Sussex-MTB

It’s a long story that I won’t explain, but I found myself having done the school/nursery run, and with 2 hours to kill before Little Daddy needed picking up. The sun was shining (again), the ground ridiculously dry and dusty considering it is October and the lure of the North Downs in spectacular Autumn colour was too much to bear.

I was also keen to try out my new Specialized Roubaix bib ¾ tights, now that the mornings are colder. I chucked the camera in my pocket and set off (I’m fortunate enough to live just 5 minutes from the North Downs Way near Reigate hill so able to ride straight from home).

I was soon warmed up and flying a long, Metallica blaring in my ears, as I turned off the road and got settled into the long gradual climb up the side of Reigate hill.

As I climbed, the last remnants of cloud were burning off, leaving the sky a brilliant blue and the air fresh with a slight Autumn chill. As I neared the top, the track widens out and becomes rougher, the roots rocks and flints causing the suspension to work harder as I pushed the pace up the steepening gradient. I passed through the viewpoint car park and on, past the TV masts and along to the top of Colley hill, where the trail that had previously been under the cover of trees opens out into magnificent views to the south and west, looking along the North Downs and Surrey hills towards the Mecca of Leith and Pitch, and south, across to the South downs. One of the reasons we do this sport is for these moments so I took a quick stop here to absorb the panorama, take photos and drink…

I love this route for several reasons – it’s straight from home, so no faffing with cars, it’s got a great mix of fast open trails, tight techy singletrack and some big lung busting hills to make me work. The scenery is pretty impressive too. Just along from Colley hill the trail turns back on itself and disappears steeply down the scarp slope with an huge natural bermed 180° bend near the bottom to catch out the unwary speed merchants. The sign at the top just draws you in, if you know what I mean:-

It was at this point that I remembered I was supposed to do a review on the tights – the fact that I’d forgotten showed how comfortable they were. The fit is perfect, with grippers just below the knee just tight enough to stop them riding up without limiting circulation. They are lightly lined, meaning they’re cosy warm – possibly too much for these conditions, especially as I’m usually too hot rather than too cold, so I look forward to them keep me toasty through the winter. The understated graphics look really smart, finishing off a great set of tights.

The trail then meandered along the bottom of the hill line for a few miles on some cracking singletrack, in and out of the trees, and got me barrelling along at top speed. Even down at the bottom of the hill, the views were amazing, the dazzling pallet of Autumn tree colour set against the brilliant blue sky bringing me to a halt again to take it all in…

It’s maybe sad to admit, but I love a good steep technical climb, and this route has two, the first being a rutted track that is full of rubble and loose stuff all the way up. It’s a difficult technical challenge requiring a lowest gear grind, essential to get your weight as far over the front as possible to keep it down, whilst trying to keep the rear gripping. All whilst I hit max heart rate of 192. Great fun…

Once at the top, I’d reached the furthest point of this route and the trail turned on itself, and I headed back along the top of the hill for a while before the trail started to drop again. I picked up a whole lot of speed down this narrow, but mostly straight path, trying to stay out of the ruts, and enjoying the fact that the majority of the summer nettles have died back. I picked up the low trail I’d been on for a short time before the second major hill climb – the return climb up the hill to the ‘Steep Descent’ sign. This climb is more about the steepness than the technicality, in places it’s right on the limit of balance, grip and momentum, and takes nearly 3 minutes of max heart rate climbing.

Once I’d achieved it (no-dabbing for me!) the pace picked up again and I motored along the top edge of the scarp slope of Colley hill, taking in the views again and generally feeling good about life.

I then retraced my route back to the viewpoint car park, and then down off the hill along the really fast, stony and rough North Downs Way path, re joined the road and headed home.

Being a bit of a self-confessed nutter, and having really got my pecker up with this ride, I’d decided on the final descent to turn this trip into a bit of a duathlon, so home became a transition zone for me to remove spd shoes, helmet and gloves, don running shoes and set off out for a run. I won’t bore you with the details of that, save to say it was around 5k and felt good and fast. All in all, I’d had a top class morning, remembering why we like to get out there and ride, and appreciating what a beautiful part of the world we live in.

Big Daddy

Posted on October 12th, 2009 under Articles, Ride reports • Tags: big daddy, mtb, north downs, ride. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback