“The Banff Mountain Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world. The “mothership” festival has been held at the start of November each year since 1975 in Banff, Canada. The festival draws some of the world’s best film makers and accomplished outdoor heroes to celebrate adventure, the environment, mountain culture and the outdoors through film.

Hot on the heels of the festival each year, the best films head off on the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour with stops in around 285 communities and 30 countries across the globe. The Banff films toured across the UK for the first time in 2010 and returned in 2011 visiting even more cities across England, Scotland and Wales.

Through the big screen you see highlights of incredible adventure sports, visit remote cultures and some of the world’s last great wild places. We would love to see you at your local festival screening.”

I’ve enjoyed it the last couple of years with some really varied, interesting and amazingly shot films. The MTB stuff looks great on the big screen.

More details of BANFF here.

The Brighton line-up can be seen here.

Tickets here.

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

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

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.

Carl had to stop to fix his saddle then Carl had to stop to fix his saddle then Carl sheared the bolt. Amazingly a spare bolt was carried so the saddle was refitted but only a temporary repair. Several more stops, some playing with zipties and Carl headed off to find a shop with a seatpost never to be seen again. Joplin is being replaced under warranty.

Lots and lots more trails and a stop for a puncture. Usual problem but Ashley does not have usual tyres. Several attempts to refit the tyres on to tight rims and loads of volume of the giant tyres eventually got us going. He needed to top up the volume a little but when fixed it rode like a short suspension bike with the combination of the Jones fork and giant tyre. It did not seem to lumber as the mary bars helped the steering quicken and it is lighter than it looks. It was interesting to ride alongside and realise that less suspension will definitely improve your riding skills.

The locals had all started at a brisk pace but when we found a rhythm Brighton’s hills paid off in the endurance stakes and the last section of the ride included the odd slope up and down to vary the workload.

A couple of stops were included for drinks and lunch but with the mechanicals we did not cover the ride as planned but what we rode was delightful. Finishing at the end of the afternoon in the carpark it felt a shorter ride due to the number of stops but all of the visitors seemed to have enjoyed it thoroughly.

There was a final trick in the day when most of the two groups of the day ( around 50) trundle into the nearby pub. Literally into the pub bikes and all. Park your bike at a table on the carpet and order a drink. Final flourish is that the pub provides free food – locally called beige – to all the riders. Chicken, sausages and chips were laid out in large platters so everyone stayed. And stayed. And stayed.

A great day out with super friendly locals and hundreds of twisty trails. I look forward to another visit when I will arrive on time due to my NEW sat nav.

Many, many thanks to Miles and co.

Ronnie

Lights will be needed and the whole section is probably around an hour at Thursday pace.For this spare tubes, multitools, first aid kits, sweets and directions and perhaps some encouraging words may be required

Quest Adventure have asked for a little help as Jimbo was meant to be doing this but his serious accident (see forum) will mean he will be out of the saddle for ages.  Hopefully  he makes a speedy recovery and is back out with us before too long.

A topic will be started on the forum for this.

Yeti, IBIS, Dekerf, Santa Cruz, Baum, Zerode

A new bike shop has sprung up in deepest Hove and has easy access to the South Downs National Park with its miles of cycle friendly bridleways and mtb routes. We had a brief chat with the owner Stephen Roache at the 2011 Big Dog and he lent a couple of the gang demo Yeti’s for the day.  Although a new shop the owner Steve brings with him over 20 years of experience in the cycle trade and a vast knowledge of both road, mountain and tri bikes (check out the brands below – he knows his onions!). Prestige Cycles have already embraced the local scene with sponsorship of the 2011 Big Dog and weekly shop rides on the mtb trails around Brighton and Hove. Over to Steve.
The Concept
 
Prestige Cycles will cater for all levels of rider, whether they want to buy a run around bike or are requiring full racing specification.  Prestige will be offering a unique top class fitting service using the impressive Serotta International Cycling Institute Machine enabling Prestige to supply custom made or stock sized frames.   The shop concept is to be the up and coming hub for cycling enthusiasts and to act as a one stop shop for cyclists across the board, promoting cycling to all.  Prestige are very pleased to announce they are working in partnership with Baum, De Kerf and Zerode; we are the sole UK importer for these brands.  The other brands we will be stocking are listed below:
 
•         Marin
•         Wilier
•         Yeti
.         Dekerf
.         Baum
.         Zerode
•         Ibis
•         Santa cruz
.         Fixie inc
.         Argon
.         Neil Pryde 
          Guru
•         Surly
       
 
Shop rides are on Wednesday evening from 6.00pm at Stanmer park (more details to follow, check our ride calendar and link on right). Shop rides are not a race but a nice steady ride for about 2-3 hours and provide opportunity for anyone to try a demo bike or riding gear free of charge - (contact Steve at Prestige Cycles first so he can bring what you want to try!)  As well as free demo rides we also offer free loan out lights for the evening; we have some great offers on at the moment for Exposure lights:
 
Exposure Joystick MK4 £90.00 (special offer price)
Exposure Strada  £135.00 (special offer price)

Since this was written a couple of our YETI owners have had their bikes serviced by Steve and have given glowing recommendations. Following a demo ride one of the gang has also purchased a YETI ASR5, personal service and lack of pressure selling were the reasons he gave for spending the money locally.

Congratulations to John F who does not really deserve them but his wife does.

Mother and baby, Florence Beatrice, are doing fine.

Last night, me and my mate Gilly took part in a London to Brighton ride for the Martlets Hospice in Hove. The event is organised by FNRTTC ( Friday Night Ride to the Coast). More info on FNRTTC and their upcoming events can be found here:

http://fnrttc.blogspot.com/

I rode my Specialized Tricross which has strange features like drop handlebars, yellow bar tape, mudguards and 23mm tyres. It could be classified as a road bike.

The meet up and sign on took place in a car park near Victoria and there was a buzzing atmosphere, plenty of bike & light fettling and news that the forecast was the best that the FNRTTC lot had had in the 6 years they’ve been organising events.

At midnight, the main group set off to a chorus of bleeps from GPS’s and lit by all manner of bike lights. Almost immediately we were crossing Chelsea bridge and passing Battersea power station and heading towards Clapham Common, Tooting and Mitcham. The first 7 or so miles through South London were ridden as a group at a controlled (i.e. slow-ish) pace.

It was entertaining to see what the local drunks made of a large group of cyclists riding through the night. There was some genuine interest in what, why & where but more generally just witty (?) banter or plain and simple abuse. There was also trouble outside a pub on route and some of the riders helped to restrain the main protagonist which was all slightly surreal.

The first half of the route was different to the BHF event. Near Coulsden, we had the first climb of the night and I fast ran out of gears. This section also saw the start of the mist which lasted for the rest of the ride! The first big down involved a blast (or do I mean a carefully controlled H&S conscious descent) down Reigate hill.

After Reigate, we took the rather appropriately named Lonesome Lane towards Horley which was really fast and smooth. It was then onto the wonderfully dubbed “Horley Badlands” which changed from road, to track to field with bumps and holes a plenty. My Hope light finally got “turned up to 11″ (ok it was setting 3 but that doesn’t work) on this section which worked a treat. This took us towards Copthorne and the all important first refreshment stop.

If you are going to puncture on an event it’s probably best that it happens 2 minutes and a gingerly ride from a sports hall laden with sandwiches, crisps, cake, fruit and tea & coffee. This was a very welcome sight and a great effort from the Martlett’s team. By 3am, the puncture was fixed, we were fed and watered and back on the bikes and heading for home

The route was now more familiar (Turners Hill, Ardingly, Lindfield & Wivelsfield) or would have been if you’d had any peripheral vision and it wasn’t rather misty. By this time Gilly and I were sharing the hard work and recovery by taking turns at the front and in the slipstream. Tiredness only really seemed to affect us when there wasn’t a rear light in the distance to chase down.

By now, the mind was playing funny games as at times it was difficult to work out if the roads were climbing, flat or dropping away and to judge how fast we were going. Gilly deserves a mention for playing it safe on Slugwash Lane, in particular the sharp and off-camber right-hander that has claimed many a victim on BHF rides.

All this led us to Ditchling and the foot of the Downs. Gilly said afterwards that I put in a concerted period of recovery that lasted for a whole 250 meters before the climb itself started. I ran out of gears by the second corner and it took every effort from the pair of us to reach the “Horses” warning sign that signals that the climb is almost over. I stopped at the top to text Clare whilst Gilly tried hard to not throw up. A blast down Ditchling Road took us back to the seafront and the GPS was stopped at 4:52 am with the seafront still in complete darkness.

After a classic recovery meal (Bacon and Egg bap and cup of tea) and one of the worst leg cramps I’ve ever suffered, we were back on the bikes for a slow ride back to Patcham. Finally, daylight was starting to break.

I love my ride stats, so here goes:

• Distance: 57.14 miles
• Elevation gain: 2,698 ft
• Elapsed time: 4:54:33
• Moving time: 3:56:48
• Average moving speed: 14.5 mph
• Top speed: 38.1 mph
• Number of breakfasts: 2 (3am and 5am)

I would definitely recommend the event and will do it again. The FNRTTC team deserve a mention for the great organisation and a big thanks to all the marshals etc that made it happen.

Finally, I hope the event raised a lot of well needed revenue for the Martlets Hospice. More info on their work here:

http://www.themartlets.org.uk/

I had spent the day looking out of the window of my meeting at Brighton Town Hall, watching the skies empty themselves and wondering if I would make it. My last ride in the rain had been on my brand new Genesis Core 40 which had come equipped with Continental Mountain King tyres. These are without doubt the worst wet weather tyres I have ever used and I had come off quite badly ending up in A&E… nothing to do whatsoever with my general lack of skill on a bike and entirely the fault of the rubber! My ego was bruised and my legs were cut up but by late afternoon the rain had stopped and so there were no excuses. I got on my bike with its lovely new grippy Maxxis High Rollers and headed for the University car park.

Having failed to regain all of my confidence since I came off I was pleased that the ride got underway at quite a relaxed pace and that I wasn’t the only one taking on the slippery ground with at least a modicum of apprehension. We started by doing a portion of the Big Dog course and I can now be confident of a top 5 finishing position I am sure. (Actually I am only doing the One Dog and was not far off last place in 2010 so I might need to revise my goals somewhat nearer the time.)

The rest of the ride combined some trails that I am familiar with and some that I am not, but all of which are great fun. One of the things I really enjoy about the Thursday night ride is that the uphill bits are treated in the way that uphill bits should be… they are a necessary evil which are only tolerated because they inevitably lead to going downhill fast afterwards. As the evening progressed and the light faded my lights went on and I was particularly impressed by the riders who had forgotten, or not bothered, to bring theirs but who continued regardless. At risk of being accused of having rather traditional views I have always been firmly in the camp of riders who prefer to be able to see where they are going when riding fast over slippery roots and unexpected obstacles.

Nonetheless, everyone made it back and there were no serious injuries. Once in the car park Ronnie approached me with a friendly question; ’You’ve been a couple of times now haven’t you?’ What a nice chap I thought, enquiring as to whether I had enjoyed the ride and whether I will be back. ‘Yeah, great ride’ I answered innocently. Then, without missing a beat, he pounced; ‘Good, you can write the ride report then’.

Oh well, a small price to pay for some fine riding.

Martin Edelman

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.

perfect framing

A downhill track offered chance of a photographic moment so the first instance of a snapper hurtling past with huge pack, stopping, snapping and then catching up effortlessly in double quick time left us impressed with early zeal. Obviously he would slow up and struggle to keep up under the weight of all that gear and then we could complain about pack weights of our own.

Some more up, then a tiny down, followed by more up. The flavour of the day was established as lots of up and every time a photographer with a pack the size of a small shed hurtled out of view seeking another vantage point. Sometimes Rob the Record trundled easily alongside at a pace that found me checking gears constantly seeking just one more. Conversation turned to riding with a slower rider which in terms of the South Downs Way is absolutely everyone else. Training alone means he prefers a conversational pace, which is ours not his, as his would be eyeballs out for most of us. He chatted easily to everyone and only wobbled slightly at my fastest uphill pace. His point had been well made however so I slowed some more.

Steve

Steve from Stowaway Bikes was testing a Mondraker which looked very competent up hill and down dale and really stable over the more gnarly stuff. A quick heft proved it to be lighter than I had guessed and worth a test ride for me on another ride. He explained some of the joys of running a bike shop including long hours, hard work and limited time to ride dashing the hopes of anyone who thinks starting a shop and riding every day for fun is realistic. He does ride though as the pace throughout the day was well within the capability of his engine.

A brief stop at the Dyke and time required a faster pace. Oh joy! Racing downhill Simon and I lost a little gap due to a friendly pedestrian but surely a quick catch. A tiny traffic delay across a road and the gap seemed much bigger so I chose my biggest gear and my fastest feet to catch the peloton ahead. Needed a bigger gear or faster feet or, as it turned out, a 29er as Simon simply rolled away up the next hill and joined the group without trying. I tried harder and the gap stayed the same so I kept pedalling continuously down the whole hill and easily caught up when everyone had stopped and waited.

there is never a camera around when..

A rooty climb followed with me behind Matt when he took the Torvill and Dean line. My High Rollers may be slow but those tyres and our roots were not a good combination however all credit to him catching big slides time after time on an unfamiliar test bike. Bike seemed good though.

Another long uphill and the group began to tire so a loop of singletrack to finish. More up to start of course. Some  familiar technical trails and then the day was done. We finished with coffee at the café in mud splattered legs.

Surely the best type of dirty week-end in Brighton.

(Read all about this in MBR magazine out Wednesday)- Ronnie