Last ride of 2011

Well that’s that for 2011 then. A lovely, muddy, slimy, chilly, damp ride around Bedgebury. About 4 hours ago I was sitting in the car after peeling off 2 or 3 layers of clothes that were absolutely caked with mud, aching all over and munching some Jelly Beans. Felt very satisfying to know that I’d managed 2 rides in three days after so long out of action.

The weather was decent enough, no rain and a bit of a chill, the mud was thick and gloopy, plenty of other riders out and about, good to be out in the fresh air enjoying a bit of riding banter with one old riding buddy and one new riding buddy. I enjoyed the ride, came very close to making a real mess of myself on a bunch of roots though.  About halfway down “Sweetness” (I think it’s called now) I was cornering with a bit of enthusiasm and the front of the bike decided it preferred to go straight ahead.  Managed to get a leg out and steady myself, but thats probably the closest I’ve come to a nasty stack since I gashed my elbow open at Glentress last year.

Mud, plenty of it.

Towards the end of the ride there was much talk of trips to Wales, Swinley, Friston and Surrey in the new year, let’s hope they end up coming to fruition between now and Easter.

So that’s it for 2011, riding wise at least, plenty more drinking to be done before 2012, but no more mud. 2012 should hopefully include a weekend in Coed-Y-Brenin, ideally with a detour to Coed Llandegla as well, but we’ll see. I’d also like to add Swinley and Thetford to my list of trails visited.

 

Ho ho ho

After 3 or four days of eating myself sick, what better way to get myself out of the house than a trip to Surrey? After lumbering out of bed in the dark and loading the car up at about 7.30, we arrived at the Youth Hostel Car park around quarter past nine. Now I’ve been getting out for a post Boxing day ride for a few years now, and it’s almost always been cold enough for frost. Yesterday it was so mild I didn’t even think about extra layers, tights or a jacket. My fingers weren’t even cold in fingerless gloves. Climate change deniers take note! I wish it had been colder to be honest, I like a chilly ride between Christmas and New Year, that’s how it should be.

Not sure if it was the weather or just an indication of how popular the place is getting, but I’ve never seen Holmbury Hill so busy. Bikers everywhere as this shot at Peaslake shows.

Roadies and MTB'rs mingle happily at Peaslake

So we took in the usual delights, Barry Knows Best, Parklife, Telegraph road, plus a few other bits I’ve only recently found on Pitch Hill and a couple of bits I don’t know the name of. No crashes, no mechanicals, plenty of mud, plenty of fun. Most of the trails are riding fairly well despite the mud. With the all the pine needles and sandy soil the ground at Surrey holds up very well over winter in most cases.

Unlike the trails, my body isn’t holding up under abuse all that well.  My knees are killing me, my back is stiff, I feel like I’ve been run over by a lorry. My fitness is almost non existant at the moment. Doesn’t help when you’re out riding with someone who commutes 120 miles a week by bike either. My riding buddy for the day had that smug “Hill, what hill?” look about him for most of the morning.

One thing that did strike me yesterday, there was a hell of a lot of non-singletrack riding to link up the good bits, never really thought of Holmbury/Pitch that way before, maybe that’s cause previously the fire-road bits have been a lot easier cause I wasn’t carrying 2 stone of turkey and booze around with me.

View from the hill

Out of Hibernation

Finally some fresh air.

After weeks of malingering in the house with a bad back, I got the bike out today and had a ride at Bedgebury. Just a day short of midwinters day and, unsurprisingly, conditions at Bedgebury were almost exactly the same as they were on Midsummers eve. Muddy. To be fair it was a bit less muddy on Midsummers eve, but still, it’s kind of what you expect at Bedge.

Gimme an "M", gimmie a "U"...

Although there was a lot of mud, the weather today was beautiful, clear, sunny and crisp, could have gotten away with being a little colder for added freshness, but overall it was great. Why do people moan about the winter so much? You’re never cold if you’re active. Actually, my feet were bloody freezing today, but that was my fault for not wearing an extra pair of socks.

Most of the trails at Bedgebury were in reasonable condition considering the mud, plenty of sections that still roll well and ride nicely. The local bike club have also been out giving a lot of the sections named sign posts too which is a nice touch. I particularly like the fact they’ve called an utterly rubbish section “Pointless”. My favourite section still doesn’t have a name though so at the moment it’s still “That bit just before Bikea”. If it were up to me I’d call it “Make the most of it” because the trail is crap for a while afterwards.

The signpost doesn't make it any easier to ride up

One section that really rides nicely now is “Gloomy Woods” which is not gloomy or wooded at all. It’s a bunch of manmade berms and kickers set in a clearing that used to be heavily wooded. It used to be abysmal but now it’s got a very good surface it rides really nicely. A couple of sections after this have been heavily sanitised with a lot of the rutted, rooty bits replaced with something smoother and straighter. Shame really.

The bike was riding fairly well though I found the limits of grip on my front tyre several times. Managed to reign it back in but a couple of times it went for a wander when cornering.

Next up, Surrey Hills on the 28th December to sweat out some booze and turkey.