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Bah... and I avoided Sundays, due to CX races :-/
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Do it!
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Nice one, Mick :-)
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Sorry mate, I've not been able to do nearly as many rides as I would have liked this year :-(
Do you have any Strava/GPS routes of where you've been riding? It might help me to know where you haven't been yet.
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Do you have any Strava/GPS routes of where you've been riding? It might help me to know where you haven't been yet.
I will try and plot a few points on a map. I know my way to three or four trails around the High Beach tea-hut so usually just hit those up. Would be great to experience the rest of the forest. I don't think I've ever actually been in the north of the forest, except when @mmccarthy took me to the M25 :)
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Actually, @spotter recorded our trip out this weekend which shows exactly where I'm famailar with:
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I'm afraid that really would be asking for an accident. There are hire bikes available nearby, if that's of any interest?
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Cool. Plenty of new bits for you to see then :-)
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I thought your reputation was for having a hideous bike?
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Excellent. Hope to see you there!
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I'll try to be there with chunky 29er + if that is allowed!
Perfect! I've yet to see one of those on the trails.
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Here comes the boring bit....
Starting and finishing point for all rides will be at Chingford Station. There's lots of room for people to wait around with bikes and plenty of shops nearby for last minute stocking up of food/drink/fags/booze etc.. For anybody driving there, I can give you directions for free parking nearby.
The duration of the rides isn't set in stone, so they can be cut shorter or extended depending on what people want to do.
It's worth bringing along food & drink, but there's various places to stop throughout the rides. The tea hut is guaranteed at least one visit and there's plenty of pubs about in the area too.
I don't ask much, but these are some guidelines that I'd like to set out:
Please try to sort your bike out before the ride. Don't decide that your brakes need bleeding while we're all standing about in the car park. Fettling is fine ( pumping up of tyres/forks/shocks ), but do your best to have a fully functioning bike when you arrive.
Try to carry the basics – Something to drink, some food, at least one spare inner tube & some patches. I will have a pump and basic tools with me, so those things are optional. I'd recommend wearing gloves, but helmet use is entirely up to you. I won't lead you into doing anything silly or dangerous, but you are responsible for your own well being out there.
Epping Forest is not a racetrack. If you want to race, go and enter a race. Obviously some element of competitiveness will rear it's head. This is fine, but please limit it to racing uphill, where you've less chance of hurting yourself or anybody else.
Please don't scare horses, run over dogs or generally endanger anyone else using the trail. It's not Whistler bike park. The trails are open and shared and sometimes busy, so don't act like a twat towards people out enjoying themselves for the day. LFGSS forum members are well known for their polite and deferential manner, so I know this won't be an issue.
There will be a mixed range of abilities on the rides. Several back markers or 'sweepers' will be required. This won't be a day long job, as nobody likes to be stuck at the back, so people can take it in turns. As long as I know who's going to be the last rider through at each point, as I really don't want to have to go looking for anyone. We'll stop to regroup at the top of any climbs, the bottom of descents and at any road crossings ( some of which can be a bit dodgy ).
If you're uncertain of your ability to ride an obstacle please tell me. There are no razor sharp rocks, or deep ravines to go crashing into, but even flying off into a small bombhole the wrong way could land you in hospital*. It's advisable to give some vocal warning to the rider behind you, if anything dodgy is up ahead.
Please do take lots of photos.
*I have had one hospital visit and would prefer not to do it again
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Getting away from the city for a few hours and messing about on bikes, away from the traffic. The terrain in Epping forest ranges from easy - moderately technical ( dependant on the weather ), so is suitable for both beginners and the seriously rad among us.
As far as bikes go, it's ridable on most bikes. As long as you can fit knobbly tyres of around 32c or more and have working brakes, you're probably good to go. For anyone who fancies singlespeeding it, anything between 52 - 60gi will be ok, depending on your fitness.
I like to think that those people who have become regulars on these rides are the least 'cliquey' bunch of people I've ever met, so noobs are positively encouraged to turn up for these rides. The pace is very much social and there's plenty of stops for chat, photos and cake.
Hope to see a few of you there, for probably the last ride of 2015 :-)