Hi, I’m off to Streatly tomorrow for a first mtb weekend away with my son (who’s 7) and his club. Should be fun, but I’m wondering if it’s going to end in his tears (too muddy / wet / hard to carry on) or mine (too old / fat / slow to keep up) 🙁

How’s it looking out there?

The woods and associated trails to the north of the river are a bog. The Ridgeway itself is, as ever, bearing up very well. Some of the trails that branch off the main trail are a bit wet and slippery but nothing too terrible.

Sounds ok, not too drastic for mid winter. Thanks!

Good luck with that – pretty much as wet as its ever been over Wycombe way (the field near ours is flooding & only does that when the water table is right up) – still are reasonable trails out there, you just have to know which parts to miss.

as per Dicky, I wouldnt go near any of the Ridgeway up this end, i would predict the going to be slow/stop/terminal

From memory the bits round streatly drain/hold up better.

i’m just past Streatley, not too bad at the moment on Ridgeway. Its not Ralphs weather admittedly but not terrible. Warm and sunny today will help too.

I’m heading up a bit later, I’ll let you know what it’s like round here

I’ve not long got back 🙂

Thanks folks, it sounds much as would be expected this time of year. Hopefully we’ll be staying on the ridge most of the time (I’m not leading).

[Pedant] Streatley isn’t the chilterns [\pedant]

Its mid winter after a summer of rain onto largely wooded chalk…

Mudfest!

@ nickc, he didn’t say it was did he?

The grassy bits on the ridgeway are a boggy nightmare and there are some pretty big puddles in the 4×4 tracks. However, as of last night, the rockier areas were still pretty fast to ride on, but the areas of deeper mud can sneak up on you so try not to overdo it. Lots of big puddles to splash in, which is always a bonus.

…Lots of big puddles to splash in, which is always a bonus.

And lots of those puddles are very deep as my 8 year old discovered!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq2DNu66AD8[/video]

The famous puddle, to Chilterns riders knowing where it is, is like knowing the funny handshake.

Muddy Fest galore out there today. Although the track at Lotts Wood wasn’t that bad, quite enjoyed the loop.