A regular ride in Essex.

rich.bikeryder

i think it is the one near ford hq wel it had better be or ill look a right pratt waiting for every one to turn up

VWsurfbum

if your gonna go to the visitors centre, its easier to park in the north entrance but yes you still have to pay 2 pounds for the priv.

Or park in warley ski slope which is free, then you got all the trails over there before getting to thorndon?

Ps i cant do saturdays.

VWsurfbum

if you can ask robert to turn up, and meet at warly you'll have the best guide!

mikeinessex

i feel like a idiot but there is about 6 dif thorndon visitor centres coming up on google map round brentwood an billericky. can anyone be more detailed about what i could search for to make sure im at the right place plz?

VWsurfbum

its the one off "the avenue" in bretwood.
here's a little ride map i did in the summer from my house.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=267202

VWsurfbum

mikeinessex
here's one more local to you.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=255136

feel free to look through my other trips. or if you need any other info just ask.

mikeinessex

right i checked your map out but that dont show me where i got to meet lol

i checked out the google map im getting closer. i found the avenue and i found the ski slope place off of warley gap. but that looks like a pretty big gay from there to the otherside of the park at the beggining of the avenue?

mikeinessex

orite yh dambury i used to go there wen i was younger dambury common. pretty cool in there

VWsurfbum

if you go into the entrance from the avenue the centre is on your right

mikeinessex

wicked i think i can find it now from ur info an lookin at the map. cheers

robertpb

Well I have just come back from a 3 hour ride over Thorndon and the bike must have weighed an extra 10lbs with all the frozen mud on it.

A lot of the side trails are still pretty good, these are the ones that seem to be missed by most riders.

Anyway I will be over Thorndon on Saturday so if any one wants to tag along it's fine by me, the ski slope is on my way as I live just south of there.

muddylegs

If we wake up to loads of snow i am going out for a ride tomorrow i dont care how rough i feel. :P

rich.bikeryder

robertpb wrote:

Well I have just come back from a 3 hour ride over Thorndon and the bike must have weighed an extra 10lbs with all the frozen mud on it.

A lot of the side trails are still pretty good, these are the ones that seem to be missed by most riders.

Anyway I will be over Thorndon on Saturday so if any one wants to tag along it's fine by me , the ski slope is on my way as I live just south of there.

i think some are meeting at the centre will you be going past that way say about 10 am (hint hint)

muddylegs

I live next to the centre on Lower Dunton Road. 10 am may well be perfect. Not much snow yet though

mikeinessex

thinking of it now 10am mite be a bit early for me. coming from south woodham ferrers on the train and on top of that never been before so finding the place lol

robertpb

So for the brave and the foolhardy it's Saturday 10 am at the ski slope car park.

VWsurfbum

if its anything like this morning, i doubt you'll even see the carpark, let alone the trails?
Brentwood is about 6" under snow and i arrived in cambridge this morning and its only got about 3"?

ploppy

glad i only got a half ay today, if the girlfriend cant make it over im tempted to go for a ride in the snow

rich.bikeryder

im going to hit the woods to get an idea how much of the trail we will see ... wish me luck if im not back in an hour ..... just wait longer

rich.bikeryder

NOT MUCH IS THE ANSWER !!!!!!!!!!!!! spent most of that staring at my back wheel which spent most of its time by the side of me good fun though

muddylegs

Rich, i waited until about 10.30 but there was no sign of you.

rich.bikeryder

muddylegs wrote:

Rich, i waited until about 10.30 but there was no sign of you.

sorry mate think we got our wires crossed going thorndon sat hope your going make up for the mix up today what was conditions like ?

muddylegs

Great. I had a blast i managed 2 hours which was good for me at the moment. I was flagging towards the end had to push some of the big hills at the end after christmas break i will feel better.

rich.bikeryder

you up for it again on sat (tomorrow)

muddylegs

Sorry working tomorrow. Might go out Saturday night or Sunday morning.

ploppy

i think im gonna give it a miss this weekend, cant get the car out the drive due to the ice so im just probably gonna do some local trails

mikeinessex

i think your all mad lol this weather cant be fun to ride in! lol

rich.bikeryder

just got back from thorndon met robert at the ski slope and i must say THAT was the best trails i have had all year that man knows where to go and we only scracthed the surface cant wait till next time .. once again thanks robert i had a blast 8)

robertpb

Well that was a good ride, very different and a good laugh.

Richard and I cleared quite a lot of snow off the trees as there were so many hanging across the the trails with the weight of snow on them, I looked like frosty the snowman at one point.

Still all the trails were ridable some a bit faster than you would think, we didn't get off the bikes much, once going over the bars and leaving a body imprint in the snow.

I think we rode ourselves to a standstill, ploughing through all the mud and crunching down the ice. we even rode the fast technical downhill at Warley Gap.

From the time I rode from my farm to the time I returned was 4 hours 45 minutes, one epic ride.

Thanks for the company Richard and I'm glad you had a good time. 8)

ploppy

wish i could have come, for now the car is staying firmly on the driveway though, when it thaws i'll be making my way to warley gap i think.