Category Archives: Ride Reports

if you are not sure…..

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Having lived within easy driving distance from North Wales, moving to Shoreham was a worry – I was desperate to find some challenging single track, and trails worthy of regular riding.

I stumbled across Brighton MTB website a few times, and as I was still in need of a good local ride, and some new faces to ride with, I decided to give the informal meet a go.

I have not been disappointed so far; I’ve now ridden with the group on 3 consecutive weeks, each week being entirely different, bringing new challenges, and new faces.

It’s great to be discovering so many great trails at Stanmer park, they’re technical and varied, but no matter what your skill level, everyone involved is always prepared to help out with advice on your riding technique, and will always ride at a pace that suits everyone.

I will definitely be riding with these guys on a regular basis; informal, friendly, and no issues if you’re not up to speed. Definitely worth giving it a go if you’re not sure!

Luke

First group ride…

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First group ride ever so wasn’t sure what to expect. Met at sussex uni sports centre car pack, i was early but before i knew it there was 16+ riders all padding up and looking eager to ride.

After a few quick hellos, we’re off!! Great

Nice gentle climb up onto the downs with all manner of lights beaming around like something out of close encounters ;-)

Can’t remember if the sky was clear but air was really nice and fresh, bit of wind to cool us down as we went.

First mini loop to get a quick hit of action. A short section of twisty single track before we carry on up.

Right out in the middle of nowhere now, the guys know all routes. Some bigger loops with longer runs. Man this place is rooty! Sus is doing overtime as we bomb along with some more technical woodpiles to navigate and drops to make.

Somewhere up high we all stop and Ronnie breaks out the sweets, nice! and we get a little rest before hitting a fast decent taking us round to some seriously off camber tracks with, yep, lots of roots. Bike was struggling to find the grip and after a number of near fun misses we’re through.

Quick climb up and we’re on the home leg, few sections of trail yet to hit. One quite quick one with a wall on one side and some nice challenging drops. Groups spread out a bit now and everyone hass found their space, big smiles when everyone re groups

Before i know it, we’re back having riden 10 miles and ascended some 1700ft acording to googles mytracks. A good Thursday night!

Southdowns has loads to offer and a really friendly riding group. I’ll be back whenever i can :)

Piers

First impressions on Brighton MTB from a newbie!

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Recently I moved from London to Brighton, to among other things rejuvenate my mountain biking enthusiasm/skills – I then did what we all do these days…..and Googled mountain bike clubs in the area.

I quickly found out that Brighton MTB (http://brightonmtb.org/) seemed a friendly bunch, and after exchanging a few emails had arranged to meet at Sussex University on a Thursday evening for a spot of night-riding.
Lacking suitable lights I was also offered the chance to borrow some impressive Exposure lights (courtesy of Freedom Bikes), and so on that Thursday evening I set off into Stanmer Park woods with 10-15 other bike nuts!

The biking itself was superb – a combination of challenging singletracks, obstacles to jump/ride over/avoid, and even some Northshore thrown in for good measure.
The group seems to be led by different people each week, with someone also at the back to ensure that no-one gets left behind, and the guys have excellent knowledge of the local routes available!

Based on my experience with Brighton MTB, the warm welcome I received & the quality of biking I’ve done so far, I would highly recommend this club to anyone who wants to get off-road again!

 

Ben

Epic Epping

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We had a recent trip to Epping which may not be the best known singletrack destination but it had an endless number of trails.

The day started badly with me getting lost on the way despite using sat nav and everyone waiting around until I eventually found the car park. Within a minute of arriving we were off and instantly into the first trail. With less elevation that our home ground everything was flat and twisty and ideally suited for a short thrash bike. My Mojo was over kill but some locals had brought out bigger rigs for riding and wheelies and balancing and even the odd fall in front of watching motorcyclists.

We rode trail after trail with friendly folk keen to show us the best of their area which felt generous every time you turned into another new trail. Dry conditions showed it well but flat ground meant pedal all the way. Continue reading →

Read all about it

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It was a Mixed Bunch of Riders that gathered for a Muddy Bike Ride. Choosing what mountain bike was ideal for this sort of ride is difficult as it would include a little singletrack. The South Downs National Park has as good a range of trails that you can find for mountain biking in the UK however the chalk can be slippery so I was hopeful the weak sun would dry out the dirt

After quick introductions some typical mountain bike action saw us avoiding the trails and riding the black stuff up hill with cold legs for some, especially me. On the flat the lack of a big ring showed up really quickly and reaching the high point was more effort than I had hoped. Continue reading →

Something old, something young, something quite different

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July 7th 2011 marked my first ride with Brightonmtb. I must admit I was pretty nervous, and rightfully so, as when I arrived I was by far the youngest attendee. After a few brief introductions and a casual ‘you’ll pick up names on the way’ from Ronnie, we were off and riding.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with regards to the riding style. I’m used to flowing singletrack and wide bridleways, uphill and down. But this was something quite different. Continue reading →

Another sting in the tail

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So, for the second Thursday in a row I would be spending the evening with a bunch of guys in muddy woodland, last week 180,000 at Glastonbury, this week 20 at the weekly BrightonMTB meet.

The night began as usual in the car park at Sussex uni, greeting a few new faces and comparing new kit. Time to choose a ride leader, and after a little persuasion Rob was volunteered… I think he realised he wouldn’t have to ride UP as much singletrack if he was leading the group! This was the first night ever I had forgotten my pack, so I was half expecting to get a puncture before even leading the carpark.

Off into Stanmer park we rode, up the usual firetrails until we reached the first group of trails at the top. We warmed up with a couple of old favourites, before riding a trail with some nicely built features, first a nice log pile followed by some nicely shaped doubles and berms. The route out of here was a little narrow and more than one person suffered a “bike, tree interface” as Mike likes to call it. Continue reading →

First ride

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I recently discovered mountain biking a few weeks ago after me and my friend decided to randomly meet in the middle of nowhere in the country just for fun. After that I started to look into mtb, that’s how I found the Brighton MTB page on the internet.

I enquired and received a very friendly response from Ronnie, who would kindly explain to me how to overcome the obstacles and would wait for me, he told me to “look for the orange bike” and so I did. I investigated a bit more about bikes and changed my old bike for a new one on a Thursday, the very same day I headed to the night ride straight from the shop, somehow the group found that quite funny.

I am reasonably fit, I go to the gym regularly and ride a couple of times a week mainly off road, I had even cycled 50 Km two weeks ago so I though it would be fairly easy, just a bunch of guys leisure riding in the downs maybe… I was wrong, and I was not fit!

The trails and the obstacles we went over in the forest were just amazing, the terrain, the obstacles, every little detail was the product of years of dedication of a man with a passion for mountain biking. Despite of being left behind most of the time and falling off my bike twice, I had a whale of a time, I just can’t stop thinking about it, I just want to go back.

I would highly recommend anyone to join any ride but be careful, it’s highly addictive!

Best, 


Alberto