Crash landing

Date: 28^th Mar 2010
Riders: Mark2, Dave and a very nice South African
Location: Milton Gore jumps, Summer Lightning, Beggars Canyon

With a new SLX double crank, shifters and overhaul of my cables and test ride was required. Short on time and weather closing in, a dash up the hill to Milton Gore jumps to where after a small adjustment to my front derailleur my bike was shifting sweet as a nut.

Dave arrived 5 minutes later where upon we spent a good while discussing jumping form and what we were going to try today while waiting for the newest arrival to the group, Stefan, a very nice South African. A few easy warm up jumps to get the adrenalin going and we stepped up the pace, goading each other on until we were hitting jumps left right and center, stuff we wouldn’t of considered last week. Incrementally increasing the speed on each of the jumps, we were flying.

Buzzing like kids, Stefan turned up and took a few shots at some Jumps. As Dave and I pushed the boundaries and started to link up some jumps, this is where things went wrong.

Too much speed I hit a small kicker with a steep run out with the idea of linking in the short but long double at the bottom. My right foot slipped as I landed the kicker but I was too committed to bail and even though I had my feet all squared up on the bike I was not straight and going way too fast I launched off the up ramp at an angle and the bike rotated around that angle. Nose down and going sideways at about warp factor 9, the bike hit the ground 2 foot past the down ramp and I hit the ground 3 foot past the bike. My bag was torn from my shoulders and my head hit the ground hard as slid into the up ramp of another jump where upon I stopped followed shortly (1 second) by the bike hitting me. My veggie shin pads have a hole in them, better then my shins. My hip, right upper arm and back have general scrapes and I walk at a funny angle now but I lived.

Not only did I live, but like those crazy kids in the New World Disorder films I tied my pack back on to my back, bent my derailleur back into place, pushed my bike to the top and did the same jump again but without the crashing bit... Boo-Ya!!!

Then off to summer lighting, despite the rain wasn’t too wet and a very fast ride down Beggars Canyon with some nice air time at the death stars exit before the rain.

Lessons learnt

1. Protection gear when jumping is a must (back packs can be considered protection)

2. Don’t do what Dave does do! dig it?

Later

Mark2

Go West - The Wild West

Last Monday I had the opportunity to try a different location to Leith Hill and Swinley Forest so I decided to go for a ride to the west of London – to be a little more specific 5235 miles west of London in the Nevada Desert in Las Vegas.

Well, I was away on business and it seemed like a great opportunity to see a different side of Sin City. Luckily there were a number of cycle tours on offer so Søren (our OTH occasional guest from Denmark) surfed the net and came up with a 4 hour guided ride through Cotton Valley.

We were picked up at the hotel by the two guides and met the third member of our team Rodney who worked for the US Embassy in the Congo. After a quick stop at the bike shop to pick up the bikes and take on water we were soon in the remote wilderness of the Nevada Desert. The two guides then proceeded to set up the Specialized Stunt Jumpers and ensure we had the correct pressure in the suspension. Just a we were about to set out on the trails one of the guides said to me “your from the UK right, well just remember that your rear brake is on the right” at this point I called for a time out and quickly swapped the levers over as I did not want to go straight over the bars the first time the brakes were applied.

After a quick safety briefing on snakes, scorpions and spiders, we were ready to roll and started off with a slow uphill climb. We soon lost Rodney and the rear guide, after a five minute wait they were still nowhere to be seen. We quickly decided that we should head back and find our other two riders. As we cleared the ridge we found the two trying to repair the rear hanger which had been totally ripped clean off the tour guides bike. It was quickly decided that the rear mech could not be repaired so the cable was cut and the chain was shortened to turn his bike into a single speed (well he could do with a challenge).

The journey continued with some really cool descents through some fantastic landscapes – glad I swapped the brakes as there was a need to quickly drop some speed on a downhill section and I automatically went for the left lever which would have meant a but full of cactus spines.

It soon was clear that there were two riding levels in the group with Rodney and our Single speed friend following up the rear. With this divide in place our guide decided to turn up the pace and give us a lesson in desert riding. Søren did well and stuck on the guides rear wheel for the entire run. I was doing well until I took a corner to wide and ended up taking a short cut through some cactus which hurt like hell and cost me a good couple of minutes.

The trails were clearly marked and ride-able without a guide, but I would say the benefit of having someone that knows the trails is you keep up the speed and are guaranteed to lose a few pounds in sweat. In all the ride was fun and made a nice change from the soggy bogs that we are enduring in the UK. I can’t wait for the UK summer, it won’t quite be the Nevada Desert but it will be dry – I HOPE.

Back to Basics

Date: March 18th
Riders: XCTom; Mark2; Rich
Location: Leith Hill

Call me old fashioned but this post isn't about trumpet-based film titles, planning the 2010 Wales trip or even a jog-blog. No it's a return to basics (or as I like to call it "riding bikes").

The trails are in really good nick at the moment (Mark2 has been riding a lot), temperatures are slowly rising and until yesterday the rain had held off for a good couple of weeks. Consequently we set out on a night ride from Coldharbour with a view to hitting Windy Willows, one of those trails which is off limits once a wet winter sets in.

We took on Summer Lightning, including the top jumps on the downhill section and then followed the Ben Tudor (tm) route to the Ghurka Trail. Up the other side we rode the climb into Windy Willows which was in good order. We all hit the main jump in the middle of the trail and Tom even took the awkward log jump at the end, pulling it off with some style.

We took the bridleway climb back to Donnie Darko and then climbed to the Tower, following the by now familiar route back to the Plough via Personal Hygene, No Cycles, The Bombholes and Crooked Furrow.

By now the rain was persistent and had been joined by fog and wind which limited our lumens so we were glad to stop for a pint.

Probably only one more night ride when full illumination will be needed as the clocks go back next weekend - roll on a hot summer full of dusty trails, jump sessions and outdoor beers!

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

Whilst I've been one of the OTH bikers who has been missing out on recent rides, I thought I'd post just to keep my blogging hand in!!!

I've been training for this year's London Marathon and this morning I completed 13 miles in a PB time of 1 hour 47mins.... very happy with that! And 8 mins off last weekends 13 mile run. Unintentional - but that's when PBs tend to come!

Hope you're all enjoying - I miss the bike and the trails... roll on April 25th!

Solo Mission

As Dunnie discovered the other week OTH members seem to be a bit thin on the ground at the moment for one reason or another. Last night I was determined to get out, having not ridden for 2 weeks and despite Mark2 and Dave2 pulling out I decided a quick solo night mission was the way forward.
I prepped my lights and put on some warm kit (it was only 1 degree at 6.30)and set out on the Cove. I found I had a very stiff bottom bracket (ooh err) but decided to press on, on the basis that it might free itself up with a bit of pedalling and if it didn't then it would be good exercise - like working in a higher gear!
I decided to tackle the steep Coldharbour road route, a first in the dark but thankfully there was little traffic about. I seemed to make reasonably light work of it so I then headed into the play area and Cream Egg. I mooched about around some of our jumps and drops, the hip-kicker was predictably boggy on the run in so after one go I decided to leave it to recover naturally.
I then headed up into Redlands, a slightly risky decision as this part of Leith Hill is well known for it's poor drainage and is an area I usually leave alone in the winter months.
I hit Wave of Mutilation at a reasonable lick, clearing the fallen tree at the end and then climbed into Sweet Sweet Bulbs and surprised myself by hitting the main jump (not sure if that's my first time in the dark). I then climbed up the bridleway to the resevoir and took "Tom's" trail down the hill, building speed I nearly lost it on one corner in deepish mud but managed to keep my outside foot down and pushing through as per the guru's instructions kept me aboard.
A final descent down the lane and back to Dorking took me to just over the hour mark - a good little ride and worth the experience of riding some slightly gnarly stuff alone at night.
Roll on saturday as the trails are in pretty good shape.
Rich