Sussex-MTB

During the start of this batch of snowy weather I was ill and missed out on getting some snowy rides in, so I was really looking forward to the Quest ride and getting myself bogged down in some of the stuff!

Although it was cold there was a good turn out down at Quest and the women’s ride was on the same day. As there was only the two of them this time they decided they’d tag along with us too.

Keen group

After a bit of indecision I decided to take the route up past Hill Barn golf course and the long bridleway up to Cissbury ring. Conditions were pretty good, the path had obviously been used a bit and there was a nice crusty line down the middle which allowed us to make good progress…..

Chilly!

….Until we got to the big climb in the middle! Amazingly the grip was actually pretty good up here. But about a third of the way up there had been an obvious thaw then a refreeze and there were a couple of tyre tracks that were un avoidable. These had pretty much everyone off and walking. A little further though and we were able to remount for the slog to the top.

Push time

A little bit of playing around occured further up. There were a couple of good drifts and a bundle developed! Then I stopped to take some pictures, only to have my bike buried when my back was turned! We continued through the top gate with the intention of doing the diagonal downhill to the right, but the snow was more than hub deep and it proved impossible to get any momentum at all so we gave up on that idea.

More pushing!

I decided that the lower singletracks were probably the best bet and we crossed Cissbury and dropped down the side into Findon valley. Once out the wind we realised that we were actually having a lot of fun and decided to continue for a bit longer. We crossed the A24 and climbed up Church Lane, which proved to be grippier than when there is no snow! We had to push through a couple of deep drifts at the top and then we headed back towards Salvington eager for cake!

Someone mentions cake to Uncle Phil

A quick cheeky descent and we were back into the valley and riding along the gallops trying to dodge the sledgers. It was great to get into Parklife and have a hot Mars Bar milkshake and a toasted cheese sarnie to warm up!

The rest of the photos are here.

Some pics on Martin’s photostream here.

Hummerlicious