Swinley Forest / The Lookout

Soul Boy

More here and there was a bit on the local BBC news last night.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/berkshire/

Terrible

nozzac

The fires appear to be still in progress if the smoke is anything to go by.

I wouldn't have thought that the fires would damage the trails themselves much however I'm more concerned about the long term effects. I'm guessing that since the area is crown timber farm that they may wish to replant some damaged areas. I've seen how they do this and it's not pretty. They cut the timber and then remove the roots with bulldozers and diggers. Then they churn up the ground before replanting. Somehow I can't see them avoiding bike trails when they do this. However it's a big place and the fires might not even have been in the relevant areas. Still, if it's along the devils highway then some trails, seagull for instance might be affected. Who knows?

I'm not remotely surprised that the local chavs have been setting fires.

Soul Boy

NozzaC wrote:

I'm not remotely surprised that the local chavs have been setting fires.

True.

It's not so much the immediate effects, though it would be a shame if the trails are damaged. A lot of hard work has gone into them, albeit not by me.

I just really hope this doesn't affect access in the long run.

Fingers crossed over this whole incident.

Anonymous

It's not good, though Swinley itself is mostly untouched as it's in the Crowthorne woods mainly. The Swinley trails are fine. Just advice is to stay away and the Look Out is closed, mainly to keep people away from firefighters (and the chavs out), so they can get on with their job.

There's a thread on the fire now also: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12774654

Atz

ollie_lucas1985 wrote:

If anyones doing a weekend ride I would be up for joining.. I cant look through 100's of pages of "londons calling" thread..

Here's a crazy idea... look at the last page of the thread first? It's massive because we've been arranging rides for over a year.

edit - Sounds a bit ruder than I meant it to be. Last page, post up, people will say hi

cooldad

You could never sound ruder than you actually are.

Anonymous

Atz wrote:

Here's a crazy idea... look at the last page of the thread first? It's massive because we've been arranging rides for over a year.

And talking a load of crap. Cut out the fluff and it's probably a couple of pages of ride information.

We've also got a Facebook thingy. Search for 'London Calling - MTB'.

Not that it's intended to replace the thread here. Besides some can't or refuse to use FB. Just another place to post lots of waffle though and maybe offload some of the junk about who's going in what car etc.

nozzac

Stiff_Orange wrote:

cooldad wrote:

The holes just get dug out with use and braking. Adds to the fun?

Going to disagree with you a bit on this, The holes are "braking bumps" and they are caused by over braking and skidding, this rips up the surface. They've only just appeared over the last couple of years
None of the descents on the labyrinth area require that much braking, just a quick feather to regulate the speed. Unfortunetly the braking bumps make the whole course slower because they drag the bike, even if you flying over them at speed.

Remember Skids are for Kids.

I'm not talking about the braking holes. I came off one last week that was a good 2 foot feep with pretty square sides. I lost my watch and went back to get it and there it was at the bottom of a big hole. No way was it formed by braking.

flybywire

NozzaC wrote:

Stiff_Orange wrote:

cooldad wrote:

The holes just get dug out with use and braking. Adds to the fun?

Going to disagree with you a bit on this, The holes are "braking bumps" and they are caused by over braking and skidding, this rips up the surface. They've only just appeared over the last couple of years
None of the descents on the labyrinth area require that much braking, just a quick feather to regulate the speed. Unfortunetly the braking bumps make the whole course slower because they drag the bike, even if you flying over them at speed.

Remember Skids are for Kids.

I'm not talking about the braking holes. I came off one last week that was a good 2 foot feep with pretty square sides. I lost my watch and went back to get it and there it was at the bottom of a big hole. No way was it formed by braking.

by the sounds of it you misjudged and went into where the the earth has been dug out by the trail builders

cooldad

On the news tonight two kids have been arrested for arson in Swinley.

ollie_lucas1985

What a bunch of cunts..

Its raining now so hopefully we wont have any more fires for a wee while..!!

nozzac

It rained here last night and it's still drizzling a bit now so hopefully that will be the end of it. I had a sneaky peak up Devils Highway by going though the woods near Broadmoor (a bit spooky at night). They have tons of hoses going off into parts of the forest and it seems to be completely out. I suspect they're damping down smouldering peat or something to stop it coming back.

It's very annoying that I've missed so many days riding in beautiful weather with good track conditions. Now it'lll be back to the mud.

benpinnick

Yeah, still raining. Good news. Hopefully will dry up for the week. Level of rain probably only takes the edge off the sand, will still be dry.

ThePriory1978

Anyone know if they do mtb bike rental at The lookout/Swinley?

The Mrs is insisting she come join me in my 'adventures' and i aint buying her a bike for her to use once and never again.

Anonymous

Yes. There's a rental place just by The Lookout.

You can also buy the permits there I think or from the The Lookout reception.

ThePriory1978

Thanks, and for the permit reminder. I have a yearly pass but she'd need a £2 day pass.

montarius

deadkenny wrote:

Yes. There's a rental place just by The Lookout.

You can also buy the permits there I think or from the The Lookout reception.

Do you know if they rent out any full sus bikes? Never ridden one and would like to experience it to know if I should invest in one.

Atz

Nope. Plus to be honest their bikes are not a well maintained fleet of expensive machines, they're Saracen bikes built as tough as boots to last as long as possible.

If you want to try a full sus, either try a trail centre or stump up for a test ride from a shop. Pedal and Spoke in Peaslake loans out Santa Cruz bikes for a small fee (refundable if you buy from them).

montarius

Atz wrote:

Nope. Plus to be honest their bikes are not a well maintained fleet of expensive machines, they're Saracen bikes built as tough as boots to last as long as possible.

If you want to try a full sus, either try a trail centre or stump up for a test ride from a shop. Pedal and Spoke in Peaslake loans out Santa Cruz bikes for a small fee (refundable if you buy from them).

Thanks, will look into that. Do you know how "small" the fee is? I have heard great things about Santa Cruz bikes.

Anonymous

Depends what you consider small.

It's £50 though you get it back if you buy the bike. Don't have to clean it after the ride though.

Lots of info here: http://www.ps-santacruz.com/

Have to say the P&S guys really are very helpful and friendly and go out of their way to give good customer service. Probably because it's a couple of guys who are nuts on riding.

I'm rather ashamed I've not really bought much from them!

P.S. They do demo weekends for SC from time to time but you just missed this weekend just gone.

Their general web site is at http://www.pedalandspoke.co.uk/ plus they're getting into all this social networking lark now and are happy to answer questions via that stuff.

Atz

Well, £50 may not be small but if you're looking at a 1.5-2k bike purchase, it's fairly insignificant

J55TTC

I heard a rumor that theres some new trails at Swinley???

ThePriory1978

Today (Sat) at about 11:30am I got directions to Stickler by a gent with his Mrs. He as wearing a red jersey with a pastel blue Giro helmet with camera attached. Was it a BR user? I had a feeling it was.

I never did find Stickler.

Anonymous

If you follow the long route towards The Gully which crosses a few fireroads along the way (forget what it's called), you get to one part that crosses a fireroad which is fairly tree covered and often muddy, though probably not at the moment. Instead of going straight on, you turn right and head a short bit down the fireroad and look for an entry on the left. That's the start of Stickler.

As you go down the start of it there's a new bit on the left also which does the new large loop.

Not sure which of us ride with a helmet cam... aside from Popstar

cooldad

Awesome directions DK. It's near the tree, no not that tree, the other one.
Still thinking of going out tomorrow?
@Thepriory I'm planning a bit of a ride there tomorrow if you want to do some exploring.

cooldad

note to self, don't hit button twice.

Anonymous

It's how I navigate. I ride along and then recognise something from before, like a tree, and know to turn at that point.

Describing it to others is tricky. Easier just to ride and remember.

Did a local ride today and back hasn't been a problem at all. Little bumps are fine. Plan to go to Swinley tomorrow then.

Bike isn't quite right though. Need to replace the seat post so the saddle doesn't keep twisting round. The BB / pivot link has developed loads of play in it again. Seems the service I did wasn't enough. I may have to get the full kit to sort it out. Still, it will be okay for a simple pootle round Swinley.

May pop into the shops in the morning to pick up a seat post, and need to get glasses as lost them, then get out just after lunch. I'm flexible though. Got no other plans and can go whenever.

It'll just be a pootle though and have to see how it goes.

I'll be happy to do my own thing, and just meet up at some point if someone's about. Don't want to hold anyone up as I may end up just on fire roads.

cooldad

My method is to follow the bike in front, not too useful.
What sort of time were you planning on going?

apreading

http://www.calcot.plus.com/swinleysingletrack2.jpg

This map might help

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

What sort of time were you planning on going?

1pm ?