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10-29-06, 10:20 AM
Although I have been out on the MTB in the summer- it has been on dry tracks that have been worn smooth with the amount of Traffic (Walkers, bikes and horses) passing over them. Last couple of weeks have been wet so road rides have been the choice. However today- I woke up early- Looked at the weather and it was good and sunny. Bit cool but no rain forecast either. It was getting muddy time. My problem is that although Our hills are covered in a multitude of trails- I tend to stick to the same half a dozen. These are good trails but can be a bit boring. 6 miles to the foot of the hills and where do we go. I know- Lets see what The 4x4's have done to the track to Folkington. This is a mud bath and that is due to the offroad bikes and cars that wreck it. Plus the fact that I haven't been up it for a couple of years. Start of the trail and it just goes up but there was Deep mud right from the start. No Tyre trails though and no Ruts. Just deep mud. as soon as we started uphill on the singletrack we found out why. Any mud that had been on the trail was washed away down the hill and The only thing that would get up the Deeply rutted trail now would be a cycle or a walker. The trails had no soil at all and the chalk had rain furrows in it 12" deep.
Gradually we climbed up the track and it got steeper and rougher and looser. The other two with me went up at a rate of knots and then stopped. I was not far behind them but they had shown me where the difficult bit was by falling off. They cleared the trail and off I went 50 yards later and I looked behind to see them walking their bikes up the hill. One thing age gives me is experience. I may be a bit slower but I am conserving energy and I do pride myself on the technical skill that they do not have. Bit higher up and disaster. The trail had been covered in gravel. They are doing it to a lot of the popular trails round here but at least this lot of gravel is not going to ruin the trail for Mountain bikes. It is being washed a way already and the tricky trail is showing below. Give it a couple of weeks of rain and all the gravel will be at the bottom of the hill to cover that deep mud.
Finally got over the top of the hill and down the other side. Due to the amount of mud I Had already encountered, I took it steady but there was no need, the washed out track had plenty of grip and I could have blasted it but perhaps I realised my age this morning. Then we had a long drag to get to our normal route down for coffee and the second downhill- I Did not hold back so perhaps I am just out of my first childhood again.
Although winter has not hit us yet over here- the winter conditions have but with a sensible temperature. Started in the mid 40's and got to the mid 60's so I had too much clothing on again. Felt very damp under all that clothing but as I am on my 5th choice top that does not wick away sweat so well- perhaps I have to get down the LBS to look at clothing again.
Gradually we climbed up the track and it got steeper and rougher and looser. The other two with me went up at a rate of knots and then stopped. I was not far behind them but they had shown me where the difficult bit was by falling off. They cleared the trail and off I went 50 yards later and I looked behind to see them walking their bikes up the hill. One thing age gives me is experience. I may be a bit slower but I am conserving energy and I do pride myself on the technical skill that they do not have. Bit higher up and disaster. The trail had been covered in gravel. They are doing it to a lot of the popular trails round here but at least this lot of gravel is not going to ruin the trail for Mountain bikes. It is being washed a way already and the tricky trail is showing below. Give it a couple of weeks of rain and all the gravel will be at the bottom of the hill to cover that deep mud.
Finally got over the top of the hill and down the other side. Due to the amount of mud I Had already encountered, I took it steady but there was no need, the washed out track had plenty of grip and I could have blasted it but perhaps I realised my age this morning. Then we had a long drag to get to our normal route down for coffee and the second downhill- I Did not hold back so perhaps I am just out of my first childhood again.
Although winter has not hit us yet over here- the winter conditions have but with a sensible temperature. Started in the mid 40's and got to the mid 60's so I had too much clothing on again. Felt very damp under all that clothing but as I am on my 5th choice top that does not wick away sweat so well- perhaps I have to get down the LBS to look at clothing again.