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I am not bike master and except a few dirt jumps which you would not be riding on XC bikes Iwould say the norths downs are ridable on a cross bike. You may find yourself walking the odd obstacles but it will be a short section. You will not be walking for 100s of meters, more like 5- 10 m if you're really nervous at the most.
The routes are fun but they are not gnar-to-the-core. As I said I am by no means a tough rider and I don't struggle.
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Owain and I made it 'round the whole thing without too much further drama -eventually. Finished at about 1600, so even figuring in another cake stop and multiple navigation stops, we were much slower than I thought. The sand did stop not far past the pub, and the section from there to the main climb was the best part, a few bits of decent singletrack. The climb up Hackhurst Down was tough and I eventually fell off once it got too steep, and have a rather sore knee for my trouble. From there it was a (too) easy gradual downhill on a wide track most of the way back.
I'm not inclined to do that particular route again since there was relativley little payoff for long impassable sand section, and rather dreary descent back. However, these were well indicated in the text, and the navigation was generally good, so the book seems basically sound.
Good turnout, thanks for coming along ladies & gents, hope we can do it again in a couple of weeks - ideally after we've honed our skills at next weekend's CX training at Herne Hill.
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Pfft, very steep learning curve today! I will be happy if I never see sand again.
Thanks to Tom for leading, and well done to him and Owain for going the full distance. Also well done to Jane for soldiering on when it was tough, and Wiesia for making it all look so easy on the cross bike :)
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Pfft, very steep learning curve today! I will be happy if I never see sand again.
Thanks to Tom for leading, and well done to him and Owain for going the full distance. Also well done to Jane for soldiering on when it was tough, and Wiesia for making it all look so easy on the cross bike :)
How did you get on with the shortened version? We realised on the way back that you must have had to do a pretty serious climb up the downs.
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In related news, I've bailed out of my DP ROTFL entry, so I'm thinking about the Wiggle 25 mile New Forest MTB/cross ride next weekend instead. Its looks very flat and non-technical, so would be a good place to get some practice on my cross bike I think (I won't be doing the cross session at HH). Any want to come with/any New Forest locals going to be there?
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Lovely to meet everyone.
Thanks Tom for organising, and I am sorry for moaning so much about the sand :-) Caroline and I got chatting to some 'serious' MTB on the train on the way home who suggested the Southdowns way so I will have a look into that.
@Caroline - There is a x race in Bleinham Palace this Sunday if you fancy it? No single track at all on this one just lots and lots of grass :-)
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Am up for the falling leaves thing
Caroline - full, medium or in desperate need of htfu version?
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Have contacted wdmbc as they appear to have regular group mtb rides.
Will be in touch when I have more info.
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Am up for the falling leaves thing
Caroline - full, medium or in desperate need of htfu version?
Sorry, think I will do the cross thing instead now. The New Forest is lovely at this time of year, but beware the very early start if you do go (likely to be a 06:30 train from London to get there in time for sign in).
There maybe a minibus going. I will let you know.
Cool, let me know if find that 80's-tastic video you mentioned too, looking at these I think I could use the advice!
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Sorry, think I will do the cross thing instead now. The New Forest is lovely at this time of year, but beware the very early start if you do go (likely to be a 06:30 train from London to get there in time for sign in).
Cool, let me know if find that 80's-tastic video you mentioned too, looking at these I think I could use the advice!
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We should do this next year;
https://www.bhf.org.uk/events-and-volunteering/events/event-finder/view-event.aspx?ps=1000673
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Who's going to the Herne Hill CX training on Saturday?
http://www.hernehillvelodrome.com/cross-training-session-2nd-october
Mountain bikes are allowed.
Next weekend day I can make for a group ride will be** Sunday 17th October** if anyone's up for another ride in the North Downs? There's 6 routes in the book I've got that are < 1 hour train, the rest are further. I'll have a look tonight and try and get some scans so everyone can vet it for terms like "sand". I think I'll choose something a bit shorter, I didn't realise how slow going it can be, especially with navigation
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We should do this next year;
https://www.bhf.org.uk/events-and-volunteering/events/event-finder/view-event.aspx?ps=1000673
Sounds awful.
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So who is up for offroading this weekend?
Given the shit weather it appeals more than a road ride
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Be careful were you go otherwise it will be a drag through mud and / or you will cause a massive amount of damage / erosion to some trails / paths
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Any suggestions? Are there any good mtb centres around the london area?
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swinley forest(martins heron station) and don't forget to buy a permit from the visitor center
and pitch/winterfold hill which are better than leith in the wet.
avoid the north downs chalk it's lethal in the wet. think smooth compacted chalk/clay mix covered with a thin viscous liquid mud, will not be rideable until we get a cold/dry bit of weather.or a road trip to south wales afan/cym-carn. rideable even in the wet, just take spare brake pads.
tom_k&e
Wiesia
TheBrick(Tommy)
marie
lynx
dancing james
tom.
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Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt
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its meant to be fairly simple, read the route description that tom posted