South London mud-club

slowbike

Oh go on then ... but if the rain comes in whilst we're on the outward leg then I'll head back - I don't mind getting a little wet .. 0830 on the west gate of Richmond Park it is - unless you want to change it - I'm heading up the A3 so it doesn't matter where.

btw - know any cake stops? I note they're rather lacking in Ugo's details ...

ugo.santalucia

The bit in Esher common can be confusing... there are loads of paths and bridleways there, each of them ends up somewhere, either in Sandy lane or if the road is a lot busier, then it's the A 244 you're on (horrible road). If you find the bridge over the A3 that's already an achievement.
You might find cake in Great Bookham, otherwise on the way back there is a Costa in Esher on the main road
I will check the forecast tomorrow and if it suddenly turns benign I'll meet you there, but don't wait for me... If I'm there, I'll probably be the first to arrive

slowbike

Looks sunny enough on Google earth ...

cyclingsheep

ugo.santalucia wrote:

The bit in Esher common can be confusing... there are loads of paths and bridleways there, each of them ends up somewhere, either in Sandy lane or if the road is a lot busier, then it's the A 244 you're on (horrible road). If you find the bridge over the A3 that's already an achievement.
You might find cake in Great Bookham, otherwise on the way back there is a Costa in Esher on the main road
I will check the forecast tomorrow and if it suddenly turns benign I'll meet you there, but don't wait for me... If I'm there, I'll probably be the first to arrive

There's a new 'cycle' cafe in Esher opposite the Costa called Giro. Not sure how keen they'd be to see sodden, muddy cyclocross riders though

cyclingsheep

Last call for anyone wanting to brave the weather for a ride this morning. As mentioned before, I've not ridden this route but will be following Ugo's set path with the Garmin. Slowbike and I are meeting at Richmond Gate at 8.30 if you're keen. I presume Ugo is still planning on going out tomorrow for those looking for better weather.

ugo.santalucia

cyclingsheep wrote:

Last call for anyone wanting to brave the weather for a ride this morning. As mentioned before, I've not ridden this route but will be following Ugo's set path with the Garmin. Slowbike and I are meeting at Richmond Gate at 8.30 if you're keen. I presume Ugo is still planning on going out tomorrow for those looking for better weather.

I'm game.... if it starts raining I have a shorter route in mind

veronese68

I'm guessing it was muddier than last week. Hope you had fun, I'll try to make it for the next one.

ugo.santalucia

It was muddier than last week and the puddles deeper... I misjudged one on top of Ashtead common, which turned out to be over a foot deep with a bank, so I overturned and fell off in the mud... in essence a lot of fun for all. 90 minutes dry/60 minutes cold and wet, could be worse

Yeah, I'll think of a different route for the next "mud club ride", hopefully the weather will turn a bit drier

cyclingsheep

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It was muddier than last week and the puddles deeper... I misjudged one on top of Ashtead common, which turned out to be over a foot deep with a bank, so I overturned and fell off in the mud... in essence a lot of fun for all. 90 minutes dry/60 minutes cold and wet, could be worse

Yeah, I'll think of a different route for the next "mud club ride", hopefully the weather will turn a bit drier

Cheers Paolo for leading the ride today, it really was great fun, especially with the impromptu swim mid ride.

slowbike

Yup - thanks Paolo - nice route - even with semi-slicks on!
Dry 90mins and wet 60 - but warm anyway, perhaps cos I had to work abit harder to keep up with you...
Just waiting for my wife to get back wither bike and I can clean both down. Apparently she wants new tyres - so I might end up with her cast offs again!

ugo.santalucia

Slowbike wrote:

Yup - thanks Paolo - nice route - even with semi-slicks on!
Dry 90mins and wet 60 - but warm anyway, perhaps cos I had to work abit harder to keep up with you...
Just waiting for my wife to get back wither bike and I can clean both down. Apparently she wants new tyres - so I might end up with her cast offs again!

New tyres much cheaper than a new bag... I'm tempted to get a set of Marathon plus winter with spikes for ice and mud... they weigh close to 1 Kg each...

slowbike

Just uploaded the ride to Strava - how many segments?!! - there's 8 before we got out of Richmond park ... !

I've already got spike tyres - perhaps I should've used them today ... would've been a lot easier going through that field and on that grassy/muddy descent where you 2 left me behind - I used those tyres in the snow last winter - I think they had more grip in snow than certain parts of the ride today ..

asprilla

If you muddy funsters are doing next week the I'm up for it (providing I can get the headset swapped onto the Peregrine).

ugo.santalucia

Asprilla wrote:

If you muddy funsters are doing next week the I'm up for it (providing I can get the headset swapped onto the Peregrine).

MIght... but stop upgrading and swapping parts, or you'll never ride the damn thing

asprilla

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

If you muddy funsters are doing next week the I'm up for it (providing I can get the headset swapped onto the Peregrine).

MIght... but stop upgrading and swapping parts, or you'll never ride the damn thing

Just trying to get a bike that fits, s'all.

roger_merriman

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It was muddier than last week and the puddles deeper... I misjudged one on top of Ashtead common, which turned out to be over a foot deep with a bank, so I overturned and fell off in the mud... in essence a lot of fun for all. 90 minutes dry/60 minutes cold and wet, could be worse

Yeah, I'll think of a different route for the next "mud club ride", hopefully the weather will turn a bit drier

On the off chance you try Stane street it's got notices saying it's closed due to falled trees between Headley and Reigate road.

That trail http://app.strava.com/segments/916271 always seems to be wet, was fairly moist by time I went for a test run of tyres on the MTB some of the puddles are deeper than they might look...

ugo.santalucia

roger merriman wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It was muddier than last week and the puddles deeper... I misjudged one on top of Ashtead common, which turned out to be over a foot deep with a bank, so I overturned and fell off in the mud... in essence a lot of fun for all. 90 minutes dry/60 minutes cold and wet, could be worse

Yeah, I'll think of a different route for the next "mud club ride", hopefully the weather will turn a bit drier

On the off chance you try Stane street it's got notices saying it's closed due to falled trees between Headley and Reigate road.

That trail http://app.strava.com/segments/916271 always seems to be wet, was fairly moist by time I went for a test run of tyres on the MTB some of the puddles are deeper than they might look...

We did that yesterday, yes, deeper than they look...

tgotb

I popped out for a quick 45 min training ride around Ham Lands yesterday. Lots of deep puddles, slippery mud and bemused dog walkers (especially the one who watched me powerslide into a bush). 2 hours later I finally had to admit it was too dark to ride, and go home :-)

ugo.santalucia

The weather seems to be settling this week, so we can arrange a Vol. 3 for next saturday (16th). As a general rule, I do prefer saturdays as these are very muddy rides and I use the bike to go to work on mondays, therefore having a bit more time to wash and maintain the bike/ clothes laundry and stuff over the weekend works best for me

slowbike

can't do this weekend ... I'm off racing floating things instead ...
It's a good ride though

ugo.santalucia

Anyone for this saturday?

veronese68

Hope so, still haven't shaken off the last of this cold though. So, assuming that goes and I don't have to ferry my son to a rugby match I'm on.

veronese68

I'm out again for this week, my son has a rugby match in Epsom first thing Saturday. At least it should be dry for you this week, try to avoid going swimming if possible. Have fun.

asprilla

Stacked the Brompton this morning trashing my helmet and a good number of the muscles in my neck, chest and back, and for that reason, I'm out.

veronese68

Asprilla wrote:

Stacked the Brompton this morning trashing my helmet and a good number of the muscles in my neck, chest and back, and for that reason, I'm out.

Oh dear, but that's what you get for riding a bike with little clown wheels. Hope you feel better fast.

cyclingsheep

Sadly I'm out too this week. I have a pass for the rugby so something had to give. I am racing Sunday though so not a completely wasted weekend.

ugo.santalucia

Ended up doing three laps of the outer perimeter of RP... nice and dry, cold and crisp... was approached by a frozen hypothermic London Dynamo boy in summer clothes on the verge of feeling sick...
They should really start giving out their winter kit... :shock:

FransJacques

Wow, an afternoon nap turned into a 6 hour sleep marathon - so I realize it's a bit late.

But can anyone go out tomorrow from RP? Starting maybe at 9 o'clock.?

Lemme know...I'll stay tuned...

FransJacques

I showed up a bit late so did 3x the outer gravel circle of RP to keep the legs going. Very boring on a cross bike let alone the MTBs that people invariably ride there.

ugo.santalucia

FransJacques wrote:

I showed up a bit late so did 3x the outer gravel circle of RP to keep the legs going. Very boring on a cross bike let alone the MTBs that people invariably ride there.

On a cross bike it's not bad actually... it's boring when you have to slow down every minute to give way to a loose dog, but if you go early it's quite fun, coming down the hill especially.