London Calling

arigold

Great weekend. Did swinley Saturday morning, then went to Tunell hill. Followed it with QECP and Surrey Hills on Sunday...pretty much dead, including my bike

benpinnick

Yep, top weekend. Alas, my weekend riding blitz is now over. I'd like to thank everyone who supported me in my effort to squeeze in as much riding as possible, including MrCubeLtd, ThePriory, DK, milko900 and Dan. Honourable mention goes to Arigold, who was there from start to end, through the good and bad, supporting us ... oh no. Hold on. He buggered off at the end leaving us all wondering if he'd fallen off and died, and meaning we couldn't do my favourite trails. B'stard.

Only kidding. Good times.

cooldad

Sorry we missed the riding, but car needs some expert help.
Bugger.

bartimaeus

Yes, sorry I missed you.

It was still very slippery today - we were missing out the whole Electric Ave / Hardshoulder section and cutting straight from the climb over to Snakes and Ladders, then over to Lumberjack and on to JBF. All the berms at the end of the final descent are new - it used to just run straight on to a fireroad. There is a lot of climbing that's true, but come again when it's dry - the climbs get easier and the downs are faster. There are also some unmarked (at the moment) trails, as well as a cheeeky trail out the back which is very good... and I think we now have permission to build on Head Down, which will extend the trail network.

I now need to find £4k+ as I really *want* a Pivot Mach 5.7.

tonionio

Hello guys...

I would like to ask you something and excuse me for my ignorance.
As a beginner in trails etc I would like to ask you if some trails are accessible without having a car..I am currently studing in London and bought my self a hd mtb and I was wondering if I could go and play somewhere just to gain some experience...Any meeting for beginners ?:P

cheers and thank you in advance.

arigold

benpinnick wrote:

Yep, top weekend. Alas, my weekend riding blitz is now over. I'd like to thank everyone who supported me in my effort to squeeze in as much riding as possible, including MrCubeLtd, ThePriory, DK, milko900 and Dan. Honourable mention goes to Arigold, who was there from start to end, through the good and bad, supporting us ... oh no. Hold on. He buggered off at the end leaving us all wondering if he'd fallen off and died, and meaning we couldn't do my favourite trails. B'stard.

Only kidding. Good times.

Best part of the weekend that :d 'See you at the bottom' was a challenge

Anonymous

tonionio wrote:

Hello guys...

I would like to ask you something and excuse me for my ignorance.
As a beginner in trails etc I would like to ask you if some trails are accessible without having a car..I am currently studing in London and bought my self a hd mtb and I was wondering if I could go and play somewhere just to gain some experience...Any meeting for beginners ?:P

cheers and thank you in advance.

Hi tonionio,

There are plenty here who use or have used the trains to get to the trails and can probably advise better than me, but for the two main places at least south of London, you can get to Martins Herron, Bagshot or Bracknell amongst others and ride to Swinley, or to Gomshall and ride to Peaslake for Surrey Hills (or to Dorking which gets you to the Leith Hill end of Surrey Hills).

If you're starting out, Swinley is a good place to start, though on your own you can easily just head up and down fireroads and miss all the trails. Better with a group to show you where they are. Don't know where in London you are so not sure what's nearest.

We're no club here. Just a thread for people to arrange rides really, and no requirements, mix of abilities. Welcome to come along on a ride, or if you're thinking of going somewhere just post here and others may join you.

Tends to be informal rides, plenty of stops (depending who's riding), chat about rubbish. General fun really.

benpinnick

tonionio wrote:

Hello guys...

I would like to ask you something and excuse me for my ignorance.
As a beginner in trails etc I would like to ask you if some trails are accessible without having a car..I am currently studing in London and bought my self a hd mtb and I was wondering if I could go and play somewhere just to gain some experience...Any meeting for beginners ?:P

cheers and thank you in advance.

Tonionio, welcome to the London Calling thread. Whereabouts in London are you (in order to discern best train routes)?

tonionio

Hi there guys and thank you for your replies!
I live in Kentish Town near Camden Town!
@deadkenny : Thank you for ur reply mate. I am on google maps now trying to see the places :)

I ll have to buy a helmet and a repair kit in order to be efficiently equipped right? I only have the bike now :P

cooldad

Helmet is up to you, although I don't know anyone who doesn't wear one, and most of us have managed to smash at least one at some point.
Generally most people have tools etc, so not a biggie - what you do need though is enough water or something to drink. Either a few bottles, or a Camelbak type thing - if you don't want to spend a lot some of the supermarkets do them cheap - mine cost about £11 and I've had it a few years - very handy, apart from water, you can carry a jacket, bits and pieces, food etc.

Blind Danny Johnson

tonionio wrote:

Hi there guys and thank you for your replies!
I live in Kentish Town near Camden Town!
@deadkenny : Thank you for ur reply mate. I am on google maps now trying to see the places :)

I ll have to buy a helmet and a repair kit in order to be efficiently equipped right? I only have the bike now :P

Swinley Forest is definitely the easiest place to get to if you're travelling by train. Ride to Waterloo, about 20-30mins from Camden then get the train to Martins Heron, about 1hr and ride to the Lookout, about 10mins. It's not such a bad journey though I'd watch out for the times you chose to take a bike on the train, when it's busy people get pretty arsey and also when you're knackered after a ride it's nice to sit for the journey, not be forced to stand because you want to make sure your bike isn't getting mistreated by angry passengers.

Anyway I hope that helps. Keep checking back here too for Swinley rides. Lots of friendly people who know the trails really well and don't mind waiting for beginners and giving advice and help. That's my experience from joining the rides early last year anyway.

benpinnick

Im on my fourth generation of helmet. The way I look at it each one busted literally saves me from death or lifelong debilitation, so I'm an advocate. A good helmet can be had from just £20. well worth the money. A £2 allen multi tool, some quick patches (park/lezyne/scabs etc) a spare tube and a mini pump are worthwhile additions to the arsenal to prevent an annoying walk home. Should be able to get the lot for under £15.

MrCubeLtd

Or you can on the pretence of seeing the kids raid the ex-wifes medical kit for essentials just like I did for my ride on saturday.

Helmet is a definite, plenty of fluid and most of all enjoy it! The people on this forum that I met on Saturday are a real friendly bunch and offer excellent advice for riding at Swinley and general MTB advice. Definitely made to feel welcome, especially when just starting out like myself.

Be good to see you on the trail.

tonionio

Nice to hear that guys :) Really nice!

How ofter do you go to Swinley Forest?I ll try to get a helmet to begin with! I have a small tool kit and I ll buy a spare tube :P

Now something else..Do I need to wear specific clothes? Or have something to change to after the trail?:P

Thank you again for your welcoming!Seems really nice and I am looking forward to trailing with you

cheers

arigold

I would have a light water proof jacket in your camelbak unless sun is guaranteed for the whole day.

Apart from that, try to be light as possible and preferably wear clothing which matches your bike frame or us

Example:

cooldad

First thing to do is ignore Arigold - he's an idiot. That gear isn't nearly tight enough.
This is an actual pic of him

And our actual team gear - youneed to pick a colour.

arigold

tonionio you will have to ride 50m behind us if you don't meet our requirements

tonionio

Guys no worries I can bring a number of outfits and tell me which one you like the most!
Arigold you look great in pink man!!

benpinnick

Just make sure you dont over dress as riding makes you way hotter than you might think. You need to start a little cold as a rule. Oh, and no denim. Thats a 100% never fail rule for riding. As for changing after, your call. Most just live with the smell till they get home :shock:

thel33ter

benpinnick wrote:

Oh, and no denim. Thats a 100% never fail rule for riding.

Debatable, worked for Charlie Kelly back in the days of MTB yore.

MrCubeLtd

Going back to Swinley tomorrow morning for a solo ride to try and get better acquainted with the place.

Chances of getting lost = I would say very high! However, all is not lost. My question is... Is it possible to download a trail map to an Iphone that can be used on the trail via inbuilt gps on the phone in case of getting lost? Would I need a specific app to do this?

Thanks

cooldad

DK and thel33ter use Strava or something, no idea how it works but I'm sure someone nerdier will be along to explain.

cooldad

thel33ter wrote:

benpinnick wrote:

Oh, and no denim. Thats a 100% never fail rule for riding.

Debatable, worked for Charlie Kelly back in the days of MTB yore.

Those were the days.

MrCubeLtd

cooldad wrote:

DK and thel33ter use Strava or something, no idea how it works but I'm sure someone nerdier will be along to explain.

Thanks CoolDad

Anonymous

Many maps about, though never that easy to follow.

Not sure what apps are good to load up a GPS track (usually a GPX file) and follow. I just tend to use apps for tracking, such as Strava and Endomondo, but they don't really tell you where to go. ViewRanger perhaps which is more of a mapping app.

Anyway, Strava has many segments mapped though not sure you can download the GPX unless it's your own route. There's also this old (and very big) JPEG image that's been knocking around for a while - http://www.buckledwheel.com/file/n12400 ... track2.jpg

MrCubeLtd

Cheers DK. Did some research and it looks like Strava can't import custom GPX files. As I managed to download a GPX of the routes from another site. Think I'll go with the ViewRanger as it allows imports etc

When I rode on Sunday I didn't check my phone once, is the whole forest covered from a GPS point of view on the iphone (O2 network)? ie Don't want to set the phone up, pay for apps etc and then discover that the GPS isn't working due to no phone signal.

benpinnick

Download Trails for the iphone, then select import track - Ill post one somewhere you can import. Then when youre ready start a new track and add a background track to it. That way you will have a trail to follow. Even better, before you go, start a new track at home, then find your way on the map over to swinley, once there you can select an area to download to the phone by pressing the download arrow. Use the maximum scale option to get the best maps.

Trails is cool as its opencycle map, so most of the swinley trails are on there anyway, but I will post a link for a route anyway.

benpinnick

Actually, I see view ranger does that too. OK, forget my idea then. Oh and GPS works on Satellites not mobile towers, so yes your GPS will work, but make sure you can download the maps first before you go, otherwise you'll be looking at a line on a blank grey background... :shock:

MrCubeLtd

The GPX file I got hold off won't import into viewranger. Also the map coverage of the forest on viewranger is very basic. At least something is better then nothing Also have printed map...

Now all I need to do is buy a massive bag of sweets and drop them behind me to follow my trail back to the carpark and hope that no other animals or riders f*cking eat them!

cooldad

Nerdfest.
Although I like the Hansel and Gretel idea.