Slippery when wet

Date: Sunday 25th Oct
Riders: Rich, Dave, Tom, Wilf
Location: Leith Hill

I spent a few hours on saturday doing a bit of spannering - fitting a bashguard to my Cove and putting a casssette onto the new wheels I have bought for the Nicolai (thanks to Dan for the loan of some tools). Sunday dawned bright and autumnal and with the clocks having gone back an hour overnight we perhaps could have made an earlier start. Mark blew out early by text (it's becoming a bit habitual) - it sounds like his mother-in-law's 70th had been a riot. Andy is currently on the sick list with his damaged eye - good luck with the recovery, it sounds nasty. Coldharbour was so busy with a running event that Dave and I had to park down by Cream Egg. We rode up to Coldharbour and met Tom and Wilf who had ridden up via the Rookery. Despite the fine weather they were already looking muddy. We rode over to Redlands to show Wilf Wave of Mutilation (Tom getting stuck on the top of the fallen tree!)and then rode on down to the North Shore aka Mangrove Alley. It's already very wet and gloopy and my normal "pace" was much reduced trying to just stay on the bike over roots and through the mud. We walked the 2nd bit of shore as it looked particularly treacherous and the climb up from the bottom is almost unrideable already. We joined up with Sweet Sweet Bulbs, wet jumps taken with less confidence than in recent months and then climbed back up to Deja Vu - definitely a trail that will get easier with practice - momentum needs to be maintained to get through it without halting. As we finished this one Tom started to moan about how hungry he was so we started over towards the tower! We played about on Cream Egg for a while before taking the short downhill to soggy bottom and then climbing up again to Wolverns Lane, dotted with huge puddles now. We then took the rollercoaster and bombholes to the Cricket Pitch followed by the quick route to the Tower climb which we all dabbed on (Tom attributed his failure to bonking!) We joined the substantial queue for tea and cake at the Tower (or in Tom's case tea, cake and sandwiches). At this point Dave left us as he needed to get back and Tom declared that he had had quite enough riding so we headed back via Personal Hygene, No Cycling and the bombholes to Waggledance. Tom and Wilf then took the Summer Lightning route back to Westcott and I followed Crooked Furrow back to Coldharbour and on to the Car Park.
I have to say I'm not getting on with the winter riding yet - I'm frustrated by the lack of grip and correspondingly lower pace, the increased difficulty of climbs and the need to clean the bike when you get home! Also I've started using my hardtail for the winter and it's requiring some major adjustments in style. Let's hope it stays dry this week!