|
Disclaimer | The Alps 2007 | Ride with us | Rough Ride | Swinley Forest | Links |Contact me | Site Map | Shop |
|||||||
|
Date: 28th June
2009 Another dry weekend with dusty trails and I thought it was gonna be my third weekend out of four in A&E. A new meeting place, the seemingly remote Stony rock car park on Ranmore common saw a small group meet up which included Shaun who we haven't seen for a while and a new rider Legohead whose real name is unsurprisingly according to the law of mountain bike names, Dave (at least 50% of mountain bikers you meet will be called Dave; it's the law!). Although it was early in the morning and only five cars in there that didn't stop some miserable old bastard dog-walker from scowling at us as we pulled in to park. See that disc on my windscreen mate? That means I can drive and park wherever I want... Starting from Ranmore meant we were soon at Abba Zabba and after giving this a go, Shaun and I moved onto Blind Terror. I was at the bottom and the other 3 were scattered around the vicinity when Shaun rolled in. He had second thoughts at the top and put his feet down. But Mr. Gravity was strong and his weight tipped the bike forward into an endo and there was a terrifying moment as he slowly tried to keep his feet walking along as he toppled over going right over the bars and landing with a bang on his right shoulder, very reminiscent of last week with Paul's injury. But these South Africans are a tough bunch and I think he's still in his twenties so after a few seconds gathering his wits on the deck he was ready to get up and ride. (I would have been out for a week after a fall like that). After directing a couple of riders from Chelmsford who were lost on Ranmore Common and trying to make their way over to Holmbury Hill (but had already come from Leith Hill so didn't want to go back the natural way I would have directed them) we headed off to Westcott and up The Rookery onto Leith Hill. After messing around on the dips and berms near Deliverance we headed over to Windy Willows where we paused for a break. We were just about to set off when 3 riders went past who turned out to be none other than Mr Smith, Sgt Wilko and Elliot of Chocolatefoot fame and after a catch-up session we headed off in opposite directions. We had been planning a few more trails but Shaun was hfeeling the ride in his legs and although he didn't admit it, Legohead was definitely lagging and so we cut across to Holmbury Hill at the end of Windy Willow before taking the High Ashes farm track down to the road. After pausing at the King's Head for Shaun to top up his camelbak we rode Telegraph road and then down past The Volunteer and along Reakes Hollow before the long steep climb up White Downs which Davebus and I cleaned before cutting across the top of Ranmore and back to the cars to complete a pretty full-on 21 mile circuit. Date: 20th/21st
June
2009 What
a
weekend
for
me,
poor
diary
management
meant
that
I
rode
the
40
mile
commute
on
Friday
followed
by
a
14
mile
mtb
ride
on
Saturday
cut
short
by
a
trip
to
A&E
and
then
100
road
miles
including
5000+
feet
of
climbing
on
Sunday.
On
top
of
that
I
picked
up
a
new
swing-arm
to
repair
the
broken
chainstays
on
my
SX
trail. Onto
early
Sunday
morning
and
Terry
turned
up
at
my
house
at
5-45am
and
we
had
left
by
6
am
for
the
short
ride
over
to
Belmont
to
meet
the
others. A
good
pace
was
set
with
the
group
breaking
into
two
distinct
groups,
Felix,
12
and
Cas
up
front,
Terry,
Tony
and
Gazza
at
the
back
and
me
floating
somewhere
inbetween.
Needless
to
say,
the
fact
that
it
was
a
Campag
cassette
meant
that
most
of
my
regular
suppliers
were
unable
to
help
but
I
hadnt
counted
on
the
added
strength
my
commuting
had
given
me
since
last
years
attempt
and
I
found
it
much
easier
this
year
even
managing
to
reach
the
top
first
out
of
the
group
hence
being
able
to
take
the
pictures
below,
although
I
did
have
a
few
minutes
start
on
most
of
the
others
who
had
stopped
whilst
Gazza
of
the
ill-fitting
shorts
took
a
pee-break
at
the
foot
of
the
climb. From
there
the
first
half
of
the
ride
is
pretty
much
over
and
we
rocked
up
at
the
finish
line
at
9-20am.
What
a
great
feeling
We
were
riding
as
a
tight
grupetto
and
the
first
12
miles
flashed
by
as
we
maintained
a
steady
speed
of
20mph
with
Tony
doing
most
of
the
wind-breaking
(makes
a
change
form
Lee
I
suppose). Once
I
reached
75
miles
and
we
paused
for
refreshment
at
a
village
store
and
I
popped
an
energy
gel
I
felt
much
better
knowing
that
I
was
on
the
final
quarter
of
the
ride
and
started
to
hit
roads
that
I
recognised. | |||||||