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.

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.

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.

Muddy@rse Ride 19th August

Another Muddy@rse ride today. Check the photo section and the Muddy@rse link for a report.

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.

At last a dry day..

After almost two months of grotty rain and wind at last we have a dry day.
We decided to stay local this weekend with a ride from Whiteways this was partly due to a mid-day start and partly due to me buggering up my knee a couple of weeks ago and not wanting to stray too far from a ride home.

Suffice to say we explored a couple of new areas with off-piste riding and revisited some trails that we had not ridden for what seemed like years. Some of the trails were completely overgrown resulting in a couple of comedy moments as front wheels landed in hidden animal holes while arms and legs were attacked by brambles. All in all great day capped off by coffee and grub at the cafe.

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

Muddy@rse Recce Ride: Devils Revenge

Devils Dyke to Ditchling Beacon is a simple straightforward run suitable for anyone with reasonable fitness and a little experience on a mtb. Not this ride, our route does not use the South Downs Way. The usual Muddy@rse Recce crew set off from Devils Dyke carpark just after 11-00am and we did not return to the cars until after 5-00pm.

The route meanders down, up and around the hills between Devils Dyke and Ditchling Beacon. There is a dose of sinewy singletrack that must be ridden with commitment, a couple of downhill sections that can really be blasted, some wooded singletrack and more than one brutal climb. The ride finishes with a gentle singletrack descent leading to a steep grassy bank pock-marked with rabbit holes and grass tufts followed by a final climb up Devils Dyke.

This is a tough ride, see you all in June.

Captain Hook's Bike Ride!

As usual the weather over the holiday weekend was pretty miserable yet as soon as it is time to return to work the sunshine comes out. After two days of torrential rain it was back to work on Tuesday accompanied by cloudless sky and warm sun. We met up at Devils Dyke for a run through the first section of the upcoming Muddy@rse ride and combined it with a little trail clearing. We were also keen to have our first attempt at a tasty looking singletrack we had recently spotted.

After the singletrack descent down the side of the Dyke we cleared a fallen tree that had irritated us for a couple of years and continued on our way. A couple of brutal climbs and one long fast downhill later and we became aware of a periodic squeak eminating from the BB area of a guys SC Blur. On we went across a trail that was very badly horse damaged and then down the singletrack descent that was every bit as tasty as it looked. All the while we were serenaded with the increasingly loud squeak that was now clearly audible with every rotation of the Blur's crankset. On inspection the Blur frame was twisting about 1 cm with each push on the driveside pedal, worrying. Our buddy is taking the plunge and buying a new bearing kit together with two new swing links; hopefully this will solve the problem and prevent damage to the frame.

As we were returning to the Dyke a couple of us could judge our buddy's distance together with his pace by the bottom bracket squeak. The immediate thought was of 'Peter Pan' where the crocodile that follows Captain Hook can be heard approaching due to the fact that it has swollowed a ticking clock. Once this fact had been pointed out it was the cause of great merriment and laughter that made the ride back to the car pass very quickly. In fact the story of Peter Pan is more than a little apt to describe us, we are trying to 'ride our bikes as childishly as possible as often as we can' in an effort to slow down the inevitability of advancing years. Big kids trying not to grow old!

'Festive Treat' Trail

Taking advantage of the fine weather we headed into one of our favourite riding spots close to Brighton, the trails were 90% dry with just enough dampness to provide grip in the loamy soil. We ride here regularly and have adopted the practice of giving the guy who finds the trail the honour of naming it.

First up was the 'Wilderness' trail including the recently built jump over the large fallen tree. The top of the tree had a few old chainring marks where some unlucky soul had tried to get over it; however the pile of logs in front of it now provide a great launch pad for a jump that really allows the flow of the trail to be maintained. 'Wilderness' was followed by the end of 'Teenage Angst' after which we popped out onto a fire-road.

It was here that the fun really began. One of our gang had his eye on a steep tricky descent that included negotiating two fallen trees on the way down, he had previuosly christened this section 'Festive Treat' so the name has stuck. After the descent we climbed slightly and turned sharp right. At this point 3 hours of trail building armed with nothing more than muscle and our imagination produced approximately 400 meters of singletrack including a roll over a log pile, a bridge across a large fallen tree and a very twisty section to finish. After all the building we gave the trail it's christening run, yep you guessed it none of us cleaned it.

A great day out, a new trail and some serious comedy moments. What more could we ask for!

St Leonards: 3 Rivers Ride

Saturday 19th May saw us return to St Leonards Forest with the objective of riding the singletrack we already know and also exploring a couple of areas that we have skirted around but not dived into. Both the wide chalky fireroads and the wooded singletrack were surprisingly dry considering the rain of the past couple of weeks and shortsleeved shirts and shorts would have been the ideal riding gear. I was rather hot in trousers and long-sleeved shirts.

We followed the loop from the recent Muddy@rse ride including the first water crossing until we popped out on the main drag 100 metres north of Mick's Cross. From here we headed back into the trees and scanned the left for either route into the trees or a deertrack. We spotted something and went in. We were on an old trail that had been used by bikes as many stumps and logs etc had chainring marks on them. On we went until we found ourselves on a narrow singletrack that followed the contours around side of a hill with a stream below us on our left. We assumed this was the stream we had previously crossed and confidently followed the singletrack to emerge at a log bridge across the stream, over the bridge and uphill to the left. We were back where we started! Puzzling. After scanning the map for ages we realised that this was in fact not the stream we thought it was eg our first stream crossing of the day. Undeterred we headed back up the main chalky fireroad looking keeping our eyes open for signs of trail activity. We were starting to get our bearings and realised that there is much more good riding here than we first thought.

At the fireroad crossroads just north of Mick's Cross we headed into an area that we had not previously explored. We soon found a narrow singletrack, initially through trees but then just kissing numerous gorse bushes as we crossed an area of scrubland, across a fire-road and we continued on another twisty trail through the woods. Following this we emerged above yet another stream, over it we went and turned down an interesting looking twisty trail. After approximately 100 metres an air of recognition came over us and we realised that we were retracing the route of the Muddy@rse ride! At this stage we had been riding for 5 hours so decided to call it a day and headed back to the carpark via our newly discovered contour hugging singletrack.

A great ride, the highlight for me was discovering a new belting bit of singletrack that can easily be added to our usual route to make a trail of singletrack heaven. The highlight for my buddy was following me as I blattered along the newly discovered singletrack straight between two trees that on inspection proved to be 2 inches closer together than the width of my handlebars, my buddy arrived laughing loudly and proclaiming that it was obvious that I would not get through the gap just as I was picking myself up from a bog of leaf mulch and water. At least it was a soft landing!