|
If you ain't cycling all weekend you ain't nuthin'
8-9th
September 2001 – David, Richard
and Paul The
big one, this is the epic we have been talking and dreaming about for months.
That wizard trail-meister David has planned a
monster route and we set off at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning. Cross-country up
to Reigate Hill, follow the North Downs way and across to Box_Hill. We spend most of
the day cycling a circuitous route going to places I can’t even remember and roll
up at the Youth Hostel at Holmbury
St. Mary at 5 p.m. I say roll because my legs had gone. I could hardly even pedal
on the flat tarmac. The
Youth Hostel is a great place to stay at £10 for the night with dinner and breakfast
very reasonably priced and a beautiful pub nearby.
We
set out the next day at 9-45 a.m. and do a totally different route taking in Leith_Hill, Holmbury_Hill
and loads of other places before setting out for home, still across country, returning
about 5 p.m. again.
We
had glorious weather for the whole journey and it was fantastic fun. There were
some bad bits though, firstly, having to carry all my gear on my back. Together
with the Specialized hardrapper lock I had bought with me the rucksack weighed
another 20 pounds.
Secondly,
I bonked or ‘hit the wall’ on the Saturday at about 1 p.m. I had to push the bike
up the hill at Denbies Dorking and realised I still had a day and a half’s riding
still to do. Anyway, a short rest and some carbohydrates soon had me back on track.
Richard
sports his favourite Fox Black_Box Tee. This
is the so-called lookout point at Holmbury_Hill
shrouded in thick fog The
funniest bit was on the Sunday afternoon. I was racing down the same hill at Denbies
trying to impress a couple of girls who were just ahead of us. However, I ended
up screaming in fear as I realised the track went straight across a road and with
my poorly maintained v-brakes I wasn’t able to stop. Luckily it was a very quiet
private road and I didn’t meet anything but my street cred was shattered (it was
pretty poor anyway).
On
the Sunday we returned to Leith_Hill,
only our second visit. We discovered the special section that has lots of MTB
specific terrain including humps, dips, drop off’s, large puddles whatever the
time of the year etc. (I now realise that this
is Parklife) We had been following
two other riders who suddenly disappeared around a corner. We couldn’t believe
the steep roll-in off they had just done in about 2 seconds as we inched down
it. However, we do get better at this as we come back again and again.
We
have since referred to this as our ‘2-day Special’.
|
| |
|
all photos and content copyright of Richard Sear 1999 to 2012 | top | |
