Jo nails rooty drop
A cracking ride, great weather and many laughs. A figure of eight loop taking in some well known and less well know trails on Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill with a relatively swoopy climb back to the carpark via the Greensand Way.
The start was delayed 15 minutes as Neil had a shopping trip to Nirvana Cycles for flat pedals as he had forgotten his spd shoes. We set off for the climb to Leith Hill tower with Neil kitted out with red pedals complete with reflective inserts – ‘spangle boy’. Across to ‘Summer Lightning’ via the drops and very greasy descent to ‘Waggle Dance’ followed by the usual grind up the rooty climb back to the tower, a couple of us spinning on the wet roots and rocks but we grouped at the top for coffee and food. Off into what we call the ‘wumpy’ trail narrowly missing a couple of elderly walkers who e despite our apologies were not pleased. At the entrance to the ‘wumpy’ trail we picked up a truly international group who joined us for the trip to Peaslake; Len, Stig and Terne, a Canadian, Norwegian and Dutchman respectivley. A brief play in the jump area followed by more singletrack down to the quarry where we all made the gnarly descent which was very slippery due to recent rain. Halfway down the descent from the carpark we spent a few idle moments jumping off a rock and then onwards to the rocky climbs up to Holmbury Hill. We took a wrong turn on the ‘Reservoir Dogs’ trail which resulted in discovering a new section of singletrack that was great fun and much to our surprise popped us out almost directly opposite a trail we knew very well. A welcome coffee in Peaslake via ‘Barry knows best’. As soon as we climbed onto our bikes our stiff legs told us that we had rested too long, the first part of the climb back to Holmbury Hill was painful for all. We made our way to the carpark via ‘yogurt pots’ and ‘telegraph road’ followed by a literal grind along the Greensand Way.
Four and half hours of fun ended with everyone’s gears crunching and grinding due to the gritty mud and sand. Highlights were the near over-the-bars moment on a steep rooty descent, the stall in the water filled ditch on telegraph road and Neil’s spangle bike made me laugh every time I looked at it. A decision to make this a monthly run was taken, we now just need to agree the dates.
