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8th December Jeremy, Andy, Richy, Huey, Suey & Luey
Huey (last seen at Cwmcarn) has planned a winter epic ride and I have tagged along. Starting from the usual place at Epsom Downs, we head towards Box Hill in some cold and muddy conditions.
There's plenty of map checking for the first half of the ride as Huey struggles to get his bearings and quote of the day goes to Jeremy:
"Huey, I can't believe that you have a GPS and OS map and we end up following some bloke who's been here before."
The peleton speeds past the cameraman's thumb
13th December Keef, Richard (yeah man) - Box Hill to Leith Hill
What better way to spend a Friday off work than to go out cycling.
Starting from Rykers Cafe at the foot of Box Hill, we head through the Denbies vineyard and up towards Ranmore Common. With our legs still cold and the conditions treacherous, the climb is brutal and we end up doing a lot of pushing. Still, a nice little trip of about 13 miles beats being in work.
The Mark 1 Prototype Keefylite
The Keefylite shows it's power even during broad daylight Keef has been keen to get some lights for night time trailriding and has found a site dedicated to building them on the cheap (about 20 quid) with bits from B&Q.
A full report will be submitted in due course (hope you are reading this Keef). 28th December Richard, Paul, David and Keef - Leith Hill The end of the year and a welcome return to Leith Hill. We are trying one half of this month's 'Killer Loop' in MBR. Setting out from the YHA in Holmbury St. Mary, the going is good for the first few miles. However we soon hit the mud and water. Many bridleways have water running along them and there is one section of at least a mile and a half that is under 6 inches of running water (I shit you not). We have to treble check the map to ensure that David hasn't mistakenly followed the blue line on the map. Things soon lighten up however as we get to laugh at first David and then Keef doing spectacular endo's as they lose their front wheels in drop off's hidden by the water and end up grovelling in the water. I got a set of Panaracer Fire XC pro tyres for Xmas and the improvement in grip is immediately noticeable - a definite improvement over the trailblasters. However, my chainset needs replacing as it is becoming increasingly susceptible to chainsuck, especially in very muddy conditions. I soon discover that I am unable to use my granny ring as the chain locks the cranks on every second rotation. The middle ring is a bit of a trial on these slopes.
When David said follow the BOAT this wasn't exactly what we had in mind The cafe at Newlands Corner with it's hot tea and a plate of chips is a welcome break and I am glad when we finally head for home some 19.6 miles and three and a half hours later. The conditions have made it really slow going and we won't be attempting the full route until the onset of the dry weather. The
bike is unrecognisable because of all the mud and shite all over it and needs
a good cleaning session tomorrow...
David has just taken a fall but at least his bike is getting nice and clean. (Dave - can you just do that again for the camera) | ||||
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