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.

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.