Tag Archives: mtb sussex

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 →

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 →

On One 456 carbon

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First impression after getting the frame out of the box was how light it was; compared with the steel 456 it replaced it’s incredible. Lacquer finish etc was ‘ok’ but for the price you can’t complain. I bought 2 sets of bolt on dropouts – one for gears and one for singlespeed – I’ve used some thread lock on the bolts attaching these and had no problems. The various inserts seem to be aligned well – I quite like the idea of the BB being inside a threaded aluminium sleeve – any water that does find it’s way into the frame isn’t able to get to the BB bearings.

Originally I had planned to be running it with gears but, following a frame failure and a complex parts swap across three bikes it turned out to be a singlespeed in the end. I built it with some 130mm Pace RC41’s but have subsequently fitted some 140mm Marzocchi 44 Micro Ti forks with a QR15 axle. Other parts are Easton low rise carbon bars, 90mm stem and carbon seatpost, Magura Louise brakes, XTR cranks, Salsa cog/ring and Hope Pro2/DtSwiss wheelset. Complete with the 44’s it weighs about 22lbs. 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

Thursday thoughts

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“I bought a bike last week and rode straight out the shop to here for my first ride here and my first night ride”

” I have been persuaded to lead tonight, glad it is only twenty seven”

” I am new tonight so that is why I am hiding”

“Don’t look, he has no head”

“Does my bum look big in this?”

” whistle – check, wristguards – check!”

“now you see me, now you see me”

” Are you ready Mike?”

” I hope this headset is back the right way round”

” How hard can it be?”

” I don’t want to turn around, what is he doing?”

“I can’t see from here”

“I can”

“I feel like a doppleganger”

“why is everyone else’s bike the wrong way up?”

“do you like that lycra feel?”

“not the feel, just the look”