Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

should be in

Is Epping likely to be a quagmire today? Haven't ridden there before but heard it doesn't hold up too well to prolonged rain.

I rode there on sat, was dry, but still had some nasty mud patches, so after yesterdays prolonged reign, it will be a shit pit.

Gabes - have you got a GPS trace that marks out the bits of Epping worth riding?

Sorry, I forgot my garmin yesterday!

next time, I'll put up a trace. There's some fun bits, and it's better than sand-pit that is Swinley.

Nice one, cheers :)

Would love to have but didn't see and recovering from core strain. Maybe weekend?

Yeah we postponed it to Saturday anyway. So not a skivers' ride anymore!

Will update / pm later.

have you got a GPS trace that marks out the bits of Epping worth riding?

I used to love riding, walking & even sometimes running in Epping Forest, at any time of the year! It could be a bit character building in the mud, but if you survived the winter, then spring, summer & early autumn were awesome. As many people have said, you really need to take the time to learn the trails to make the most out of the place. I found the worst boggy sections were mainly the most obvious routes which the local clubs would tear around repeatedly at the weekends. I never saw them on the quieter trails. I did much prefer riding during the week though!

I was lucky enough to live close to both the North and south ends of the forest for a few years & was still finding ( and forgetting ) new routes all the time. Next time I'm near there & have a working mountain bike I'd be more than happy to guide a few people round. It's been a few years but hopefully I haven't forgotten it all yet!

For now though... as long as you have a 1.25 000 scale Os map. Start by learning the fire roads first, then memorize the location of all the little car parks. After that, as long as you have some time & patience you can just head off into whatever gap in the trees looks most interesting. If you should get a bit lost, most of the regular horse riders seem to know the place like the back of their hand.

We didn't take a map last week, just followed our noses really. Looked at carpark maps twice.

^ You can never get seriously lost in a place surrounded by so many busy roads. You can however get frustrated at not finding anything decent to ride, especially when you don't have much time to spare.

there had been talk from Howard of a trip to Dorking tomorrow

who would be interested?

If we can get back for the Nocturne, yeah.

You bastards need to stop going on Saturdays.

i alternate work between saturdays and sundays, this weekend i am free saturday

could also go on wednesday or friday

bump, anyone up for a ride tomorrow?

trying to get my brother out to Cannock

we were thinking of going to dorking, staffordshire sounds a little further than planned

Just went out for a blast round putney heath/wimbledon common to test my new commencal, and found some half-decent trails near the cemetery. Probably not worth travelling much to see it, but good fun if you live close. There are some fast hills and technical bits, a little neglected/overgrown in places, but very happy that this is 5 minutes from my flat.. could even fit in a ride after work :)

I rode this for a while (belongs to a mate). Climbs amazing, descends even better.

Epping Forest Tomorrow?

Possible. I don't know where the trails are though. And by that I mean I don't want to spend time just riding fire roads.

Come to Dorking instead.

Could do that too, Are you going?

Could be in, slightly weather dependent, also hoping new chain arrives in time.

Swinley has destroyed mine.