Stanmer Woods: New Trail

This evening I had a quick blast around Stanmer Woods with the purpose of enjoying the mud and slippery roots. I did my usual run starting at the very top where the woods meet the open fields and nipped into the singletrack immediately on the right. Boy was it slippery. The bike moved sideways at each corner with tree roots (just about all the corners!) , in many cases the roots were buried by leaves and I was riding with the last of the summer carelessness.

I thought I knew Stanmer woods pretty well but tonight I found a new trail and I don't just mean 10 metres linking two older ones together, no the new trail was of the order 800 metres in total. How had I not found this on previous visits? There were no tyre marks so I assume it is not widely used by the mtb groups that ride in this area. The trail itself began with approximately 200 metres of gentle descent then entered an wooded area with lots of fallen trees many of which were across the path. Many places required stationary balance and turning on the spot to navigate around trees and stumps, in the summer this would be very difficult as the approach speed would be much greater. I got carried away and rode it twice just to make sure it was as enjoyable as I thought it was. I made it back to the car at 18:25 just as it was turning from dusk to dark, a close shave as I didn't have lights and Stanmer woods are a pretty spooky place in the dark on your own.