[Closed] Surrey Hills - mud fest or OK?

I haven't ridden since Tuesday when it was very wet and its rained a lot since then, that being said it was warm and sunny today, a lot depends on weather the next couple of days. As a minimum you should be able to take a 1hr spin on the better draining trails

Rode yesterday on Ranmore, Holmbury and Leith...fine as a more muddy XC ride but then I stayed off many of the trails. The main trails like BKB, Summer lightening drain ok but majority of others I can think of will just be a muddy mess by now. Rained again this evening but BBC weather is showing Wednesday could at least be dry.

Cost me a set of rear brake pads and I consciously tried not to use my rear brake...given the almost constant gritty wet grind I heard from the rear caliper I guess I didn't even have to use it to wear them down. Coming down Wolverns finished them off. All good fun though 🙂

Thanks for the info chaps. I think I'll give it a miss this time and hopefully it will be nice and dry next time I'm overnighting.

Guess what ? Epic thunderstorm overnight .... 🙁

Yep -like the rest of the Sarf East - best left alone for a couple of weeks...........

with the current weather, i wouldnt even recommend a road bike.

The Greensands drain well, they're sandy rather than claggy clay. Take your bike, get wet, have fun.

We do a night ride Weds, mail me for info.

matt - will do next time...although I may be persuaded otherwise for this time - I keep changing my mind this morning. I'm staying in Peaslake.

Yup I read. We start Westcott.

Personally I'd chuck my bike in the car and see what happens. It's daylight to 9ish and even when it's bad around here it's never that bad.

Anyway to answer your question, it's sodden and puddly but not what I'd call a mud-fest.

I know twitter is not everyones cup of cup of tea but it is useful for checking out distant trails, the following are good for surrey hills updates;

@hurtwoodtrails
@allbikedup
@pedalandspokesc
@SHMTBer

eg.
[img] [/img]

Jambalaya - did you get the one massive and extended clap of thunder between 12-1? I thought someone had reintroduced Concorde!!!

Isn't it best to leave these trails to dry out?

Isn't it best to leave these trails to dry out?

Not sure it makes much difference, though I do go through the puddles rather than around them.

Hmmm, this is Supernova...

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Never remember which trail is supernova, but that tells enough surely?

Yup you wouldn't want to ride that if you want to stay dry. I was up there on Friday, that's how it was. It'll be the same today I think.

th: it's the one that's up to the right if you're riding the big track uphill between the 2 car parks on Pitch. I dno the names either. But we have totally different names for BKB and 'Yoghurt Pots' too. Can't get with these newfangled names....

Cheers Matt - I know the one you mean - think it has a few variations at the top. Does it come right out at the WBCP or is it the one (that seems new or improved to me) that runs parallel with the lower part of the track you refer to?

I have mixed feeling at the moment - don't mind the mud and the rain, but feel its a bit antisocial to trash trails at the moment. Hence bailed out on peaslake mtbo at the weekend.

Nuts to that!

Time to join a road club.

is it the one (that seems new or improved to me) that runs parallel with the lower part of the track you refer to?

This I think.

I rode it on Friday and it was great fun. The wet doesn't diminish it for me.

As for erosion, I think with all the people Youtubing, writing on forums, setting up segments on Strava and Tweeting about SH, staying in on a rainy day isn't going to make any difference.

(Are you my friend who is a Blurred architect?)

ps feels 'new' to me too!

I think with all the people Youtubing, writing on forums, setting up segments on Strava and Tweeting about SH

'& setting up bike shops'

You got a road bike? Excellent road riding around Peaslake!

No road bike.

Prolly gonna do a few laps of BKB with jambalaya some time between 5 and 6 o'clock. At least BKB seems to handle the wet weather well enough.

& if you can't face a ride, take your trainers and run to the top of Holmbury Hill and back. You'll have earned a pint if you do that!

Have fun guys - I think I will stick to a slippy run. Now which leaves more of a mess????

Matt - if the architect ? was for me, then no, not me sorry. But was blurred for sure after recent crash on Pitch. Havent ridden for 3 weeks due to sore ribs, chest muscles so this rain hasnt hit me too hard!

th: yes it was (and Blur with a capital B). ouch. hope you're back out soon.

@teamhurtmore - yes it shook the house !

'Laps' of BKB? Yawn.

Apols, totally unhelpful comment. Too much time online ...

Typical Singletrack comment Matt! Too much time on here! Mud's ok, just gets a bit wearing having to constantly replace pads and clean kit...

I've never ridden there before, so just staying close to Peaslake is fine by me in all this mud and wet. Not been out for about 3 weeks, so any riding is good, but yes, we'll probably do a little more than just a few laps of BKB. Jambalaya is showing me a few of the trails on the hill that drains OK (forget the name) for a couple of hours.

At least BKB seems to handle the wet weather well enough.

Thats because a number of sections of BKB have been built and maintained to handle wet weather, Unlike supernova.

Senor, Brilliant. thanks for that.

Guilty as charged, I will [i]not[/i] become like that.

Rickos it's a beautiful area, welcome to our extended back garden.

Aha! Sun's out and I'm going for a slither. Actually you can avoid most of the mud if you choose your trails carefully and accept a bit more fire road than usual. Perhaps surprisingly, I find the built trails like BKB and Summer Lightning are not the most fun in the wet but them I'm a slime pervert 🙂

Have a good one Cheezy. Tomorrow?

[b]mattjg[/b] - Member
'Laps' of BKB? Yawn.

If you don't mind I'd like to join one of your Wednesday rides, been doing Nirvana noon ride but that's not going to be so convenient going forward.

For sure. Ah the proper name.

See your mail re a ride.

Yup, great ride last night, although I did pick just about the most inappropriate route possible - over Ranmore, 3 Amigos, Wiggly wood, Druids Grove steps,etc. Man that chalky clag is slippery! Hoping to be out tonight Matt - see you then

Rode the Hills last night. Fairly big puddles on most of the trails still, but nothing a good mud tire cant handle, its not sticky, so grip can be had. The puddles on Supernova are good for practicing berm technique, just rail around the top of 'em !

The worst bits are the bridleways on Pitch. Torrential rain plus logging activity equals impassable conditions. Means getting up to the fun bits would be a slog. We used 'Death Star Killer Climb' to avoid.

The puddles are good for practicing berm technique, just rail around the top of 'em

*slow hand clap*

even better just stick to cheeky trails in these conditions.

@foofighter - any particular Pitch bridleways to avoid (eg ones on Western side) ?

How was your ride guys?

We did GB and ISC yesterday, the only real clag was around the southern perimeter of the hill as we looped back towards the youth hostel, finished up with a cheeky 3 in the Kings Head. (Beer festival on this weekend, got to be a do!)

It was good. Thanks to jambalaya for showing me some of the stuff.

We went to the top of Holmbury, Yoghurt Pots, back up then down again picking up some other runs. Then BKB, then up Pitch and some stuff over there, then another hill (forget the name) and back down including supernova. There were plenty out last night.

And we didn't trash the trails...

any particular Pitch bridleways to avoid (eg ones on Western side) ?

The main climb up from the lower 'Pedal and Spoke' car park is the one thats been worst hit. This is what The Hills were like Tuesday.