It Looks Rideable!

You know how it is, just off the main trail there seems to be a tasty and inviting section of sinlgetrack that only requires a little push through the undergrowth. The lovely warm feeling of riding a new section that no one else appears to have discovered and it's all yours to pick the line. I tend to look for awkward bits and get stuck in while my buddy goes for more meandering twisty stuff.

A recent exploration in a local woodland resulted in a whole new area laid out before our eyes, we were spoilt for choice. After clearing a way through some dense conifer trees I spotted it, a hole made by the upturned root ball of a fallen tree, a brief look and kick of the tree and I was on my way. Big mistake, I had failed to check the depth of the leaf mulch or anything else in the bottom of the hole. Straight in and over the top! A more detailed look revealed the mulch to be approximately 12 inches deep covering a tangle of roots on the 'out' side of the hole. No chance.

Tip of the day, always check out what you are about to ride before going for it, better safe then sorry.

MTB'ers Best Friend

We often ponder what is the best thing an MTB'er can get, after much deliberation my vote goes not to expensive components, clothing or evening a new bike, the best thing an MTB'er can get is himself/herself to the end of a deer-track.

A deer-track is a ready made ribbon of singletrack taking the best line along the hillside and through the undergrowth. Roots to negotiate, logs to cross and stumps to miss are all part of a deers fun and we can take advantage of their excellent trail building skills. Cracking singletrack that some else has already taken the trouble to clear what more could we ask for.

Heaven!

Whiteways: Recce & Ride 8th Dec

We met in the car park to see water streaming down the tarmac surface, only a few other hardy souls were there, all dressed like trawler men. The lure of breakfast baps & coffee was too great to ignore so we didn’t start riding till about 10.30. If you think you know Whiteways – think again! There are masses of constantly evolving single-track with deer tracks guiding the way for some great trailblazing.

Heading north the slippery uphill trail was a brutal leg-warmer! It wasn’t long before we sought to “improve” upon nature, creating a small section designed to test your slow-speed agility & control – think Kick Start without the engines! From here, we continued down through the trees and opened up two different ways around a huge mass of a fallen tree; the second of which takes you almost through the middle of it with a very tight left-hander in the middle; another opportunity to see how much control you have at slow speed. These additions offer a definite change of pace to an otherwise fairly free-flowing section.

We linked to some of the more established single-track before heading deeper into the woodland undergrowth to visit the recently established Nomad sections including a chicane that starts with a small drop-off and weaves through a nice S-shaped gulley. At this point we spent some time weighing up the possible lines through a series of humps. Once again, some improvements on what nature had provided, soon gave us “natural high” A few refusals, a hump-crest stall, many wobbles and one total-off (yep – that’ll be me) resulted in a nice little section that needs a little more thought than brute force. Concentration is required to get the rolling speed right (not as fast as you’d think).

A lovely descent followed which rewarded us with huge smiles, muddy faces and general relief that the 4ft sideways both-wheel slides didn’t throw us off (kudos to Mike for surviving on his hard-tail – I don’t think I would have stayed upright on my old Dirttrax4). A short push up a steep slope leads to yet more lovely wooded single-track eventually taking us to THE DROP which most people will know from the previous Muddy@rse rides to this area, this should be done without too much thinking to get the full benefit – let those expensive machines do what they do best I say and let gravity pull you down.

Back at the car park – the group of ramblers huddled round the café gave us hope that it was still open. Unfortunately for us, they were just using it as a shelter from the rain so we’d have to wait till we got home for a well-earned hot drink. The Dirtworker served all 3 bikes very well and we headed home at about 3.30.

It was my first time trail building and I can’t recommend it enough. It was very rewarding and a real insight into the efforts required to create interesting & varied trails. Speaking of which – this route is approaching 90% complete so I reckon Spring 2008 could see a group ride to Whiteways that’ll have you riding in ever decreasing circles!

Devils Dyke Ride 1st Dec 07

We left Devils Dyke at 10-30 for a head-clearing ride that with careful planning we hoped would avoid the worst of the mud.

The first climb of the day witnessed the first mechanical resulting in one of the gang losing all his lower gears which made the subsequent hills increasingly difficult, mildly amusing to begin with but torture at the end. A meandering route dropped us into the top of Stanmer Woods where we repeated the Muddy@rse Halloween ride but with a couple of added a detours. Neil and Mark tried to outdo each other playing on the jumps and ramps ending in a couple of 'bike-vs-tree' near misses and the 'Missing in Action' section claimed yet another lost victim. A grassy climb and we were straight into the more established Stanmer singletrack where the wet roots were covered by a layer of wet leaf mulch, it was like riding on soap! A couple of tumbles and close-thing slips and we were out. At this stage we decided that coffee was in order so we dropped into Stanmer Tea Rooms via an off-piste descent down a steep wet-leaf covered slope - control and commitment in equal measure - a couple of rear wheel leaf ploughing demonstrations caused much ammusement. Refreshed we set out on the return leg back to the Dyke. Another meandering route and we popped out onto the A23. As a parting shot we decided to take in a flowing section of contour hugging chalk singletrack ending in a very steep and badly rutted descent. In the sunshine this is a cracking ride. We hit it at 4-30pm in the dark and in drizzling rain which turned it into a very slippery heart-in-mouth singletrack interspersed with the odd muddy section that made things really interesting. The second mechanical - my chain slipped off the cassette went over the spoke ends and got jammed against the hub - much tugging and levering before it was free.


We returned to Devils Dyke at approximately 5pm to be greeted by more drizzle and a cold wind. No cleaning, straight into the car and home. It was a cracking ride, about 35 miles on a mixture of terrain, great company and lots of laughter.

Whiteways More Trail Building

Our efforts of the last two weekends have resulted in another 80% completed section of singletrack at Whiteways, this one is about 200 meters long and twisty with some great natural obstacles to negotiate. We have opened the whole length of the trail but in some parts the route is difficult to follow, another couple of days work and it should be sorted.

After riding it a couple of times we then spent some time exploring the options to link it to our trail making efforts of earlier this summer. Once we have a route sorted these new sections will offer a nice contrast to the fast flowing established trails in this area.

A new ride is coming...

Trail Building at Whiteways

Saturday morning brought the usual downpour resulting in much discussion as to where we should: 1) avoid the wind and rain of the ridges by riding in a woodland or 2) avoid the mud of a woodland by riding on the ridges? We recently opened some new trails in Whiteways so we decided to return there with the objective of linking them together to make an extended singletrack loop and to hell with the mud.

We navigated a new 200 yard section through the trees that included some belting natural features including 2 steep tree root-ball holes, as the rear wheel is coming out of the first the front wheel is already going down the second. There is also a very large fallen tree and I reckon riding over the root-ball where the tree emerges would be a great challenge but good fun; however the approach needs much more clearing before it can be attempted - another job on the list. I had a major tumble resulting from one end of a log passing between the seat-stay and chain-stay and enbedding itself in the cassette while the other end was rammed into the ground. The resulting bike polevaluting demonstration dumped me into a pile of wood and twigs - not too much damage I only managed to impale my right knee on a stick!

This coming winter we hope to clear all the new sections so that a return group ride in 2008 will be on new trails with new challenges.

Buying a Bike

You find yourself sitting in a well known large bike retailer trying on the shoes that are out of stock everywhere else. The Saturday staff is offering help on bike choice to another ‘sunset rider’.

A casual weekend rider wants to buy a replacement for a ten-year-old hardtail and wants to spend about £500. Well, £700 perhaps, but only if it provides something worth the extra cost e.g. shiny or carbon or something, and an absolute maximum of £1000 for something really impressive. If you were that staff member you would ask about the type of riding. Not here, the potential buyer is immediately shown a discounted race bike at £1200. Not sure? how about an even more expensive downhill bike that weighs about a tonne. Looks too heavy? Perhaps a discounted Freeride model of last year, which you could wind uphill before throwing down an Alp and may just cope with a bridleway trundle across the South Downs but at double your maximum budget figure. Want to buy it immediately? No? Oh…

The staff disappear and you smile reassuringly at the disappointed face under the greying hair. The day started so promisingly. Look for a new shiny bike that rides a bit better and makes you feel good every time you go to get on it. Without wishing to spoil all his hopes, you look towards the downhill monster and smile as you say;

“ride a lot?”
“Not really”
“Have you done any research?”
“None actually”
“There is loads of information available either in any of the magazines or online and at this time of the year there are lots of discounts available you know.”
“Yeah, I need to look up some stuff I think.”

Pass on the names of a magazine and a website to start him off and hope he remembers them. The staffer returns full of facts - XT, LX, dual control, float, bling this, techno that - the customers expression glazes over.

The mountain bike market is driven by product differentiation rather than product cost. For a manufacturer this means their aim is to offer a wider range of niche products that they hope will maximize their profit rather than offer the buyer better value. Therefore spending some time looking at the internet, reading a magazine and talking to a knowledgeable friend could help you find a bike that is suitable for you.

There are good bike shops staffed by well-informed people with good product to sell but they are not all like that so try visiting a few. There could be a good deal on the internet too but it is easy to choose cheap and end up disappointed with the wrong bike. If you are less experienced, the back up of a good shop or just the free advice may be worth a premium. If you work in a bike shop try remembering that you are there to serve and not offload inappropriate sale stock; find out someone’s requirements then suggest a few reasonable choices. And please do not try to pretend you are an expert if you only jump your BMX in the street. Go get the staffer who knows a bit and hand over to them. Then get me the right size of shoes from the stockroom because I do not need any advice just someone to go and get them before I die of old age waiting.

Pitch Hill

Today we returned to Pitch Hill in the North Downs. It is 9 months since I was last here so a lot of it felt new even if it wasn't. The ground was almost bone dry and we had a blast on some of the real gnarly stuff and did all the usual trails and steep drops together with a couple that we had previously only looked at - success.

It is best not to get too carried away my buddy regularly brings his 12 year old son here who is a bit of a BMX demon, he can do everything we can and whole lot more on an 80mm travel hardtail. It is times like these that make us realise we are no longer in the prime of youth - still we had a hell of a lot of fun!

Muddy@rse Recce Ride: Queen Elizabeth Park

Today was spent putting together an upcoming Muddy@rse ride for 2008 beginning at QEP in Hampshire. A healthy dose of the newly built singletrack followed by a tour of the South Downs returning for a final whiz along the older established singletrack. Following the recent rain the chalky ground was very slippery and we all had a couple of dodgy moments.

Highlights included the new singletrack switchbacks in QEP - the berms were great fun but the bare chalk sections were deadly- followed by a serious rooty climb when we were defeated HelsBells told us that she cleaned it the previous day! The steep rocky descent into a sheltered and muddy valley was a challenge, we do this section a couple of times each year and it is steep and loose but today it was particularly treacherous and on the verge of too dangerous. There were also the usual step-ups and rooty sections. The lemon drizzle cake in the shop needs a mention - almost worth the drive on it own.

One thing we all agreed - a Muddy@rse ride for when the ground is dry.

Whiteway's New/Old Singletrack

Saturday 6th October saw a couple of us make an impromptu return to Whiteway's. Despite not having any sort of gameplan we ended up having a great day exploring a couple of little used areas and riding some trails that we first built about 3 years ago but that are now in danger of being lost to the undergrowth. My buddy had made the sensible choice in wearing trousers I was in shorts and my legs were mottled red with the nettle stings. After the first couple of hundered stings you would think that any additional ones wouldn't be felt - not so.

A couple of the trails are in the woodland in the area of the iron age hill fort where we met and upset a gaggle of ramblers, it takes more than a few winges to spoil our day and there were whoops of laughter as we dropped into the hidden glade followed by a push uphill to the start of one section of singletrack that has a couple of technical challenges thrown in. Those who have ridden with us on the Muddy@rse rides will know the sort of thing - off camber, rooty, and a couple of fallen trees to negotiate - basically technical rather than fast and flowing. The final challenge is a hole left by the rootball of a fallen tree, no real problem however this one has a 6 inch diameter root across the bottom of the hole - lovely! Then it was across to the masts at Bignor Hill for a short but very sweet singletrack section that runs slightly downhill south of the Monarchs way. More fun here with tricky log piles and tree stumps to ride over, so good I did it a couple of times while my buddy made phone calls and finished off an energy bar.

Now it was time to rediscover a playground to the north of the main fireroad drag. Yet more nettles to get through - by now my legs were mottled and the pain as the hem of my shorts touched the skin was almost unbearable. Undeterred we built a couple of log jumps and cleared the route of fallen tree debris - we were particularly proud of the 'out' as we managed to redirect the trail 15 yards east to include a short but very steep drop - total @rse on the backwheel moment.

We headed back to the carpark by re-riding all the trails we had taken on the outward journey, in this direction they were even better as after a couple of short climbs gravity was on our side for the majority of the singletrack.

A couple more run throughs and we should have a route that is 100% natural and a mix of technical singletrack with gentle fireroad climbs. But best of all it is all ours - it was obvious no-one had taken advantage of our previous work 3 years ago.

Lost Time

Everyone loses time and the key thing about lost time is that once lost you never find it again. During everyone’s day, there is a period where you could do something useful like mending a fuse, cleaning the car or baking some scones. Instead we all waste that time and it is lost. It can occur It could be at any time It could be in the morning if you work nights or even in the dark for a commuter. If you are neither a lark or an owl the gap between afternoon and evening is ideal for fresh scones, or for pedaling. If truth were told, many of us prefer the scones.

My real problem is like everyone else I do not seem to have enough time, so it becomes another exercise in balance. Work, family, friends, cars, gardens and even other people’s bikes seem to come ahead of my own bike, which despite my best efforts need lots of extra care. I ride a lot so it always needs cleaning, I tried to jump that log and now it needs repairing. It is making a tiny noise so it obviously needs absolutely everything adjusting. It has worn something out and needs replacing. Riding conditions have changed so something needs swapping. There is a new improved widget just launched that I want to get. And you have something on your bike that I like, really like, and do not need but it feels necessary somehow. Therefore, I do not have enough time to ride further, to ride more often, to ride more places or even to ride an extra local loop. I have a solution for this that does not include winning the lottery. I need to improve my time planning. How long will this take? An hour. No, it will not! By the time, I am organised and ready to start that hour has slipped away. By the time I have finished and cleared away - half a day. A meeting scheduled for an hour with everyone prepared and a fixed agenda can eat up a day and achieve nothing. Hence, the result is that the time left is never enough to go for a ride with the only exception of when it has just started to pour down of course. Therefore, I will try to be more realistic about the time for everything but plan in some rides, ideally with someone else, so I cannot change it and also to try, just try mind, to take advantage of some of my lost time.

Need to go now, almost teatime and I have arranged a ride. Make mental note - Buy ticket just in case…

Back to Leith Hill

A couple of the gang had recently visited Leith Hill and reported that it was 'bone dry' and that we should take advantage before the winter misery sets in.

We had a great time - playing around and exploring some new areas for an hour and then setting off for a ride. The trails were dry and dusty and we hammered around our regular loop. There were the inevitable 'offs', I went over a steep drop into hole that was a perfect match for the front wheel radius - straight over the bars, while one of the gang was really on form and managed a couple of slow motion washouts followed by a high speed wrestle with the bike after a nasty short but very steep drop. We ended with coffee and grub at the tower.

A great day out - we didn't even have to clean the bikes afterwards.

Back to the Playground

Return visit to the 'New Playground'.

Today we explored the northern area following an animal track into a section of conifer plantation - lots of obstacles here. We came across an area full of tame trails but they were everywhere criss-crossing and weaving in and out of the trees, hours of fun. Relying on memory from our previous visit naturally enough we got hopelessly lost. We ended up following a roller-coaster singletrack that gently descended towards a stream - yep before we knew it we were in mud hell. At this point I had the first 'off' of the day jumping off a rooty lip between two trees I hurtled straight into the back of my buddy and then into the upturned roots of a fallen tree.

We found so many trails that it will be a challenge linking the gnarly ones together but we will keep at it - more fun to be had.

New Playground

Today we headed out to a woodland that we had often talked about but hadn't got round to visiting. My buddy had done a brief exploration last weekend and found what he described as 'technical singletrack that you will just love'. Who could refuse...

We were going exploring and that usually means a lot of time off piste riding over whatever nature puts in our way. It was out with the big bikes and off we went.

Riding past the carpark and into the woodland we were aware of the looks from everyone walking dogs and pushing prams etc. As soon as we saw something that looked like a gap in the nettles in we went and we were soon off the main routes and into the thick of the action. Fallen trees, tree stumps and brushwood. By chance after about 5 metres we came across a line through the trees that looked like disused singletrack, up we went. After about 15 metres it morphed into a ribbon of dry dusty singletrack snaking through the trees, this was more like it - then it split into a two sections - which way to go? We did them both, twisty with dips, logs, stumps, root nests and fallen trees - my favorite riding. One trail led to another and although they appeared to be similar they were all in fact slightly different with varying steepness and type of dominant technical challenge, needless to say we had a great time. As we were trying to navigate our way out of the woods we came across a fairly new barbed wire fence that enclosed a section of trees, we could make out the tell-tale sign of a beaten singetrack - it would be disappointing to miss a good bit - so under it we went. Yep a singletrack playground -and not a soul in sight, we had the place to ourselves. Whoever built these trails thanks - they were great!

It has been too long since we did this type of ride, exploring and discovering new singletrack is one of lifes greatest rewards and we had an absolute blast. The aching muscles and calf's singing from nettle stings and brambles just added to the ambiance of the ride. A great day out - we only touched a small part of the woodland so we will return until we have mapped the whole area and are able to link the singletrack into one long route - watch this space.

Muddy-Hell! A survivours tale

Today a couple of us went for a blast around some of the singletrack in St Leonards & Tilgate forests. Yes we knew it had rained a fair amount during the last week or so but despite our better judgement we assumed that it wouldn't be too muddy. In fact my buddy opted for semi-slick summer tyres.

St Leonards wasn't too bad, there were a couple of patches of mud but I had expected it to be worse. The problems began as we headed across the bridleways joining the two areas of woodland together. The link across the fields had been recently ploughed and were impassable - then we arrived at Tilgate.

From bitter experience I know how muddy Tilgate can get but undeterred we entered via the sneaky twisty path and dropped over the steep roll onto the fireroad. The first omen appeared when we turned sharp left to drop over the ruts to cross the first plank bridge. At this point the mud was viscous and the ruts were about 2 feet deep - then we saw the tell tale tyre marks of motorbikes. Beyond the bridge the trail was a badly rutted swamp so we detoured along what appeared to be a passable route that took off on the right. The further we went the more muddy and rutted it became. At first we were full of bravado and launched into across the ruts and into the pools of standing water with too much care; however the further went the deeper and wider the ruts were becoming. I had a couple of comedy moment but managed not to fall in!

At the first opportunity we headed for higher ground and away from the mud, eventually we made our way out of Tilgate, we had survived. A whiz along the adjoining road and we were back in St Leonard for the final descent where we managed to get lost!

I think we will leave Tilgate for a while - most probably until next summer.

SDW Recovery

On the 12th August we rode the 106 miles of the South Downs Way in a day as part of a Muddy@rse effort to raise money for a local charitble event. Check the Muddy@rse link for ride reports.

During the week immediately following the SDW ride I noticed that I was eating significantly more than usual and in particular I was loading up with protien. Also I had no interest in fiddling or cleaning the bike for 5 days - not like me! My knees had been virtually trouble free during the ride but the following days they became increasingly stiff and sore, very noticable when descending stairs. The numbness around the @rse area disappeared after the first nights sleep so luckily no problems there.


The knees stiffness began to ease after 3 days so I figured I would be fine leading the Muddy@rse ride around Whiteways on the 19th August, so I cleaned the bike and was all set to go. After the usual milling about we set off from Whiteways carpark straight into the slippery rooty singletrack. Trails where gravity was on my side were not a problem but as soon as it went up I began to feel an ache and tightness in my knees. When I could spin the hills it was okay but as soon as I needed to put any power through the pedals I could feel the knee discomfort growing significantly. I decided that rather than risk any damage as soon as I felt I was forcing the pedals I would walk the hill. Luckily the ride was ralatively flat and I didn't suffer too much.

Back at the carpark I mentioned the knee issues to Lisa who had also done the SDW with me on 12th August. Yep, she had experienced exactly the same troubles at exactly the same points in the ride. A week and a half after the SDW ride I don't feel sore or tired although I do still have an excessive appetite for protien and I really don't fancy riding the bike.

It seems my aging body is telling me that it is not yet recovered and that I need to slow down and take it easy.


Check photos for before & after pics.

Clothing layers: works for me!

After years of experimenting with bike clothing and usually ending up way to hot I have arrived at a system that works well for me on 90% of my rides.


I use two base layers, a short sleeved one next to the skin and a long sleeved one over the top. I find the choice of long sleeved shirt is not critical as long as it wicks sweat and provides warmth; however it is essential that the one next to the skin is a fine merino wool version. The merino wool is fantastic at wicking sweat and stays warm even when saturated with either sweat or rain, I use the Howies NBL merino wool shirts, in the summer a light weight one a standard one in the winter. For the top layer I use either a second one of merino wool, a Race Face shirt or a Fox shirt. The long sleeves greatly help the comfort levels when wearing a rain of wind proof jacket.


Funny how after spending money on all types of fancy shirts and jackets the simple 'layering' system is the best for me - a lesson learned here try the simple things first and don't get carried away with the latest bit of gear or advertising.

Muddy@rse Ride Whiteways 19th August Recce

The next Muddy@rse ride is at Whiteways Just north of Arundel on 19th August. The first half of the ride is a repeat of our last ride here in January but this time we have added more singletrack on the return leg. Total distance is approximately 20 miles but we have the option to either cut short or extend it depending how everyone feels on the day. We have cut out the painful slog of the Monarchs Way that caused a few red faces last time. There is nothing 'dodgy' on the ride and all technical sections have an alternative. As always with South Downs rides there a some hills but nothing remotely steep. None of us are racers and no one will get left behind.

As in January we start by dropping into the trees behind the cafe and snake down to the fireroad and through 'The Jungle', a section of little used singletrack that is covered in ferns and general healthy woodland growth. A few comedy moments here as we both ended up with undergrowth grabbing the bars. Up to the top of Rewell wood followed by the long open and smooth downhill to the bridleway cross-roads. At this point we deviate from the January route and head south west along a ribbon of singletrack with drop on the right hand side, for obvious reasons we often refer to this as 'Tony's Ridge'. A quick detour of 20 yards on the road and a cheeky route back into the woodland for a gentle descent ending in an overgrown rutted track. Now ride or push uphill for 20 yards for the 'Rim Ride' followed by the 'Panda Garden'. Through Slindon woods taking in 'The Drop' & 'The Tree' and then a steady climb to Bignor Hill. Return to Whiteways via the usual singletrack in Houghton Woods.

The cafe at Whiteways is well stocked but out on the ride there is nowhere to buy food or drink of any type. Carry plenty of food and drink with you.

Check the photo section for a taster of some of the new sections added to this ride.

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.....

Friston Forest Hidden Trails

Shock horror a day off work coincides with warm sunshine and no rain!

It is a while since we visited Friston Forest, in fact last time one of our gang was unlucky enough to get a log through the spokes of his front wheel resulting in a major crash.

With the warm sun in our faces we set off up one of the paths that quickly changes into a ribbon of secret singletrack that gently climbs while twisting and turning around trees and tree stumps. At the end of the well beaten path we dip straight into the partially hidden entrance of one of the secret little trails and continue to climb crossing little dips that require lifting the front wheel to bridge the gap and crossing a multitude of logs both large and small. A couple of trees have fallen very recently blocking the route causing a little off-piste adventure before rejoining the trail. We continue to the very end emerging on a fireroad just below the bomb-holes and dew pond at the north east end of the forest. Inevitably the trail cuts through sections that are overgrown with nettles and brambles, hours later the gentle tingling on the shins is a reminder of the ride.

A quick detour and we are at the beginning of the MTB Technical Trail. There are a couple of singletrack sections but overall the trail is too worn and we are too familiar with it to find any excitement. However the Technical Trail climbs past the bomb-holes and therefore provides a good link back onto our secret singletrack trail. This time made a short de-tour to check out the north shore constructions just off the secret trail, everything has been trashed. With gravity on our side the ride back to the carpark is a lot more enjoyable than the climb earlier in the day.

A day off work and a 4.5 hour ride in the sun with no sign of rain. A day well spent.

'MTB-Nomads on the trail' for more photos.