Muddy@rse Recce Ride for 29th July

This weekend we did a recce of the upcoming Muddy@rse ride for 29th July. The last couple of Muddy@rse rides have been long, technical and with some stinker hills, this one is a much more 'group friendly' route taking in Friston Forest and some downland.

A ride of two halfs. Friston Forest was a little muddy but nowhere near as bad as it can get, I got through (with a few comical moments!) most of it on semi-slick summer tyres although if there is more rain this coming week I would recommend something with more grip. Despite the recent rain the trails out on the downs were dry and dusty just as it should be at this time of year, in fact I had to swap to a long sleeve jersey as my arms were getting sunburnt. The summer tyres were perfect for these conditions. The long section of twisty singletrack through Friston had a shallow coating of mud that made the corners interesting and the many logs and dips much more dodgy than usual. We had one incident involving a pedal and a tree stump and I managed to stay upright (just as my life was beginning to flash past me) while sideways on a chalky section.

Our speed was relatively slow with plenty of stops for food and chatting, in total we were out for about 6 hours. We should be in for a cracking ride 29th July if we have similar weather, on the other hand if it rains.....