Given the state of the weather yesterday the turnout was brilliant.
We'll put it down to the fact that everyone had come to ride with His
Madness! In the absence of Dave, with his sore wallet, the idea was
put forward to all go out together and I think it worked out pretty
well. With the trails promising to be in a real state after 2 days of
rain it was never going to be a race and, although we've ridden in a
lot worse, so it proved.
Welcoming back Mad John were, Dawn, Sze, Corinne, Lynn, Julie, Wendy,
Rob, Pat, Kean, Jim, Neil, Barry, Ron, Ollie, Ade, Leon, Dean,
Jermaine, Damien and Myself.
Led by John and Dawn we headed up Butlers and looped around The Warren
crossing Rangers Road and then over to Connaught Waters and the
singletrack out to Mark’s Puddle and the newly christened Transvestite
Corner (thanks Corinne)!
We crossed ENR and headed up to Baker Hill for John's first
masterclass of the day, riding the bench. His first attempt nearly
ended in a trip to the dentist and as a result, did not,
unsurprisingly, get any serious takers. We followed the usual trails
along to Strawberry Ponds, taking the downhill to Loughton Brook where
John's next effort at riding a big log was more copybook and he even
got some comedy apprentices in Neil, Leon and Jermaine.
From there we followed the trail up to Baldwin’s Pond and around to
the climb up to Golding’s Hill, where we were hit by the first of the
days real rain, and the start of the downhill to the bottom of
Jurassic Park and John's next display, riding through the stream,
which again, at the first time of asking, did not go as well as it
might have. Marks for technical merit, 1, comedy value 10, and to
think that I might have missed all of this if I'd sat at home with my
man flu.
We climbed up to The Ridges and after a brief stop for Ollie's slow
puncture we headed over Jack's Hill and back on to The Ridges again,
which were great fun due to the axle deep puddles , to start the trail
to The Forest Gate for our lunch stop. By the time we got there we
were all soaked and in a real state so it was a nice surprise when we
were shown into a private room, with toilets, heaters and service with
a smile from the chatty young lady with all sorts in her apron!
During lunch Paul joined us with Helen and a short while later we
headed out into the cold to start phase 2 of the ride. Poor Paul had
been stuck in traffic and was real keen to give his new steed a proper
work out so we headed back along the trail towards The Ridges with the
plan of turning off towards Theydon half way. At this point we were
left by Dawn, Lynn, Neil, Ade, Ollie, Jermaine, Damien, Barry and
Helen, who headed back, and the rest of us took the singletrack up to
Four Corners and then the trail down to the entrance of The Deer
Park. After a quick stop to admire some antlers we continued down the
trail turning right alongside the vacant camp site before starting the
big climb back up to Jack’s Hill. Not sure how and I’m not
complaining, but led by Piston Legs Jim, we managed to get up and over
there missing the usual killer climb. Must try to remember the route
for next time as when the mud gets really thick the usual climb is
almost definitely a walk.
Back at Jack’s we swung south and onto the great technical trail that
takes you back down towards Goldings Hill. The leaves here were really
thick and hid not only the trail but also all sorts of dangers and, as
I know only too well, when you are leading it’s bound to be you who
finds the trap first. John drew the short straw, hit the log hidden in
the leaves and had a fairly big off tumbling over the bars and
injuring the only fit finger he had left on both hands, with Rob also
falling in his wake.
Continuing on , Ron joined the over the bars club in a nasty looking
fall before the bridal way. We climbed back up to Goldings Hill Ponds
and then rode onto the great downhill that takes you eventually past
Alan’s Hill and over the bridge for the climb up to Lost Pond an out
on to Clay Ride. From there we rode through the Bomb Holes and over to
cross ENR and climb up to the bridal behind High Beech Conservation
Centre.
Paul had promised me a go on his new bike so at the top we swapped
over and while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive I had a
gentle ride up and down the bridal to get a feel for it. All was going
great until I came to a stop, was unable to unclip, and after riding
all day without a single real incident, crashed in a heap in front of
everyone! Lovely bike though and really light for a full sus. I could
easily lift it while I lay on my back!
From High Beech we headed round the Church and down Lippets Hill,
where Rob headed off. The middle of the downhill where Dave had his
tumble last week was again really treacherous with Jim falling just
before the bridge and Leon coming off riding the stream at the bottom.
Back out on the flat we took the singletrack over towards Fairmead
Road and then onto the trails that lead you back towards Connaught
Waters and Tranny Corner again.
From there we were incident free back to the car park where Sze
demonstrated that not only was her new power wash good for muddy
bikes, it does a pretty good job on hairy legs too. Thanks for that,
cleaned me up lovely to head back for the debrief at the CC where we
were joined by Dave, Jane, Fi, Gentle John and Glenn for a few beers
to end the day.
See you.
Miles
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