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Still no rain and we set off from Cheam on a Saturday afternoon to sample more of the local trails. Up to Belmont, across towards Woodmansterne and then to Hooley Village where we do some serious road-work to cut across to Babylon Lane and under the M25 to hook up with the Big 8 route. After a detour across Headley Heath we head back to Banstead and down via Track 40 to return and then back to Cheam. Not so warm today but there were still plenty of flies being swallowed as we gasped for air on some of the fast sections and we were all covered by a fine film of dust by the time we returned some 4 and a half hours later.
Sam and I are booked into TrailAddiction for a week in the Summer and I have been looking for a suitable bike for him. I have already got the SX Trail but Sam's Prince Albert won't really be up to the job. So when I saw a Specialized Big Hit going second hand for a reasonable price I bit the bullet and went for it. Sam seems pretty pleased with it as far as I can tell. The build spec is something like this:
READ
MORE: Single
speeding
Date:
12th May 2007 A visit to Swinley Forest for the first time in a long while. After waiting around bored in the car park for the organiser of the ride, Mark finally turned up! Well, at least he showed us a great route including a isit to the 'Corkscrew' which is great fun. Here's the pictures, more details later. A few more Swinley photos here courtesy of Simon and thanks for this close up of me. Date:
20th May 2007 The recent rain has had a chance to soak into the trails and they are now riding sweetly as the dust has dampened down. Martin and I set off to recreate the route that Rob showed me a few weeks ago from memory only that is based broadly on the Box Hill and Back route. Up to Headley and across there then onto Stane Street and down the new descent to the bottom of Box Hill. Back up Stane Street and then left to bring us out alongside the pub and onto the A24. I ride all the steps but surprise myself on the last step which is a lot bigger than I remember it as I explode onto the lane, or is it the old man reversing his 4x4 badly that is more surprised? Across the A24 and up onto some hidden singletrack before returning to the foot of Boxhill. I lose the plot here and can't recall where we are supposed to go and we get distracted by a roadie who has lost his mates and asks "which way is London?". He has no map, no mobile and no money so we point him in the direction of Leatherhead and then climb back up Stane Street. It has been a fast hard ride with little stopping and I can feel myself tiring and know that Martin is tiring too as unusually I am beating him up the climbs. So I decide to head back along Stane Street for the third time and return to Epsom Downs where I just have time to bump into an old workmate before we celebrate with a pastie and cake from the biker's retreat cafe next to Dead Man's Bench.
Date:
26th May 2007 Steve is an mtb'er, down from Yorkshire for the weekend to see his daughter but desperate to sample the Surrey trails and has arranged to meet us at Newlands corner early on a dull but mild Saturday morning. Steve's on his Orange Mr XC; you don't see a lot of those about (update 29th May: this was to prove prophetic as unfortunately Steve got his Orange MrXC stolen later that day in Portsmouth). It's just the 3 of us and we set off along the North Downs Way. It's pretty straightforward bridleway and we bash out the first five miles or so in no time until we reach White Down and find the first bit of real singletrack. Descending to the railway we cross here and then into Westcott and up The Rookery, pausing only to swear at an obnoxious driver and then the stepped climb up to Greensand Way. Along the barbed wire fence and then the climb up to Coldharbour where we sample Regurgitator and Sunmmer Lightning before crossing to Leith Hill and a short pause at the Tower and Steve's first view of the area he has read so much about on the Singletrackworld forum. Down the other side via "Chocolate Jesus" and the short sharp descent to the road and Steve's really beginning to realise what the riding is about round here. Across to Holmbury Hill and messing around on Petits Filous and the Yoghurt Pots as well as various un-named trails before descending via Barry Knows Best where Steve takes a slow speed tumble on the final steep section after being confused by the choice of lines. A quick lunch break at Peaslake where we bump into Ant before heading up Pitch Hill and sampling the "T" series of trails and then Xmas Pudding before heading towards Newlands Corner via Albury. It's been a long ride with more climbing than we usually cover but Steve's experience on those big hills up North comes to the fore and he powers up the hills ahead of us. It's not unusual for me to be struggling at the back on any climbs but it's new for me to see Mark struggle to keep up too. A welcome coffee and cake at the Newlands Corner cafe before we say our goodbye's and hit the road home. A good ride that gave Steve a good sample of the type of trails that we ride week-in week-out and we look forward to a return trip at some stage in the future.
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February
2008
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