London Calling

Naveed

Richard2118 wrote:

Is anyone else up for Sunday afternoon , me an popstar at mo probably 14.00 peaslake?

Hi guys,

I'm 50/50 at best for Sunday, my arms are about 65% healed and I've regained all the motion in my wrists, only issue is the colder weather of the last few days seems to be causing a horrible cramping feeling and I usually wake up pretty sore. Will see If I'm in any shape to do boxhill climb tmoz for my comeback fitness challenge, if so i should be good to go, if not, another week's rest beckons.

Being injured is the pits, just been watching MTB films like follow me and made on an endless loop, can't wait to get back out there!

Atz

I've got the houseguests I mentioned. Depending when they leave I might be out so will post or text popstar as I've not got Richard's number.

Buckaroo

1st jolly to Afan? - Done
Epic? - Yes
Awesome? - Absolutely
Do I have hideous bar grip cramp - looks that way.
Can I use my fingers for anything remotely usefull? - Not a chance.
Did Popstar leave his seat and seatpost behind? - Ha haaaaaaaa! :P

Might be up for one of the sunday rides... if my hands start working again that is. Will keep a check on forum. Am off to wash the mud out of my earholes 8)

Atz

Left it behind in your car or left it behind in Wales?

Buckaroo

He got to mine.... transfer of kit into my motor.... drive to Afan.... unload gear... "Where is seat post?".... er.... whoops.

Buckaroo

No worries.... Skyline Shop gave him a loaner.... for a tenner..... that kept slippin down.... all day.... poor bloke

Anonymous

Was just imagining him riding with no seat!

popstar

I was killed by that seatpost, it kept sliding and going down allthetime. On second part of ride climbing to Skyline gave up and walked all the way.

If I couldn't rent seatpost I would ride without it.

Buckaroo

Seatposts are for wimps....

Small 'set' of piccies 'ere...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbuckland/sets/72157624852669613/

cooldad

I'm a bit disturbed by the pic of your bikes getting intimate.

popstar

We have met Watford crew as well. Didn't take some pic of SC Blur Carbon sexeh, and Kona looking like a tank. At least did ride together Skyline's last descent together.
ATM working on movie for part2 coupled with part3.

Buckaroo

@ Popstar - emailed you link to the two vids I took.

Excellent day yesterday, good to meet ya.

Am off to wash a very mucky puppy....

supra-man

went for a soft ride this morning knee and muscles are ok, but need an extra couple of weeks before I get the power down.

I just stripped down the frame .... now the work starts bring the Enduro back to new...

@ thel33ter have you tried the dhx air how is it??

@ Bukaroo nice pics on afan wish i could have joined you guys.

Naveed

Hi guys,

Def out of the Sunday ride as my attempt to get back on the bike today didn't go down too well, basically anytime the bike points downhill my arms start to seize up and ache like hell, climbs were not too bad though.

Gonna rest up for another week but should be back up to speed for next weekend.

Nav

Atz

Did Swinley with friends who just bought bikes. Nice and steady, no drama. Trails were really nice though, great day for it

thel33ter

supra-man wrote:

went for a soft ride this morning knee and muscles are ok, but need an extra couple of weeks before I get the power down.

I just stripped down the frame .... now the work starts bring the Enduro back to new...

@ thel33ter have you tried the dhx air how is it??

@ Bukaroo nice pics on afan wish i could have joined you guys.

Still need to sort the bb but riding off cooldads porch thing it feels really plush. I need to work out how to make it bit more linear though. It seemed to use lots of the travel very quickly and the ramp up way too quickly.

I'll hopefully have it sorted to ride it properly by the end of this month.

dubcat

Ok so i am going to venture out tomorrow for the first time. Is anyone doing beginners trials tomorrow or trails with chicken runs? If so let me know where you are meeting. Hoping for folks meeting in the pm so I can go to evans in the am and buy my first set spd shoes. However, if all the meets are in the am I will just ride in flats and buy my spd on monday instead.

Plaisir

soz been missing out on forum and rides, been mad busy with new job and preparing for uni next week! Not been completely out of the picture though, went to Cwmcarn yesterday with a friend who is a mad good DH rider, for an uplift day. Certainly was intense! Must be three times faster now though. Think this DH lark could grow even more on me....

Anonymous

Dubcat wrote:

Ok so i am going to venture out tomorrow for the first time. Is anyone doing beginners trials tomorrow or trails with chicken runs? If so let me know where you are meeting. Hoping for folks meeting in the pm so I can go to evans in the am and buy my first set spd shoes. However, if all the meets are in the am I will just ride in flats and buy my spd on monday instead.

I'd ride the flats for a bit and see how you get on. The whole SPD thing is a debate in itself. Personally I'd say that unless you're seriously into hill climbs and XC competition, or only ever ride bridlepaths and fireroads, you're probably better off with good grippy flats. Still, some people do swear by SPDs.

Anyway, I'm riding Caesars Camp tomorrow morning. Not sure if it's beginner territory. It's new to me. There's a few out in Surrey Hill tomorrow afternoon, though probably doing "rad" stuff . Might see myself if I'm up for it and what happens in the morning.

I'd recommend Swinley though for a first ride.

Check out this thread for some Swinley maps. Some good ones in there. http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12684311

Plaisir wrote:

soz been missing out on forum and rides, been mad busy with new job and preparing for uni next week! Not been completely out of the picture though, went to Cwmcarn yesterday with a friend who is a mad good DH rider, for an uplift day. Certainly was intense! Must be three times faster now though. Think this DH lark could grow even more on me....

No tumbles? !

Richard2118

For those that are able

I will be in the main peaslake carpark( one up from hurtwood inn) from 14.00 will aim to leave at about 14.15, if you can join please do I am planning on doing most of what i know up that way so fairly technical
weather looks good so should be awesome conditions.

Popstar

text me if you are coming.

popstar

Popstar is coming to Walking bottom car park ! At 14.00 , it looks as if it's rainy morning 6.00-12.00 but after 12.00 it will be dry all the way baby. I still have sore legs after 3 day intensive riding. I want to see transformed Plaisir, how the hell did he improve riding with rad boyz.

Anonymous

Nice ride over Caesars camp way. Or rather it started that area and took in a big loop around the Army land, them all the way over to Fleet Pond, back and up the bit I know as "the woods out the back of work" (some nice singletrack and downhilly bits round there, so looks like that's what I'll be doing a lot!), and back to the start.

20 miles in around 3 hours. Somewhat faster pace than our Surrey Hills jaunts :shock: (even if we do end up doing 4 to 5 hills and 30+ miles, just we take the leisurely pace, many stops, photos, etc).

Man I'm unfit though! Well, compared to these guys .

So Cooldad, probably good thing you didn't make it after all!

I'm interested in checking out the more singletrack & DH bits though. Much of what we did was XC which was what was killing me . Some nice steep drops and rolls about, though gravel & sand mostly. Similar to Tunnel Hill really but a wider area.

Anonymous

popstar wrote:

Popstar is coming to Walking bottom car park ! At 14.00 , it looks as if it's rainy morning 6.00-12.00 but after 12.00 it will be dry all the way baby.

It was a lovely dry morning for me. Now it's raining

I'm thankful as the place is very sandy. SH is far better in the wet.

Naveed

Hi all,

It's with deep regret that I have to say my beautiful Gary Fisher Rumblefish 29er has been stolen. Went to give it a Sunday scrub down only to find my Garage door twisted and the lock smashed, went to the Police Station to report it but am absolutely gutted.

Loved that bike so much, damn! Don't know what compels people to organised crime and steal mountain bikes. The bike is soooo big, could only fit a cave giant like myself. Police seemed hopeful of finding it.

Next bike lives with me in the bedroom.

supra-man

Ah damn, I m sorry for you. obviously some one who has spotted your bike before, and knew where to go.

good luck in finding it... on gumtree perhaps... :roll:

Anonymous

Gutted! Sorry to hear that.

I'd rant about scum kids, pikeys, etc, but these probably were organised thieves. There seems to be a lot of garage and shed break ins about (downstairs neighbour had theirs done the other day, which makes both out sheds having been hit). However the opportunist ones don't seem to go for the bikes if they're locked up. They left mine and my neighbour's. Just go for tools.

I tend to keep the bike in the house these days.

Police seemed hopeful of finding it.

I'l like to think they're right, but I suspect you'll never see it again, and the police won't put much effort into finding it. They know you'll just file an insurance claim, and that's what the thieves know to. Hope it does turn up though. Was it marked, and have you got the details? (though they'll just file the numbers off).

Make sure the replacement bike is well secure. It's common to revisit the scene to nick the stuff you got on insurance. Scum.

Naveed

Thanks guys, it's just sad really, but I suppose I'm lucky they didn't take my rigid steel 29er which I commute to work on, may have to adapt this into my new steed.

Just gutted and it's that horrible feeling of having your privacy invaded that hurts the most, prob lucky I didn't catch them during the act.

Oh well, time to start saving I guess. DAMN!!!

dubcat

naveed bhai, really sorry to hear about your bike feel a bit silly for raving about my day today given your theft news but i cant contain myself. Hope you dont mind.

I did my first off road ride today! What a buzz! I got to the car park 5 mins late after spending ages trying to work out if hoe lane was a real road or someones drive lol. Thats when i realised that even if i had been there on time i wouldnt have know which of the many riders you are! Post photos or wear a carnation or something next time

Had a brilliant time! Did yoghurt pots, telegraph road and barry knows best. Had a coronary on the long ride up, was dizzy and feeling sick from exhaustion, forgot i had spd pedals on (my first time ever on spd lol), and the rest is history. Large audience to appreciate my graceful fall

Mountain bikers are such a helpful bunch. Hooked up with another rider who showed me the trails and waited patiently while i made my way down with a terrified look on my face

Will be eternally grateful for that guy showing me the ropes. Im hooked! Its all a bit scary but i will get used to it i guess. Have to admit, yoghurt pots was a bit of a rude awakening for my first time on a trail, as was a rather steep bit near begining of barry. My guide actually walked back up to where i was shitting myself and showed me how easy it is. What a star!

Anonymous

Great stuff, and congrats on surviving Yoghurt Pots and Barrys! YP seems to claim victims of all experiences. It's not that technical really but it can catch you out sometimes as the conditions change.

And yeah that steep roll at the beginning of Barrys can be freaky, but once you've done it a few times it's quite a buzz and sets you up for the rest.

This is where it all takes off and becomes a real addiction

Should think there will be more of us out in Surrey Hills next weekend. That's my plan anyway.

Who did you ride with?

dubcat

I rode up the big hill from the village on my own. When i got to what felt like the top I accosted a random solo rider who took me up to fort, he was a top chap and was happy to show me the way down but embarrassingly I was starting to feel sick so I told him to go on as i wanted to take in the view. He must have thought I was a bit of a fool

When I stood up to ride I was definitely feeling a bit lost and nervous. I accosted a couple for route advice when a solo rider by the name of Chris overheard and offered to guide me down. Honestly, were it not for him I would have attempted yoghurt pots and probably headed straight back to the road leaving a brown trail behind me . His username on moredirt is pieeater71 he said - just an all round fantastic chap!

We did yogurt pots, the telegraph road. Then we road up a long fire road and via some car park got to the beginning of barry knows best. Then i rode back to peaslake in e trail alongside the road and proceeded to castrate myself joining the road before heading to the village