The Rapha Festive 500

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136204384[/ame]

Day 2 was a recovery day. Early start to go out to Swinley Forest with the 29er. Am sure the reformed mountain biker Mottram will not approve of this, even more my sullying his lovely togs with mud. Thankfully the green and red cross kit from 3 years ago made me look like one of Santa’s little helpers upon the bike with over sized wheels.

Rendez vous was 9.30 at the Lookout at Swinley forrest, this has become my muddy playground, a convenient train from home and quick ride gets me to the heart of the woods. Another character from lfgss.com called Howard came with me and we met Brent, Jules, Andrew, Patsy and Pete in the carpark. Things were a little chilly and after a brief wait for the last two to arrive we set off.

I know Brent from road cycling with Hounslow and District Wheelers, on a ride he let slip that like me he enjoys getting mucky off tarmac, and then I kept bumping into him on singletrack in the forests. He is currently encouraging members of the road club to join him in the winter off season on bikes and taking advantage of the cover of trees. Time on the road can be grim with the wind against you, the forest is generally a few degrees warmer without the wind-chill factor. Part of the incentive for people to join Brent is that he is offering skills training sessions, and my MTB exploits so far involve too much exuberant energy and a pitiful lack of technical ability.

Given the past few wet days the plan was for a session of mud plugging - learning to navigate wet mud, roots and generally treacherous terrain, including steep descents. I really enjoy off road jaunts but am fully aware that if I had greater control this could be hugely enhanced. My experience of muddy puddles at the bottom of hills is that whatever vector I approach them I have no idea of my exit.

After a few sections of technical muddy roots we came to our first descent, true to form there was a grotty pool at the bottom before a swift rise and a lip to overcome. First time I cheated and swerved around the puddle and then had to pedal over the lip. This was not really the exercise, I was meant to be releasing the brakes, trusting the bike to get through the mud and roll up and over the lip. This was outside my comfort zone but with some great guidance the section was repeated. Hammered down the hill, hit the puddle and promptly found the bike veering off towards a tree to one side of the lip. Thankfully once out of the puddle the bike actually responded to my steering, and the heart in mouth moment melted into a smile. Trusting the bike had paid off. Brent then demonstrated the section to the other novices, and also found that the mud was sending him on a swerving exit.

Most of my mountain biking has been a case of meet up with friends and then go for a ride, so this training malarkey is relatively new to me. Repeating sections until they can be nailed, and learning from other peoples experience rather than the pain of my own mistakes is so much more sensible. There is a section of the forest called the Corkscrew, very technical twisty, muddy and slippery singletrack. It took me a few weeks to be able to nail it without putting a foot down. Howard and Andrew have even less MTB experience than me, but with the knowledge gained in this one morning they both completed the section perfectly on first attempt.

Patsy’s son Pete was feeling a little under the weather, we were not sure if this was a few too many sherbets the night before or from too large a breakfast but he and his mum peeled off after he became unwell. The rest of us continued and were clearly learning quickly. Rooty sections were being navigated with greater ease and speed - it’s counter intuitive that to go faster over technical sections makes them easier, but it allows the bikes momentum to carry you forwards, and of course it means one is on the difficult bits for less time.

After yesterdays fixed hilly ride, my legs were feeling fairly brutalized today. It was one of those days when the heart does not want to pump and the legs are reluctant to turn a pedal. As such was a relief to not be doing miles of singletrack at speed, though there were a few brief moments where we were encourage to give it some beans. Brent is a veteran MTB racer and it was really useful having him show the fastest lines through some of the heavily bermed sections of singlegrack such as the Stickler trails. There is the fantastic moment when it feels like you are on a speeder in Endor, weaving through trees and being spat out of bowls and berms at velocity. This is the excitement of grown men on toys made of space age materials returning to their childhood state.

Our final part of the training for the day was similar in profile to a ski jump, steep long descent followed by a short climb with a lip. My firm belief is that bikes are for riding, not flying, though the demonstration showed that if the brakes were released on the descent air would be achieved. Heart in mouth I tried to recreate this, first time was not successful, brakes were applied on the descent and the lip was rolled over. Others were even more cautious, but to complete the ascent a decent velocity was required and it looked like pedaling was not the way to nail the section. After a few more bashes people were either rolling over the top or even getting some air, an unnerving but exhilarating experience.

It’s good to remember that not all riding needs to be an epic suffer fest, and that there are skills to be learned and developed. It’s all too easy just to always go out and ride trails, but this morning’s education clearly showed benefits in our riding over the few hours. We were content but covered in mud, our bikes were even more filthy. The Lookout was shut today, possibly a thing to be grateful for as the coffee they serve may as well be stagnant ditchwater - its almost as vile a brew as the one found on top of Box Hill.

Howard and I were both traveling back to London by train, and he decided to make use of my garden and hose to clean his bike and have a coffee. He is also attempting the festive 500 so on the train home we decided to add an extra couple of miles to the journey from Richmond to Kew by going along the Thames.

I knew I had a ton of things to do upon my return home. While Howard was looking in my bike shed he noticed there was a pheasant hanging there, and reminded me of another task to be completed. So after the bikes were cleaned, coffee drunk Howard left me in a cloud of pheasant down as I effectively became mudded and feathered.

[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136204378[/ame]

Various tasks completed and I had to nip into town to meet my long suffering girlfriend. Thankfully she is also a cyclist so understands my 2 wheeled affliction/addiction, sadly she is not very well at the moment so can’t join me on many of my cycling exploits. This afternoon we were just meeting on the Kings Road for final Xmas shopping and coffee before cycling to her mother’s for supper. The lights on the roads were not full of festive cheer, lots of red and very few green made for a highly unsatisfying trip across town, though supper was more than adequate compensation. The other half is a fantastic cook and had been slaving in her mother’s kitchen for most of the day, so I had a hearty refueling this evening.

2 days into the Ride of Redemption and there is the warm tired glow of over exercise grumbling through my body, it aches but satisfyingly so. 30% complete and looking forwards to using this as a perfect excuse to get more time out on the bike in the next 7 days. Life feels good.