Summit Mountain Bike Club Blog

Ashley Cross Amble All Nighter

summitmtb — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:35:12 +0000

Looking out the window it was dark, raining and close to 9:30pm, not that I mind riding in the rain too much and I absolutely love riding at night, but I knew what was ahead, and there was little chance of backing out now. It was my idea writes Andy Trisconi-Smith
This aforementioned level of trepidation was due to a few of us attempting to ride to Ashley Cross, just outside Bournemouth on the sunny (we hope) south coast; give or take 130 standard miles from the start point.
So I set off to the garage to load up my steed for the ride with enough food, drink and warm clothes to get me through the worst of the conditions
The meeting point for the ride was moved from outside Richs emporium of bicycle goodies On2Wheels to a drier and coffee serving warm house, thanks John. Simon and Martin were already there and itching to go so after a quick beer (hic) we saddled up for the obligatory start photo where the rain was abating slightly
We set out into the night out of Bourne End heading due south to join up with little back roads west.
After 20miles it was time to stop to refuel and have a wee stop, and being nearly midnight there was only us and a few chavs in beat up old Astra’s giving us a backing track of wheel spinning as we supped our various energy drinks and ate a bite or two of supplies.
As if by magic the rain stopped as soon as we set off again, now it was still wet on the ground and thanking my mudguards for staying dry as puddles still pock marked the roads but there was no denying it they were getting drier.
Im not sure what we were drinking at the first stop but it seemed to set of a chain of events that would blight us through the rest of the ride, an almost comical inability to ride for more than about 10miles without having to stop yet again to empty full bladders. I blame it on energy drinks myself
Another couple of comfort breaks and the stars were shining through but this opened up our vision to the horizon that was slowly getting higher, and while eating a mini roll at another stop we discussed that we wont be going up there, nah I said it must go round the hill. Oh how wrong I was, what a climb on a fully loaded bike which required a lot of grunting, swearing and general discomfort the type of which I haven’t felt on a bike since last time I did a time trial.
But we all made it to the top congratulating ourselves before zooming off down the hill as reward.
Unfortunately for Simon, being the first to descend this was actually not the right way, so shouting to turn round he grudgingly climbed back up the hill to join his slightly merry companions, but not at his misfortune you understand.
We carried on through the hills which after the first push were not as bad as the first leg stretcher but still an effort to keep temperatures up.
Approaching a T-junction the trusty sat-nav told us to go straight on into a little track, as mountain bikers, although on a motley selection of road bikes, this looked inviting enough and turned out to be great fun motoring along on loose gravel, through a small gap in a hedge back to the road again to a handy petrol station, which closed still afforded us the pleasure of water to rinse dirty bikes.
By this point we had covered 60ish miles and were getting a bit tired and although we had plenty of wee stops on route we needed hot drinks and some warm food. Luckily Winchester services was a beacon in the night if only we could find it.
Its up this road somewhere said Martin, now ive given this statement enough times on rides to know it means, it might be but we will go look anyway.
The problem with motorway services is they are designed to be accessed from the motorway which also means they are difficult to get into from the non motorway side.
Thankfully Google had sent one of their camera cars up this tiny road so we knew there was a gate and just hoping it would be open we carried on up the ever degrading surfaced road until it became a rutted horrible mess
The gate was located and turned out to be taller then John, which if you haven’t met John is very high, and unfortunately locked.
Being the only way in and cold and coffee starved we dumped the bikes in a hedge, now this was at 4am so we could have left them on the “road” with the lights going and they would have been safe, and lightly hopped over the fence.
Warming up with Hot sandwiches and tepid overpriced drinks for an hour in the deserted services brought life back into our bodies, we again steeled ourselves to the now 5am cold back over the fence and to the bikes, and with a bit of faffing we were ready to go again
Not before I changed into my warm winter gloves I had stashed in my panniers, that would have been if I had two left hands…. Luckily Simon had a spare pair to save me from putting back on cold and sweaty gloves
As the light began to dawn on a beautiful clear blue sky, jackets were stashed away and spirits raised and then we caught sight of the perfect rest stop, a boot sale in the middle of nowhere.
Again loading up on caffeine, sandwiches and for John some type of fried baguette, having a laugh at some of the locals, shades were donned for the final blast across the forest
As the sun peeked through the trees the speed picked up and up, until we were on an open section of forest with the sun beaming down, we could have been in the team time trial each taking turns at the front if it wasn’t for the panniers and lights still blinking away after having been forgotten with the dark long ago.
Eventually we backed off thinking this was a crazy idea after some ten hours of riding and settled back into cruise mode.
Reaching a junction unsure of which way to turn we carried on down this sublime winding tree lined road, with a gentle downhill gradient, way off course, but it was worth it and as we discovered when we headed back to the track if we had stayed on course it would have meant another off road hammering for tired bodies that we all agreed the detour was worth the ride and lack of bumps.
Out of the forest and we were approaching the outskirts of Bournemouth and into some heavy traffic which at twelve hours in was a test of nerve and concentration.
Luckily we were soon lost again, how many times have I been to Bournemouth and I still managed to get lost, it didn’t last long and we could soon see the sea.
The beach was finally reached, and time for the end photo, we rolled along the promenade to Ashley Cross and the chance to get off the bikes after fourteen hours from door to door to reminisce and bore my poor wife Lisa with tales of our epic adventure over monumental plates of food and a couple of cold beers
Its now to cold to repeat again but we will be back for another go next year, sorting out our navigation issues and a better stop location than the services to rest our weary bodies

Filed under: Chiltern Rides

Trial by Bike – Wayne’s TT

summitmtb — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:26:41 +0000

Maidenhead TT start-line by Jacob North

Having attempted my first crack at a time trial in 2009, I could not resist giving it another go so entered the annual Summit TT Championship. Run by the club’s friends at Maidenhead CC, it is held on an early September evening on a circuit near Sherlock Row writes Wayne Harris. After riding a number of Sportive’s, Enduro’s and MTB races, I have to admit that this TT must be one of the most intense things I have tried on a bike yet! To begin with, this course is a 5 mile lap that has to completed twice, quite simply in the quickest time possible. Whereas in a race, your fellow competitors are all over and around you, in a TT they start ahead and behind you in one minute intervals. This means you have the added prize of seeing the rider in front, dangling like a carrot, tempting you to chase him down. On the other hand, you can’t help wonder, if and when you’ll hear the tell-tale sound of the disc wheel of that rider behind you, as he catches you up, and almost certainly (in my case) overtakes and starts to gap you! Despite the event (from a Summit point-of-view) being mainly for fun, and a personal test of what you could achieve, it still felt quite nerve racking, and when rolling to the start line I was definitely feeling it! Having done a warm-up lap beforehand, I pretty much knew what to expect, when to conserve energy, and when the opportunity would come to really `put the hammer down’. There’s a great temptation to go off as fast as you can, however, ultimately you’ll never keep that initial speed consistent, and if anything will burn out later. Therefore, I found it best to stick to a pace that I knew I could keep going for both laps. Keeping within your maximum heart rate is a good way to help stay on course if you want to finish in a reasonable time. So the moment arrives, you are held up by a race marshal, giving you chance to clip into your pedals, and the 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 and its out of the saddle to propel yourself forward! For the first few hundred yards I forgot everything I had told myself – how long had I been going? Had the next rider left yet? Was I going to fast? I soon calmed down, went to the `drops’ and started settling into a workable rhythm. The first section is quite flat, and then after about a quarter of the way round you take the first of 2 ramps over the M4, thus giving you chance to build up speed to fire down and up the slight climb to the 3rd junction. From then on its a very long straight, allowing for speeds of 30mph or more to be achieved, before you arrive at the next roundabout, hard left and back over the M4 and past the start line – and then all over again! At the end of the 2 laps I was spent, and could not have managed a faster pedal stroke on the entire circuit. The tiredness I felt was washed away by a wave of euphoria of having completed in a reasonable time (28m 03s) and being overtaken only twice. Whilst a new bike, aero bars and a pointy helmet are not on my immediate shopping list, I will certainly be back again for more of the same next year. And if you fancy physically challenging yourself, then you too should try `the race of truth’!

Filed under: Chiltern Rides

Andy’s Big Bike Ride

summitmtb — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:50:48 +0000

On Saturday 14th August 2010 I set out at 5am on my (t)rusty old fixie to accomplish a ride far longer than I have done before of 165 miles.
Now how did I get myself into this mess then… Well it all started with British Gas and Make a Wish charity organising a charity bike ride, with a long route through the hills of Hampshire.
Looking at the start location I though well that’s not that far away, perhaps I can ride there and back, I know if I get enough sponsorship I will do it… Oh dear I got the sponsorship I am committed now.
Luckily I had done the Dunwich dynamo a few weeks earlier so I knew 130 was possible and that I would feel okay at the end of it, so how much worse could this be?
I sorted a few comfort issues out, a lot to be said for a good saddle and a slightly more upright riding position to offset the charms of long distance cycling
Having practised the ride to the start and back – 80 miles I knew that was easy enough as it was rolling with no major climbs.
So I had ridden to the start, now what… What I always do waiting to start a ride, is faff about and drink tea. Joining up with some of the guys from the pricing dept we set out for the first 30 miles at a comfortable pace chatting along. Then the hills started and were soon concentrating on keeping going. At the second fed stop we said our farewells and I headed off alone for the extra 30miles of the long route. A few very narrow and muddy roads due to the weather kept me on my toes and Old Winchester Hill lived up to its name and took nearly an hour to climb. A fallen tree climbed and before I knew it I was at the last feed stop and there was only 8 miles to go back to the start and a nice hot bowl of pasta. Once fed and watered it was time to saddle up and hit the roads for the final couple of hours home. And this is where it started raining, a few spots at first, then heavier until it was splashing up as much as falling. Definitely time to stop and put on my rain jacket for a token gesture at staying dry and warm. Luckily the rain became lighter around Camberley and was a light drizzle for the last fifteen or so miles.
In that time I consumed 8 litres of Torq energy drink, 6 tracker bars, 5 mars bars, lots of cake (yum), two gels (not nice) and a bowl of pasta, which should roughly equate to the 11,000 calories burnt. Unfortunately this proves that cyclists are more expensive to run than a diesel Nissan over this distance and slower.
Highlight of the day has to be the feeling of achievement of finishing the ride and still feeling human, although a tired one. Lowlight has to be the torrential downpour near Farnham, but by that time I was happy to be on the way home. I am just glad that the rain stayed off for the majority of the event.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. But not this weekend. Question is who wants to join me???
So in total I raised £335 with the event raising over 15k for make a wish.

Filed under: Chiltern Rides

Dunwich Dynamo

summitmtb — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:36:25 +0000

Lets ride to the coast they say… Dunwich Dynamo anyone???

Whats that… Its a semi organised ride from Hackney to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast 120ish miles away… Oh and its through the night…

….Well okay, but how do we get home…

……………..Lets ask the W.A.G.S to pick us up… YEAH there is a plan

So Saturday 24th July we all met at Sam’s house, girls and boys to go on our seperate journeys to the coast. The girls set off towing the trailer for a night out in Lowestoft, which apparently has a dangerous beach and a strange pub as highlights, via stops for coffee and traffic.

Us Boys set of for london on our rag tag fleet of road bikes via Beaconsfield station we find out the longest ride Adam has ever done is 30miles so we think this will be a long night, but Adam as always makes things look very easy…

We cycle across London only getting slightly lost on our way to Hackney and the so called start, so called because there is no start its “go sometime after 8pm and we will see you at the beach”. We enjoy the last orders at the BBQ and generally nervously chew the fat, looking at the oddities of lLondon cycle culture.

Ive never ridden in a pack of 200 riders, let alone through traffic and it has got to be experienced at least once!! So through the sights, smells and sounds of east London we head towards the wilds of the Essex border.

The locals didnt know what to make of us all as we headed along our merry way…
“Ere Trace, ive just seen the F*****g tour de france go past… No lie init” has to be the quote of the year.

Then once out of the traffic the groups flowed along at a merry old pace, with chatting and banter along the way.

Having the advantage of GPS, yes cheating to the purist, allowed our merry band to just ride and have fun without worrying about getting lost in the dark. And so it would seem did about 40 other riders, when after an emergency stop to rescue Adams rear light from falling off a large group pulled in with us and waited until we set off again. Brilliant…..

A stop for lunch at about 1am for sandwiches in a local village hall at the half way point spirits were still very high. Once refreshed setting back out into the night in another large group for the final half to the beach.

So what did we get for our troubles, no sleep, some saddle sores, the best breakfast ever, but most of all a fantastic experience that we are already discussing next years event and maybe even a few other long rides of our own.

A massive thanks to the girls for enduring the traffic, Lowestoft and smelly tired boys on the way home….More info here:
www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk/content/dunwich-dynamo

Filed under: Chiltern Rides

Pass’Portes to MTB heaven

summitmtb — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:18:54 +0000

Looking back down to Les Gets

Pass’Portes du Soleil is an amazing XC festival based in Les Gets/Morzine in the French Alps and this year a group of Summit riders entered, many for the first time. For me, it was possibly one of the best days I have ever spent on my bike writes Simon North.
In one day a Pass’Portes rider can experience the widest possible terrain, from gorgeous natural single-track through pine covered slopes, long fast fire road descents and full-on downhill switchbacks, with table tops and kickers. All against a backdrop of Europe’s most beautiful mountain range close to the French/Swiss boarder.
The event’s seventh year attracted 4,500 riders from all over Europe aboard a very wide range of machinery from racing downhill rigs to slender-tubed hard-tails, but the majority were probably riding full sus long travel XC bikes.

It's a long way from the top when you want to rock 'n roll

The concept is simply pure genus. Go up the mountains on ski lifts, ride along the trails and down breathtaking descents, then on to the next lift. In all I counted 13 lifts on our 80km route, which open from 08.00am to 18.00pm. There are shorter routes but having made the journey most would go for the full loop which took us the thick end of 10 hours to complete.
Nick, Judith and I started around 08.15am and kept a steady pace going, making sure we didn’t linger too long at the well stocked feed stations and just finished before the final lift closed. We started and finished in Morzine where we were staying, although officially the event departs from nearby Les Gets.
Signing-on was all done inside 15 minutes and although the first run was busy with keen riders I would never have called it crowded. After that we were never held up on the trails nor had faster riders on our wheels and getting served in the feed stations was never a problem. Hard to believe we shared the event with over 4,000 others.
The man-made trails have been developed for more than a decade and are clearly aimed at downhill riders with either big travel MTBs or downhill bikes. They are just amazing offering multiple bermed swicthbacks, fast swoopy chutes, steep rooty or bumpy sections, double jumps and table tops. Make sure your brakes are in top condition as you will be using them a lot as some of the descents drop 1,000 metres!
There is also loads of natural trail in between the bike park stuff. Miles of woodland single-track, some rocky sections, fire roads and tracks much of it being the old byways local people used to travel between the valleys and through mountain passes. At times I was reminded of UK trail centres or places like the Lakes and Peaks, but all the trails are just longer and more satisfying.
Although quite few folks ride downhill bikes there were others on hardtails, so something in between the two extremes is probably a good bet. Again next year I will ride a full sus XC bike, shod with proper downhill tyres (I used Maxxis Minion front and High Roller on the back, both 60a compound) as we saw a lot of folks with regular XC tyres fixing punctures.
The Eighth Pass’Portes is being extended from two to three days next year and will be held on 24/25/26th June, so watch out on the club forum for news of registration opening in early February.
Thanks to Andy TS for the kind loan of his Iron Horse Expert Mk3, Alan Wakeman for sound advice on tyres etc and especially Nick and Judith for their good company and accommodation.

Filed under: Chiltern Rides

Summit week-end trip to Ribblesdale (Yorkshire Dales National Park) – February 2010

summitmtb — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:47:09 +0000

Having signed up for this trip one evening in the cosy comfort of my living room the weekend approached with rising trepidation as the weatherman came on the radio and told me that all kinds of horrible weather was expected at any time of the day, anywhere in the country. The prospect was biting wind, freezing temperatures and, take your pick, rain, sleet or snow. I set off for Gary’s, as the rain began to fall, with that nagging doubt; had I brought everything I needed. My mind ran through the list time and time again as I raced through the wet streets; helmet, gloves, inner gloves, new inner inner gloves, inner socks, middle socks, seal skin socks, winter shoes, over shoes,… wallet, helmet cam, mobile with all the routes and maps on it, laptop with all the routes and maps on it, Garmin with all the …etc, and a bag full of cables.

It wasn’t until I reached Gary’s house it came to me. The flat cap! I’d forgotten my flat cap – when am I ever going to wear that bloody thing!

Gary and I set off oop North on a drive that can take anywhere from four and a half hours to seven. It was Friday evening, rush hour, and we weren’t lucky – we arrived at 10pm. James, Hila, and Russ had set off together earlier in the day. They stopped off for a ride from the Ladybower in the Peak district and by all accounts met all of the weatherman’s predictions on what turned out to be a tough ride.

We were booked into the ‘Dump’ in the hills behind Horton in Ribblesdale, part of the local caving clubhouse. A large party of cavers had beaten us to the master bedroom (sleeps 17 on one long bench) but Gary had managed to get us into a shed in the garden. Not bad, it was made of stone and was only £5 a night, but bring your own breakfast.

Having got there earlier, and having spent the afternoon riding through horizontal sleet, Russ, Hila and James decided to upgrade to the local pub. They kindly left the heater on for us…. nice thought, but sadly it was on a two hour timer.

Gary and I decided to go straight to the pub, which was very lively, and the upgraded party had obviously been there for some time. Food was very good and the Theakston’s went down a treat. When I felt I had drunk enough to be able to face my first night in the shed it was time for bed.

We woke to a beautiful sunny day and the stunning scenery of the Dales countryside with clear views down the valley and of the hills around. It was going to be a good day.

We’d chosen a ride to Malham Tarn which starts just below Settle with an 8km climb of 380m to the top of Kirkby Fell along stone track bridleways. For those of you on the Black Mountains ride, that assent was 360m so it was a relief to find that this slope was completely rideable. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for this kind of riding too. Wrapped up warm we didn’t get hot from the climb and the ground was frozen enough to make the going a lot easier than it should have been. The climb took far longer than it should because of Russ and James’ mincing like a couple of Southern Pooftas all the way up. James suffered several technical hitches with his drive train and attempted to stay focused on the problem while Russ stood over him discussing Lycra colour combinations and bike bling. Gary was keeping his distance from those two following their attempt to force him into a ditch, and Hila and I rode ahead to try to keep the pace up.

As we finally approached the top past, Rye Loaf Hill and Kirkby Fell, we hit snow which had formed in drifts against the stone walls and forced us to walk. Conversation immediately turned, of course, to tyre choice and no punches were pulled. My 2.1 Trailrakers, ridiculed at the start of the ascent, got me a good 18 inches further across the snow than James’s mandatory tractor thingy’s, and he ended on his back like some monstrous beetle still clipped into the bike above him. He cried for help but we, in true Summit style, just rushed for our cameras.

The sun was still shining, we weren’t cold and what followed can only be described as exhilarating, and probably one of the best descents I’ve enjoyed as we raced down the grassy fields along narrow sheep walks for 2.5km to the road above Malham Cove . We took the road 4km across the top of Malham Moor, Russ and I doing silly roadie slipstream racing to pass the time. We left the road and climbed through a short stretch of woods, through which we could see the lake on our right. It was beautiful and became spectacular as we raced down another speedy descent and burst out of the woods to emerge along its south bank. The lake was frozen into a vast opaque milky sheet of ice with a hint of mist softening the light on its surface. It looked very out-of-this-world, a sight I’d never seen before.

Having circled the lake we crossed back over our route and headed west for home. The final descent into Settle promised more exhilaration but the sun had melted the ice and turned the mud as slippery as potter’s slick and slowed us down to walking pace in parts. After much unclipping of cleats we reached the end of 30km, the centre of Settle, and the welcoming arms of Ye Olde Naked Man for coffee and cake.

Filed under: Trips Away