The "Photos From Today's Ride" thread. (Vol. 2)
Discussion
Had a 2-hr meeting cancelled this morning, so went for a 3-hr scoot on the mtb. Seems fair...
As usual, the camera doesn’t show how steep and rocky this bit was - somehow cycled up it...
Top of the downhill firetrail into the valley - lots of waterbars on the way as well as tight corners with loose gravelly stuff - more fun than it sounds...
And end up at a more tranquil part of the trail...
The climb out from was a slog but then hit my favourite trail to finish. Need more meetings cancelled
As usual, the camera doesn’t show how steep and rocky this bit was - somehow cycled up it...
Top of the downhill firetrail into the valley - lots of waterbars on the way as well as tight corners with loose gravelly stuff - more fun than it sounds...
And end up at a more tranquil part of the trail...
The climb out from was a slog but then hit my favourite trail to finish. Need more meetings cancelled
Edited by PomBstard on Friday 30th April 07:06
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Wish the jumps were more like that round here. The trail rats are lazy so the take off slope is always very very steep - proper nasty kickers. No room for lazy jumping technique.
That looks great.
Ill be honest most of Surrey Hills isnt like that it is now absolutely trashed to the point where a jibby poppy bike is no longer fun and IMO you need plenty of suspension to soak up roots and bumps that are now everywhere, the smaller jumps are not maintained so are just blown out or have half the take off missing and the landing is gone and they are full of brake bumps and can be un-nerving on the run in. That one there was re built earlier in the winter and is on its way out. It'll be gone in a couple of months. The bigger jumps, like the one i think is called the darkness step up or something, is regularly maintained but is absolutely massive and gets built bigger and bigger all the time.That looks great.
There's a couple like this, that one there plus another step up of similar size that are great to learn/chill on and they feel great
Many others have horrid sharp lips/logs that cause a bike to buck if you're not careful
Only other stuff available are big ass doubles with bomb holes in the middle. Nothing in between to progress with, or there are a few reasonably sized doubles but getting speed up is hard. Plenty of people breaking their limbs on trails like Northern Monkey, I guess where they had nothing to progress from so had to go big
Its that bad I am tempted to go back to Swinley just to enjoy some smooth trails and have some time on that table top on Baby maker, may head down to Rogate sometime to try progress there
Bathroom_Security said:
Ill be honest most of Surrey Hills isnt like that it is now absolutely trashed to the point where a jibby poppy bike is no longer fun and IMO you need plenty of suspension to soak up roots and bumps that are now everywhere, the smaller jumps are not maintained so are just blown out or have half the take off missing and the landing is gone and they are full of brake bumps and can be un-nerving on the run in. That one there was re built earlier in the winter and is on its way out. It'll be gone in a couple of months. The bigger jumps, like the one i think is called the darkness step up or something, is regularly maintained but is absolutely massive and gets built bigger and bigger all the time.
There's a couple like this, that one there plus another step up of similar size that are great to learn/chill on and they feel great
Many others have horrid sharp lips/logs that cause a bike to buck if you're not careful
Only other stuff available are big ass doubles with bomb holes in the middle. Nothing in between to progress with, or there are a few reasonably sized doubles but getting speed up is hard. Plenty of people breaking their limbs on trails like Northern Monkey, I guess where they had nothing to progress from so had to go big
Its that bad I am tempted to go back to Swinley just to enjoy some smooth trails and have some time on that table top on Baby maker, may head down to Rogate sometime to try progress there
I do tend to agree with you on Surrey Hills, it's become so busy it's crazy. I normally rock up to Peaselake car park at around 7am on Sunday mornings and am normally one of the first there. I would say the top of El Capitan is semi decent for learning some jumps but even that is getting worn away, the red at the end of it has almost been smoothed out! When I get back to the car park it's absolutely rammed and quite tricky to manouvre my way out...There's a couple like this, that one there plus another step up of similar size that are great to learn/chill on and they feel great
Many others have horrid sharp lips/logs that cause a bike to buck if you're not careful
Only other stuff available are big ass doubles with bomb holes in the middle. Nothing in between to progress with, or there are a few reasonably sized doubles but getting speed up is hard. Plenty of people breaking their limbs on trails like Northern Monkey, I guess where they had nothing to progress from so had to go big
Its that bad I am tempted to go back to Swinley just to enjoy some smooth trails and have some time on that table top on Baby maker, may head down to Rogate sometime to try progress there
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Wish the jumps were more like that round here. The trail rats are lazy so the take off slope is always very very steep - proper nasty kickers. No room for lazy jumping technique.
That looks great.
Sound like proper jumps! That looks great.
I tend to build fairly steep lips on the jumps I build. I think it’s from having learned to jump at BMX spots in my youth. They were all steep so it just seems normal.
I tend to hate trail centre style jumps with no lip that rely on speed more than anything else.
Court_S said:
Sound like proper jumps!
I tend to build fairly steep lips on the jumps I build. I think it’s from having learned to jump at BMX spots in my youth. They were all steep so it just seems normal.
I tend to hate trail centre style jumps with no lip that rely on speed more than anything else.
Problem is that they work fine on a jump bike, less so on an XL pole and geometron...especially when hitting at speed. Kickers ideally need to be at least as long as the bike if the lip is close to vertical. I tend to build fairly steep lips on the jumps I build. I think it’s from having learned to jump at BMX spots in my youth. They were all steep so it just seems normal.
I tend to hate trail centre style jumps with no lip that rely on speed more than anything else.
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Court_S said:
Sound like proper jumps!
I tend to build fairly steep lips on the jumps I build. I think it’s from having learned to jump at BMX spots in my youth. They were all steep so it just seems normal.
I tend to hate trail centre style jumps with no lip that rely on speed more than anything else.
Problem is that they work fine on a jump bike, less so on an XL pole and geometron...especially when hitting at speed. Kickers ideally need to be at least as long as the bike if the lip is close to vertical. I tend to build fairly steep lips on the jumps I build. I think it’s from having learned to jump at BMX spots in my youth. They were all steep so it just seems normal.
I tend to hate trail centre style jumps with no lip that rely on speed more than anything else.
I always biker take offs / landings that are at least a bikes length. Anything smaller is usual pretty grotty to ride.
Snuck in a Strava Gran Fondo today. Crossed a few country borders, too, as you do / can here.
Started off cold, about 4C. Warmed up immensely this afternoon to about 15C. T’was ‘ot in my winter tights / jacket.
Lovely to be out.
Last day of freedom / unemployment before I start a new role on Monday.
Started off cold, about 4C. Warmed up immensely this afternoon to about 15C. T’was ‘ot in my winter tights / jacket.
Lovely to be out.
Last day of freedom / unemployment before I start a new role on Monday.
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