Mike arrived at the car park with tales of Zebedee escaping from the confines of his gear lever casings delaying his departure from home, and leaving bike choice numbers 1 & 2 at home – was this a sign? After Rob’s remarkable display of gallantry hurtling after a group of WMTBers – one of whom had left her Audi door open with keys on the passenger seat, we were underway!     The 6 of us (Mike, Ronnie, Pete F, Rob, Jim & me) were enjoying the dry trails and hint of sunshine, burning off the last of the early morning chill.  Jackets on / jackets off / jackets on / jackets off….decisions, decisions! 

Before long, the small section over a hump and into a steep drop needing controlled braking was upon us with Mike heading off first.  Seconds later, he was down – but not in a good way! He was off the bike, on the dirt and in a lot of pain.  Exact details are sketchy but it looked like he’d gone over the bars but not without them stabbing his ribs on the way – OUCH!  He did really well to get back on and keep riding but after another hour or so the pain was getting too much.  Kudos to you Mike for carrying on as far as you did. 

He returned to the excellent Peaslake Stores for coffee and bike-spotting but not before witnessing Jim’s achievements at grinding his way up a tricky hill that is a lot harder than it looks.  I think Jim’s dab point was equal to Ollie’s the last time he was here – which is a great benchmark for others to aim for. 

The rest of the group carried on and we took in the three bomb-holes, the narrow jump through the Y-shaped tree, the trail-jump that’s higher on the right than the left and STILL had me gravitating to the right, off the trail and heading for the stump – no impaling for me this time though – phew!  The single jump followed by the vague double followed and I tackled the single but bottled the double – at first.  Filled with false confidence I went for it and jumped the single and then the double! – My first attempt and I’d cleared it!  Right then – cameras at the ready for the second go – as nothing could possibly go wrong – could it? Rob went first and landed off-balance from the single and broke a gear shifter as he skilfully protected himself by making the bike hit the dirt sideways before he did.  No human damage though so that’s a good thing.  My turn, and after clearing the single and double, I could see that my stump-magnet was switched on and my less than perfect landing had me heading off-trail into either a tree or a stump or both.  I fluked aiming left of the tree but not far enough – catching my right shoulder on the trunk – pirouetting me around the tree and to the floor, thankfully no worse off than when I started.  Time to move on – “I’ll ‘ave you next time” I jeered – but not today! 

Then it was seemingly relentless twisty, off-camber, rooty, fast single-track pretty much all the way back to Mike at the stores. With tired minds and bodies we had a few minor scuffles in these parts, not helped by Rob’s new 3-speed Sturmey Archer conversion and Pete’s newly developed lack of braking efficiency.  Including Ronnie’s comedy classic of falling sideways whilst trying to unclip, all of us EXCEPT trail-god-of-the-day- Jim had some kind of incident – but that’s all part of the game really – especially when there’s no real harm done. 

Talking of which, after a few hours in A&E on Saturday night, Mike was released back into the wild again, after being tranquilised sufficiently to sleep – a bit anyway.  No broken ribs this time but some fairly major bruising. Be sure to join us on our next trip where we hope the body-count will be a bit better! 

Neil  

Nowadays the situation seems to have reversed with many kids stuck on the sofa and only their old Dad going out to play in the evenings. Now don’t get me wrong I like gadgets and computers and I would probably be the same as the kids now but I grew up in a different age where out was normal and in was a BillyNoMates.

So I go out to play on my bike.

I go out in the summer sunshine and the winter rain and fight the hills, the mud and the occasional dog along the way. I go out at week-ends and occasionally during the week. I go out during the day, the evening and many a dark, winter night.

Sometimes I go out on my own and revel in the quiet solitude of the countryside broken only by my own panting as I am trying to ride too quickly again in case some kid, i.e. someone under thirty, hurtles past as if my chain has broken.

Sometimes I go out in a group which is either led by some other kid trying to make every single day of all my years pay dearly or led by me over the less travelled trails which can be cruelly referred to as “off-piste”.

But the best thing to get you off the sofa and out on your bike is one of these.

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Saturday 16th February a couple of us teamed up with some of the guys from Kent-Trails.co.uk for a blast around their local patch at Blean Woods on the outskirts of Canterbury.

 Prior communication assured us that both the singletrack and fireroads were mud free and that the route was almost 100% off road. After the usual greetings in the carpark we were off and straight into very twisty singletrack that descended to a stream – a few handlebar/tree near misses, a short fireroad climb and more singletrack followed. This was to be the pattern for the next 2.5 hours, 100 metres of fireroad followed by 100 metres of twisty, wooded singletrack. Each woodland seemed to have it’s own personality, from twisty sapling infested woodland to dark and melancholy sections of conifer plantation. A few dips and fallen trees to cross provided technical interest and what seemed to be the final section had a number of plank bridges of varying width to test the nerve.

There is no point in trying to describe where we went as the whole area was new to us and we soon lost all sense of direction but as promised the trails were mud free and the guys are lucky to have this singletrack playground on their doorstep. All in all a cracking ride 20 miles in 2.5 hours and well worth the trip. Thanks to Michael for sharing his encyclopaedic trail knowledge, leading the way and tolerating my buddy who spent the first 2 hours of the ride calling him Australian, a bit of an insult to a Frenchman!

Check photo page. 

The Ortlieb Flight 22 is a waterproof rucksack designed for use when walking or cycling, there are three large ‘pockets’ inside the bag one of which has a zipped closure while another is designed to take a water bladder (not supplied), my 3 litre camelbak bladder is a perfect fit. The remainder of the main compartment is an open space that stuff can be crammed into. The exterior has a large waterproof pocket that is narrow but runs the whole length of the bag, this is ideal for tools, spares and trail clearance kit. There are also two non-waterproof elasticated pockets on the side of the bag, I haven’t found a use for these yet. The bag is made from tough canvas that appears to be impregnated with a PVC type of plastic, this material is 100% waterproof. The bag and waterproof pockets are sealed with plastic toothed zips that sit behind a plastic barrier that comes together snugly when the zips are closed. As per the instructions I rubbed a small amount of grease along the teeth of the zips and despite reservations that this would smear onto my hands etc as I load and unload the bag so far this hasn’t happened. The tube from the bladder exits the bag through a rubber grommet this is a very tight fit and takes some wrestling to get through. The bag has a mesh harness so it sits off your back, a design that is much more effective than my HAWG at reducing sweaty back syndrome and the bag stays put rather than sag like the HAWG depending on what I put in it. Adjustable padded shoulder, chest and waist straps keep it secure and these seem to be made of a lighter weight version of the PVC impregnated material, whatever, the straps are waterproof.

There is not a lot to say about the bag performance other than it holds 3 litres of water has a strap clip to hold the tube in position, it has a zipped compartment for money, keys, and valuables and a larger pocket for other things. The main compartment easily swallows spare shirt / jacket, food and camera (digital SLR inside a padded case no problem). The long waterproof outer pocket holds spares, tools and such like. The main question, is it waterproof? yes 100%. The interior of the bag and the contents have remained bone dry after use in heavy rainfall, I zip it shut hang it up and use a garden hosepipe to wash the mud off without emptying anything out of it.

It does exactly what is claimed, it is 100% waterproof, has more than enough room for what I want to carry and is very comfortable on the bike. What I anticipated would be an expensive luxury has rapidly become indispensable due to its convenience and practicality.

 Check photo page for more.

Despite the early start time nine souls gathered at Whiteways carpark in anticipation of trying some new singletrack in Houghton Forest. Coffee was downed, tyres were changed and bikes and gear tweaked as the carpark rapidly filled up with ramblers and motorcycles.

The ride began with a couple of climbs that were a brutal awakener for cold legs; however the pain was soon forgotten as we nipped into the first singletrack descent. The many logs and fallen trees caused a couple of pile-ups but we all made it to the end without any problems before heading straight into a narrow and twisty deer track that was barely discernable from the carpet of fallen leaves. Next came the first fun area; a large bomb-hole the exit of which is a mass of exposed roots between two trees, the roots are followed by an immediate slow speed left turn into a ridge climb before dropping down a steep chute. The rooty bombhole exit resulted in a couple of man/tree near misses and the large tree roots at the bottom of the chute saw much brake grabbing. A singletrack climb through increasingly slippery mud was next, this was a chore but the reward was a long singletrack descent along the top of a ridge, although this run is a descent it does not rob the height of the previous climb so we emerged still on top of the ridge ready for the next section.

We regrouped ready for the next section, a ribbon of singletrack a couple of hundred metres long through a wooded area, around large and small stumps, across a log ramp, down a small dip, a turnaround on the lip of a hole, over a daunting stump ramp and into a dip via moss covered fallen trees before picking up yet another deer track that traverses the hillside. Big grins on all faces. A rest stop where cake, various bars and even cheese and pickle sandwiches were wolfed down. Then it was straight into another new section that started with a mulchy climb before a twisty descent to the ‘Natural High’ rollers and chicane. This was a perfect playground and everyone had a couple of rides on the large roller and the smaller but very tricky doubles. A couple of man/tree incidents and one off before we continued on our way. At this point the group got separated but we rejoined without too much difficulty and without spoiling the flow of the ride. A second run through the wooded singletrack this time with a detour at the end led us into a steeply descending section that emerges onto a fireroad via a nasty little drop off. A couple of close calls but we all made it.

The return leg retraced the deer tracks and after a muddy climb we were straight into the first section of well known singletrack. A blast along here and for once ignoring the large drop for a sharp rooty climb to the fireroad. A final singletrack blast to the road and a gentle spin back to the carpark.

Approximately 12 miles of singletrack in 3 hours, we had earned the coffee and bacon rolls from the café.

Nomad Mike