Author: mtbnomad

Ride Report: South Downs 13th April

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The weather forecast for Brighton on 13th April was pretty miserable, showers and hail with the occasional spell of sunshine. The forecast was turned on its head and we had a great time. This was my first day ride in 6 weeks following my rib-crunching escapade so we opted for a ride of two halfs, a South Downs trundle rounded off with Stanmer singletrack.

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From Sussex University the only way onto the downs is up, the initial climb was a leg warmer and had all of us panting despite taking the more gentle cruise onto the hills above Woodingdean. We made good time along the South Downs Way above Kingston in warm sunshine, the piles of cow poo dumped next to all the gates by the farmers were rock hard and we just skipped over them. The steep descent towards Rodmell was taken at a grin inducing and whooping full pelt. As we climbed towards the reservoir behind Tellscombe the sky began to look ominously dark and a cutting breeze was making itself felt by all except Jim who laughed it off in only shorts and short-sleeved shirt. Along the hill top above the ‘hidden valley’ we could all feel rain in the breeze so decided to cutout the climb via Castle Hill and headed straight back towards the South Downs Way when the heavens opened. Waterproofs were hurridly grabbed and we climbed to an open sided barn on the hill top to wait it out. Just as suddenly as they had started the wind and rain stopped and was replaced by bright sunshine. We were soon on downs above Kingston.

The descent into Kingston was taken carefully by all  as the recently wet chalk didn’t look like it would take any prisoners! Not carefully enough, as there was a small incident, not on the steep descent but on the flat runout at the bottom. Across the A27 and down a long straight singletrack through Lewes with gravity on our side, slightly muddy but nothing to worry about. The climb to Blackcap was its usual slog and we began to get a couple of stragglers but the warm sun gave everyone a second gear and we whizzed to Ditchling Beacon. The conversations about the merits of different descents from and climbs up to the Beacon changed the mood of the ride and we began looking for humps and divots to jump off. Stanmer woods were practically bone dry and we had a blast including the old rooty corner on the steep descent. The entrance to this trail has been changed, there used to be a couple of bermed corners now its just straight down the steepest part of the hillside across a log step and then the sharp left turn across the roots. We all made it without incident.

We ended the ride sitting in the warm sunshine with coffee and shortbread from Stanmer Tearoom’s. A cracking ride, hopefully a good portent for 2008.

Need a parachute?

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parachute.jpgFor the young, the beautiful and the brave a full-face downhill helmet is probably mandatory to prevent disfiguring injuries and a lifetime living alone.For the average mountain biker airflow is probably key. I know there is an argument for the weight, the colour, the shape, the name or the graphics but when you pedal up a long, steep hill on a hot summer day with the sweat stinging your eyes then airflow counts.The best helmet then is the coolest.

Until your hair begins to disappear or turn grey and things change. Because then you do not fall off and bounce instead you fall off and land like a crumpled jacket. It may not seem to hurt at the time but that is probably due to age related nerve damage or living in your own space-time and that is also, why it hurts the next day.

So you consider some shin pads and full finger gloves but a full-face helmet has to be avoided because if you turn up anywhere with the look of someone who hucks then that is exactly what everyone else expects you to do. You could continually make excuses that it is only for protection but who would listen.

The other downside is pulling off your helmet at the end of the ride and everyone else recoiling in horror at your “locked in the sauna overnight” face. However, there is another option.

A Parachute seems to be an Anaxagore with a chin guard and it looks a bit heavy and constricting but it is not. Surprisingly it does not feel heavier than my V Element when riding and my field of vision is not restricted. The weather is somewhat cool at the moment so summer riding might find a limit but at present it is no hotter. The rear adjustment is a simplified version on the V Element and the internal head shape seems identical. The front chin bar is not restrictive when riding but hydration tubes, energy bar, and even ham sandwiches enter from below and not through the face opening. It is a little tighter to put on and remove so measure your head for the correct size or you will have to ride with folded ears.

So overall no downside but is there a benefit. Yes. The reassurance from the extra protection means that you can try an obstacle or two and concentrate on the task at hand. You may still fall off and it may still hurt tomorrow but you will not bash your face and you may just protect some very expensive dental work and that makes it cheap at the price.

 

Bikes for Boys

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cbike1.jpgLittle boys that is. And it is an area fraught with difficulty if you do not want to be a Disappointing Dad. The test for this is a small boy’s silence or even worse a half smile.You could walk into a supermarket, a discount chain or even order from a newspaper advert and buy an astonishingly cheap bike and although it may cope with the occasional bridleway, it may struggle with regular trail duties. Your local bike shop may carry one of the major players who make a kid’s version of your own steed.That may be an easy solution but only if it is going to be used and not end up joining other investment items which you store unused in your garage.

Some web sites offer frames or bikes with useful information on sizing and weight. These can be a good point of comparison.

However we all have a shed or garage with lots of unused kit which would be ideal for someone else because you really needed Steve Peat’s grips and Cedric Garcia’s bars and your old ones are on the shelf and if not you really need some new wheels anyway so that would not count on the costs of course.

After a little research, I settled on a hardtail with a maximum target weight of 25 lbs. The frame was a real problem as advertised sale items were plentiful but finding actual stock proved difficult.

Merlin had an older model which seemed ideal but the cost was a large chunk of a whole bike from a chainstore but I felt that the quality would be better and the weight a little less so that help justify it.

I was so pleased at the silver frame when it arrived I choose forks specifically to match and although I had intended to use as much of my shed stock as possible that changed to only shiny silver bits. I did reuse some wheels and some v-brakes but bought new handlebars, stem, seat post, clamp and saddle to match the frame.

I had expected to buy much of this from whatever internet retailer was offering a discount but Halfords provided some bits cheaper and most importantly in silver.

All the bits laid out brought a smile to the face of an eager boy that only fell slightly when I explained that assembling it himself would be good for him.

I felt sorry for his teacher when trying to explain the method of installing the crown race to the fork as he fiddled with just about everything else.

After much ado, and over a couple of days, the build slowly accumulated. The bottom bracket was fitted, the fork, stem, bars, seat post and saddle but it did not look like progress. Tubes and tyres, a cassette and quick releases and the wheels fitted. Now it looked like a bike and if you are twelve then surely it is almost finished now.

Shifters and brake levers, fit the v-brakes, now the brake cables, this is how you adjust them. How much longer Dad!

By the time we had measured cut and fitted the cables the set up of the transmission seemed to be an unnecessary punishment so I crumpled under the pressure and finished all the little bits myself somewhat later.

The finished bike looked great and a satisfied smile and a brief, “thanks Dad”, means that I have passed the test.

For a couple of hundred pounds we have enjoyed a joint task and he has learnt a few new skills. He can join me around the trails of Sussex and I can impress him with my hard won skills built up over years in the mud.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this.

Like many of you out there, I tackle the steepest climbs with determination, the knurliest roots with courage and even the occasional shallow river crossing with gusto but I cannot jump.

Well I can jump a bit, the odd lip here, a small drop off there but nothing big. Not anything, you find in a BMX park, not even if it is a tabletop.

And there is the rub.

First time out at Whiteways, slippy, treacherous, rooty single track, straight over the top. A drop off with a steep edge, straight down, and even the large bomb hole drop, straight down. Now I have led a few rides round here and usually a few people shy away from this drop or at least need some reassurance to roll over the edge. So all my advantage gained from years of experience evaporated in just one ride.

But this pales into insignificance with jumping. Tricky log – jump that. Tight awkward corner – jump that. Ditch – jump that. Big rock – jump up, jump off. Great big hole that you must avoid – jump that.

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It gets worse. Standing at the side of the track watching your little baby boy hurtling towards the jump ramp that you have ridden around for years looking at sideways thinking one day, one day. He launches himself a metre into the air, hangs suspended, lands three metres after the spot you were assuming to be the landing area and all as gently and as lightly as a little deer.

I will never be able to do that even if I threw caution to the wind and hurled myself towards potential oblivion with careless abandon risking life, limb and mortgage payments.

And if I did, I would land more hippopotamus.

So if you have to face the choice then do not be the Disappointing Dad who picks the wrong bike instead choose to be the Disappointed Dad that Father Time has cruelly exposed.

After all, we can all live vicariously.

Resurrection

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Some of us have an old friend who used to accompany us on all our rides but age has perhaps got the better of them and they do not go out with us anymore.An old photograph might raise a nostalgic smile but we ride with different friends now and only a memory surfaces when we recall a particular incident at a point on the trail. Your friend may ride with someone else or perhaps no longer goes out but hangs forlornly on the garage wall. This was the fate of my old Hardrock ; dismantled and unused but now reborn anew.hardrock1.jpgI started with the purchase of an inexpensive fork but with 130mm rather than the 80mm of the past and although it may invalidate the frame warranty ( long since past ) unless I become addicted to the air ( also unlikely ) it relaxes the head angle and provides something to hide behind. A crankset swap, with the new replacement fitted onto my main bike, and the refitting of some of the original components the skeleton was complete. Some wheel swapping proved irksome as I wanted to fit at least a front disk brake but a Hope insert changed a 20mm thru-axle to a quick release. Hydraulic brakes were expensive so I opted for a cable solution. Unfortunately I could only find a front brake discounted on the internet so the initial build continued with a v-brake on the rear. Old flat pedals, a nice new chain, two borrowed tyres but without something blue.

A shakedown ride was required so a lone pilot from Jill, not Jack, on a dry summer’s evening was the ideal soft test. Not soft though. The 2002 frame has something of a reputation for its ‘direct’ feedback which allows the trail to feed directly to your back and as the short initial climb over the brick proved, age had not dulled this ability. It did feel light and responsive compared to a 34lb Freeride bike and on a dry ridge bridleway acceleration was great. A small amount of stuttering on the rough, a small amount of skipping on the brakes, a small amount of slip on the wet chalk and a large amount of pounding on your body – biking little and large.

A couple of other very short rides has convince me that the advantage of a hardtail’s simplicity is really the weight but my old back needs a cushion . It may be a Thudbuster would fix this so I have not discounted the idea of a 20lb carbon thing that would pedal itself up hills on a warm summer evening but my old friend has been cleaned and fitted with a nice new rear cable brake and is waiting on its new rider to brave the cold.

Hopefully it will have a chance to be ridden regularly again but for me all our rides together are only in the past.