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

that depends what you want MTB'ing to mean to you.

What he said, he just types quicker than me.

some 'mountainbikers' like to bimble along doubletrack on their rigid big wheeled bikes

I seem to call someone on a rigid big wheeled bike last weekend... Didn't seem to stop him riding the gnarly bits or jumping stuff though :)

...bimble along...rigid big wheeled bikes...

Oi! I resemble that remark.

Actually, the stuff we did in Swinley last weekend I thought was fucking awesome but a couple of the (really mild, I'm sure) drops did provoke a sharp intake of breath beforehand. Not going to let that stop me doing them but I draw the line at the monstrous contraption up there ^^^

We going again this weekend? Looks like I can do Sunday again.

some people like to ride their £2,500
dual sussers along the seafront at Sandbanks never touching the dirt.
are they 'Mountain bikers'?

Yes, they must be as they have an X5 in the carpark

We going again this weekend? Looks like I can do Sunday again.

+1. Owain, James you up for it or too injured? I can organise some bimbling along doubletrack if necessary.

its all about the internal risk thermometer baby,
some peoples are broken ...

mine definitely isn't. i know plenty of people with that preference turned off in their system pref's though.

i knew this chap who was really scared of drops/steep stuff that it consumed his mind to the extent that he had to leave the country to deal with it. a year later he returned to conquer his nemesis, we lent him a 7in travel downhill bike, body armour and a full face lid.

no amount of cajoling or encouragement would get him over the lip of the plop (the old log drop at chicksands). so to help him achieve his goals i thought that i should set him an example (as a non risk taking below average skilled mtb'er) so did the drop on my 100mm travel singlespeed hardtail with just an xc lid on.

instead of helping i think it only made matters worse and he was unable to complete his goal in life and returned to canada a broken man (in mind not body)

he took solace in strong home grown weed, his way of dealing with it.

not me or my pic. chicksands log plop (now removed)

How high is that? I think I'm going off later to try and find something small I can practice on.

i guess it's 6ft to the transition and a nice long steep run-out

So...quite a long way then? :-)

Sunday list:

1. unharmed
   
2. James
   
3. Tom?
   

How high is that? I think I'm going off later to try and find something small I can practice on.

Best thing is to find a small staircase, three or four steps kind of thing. Two feet total drop absolute max, although I would recommend starting with something smaller still if possible. It will be a gentle enough slope to roll down slowly without 'doing a James' and cart wheeling. It will also be sufficiently tall to give you a sense of getting airbourne when you get confident enough to do it fast and so don't actually touch the steps themselves.

Note also that bigger drops tend to require some skill in landing the bike to soften the impact (e.g. rear wheel first, use rear break to slow descent of front) or a transition ramp where you don't have to loose all your vertical momentum in one sharp hit. So even if you get to the point of thinking that leaping four steps is easy, don't try eight! You might well clear the steps but then skewer yourself on impact!

PS: Count me in for Sunday. Will be bringing a friend along too.

Awesome. Am going to go try this when I get a chance.

Sunday list:

1. unharmed
   
2. James
   
3. Tom?
   
4. Hendrik +1
   
   

Shall we make it the same train as last weekend?

MrSmyth - that Bubba log drop story/baiting was epic :)

As a bit of willy waving I was always proud of doing the Chicky ladder drop next to the demo 9's on my 100mm 24" wheel HT.

Awesome. Am going to go try this when I get a chance.

...

Shall we make it the same train as last weekend?

Sounds like a plan. Shall we expect to see you in a plaster cast?

That is the 9:59am train from Richmond to Reading for those who want to come along but didn't do last weekend. It gets into Martins Heron at 10:38.

There's a good chance.

Actually ignore that. I've just checked the National Rail website and there are engineering works on Sunday. All trains from Waterloo to Reading are diverted via Hounslow. That means bus replacement service from Richmond which generally means no bikes. You will need to get on at Kew or Barnes Bridge or such. You might then have to change at Staines. The Hounslow trains usually go to Weybridge rather than Reading. So it depends whether they really mean diverted or just cancelled.

I think the equivalent train is still running and now gets in to Martins Heron at 10:42 instead. Up to you to work out where and when to get on it though...

Ugh.

Looks like I can get the 9:55 from Putney which is the one that gets into Martins Heron at 10:42.

Here's a good example of some North Americans riding the wood work in its natural habitat. They all have their risk thermometers turned pretty low.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmbJrhcP0A8

MrSmyth - that Bubba log drop story/baiting was epic :)

As a bit of willy waving I was always proud of doing the Chicky ladder drop next to the demo 9's on my 100mm 24" wheel HT.

Halcyon days. i remember on the same day some grom in jeans went off it on a bmx with no lid :-)

i have absolutely no interest in any of that stuff now. i like corners and trying to go round them faster with my limited skills.
somebody was always being off the bike because of wrist/collar bone/scaphoid injuries.

Yes, I'm in! Thread subscription seems not to be mailing me last few days so I missed the posts.

Gonna have to work out the correct train to get myself to MH later though. Normally i'd do richmond.

1042 at Martins Herron? Who'll be there, and who'll be going from Waterloo.

And remember the clocks change.

Think the list is unchanged so far:

Sunday list:

1. unharmed
   
2. James
   
3. Tom
   
4. Hendrik +1
   
   

I'm picking up the train at Putney at 9:55.

Urgh. Looks like i'll have to go Ealing Broadway -> Reading -> MH.

I can be at Martins Heron 10:44.

Unharmed, you missed me off the list.

1. unharmed
   
2. James
   
3. Tom
   
4. Hendrik +1
   
5. Owainga (10:44 from reading)