A quick ride through the Surrey Hills with a group of 40 something mtbers who really should know better!
Saturday 28 November 2009
Mid life crisis is over
Just thought I would let you know that today I sold my kitesurfing kit, great news as more cash for the new Orange 5Pro but am I loosing my surfing heritage? On reflection this was a vain attempt to rekindle my past, recreate those heady days of chilling on a beach, long hair, board shorts, the taste of salt, hang10 dude! Hang on, I dont live in Maui, I don't have a sun tan and the sea is not turquoise in Littlehampton, oh and I have 2 kids and a wife now. Never mind, hold onto your dreams, focus on the longest manual ever and dialing that double, re-focus, you are a tiger, you thrive on mud, you enjoy cleaning the shit out of your jokey wheels, MTB for ever. Raaaahhhhhhhh.
Heads up, Heels down…
Date: 28th November
Riders: Rich; Roy; Dave; Andy; Mark2
Area: Holmbury and Pitch
A lovely day for a ride as I slowly drove the van up through the picture postcard Abinger and idyllic Holmbury area, the sun shining though the trees as the morning mist slowly cleared….. only to be shattered by wide boy Andy in his wicked new white 5-10’s standing in the middle of the car park gassing with his homeboys on his phone, owning the place, sorted
Joke aside, welcome Andy to the world of flat peddles and 5-10 shoes which come in many styles, ironically none of which have any style… but who cares as 15mins into the ride all our shoes looked the mud covered same any how.
The Ride.
This is where I lack the knowledge, so bear with me and use your imagination to fill in the gaps. As a warm up we wound our way up the fire road from the car park, eventually coming to the lookout. All our minds were on the new and improved “Barry Knows Best” so we didn’t hang around to enjoy the view and got straight on down “an unknown muddy tail” to the top of BKB where Richard gave us a quick briefing prior to launch one.
BKB best was executed in style utilising all we learnt from our training session two weeks prior. Especially on the lower half which was awesome. So good in fact we barely stopped peddling before heading back up the bridle way for a second go which for me was even faster and smoother then the first. I’ll mention here that at no time did Richard point out his and MarkD’s sacred berm. All of them were good though.
Before heading to Peaslake café for tea and cake, Roy to the opportunity to take a rest on a soft part of the road!? Must have been all the excitement?? Who knows?
A nice cup of rosey at the café where we bumped in to Richard “second half of summer lightning is s**t” Bishops best buddy Ben “I built the second half of summer lightning” Tudor. Still onwards.
A long climb up to Pitch hill checking out some (on my part) poorly executed jumps. Down “an unknown muddy trail” or two and onto the steep Huggy Bear where yet again skills recently learnt (weight into the frame braking technique) was duly employed to great effect by all but me. With the chicken s**t in me surfacing, I decided to walk down but my 5 10’s stealth rubber failed me and all that stopped me from sliding to the bottom were my Endura Humvees which then ripped. Luckily for me it’s the Christmas season, so a new pair will have to be bought.
Onwards to another ”unknown muddy trail”, a quick stop for Richard to misdirect some fellow lost MTB’ers and some how, after much peddling we ended up on Telegraph. We rode Telegraph giving it the opportunity to coat us in one more layer of mud. Down the steep switch back trail to the car park and home for a date with the hosepipe, nice.
Good weather, Good company, Great ride.
Riders: Rich; Roy; Dave; Andy; Mark2
Area: Holmbury and Pitch
A lovely day for a ride as I slowly drove the van up through the picture postcard Abinger and idyllic Holmbury area, the sun shining though the trees as the morning mist slowly cleared….. only to be shattered by wide boy Andy in his wicked new white 5-10’s standing in the middle of the car park gassing with his homeboys on his phone, owning the place, sorted
Joke aside, welcome Andy to the world of flat peddles and 5-10 shoes which come in many styles, ironically none of which have any style… but who cares as 15mins into the ride all our shoes looked the mud covered same any how.
The Ride.
This is where I lack the knowledge, so bear with me and use your imagination to fill in the gaps. As a warm up we wound our way up the fire road from the car park, eventually coming to the lookout. All our minds were on the new and improved “Barry Knows Best” so we didn’t hang around to enjoy the view and got straight on down “an unknown muddy tail” to the top of BKB where Richard gave us a quick briefing prior to launch one.
BKB best was executed in style utilising all we learnt from our training session two weeks prior. Especially on the lower half which was awesome. So good in fact we barely stopped peddling before heading back up the bridle way for a second go which for me was even faster and smoother then the first. I’ll mention here that at no time did Richard point out his and MarkD’s sacred berm. All of them were good though.
Before heading to Peaslake café for tea and cake, Roy to the opportunity to take a rest on a soft part of the road!? Must have been all the excitement?? Who knows?
A nice cup of rosey at the café where we bumped in to Richard “second half of summer lightning is s**t” Bishops best buddy Ben “I built the second half of summer lightning” Tudor. Still onwards.
A long climb up to Pitch hill checking out some (on my part) poorly executed jumps. Down “an unknown muddy trail” or two and onto the steep Huggy Bear where yet again skills recently learnt (weight into the frame braking technique) was duly employed to great effect by all but me. With the chicken s**t in me surfacing, I decided to walk down but my 5 10’s stealth rubber failed me and all that stopped me from sliding to the bottom were my Endura Humvees which then ripped. Luckily for me it’s the Christmas season, so a new pair will have to be bought.
Onwards to another ”unknown muddy trail”, a quick stop for Richard to misdirect some fellow lost MTB’ers and some how, after much peddling we ended up on Telegraph. We rode Telegraph giving it the opportunity to coat us in one more layer of mud. Down the steep switch back trail to the car park and home for a date with the hosepipe, nice.
Good weather, Good company, Great ride.
Monday 23 November 2009
And then there was One.....
Having had a minor panic on Saturday morning that I was going to incur the Wrath of Cowen for being late (again), it soon became apparent that I was only going to delay myself, as everyone else was keeping warm and dry.... I had a moment of indecision on the A25, self-justified on safety grounds, before deciding that I'd rather risk serious injury on the trail than return to the huge list of DIY at home..
Parked up in Hurtwood Control Car Park 1, with the slightly uncomfortable doubt as to my ability to navigate all the way down Barry Knows Best... as it turned out, my autopilot was less faulty than previously, and within minutes I was practicing my heels-down pumping through the opening root jumps on BKB, before hitting the new section (which Bish and I built*). And how well it rides - sweeping corners (almost 180 turns) with well banked berms - just right for polishing of the skills we learned at our lesson last week... Look through, weight on the outside pedal and leaning /looking where you want to go, not where you are going... It all seemed to work, and the result was an all-too fast descent to the road. After a further 2 sessions (how I love that climb abck up..), I returned to the car park, following the BKB trail, intending to do another full run down BKB. At the top, a change of heart led to a ride up to Holmbury Hill, a quick spin down Yoghurt Pots (and a near wipe-out due to a poorly judged 'I'm not going to brake in the turn' decision), a fast run with plenty of air down Telegraph Road, and another climb back up Holmbury, before a final run down BKB. Not known as a great climber, I had a cup of tea in Peaslake, before slogging back up the hill, and home to a marathon bike and self cleaning session. All in all, wet, muddy, gnarly and excellent. And the DIY tasks list is no smaller....
Parked up in Hurtwood Control Car Park 1, with the slightly uncomfortable doubt as to my ability to navigate all the way down Barry Knows Best... as it turned out, my autopilot was less faulty than previously, and within minutes I was practicing my heels-down pumping through the opening root jumps on BKB, before hitting the new section (which Bish and I built*). And how well it rides - sweeping corners (almost 180 turns) with well banked berms - just right for polishing of the skills we learned at our lesson last week... Look through, weight on the outside pedal and leaning /looking where you want to go, not where you are going... It all seemed to work, and the result was an all-too fast descent to the road. After a further 2 sessions (how I love that climb abck up..), I returned to the car park, following the BKB trail, intending to do another full run down BKB. At the top, a change of heart led to a ride up to Holmbury Hill, a quick spin down Yoghurt Pots (and a near wipe-out due to a poorly judged 'I'm not going to brake in the turn' decision), a fast run with plenty of air down Telegraph Road, and another climb back up Holmbury, before a final run down BKB. Not known as a great climber, I had a cup of tea in Peaslake, before slogging back up the hill, and home to a marathon bike and self cleaning session. All in all, wet, muddy, gnarly and excellent. And the DIY tasks list is no smaller....
Sunday 22 November 2009
Pondering Mountain Biking
Some thoughts from Benji at Singletrack, thought you might like them...
We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better
We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule
We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our thing
We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards
We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime
We squeeze in a quick one during the week after work
We're mostly men
We're mostly white
We're mostly middle class
We're mostly middle-aged
Mountain biking is golf....
Rich
We spend a lot of money on shiny kit instead of practicing getting better
We wear odd-looking clothing that other people rightly ridicule
We abandon our other halves - like sport-induced widows - from dawn until dusk while we do our thing
We're always late home after staying a bit too long in the bar afterwards
We go to manufactured places dedicated to our pastime
We squeeze in a quick one during the week after work
We're mostly men
We're mostly white
We're mostly middle class
We're mostly middle-aged
Mountain biking is golf....
Rich
Friday 20 November 2009
DealExtreme, Michael Caine and an Alsation....
Date: 19th November
Riders: Mark2; XC Tom; Andy; Rich
Location: Box Hill; Mickleham; Headley; Leatherhead; Timbuktu
A timely meet at The Star for the four of us last night, Tom and Andy proudly sporting their new "Bastids" in windy but dry conditions. We headed straight for Box Hill to attempt the challenge. Once we had agreed the start and finish points all that remained was for Andy to prove he was the fastest (yawn) with a sub-9 minute time. My own time was 9.33 which is approximately 3 seconds slower than my previous efforts, although it felt much harder last night - room for improvement. After a 5 minute recovery we headed into the woods to find China Pig. This proved a little difficult but after a couple of wrong turns we finally found the start and flew down, the last couple of windy days seem to have dried it out well and we tried to apply our manual, cornering and heel down lessons from the weekend. I certainly felt like I rode it better than I have before. At Juniper bottom we turned right up the road as Tom took the lead, heading towards Headley. We turned into a car park and then began a tricky off-camber ascent with a "don't look now" drop away to our left pretty much all the way up. After about 20 minutes we emerged onto Leatherhead Common which we crossed and headed to the start of Tom's fabled "longest & best piece of downhill singletrack in Surrey" which I think I've heard described as Alsation. The big build up put Tom under a bit pressure but we all agreed he delivered with a fast, flowing and long descent down to the A24 which again gave us plenty of opportunity to employ Richard's methods - I was really "sending it" at one point, wasting Andy on a wider section (his legs must have "gone" after the Box Hill effort!) and catching right up to Tom, although he "brought" enough to stay ahead to the end!
From there we crossed the A24 into Leatherhead, passing the gates to Michael Caine's residence, apparently - I didn't see him at the window with his binoculars in nosey neighbour mode "'Ere, Shakira, look ahht that, bleedin' mountain bikers!"
From Leatherhead we rode up to Bocketts Farm and then climbed up to Norbury Park. At this point Mark, Andy and I were getting a bit tired but Tom said there was more singletrack to come so we followed him down into a steep off camber rooty valley which meandered up and down, claiming most of us as victims at various points. My bastid, very suddenly and for the first time failed me, so I learn't the importance of having a head and bar light! - to be fair the joystick was plenty to get me home. Eventually we got back to the A24, via Westhumble and rolled into Dorking, taking a route through the park to avoid a final road climb!
A couple of much needed pints were partaken outside the Star and Tom's computer suggested we'd done 15 miles - it felt like much more...
As a footnote I put the bastid on charge when I got in and it came back to life quickly so hopefully nothing terminal.
Rich
Riders: Mark2; XC Tom; Andy; Rich
Location: Box Hill; Mickleham; Headley; Leatherhead; Timbuktu
A timely meet at The Star for the four of us last night, Tom and Andy proudly sporting their new "Bastids" in windy but dry conditions. We headed straight for Box Hill to attempt the challenge. Once we had agreed the start and finish points all that remained was for Andy to prove he was the fastest (yawn) with a sub-9 minute time. My own time was 9.33 which is approximately 3 seconds slower than my previous efforts, although it felt much harder last night - room for improvement. After a 5 minute recovery we headed into the woods to find China Pig. This proved a little difficult but after a couple of wrong turns we finally found the start and flew down, the last couple of windy days seem to have dried it out well and we tried to apply our manual, cornering and heel down lessons from the weekend. I certainly felt like I rode it better than I have before. At Juniper bottom we turned right up the road as Tom took the lead, heading towards Headley. We turned into a car park and then began a tricky off-camber ascent with a "don't look now" drop away to our left pretty much all the way up. After about 20 minutes we emerged onto Leatherhead Common which we crossed and headed to the start of Tom's fabled "longest & best piece of downhill singletrack in Surrey" which I think I've heard described as Alsation. The big build up put Tom under a bit pressure but we all agreed he delivered with a fast, flowing and long descent down to the A24 which again gave us plenty of opportunity to employ Richard's methods - I was really "sending it" at one point, wasting Andy on a wider section (his legs must have "gone" after the Box Hill effort!) and catching right up to Tom, although he "brought" enough to stay ahead to the end!
From there we crossed the A24 into Leatherhead, passing the gates to Michael Caine's residence, apparently - I didn't see him at the window with his binoculars in nosey neighbour mode "'Ere, Shakira, look ahht that, bleedin' mountain bikers!"
From Leatherhead we rode up to Bocketts Farm and then climbed up to Norbury Park. At this point Mark, Andy and I were getting a bit tired but Tom said there was more singletrack to come so we followed him down into a steep off camber rooty valley which meandered up and down, claiming most of us as victims at various points. My bastid, very suddenly and for the first time failed me, so I learn't the importance of having a head and bar light! - to be fair the joystick was plenty to get me home. Eventually we got back to the A24, via Westhumble and rolled into Dorking, taking a route through the park to avoid a final road climb!
A couple of much needed pints were partaken outside the Star and Tom's computer suggested we'd done 15 miles - it felt like much more...
As a footnote I put the bastid on charge when I got in and it came back to life quickly so hopefully nothing terminal.
Rich
Sunday 15 November 2009
Virtual Insanity
Today was the day of our mtb lesson. We 'd been waiting for a number of weeks. Travelling to the Glade in Holmbury St Mary, to meet up with our instructors, our journey was slowed significantly by the most torrential rain we'd seen in a long time. Tom was still hoping for a text from Rich saying the lesson may be called off due to extreme weather! No such text came........
Tom and I were first to arrive, and the weather eased a little. We prepared our bikes during a break in the weather and waited for the others to arrive. A few minutes later we were all there..... and the rain returned!! Our instructors arrived. Richard who looked the spit of JK from Jamiroquai, and Rob who was tall....
Off on the trail the weather eased, but was very wet under foot. We were returned to basics by our two instructors, who more than filled the four hours with great tuition and some dawning lights for some of us. We learned to manual, take corners properly and the basics of jumping. For the first 3 hours the weather was generally in our favour. The last hour it did rain though.... and boy did it rain. We all got significantly wet.... and cold, but the instruction held our interest and took our mind off the appalling weather.
A great day of teaching, and certainly inspired me – thanks Richard and Rob for a great morning. I have just placed an order for V12s, 510 flatties and some veggie shin protectors..... AM proper here I come!!!
Tom and I were first to arrive, and the weather eased a little. We prepared our bikes during a break in the weather and waited for the others to arrive. A few minutes later we were all there..... and the rain returned!! Our instructors arrived. Richard who looked the spit of JK from Jamiroquai, and Rob who was tall....
Off on the trail the weather eased, but was very wet under foot. We were returned to basics by our two instructors, who more than filled the four hours with great tuition and some dawning lights for some of us. We learned to manual, take corners properly and the basics of jumping. For the first 3 hours the weather was generally in our favour. The last hour it did rain though.... and boy did it rain. We all got significantly wet.... and cold, but the instruction held our interest and took our mind off the appalling weather.
A great day of teaching, and certainly inspired me – thanks Richard and Rob for a great morning. I have just placed an order for V12s, 510 flatties and some veggie shin protectors..... AM proper here I come!!!
Monday 9 November 2009
Injured....
I tore my hamstring playing squash on friday but have had first physio trip and another one planned for wednesday so hopefully I will be OK for next saturday. Had a little go on the bike today and it seemed OK...although obviously I was riding up and down the road and not doing "Level 4 Skills!". Check out the link to a new online mag which has an article about bike skills by Richard Kelly who is going to be teaching us:
http://www.imbikemag.com/issue2/?page=99
Thought I'd post a picture of the Nicolai, now with bash guard, new rims, hubs, rear cassette and tyres..
Rich
Sunday 8 November 2009
China Pig Reprise
Having been a poor week for rain, we were hoping that Thursday might prove a bit of a respite, to allow a quick ride out at night. I'm still using my old halogen light with max burn time of about 45mins, so I'm still heavily relying on everyone elses lights!! Still, I do have shipping confirmation for my deal extreme light, so fingers crossed.
I was delayed leaving work, and the M25 threw up a 22mile queue.... great!! I was going to be late, or even miss altogether!! Gutted – especially as this was Simon's first venture out with the old crowd again, and I'd miss seeing his pristine Lapiere Zesty. Given the traffic and the delay, I nobly fell on my sword and phoned Rich to tell him and Simon to crack on – I was stuck and was still probably another 30mins away. Rich suggested I meet them on Box Hill instead, as it would take them about 30mins to get up to the top from Dorking anyway. Having formulated a plan, I made it through the Dorking traffic a little quicker than anticipated, and bumped into the guys just as they were about to embark on the run up to the top of Box Hill.
Rather than drive to the top of Box Hill, I sneaked into the local hotel car park at the bottom, and quickly got myself ready, joining the boys at the bottom of Box Hill, ready for the climb to the top. 9mins 30secs was the time to beat from Rich's last attempt. The 3 of us set of together. 9mins 30secs Rich arrives at the top (spooky!!), with me about a minute behind. Simon arrived at around 12mins. Taking a short rest we set off, ignoring the views, to find China Pig.
All the previous comments on the route proved to be accurate. Lots of off camber roots. With the rain from the previous days, these proved to be particularly slippery tonight. I took a tumble! The route was nice and long, but slow, given the dark and the wet. We arrived at Juniper bottom, to be greeted with rain!! That wasn't part of the weather forecast!! Another climb and then picked up a nice downhill trail which Rich knew from days gone by. It was faster than China Pig, less rooty, but more rocky, and needed a little more focus, to avoid the left hand drop!!
Down the steps by the pub, which some of us tackled and one us got off, we arrived at the A24. A quick ride back along the A24 route to the hotel car park to pack the bike away. We then met up at the Star pub for our customary after ride pint.
Short but sweet!
I was delayed leaving work, and the M25 threw up a 22mile queue.... great!! I was going to be late, or even miss altogether!! Gutted – especially as this was Simon's first venture out with the old crowd again, and I'd miss seeing his pristine Lapiere Zesty. Given the traffic and the delay, I nobly fell on my sword and phoned Rich to tell him and Simon to crack on – I was stuck and was still probably another 30mins away. Rich suggested I meet them on Box Hill instead, as it would take them about 30mins to get up to the top from Dorking anyway. Having formulated a plan, I made it through the Dorking traffic a little quicker than anticipated, and bumped into the guys just as they were about to embark on the run up to the top of Box Hill.
Rather than drive to the top of Box Hill, I sneaked into the local hotel car park at the bottom, and quickly got myself ready, joining the boys at the bottom of Box Hill, ready for the climb to the top. 9mins 30secs was the time to beat from Rich's last attempt. The 3 of us set of together. 9mins 30secs Rich arrives at the top (spooky!!), with me about a minute behind. Simon arrived at around 12mins. Taking a short rest we set off, ignoring the views, to find China Pig.
All the previous comments on the route proved to be accurate. Lots of off camber roots. With the rain from the previous days, these proved to be particularly slippery tonight. I took a tumble! The route was nice and long, but slow, given the dark and the wet. We arrived at Juniper bottom, to be greeted with rain!! That wasn't part of the weather forecast!! Another climb and then picked up a nice downhill trail which Rich knew from days gone by. It was faster than China Pig, less rooty, but more rocky, and needed a little more focus, to avoid the left hand drop!!
Down the steps by the pub, which some of us tackled and one us got off, we arrived at the A24. A quick ride back along the A24 route to the hotel car park to pack the bike away. We then met up at the Star pub for our customary after ride pint.
Short but sweet!
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Montar el cerdo de china (...riding the China Pig)
The sun was shining and I had a free day which I opted to fill with some sort of mountain biking activity... Lucky for me I checked the blog before I went out and saw your post, the challenge was set.
I knew the bridleway to the visitors centre so after a quick explore for some jumps near Kuoni (fail) I wound my way to the bottom of the bridleway. A miserable 9:40ish was my best, room for improvement. Need to confirm start and finish lines mind you.
Spent 15 minutes trying to find the start of China Pig – after 2 false starts (There are a few bridleways in that area and the start of CP is quiet well hidden) I eventually found the trail. Within 50 yards you definitely know you’re on it. So it was brakes off and away I go, missing a ride round and nearly careening into a fallen tree, oops. The rest of the trail was very nice, staying relaxed and off the brakes to skim over those hidden roots.
Defiantly worth riding again, nice one.
Mark
I knew the bridleway to the visitors centre so after a quick explore for some jumps near Kuoni (fail) I wound my way to the bottom of the bridleway. A miserable 9:40ish was my best, room for improvement. Need to confirm start and finish lines mind you.
Spent 15 minutes trying to find the start of China Pig – after 2 false starts (There are a few bridleways in that area and the start of CP is quiet well hidden) I eventually found the trail. Within 50 yards you definitely know you’re on it. So it was brakes off and away I go, missing a ride round and nearly careening into a fallen tree, oops. The rest of the trail was very nice, staying relaxed and off the brakes to skim over those hidden roots.
Defiantly worth riding again, nice one.
Mark
Sunday 1 November 2009
decouvrir le cochon chinoise (..finding China Pig)
Another morning of spannering saw the fitment of an e-thirteen bashguard to the Nicolai. It's now looking respelendent with it's red Hope hubs and cassette detailing, plus the new Stan's rims. Just need a bit of dry weather and I might even take it out.....
I decided that as the day dried out I had a spare hour and trying to find a long piece of singletrack called "China Pig" which goes off the back of Box Hill had been in my mind for a while. It would also give me a chance to time myself on the "Box Hill challenge" climb, a steep bridleway running from Rykers Cafe to the National Trust cafe at the top. The climb was tougher than I remember from last time and my time of 9.30 won't take a lot of beating (or will it!?)...
From the top I rode round to the Smith & Wesson and entered a familiar bridleway next to the caravan park. Instead of heading straight on the trick is to take the first right and this is China Pig. It's a long and interesting piece of singletrack which gently descends into Juniper Bottom. No jumps, drops, bombholes or berms but plenty of off-camber tricky wet roots hidden by leaf litter. it's also a very natural trail (check out the link to a Muddymoles vid of it from earlier in the year)so quite different to a lot of stuff on Leith. For a short but good ride it would be easy to link with another trail I know which goes over Mickleham way.
Rich
http://www.vimeo.com/4938203
I decided that as the day dried out I had a spare hour and trying to find a long piece of singletrack called "China Pig" which goes off the back of Box Hill had been in my mind for a while. It would also give me a chance to time myself on the "Box Hill challenge" climb, a steep bridleway running from Rykers Cafe to the National Trust cafe at the top. The climb was tougher than I remember from last time and my time of 9.30 won't take a lot of beating (or will it!?)...
From the top I rode round to the Smith & Wesson and entered a familiar bridleway next to the caravan park. Instead of heading straight on the trick is to take the first right and this is China Pig. It's a long and interesting piece of singletrack which gently descends into Juniper Bottom. No jumps, drops, bombholes or berms but plenty of off-camber tricky wet roots hidden by leaf litter. it's also a very natural trail (check out the link to a Muddymoles vid of it from earlier in the year)so quite different to a lot of stuff on Leith. For a short but good ride it would be easy to link with another trail I know which goes over Mickleham way.
Rich
http://www.vimeo.com/4938203
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