend a good 5 minutes inspecting the alternatives, and figuring how we might do it. Rich bit the bullet and went of it, dropping off the edge. Now usually I see Rich doing a drop and think.. “he makes it look so easy! I could probably do that!”. Today was not that day. Although great respect to Rich for doing the drop.... he did ride his front wheel a little, managing not to go over the handlebars though!!! Given he looked a little raggedy, I decided I wouldn't be doing that route today.... and so did everyone else. So we took the girl's route down – which was still impressively steep, but smoother and no big drop.
We stopped in Peaslake for the obligatory cup of tea, and caught a few nice tanned pins on a couple of female roadies too... which was nice! Once we'd had our tea and flapjack we went looking for a new way up to the top of Holmbury, rather than the usual Radnor road route. We found it, and agreed it was much better. Up to the top of Holmbury, we took a swift breather, and then headed down Yoghurt Pots. There's been a lot of work on this trail in recent months, and with the weather keeping it dry, the trail was truly enjoyable. Mark 2 took a tumble coming out of the trail – not sure how... it was flat!!!
Last trail was telegraph, and we flew. The trail was dry and fast. Half way down we had a nice audience of other bikers, watching our skills, our speed, our technique and our physique..... probably!!! Down to the car park and ready for home. A good 3 hour blast.
A quick ride through the Surrey Hills with a group of 40 something mtbers who really should know better!
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Friday, 25 September 2009
Trigger's Broom
An eventful ride last night began late - I'm blaming Tom, he turned up at my house to borrow some old forks in his latest attempt to keep his Orange (or as we call it "Trigger's Broom") trailworthy for another few rides before the Orange 5 arrives.
On arrival at Coldharbour we were surprised to see that Andy wasn't clad in full lycra following his SDW exploits. Andy was nervous about the burn time on his lights (I told him not to worry, we wouldn't need them for ages - how wrong I was).
I was keen to ride Wave of Mutilation over in Redlands as there's a large fallen tree at the end of it which I wasn't sure was rideable but having seen some photos and reports on various blogs realised was. We hit the trail and immediately needed illumination as we went under the trees. Andy stationed himself between Mark and I with our bastid's on full beam and we were soon down at the tree. As I'd given it the big one I knew I had to go straight over, so I did, followed by Andy who took my barked instructions on the correct line and cleaned it. Mark got a bit stuck on the top but we all went back and cleared it again. One more technical challenge in the Surrey Hills under our belts!
We carried on to the end of Sweet Bulbs and then climbed back up to the road. Crossing the road we hit our favourite jump bombhole and were doing a few laps when I noticed that Andy had possibly the gayest accessory I've ever seen attached to his bike. I can only describe it as a red flashing spokey dokey! It provided a few laughs before we hit the short downhill. I went first and apparently blinded the other two with the amount of dust I kicked up behind me making the steep trail even harder. From there it was onto Summer Lightning and then up to the Tower via the bombholes. We decided to take in Windy Willows - I enjoyed the main jump in the dark but came a cropper at the end when, emboldened by my new found tree rolling expertise, I went for it on the fallen trunk, got it wrong and slid off!
Back to the Tower via the top of Donnie Darko, down the main descent and through the "Big Dipper" (Mark and Andy invented a new suicide line on this one but managed to keep it together) we then headed over to the cricket pitch via the unnamed trail. Pausing at the top of Deliverance Andy said he didn't fancy it so we all carried on to Crooked Furrow....or so I thought. We realised after about a mile that Mark wasn't with us. We shouted and then heard a distant "Yee Haa!" A couple of minutes later lights were spotted in the distance and eventually Mark caught up. Mark had decided to ride Deliverance, in the dark for the first time, but had neglected to inform his riding buddies - for good measure he took the tougher line!
Back together we finished Crooked Furrow and hit the Plough for a couple of pints. Top riding.
Rich
On arrival at Coldharbour we were surprised to see that Andy wasn't clad in full lycra following his SDW exploits. Andy was nervous about the burn time on his lights (I told him not to worry, we wouldn't need them for ages - how wrong I was).
I was keen to ride Wave of Mutilation over in Redlands as there's a large fallen tree at the end of it which I wasn't sure was rideable but having seen some photos and reports on various blogs realised was. We hit the trail and immediately needed illumination as we went under the trees. Andy stationed himself between Mark and I with our bastid's on full beam and we were soon down at the tree. As I'd given it the big one I knew I had to go straight over, so I did, followed by Andy who took my barked instructions on the correct line and cleaned it. Mark got a bit stuck on the top but we all went back and cleared it again. One more technical challenge in the Surrey Hills under our belts!
We carried on to the end of Sweet Bulbs and then climbed back up to the road. Crossing the road we hit our favourite jump bombhole and were doing a few laps when I noticed that Andy had possibly the gayest accessory I've ever seen attached to his bike. I can only describe it as a red flashing spokey dokey! It provided a few laughs before we hit the short downhill. I went first and apparently blinded the other two with the amount of dust I kicked up behind me making the steep trail even harder. From there it was onto Summer Lightning and then up to the Tower via the bombholes. We decided to take in Windy Willows - I enjoyed the main jump in the dark but came a cropper at the end when, emboldened by my new found tree rolling expertise, I went for it on the fallen trunk, got it wrong and slid off!
Back to the Tower via the top of Donnie Darko, down the main descent and through the "Big Dipper" (Mark and Andy invented a new suicide line on this one but managed to keep it together) we then headed over to the cricket pitch via the unnamed trail. Pausing at the top of Deliverance Andy said he didn't fancy it so we all carried on to Crooked Furrow....or so I thought. We realised after about a mile that Mark wasn't with us. We shouted and then heard a distant "Yee Haa!" A couple of minutes later lights were spotted in the distance and eventually Mark caught up. Mark had decided to ride Deliverance, in the dark for the first time, but had neglected to inform his riding buddies - for good measure he took the tougher line!
Back together we finished Crooked Furrow and hit the Plough for a couple of pints. Top riding.
Rich
Monday, 21 September 2009
Let there be Light
With all the "XC" shenanigans taking up space on the blog of late it's perhaps time to try and redress the balance a little. Over the last couple of weeks Dunnie and I have (literally) embraced the dark side and dipped our collective toe into the lighting market. First off we have a couple of "wee bastids", the 50 quid 900 lumen P7 bike light, brought to you direct from DealTime Extreme in Hong Kong. These have been supplemented in my case by a USE Maxx Joystick helmet light whilst Mark has purchased a Silva L1 "The most powerful headtorch in the world - it'll blow a man's head clean off"........well not quite but it will light up singletrack so you can go really fast. Last night we gave our full set ups a bit of a test on Pitch and Holmbury. We started off at about 6.30 doing some riding in the dusky light, highlights of which included a broken chain for me (luckily Mark is something of an expert in these matters and soon had me trailworthy again courtesy of one of his spare SRAM magic links) and Mark finally conquering a double jump on the top of Pitch after about five refusals.
As the light began to fade we rode a few more of the good trails up on Pitch, where everything is running really well right now - this must be our Indian Summer!
We than climbed up Radnor Road and made our way to the top of Holmbury. It was properly dark now and we saw more rabbits than Watership Down, plus a few nocturnal walkers who were slightly startled by our combined 2000-plus lumen output!
We took on Yoghurt Pots which is clearly benefiting from a lot of work over the summer and running like a dream - only one bog in it and even that's now bridged by the smallest bit of north shore I've ever seen!
Our final run was down Barrie's, again a complete hoot. I don't know what it is about night riding but I'm completely addicted already - the woods are silent and empty and with a good lighting set up you can pretty much ride at the same speed as you can in daylight. There's plenty of wildlife to observe and whilst the trails are the same they somehow feel different.
Back to the car park in Peaslake we found a really steep roll in with a rooty step at the top which we didn't ride but is "banked" for our next trip!
As the light began to fade we rode a few more of the good trails up on Pitch, where everything is running really well right now - this must be our Indian Summer!
We than climbed up Radnor Road and made our way to the top of Holmbury. It was properly dark now and we saw more rabbits than Watership Down, plus a few nocturnal walkers who were slightly startled by our combined 2000-plus lumen output!
We took on Yoghurt Pots which is clearly benefiting from a lot of work over the summer and running like a dream - only one bog in it and even that's now bridged by the smallest bit of north shore I've ever seen!
Our final run was down Barrie's, again a complete hoot. I don't know what it is about night riding but I'm completely addicted already - the woods are silent and empty and with a good lighting set up you can pretty much ride at the same speed as you can in daylight. There's plenty of wildlife to observe and whilst the trails are the same they somehow feel different.
Back to the car park in Peaslake we found a really steep roll in with a rooty step at the top which we didn't ride but is "banked" for our next trip!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
It's been a while
Yes, it is me the XC trail hound, who has been out of action for almost 2 months. Following a crash at Afan, caused by Andy, yes you lost it and I had to take drastic action over the handle bars. I have been recovering from a partial tear of my right shoulder rotator cuff. For those who know this is a very debilitating injury, I have only narrowly avoided surgery. The doctors have confirmed that I will be able to ride again but it was touch and go for a few minutes. Physio treatment is going well and my exercise regime has been paying dividends - I can now lift my arm. I have been back on the trusty Orange Sub 3, in my garage on the Cyclops indoor trainer; not AM but AG - All Garage.
As some of you know I have set my sights on an Orange 5 Pro for next year a bit more travel but keeping it truly British non of this yanky doodle. Check out the bike on www.orangebikes.co.uk. Afan has made me rethink my bike and also the fact that all my components seem to be failing one by one.
Finally worked out how to correctly fit my Hope Hed Doctor after snapping 2 nuts. I would thoroughly recommend it, once you know how to fit it correctly.
I have got my bike back together and this week could see me back on light trail duties - one step at a time.
XC Tom
As some of you know I have set my sights on an Orange 5 Pro for next year a bit more travel but keeping it truly British non of this yanky doodle. Check out the bike on www.orangebikes.co.uk. Afan has made me rethink my bike and also the fact that all my components seem to be failing one by one.
Finally worked out how to correctly fit my Hope Hed Doctor after snapping 2 nuts. I would thoroughly recommend it, once you know how to fit it correctly.
I have got my bike back together and this week could see me back on light trail duties - one step at a time.
XC Tom
South Downs Way (or flint, flint and more flint)
Day 1
So the South Downs off road ride finally arrived.... Roy, Nick and I met on board the train from Woking to Winchester, and steeled ourselves for the 60 mile ride ahead – the first day's challenge. We left Winchester station at around 08:20, and immediately took a wrong turning!!!! We back tracked to eventually find the start of the South Downs Way. The weather was favourable, and whilst it was still early morning the sun was quite warm. We made good progress and arrived at Winchester Hill to search for the marked route to the top. We bumped into a runner looking for the same route!! Thankfully we passed him on the ascent (but more about him later!!). Just beyond Winchester hill we bumped into a couple asking the route we'd just done. After a bit of a chat we wished each other luck, and given the bloke looked a little portly, we set off quick in front of them. After about 2 miles it soon became apparent that they were not slackers – and were more than keeping up with us!!!. Being gentlemen we let them go in front, to see that the “portly” bloke was in fact riding a single speed – and was faster than we were!!! Respect!!! And his mrs was quite good too.... Riding up Salt hill, we all got stuck behind a few young riders on horses... including single speed man!! The narrow track didn't allow us to pass easily so we were comfortable behind them – gave us a bit of breathing space anyway!!! We then heard Nick deliver the loudest fart you have ever heard..... following the curry he'd had the night before. He assured us it was the horse in front of him!!! Nobody was quite sure!!!! The girls on the horse giggled!!!
We arrived at QE park after the infamous downhill – touching more than 40 miles an hour... cool!! Stopping at QE park for a bacon sarnie or two – we took a well deserved rest. Within about 15mins of sitting down, our runner friend arrived that we'd passed before!!!! and proceeded to tuck into a nice sandwich and a salad!!!! Roy asked him where he'd come from – Winchester (25miles back) and he started only 30 mins before we did!!!! About 3 hours 45mins to do 25 miles, off road up and down... respect!!! Looked as fresh as a daisy too!! and about our age. Amazing thing was he was continuing to Amberly... another 25 miles – 50 miles in total!!! BIG RESPECT!! We finished up and got on the trail before he started – save the embarrassment of him beating us to Amberly!!!!
The next 25 miles were tough – lots of flint!!! But the weather was good.
We completed the second 25 miles and arrived at Amberly to look for a quaint English tea room.... and we found one... quite by chance!!! But boy did we need it!! Banana and cherry loaf, tea cake, chocolate cake and 3 cups of English breakfast tea.... perfect!!!
We headed off for the last 12 miles to the b&b and arrived at the A24 near Washington ready for the infamous climb to the Chanctonbury ring!! So far no mechanical problems through all the flint and boulders we had to negotiate, until we came across the hard smooth tarmac of the A24.. and Roy managed to get a puncture!!! How does that work then? So with only 6 miles to go to the B&B we ended up changing our first puncture.
We arrived at the B&B about 18:00 for a well deserved shower and clean up!!! Once clean we headed off to the local hostelries for a well deserved pint and some carbs!!! First pub we entered, Roy bumps into a work colleague....small world!! After getting our fill of food and beer, we set off back to the B&B... at 21:30!!! All in bed by 22:00 – well... we were tired!!!!!
Day 2
So the South Downs off road ride finally arrived.... Roy, Nick and I met on board the train from Woking to Winchester, and steeled ourselves for the 60 mile ride ahead – the first day's challenge. We left Winchester station at around 08:20, and immediately took a wrong turning!!!! We back tracked to eventually find the start of the South Downs Way. The weather was favourable, and whilst it was still early morning the sun was quite warm. We made good progress and arrived at Winchester Hill to search for the marked route to the top. We bumped into a runner looking for the same route!! Thankfully we passed him on the ascent (but more about him later!!). Just beyond Winchester hill we bumped into a couple asking the route we'd just done. After a bit of a chat we wished each other luck, and given the bloke looked a little portly, we set off quick in front of them. After about 2 miles it soon became apparent that they were not slackers – and were more than keeping up with us!!!. Being gentlemen we let them go in front, to see that the “portly” bloke was in fact riding a single speed – and was faster than we were!!! Respect!!! And his mrs was quite good too.... Riding up Salt hill, we all got stuck behind a few young riders on horses... including single speed man!! The narrow track didn't allow us to pass easily so we were comfortable behind them – gave us a bit of breathing space anyway!!! We then heard Nick deliver the loudest fart you have ever heard..... following the curry he'd had the night before. He assured us it was the horse in front of him!!! Nobody was quite sure!!!! The girls on the horse giggled!!!
We arrived at QE park after the infamous downhill – touching more than 40 miles an hour... cool!! Stopping at QE park for a bacon sarnie or two – we took a well deserved rest. Within about 15mins of sitting down, our runner friend arrived that we'd passed before!!!! and proceeded to tuck into a nice sandwich and a salad!!!! Roy asked him where he'd come from – Winchester (25miles back) and he started only 30 mins before we did!!!! About 3 hours 45mins to do 25 miles, off road up and down... respect!!! Looked as fresh as a daisy too!! and about our age. Amazing thing was he was continuing to Amberly... another 25 miles – 50 miles in total!!! BIG RESPECT!! We finished up and got on the trail before he started – save the embarrassment of him beating us to Amberly!!!!
The next 25 miles were tough – lots of flint!!! But the weather was good.
We completed the second 25 miles and arrived at Amberly to look for a quaint English tea room.... and we found one... quite by chance!!! But boy did we need it!! Banana and cherry loaf, tea cake, chocolate cake and 3 cups of English breakfast tea.... perfect!!!We headed off for the last 12 miles to the b&b and arrived at the A24 near Washington ready for the infamous climb to the Chanctonbury ring!! So far no mechanical problems through all the flint and boulders we had to negotiate, until we came across the hard smooth tarmac of the A24.. and Roy managed to get a puncture!!! How does that work then? So with only 6 miles to go to the B&B we ended up changing our first puncture.
We arrived at the B&B about 18:00 for a well deserved shower and clean up!!! Once clean we headed off to the local hostelries for a well deserved pint and some carbs!!! First pub we entered, Roy bumps into a work colleague....small world!! After getting our fill of food and beer, we set off back to the B&B... at 21:30!!! All in bed by 22:00 – well... we were tired!!!!!
Day 2
Sore legs, sore bum and back in the saddle by 09:00. We set off for the first big climb of the day, as the introduction to the 40 miles for the day. The second day is always nicer, but takes a few miles to warm up. It was cooler today – the sun hiding behind the clouds. Nick started the day with his jacket on – sensible... Roy and I succumbed to an extra layer once we arrived at Ditchling beacon. All 3 of us were flying on the second day... so much so we kept pushing the boundaries.... we made it all the way to Alfriston – about 32 miles - to discover another quaint English tea room – and a fantastic round of home made ham and tomato sandwiches!!! Just the job after 5 hours of pushing in the saddle!!!
Last two climbs and only 7.5 miles to Eastbourne... but the climb out of Alfriston was a killer – a gruelling climb on chalk and flint which seemed to go on and on and on and on.......... We all made it without getting off though – a great achievement after nearly 95 miles in the saddle!!!
We arrived in Eastbourne to the finish of the route.... shouting for Nick to come back to the official finish so we could get some pics...... he'd been so focussed on his downhill technique, he'd completely missed the sign for the finish!!!
A good ride – thanks guys....
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Sneak Preview - Simon's New Bike
Discovered at 79 degrees north in Longyearbyen - a secret development facility, and Simon's next evolution in his race to be King of the (All) Mountain .....
Headcam Trial - Summer Lightning 12 Sep 09
Well the AT1 (supplied by Dogcam.co.uk) has arrived, and after sorting out a few mounting issues, Bish & I went out on Saturday to trial the quality. Generally it is good (for £125), but some niggles - picture breaking up slightly (I think this is something to do with either movement or the wireless link - I am going to look at a pouch strapped across my daysack harness to see if it improves. Failing that I may go for a wired link); and light resolution (bright sky/dark subject matter). Having said that, the remote unit makes playback possible, and the camera unit is really light, and quite small (about 25mm dia x 75mm long).
Any way, have a look -
Dunnie
Any way, have a look -
Dunnie
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Oh brother where art thou?
Mark's brother Michael was over from NI at the weekend so we took him out to sample some of our local trails. A novice by his own admission Michael tackled everything we threw at him and although the trail gods claimed some blood sacrifices he seemed to enjoy the experience on the whole! One noteworthy incident saw us gathering at the top of Deliverance, just to show Mike what it looked like. Also congregating at the top were a bunch of South Africans and Aussies who were doing a lot of talking and not much riding, presenting a gift-wrapped opportunity for Mark to bait some Colonials. Without further debate Mark grabbed his Trek off Michael and threw himself down Deliverance at top speed. It was all going so well until he realised he was going too fast to stop and piled into the strewn wreckage of the shack at the bottom, accompanied by various shouts and moans! Luckily a bit of blood was as bad as it got and after clearing the landing area we returned to the top where the Colonials were waiting, our honour just about intact!
We met a guy at the tower who runs this site for buying and selling bike/outdoor kit - might be worth a look: http://www.kitjunky.co.uk/
Also Head for the Hills are getting their '10 bikes in soon, look out for new Treks, Commencals and Nicolais. They're also selling their '09 demos so check out their website http://www.head-for-the-hills.co.uk/2009_bike_sale.htm for deals on the Ex8 (£875), Meta 5.2, Remedy (£1200) and Gary Fisher Roscoe (£1200). For anyone wanting a longer travel bike the Remedy and Roscoe are very good, proper All Mountain(!) and a bargain at those prices (go on Andy, Jim - you know you want to!).
Finally I've joined the light brigade - I've invested £50 in a Dealtime Extreme P7 900 lumen bike light. It's on it's way from Hong Kong so we'll see how good it is but I figure that for 50 quid you can't go wrong. You can read a review on the Muddymoles site http://www.muddymoles.org.uk/2009/08/p7_ha-iii_bike_light.html
Rich
We met a guy at the tower who runs this site for buying and selling bike/outdoor kit - might be worth a look: http://www.kitjunky.co.uk/
Also Head for the Hills are getting their '10 bikes in soon, look out for new Treks, Commencals and Nicolais. They're also selling their '09 demos so check out their website http://www.head-for-the-hills.co.uk/2009_bike_sale.htm for deals on the Ex8 (£875), Meta 5.2, Remedy (£1200) and Gary Fisher Roscoe (£1200). For anyone wanting a longer travel bike the Remedy and Roscoe are very good, proper All Mountain(!) and a bargain at those prices (go on Andy, Jim - you know you want to!).
Finally I've joined the light brigade - I've invested £50 in a Dealtime Extreme P7 900 lumen bike light. It's on it's way from Hong Kong so we'll see how good it is but I figure that for 50 quid you can't go wrong. You can read a review on the Muddymoles site http://www.muddymoles.org.uk/2009/08/p7_ha-iii_bike_light.html
Rich
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