hurrah, The MTBing season is here at last
brianbee
Posts: 330
On Sunday, after a long dull summer of mostly no rain and very little mud, I felt the tingle of joy as the British weather put the FUN back into MTB. Summer in my local woods ( Worsley woods GtM) is a frustrating mix of mundane riding conditions and crowds of walker, dog people and sunshine bikers, its like Piccadilly circus some week ends.
But on Sunday it was coldish with a light drizzle, following a good rain the night before and I knew, loading the bike up it was going to be a GOOD day and so it turned out
The car park was empty, no more struggling to find a spot, the trail has a layer of mud all over it and the muddy bits which had barely covered my tyres since last march were now ankle deep
Gone were the groups of lads and girls out for a stroll, who have to stand in the narrowest part of the trail, gone were the family outing wandering aimlessly with a buggy in my way. Gone were the dangerous dogs and (their equal dangerous owners) snapping at my legs. Gone were the loonies in Lycra whizzing past me at 30 mph whist a I try to execute a naggy little turn. Gone were the fat girls in ridiculously tight pants jogging asthmatically up the slope I want to get up. Just me and half a dozen other hardy souls
Mean while the trial had turned interesting. The long wooden stair cases cut in to hill side That I bounce down with little regard in the summer are now treacherously difficult to balance the brake retardation against locking the front wheels and falling off/down. The wooden bridges are lethal at anything other than perfectly vertical. the roots ( and there are many) throw you slipping and skidding off the trail and down a ravine ,the easy climbs are now all wheels spin and the stream I ride down is now a raging torrent that comes up to my axels with hidden boulders to knock you off.. Absolute bliss Came home very wet very muddy and somewhat bruised
Cant wait for next week ( hope its not sunny)
But on Sunday it was coldish with a light drizzle, following a good rain the night before and I knew, loading the bike up it was going to be a GOOD day and so it turned out
The car park was empty, no more struggling to find a spot, the trail has a layer of mud all over it and the muddy bits which had barely covered my tyres since last march were now ankle deep
Gone were the groups of lads and girls out for a stroll, who have to stand in the narrowest part of the trail, gone were the family outing wandering aimlessly with a buggy in my way. Gone were the dangerous dogs and (their equal dangerous owners) snapping at my legs. Gone were the loonies in Lycra whizzing past me at 30 mph whist a I try to execute a naggy little turn. Gone were the fat girls in ridiculously tight pants jogging asthmatically up the slope I want to get up. Just me and half a dozen other hardy souls
Mean while the trial had turned interesting. The long wooden stair cases cut in to hill side That I bounce down with little regard in the summer are now treacherously difficult to balance the brake retardation against locking the front wheels and falling off/down. The wooden bridges are lethal at anything other than perfectly vertical. the roots ( and there are many) throw you slipping and skidding off the trail and down a ravine ,the easy climbs are now all wheels spin and the stream I ride down is now a raging torrent that comes up to my axels with hidden boulders to knock you off.. Absolute bliss Came home very wet very muddy and somewhat bruised
Cant wait for next week ( hope its not sunny)
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Comments
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I know what you mean.
I've taken to riding the trails in the dark with my lights. No Bugger is out now at around 7/8 pm, you get the place all to yourself apart form the bunnies and foxes.
Nice to know it's not just me who encounters dangerous dogs with equally dangerous owners! I had a dog try and grab my foot whilst on my pedal a couple of weeks ago, the owner was damn right rude too.0 -
I do enjoy muddy downhill but miss some of the jump trails which aren't suitable for winter riding.
A lot of the local xc trails don't stand up to winter riding either.
It's a good time of year to ride on the Quantocks where it's mostly rocky or at Gawton where it's stupidly steep and drains well.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350 -
I do enjoy muddy downhill but miss some of the jump trails which aren't suitable for winter riding.
A lot of the local xc trails don't stand up to winter riding either.
It's a good time of year to ride on the Quantocks where it's mostly rocky or at Gawton where it's stupidly steep and drains well.
We obviously come at this ''sport'' from different ends. My MTBing rides typically consist of a slowish ride down the most difficult route I can find. An XC trail that doesn't stand up to winter is just what I like, If there is pedal deep mud I head for it. If there is a stream running paralleled to the path I chose the stream. There are times when I could go a lot faster, but the dog only has little legs, so I dont. I just scoot from one technically difficult bit to the next. Some times( in the summer) to make it more interesting I pretend the bike only has one gear and pedal stupidly fast to get to 10 mph on the flat bits and then have to ram it up steep inclines in too high a gear. That gets the heart rate up whilst not losing the dog
Nb does anyone else take their dog MTBing0
