Ride Reports

What a Difference a Day Makes

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Actually it’s not so much a day, more that it was day. Sunday was the second time I had been out with the Brighton MTB group. I had ventured out on a Thursday evening with one inadequate mounted light and an illusive head torch (still illusive!!). It was a great evening and having never been out with them before, a baptism of fire. I am not hugely experienced at these non-purpose built single tracks so in heavy mud with exposed tree roots all over I slipped and slid my way around. Guided by the lights of others I eventually arrived back at the car park in one piece.

Not deterred I went out on the Sunday for Smiles not Miles. A small group of six headed out; my fear is always the pace and being a bit of a sandbag. No problems there, I sort of kept up for most of it and in only a few short days the ground had really dried out. After some varied single track that, in the daylight, was manageable, we headed across the A27 to another wooded area. Wild Park (if that’s the name) was not so much wild but there were a number of ramps and jumps whose construction left a bit to be desired and were clearly not for the faint hearted. In fact some, the group decided were best left well alone.

The trails were varied and quite quick in places, and with tight turns, logs and the ever present tree roots there were a couple of tumbles, myself included. The benefit of the morning appeared to be that it would cater for varying ability with bits for those who liked a challenge and no obligation for those who didn’t. I was able to try most things but I am fairly up for giving it a go.

Some of the tracks took a little more skill than I possess but all in all it was a good morning out covering a few miles and learning a fair bit along the way. The guys were very patient and tolerant and made me feel welcome. I would definitely recommend a ride with BrightonMTB.

Ali

Rain and Roots

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Thanks guys!

A long time ago the myths say that a troll could be found living underneath a bridge and travellers paid a toll or, in some cases, were eaten. Although some bridges were crossed and trolls abounded no tolls seemed required and only breakfasts were to be eaten. In fact the only danger was the exposed roots that lay in wait around every corner but only claimed a few travellers on this particular day.

Tunnel Hill trolls had offered a guided ride with a promise to show trails that we would enjoy and even the occasional challenge. We started from a car park with a breakfast cafe alongside a toilet and shower block. Luxury for all of us.

I had expected an in-ride to a start point but instead it was three pedal turns and up a climb. The rain on the wet roots made this immediately slippery and my own change to Trailrakers looked to be a questionable decision. I find them great in the heavy mud but less than confidence inspiring on the chalk or on any angled roots. I slipped and slipped and slipped to the top.

We had arrived in a wild wood of trails that had an array of opportunities running hither and thither. It was hard to avoid staring over the front wheel as we wound our way left and right, but mainly up through the trees, however it felt like the Leith of the past with narrow trails that twisted and turned.

One trail led to another and another and another. In between there were lots of short, fast ups and steep little drops. Local knowledge suggested a high gear, momentum and strong legs were the way to go as spinning in a low gear seemed to punish a little. Local knowledge also said that the drops needed commitment to hold a steady line.

The ground drained well and stayed mostly dry despite the sky falling and no one claimed of mud clogging the treads. There was a discussion on the best tyres for winter but if there is a non-clogging, root gripping tyre it seems to avoid popular acclaim.

Sweeps and swoops and twists and turns and more drops followed one after another until we came to the first challenge of the day. It was a straight jump into a gully and, in the rain, looked very challenging.

Only one brave soul saved our honour.

More trails, more ups of course and eventually another challenge. This time a steep rolling drop into another gully. We walked down and had a look at the narrow start point.

Only one brave soul saved our honour.

More trails and the first bridge arrived. The toll was “no dabs” just as you reach the angled step. The toll was unpaid by some or me at least.

Lots more trails, lots more roots, lots more roots and the only real fall of the day. I looked ahead at the trail heading up and watched a familiar shape turn sharply and hurtle down a trail the width of a hand. A sharp turn ahead suggested dramatic braking but just leaning over was an alternative option. It was not a viable option though. One down and one into the bracken in a generous gesture of avoidance but no one harmed.

More trails and the first little bridge which jumped out in front of us despite a warning. This was quickly followed by another and another and they all got narrower and narrower. The last one barely a tyre’s width missed by all.

This finished with ‘The Last Challenge’ which was a change from the normal static threat we are used to approaching with varying degrees of confidence and certainty. A see-saw nodded ominously ahead.

The brave rode over assuredly and without hesitation which made it harder for the rest of us who were in spectator mode. Everyone was urged to try with the argument that it is easier than it looks. It looked hard.

Then one of the fairer sex rode over and spoiled it for us spectators. The faces in front of me changed to “Oh no, I need to do this now!” and accurately mirrored my own.

Gathering up our skirts we asked for hands to catch our flailing bodies and rode to our doom.

A little honour saved.

A last flourish of twists and turns and a final drop to bottom the suspension before a whisk back to the start. Splattered and wet the cafe beckoned.

The Trolls provided a great ride on a really poor day and acted as guide and shepherd and mentor and helper with unfailing humour and good nature. The superb trails and the generous nature of the Trolls made this one of my best rides of the year.

Cat seen in the dark at Stanmer

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Sundown at Stanmer

Last night was my first ride out with the Brighton MTB group. Rayment’s cycles had recommended them as a friendly bunch who might be a good troop of regular riders to head out with.

I’ve been riding for a couple months and in that time have got to know various bits and pieces of Stanmer park but was nervous about riding at night, I was also apprehensive about shelling out £300 on a set of lights that might do little but guide the ambulance crew to my battered and bleeding body. Continue reading →

Bikes and Babies

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Thats gotta hurt!

It had been raining, not just your average rain, Amazon Forest style monsoon fill your boots kind of rain. Having only been on 3 rides with Brighton MTB before you could forgive me for staying at home, in the warm, just me, my belly and the telly. That seemed like a bit of a cop out. With a quick fix of yet another side wall ‘flint slice’ puncture and a last tweak of what is fast becoming a rear derailleur nightmare, I chucked the bike on the back of the car and headed off for the Thursday night ride.

Curiously on arrival at the car park, I was the only person there. Odd. There’s always someone there before me, was there some kind of conspiracy? Had I been vetoed for managing to cartwheel over the back of my bike, still carrying the bike, on to another innocent rider the previous week? The arrival of Ronnie quelled my Area 52 vibe, and on further discussion concluded that the Noah’s Ark amount of rain the previous day and the ever shortening days explained the turn out. A turnout which as we set off a swelled to an impressive 4 (unusual compared to the normal 15+), Neil (Començal Meta5) and Alex (Boardman Pro) had joined the waterproof masses.

As we set off I was in high spirits, having helped out at the Big Dog I had seen first hand the carnage that can be created in the woods by a bit of rain, and admittedly several hundred bikers, this was going to be fun. This is where the detail gets blurry, I’m good for the first 15 minutes of any ride in the woods, and then the local knowledge of the regulars takes over. We ride for what seems like 20 minutes down twisty single track, a few log jumps in the way, nothing huge, but enough to keep you smiling when they’re as greasy as grease on a greasy thing. Then bamb, we are 50m’s from where we started, and I was sure we were going the end up in New Zealand.

The dark was closing in and I was already thanking the slightly off the ball line picker at chain reaction that accidently included a Hope Vision One on my bottom bracket delivery (of course I called and advised them of the mistake instantly, but they insisted I kept it). So a new experience for me, pitch black in the woods, and very greasy roots and slippery off camber trails. Frankly, I loved it. The pace was quick, every so often you’d hear a f**k me as someone held on to a bike wildly doing something that was not expected, but it was swiftly followed by someone else checking ‘you OK’, yes and a laugh was the standard response. I managed a few good nose dives, Ronnie looked like he was ice skating as I followed him down a particularly off camber trail, Neil was showing his trail knowledge well but still fell foul here and there and Alex was discovering the merits of dropping his saddle, as well as himself at times.

Slippery, dark, wet and a whole lot of fun. The homeward leg summed it up, starting with a lovely track at the top of the hill, it seems faster in the dark but flows brilliantly, and a badger sighting on the way. Then in to the final straight, although it was anything but, twisty, tight, tricky, pitch black and according to one rider patrolled by the beast of the park, but I reckon it was a rabbit, seriously it hopped and looked like a rabbit.

So was it worth it? Yes. Is getting wet and muddy an issue? No, it makes you feel alive. Is it better than sitting on my arse on the sofa? Definitely. Will I be back next week? Of course (well unless I am on new baby duties) .

Thanks to the friendly bunch at Brighton MTB.

Graham D.

fish in the dark

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This is the first time I’ve ever cycled with a group and I was a little apprehensive thinking I’d be a little fish in a big pond. Around 20 people turned out on all types of full suss and hard-tails bikes and we were soon on our way a little after 7pm from the University Car Park. Continue reading →

Thursday night for me!

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Having recently purchased a new bike I felt it was about time I hit some trails having lived in the area for a year or so and not seeing much in the way of countryside yet.

I used to ride a lot of downhill and did some dirt jumping too, but those years are quite far past me now, and I hadn’t properly set foot on a bike for some time.  With this in mind I was naturally slightly apprehensive when I turned up at the university carpark to see about 20 riders who looked like seasoned professionals with their bikes upside down and having a good tinker with chains and forks etc!
However I got chatting with a couple of people who seemed like good sorts and before long we were off on our way.  Being a rider who used to be quite fit but whos stamina has certainly diminished somewhat I found the pace fairly easy going for the first hour or so.  In this time we covered some really nice technical woodland trails at a slow-ish speed with some interesting obstacles on the way.  We crossed a set of logs and all was going well until my bike suddenly decided to dive between my legs – sorry to whoever was behind me!
The second half of the ride was more flowing with some really exciting singletrack.  I found the pace here really comfortable but quite exhilarating at the same time – those trees really come up quick at this time in the evening!  At this point it was becoming dark in the woods which did nothing but add to the fun in my opinion!
Being sort of unfit I was huffing and puffing towards the end, but I just about managed to hold it together!

To sum up the experience of my first outing with Brighton mtb, everyone was friendly, the pace was quick enough to be exciting but not too quick so as to finish you off.  The difficulty of the trails was to a level where you certainly needed some experience but there was nothing that really made your jaw drop when you had a glance at it!

So thank you all for letting me come along, I had a great time, it was really nice to get back in the saddle and I’ll see you all soon.

Tom’s first ride

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On a warm, maybe too warm, no mustn’t say such a thing in this country so lets go with humid. So on a humid Thursday evening I rolled in to the Sussex Uni car park for my first Brighton MTB club ride. I was filled with a certain amount of trepidation, with feelings of, will I be fit enough, will I be fast enough, what if they have a real fondness for 15 foot gap jumps!
As it turned out the first two I think I got away with and the third was not applicable, at least not on this ride!

So following some introductions we set off in to the woods. What followed was a fantastic mix of climbing, thankfully not too much, great technical obstacles, some of which I cleared, some I didn’t (must try harder!) and some brilliant singletrack ranging from flowing and quick, to tight and technical.

Having spent most of my recent riding alone out on the open downs it was great to be in the woods riding a brilliant mix of obstacles and singletrack with some like minded friendly folk. We were out for just over two hours and kept a nice pace, with some strategic stops at the top of ascents allowing for a quick breather but mostly keeping on the move to maximise the time we had before darkness crept in. The final descent was undertaken with just enough natural light to negate the need for lights but meant that some areas of woodland were dark enough to keep you on your toes.

All in all it was a great ride with only one real incident when someone became more personally acquainted with their handlebars whilst riding over one of the bigger obstacles. I will certainly be looking to join you all again and thanks for the tip on camelbak cleaning, apparently denture cleaning fluid is the way to go.

Cheers Tom.

Another Brighton MTB Virgin

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Thursday 24th June.

On a balmy Thursday evening I turned up to Sussex University and as I pulled into the carpark I noticed lots of excited looking people and a couple of guys dancing to Yazoo hits beside their car. No it wasn’t an 80’s night but my first ride with Brighton MTB! There was excitement in the particularly warm air and why wouldn’t there be on a beautiful evening like this with the thought of riding lovely dry trails after the recent bizarrely generous dry spell we’ve been having! Around the carpark people were making final adjustments to bikes, riding up and down practising some skills, having a good chinwag or dancing to yazoo?!

As riding time drew closer the group started to assemble until the final figure of 17 riders with various pieces of bike porn were ready and raring to go. As we set off someone asked whether everyone could swim – what have I let myself in for I thought! Luckily nobody needed to swim as we did laps of a concrete pond with sloping sides, although I think it was hoped that somebody might provide some entertainment by pushing there luck a little too far and going for a swim – a camera was positioned ready!

After the pond we continued on up the hill to a section of singletrack full of jumps of various sizes, I was asked by Ronnie whether I had done much jumping, I haven’t and I think my inexperience showed! The guys very kindly guided myself and Caroline (who was out on her second ride) through and gave us pointers so that we made it through in one piece. Most of the jumps were rollable save for a couple which could be avoided. Halfway through this section somebody snapped their chain but Ronnie had a spare powerlink and helped them fix it. This happened next to one of the biggest of the jumps so the more experienced riders had a chance to session this (interesting to watch) which gave me and Caroline a few more tips on jumping.

Mechanical problem fixed and off we went, the rest of the ride consisted of miles of amazing single track, a few more jumps (and crashes!) and some exciting technical obstacles. Particularly good was a track which I think was named ‘Tank Track’, it was a real roller coaster and at one point had a section that required riding along a fallen down tree and down the ramp at the end. I didn’t manage it as my front wheel slipped on some moss – next time!  The final part of the ride consisted of loads of nice fast winding single track to really get the adrenaline flowing and smiles widening. Another highlight was a fallen tree standing around about 5 foot off the ground with log ramps on either side so it could be ridden over, this was left to the more experienced riders and it looked quite tricky judging by the number of near misses!

As it started to get dark we blasted through the last bits of singletrack and headed back to the carpark, I can remember some kind of large critter bouncing off the back of my throat and being sucked down my windpipe before I had the chance to spit it out – Oh well extra protein is always good!

All in all it was a really enjoyable ride, I never knew what amazing riding we have right on our doorstep and I don’t think I ever would have without coming along on this ride. Everyone can ride at there own pace, with no pressure and everyone is friendly, helpful and happy to offer advice if needed. A big thanks to everyone, they  do a great job of organising the ride and route and really look out for you if you’ve not ridden with them before.

See you all again next Thursday!

Dan

Ramblings of a girl’s first ride

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I’d officially like thank the random person who I met on a random ride about 4 months ago who told me I should come along to the Brighton mtb club rides on a Thursday night. I have no idea what his name was or where he came from, so for want of a better imagination, will have to call him “Whats his face” for now! Anyway “Whats his face”, I finally made it to this ride last night and I have to say it was the most fun I’ve ever had on the South Downs!

I was a bit nervous when I turned up at the car park, and my nerves weren’t assayed when, surrounded by a bunch of very fit looking young men, I tentatively asked “Do you get many girls coming along to these rides then?” To which the reply was, “Urm, well we do get the odd one”. Chuckle, chuckle! “They don’t come back then?” “Oh yes. We have a couple of regulars but one has gone to China for 6 months!” Jesus, surely it can’t be that bad I thought to myself. And then, “they are mad – downhillers, turn up fully body armoured up and are faster than any of us”. Oh great – that’s really helped calm my nerves!!

So feeling confident (!) and wondering what was in store for me, we set off into the woods. Although it was a fairly big group (there were actually only about 15 of us) it didn’t feel big and we were quickly riding loads of twisty, flowy singletrack with optional jumps and mini drops interspersed with some tricky turns and dodgy cambers! Mike was hanging back to look out for me and was really encouraging, explaining a few techniques which I tried to follow and copy. Well that is up until we reached a collection of logs where he said “Right on this one, just go at it fast and keep pedalling”. It made sense and what a fine demonstration it was Mike! But I’m afraid I wasn’t feeling brave enough to copy your unusual, yet very impressive landing! I know – that piece of wood had been left in completely the wrong place!

We were out for a good couple of hours, although it didn’t feel that long and we covered a fair bit of ground (seemingly mainly going down with no climbs – amazing!). It was a steady pace but everyone could go as fast or as slow as they liked on the singletrack, and even though I was the slowest, at no time was I made to feel like I was holding anyone up which was great!

There was quite a mix of bikes on the ride and I was intrigued at Steve’s single speed mountain bike as I wasn’t sure of the benefit of only having one gear. That is until the 3rd time he had to fix a gear problem and Andy commented, “I can see why you’ve only got the one gear then, imagine the time we’d spend waiting for you if you had any more!”.

So all in all, a really friendly bunch, with no massive egos (maybe a few bruised ones) and just a lot of people who love having fun and riding single track. Would be good to have some female company next time, but if not I’ll just have to man up a bit on those drops and stop wussing out at the last minute! Thanks so much for introducing me to all that singletrack, and thanks “Whats his face” for telling me to come along in the first place – wish I’d gone sooner – it was ace!

Bring on next Thursday!