Breakfast at 9.00 in Castleton, Derbyshire meant leaving the house at 5.00am and heading off up the M1 to Chesterfield, followed by a bit of cross country shenanigans. After getting mildly lost, I was having a light cyclist breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, tomatoes, black pudding, mushrooms, another sausage, fried bread, toast and marmalade by 9.20. 

I had two full days of Peak District cycling ahead of me with my friends Simon and Tom, and was looking forward to the challenge. After getting changed, (and letting my breakfast go down a bit) we were off by about 10.30 and headed up towards Hatton Cross. The gradual ascent developed into a full-on bike carry for the last 50 (vertical) metres leading up to the ridge. 

A quick breather to admire the view and we were off again. We followed the ridge along and up the stone flag steps to Mam Tor. These slabs were really odd to ride on, as they were exactly the wheelbase of the bike, making it an awkward bump up each time. We were still fresh though, and reached the summit with plenty of life left in us. Being with a Bi-cyclist (does tarmac and mtb) we decided to head down the road, very fast, to the stream at the bottom of the valley and then west to the beginning of Jacob’s Ladder.

Again the terrain headed upwards and ruckcycling became a necessity on more than one occasion; how some people manage to clean this was beyond me. At the top we passed Edale Cross at the gap in the wall and then began a blast of a descent down to Hayfield, and lunch.

Two pints and an enormous steak sandwich went down very nicely as we sat in the sun and complimented each other on our mtb prowess before finally deciding to jump back in the saddle and a long steady climb back to Castleton via the Pennine Bridleway and onto the road again. We were only a couple of miles from home now and at the top of the Winnats Pass – a steep road through the dramatic rock gorge. My mates left me for dead at the top and when I finally met them at the bottom, with glowing red brake discs and the strong smell of cooking brake pads I was told that Tom’s trip computer had registered just shy of 50mph!! He had to slow down because the cars were holding him up!!

Day 2 started with another light breakfast and were then off towards the reservoirs to the north; into Hope village first, past Eighteen Bikes and then left and onto the old Roman Road leading diagonally up the side of the hill.

The Beast was up there somewhere……

Another tough climb followed, with some pushing here and there, but no carrying this time. Eventually, we reached a crossroads. To the right was the Beast’s Lair. We gingerly carried on down the increasingly ragged path and arrived at a gate and then on, into the darkness of the wood and what lay in beyond…… 

The trail was an orgy of rocks, holes, loose stone to throw you off and boulders up to your axles. I headed down with trepidation, carefully picking my line. As my confidence grew I gained speed and leapt off the drops until I finally buried my front wheel into a hole that I hadn’t seen. Somehow I managed to get my weight right back, prevented myself from doing a somersault dismount and off I went again without a dab! At a convenient point I stopped to wait for my friends to catch up. I was breathing harder at this stage than I was during any of the steep climbs of the day before. My hands were shaking with the adrenaline surge. We had a quick “ ‘kin’ ‘ell” moment before clipping in for more of the same. The extreme nature of the trail just didn’t let up until we finally made it to the bottom. The Beast had been out to get us but we fought valiantly and made it out un-scathed. My God! Who needs drugs when you could ride that every day?

A bit more of a climb took us up another hill and over the other side was Derwent Water and Ladybower reservoir. A fast bumpy downhill took us screaming to the water’s edge, where to the stirring sounds of the Dambusters we headed towards the dam with its two towers. A brisk lunch stop at the café and we headed off towards Bamford around the side of the lake on the dirt tracks with a few pieces of cheeky single track thrown in for good measure. Finally we ended up back in Hope village at the Blue Apple Tea Rooms for a much deserved coffee and a slice of Mountaineer’s Cake.

Day 3 started with the usual breakfast, but unfortunately I had to head back to Haywards Heath. I had had an offer accepted on a house we wanted to buy in Horsham and it was my 20^th wedding anniversary! So I bade farewell to the fantastic scenery and my chums and headed back to the M1 and home with a big bunch of flowers….

Big Ade

Posted via email from jimbosussexmtb’s posterous

Posted via email from jimbosussexmtb’s posterous

With a slight degree of nerves – this was my first night ride in a long time – and a large bucket of excitement I arrived at Sussex University Sports Carpark. I met Simon – who I’ve ridden with a fair number of times – and got my bike ready. As the clock ticked towards 7pm, various people showed up and did the same with various people introducing themselves to the new faces – mainly myself.

With everyone ready, we set off into the woods. We did lots of nice climbs and some dusty single track. Compared to what I had been used to recently – mostly open tracks and muddy bridleways – this was a breath of fresh air. We had tight corners along tight paths whilst going down up and down hills. It would give me great pleasure to give you a blow by blow description of each of the trails that we encountered but with a mostly new location containing new trails with new people means that most of it was a blur.

Instead I shall relate some of the more memorable parts:

Picture a scene of a large tree trunk lying horizontally. There is a ramp up one side joining a ramp on the other. This middle section of the tree is about a metre high. The ramps are a little off camber. The aim of the game is to ride up one side, make your way over the trunk and down the other side. You get bonus points for style, not falling off and surviving with most of your bones intact. The trick it seems is to not even think about it, get some speed in your wheels and go for it. The bike knows how to do the rest. Although daunting the first time, several of us nailed it and even went on to do it again. It was good fun and felt nice to have places on the ride to push your skills, improve your confidence and have a nice cup of fear.

Turning on the lights. This was my first ride with my own set of lights – would they fit the bill? Would they provide the right conditions so that as the darkness crept in, I could keep up with the pace? Not only did they do the job I can still remember myself giggling inanely as the light went and we were darting through the forest. There really is no experience quite like pedaling as hard as your legs will take you into the darkness with just your lights guiding the way. It is also quite a visual feast to see a train of mountain bikers heading off into the forest in front of you with lights blazing – makes the forest pretty magical.

The company. The company was excellent, a great ride is only possible with a good group of people around you. Not only was the banter good covering all sorts of topics but when people had problems – mainly someone taking a bale – others were there to help and make sure everyone was ok. I was made to feel very welcome by the nice chap leading the ride and was instantly made to feel part of the group.

All in all the ride was great fun and I remember clearly feeling a little disappointed as we headed back to the car park. I’d enjoyed myself so much that I really didn’t want the ride to finish – a true testament to how good it was. I did console myself with the fact that I would be back next Thursday enjoying another ride with the group!

Crut / Cruttlefish / Darkrock

It was a rather sunny day and there were 7 of us who started at the shop: Hoops, Martin, Tim, Uncle Phil, Jimbo, JCB and me – Tommo. After a quick snack grab from the shop we headed up towards Clapham Woods. Dust aplenty, we blasted through the woods at full tilt loving every second of it. Super fast and very grippy. On the last twisty section before the church, Uncle Phil’s XTR rear mech snapped clean in two. Nobody knows how for sure, but he did fall onto that side of the bike whilst stood waiting for me to drain my vein. It was here that Uncle Phil left us. 1 down, 6 to go.

A gate!

Tim.

From the church we went down onto the road and up the steep climb through stinging nettle alley, which was still clear fortunately. Up dog sh1t alley to the top gate where the singletrack loop in APE begins. Concerns about moisture weren’t necessary as it was mostly dusty and the trails were fast, albeit some bits super bumpy. The bluebells were just starting to make an appearance, give it a week and it should be a sea of blue. Eventually we worked our way round to the dover car park and along the bridleway towards the new section in the pine tree plantation, past the old fiesta and along the path towards Warningcamp. Up the hill towards The Valley and into Burpham after some cheeky snap shots. It was here that Tim toddled off with some threats of violence unless he was back home to straighten a shelf and mow the lawn. I reckon he needed to get home to epilate. Again.

Tim

JCB.

It was nice to see JCB, not seen him for ages. After we dropped Tim, we headed out past Peppering Farm and along the bridleway towards Amberley which goes through the flood plain. It was still very moist in places but not unrideable. At the top JCB announced he was off over to Shoreham!!

JCB

Jimbo.

After a quick tang stop we blasted down the singletrack to Amberley and a quick water stop at the tap by the pub. Up onto the SDW climb towards Whiteways which was hot, Jim decided to head off home. At this point I did want to go too but with Scotland coming up I know I need to get the miles in so continued to chase Hoops and Martin.

Jimbo

Tommo.

Up at the to by the field, Hoops got the chest cam out and we blasted through the singletrack, then up to the denture. By this time my legs were crying and I bonked quite badly. A quick banana and down the denture as fast as I could go in front. Its amazing how you can ride when you are on film! All the way along to the bomb hole was fast as fook! Endorphined up we headed back towards the café and over the road up the singletrack and down towards the trout farm via all that lovely singletrack. Sweeeeet! Then we had to tramp it back along the road due to time constraints. It was at Hammerpot that I left Martin n Hoops. Who knows what they got up to after that, they could still be riding for all I know! I had a BBQ to attend so had a quick shower and we were off for a meat feast mmm.

Martin & Hoops

Martin

Hoops (apologies if you're eating!)

Until next time my fellows.

Tommo

I was running late and Uncle Phil passed me on the way and kindly stopped to pick me up, so after a quick preparation we were off. The first downhill section was super fast and a sign of things to come with Steevo hooning past a couple of people. Super fast and endorphined up we headed up to OTF. We all blatted down there fast as we could commenting on the build quality of Hoops and ASBO’s efforts of the berms and ladder drop! Along the path towards the rope swing climb, the sun was setting, and the first of many mechanical stops with Chard fixing a broken chain.

Kill the cameraman!

Up to the LT which was running super fast. Steevo somehow managed to pass ASBO down there! And somehow I managed to jar my back which resulted in a lot of pain like a red hot steel rod being poked into the muscles of my lower back. It hurts even more now. Grrr. Anyways, up we went to the Nature Trail where ASBO needed to fix his saddle after breaking the bolt last week. Hooning down the valley it was like a rutted mine field in the bottom, nevertheless bloomin fast. ASBO had another saddle fettle then round Steyning bowl where Si needed some bike adjustments. Then the climb. It’s a toughie with a few sections that can have you off if you don’t concentrate. Steevo wasn’t interested in riding to the last rider up on this one!!

Then we hit the super fast gravel downhill where Jim sliced his front wheel open (I did wonder why he was braking down there!) and with that repaired through no mans land towards the bottom of Cissbury. Then the long fast grassy downhill, along the path to the A24. And that was that, then the express to the pub, where some wierdo’s do hang out. After three pints of the black stuff I finally got home after 12.30, knackered.

Sweet beer, is there nothing it can't do?

Tommo

Having not seen Jim for ages, arriving at the shop I jumped straight in the El Guapo and had a short spin down the road. The forks were very plush indeed (buy them Jim!) and the rear suspension felt nice too after a few rides up kerbs!!

We set off and immediately hit some mud. Yuk. But alas this was short lived and the remainder of the ride was fairly dry with easily dodgeable puddles, except the bottom path towards the rope swing climb.

ASBO quickly discovered that buying cheap means buying twice and sheared the bolt from his seat pole, fortunately Felly had a seat pole bolt which bodged the seat back on nicely. Shrimps and bananas aplenty while we waited and off we set for the Steyning singletrack.

Down we went and Hoops had eyed a rather nice drop into a huge berm like corner. Lit with several high powered LED’s he hit it fast and discovered a whopping step up jump the other side. I bet you can’t do it Hoops. (Bait set, watch him go!)

Along to the rope swing climb and up where a feast of crack turtles, toblerone, American hard gums, crème eggs, whiskey and sports beans awaited! A calorific intake if ever there was, suitably followed by the sprint to Cissbury.

A deviation of the sheep track then the cheeky singletrack and to the pub. See ya Dave! Interestingly we saw 3 separate bonfires/bivvy nights in full swing, which prompted discussion of when we should get out on one. Personally I think we should do a back-to-back with an overnight at OTF and another over in Slindon. Mmm, bacon cooked on a hot log for breakfast, can’t beat it.

In the pub we had a couple of cheeky pints, half an Eccles cake, some cheesy chips and some banter. Lovely.

Until next time.

Tommo

As ever I like to make it worthwhile and get people to work for their downhills, so there were to be a few nice climbs included as well, just to get the old pulse racing a bit

Despite the rain the night before the ground was still in pretty good shape and it meant we made good progress up the side of the golf course, before dropping over into findon valley and riding the singletrack that skirts around the bottom of cissbury ring. We crossed the A24 (after waiting an age!) and headed up the long climb up the side of the horse field onto the top.

Crossing over the long furlong we joined up with the South Downs Way and headed West towards Storrington. We stopped for a bit of a pre-downhill briefing, just so everyone knew exactly what lay ahead. It also gave Mike a chance to turn on his new helmet cam before we made the chase down into the village….

Climbing up out of Storrington back onto the SDW legs were getting tired as can be witnessed by this graceful demonstration of dismounting…

Back into Worthing and a slightly unfortunate incident saw Earle lying on the ground again, this time in pain! Fortunately though everything was still attached and working and we headed into the town for some delicious Parklife goodness. Unfortunately I was shaking so much by then that the obligatory cake photo ended up rather blurred!

Hummerlicious

I’m only talking the Lakes here, but after a couple of hours riding, (well, pushing and carrying might be a more honest description) it had become clear that at least one of our group (of 6) was more a Trail Centre rider than an ‘adventurer’!

We were staying near Patterdale in a cottage that had been recommended (and didn’t disappoint!) which happened to be within a mile or two of a route in the March MBR mag. It did involve a bit of a slog from the house up an un-rideable trail to get on to the MBR loop. The blurb that went with the map said it took some “top X Country racers 6 hours to cover the 23 miles” now if that’s not a challenge I don’t know what is!!

I love the physical challenge of the riding you get in areas like the Lakes, our route was to take us up to 840m but we had to miss off the last peak due to the time constraints of the hours of daylight at this time of year, sure, most of us had lights with us, but I’m not that comfortable with being out in the wilderness after dark. It was great to have good long climbs without having to “do a Sparky” and session Cardiac Hill!!

We did seem to do a lot of climbing, there were lots of false summits and my motivational speech to my disgruntled companion went along the lines of “well, you never know, we might get over the top of this peak and find the best bit of downhill ever” did I believe it myself? Of course not, but it’s all part of the team work, and besides, he’s not that stupid! – We were both in for a surprise!!!

We hit what for 98% of the year is a probably a very boring grassy field (with at least one stream running through it as I will mention shortly!) in absolutely perfect snow field conditions! I honestly can’t think of a better time I’ve had on a bike, you had to learn to ride it while picking up some serious speed, gentle movements gave slight changes in direction, more severe movements left you going straight ahead with the bars crossed up, either way with a big smile on your face!

This levelled the playfield a little, Sos, who’d accidentally(?) left his virtual slick London to Brighton tyres on his bike, was now hooning along next to the others! What a laugh, I was about to trudge back up for another go, despite having spent a large part of the day doing just that! Unfortunately time was against us.

Having stopped to take some pics I was playing catch up, going a little faster than was safe/comfortable I noticed, slightly too late, a telltale hole in the snow and as my front wheel plummeted through the ice in to the stream below and I was overtaking my handlebars I also noticed the set of tyre tracks going around the aforementioned hole in the snow!! Oops.

Undeterred I had to go even faster to catch up and did exactly the same thing again, Doh!! This time with the bike on top of me trapping my leg between the frame and bars and getting a nice dose of cramp in my thigh!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Trail Centres, but I love a good Journey too. I’ve ridden from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn over 8 days, done the Coast to Coast in 5 and they aren’t guaranteed good fun, there are miserable times in harsh conditions but you get a hell of a sense of achievement at the end of them!

From my 30 quid Cateye computer we covered 21 miles in 3hrs 53 mins at an Ave of 5.3mph. Obviously this wasn’t recording much when my bike was off the ground being carried or at times going too slowly to register!!

Stats from one of the guys GPS’s
Length 32.4km
4 hrs 36mins travelling
Av 7.1kph
Total ascent 1224m
Max height 802m
Max rate of descent 76m per minute (Don’t ask me why you’d want to know that!)

Pike

09-03-10 leith hill ride

Originally uploaded by www.sussex-mtb.com

Tuesday night’s ride route from Leith Hill. We’ve had a pretty tough time with the weather in the last few months. It’s amazing that a couple of weeks of dry have turned some trails into near summer like conditions in places! Leith Hill’s ‘Summer lightning’ trail is running like an absolute dream, so much so we did it three times!

Catching up with people not seen for a while, fast dry trails, good times

For a while it was looking like not only was there going to be quality, but also quantity as many and varied names appeared on the list, and plenty of jostling for car spaces took place, but, cometh the hour, the throng melted away, and we were left with Hoops (obviously), the mighty Tony and my good self to wend our way up the M1 in blazing sunshine.

The plan was for Tony and I to go direct to Chicksands, with Hoops joining us later. There was a slight chill in the air on arrival, but (at long last) the sky was blue, and despite hysterical ramblings on the forum about needing mud spikes, the ground was dry and lush. The steeds were readied – myself on my trusty Ellsworth Joker and Tony on his Mythic Rampant and we headed off for a few warm up runs on the 4X track.

Joker at Chicksands

Tony's Mythic

We spent a while on the track, but I find it difficult to master and prefer the dual course, so soon headed over there to start sending it properly. Off the start ramp and into the first double (containing the one area of dampness we encountered all day) then on into the first berm and drop we headed, side by side, succumbing to the competitive urge and adrenaline rush…

Tony dual

Daddy dual

We rode the course over and over, gaining confidence and speed, jumping bigger, further and faster, and after a while a familiar character in a SMTB shirt joined us at the top of the hill. Hoops was straight into it and wanting to try out his helmet cam, so we continued to fly down the track and push back up, enjoying the fantastic conditions…

Hoops railing berm

Tony on start ramp

After a top session on the dual track, playing with the helmet cam, racing each other and generally looning, we decided to move to the freeride area. At this point I was happy to play with my dad’s SLR camera as my hand is still not properly fixed from my road crash and riding drops was not a great idea!

Hoops went straight for the big run – a large cut away drop into steep descent, straight into a very large double jump, completing it with ease, adding more speed and height. Very impressive.

Hoops drop in

Hoops high time

Meanwhile, Tony was sessioning a different line and building up his confidence to get airbourne – both riders in their zone and egging eachother on to bigger and better things. Tony went for a drop in, riding sooo smooth…

Tony drop in

Then Tony and Hoops were both eyeing a double with a difficult bermed entry and trying to work out the speed needed to clear it. After a couple of aborted run ins, all of a sudden Hoops came in, railing that berm and set for take off – clearing it with some style…

Hoops double

We were doing really well, the standard of riding was top notch and things were going great. There was one thing though. Hoops had something on his mind. Something that he couldn’t let go of. He kept going to the bottom of the big run and looking at the monster double that has been on his mind for a very long time. Last time I was here with him it was the same. Looking. Thinking. Looking. A few mumbled words – speed. Trajectory. Speed. I can do it.

All of a sudden the covert visualisation technique seemed to win out. There was light in his eyes. He had belief. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Actually, best not contemplate that – don’t want blood in a new motor…

Before I knew it, he was at the top of the drop in with fire in his eyes and I was lying on my belly, camera set up thinking that I’d left my phone and first aid kit in the car… He set off, tonking into the drop, carrying massive speed down the bank into the first jump, which he cleared easily. He carried his speed down the second slope and into the final berm, pedalling hard. He set himself, full commitment now – no time for backing out – and hit the take off….

Hoops big double

Hoops big double 2

KIN HELL!!!! That was awesome! He hit it perfect and nailed the landing on the downslope as if he’d done it a hundred times. Much respect to that man for that jump…. There was plenty of whooping and yelling from Tony and myself, and then the muffled and understated words from inside the full face lid… , “what a rush…”. Even the steady Hooper hands had a little shake going on!

He repeated the jump a second time, capturing it on helmet cam, and a third – at which point came the “I think it’s time to stop’ words from inside the lid as he dropped the nose big time on landing, using the full 180mm of travel, and now needing a new pair of pants.

Hoops double 3

After some collective gathering of breath, we headed back to the dual track for some final looning about, filming with the headcam whilst all 3 of us raced down, fighting for the same landing space, and generally having a ball.

We packed it in around 4 and headed our separate ways, it seeming fitting that the first thing hoops does with a new car is fill it with stinking bike gear and bung a bike on the roof. Nice one.

Now, there was a deal that whatever happened on the trip stayed on the trip, so all I can say about the journey home for Tony and I is…

How’d we miss that????

Big Daddy