Evans Ride It West London

stuart_c-2

Hi,

Has anyone done any of the Evans Cycles “Ride It” events?

There’s 1 near me in a couple of weeks (West London) and am thinking of giving it a go. So far all my riding has been solo with a mix of roads and local woods. Are they generally relaxed affairs? They have 3 distances for their offroad route, 15 25 and 30, I’ll normally do 15 miles mixed on and offroad so guess I should try and push myself to do the 25. Are these days generally aimed more at the beginners? If so I would assume the routes wouldn’t be absolute killers.

Obviously being male and having pride and stuff I don’t want to go and end up looking stupid as I die on my arse. Or should I just MTFU and get on with it?

Stu

nonnac85

From what others have said they seem to be well organised and probably what trail centres would call blue routs. Its just that the distance changes but not too difficult.
I'd go on a Bike It if I wasnt already busy every Saturday!

stuart_c-2

Sounds good so far.

Having never been to a trail centre I haven't got a clue where a blue route rates, I'm going to guess 1 of the easier routes.

sniper68

We saw a few riders on an Evans ride-out on the Jacobs Ladder route in the Peak District a couple of weeks back.This is a tough route with some really rocky downs,95% off road and the two riders we spoke to were on slicks!!!:roll: Most of it would be graded trail centre red,with some black sections.Not a ride i'd take a complete novice.
One of the lads said Jacobs Ladder scared him to death.Surely Evans give advice etc before letting people loose on the trails?

Whytepeak

I did the peak district ride a couple of weeks back which was well organised (as ever), the only change from last year being the dry weather.

I did it with a novice, so only took him round the short route, although Evans does point out Jacobs Ladder as a danger spot and advises all riders to walk.

nonnac85

The grading goes Green, Blue, Red, Black (easy to difficult).

schlepcycling

I've done a few of these rides including this very one last year and I've always found them to be excellent. The organisation is really good, the routes are well marked and there's a bike wash and food at the HQ for afterwards.

Stew1066

I do these rides down in Surrey/Sussex and they've always been good. The whole thing is waymarked (except the odd stolen sign!) and they give you a map just in case!!
If you can do about 15 miles cross country at an average of 10mph + then you'll be fine for the short route and can probably get round the medium ok - they publish the times!

Generally a well organised day, with plenty of friendly people around.

sniper68

I agree they the route was marked pretty well(from what we saw)but it didn't stop riders who obviously didn't know the area and or couldn't read a map,from taking the wrong BW,Chapel gate,instead of Rushup Edge.The pair we spoke to had the route high-lighted on an OS map but were still about to climb Chapel gate(a tough climb)They were a half mile (on tarmac)from the actual route and the rest of their party had already started to go up Chapel gate.The point being they thought they were in the right place.In this case both BWs eventually meet at the same junction but that's not always the case.

mellex

I did the Evans ride in Surrey (February) that left from Epsom race course. The organised ride itself was cancelled due to the snow we'd had, but you could still ride the route if you absolved Evans of any injury/damage that might be sustained.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed. OK, the weather was shocking and not much fun for the novice rider so I can see the sense in cancelling but the general 'Who gives a **** ' attitude of the Evans staff at the Start/Finish was less than endearing. No map was provided, whoever marked the course must have done so in the dark, with eyes closed and there was no choice of route distance. So if you decided to give it a bash it was 30 miles of snow, ice and skidding cars on the road sections.

Sure my experience is a one off and I look forward to doing another event.

stuart_c-2

Well, I'm hoping snow won't be an issue for this 1.

Just deciding whether to be safe and do the short route, or man up to the medium route.

mellex

If you think 15 miles would be a comfortable trip for you, I would certainly look at 25 mile route as being a reasonable step-up. Set yourself the challenge. Nothing worse than feeling deflated when you cross the line after 15 miles, knowing you've still got more in the tank.

spoodie

I'd go for the medium, in fact I'm planning to myself. I've done the short rides and they're over too soon if you're reasonably fit and not a complete novice.

Judging by the grading dials on the Evan's website the technical and climbing aspects shouldn't be that challenging. And you don't have to push yourself. There seems to be a wide range of skills at these events and it's all very relaxed and friendly.

LDNTrailRider

mellex wrote:

I did the Evans ride in Surrey (February) that left from Epsom race course. The organised ride itself was cancelled due to the snow we'd had, but you could still ride the route if you absolved Evans of any injury/damage that might be sustained.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed. OK, the weather was shocking and not much fun for the novice rider so I can see the sense in cancelling but the general 'Who gives a **** ' attitude of the Evans staff at the Start/Finish was less than endearing. No map was provided, whoever marked the course must have done so in the dark, with eyes closed and there was no choice of route distance. So if you decided to give it a bash it was 30 miles of snow, ice and skidding cars on the road sections.

Sure my experience is a one off and I look forward to doing another event.

Why are you complaining about the lack of map, waymarking, the trail conditions etc. when you were clearly told the ride was cancelled due to inclement weather?

mellex

LDNTrailRider wrote:

mellex wrote:

I did the Evans ride in Surrey (February) that left from Epsom race course. The organised ride itself was cancelled due to the snow we'd had, but you could still ride the route if you absolved Evans of any injury/damage that might be sustained.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed. OK, the weather was shocking and not much fun for the novice rider so I can see the sense in cancelling but the general 'Who gives a **** ' attitude of the Evans staff at the Start/Finish was less than endearing. No map was provided, whoever marked the course must have done so in the dark, with eyes closed and there was no choice of route distance. So if you decided to give it a bash it was 30 miles of snow, ice and skidding cars on the road sections.

Sure my experience is a one off and I look forward to doing another event.

Why are you complaining about the lack of map, waymarking, the trail conditions etc. when you were clearly told the ride was cancelled due to inclement weather?

As you have to pay to enter these events, I expect to receive those items for which I have paid. Map, energy bar etc.

Before I undertook the ride, I asked if the route had been marked. I was told that it had been, by two members of the team, early that morning.

Reasons enough to express my dissatisfaction, I believe.

Don't think I did complain about the trail itself, I simply stated that there was no choice of route length and that that might have been problematic for anyone intending to do less than 30 miles.

merlie

Go for the medium route ... listen to your body ... theres plenty of people about to ride with. remember although they publish the times just think about getting round in one piece. If you take your time you may find that you can get round the long route ! When I did my 1st ride a few months back, i felt somewhat itimidated by the pro looking guys. Dont be. Just listen out for and follow fellow abled riders like yourself. Honestly most MTBers are very friendly.

Just take you time.
BTW there are plenty of MTBers in this area ... if you live local why not join a local club ? I did and they cater for all ablities - best thing I did - and you get to see all sorts of routes that you would never discover by yourself

stuart_c-2

Well, I did the medium route yesterday (26 miles).

Was quite boggy in places, rained for 1st half hour and then the sun made a cameo half way round. Lessons learnt from yesterday:

1. I need to go on longer rides before doing 1 of these again, I was done for. Luckily don't ache much today.
2. I need to work on my mud technique. 1 comedy off over the bars from bogging.
3. When going through boggy stuff, do what Dori from Finding Nemo would say "Just keep pedalling, just keep pedalling....". Bike was more stable if you just kept spinning.
4. My brakes are RUBBISH. Really had to lean on them by the en of the route, my arms hurt more than my legs.
5. Wet muddy woods maybe not the best place to learn to ride clipless.
6. It feels fully cool when you finish. 8)

Merlie, I have seen a MTB club nearby that I am meaning to get in contact with. I noticed on over half the route yesterday that the Evans way marks were on the same places as the way marks for the MTB club, the WDMBC.

Will have to go back in a few weeks and see if I can do a better job of the route.:)

TonyWard

Stuart, well done on finishing. I did an Evans event in Dorking last year and it was very well marked and a lovely course. So much depends on the weather for many of these courses - on the day and the day before

Joining WDMBC is a good idea - a very friendly bunch (having joined this year myself ).