Sussex-MTB

Naughties in bikes

Everyone else seems to be in their stride posting best of lists and the like so I thought I’d look back at the last ten years, what I’ve been riding and how things have changed…..

Most notably I suppose at the start of the last decade I was still fairly heavily obsessed with XC racing (although that may make a bit of a comeback for me this year). I was sponsored by Southwater Cycles and my Kona spent two years in my loft as I had a sucsession of nice Cannondale race bikes to ride. So I started the decade with a Cannondale F4000SL, this was a super tricked out bike, very light and very fast too.

Cannondale F4000SL

Then the Southwater Cycles thing eventually came to an end, brought mainly by the fact they wanted me to wear a beige race shirt The trusty Kona Hei Hei came back out of retirement. This bike lasted right the way through to 1998, I had it 14 years and it had countless groupset changes, forks, wheels and everything else that goes with it. If you look at the 2000 photo and then the 2008 one you can see it went from a race set up to what would be considered a fairly trail friendly set up today. It was an amazing machine and it was sad to see it go, but it was only corrected for a 63.5mm travel fork and it had no disk mounts! It worked out to have cost me well less than a tenth of a penny per mile for the use I got from it

Hei hei 2000 - XTR v brakes, pace forks 75mm travel

Hei hei 2008 - 120mm fork, disk brakes, tubeless tyres

July 2008 everything changed, I bought a Cove Stiffee, essentially as a plaything I thought I’d ride occasionally. How wrong was I? The Kona went into the shed and only came out another handful of times for races before it was sold. This was the future, my only regret was that I didn’t get a bike like this earlier. 130mm forks 200mm disks, tubeless 2.35″ tyres run way down low. This was here to stay, or was it?

Cove Stiffee - big forks, big brakes, big tyres - BIG FUN!

Despite my love affair with the Stiffee I still fancied the ride qualities of titanium and after some careful ‘negotiation’ at home decided it was time to get rid of the Kona and the Cove Stiffee and move on to the best of both worlds, the Cove Hummer…..

Cove Hummer - trail perfection? Well I think so

So this brings us up to date. I love this bike and I’m sure I’ll have it for a long time. Like the trusty Kona Hei Hei of old I don’t doubt others will come and go in the mean time, there will be changes of forks and other kit, but I reckon this will be around for a while….

Of course as well as these there has been a constant parade of road bikes, cyclocross bikes, BMX’s, singlespeeds and jump bikes going through the revolving doors of the shed! They have all had many swaps of components, but really none of them have really hung around for long. You can have a look at all the photos in the gallery here.

What are your favourites and not so favourites from the last ten years? Lets hear about it in the comments…..

Hummerlicious

As I sit here, sore as hell, bloodied, bruised and scraped and cut, I reflect on my chalky adventure down south on SMTB’s home patch. It was Hoop’s idea.

He posted a very appealing looking ride at Whiteways early Sunday morning. I haven’t in this area since doing old school xc racing back in the day, 15 years ago, and was really tempted by the idea of revisiting the place and taking on the ‘masters of chalk’ in their own back yard. (Not that I’m competitive you understand… I spend most of my time riding the Surrey Hills and North Downs which are an entirely different surface to chalk, but, come on, how difficult can it be?

I knew from the last time I’d checked the post that Hoops, ASBO and Brian at least were in, so the standard of riding was going to be high, but hey, I can mix it with them, even on their terrain…

It was an usually late night for me Saturday night, and a 6am start, so I left home, in the dark, tired and a little concerned about the stormy weather, but the further south I got, the better the weather, and the anticipation of a proper epic of a ride grew as I drove.

On arrival I was greeted by more cheery Sussex boys than I expected – 8 in all, and after the minimal faffing and fettling we were under way, a natural order forming quickly with Hoops leading the way, me following closely with Brian and ASBO close behind and goading all the way, with the others following closely. The swoopy singletrack began instantly, and quickly turned up hill, wending its slippery way I’ve no idea where.

The ground was wet and slippery, but the sky was dry and the spirits were high, I was enjoying this! The banter was flowing freely and so were the laughs. We wound our way up and as the singletrack ended, we joined a double track and continued the climb away from the forest, surrounded by beautiful scenery, with Hoops and ASBO ahead of me…

…and Martin, Brian and the others not far behind.

After a while, and a warning about a really fast (in the dry anyway) singletrack descent, we turned left and cranked it up. Hoops led, and took off at a properly fast lick, I followed with ASBO behind. It was slippery, but staying loose and relaxed and flowing with the trail did the trick, although I did have an almighty sideways ‘brown pants’ moment that caused ASBO a great deal of amusement. I rode it out though and the confidence soared through this North Downs boy. ‘North’ could take on ‘South’, no worries… Uncle Phil continued to show us all his amazing style, fitness and finesse, Kim and Martin added fuel to the ‘hard tails rule here’ theory and Matt even managed to keep a big wheeler on the trail and make it go round corners…

All the while I had no idea where we were, but it didn’t matter – great company, great trails, banter and taking on the slippery chalk was what this ride was about.

We turned up hill again, a short but steep track to test the legs. It pains me to say, but ASBO proved that there’s plenty of power in those mighty calves as he stomped his singlespeed up the hill…

After a particularly treacherous, but quality fast descent,

…we were faced with a proper steep climb up to the SDW that forced all into a dismount, with the exception of Iron man Hoops, who got away with one dab (and a small push!)

We crossed a picturesque field, which was an opportunity to regroup and gather breath.

We continued on, the trails come thick and fast. After a couple of hours riding I was really on it, cocky confident with my new found ‘chalk wheels’. We all know what happens immediately after over-confidence…

As we turned down again, Hoops shouted a warning (or threw a gauntlet, depending on your perception…) that this was a fast and slippery descent that was awesome in the dry, but he’d never been down it in the wet. We took off, Hoops first and me following, closely at first, but he soon started to drop me. ASBO was giving it some close behind me with Martin and Brian on his tail. The trail was fairly narrow and wound its way through the trees and down the hill. It suddenly opened out and levelled slightly and passed a small derelict outhouse type building. As I went over an exposed chalky rough patch, the next thing I knew was I was bouncing on my hip, with searing pain in my thigh and knee.

It happened so quickly that I wasn’t really aware of what had caused it, but it became clear that the chalk had bitten back and caught me unawares, causing the front wheel to wash out in a flash. ASBO skidded to a halt behind, complained that my bike was in the middle of the trail, then found his compassionate side and tended to me. That hurt! Although I was cut, grazed and sore, the most painful bit was that I had been too lazy to put the camera back in my bag and had now fallen on it in my shorts pocket, breaking it and causing a deep bruise to the side of my thigh, which was really inhibiting my movement. Hoops was blissfully unaware ahead, so eventually, after a few moments of feeling nauseous and checking that my body wasn’t terminally broken, I was persuaded to get back on the bike and ride down (very gingerly!) to where he’d stopped.

He turned paramedic and patched me up very effectively (cheers pal), but I was in so much pain from my thigh and my confidence on the chalk shattered. After some recovery time, and the realisation that we were a very long way from the car, we headed onwards, and after a while I managed to settle into something of a rhythm. We climbed and descended on great trails for a good while, although I have to admit that my recollection of this last hour is mostly about pain and little about the route…

One thing I was aware of was how well Matt (I believe something of a newbie to mtb) was riding, and what mental strength and determination he has – never moaned once, always grinning despite obviously running on the reserve energy tank!

Finally we could see the masts that signified the highest point of the ride meaning downhill all the way, which was a blessed relief to this broken ‘Chalk Pretender’. We finished off on what was great singletrack (to the others – I couldn’t ride it for toffee by then!) through Houghton forest and back to the car park, just as the heavens absolutely dumped a torrent of rain onto us.

The final stats were 3½ hours of ride time, covering 28 km. It was great. I came south, gave it my best shot, and headed back North to Redhill broken and defeated. You guys can’t half ride the chalk… Respect indeed.

Sorry if you were eating!

Big Daddy

It had been a while since we’d done anything out of the ordinary and Hoops’ suggestion for a bonfire party seemed too good to miss. So everyone turned up with various food, drink and fireworks, not to mention various axes and firelighting equipment!

Ooh matron

So we set off on a short ride, first of all trying to re-aquaint ourselves with ‘Ray’s revenge’, but it proved to be too overgrown and unfortunately a fallen tree halfway along meant it was a no go. We retraced it back the other way though and the other part was still rideable

Run!

So we crossed the valley and did some stuff the other side before heading up Church lane and into the Cote Street singletrack for our pyrotechnics.

Fire

Hoops had already been forward planning and produced a load of firewood from somewhere and we soon had a roaring fire going. The the Cove and Surly frames were utilised for thier bottle openers and the party was in full swing. Beer, cider, whisky, mulled wine with rum, port, all the hip flasks were out. Marshmallows were toasted. Hoops produced pittas, then toasted ham and some sort of squeaky Greek cheese. Pete had flapjacks. Deadly had chocolate and Doritos. A right feast!

Beer

Marshmallows

Squeaky cheese

Catherine wheel

After and exciting firework display, during which no bikes or people were harmed, the fire was extinguished (don’t ask how!) and we all headed off the the Mill Lane singletrack and into the Beckett for another couple of jars.

Good times

Hummerlicious

Well, it’s holiday time again, and this time I was determined to get some riding in. We had never been to the Rockies before, so this time Durango in Colorado was our first destination. Durango is know as a mecca for cross country mountain bike trails, and it had been recommended by a friend who has done a lot of biking in the US. In fact the single speed world championship had just been held there the week before we arrived.

Anyway, after an 8 hour flight to Denver, arriving at 8:30 in the evening, we picked up our hire car, and heading south to Colorado Springs to get some miles under our belt. On waking up, the sun was out, and the views were breath taking:

Pikes peak (I think!)

Then, after stocking up on clothes, it was on the road again, for a further 7 hours before we arrived in Durango. Accommodation sorted, it just left checking that the hire bike that I had booked was ready to roll for the first days biking (brake levers needed to be swapped around).

The next day, I met up with John, from Hermosa tours , who was going to guide for me for a couple of days. We loaded the bikes onto their minibus and headed off for ½ a day riding the Horse Gulch trail system. This is a set of single track trails created by a local organisation who have done an excellent job of creating and maintaining fun single track. We could learn a thing or two from them.

The trails are hard and fast (do not go off line, as I did a couple of times, as you wash out very easily on the dirt that has built up along side the trail, not to mention the possibility of running over a cactus or rattler (in the summer)). Other wild life in this area of Colorado includes black bears and cougars, but these are rarely seen.

We start off riding up ‘Sale barn’, which was a bit of a shock. The trail was crying out to be ridden fast, but at 6000 ft, my lungs (not good at the best of times) were crying out louder for oxygen. It started off with a good climb up onto the mesa (we had a chance for a pause, to help a couple of other riders move a fallen tree off the trail), with many sharp switch backs, finally flattening out to join up with ‘cowboy’. Thankfully, this was flatter, allowing us to open up out legs through the sage brush, scrub oak and pinion pines. The end section of cowboy was another climb up to ‘Sidewinder’, with a warning to watch out for other riders sending it down cowboy. This section had a couple of jumps where (going the right way), one could easily launch into the bush.

Sidewinder was fun, very fast and flowy, with just the correct gradient….

Following sidewinder, we picked up ‘Carbon Junction’ on top of the mesa, where I nearly ran into a Mule dear.

At the end of CJ, we dropped down a section of steep switch backs to pick up ‘South Rim’, which as the name might imply, followed the edge of the mesa, to meet up with the bottom half of ‘Big Canyon’. This was one of the routes that I must return to. It made full use of the canyon and the creek bed running down it: fast, twisty, WhoopDeDos, close trees (!), wall ride, 2 miles, etc…. Unfortunately, it was too good to stop for photos.

The next day, it was off to the Hermosa creek trail. This was the route that I was most looking forwards to. Starting a nearly 9000 feet, descent 3000ft, ascent 2000ft, and 18 miles of continuous single track. The day starting ominously, with it trying to snow as we were heading up to the trail head. The trail head was up past the purgatory ski resort (10 miles north of Durango), over a col and down into an alpine meadow.

The creek started in this meadow, and then pasted down a narrow valley and exited in Hermosa, a couple of miles north of Durango. For the first few miles, the trail was open, along the valley bed

but then it slowly narrowed as the valley tightened.

to a more interesting trail. There was even ice in places amongst the rocks (John mentioned that this was the first time he had seen ice on this trail). The going then became more interesting, with the odd rocky section, and warnings to mind the roots. (John, if you ever visit here, I show you some proper roots….) After crossing the creek a few times, the trail starting following up the side of the valley,

with interesting drops should you cock it up!

Notice the bones of a scott rider

The trail continued in this fashion, following the side of the valley and feeder valleys for quite a few miles, until we stopped for a short lunch break (as it was now raining), at a spot with a good view of the Hermosa valley.

From this point on, the valley sides were not so steep, giving good a flowing trail:

and more of the yellow aspens were present in the woods. All the woods along the valleys were a marvellous selection of colours, with the leaves of all the deciduous trees changing colour. The best time of the year to come.

The down side to this, in the last 4 miles, was that now was the time to regain the altitude that had been lost. Some of the climbs made me forgive cardiac and the rope swing. John commented that the only people that he knew to have cleared these climbs had come from aspen, which is at a higher altitude to Durango!. Needless to say, I did not put my hero top on!.

These climbs were at the end of the route, which brought us out at the end of a logging road, leaving us a two mile run down to the transport and welcome shelter with a change of clothes, as it had been raining properly. I had been wearing an Enduro Baabaa top under a Berghaus soft-shell jacket, and ideal combination for the day. Needless to say, we ended up with a search for a suitable café for the traditional.

The final day, I decided on something different, as the local trails do not fare well after rain. An hours drive away in the direction of new Mexico, were the Mesa Verde pueblo Indian dwellings, one of the world heritage sites.

Well worth a visit

Strangely enough, close by, was ‘Cliffs World’! A 25 mile single track circuit out in the desert, where you could get sea sick, with the number of bends.

In the car park, I started talking to another rider who arrived at the same time as myself, who decide to stop for a ride at ‘Cliffs world’ on the way to Moab (3 hrs drive from Durango). Mitch and myself decided to explore Cliff’s World together. The trails here were very well marked out and maintained, the best section (know as the rib cage) was a ¼ mile section of WhoopDeDos and berms that followed a river bed. Great fun.

Unfortunately, this was the last day free for riding, and a return to Denver was in order to get a flight to California. We had timed it just right, as in the Rockies, snow was falling and the ski runs were opening. A longer return trip will be on the cards!

All the pictures can be found here.

Charlie

While on holiday with the family on the shores of Lake Garda in Italy, I got the chance to sneak off for an afternoon of MTBing… so with much excitement I jumped into the hire car and sped off to the northern part of the lake, where the Alps meet the shores, and mountains tower above you all around.

This particular part of Italy is a bit of a Mecca for all disciplines of cycling and I had already enviously eyed large groups of MTBers, Tourers and Roadies over the last few days (yes, even the road riding in that area is epic and looked like a lot of fun) and was pretty exited that now I was going to get a turn. My plan was a simple one… Drive to Malcesine on the Eastern side of the lake, hire a freeride MTB, use the cable car with bike lift access to get to the top of Monte Baldo at 1700m and then nail it back down.

Roadie?

After speaking with the bike hire shop it became clear that they were not going to let me hire out a freeride bike to take to the top of the mountain; I think that they believed it would take me too long to get back down and they shut at 6pm, plus I don’t think they liked the fact that I was on my own. I briefly tried to convince them that I could get down in time, but I couldn’t speak much Italian and they couldn’t speak much English so I soon gave up on that plan and plan B sprang into action. This consisted of starting the post-holiday health drive early by hiring a hardtail and riding up into the mountains as far as I could before nailing it back down. They seemed to be happier with this plan.

The Ghost

So after being kitted out with a Ghost SE 4000 hardtail I hit the slopes and started climbing up and up on a combination of narrow switchback mountain roads followed by roughly cobbled cart tracks and lung-busting mountain tracks into the Pine forests that clung onto the sides of the mountain. Keeping an eye on the time, I was hoping to clear the tree-line and get up into the Alpine meadows near the summit before having to turn around and head back down… But it was very hot and the going was pretty tough in places. Despite this, my Ghost managed to “spirit” me up to around 1200m (but still within the Pine Forests) before I had to turn around and start the descent.

On the way up my trail radar had been in full effect and I had noted some very enticing entrances to single track trails that snaked off into the depths of the forest. It was fairly obvious to me that these were trails that had been carved out by MTBs, and were certainly not official as they were not marked on any maps. After a 10 minute rest I got ready to set off back down, but not before the safety reminders that I had remembered to recite to myself. Must remember: Your brakes are continental style, ie the wrong way round. You’re using V-brakes. You’re on a 100mm hardtail. You’re on your own.

Forest singletrack

I’m not going to bore you with every last detail of what came next, but I will say that I struck gold. The Alpine forest singletrack was among the steepest and most rocky trails that I had ever ridden. On some parts I was just a passenger on the bike but all of it was awesome. I spent about 20 minutes hanging off the back of the bike, weaving between rocky outcrops and trees and dropping off rocky step downs. I’d never managed to get a set of rims as hot as I did on this part of the descent… to the point where I could smell burning rubber and had to stop regularly to adjust the brakes.

Cobbled switchbacks

After a while the forest gave way to olive orchards, holiday cabins, small farms and spectacular views across the lake… Oh, and more steep, tightly switchbacked trails all armoured with baby-head sized cobbles, similar to some of the trails experienced with Freeride Spain (Imagine the Bubion ride on steroids mated with Brutus for Men). These trails were easier to stay in control on and just so much fun, but dished out a severe beating to the body and bike and went on for miles and miles.

Baby heads

By the time I rolled back into the bike shop I had pretty much melted a set of brake blocks, removed most of the oil from the forks, somehow managed to stop the fork lockout from working and given myself a serious dose of arm pump. €10 very well spent I think!

I’d certainly recommend the area to anyone wanting to get away, especially on a cycling break, or even to mix in a bit of cycling on a family holiday. I would jump at the chance to revisit the area with one of my own bikes…

Wow what an amazing weekend’s riding!

Friday night in the Salvington singletrack, five runs with Tangledfoot testing out my new forks.

Saturday riding round Bedgebury forest, no photos unfortunately, sweet flowing singletrack (and no mud thankfully).

Sunday afternoon up on the downs with a sweet mixture of singletrack and open downland riding. Dry, dusty trails and clean bikes at the end, cheers Paulski

There’s some new photos over in our Flickr gallery now for those who want a look, I’ve finally emptied my phone at last.

Chanctonbury panorama

Slim’s 30th birthday ride

Well this was a quick test run, but I can now post photos directly from my phone straight onto the site during a ride!! Sweet