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Yeah, CERIS 1 i think it is, the exit is a fireroad that's just next to the main road, they're off the beaten path a little, so pretty lightly used compared to wastelands or cannop.
I would probably caveat to weeksy that apart from CERIS 1, the others are horrific in the wet, either off camber slides down a hillface, or going over shiny roots and rocks on the run, another lot that are left by me until summer, if ever!
Well today didn't go as planned.
Came in from the back so picked up sheep skull as it was the only route down without a queue, that was fine, though the root bowl was a bit of a surprise given I couldn't see the exit.
Then it all went wrong.
Lacking any accurate trail mapping or route I made the mistake of taking the verderers off the top which I expected to just cut the corner a bit, not dump me right back down the bottom. It's a nice bit of trail for what it is but not quite what I had planned.
Decided to take the red/blue back up to the top instead of the push up and about the top of the climb decided I needed air out of tyres. Got the rear about right, the front not so much. At that point realised I'd taken the co2 out of my tool kit when I flew last year and haven't put it back.
Gingerly pedaled up until I found someone (coaching a group) and scrounged a pump. Snapped my valve . They left me with the pump and told me to catch them up to return it. Tube in, tyre at silly pressure I rode off after them planning to drop back down to the shop, see if I could get some valves so at least I could get the tyre insert out of my jersey pocket.
Caught up handed back the pump. Faffed with stuff. Caught the same coaching group up half way down the blue. Forgot I had about 50psi and a tube in the front, lent the bike over and washed on some gravel and cartwheeled in front of said coaching group. Broke my garmin and destroyed what little pride I had left.
Spent 30 quid on two valves and a few CO2 cylinders and then proceeded to remove the tube, put the insert back in and re-tubless the front wheel.
It was now 2pm and I'd achieved sod all. I had however broken my garmin, broken a valve, badly injured my pride, landed bloody heavily on the same hip I injured loosing the front wheel of my road bike on leaf mulch on Tuesday morning, oh and bitten through the bite valve on my pack so that had pissed water all over me too.
It improved a lot from there and I got a runs down over near elephant man done, but I must have taken a wrong turn at brixlade quarry as I didn't find a (downward) gradient and given it was now nearly 4pm thought it was high time to sod it and go back tomorrow!
Ha ha. Top day
How did the rest go ?
I've been thrown a minor curveball that the lad is being picked up by his uncle after Katy... That in itself isn't the curveball but he may aslo come riding, which would restrict me to the blue stuff and maybe a bit of Launchpad. But it'll take out the proper tech. But it would be good to show him and try to improve his skills so he can ride more with the boy when they spend time togehter.
i'll know more in the coming days.
It didn't in the end, between a combination of the weather being awful, me not knowing the trails at all and feeling like I'd been beaten up such that I kept wincing every time I moved I thought the opportunity to get it badly wrong was a bit too high.
Disappointed but it was the right decision.
but I must have taken a wrong turn at brixlade quarry as I didn’t find a (downward) gradient and given it was now nearly 4pm thought it was high time to sod it and go back tomorrow!
It's highly unlikely that anyone will find the majority of the Bixslade trails on their own. Those are ones you'd need a guide for since they're out of the way and the route to the top of them is not the most obvious. We did some trail maintenance on them and a couple of the steeper Barnhill trails a few weeks ago though so they should be running a little nicer and less rutty at the moment.
I'm guessing I should have turned left or maybe straight on at the cross of tracks up top, rather than skirt round to the right through the woods past the limestone piles. (Having just looked at an is it's very obvious where my mistake was made, serves me right for following the track through the trees rather than the broad forest road).
Had I realised quite how sore I'd be yesterday I may well have persevered for another hour or so on Saturday.
Still, something for next time - which is to say once I no longer feel I should no longer have stabilisers on my bike!
BiL not riding, so i'll just be dropping the lad off with him...
I will need to think about what to do with the SWorks though so i guess i'll be getting the car dirty if we ride after 1.
Weather looks grim all week, so likely won't be out if it is as bad as it suggests, am very bored of riding in filth now. If by some miracle it improves, i'll be there at the original time. Likely on a black & blue Dreadnought.
IT's a fair point H-N and only the fact that i'm already going means, well, i'm already going lol
Not looking likely for me... Just tested positive with COVID! 🤦🏻
tetrode
Full MemberIt’s highly unlikely that anyone will find the majority of the Bixslade trails on their own. Those are ones you’d need a guide for since they’re out of the way and the route to the top of them is not the most obvious. We did some trail maintenance on them and a couple of the steeper Barnhill trails a few weeks ago though so they should be running a little nicer and less rutty at the moment.
As above, also you probably want a guide to take you from easy to hard on them, or give a little info before heading in blind!
Where’s the fun in that?
To be fair, crashing is usually my job, but the worst of those trails do tend to be over the bar crashes, probably worth giving folk a heads up ;o)
To be fair, crashing is usually my job,
You may have some competition on Saturday... 🤣
Dunno about Sat, i'm going on Sunday 😀
I'm childcare this saturday, might be out sunday, but more than likely Lydney Woods or Parkend for the runs that do a little better in the wet.
I'm unsure at the moment - daughter has Covid...
Last time I went to Doeys after a week like this it was a pond, or do you mean other Parkend trails? I don't think I've ever ridden Lydney Woods.
Weird how we all think differently about trails, Doey's does tend to run well in the wet, but does puddle up impressively.
Whereas I wont go near Lydney/Pillowell when it's been raining. Apart from I find most of them a bit flat & dull.
It's my summer weekday lunchbreak spot & that's about it for me. It's much rather ride the steeper, rocky stuff off the side of the tramway.
Whereas I wont go near Lydney/Pillowell when it’s been raining. Apart from I find most of them a bit flat & dull.
Wow, never ridden Widowmaker, Wango Chango, Wang 2, Neptune etc over there?
I'm not too hot on the names, but I think they are the ones over the Pillowell side (by the campsite) - the ones that generally are tight as hell through the trees up at the start?
Other than maybe one or two nadgery corners, I don't think there is anything I have ridden that's tough in those woods.
Other than maybe one or two nadgery corners, I don’t think there is anything I have ridden that’s tough in those woods.
Based upon your results and posts, if something were tough to you, it's downright impossible to 99% of us.
tetrode
Full Member
Whereas I wont go near Lydney/Pillowell when it’s been raining. Apart from I find most of them a bit flat & dull.Wow, never ridden Widowmaker, Wango Chango, Wang 2, Neptune etc over there?
Yeah, they're the ones i tend to enjoy as well, Wang2 is probably the favourite over that side, as it's just a nice longish run, but i do like the stuff over the other side like Area52 and so on.
As for weather, i'm not that bothered about puddles, off camber, roots, etc do make me wary though, like Widowmaker over in Staunton, i'll avoid those types of rooty/stoney slippery in wet routes like the plague!
@Hob-Nob, you probably do stuff a level above me, i've downgraded a bit of late as well due to a knackered hip, so most of the stuff at Lydney/Pillowell doesn't go past that limit, bar the DH run with the huge gaps and hip jump!
I like the Parkend stuff as well, mainly the runs from the football pitch down to the road, there's so much over there you can just move across a bit to find trails that work a bit better in the wet as there's so many types, the steep ones down the hill to the road, or the flowy runs that end at the bottom of the doey's runs and so on.
Oh it's changed to 9am.
Well, i say 'changed' but it's only in my mind it's changed as apparently it's always been 9am start on this one. LOL... i didn't pay enough attention.
Anyone fancy showing me and a mate round Lydney Woods this weekend? Either day works.
Wish I could, kids stuff again this weekend, looks wet as well, but some of them hold up alright, they’re easy to find depending on where you park, but the pillowell ones are a bit further along and up from the lydney ones
Anyone fancy showing me and a mate round Lydney Woods this weekend? Either day works.
9am on Sunday for the other ride might be a bit early for me, but as Pillowell is literally <10 mins from my house, I don’t mind showing people round it.
Am riding Merthyr Vale on Sat though, so assuming I don’t write myself off there…
Yeah i understand H-N, it's a bit earlier than i'd like too as it means a 7:15 leaving my house to get over.. which is a bit of a pain. But it'll be a fun day for the lad.
It does mean though after 12 i'm free to ride as he's heading pretty much straight off after training. That does of course depend on my legs 😀
Drop me a message nearer the time. I will probably be on the leg bike as the climb is pretty easy there. If it looks like its going to be horrific weather, I may not be out at all!
Daughter is now Covid free and back at school - I'm 50/50 for Sunday, I'm building her a new bike and if the bits come in time (prob will not) I may take her for a test run around the family trail.
I'm still going but i'm not sure if i'll be alone now anyway as all the big hitters are heading somewhere else lol.
I'll still hang about by the Gazebo with the pink pedalled G170 at 9am just in case for 15 mins and then head out for a little ride if no-one else comes.
@weeksy not sure if you've seen, but the centre is closed Friday and Saturday - cafe, shop, toilets, car park etc all closed due to the storm warning.
Yup, but we're due on Sunday and it's currently showing as open, although that is of course very open to what happens in the next 24 hours i guess.
We've had nothing yet to say coaching is cancelled... so currently we're still going.
But thanks for the heads-up.
Even if it's open on Sunday expect lots of fallen trees on the trails
As above, think i'll probably hit our local stuff this sunday to check the conditions and fix what i can
Yeah, if anyone is coming to the forest on Sunday, bring a saw and a spade!
Looks like coaching is going to be canned... So under the circumstances i think we'll be binning this idea for the weekend now.
I'll be surprised if they open on Sunday, it's looking like a wild weekend.
Currently sat looking across the hills from my home office watching some seriously big trees blow about, safe to say i'm not going out on my bike in this 🙂
safe to say i’m not going out on my bike in this
Oh come on, this is perfect East bound Kom weather.
I was thinking of doing a ride up at 417 if fod was shut, but just seen the cost is now £17 for the day pass - so a couple of quid more than BPW and significantly more than windhill / rogate etc.
I'm sure it was £8 last time I rode up. Guess I'll be sticking to Cranham and the local woods now and only visiting for uplifts.
The Forest isn't shut. Are you just thiking about the carpark at Pedalabikeaway?
Anyone about next Friday who knows 'brother' that links top and bottom bits of ski run?
Think most are shut this weekend, Windhill are, BPW are, 417 i'd guess should be, for me it's pretty much local rides and not anything too daft, hence why i'll nip round my local stuff and where there's obstructions, clear them if possible, and try not to do what the last idiots did by building falling trees into ramps, ramps built with hopes, dreams and loose mud!