Leith/Holmbury and Pitch Hill ( EDIT: & ride this sunday

[stu23]

Does anybody know of the old "hidden" singletrack around there. I've ridden all the regular stuff, BKB Summer lightning Regurgitator, but theres a lot of stuff i cant seem to find anything about on the internet, even though i've heard people talking about it.

Thinking of making a wee epic nexic next weekend riding out there, generally exploring (presuming someone who knows it well is willing to come along) then get train back. Would be a general all day sort of thing, or could make it shorter if people wanted ie ride to boxhill and back across the downs. Just generally floating the idea around. Would be good if anyone interestec could voice their opinions on it

[stu23]

idea!!

might see you there marco

will have to be back in croydon by about 3 though

if anyone is willing to drive could i commandere a lift for some petrol money please?

[Wal]

Sounds pretty good to me

If I can make it I will drive down to Coldharbour, but because I might well be otherwise engaged (or have to abandon the ride to leg it to the hospital) it's probably not a good idea to rely on me for a lift.

[stu23]

marco- after having a boring root around various different forums over lunch, i couldnt figure out if diary of a moutainbiker was a break off of addiscombe mtb as there seemed to be a lot of familiar names in the archives there. dyo know what happened to any of the people from the good ol' days of huge numbers of mtb riders within the club??

also is there a mtb sec or anyone whos in charge of mtb atm i could speak to??

[Sylv]

[quote="stu23"]also is there a mtb sec or anyone whos in charge of mtb atm i could speak to??

[stu23]

in terms of regular rides, because i do ride so often im willing to lead all the rides or at least organise them, the one problem being from my prespective is that i am back to uni at the end of sept so any effort i do make to begin leading rides and getting regular people out is liekly to have vanished by the time i come back at xmas.

if i could get one or two other people to help i think it would work, but the fact i wont be here to ride is likely to make people think im taking the piss? anyway, i've been thinking a lot about trying to find people to ride with of a higher ability than myself which will improve my riding and my brothers, and through these training rides i feel theres something good going on, as i know wal rob and my brother enjoyed it. as i mentioned before i would like to see these kept going after i go back to uni-but obviously i'tl need people. im quite happy organising rides from wales, and helping out where i can on the mtb scene but if im in wales the problem arises i cant ride

rant over

and that was sort of what i wanted to talk to you about sylv - seeing if thers anyone you know whos willing to try and keep these club rides going, or outsiders in the club you or marco know who want to come along and ride or are willing to help out

sorry if this all sounds like me taking over!!

worth starting another thread relating to this??

[Bo-Gilly]

I can give you a lift to Leith Hill Stu, though I don't have a bike carrier - just an estate car - if you want to get a lift off Wal and just use me if you need to, that'll be fine.

I would've thought that if your demo bike is a full susser, Leith Hill is the place to test ride it !

BTW I'm with Marco - if you want to get race fit, come over to the Dark Side and and feel the pain when you get your ass whipped by a lycra-clad roadie 25 years your senior

[Elliot M]

Will's your man to show you all the good stuff round there. i just get lost and call him for directions. Am busy this Sun but another time...

[Sylv]

Stu, I'm all for training rides. To be honest, this is probably part of the reason why I haven't been riding off-road with the club that much lately (the others being, that I am crap at remembering routes, and that I have seen the light and gotten a road bike).

There used to be a handful of people who were keen on faster rides with fewer stops than the typical Sunday ride, but most have gone and with the option now of a good hard ride on the road in a group of at least 10 on a Saturday (no matter what date and weather), and back for lunch it's been an easy choice to do the clubrun and picking Sunday as my only day of the week off the bike.

But if there are now, and there seems to be, a few of us keen on training rides, I'll gladly take part or "lead". For beginners and those who prefer a more leisurely pace, it's a bit quiet at the moment, but in the last months there have been various rides organised by the likes of Marco, Grahame or Bob - so there is still the option for them. It's not every single weekend like a few years ago, but that's just the way things have evolved.

Now the only problem with the autumn approching is that I am not so keen on mud ...

[stu23]

cheers bob, i might try and keep the beastie for sunday as well to test around leith hill, but im quite interested in getting the old enduro up and running for a more "fun" orientated sesh!! where would you want to meet me for collection bob?


when i am able to only do one ride on a weekend id obviously prefer to go all out and absolutely muller myself, but if i have the option of riding both days then i want to go out and muller myself on one day and then go for a more leisurely pace.

im not saying there should be just one person leading as this seems a little unfair and a lot of work, but if we had a a group of 3 or 4, so say one was on holiday or in my case i have to go to uni ( but am back for extended holidays) and will be back full time next june. then we could rotate it. your last point sylv also worries me, when winter arrives and things get uber muddy people are more inclined to stay in bed, hence there needs to be motivation to get people out on scheduled rides rather than people unsure if theres something going on or not and therefore more liable to stay in bed.

without sounding too big headed i think iv started something here and dont want to see a great opportunity go to waste through slackness. i know this is all old ground for all you guys and you've heard it a million times before- (feel liek im repeating myself here) but i suppose what im trying to get at is someone/ or 2 or 3 to look try and keep regular sunday rides going, until i get back and i can pitch in again as i really feel i want to leave something here for everyone to enjoy, ie younger and more prestigious talents like my brother and have a sort of system where younger riders can move up thorugh ranks and reach their full potential as riders (something i feel i have become to old and tried too late to acheive in my riding career)

so, in short, we need to nominate people, any volunteers apart from sylv??

[stu23]

i shall pick your brains on sunday marco- could you do me a favour though, could you relocate the last few posts of this thread into a purely mtb organisational thread like "mtb future organisation" or something you think is suitable so we can talk about it without spamming the rest of the threads who dont want it or care.

see everyone sunday

[Ian A4size]

Marco---- you have talked me into it, Joanna and myself will be there, i am gonna be riding like a pussy as i am off on hols in a week!

[Grahame]

After hearing about today's hyper club run, Josie is all for going for a ride tomorrow . In Kent, so I won't be joining you at Lieth