Ride report: Sunday 21 November
Mud and slide were pretty much the name of the game today.
Initially I thought it would be a small ride but with Mr Mechanical crying off early I wondered if it would it would be even smaller. I need not have worried as when I arrived in the car park a few familiar faces were already there. This grew and the core Moles came out of the woodwork with Colin, Lee and Barrie putting an appearance in. The rest of the group was made up by Kevin, Ray, Lewis, Emma, Andy661, JohnR, Adam, Jez, PaulM and myself, make a starting line up of 13. Unlucky for some!
We headed out for Leith Hill and Admirals Track gave us an idea of what we were heading for with lots of surface water and mud in places. Up to Ranmore via Yew Trees and then onto Badger run to drop down via Landrover. It’s here the the “some” tuned into “one” as Jez made it only a few metres before fidning he had no front brake. Walking back up we sent the others down while I pondered the problem with Jez but a loose banjo joint and liquid marks on the tyre indicated it was home time for Jez. Jez also now faces the problem of retrieving his bleed kit from a garage in deepest Bookham. Apparently he’s going to hire a special forces team to get it back so Colin and I have teamed up to split the bill three ways if a trenching spade and nylon hammer are also retrieved!!
Heading down Landrover was fine if you stuck to the gully where the grip was but the leafs over mud provided little in the way of traction. Emma on her “hybrid” style tyres was not finding a lot of traction or enjoyment today. From here we headed towards the Rookery Climb and pushed up there. Barrie tried his Mr Smooth on a group of femail bikes at the top but they soon pushed off.
The familiar slog up Wolverns Lane with a few riders opting to go the wrong way up Summer Lightning, tut, tut!! While the rest of us regrouped up at the main SL start where I arrived to find the same group of girls just leaving again. On the way we past Jess and Danielle, showing a group of cyclists how it should be done.
A few comedy moments were enjoyed as various riders failed to make the big bomb hole just prior to Deliverance and then we headed off with our sights on the Tower and some cake. We took in the big roll in that Toby showed me on the night ride and then I showed Lee a new bit of singletrack that he hadn’t ridden before.
The Tower provide little shelter as the Moles moved round like Penguins in order to try and keep warm. With cake and hot drink on board we headed off via Personal Hygiene where I nearly over cooked it as the entrey appears to have steepened out somewhat ove rthe last few weeks. Adam took in Deliverance while the rest of us headed for Waggledance and I entertained the Mole collective with a comedy off piste incident much to Lee’s amusement.
Regrouping at SL we headed off giving a gorup in front chance to clear the first section. As I headed into section 2 I’d already lost sight of Adam as was just about to head in after him when I head a female shout “Dave” after me. Now this isn’t something that happens much to me so it warranted some investigation where I found Mel who I hadn’t seen for must be nearly 2 years so it was great to see her and have a quick catch up. Hope to see you out with us soon Mel! Those DoTMB lot are OK to ride with once in a while but the Moles are far friendlier!! ;o)
Mud and grit started to play havoc with gear trains from this point on, with my 9 speed playing up on selection and Kevin developing chainsuck on the final 2 climbs.
It was a great ride even after accounting for the mud and good to see some riders I’ve not seen out for a while. Roll on next weekend!
About the author
Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.
He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.
Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit
There are 10 comments on ‘Ride report: Sunday 21 November’
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Andy661 says:
Really enjoyed this one. Even with a few tactical dismounts but made two climbs i hadn’t cleared before and made it out of that bomb hole too.
Won’t be with you all next weekend as i’m in Round 1 of the Merida Brass Monkeys series 🙂
My mad attempt at Kielder seems to be a hot topic currently. Who’s holding the book on if i’ll finish? I’m in for a tenner 😉
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Posted on November 21, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Bazza says:
Hi All
Great to be out again, I did miss you guys!….. There were plenty of nearly offs’ and slides, which was great fun. The banta was great as usual and those female rider we saw, initially at the top of the Rookery, the kept hanging around and around, I blame on the Pagan man I was wearing, they could not get enough of it!…….. I did feel pretty knackered by the time got home, white down was awful and on a single speed, just felt I was in slow motion going up there. Good ride and good to see everyone and Dave we did notice the embrace you gave that female rider half way down summer lightening!
Cheers
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Posted on November 22, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Amanda Brooks says:
Sorry i missed this one work got in the way but managed to get out on my own for some stealth training in Peaslake but suprisenly did not find it too muddy as the ground was fairly sandy. Managed a 4 hour ride but got attacked by a black dog going through a common not far from betchworth. It came from nowhere and basically ran by my bike and nipped my calf then proceeded to run in front of my bike and me doing a superman over the handle bars. If that was not bad enough after a small discussion with the owner who said her dog does not like bikes and me saying it should have a muzzle on it i went on my merry way only to be chased down again by the same bl**dy dog. Had i not be on my own I would of tried to beat the damn thing.
Other than that had a wicked ride even if I was on my own.
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Posted on November 22, 2010 at 3:11 pm
KevS2010 says:
Another good mornings ride in great company and plenty of banter, particularly enjoyed the non PC comments from Barry about Cannondale lefties but best not to put into print!
Plenty of evil climbs to warm us up before we fended off the risk of exposure from the cold wind at the tower.
Hats off to Emma for completing everything that the rest of us did on a bike with V brakes and hybrid tyres. She spent most of the ride going sideways so must have covered a load of extra mileage! 🙂
Chain suck sucks, especially when engaging the granny ring on full load and hearing the scary sound of bits being smashed. I shall make some minor adjustments with a lump hammer, or maybe just not come out and blame it on mechanicals. (now who else could that be?) 😉
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Posted on November 22, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Colin says:
My first ride (or should I say walk, in places) for 7 weeks and it made me realise how much I miss it plus how unfit you can become in a short space of time.
Was great to see some old faces. Dave thought he was seeing ghosts of riders past when he saw Baz, Lee and me pitch up!
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Posted on November 22, 2010 at 10:58 pm
John R says:
Nice to be back out on the hills after a bit of a layoff, and I am loving the Orange 5.
Also, a great chance to see the old faces – Colin, Baz and Lee and a few new ones.
Good route, Dave.
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Posted on November 23, 2010 at 9:53 am
Lee says:
Like Colin, my first Sunday ride at least for a while and certainly since D2D so it was a great reminder of how much fun these rides are. It certainly beats setting out for a lonely solo jaunt where the body can quickly be convinced to cut things short.
Quite amazed at my fitness too, though riding SS always forces the effort somewhat where otherwise I might be spinning at the back of the field. White Down pretty much finished me off though.
Hopefully it won’t be quite so long before my next Sunday outing.
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Posted on November 23, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Dandy says:
Glad to see a few more familiar moles popping their heads up out of their winter tunnels!
Although I’m getting over my Post-Viral Fatigue, and managed a trip to Swinley on Saturday, due to w/e commitments it will be the Christmas lunch on 19 Dec before I make a Sunday ride 🙁
I hope to attempt a mid-week ride next week, work and fitness permitting.
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Posted on November 23, 2010 at 7:11 pm
John R says:
It will be a Christmas lunch to remember, Dandy.
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Posted on November 23, 2010 at 8:55 pm
BiketechMark says:
Having just returned from ‘somewhere on the equator’ and coupled with a sealion hack of a chest infection (courtesy of the 8hr return flight), i wasn’t in a hurry to ride on sunday. Eventually persuaded by brother Gary we did manage a casual 20 miler up to the Tower late-morning and looked out for you all but it must have just been just too late. Hopefully the phlegm will have subsided by next ride or there’ll be plenty of ducking and diving at the back as the gob-projectiles relentlessly fly over head… ‘INCOMING!!’….
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Posted on November 25, 2010 at 12:48 pm