I’m doing the MBR hard route on Saturday with some other riders , can anyone tell me what the conditions are like over there, I know its clay so its probably going to be quite slippy

I would think it will be like riding the Somme in 1918… Perhaps a little less artillery.

Is that your opinion or do you know Tinsy

My mate is local, rekons it will be bad, but to be honest I dont really know personally, only about his constant bitching about conditions in them thar hills…

You do need a better opinion than mine.

Not great I am afraid. Went through there last Sunday and it was not much fun, but to be fair, better than not riding though.

I was walking up there a couple of week’s back, to say it was a little muddy would be a slight understatement. Now we have had the rain/snow/melt water it will make 1941-18 look like a beach holiday. Minus the dead chaps of course.

My advice is don’t do it. Unless you like riding at 1mph.

I would think it will be like riding the Somme in 1918
Quite possibly so. I’ve had all too many rides there which have deteriorated into sitting around drinking beer hoying huge handfuls of clay at each other and wondering if our bikes will ever emerge from the clag again.

I would think it will be like riding the Somme

Historical Alert…

I think you mean Passendale. That was the really muddy one. It took place in 1917 after a particularly wet and cold “summer” and the artillery made a bad situation worse. The Battle of the Somme took place in the summer of ’16. No mud…There, you’ve learned something

As you were.

Wendover will be grim, but TBH it’s been worse, there’ll be puddles, and where the horses cut up narrow bits of trail it’ll be bad, but it’ll be rideable. Unless it’s frozen, then it’ll be fast, but like a wash board, and where the chalk is, like a ice rink…

Pedant alert… (actually – there’s another – three dots in an ellipsis, not 4)

The Battle of the Somme took place in 1916, but are you telling me that the geographical region of the Somme wasn’t in existence in 1918? and that at no point in the year was there any mud?

Go away and learn how to be a proper pedant. 😉

Ha ha, your probably right… but it will be muddy in Wendover woods…

You’ll be fine.
It’s meant to be a hard route, so at least you’ll get value for money at the moment 🙂

I usually ride on a sunday but I’m doing a local reliability ride on the sunday and haven’t ridden off-road for a while so getting restless. We’ll just have to take a change of clothes

Ride Wendover / Chilterns regularly – not sure where the MBR route goes, but the woods themselves have some really, really claggy bits, but elsewhere stays OK. The surrounding area tends to be OK-ish under the tree cover, and quite rideable, unless there’s been horses through, they cut it up hopelessly. Field edges (predictably) are an absolute horror.

Never stops me riding though – otherwise I wouldn’t! And that would never do.

Pedant alert II (above) – the spelling is Passchendaele.

I hope you dont have to go along the top of that big hill bit – I cant remember it’s name but its gonna be very muddy

the spelling is Passchendaele.

Only if you’re Dutch. 🙂

Combe hill, thats the one. If you have to go across the top of combehill, and the route map says to keep in the trees right at the top, it will be hell. You’ll know it if you meet it. Anyway, you can go out in the field bit and avoid that, which I would do if I was you. More or less everything else should be fine though, just a bit wet, and slippy.