Ride Report: Whiteways August 09

Posted by f

Off Piste

Extreme Gardening: Whiteways Ride August 09

Hectic single track, a tree stump, braking, lost it, over we go (only the third time today). Felt quite safe for a fall – must be something to do with the adrenalin rush – also felt shunt moving me forward. Metallic noises (rider behind forgivingly non-vocal). More metallic noises (likewise newest rider). Sorry guys!

My abiding memory of my first Brighton MTB outing? – not at all.

I’d seen the network of bridleways in the forest area west of Whiteways on the map. It looked interesting. I hadn’t seen the Brighton MTB site and the Whiteways meet until the day before. Great thing the interweb.

On Sunday I was belting down single track created specially for bikers out of forest. I’ve seen such things in the Grizedale Forest in the Lake District, but they seem a more commercial thing. The single track was technical and exciting to ride. The heavy rain the day before helped! Scrapes one and two were over fairly promptly after the start. No damage done and it felt as though I’d got the hang of it.

Where did we go? No idea at all. In the car park before we set off, I mentioned the bridleways I’d seen on the map and was a bit mystified by the response, “We won’t be using them!”

Some parts were very overgrown and speed was the only way of making sure the branches and brambles didn’t get a complete grip and slow you to a standstill. This results in scratches and blood, but Savlon cream was on tap. Later we rode tracks we were told were very overgrown!

I was probably the oldest biker on the day and definitely suffered several decades on some. But someone was always with me to ensure I didn’t drop off the back and get lost. Four hours into the ride I was given a gel shot by another friend (note to self: I must remember people’s names). How I’ve avoided gel shots all the years, I don’t know. True to predictions, the shot gave me the boost I sorely needed to get me to the end. The group was friendly, fun and – most importantly – forgiving of a less fit and able rider (thanks all round).

The mystery for me is not where we’d been but more how the ride leader gets to know the single track routes. I’m only guessing here, but this may be explained if they are one of a band of dedicated extreme gardeners, locked away in the forest creating bike paths, complete with tricksy bits. And that, I’m sure, is quite another story.

Thursday Evening Newbie

Posted by f

Night Riding

I have been lone riding for a couple of years and just recently starting looking to join a MTB group – then happened across Brighton MTB whilst out walking in St Leonard’s Forest.

After chatting to a couple of the guys, I met up with the whole group on a Thursday night ride at Stammer Park. I was warmly welcomed by all & learned that there is a good mix of abilities and ages, with around 10 riders in total (more at weekends).

The group has set up some brilliant single-track trails around the stammer park area, which luckily (I think!) are not well known enough to be wrecked by inconsiderate riders…. The jumps and rolls are enough for intermediate riders to handle at slower pace, but have enough about them to be challenging for advanced MTBers if taken at speed.

No-one was left behind & the advice given about upcoming trails was excellent. I could tell that the experience levels were good, as all the riders chatted about everything riding orientated whilst mid ride (lights through to bikes, through to events) & gave some good tips on techniques and equipment. (Decent lights and a good helmet are pre-requisites for night riding with these guys).

Even with the off I had toward the end of the evening – (I was warned by Sam to mind my head….) I had a cracking time (hope I didn’t hold anyone up!!) and will definitely join up with them regularly.

Cheers Fellas!

Rob

Brighton Big Dog 15th August

Posted by mtbnomad

The weather was its usual sunny Brighton self, Stanmer seems to have its own micro-climate as even when raining and the ground is slippery it is rarely cold.

Thanks to everyone who helped out. Lugging boxes, erecting tents or finish lines, directing cars or standing for hours without a break trying to prevent the odd fool from killing themself.

Feedback from those competing or just taking part was very favourable and the riding was considered some of the best on the UK race scene, this is great news as at the end of the day those competing are the most important aspect of a mtb event. It seems us regular visitors to Stanmer don’t know how enjoyable our little playground is and it takes others to point it out. The use of some of our singletrack on the course was also gratifying although we will have to accept that it is no longer secret! Why did some complain about the wasps nest? be thankful, we have a section of singletrack called ‘Sting-in-the-Tail’, it wasn’t used but is named after the flying fiends. Some of the descents witnessed chaos and plenty of tumbles, hopefully no was hurt (including the guy from Oxford who we took to first aid and was instructed to go to A&E) and everyone will be back next year.

The high marshal turnout from Brighton mtb was very much appreciated by both the competitors and the organising committee who are planning a show of thanks during the coming weeks so watch this space.

Plenty of the Brighton mtb gang took part (apologies if I’ve missed anyone):

Mark and the ‘Bongo Pedallars’

Pete & Brian as ‘Brighton mtb’

Alex and Rob as ‘Where’s the Beer’

Mr Donne and Gez as ‘Are we there yet’

Sam in the solo event

Jo in the Oneder Dog

Jimbo from Sussex-mtb in the solo event

However, pride of place must go to Gill and her team ‘3 Pedigree Bitches’ who won their catagory, no pressure to defend it next year then girls.

As a first event to be organised by a bunch of amateur mtb enthusiasts the excellent vibe together with unanimous competitor feedback shows that the Big Dog 09 was a great success. The good bits of 2009 will be built upon and areas for improvement have been noted. The plan is to make the 2010 event one of the best experiences on the mtb calendar for both competitors and all those involved in organising and staging the event.

Keep checking the photos as they will be updated during the course of the next week.

Ride Report: Saturday 1st August

Posted by f

Procession

3 weeks ago I had some kind of brainstorm about my present physical activities as I spend a lot of time behind a computer and my belly is getting bigger, hands thinner and head heavier. Outcome of that was the decision to buy an MTB! And so it happened.

2 weeks ago I bought my first MTB bike and searched the internet for places where I could go and start learning and riding. I came across Brightonmtb.org and here we go…….. a bunch of enthusiastic riders, who will never leave you behind, are willing to help with everything related to MTB and most importantly doing 3 rides per week regardless the weather. I contacted them and a couple of weeks ago joined for my first ride. I have no skills whatsoever but my first outing with them was a nice fluent ride (in my opinion).

Saturdays are “made” for less experienced people (none in my case) with a focus on practicing technical riding skills rather than a fast and furious ride. We slowly rolled through some hand-build tracks in the forest, practising techniques how to get over simple obstacles like small rocks, logs and fallen trees. The guys took me to a nice spot for bit of jumping practice (one foot high jump). After a couple of demonstrations and words of encouragement I had a go and a few attempts later and I managed to “jump” and land safely on both wheels at the same time. Great, first success!

The whole session took about 2 hours and 30 minutes, the guys were great, the weather was good (at least in the morning) and the whole experience was positive so I am looking forward to next Saturday and possibly even Thursday, to try to add some speed to it.

I also realised that wet roots are not MTB rider’s friends.

Cheers.

Oh and one more thing. It seems to be that right now I am the only one non-UK MTB learner in this group so if there are any more foreigners who would like to join. Just do it (Nike) – no problem at all.

Martin Pelikan

Thursday Evening Ride: A Different Perspective

Posted by f

‘Ill-in-the-head’ trail

Now that shouldn’t have happened now should it? … I’m flat on my back looking at the tree canopy as my fellow riders check I’m OK… The evening had started so well too.

I would be in Brighton for a three-day conference at the University; an enquiry on Singletrackworld had been met with a number of responses recommended a spin with the guys from Brighton MTB on Thursday evening.

Continue reading →

Just another Saturday

Posted by mtbnomad

As this was an extra trundle only four of us pulled on rain jackets and spun out over thee grass. My choice of dry weather tyres seemed challenging as I spun on the very first, tiny slope. Neil was on a borrowed bike and immediately had to cope with two problems. The Suntour fork was somewhat bouncy compared to his usual fare and we could not swap the pedals as despite all our efforts they were well and truly stuck. Neil claimed that they were greased but Hercules would have failed to get them off.

Straight into single-track, then instead of a fire road climb a new trail to try.

Eventually after a few linked trails we arrived at the logroll. It looked a bit slippy and was despatched with ease by some but Neil who rides every obstacle with ease on his Commencal explored the absolute limit of a hardtail and a bouncy fork.

A slip, a slide, a bounce, a rear wheel easily a metre in the air with the forks fully compressed as he managed a virtual handstand.

Anyone who was not either a gymnast or a madman would have bailed off but he landed albeit with less grace than usual. He did not want to ride it again so probably not a gymnast.

More trails, a short climb, a fast run trail, another new trail, some minor repairs and a super twisty trail. We met up at this point with alone rider who joined us for a trail or two. It is always difficult to ride a new trail for the first time but newbie Jim even managed the big log in Sanatorium so hopefully he will join us for a full ride next time.

A bit damp, a bit slippy but fun for all.

I will change tyres now as obviously summer is over.

New Faces

Posted by mtbnomad

For those of us with grey in our hair this used to be the name of a talent show, and on Thursday night’s showing the stream of new talent continually joining us is going to make life harder for some of us. Even the ride organisation will need reviewing if we always get twenty hardy souls on a dark, winter’s night. Continue reading →

Review: Trek Fuel EX9

Posted by f

Nick's Trek Fuel EX9

One of the brightonmtb crew has been nagging me for months to write a review of my Trek Fuel. When that person is obviously incredibly technically-minded, whereas I can only change my pads and mend a puncture but little else, that is quite a daunting task. However, a promise is a promise so I will do my best.

The Trek is my first full suss, after happily riding a Rockhopper for 3 years. I loved the Rockhopper (and still do), as it was my first ‘proper’ mountain bike and introduced me to the joys of off road riding. I explored miles and miles of bridleway on and off the South Downs Way on the Rockhopper every weekend as soon as the sun rose on a Saturday morning. However, it wasn’t till I went to the Brecon Beacons and rode up and down the Gap that I realised that hardtails and slabs of granite are not the best combination!

I started the inevitable months of research for a full suss so I could revisit South Wales, and narrowed my choices down to a Scott Scale, Stumpjumper, Giant Trance or the Fuel. On the way to Whiteways is Southdowns Bikes in Storrington, owned by the very helpful and friendly Martin. At the time they stocked 3 of my options so I was able to test all three easily and cost effectively. While I was drawn to the Stumpie, the Fuel just felt right as soon as I started to ride it and the white and black finish of EX9 08 version looked brilliant.

So how have the first 18 months been? It took a while to get used to the Fuel and I tended to alternate between the two bikes each weekend. However, a trip to Cwn Carn really showed the benefits of the Fuel. While it is not the lightest bike(at 28 plus lbs), it stills climbs well but it was the bike’s descending capabilities that really made the difference giving me far more confidence as it soaked up nearly everything thrown at it. This is where I believe the ABP system, which places the pivot on the rear axle to remove brake influence on suspension movement plus the Full Floater, where the rear shock is placed on the extended chainstays, moving down as the rocker compresses the unit from the top, really come into their own smoothing out the trails.

The bike is well specced with 130mm travel up front (Fox Talas) and 120mm at the rear (Fox Float RP2), Juicy 7 brakes and a Shimano Deore/Sram combi drivetrain. I have made very few changes to the bike, apart from replacing the uncomfortable Bontrager saddle a with a Fizik Gobi (a popular saddle amongst the brightonmtb group). Despite the tubeless ready Bontrager Race Lite wheels I have still not converted to tubeless preferring to replace the Bontrager tyres with Panaracers (Trailrakers, Cinders and Razers depending on the conditions) as I have found these to be the best for puncture resistannce.

So would I recommend the Trek Fuel?

I love it and I would highly recommend that any first time buyer of a full suss who wants to build their confidence, tackle more challenging terrain but still enjoy a mixture of xc plus singletrack riding should really consider this an option.

As What Mountain Bike said in a recent review ‘What really elevates it above some strong competition is its ability to flatter pretty much everyone’s riding style’. It certainly flatters mine.

Cycleactive mtb Skills Course

Posted by f

Cycle Active Trail Centre Day Courses Review – Single Track Skills and Jumps and Drops

http://www.cycleactive.co.uk/courses/personalskills/oneday.html

I finally got round to doing a skills course in March this year. All my riding buddies seemed to be too “good” or too skint so I decided to do it on my own. I shopped around for a while to find one with the right location, dates, price, syllabus etc. and finally decided to go for the Cycle Active Trail Centre Day course at Forest of Dean. They aren’t the cheapest company but they seemed very professional and emphasise the small groups and quality of instruction. The Single Track Skills was exactly what I wanted and I thought I’d do the Jumps and Drops while I was there and try to expand my riding horizons.

There were 6 of us on the 1^st day and it was a complete mix of abilities, which worried me a bit at the start. Actually the instructor, Rich, handled the mixed group amazingly well and I didn’t feel held back at any point by the less experienced (i.e. no experience) riders, or like I was holding anyone else back. We all introduced ourselves and did basic bike safety checks in the car park before heading out. Braking, cornering, wheelies, manuals and bunny hops were all covered. These are all “basic” skills but ones I’ve never put that much specific effort into practising. Having someone watch, correct and offer advice and tips, and I suppose actually spending a decent amount of time practising, really helped.

The two courses can be booked separately. Three of us stayed for Jumps and Drops and one guy arrived on the Sunday, so it was a group of 4. There was some repetition from the 1^st day, the bike checks and some of the basic skills although the emphasis was quite different. The morning was spent learning how to tackle drops and then after lunch we hit the jumps. This was where the mixed group was a bit of a problem, especially with jumping being such a confidence reliant thing.

Cycle Active were really good, if slightly more expensive than other companies, very prompt with information and very professional. Rich the instructor was very good, helpful, professional and it was obvious he spent A LOT of time riding bikes. He confessed to us on the first day that he had only ever ridden in FoD once before, on the Friday before the course, having driven down from Carlisle at short notice to replace the usual instructor who had broken his wrist. Fortunately it didn’t show at all and he’d found suitable bits of trail for all the lessons.

Overall I think Single Track Skills was well worth the money and defiantly improved my riding. I need to spend more time practising, obviously. I think it could have been even better with a group of friends of similar ability, but would recommend it to anyone even on their own. Jumps and Drops was a bit repetitive for those of us who did both days and jumping isn’t necessarily something that can be taught. Certainly not to me! I probably wouldn’t recommend doing it as a second day to ST Skills, maybe on it’s own if you already like jumping.

Forest of Dean trail centre is a bit limited. The man made trail can easily be ridden in half an hour, it’s fun but not that technical. There’s a lot of unmarked trails, loads of jumps and a mini downhill course which is VERY popular with locals. You’d need patience to explore or a local guide to make a weekend of it. The cafe is OK.

Sam

Ride Report: Firle Beacon Sunday 10th May 09

Posted by f

Mark takes off

The sun came out and the wind died down on cue for the 10.30 start from Firle Beacon car park – my second ride with Brighton MTB. A small group of four today, but each born in a different decade – that age gap most apparent during the inevitable end of day climb from Alfriston when child of the 80’s Chris running single speed burned into the distance, only to come back down again to check with the stragglers for directions (or was it just to have another go). Chris was in training for the Clic24 next week – good luck Chris!

From Firle Beacon we dropped down and headed south across the Cuckmere
River then on into Friston forest for a bit of single track action – all trails perfectly dry and compacted. Couple of close calls on the stump-ridden lower section. James enjoying his new Fox forks. After a much needed coffee in the visitor centre we took part of the Friston red trail and followed it up to the top of the forest then peeled off to take a look at the unofficial downhill sections – tiptoed down a short run then loitered around a dirt jump before throwing caution to the wind. James then followed – like me a relative novice who hasn’t seen enough broken bits to know when to step back.

We mucked around in a bomb hole for while the aim to make it around a tree located half way up one side. After this a slog up to join the South Downs Way above the Long Man for the most spectacular views of the day, then a long fast descent into Alfriston, (pies from the Local Village Stores to be recommended). Lovely place though Alfriston is, the only way is up – and we eventually made it back to the car by about 4.30, sore (Body Geometry – my a**e!), slightly sunburned, but with the feeling that you only get after a great ride. I’ll be back for more of the same.

Mark