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

just built up the new bike, nearly finished just needs a front mech and shifter fitting.
thing is it's such a shitfest on the hills at the mo and bouncy bikes are a pain to clean so the SS may be the weapon of choice until the weather improves

i don't think i'll be getting any tattoos

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2328588899_5455f09945_o.jpg

I feel somewhat inadequate.. gulp!
Are you gonna join our 'shitfest' then?!

bling$£ bling£$.

Are you going to take it to some actual real mountains?

Not trying to be funny just curious.

That is a really sweet bike! I think it would beat my bike up and steal it's phone though...

I've only ridden a full suspension bike once for a week in the Dolomites in Italy. They are dangerous you can go far too fast over crazy ground than is good for you.

Ooh, lovely. Is it a Trance, or a Reign, or an Anthem? I had a Trance on loan from Moose once and it was lovely, but I'm so slow that there's little the hardtail XTC I bought from them can't cope with.

it's a trance-x (5inch travel instead of the trance's 4in)
it's actually just an 'all-day' bike, it does have a beefier fork than what the stock bikes come with though.
it's a bit overbiked for the surrey hills but i like it because you can pedal around all day and not feel beaten up at the end of it, I like riding hardtails but on long rides you really start to feel it.
been an avid hardtail rider for years and this is my first bouncer. will be going to the welsh trail centers at easter and possibly back to the alps in the summer.

as for joining the shitfest i have other plans but will be up for a ride soon.

Tomorrow 10:30@ clappy junction.
Come on you pansies - it's only a bit of rain and a lot of mud... what do you think that 14kg bike that your flatmate rode once is there for?... bloody MTB, thats what!
Soon, once the stars are aligned just so, we shall have a londonfgss 'shitfest' (I am not counting Turd's party)

i'll be out there on the trails putting some miles in but instead of being a pansy having a lye-in i'll be at dorking before 10.30 :-)
then heading over to holmbury then pitch hills, my advice would be steer clear of leith as it's muddy as fuck.

if i'll see you about i'll say hello.

^ ahh - nice one. We would leave earlier but my compadre has stuff to do in the morning.. yeah, I know!
Gotcha - leith Hill = sheetfest.
We are gonna use the map and blaze a trail somewhere or other possibly from Box hill to South-West of there?
Im on a full rigid unbranded SS MTB and my mate is on a SS surly 29er with drops - both lanky.

my advice is steer clear of ranmore and the downs to the north, the steep chalky descent to cross the railway will be lethal.

Cool, thanks. pitch Hills - is that the other side of Peaslake?
Momentum - are you listening? (he's the leader)

E to W leith, holmbury, pitch, winterfold, peaselake is between holmbury and pitch

if you aren't riding the hidden trails just the bridleways then leith isn't too bad and summer lightning is ridable all year.

I am reading with interest. I know that getting there after 9 in the morning makes us softer than a window box full of pansies, but I need to sort some shit out before I head down. Might be able to head a bit earlier though.

MrSmith - if we head dorking - holmbury - pitch hill kinds direction then what's a good way to loop back to Dorking avoiding Leith Hill?

EDIT - you typed faster than me. Might try a bridle way link up with any singletrack diversions early on rather than around Leith

there is a nice off road route i'll try and do a g-map pedometer route if i have time.

That would be cool to follow at some point. I've been to redlands a few times now so want to explore some of the other trails over the summer as well as getting some miles on my legs

route here

turn on the satellite image and you should be able to match it to an OS map. ignore the straight line that goes all the way back to wescott as i just wanted to show the different return route i use i use which is flatter as it follows the bottom of the valley. go the same way back but in wescott don't turn left up the hill go 10 yards up the road there is a group of posh houses with a gravel drive which looks private but is a bridleway.

on the way out the start of the trail is a bit of footpath so just let the peds pass smile innocently and be nice ;-)
the start is obvious but you will come to a gap in the fence after 100 yds or so go iturn left here then follow a bit of singletrack, where it gets steep at the end is where you go hard right then left to get on the main track.
after going up and down the turning left off this track is in a small wood at the bottom of the hill, don't go bombing past it there is a n open gate where the wood starts then do a hard left. if you are going too fast you will miss it. the rest is easy to follow.
just watch the descent down to the A-road as it's fast and if you don't know the road is there you will be wishing for disk brakes.

Wicked! Thanks for taking the time to do that. We'll follow this tomorrow and see which little tracks we find on the way that look interesting...

TBH you are better off exploring once you get to the YHA carpark at the end of the route shown, any deviation on the way is'nt going to get you any singletrack, if you want to head to leith first then go up rookery drive out of wescott (there is a cheeky footpath route that gets you to the start of rookery drive without going up to the village and back down the A24) the best way from leith to holmbury is via high ashes farm, it's a cunt of a climb if you go back that way :-)

a trail called telegraph road ends in the s.e. corner of the carpark, i wouldn't ride up this trail as you may get in the way of those "shredding the trail" if you head back that way make sure you ride it.

Hey,
MrSmith, the Trance looks sweet.
I've just finished my turner re-build but will probably have to strip soon as i'm moving. We shall see what space i'm afforded for bikes then. Just a quick question, i've always run 42-32-22 and find i'm pushing the big ring most, any reason for the bash 32-22 setup?

Just wondering.
Chris

when i had a 42 i hated the chain slap and as most of the riding i do is twisty techy stuff i ditched the big ring, then when my front mech broke i just used the middle as you don't really need a granny ring in the SEast. then i used a chain device on with just 9speeds which i had no problems with riding in wales. i guess riding fixed and ss mtb meant i was used to pushing a big gear up hills. this was on hardtails though and climbing on a full-suss is a bit different and you need to sit and spin so now have a granny ring, a lot of the bikes i see out on the hills don't have the big ring, i bent a few teeth on logs when i had the 42.
i do use a 34t up front though and a 11 on the rear. 32 isn't quite high enough (i know it's not much difference but it's noticeable), if i want to go fast i just spin. I find speed is more about pumping the trail than pedaling like a loon.

seems a scrime to strip a turner down and not use it, i just take the wheels off and put the trance in the cupboard under the stairs.

MrSmith - thanks so much for the route - we met at nine and had a great 3+ hours riding.. yes it was a shitefestival, but in a good way. (softened my landings) I need to master the telegraph poles.. ;-)

i got up to answer the door at 7 and it was pissing down so went back to bed and switched the alarm off :-)

looks like the weather was o.k but i have 3 days of riding in wales over easter so not too worried on missing some riding.

MrSmith i got up to answer the door at 7

Sounds like a bad way to start a Saturday to me :)

Thanks a lot for the route - it was a cool way to get to the trails. The singletrack around holmbury was awesome although it was pretty muddy. Saw a bunch of battle re-enactors around the fort which was pretty weird...

lol those guys are nuts. i rode up behind a line of 5 black knights standing in a line, as i got closer i said

"excuse me. have you seen my mate? tall bloke pointy hat and long beard? no? o.k have a nice day."

i think i pissed them off a bit. :-)

about 50 yds away there was a group of serfs knocking the crap out of each other?! WTF? i suppose riding a bike in the woods must seem like a pointless exercise to them.