CR 30th January '10

[Marek]

Oh dear, sounds pretty nasty, one of my mates came off a couple of weeks ago and he has been moaning about his road rash ever since. Hope you guys heal up quick. By the way anyone doing the Hell of the Ashdown tomorrow I would wear body armour if I were you. The roads around the route still have a fair bit of water on them from the rain on Friday and it has frozen. I just drove out near Ardingly area and the back roads are pretty treacherous, nearly lost it going down Vowels lane and that was with Winter tyres on the car as well.

If you are doing it then my advice would be to make sure you avoid any patches that look damp as they could be ice.

Cheers

Marek....

[Steve B]

Wot no criticism, no preaching about how you should have stayed on the main roads because they are safer. Oh no thats right, you were on the main roads weren't you. Oh dear that'll keep'em quiet then.

Listen guy's, I really hope you are all ok. Ant, I know how you feel but it really isn't your fault and if the others in the group don't blame you, which they won't, thats the end of it, done. Unless you give up cycling through the winter, this may happen at some point whether you ride in the lanes or on the main roads.

We rode down the A217 to the cafe with no real problems. We stopped to admire an 'ice tree' on the way (pics from Mark locke hopefully), where the 2 medium groups merged and rode together to the cafe. We then decided to go back via Box Hill, through the lanes (god strike us down for even thinking about it ) where we encountered numerous ice patches on the otherwise perfectly dry roads. We were all very vigilant, all shouted as early as possible and all slowed right down each time we saw any patches. Rich was the ice master today, he just kept on riding over it, staying very still as his momentum carried him through it

It was a good ride today, and I was thoroughly knackered by the time I got home.

Steve

[Amy]

Indeed, sympathy from Marek this time...

Probably a combination of tired from Thursday's efforts and the effect of the cold but I could feel the cut off point every so often on the ride. All in all, not too bad a ride, even with Sean yo-yoing off the front and then suddenly easing up so that he nearly went backwards

Decided that I really wanted a hot chocolate at Nanny Pink's so stopped - think it helped the pmt... Was concerned that we hadn't seen the fast group at all at the cafe, considering the weather, so sent a text off. Good to know that it was mostly bumps and bruises though Sylv had come off worse with a graze on his posterior (not the word Ant used...). Hope it heals quick and you're all not too stiff and achey in the morning...

[Rob W]

Ant no need to worry.It was just one of those winter things.Bloody good slid though.i was thinking of getting my energy bar out and having a nibble as we slid along on are arses.

[Antloony]

cheers Rob, was a fair old slide, thought I was going to slide down to Gatwick. Think the amount of ice did us a favour and saved us from further damage. Just looked on my GPS data at what speed we were doing when we went down, 25.2 mph so could have been far worse.

[Will]

Sounds nasty. Hope everyone is ok.

If your kit needs patching up then don't forget about Alex Zebedee.
http://www.alexzebedee.co.uk/

I just got some Assos leggings back from her and she did a great job

[Alan M]

Anyone fancy coming to North Peru next year. No snow or ice. Good tracks. Mountains. Nice people. Super good value. Cheap booze. If there is a viable group I'll organize a super trip.

[Paul H]

Hope you are all ok especially Sylv.

[quote]Wot no criticism, no preaching about how you should have stayed on the main roads because they are safer. Oh no thats right, you were on the main roads weren't you. Oh dear that'll keep'em quiet then.

[Rob W]

I think there was a burst water main or something like that out side a hotel and the cars driving over it had spread it down the road.To form 10-15m ice patch.

[Sylv]

It was lucky there weren't any cars immediately behind us too. I had the choice for half a second of either swerving/braking or at 37km/h, says my PT, running over Rob and his bike sliding on the floor so not much chance of staying upright.

Knee was worryingly sore yesterday but improved today. Hit it just above the kneecap unlike previous injury which was below.

The road rash is a nasty mess. I don't know if Zebedee could patch my shorts. Am trying out Duoderm (second skin used on elderly patients' skin ulcers, nice).

Should have gone mountain biking like I first thought looking out of the window ..

[Amy]

Hope you feel better soon, Sylv; sounds quite nasty.

Personally I think it was the same as Steve's group - you can't really do much against that amount of water spread over that much of the road whether it's a main road or a country minor road. In a way I think the minor roads might be better in that respect as you ride slower for them and take it steadier... I think we've got complacent, not having to deal with such road conditions for a good few years now

[Hal]

Glad to hear all are healing and no serious injurys.

I was all set for the CR but when I saw the snow and got a text from my friends about a fry-up in Caterham valley at 10:30, I hopped on the MTB for a brisk ride out on the normal 'snow' mtb route to Farleigh, then Slines Oak to (NCN 21) to the road a the bottom of Caterham valley.

Full fry up in the star buger.

Continued south up Hairstone Valley then trails through to Bletchingly. Retraced my tracks to the foot bridge over the A22 and up onto the North Downs to the bomb hole. Along the Marden Park valley and up the bridalway by Bug Hill to my mum and dads for lunch.

Then retrace the route back from Farleigh back to Croydon. A really good day, lots of frosty puddles and melting mud great fun but filthy by the time I got home at 5pm!!!

Took another hour to clean all my stuff (I think this is the only reason I don't do more MTBing because I seem to spend as much time cleaning as I do riding)

H

[Marcus]

[quote="Hal"]I was all set for the CR but when I saw the snow and got a text from my friends about a fry-up in Caterham valley at 10:30, I hopped on the MTB for a brisk ride out on the normal 'snow' mtb route to Farleigh, then Slines Oak to (NCN 21) to the road a the bottom of Caterham valley.

Full fry up in the star buger.

Continued south up Hairstone Valley then trails through to Bletchingly. Retraced my tracks to the foot bridge over the A22 and up onto the North Downs to the bomb hole. Along the Marden Park valley and up the bridalway by Bug Hill to my mum and dads for lunch.H

[Elliot M]

Sorry to hear about injuries Sylv and others

I was going to make a rare appearance on the CR, but had a bit of snow here so decided to go out on the MTB round the Surrey Hills instead...

...and came off on a patch of ice on a short road section at Holmbury. Luckily was wearing knee armour (mostly for warmth rather than the type of riding I was doing), so just have a few extra scratches and have finally cracked my 7 year old Oakleys.

[Hal]

No GPS i am afraid but I can show you on a map

I had to stay out till after 4pm because my wife was at work till then so I wouldn't have to cook when i got home

I will see if i can highlight on a map some time, or just ride it again with some of the mtbers

H