On Saturday only Dave and I made it out onto a very wet Leith Hill. I'm not going to blog about the ride, it was short and the trails are in a poor state following last weeks rain.
We thought something was amiss when we climbed up to Wolverns Lane and the first thing we saw was a Police Land Rover, whose occupants were "having a word" with a bunch of Motocross riders.
On to Summer Lightning (having passed a National Trust Patrol in an unusual location) where we met a couple of riders and during a friendly MTB chat they told us not to go to Redlands as the Forestry Commission and Rozzers were over there "arresting MTBers and confiscating their bikes"!
Following tea at the Tower Dave and I took our usual route via Coldharbour, planning to hit the Milton Gore Heads Roll jumps as a final stop.
Unfortunately on arrival we were greeted with the sight of yet another Forestry Patrol and just before we hit the jumps they came over to us and explained that Mountain Biking is not allowed in Redlands, or indeed anywhere on Leith Hill, other than on the Summer Lightning trail network.
I think we're seeing the impact of the illegal trail network which has probably gone too far in damaging young trees such as on "Turning Japanese" in Redlands. The Surrey Hills is also becoming a victim of it's own success with regular items in the MTB mags bringing more and more visitors to our neck of the woods looking for "extreme thrills".
What worries me is that they will destroy all the jumps and trails in places like Milton Gore and Redlands although I think it will be difficult for the Police, National Trust and Forestry Commission to regularly throw the resources we saw this weekend at "Policing" MTBers.
Dark times indeed....
A quick ride through the Surrey Hills with a group of 40 something mtbers who really should know better!
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