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

Gabes, that would be perfect

Steves - we are going to Swinley, meeting at the lookout around 10pm.

Send me a message with your contact details and I will reciprocate.

Hoping you mean 10AM??!! Message coming

fuckwit typo by me

10am

Swinley forest is about 10-15 minute ride from Martins Heron station

"The nearest station is Martin's Heron. From here take the B3430 south. Cross the A322 via the cycleway and footbridge, then head for The Look Out."

and no worries re technical ability

Sainsburys is fit as a butchers dog but rides offroad rarely
I have stupidity and enthusiasm but fuck all else
Gabes has some technical ability but annoyingly is become fitter and less fat

Sounds good.....i'm ok on the road, and reasonably fit but fuck all technical ability....happy to blast up a hill, but shit myself on steep downs!

Gabes has bailed, so I need to catch the train

I may not be at Swinley until 10.30, but will try to rush to catch the train before

i am rushing to try to be there for 10, will sms when i know if i can catch the train

I did text you before 8, if you checked your phone you would have had plenty of time.

Gabes

I only got your message when I woke up.

http://app.strava.com/rides/7487127

It was cold and wet but a lot of fun, we took in the sticklers, tank traps, seagull, corkscrew, seagull and then deerhunter and labyrinth.

Great riding, despite the mud and rain, but I seem to have come up in an allergic reaction to the mud (never happened before) and now itching a lot!

Wake up earlier then!

waking earlier would just exacerbate my allergic reaction to getting out of my bed and make me even grumpier than normal

plus the benefit of you coming here was that I could have a bit more of a sleep in!

Good day, very very very muddy though!

I started getting undressed in the kitchen at home and shed mud everywhere. Eventually I decided it would just be easier to get undressed in the actual shower so the swinley sand would go straight down the plug hole.

Did exactly the same thing, there was mud and sand on my skin, how did it get through shorts and tights?

Likewise

I think it was the abrasion from the sand which caused my skin to flare up.

I've only just got the sand off! Awesome ride, thanks so much to James and Ed for showing me the way...I'd never have found those trails otherwise... Learnt lot and looking forward to next time...hopefully a bit dryer!

oh and thanks for the strava!

Heading to Swinley tomorrow - heavy mud tyres fitted. Not looking forward to the sand!

The sand is actually easier to ride in the wet. Mid summer when it's fully dry, the sand in the bottom of the dips gets powdery and entirely grip free.

it just destroys things like brake blocks, saddles and clothing due to its abrasive qualities

Not if you stay at home when it's wet

Not if you stay at home when it's wet

must be a septic, they avoid offroading in the rain

I was supposed to be racing, so I was actually avoiding onroading in the rain today. Just checked ttforum and they were talking about cancelling, so I'm glad I didn't go.

The mud and sand weren't actually too bad in terms of grip as they help each other out, if I had mud tyres I'd put them on but I was broadly ok on conti race kings.

(I did fall off twice, but then I did fall over running the paris marathon so I'm not always the best judge of where my arse and elbow are located)

Not so worried about riding in the sand, more concerned about what it will do to my bike / clothes / skin.

Jet wash on the way home. Probably for the bike, too.