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My First Agreeable Epic MTB Ride
by Martin Slucutt
20th May 2001.
I have been on many great rides with
Addiscombe CC in the last couple months but nothing could have prepared me
for this one. I could not have known when I set out at 9:55 am on a warm
but cloudy Sunday, with the church bells ringing for those of a different
calling, that this ride would be quite such an epic. Except maybe for the
fact that I was feeling slightly ill and was thinking about bailing out of
this ride after a couple of hours and returning home early. Most of my
best rides have occurred when I've woken up on Sunday morning feeling
really tired or generally like I should not be going out at all. And maybe
the clue to this day was the fact I had been ill with mild food poisoning
on Thursday night, had taken Friday off work, and eaten little over the
last couple of days.
As the group congregated outside the
station, talk of the plans for the ride made us excited. I found out I had
missed Friday's e-mail detailing plans to ride out as far as Box Hill. I
knew this would be a round trip of over 40 miles and any bail out point
this time would be likely to involve taking the train back. We couldn't
wait to get those pedals turning, taking us out onto the trails. But once
again Marco stole the show by turning up late, this time sporting a
freshly "grown" mullet. Sure enough, plenty of mullet jokes
followed, as indeed they would through out the day.
We left East Croydon at about 10:30, riding
out to Purley, onto Farthing Downs, and then heading west along the North
Downs Way. We followed Pilgrim's Way down a very uneven track through a
middle of a field, one which we had fought our way up in the sweltering
heat the week before, and went under the M23. We continued up Reigate
Hill, but had to stop because Joe had another puncture. He knew the way to
the cafe where we were meeting Pete and decided to catch us up later.
The off-road decent down Box Hill was long
and fast. Speeding up out of the woods, I passed one rider and was
approaching a second, storming down the wide flint lined trail. I had
intended to pass on the left, but found the steering had gone light - the
front tyre had punctured! ...and I was not happy about it. I pulled over
to the side of the trail, cursed and swore, and jumped off my bike letting
it fall to the ground. After taking a few minutes to calm down, I
discovered I had two snakebite punctures. Whilst replacing the inner tube
I realised how pleasant the surrounding countryside was and I guess I
spent too long thinking about it. This I found out when I met up with the
group after storming down the rest of the hill - sorry guys!
We meet Pete at Ryka's Cafe in Westhumble
where we stopped for lunch and I had to explain why we were late. Joe
caught us up several minutes later (at least he didn't over take us!),
once again with blood dripping from a fresh wound! I guess we just expect
it of him now! It was quite a deep cut on his knee, apparently the sort
you can turn into a month and freak people out with by pretending to make
it talk! He also had another puncture, albeit a slow one, which needed
repairing. Both of which were to be patched up before we continued.
After lunch most of the group took off for
Leith Hill, and I was one of a couple of stragglers just realising in time
what was happening and making a last minute decision to dash off and
catch-up. The ride continued through vineyards, climbing up along a
concrete bridle path - that's right... I said "concrete" and
I've never seen such a thing before and I hope I never have to again!
Apart from this, the area has a kind of French feel to it, due to the
nearby buildings as well as the vines.
The route took us up over Ranmore Common,
down into Westcott and we followed Coldharbour Lane over towards Leith
Hill. The trails around here were very sandy and it became quite heavy
going. We climbed up Leith Hill along a track and passed what must have
been the one of the highest cricket pitches in the country. This was
followed by some singletrack through the woods before a technical,
gravelly climb over tree roots up to the tower built on the highest point
in the south east of England. The views around here are awesome. Having
started mountain biking whilst living in Bristol, I have often climbed up
onto the Cotswolds and just sat down to look back at the view. However,
there would always be a big town or city in the way. But from the hills in
this area you can only see countryside south of the North Downs, seemingly
unspoilt by urban, or even rural development. Although in reality places
like Gatwick Airport, Crawley and Horsham are neatly hidden behind trees
and small hills. After stopping for a much needed slice of fruitcake and a
cup of tea, we followed the trail down to the west and over to Holmbury
Hill where a few of us wanted to ride the Widowmaker.
Before we climbed up Holmbury Hill, Jason
had remarked that the climb was not steep, but keeps on going and just
when you think you're getting to the top, there's more. Now I've done some
climbs in my time and I didn't believe it could be that bad. And it
wasn't! - because, as I found out, Jason had taken us a different route! I
have to admit that I love climbing. Yes, I like downhilling too and I'm
getting faster at it but maybe I just like being more in control. Climbing
is a whole discipline/technique in itself and is so often underrated,
especially as in races if you can't ride it fast you just get off and push
or carry the bike. Indeed it can be very technical: you need strength,
torque, traction control, balance, and you need to be able to anticipate
and work out the best line to take and where to keep your weight centred
over the bike. Balance is especially good for those times when you reach a
loose, gravelly steep climb where you find yourself riding even more
slowly, standing just out of the saddle, inching up the hill and trying
not too spin out with too much power. No one likes having to put their
foot down on a climb they've been working at for the last 10 minutes. I
believe riding a climb can be just as satisfying as nailing your favourite
bit of singletrack, or that gnarly decent. Although I admit, it takes far
more effort and lacks the adrenaline rush but then if you choose the right
climbs you can be rewarded with that afterwards!
The Widowmaker is a suitable name for a
really technical decent strewn with loose rocks and soil. Take it too fast
or just loose control and you may not survive. However, I don't yet have
the worry of leaving someone behind so I decided to take a look and have a
go at riding it. I'd heard many stories at the club social about it, but
it wasn't at all what I expected. The trail is in a deep gully, twisting
it's way through the trees. The top sections were very steep, and you have
to get right out of the saddle and hang over the rear wheel. I had to bail
out twice, catching the back of my knee on the back tyre by the brakes and
the frame. After sliding down over a drop-up, I stopped to regain my
confidence before I was able to ride the rest. But next time I'm
determined to ride it all! I just wasn't prepared to ride down it again as
it took so long to lug the bike back up the steep trail and there was no
other way to get back up.
Afterwards we stopped and rested at the
nearby car park before following the twisting singletrack into Peaslake
and then taking to the road again. In Shere, I needed a major refuelling
for the ride back. I was determined not to take the train back after such
a great day's riding. To be an epic ride I had to give it that extra edge.
I found an excellent local village store and just bought as much as I
could eat and carry with me for four quid. I piled the food up on my bike
and just started eating. I definitely "ate all the pies" that
time! (Sometimes, even Duracells need to be recharged!)
From Shere we picked up the A25 and rode
back into Dorking which we reached at the 50 mile mark. We were about 20
miles from East Croydon, nearly two hours away so it was at this point
that three of the group decided to take the train back home. But the
remaining five wanted to cycle home. The day was not yet over, neither we
figured should the ride be, and besides, none of us had to cycle into work
the next day!
The mile long off-road climb up Box Hill
wasn't that bad. We just kept up a reasonable speed, kept turning the
pedals and then rested at the top before what was a largely downhill run
into Coulsdon. We talked amongst ourselves so we didn't have to focus on
the riding itself and kept up a good pace. But there was still more fun to
be had!
After 60 miles we were passed by a group of
3 road cyclists. Well, we just weren't having that! I didn't really feel
like chasing them down, but Pete was tailing them with Joe following
behind so I just thought, "What the hell?!" For 2.5 miles we
raced them along the windy country lanes into Coulsdon averaging 25
mph..!! The race was on and nothing else mattered. I caught up with Pete
who was still tailing the last roadie and just powered passed taking the
lead for a short while before Joe caught me up and stormed ahead. It had
taken a lot of effort and now a couple of the roadies were gaining ground,
one retook the lead while I jostled for position with the others for a
while. As I tired, I dropped back behind Pete again, but also the lead
roadie had dropped back, staying just in front of me. It was clear he was
just resting as he was soon to pull out round Pete and storm into the lead
again. I made a second charge for the front with Joe, attempting to chase
him down but I couldn't get any further ahead than passing the two
remaining roadies. So, on it went, they kept retaking the lead but they
also couldn't shake us off their tails! Thankfully there weren't any hills
because they would have just blown us away up them. I dropped back again
and chatted with the last roadie who said they had only been out for a
couple of hours on their thin-tyred, super-lightweight machines - and we
had been out all day with on our fat tires and had done 60 miles! They
were not happy about it! After proving our point, we powered down for
refuelling at a garage and to conserve what remaining energy we had for
the remainder of the ride home. It was a much needed rest but the smiles
on our faces said it all! We were storming along this ride!
As cyclists who respect the environment, I
don't feel we have much to be grateful about the presence of cars, except
maybe their usefulness in getting to races or the luxury of travelling
further a field than usual for a ride. But if there's one thing for which
I'm grateful, it's the garage shop. A positive lifesaver on epic rides and
the proliferation of snacks and drinks available from them in recent years
can only be beneficial to the weary cyclist. As Joe and I found out at
this point, discovering a bottle of Yop each was surprisingly tasty and
refreshing. For the uninitiated, Yop, comes in a bottle with a remarkable
resemblance to Windolene. Disconcertingly, it has a similar colour and
texture as Joe proved by spilling some, attempting to clean part of the
garage! But thankfully, it doesn't smell (or taste?) the same and is in
fact a refreshing yoghurt drink serving 3-4 people or in our case, just
one hungry cyclist. I would like to see them add this to the label for a
laugh - packaging can be all too serious these days but also wildly
inaccurate. In fact most food never serves the number of real people it
claims. They should be more honest: This product serves 3-4 midgets or
"regular" people who intend to eat a large desert afterwards.
Once again we were back on the road, and
now, with the light beginning to fade we were looking forward to arriving
back in East Croydon. We kept up a surprisingly fast pace of around 18
mph, which, after our roadie chasing, I found rather remarkable. We split
up near the station and I returned home at 9 pm, some 11 hours after
setting out, with a massive grin of my face! 70 miles of one of the most
agreeable rides I've been on in years! Thanks to everyone at Addiscombe CC
for a most excellent epic ride! With at least half of it off-road that's
just easily equivalent to a 100 mile road ride. It was my longest combined
off-road and road ride ever, reaching my fastest road speed ever on the GT
of 40.4 mph. (Okay - now I know that's not fast, but my bike spins out at
27 and I'm not a downhiller!) Unfortunately we have no pictures of the
ride but it's not one we're ever likely to forget - cheers guys!
Epic Facts: * 70.1 miles, 40.4 mph MAX,
10.4 AVS, 6 hrs 36 mins in the saddle. (and the equivalent time being
unable to sit comfortably afterwards!), 11 hours out on the ride. *
Longest combined off-road and road ride ever for me! * Double snakebite
puncher to front tyre. 15-20 mins to repair... er, sorry guys! * In flight
refuelling: 2.5 large water bottles, PowerBar, Mars bar, cereal bar, fish
+ salad in a bun & fries, milk, fruit cake, Mars ice-cream bar,
chicken & mushroom slice, Nitro: 3 spiced fruit buns!, Boost bar,
2/3rds bottle of Yop. * Mile climb up Box hill after 50 miles. * 2.5 mile,
3 vs 3 roadie race after 60 miles at average speed of 25 mph. * Huge grin
after 70 miles! * Didn't hit the wall. * No dehydration headache
afterwards but couldn't sleep until 2 am in the morning due to a major
adrenaline high!
Cheers,
Martin
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