Guided rides around Epping Forest ( aka Follow the strange tall man into the woods )

@ Shoosh - repped. Made me laugh loads. Heal up Indra.

HTFU Indra! xx

can't type properly with just my left but thanks so much all of you, great to see the people I hadn't met before, didn't mention before but howard thanks so much for keeping me speaking and engaged when i was down.

big thanks for all blocking the trail too

Just back from the hospital - No broken bones, though it looks like Indra may have torn the ligament that connects his clavicle to his shoulder blade. He's on his way home with his mum now and will get some closer inspection in a couple of days with a specialist.

Painful stuff, but I'm so glad it wasn't something more serious :-/

Heal up soon Indra - come back fitter and stronger than ever!

Jesus christ that man should not leave the house in less than full MX gear. Heal up dude. So gutted I never managed to make these before I headed back to cornwall.

can't type properly with just my left

Too much information.

Was told now its most likely broken there too :/

You did this to make up for not being allowed to stack it on that corner at the Nocturne, didn't you?

Great to meet/ride with everyone today, really good fun.

Extensions of the above sentiments to Indra - hope to see you on two wheels again very soon!

Thanks to BN too, much appreciated!

What, still no gory 'photos or it didn't happen' photos? Priorities guys!

HealTFU Indra.

No gory or it didn't happen pics but Indra lost all street cred by ending up in

Children's A&E

And in a cubicle clearly designed to please a young female.

1 Attachment

And people wonder why society's youth is so dissatisfied...

The room was actually really well decorated, especially the ceiling. Will upload more pics tomorrow.

One thing I really don't want to get overlooked is just how brilliant Bare Necessities was and he deserves a huge amount of rep.

I was waiting at the tea hut when he came and told me what had happened and he waited for the ambulance to lead it to Indra. He then came back, phoned his uncle, cycled home and got a lift down to Harlow, where Indra was taken.

He also made the phonecall that no one wants to make, to Indra's mum.

The others on the ride (more rep due) walked Indra's bike and rucksack to my car, loaded it up and had a somber feast of cake before I too drove up to Harlow to deliver Indra's rucksack (I'm keeping his bike heheheh).

Bare Necessities spoke to Indra's mum (who is really cool and was lovely - she cycles, she should come on ladies rides) and he stayed with Indra the whole time until he left hospital.

This isn't really my story to tell but I don't want BN's sense of responsibility to be overlooked.

well BN so neeeaaarrrrllllyyy made it to the end of his awesome guided tours without a single injury, we were so close,
yesterdays ride was a nice one, once again we managed to find and transition between a nice variety of surfaces, undulations and cakes ... in fact after yesterday i am beginning to look a bit like a cake

indra's young and fit and will heal in next to no time ... it's when the old fogies get injured it takes time to heal
get well soon fella

i would have asked to spend a night in that ward ^^^^ looks awesome with all the cinderella memes

talk of doing a few more of these and possibly a mission down to swinley in the coming weeks
lets DO IT

cheers BN for the series of rides, i feel i know epic forest so much better now after 2 rides than i have done after 100's of rides up there myself

Many thanks to all the riders who have attended these rides over the past 2 -3 weeks, it's been a real pleasure to meet you all!

Some of you have only had a brief glimpse of the riding that's available in Epping Forest, although a couple of you have seen most of the best bits now. Hopefully the strava routes that you've recorded can help you to continue your explorations throughout the Summer – allowing me to sit at the back of the group and relax on the next bunch of rides :-)

It'd be great to see you put together your own routes now and get a few more forumengers involved.

I would have obviously preferred that nobody had hurt themselves, but it's worth remembering that these off-road jaunts are potentially very dangerous if things go wrong... Epping Forest isn't the Alps or Whistler Bike Park, but it still only takes a momentary lapse of concentration ( or some bad luck ) to result a very serious injury!

I'm grateful to have had a very well behaved group of riders to accompany me on all of these rides – also some fabulous home baking from Doctor Cake, Shoosh and whatok – even the youngest two riders, Indra and ok123 baked flapjacks for the rides they attended. It'll be quite a shock when I return home and have to start paying for my own cakes again!

Thanks for all the kind words – I really hope that everyone had a good time and I hope to see you all again in about three months from now.

Thanks also to the guys yesterday for all the help with Indra – heal up fast young badger!

Pete

For some reason, this comes to mind.

Arnold 365, Day 365 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) - YouTube

^ But the next two terminator films were nowhere near as good and they really shouldn't have bothered making them...

Oh, I see what your getting at :'-(

Sorry to hear about your injury Indra, get well soon, and sorry not to make it along to the ride BN, I fell off and have dislocated my shoulder, no bike for me for quite some time. Hope you didn't wait too long for me to arrive with my +1.

^ Ouch. sorry to hear that!

We waited half an hour, but that's mainly because whatoik was late...

Again!

@Shoosh - I'd like to let you know which of your cakes was my favourite, but I just ate all three together, so it's hard to tell :-/

Though I'm afraid the baking award on this occasion goes to Doctor Cake! - your cakes are sublime :-)

I'm currently reviewing my finances to see if I can get 'Doctor Cake's Forest Cake Shop' up and running.

^ Harsh

runs away and sobs

Sorry to hear about your injury Indra, get well soon, and sorry not to make it along to the ride BN, I fell off and have dislocated my shoulder, no bike for me for quite some time. Hope you didn't wait too long for me to arrive with my +1.

I really know how that one feels, get well soon mate!

Does anyone have any full gps files from a days riding, sad that i missed this.

Yep -

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/317856029

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/320001098

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/325739113

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/325739043

Thought I'd mention that Shoosh is now an honorary Honey Badger.

Despite not having done any actual riding in the forest, she was always a welcome friendly face at the cake stops - proving herself to be invaluable yesterday by collecting Indra's bike and then checking up on him at the hospital afterwards.

Good work Shoosh!

And people wonder why society's youth is so dissatisfied...
? "disaffected" was what I meant to type...Freudian slip?