Gorrick Winter Series – Deepcut – What’s it like?

Evening,

I signed up to the Gorrick in Deepcut this coming weekend…has anyone raced it or ridden it before?  What’s it like in terms of technicality and mud?  It’s the one starting in Alma Gardens.

Thx, Rich

Brass Monkey Round 1? I’ll be there, first time for me at this series but really enjoyed the 3-6-9 earlier this year.

I haven’t raced it for a while, but I do recall when I used to race Gorrick regularly that Deepcut was one of my favourites: not massively muddy, nice balance of tech & easy areas to refuel in. Certainly less twisty than Area 51 & with better overtaking opportunities.

Short video (not mine) of last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWsKMHC4PiY

and a full lap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw2PeQLHc8g

It drains well with no clay and doesn’t tend to get too mucky even after a load of rain.

Personally I don’t think its particularly technical, lots of exposed slippery roots though.  If dry it could be a fast race. I’ve raced it for the last few years and as said above more places to pass or get passed (;)) than area 52.

@natrix We’re you slugging around at 180bpm for the whole 2-3 hours!? What’s your threshold HR?

@dhague Not my videos, its my son that races, (they’re not his videos either). I’ve ridden round there, quite a steep climb in one place.

I last rode Porridgepot (G2) about 2 weeks ago and it was riding very well apart from the humpy bumpy part down by the Basingstoke Canal which was totally covered with a deep sea of leaves. I don’t know what it it is like now after BERT but I imagine the Gorrick team will have a lot of trail clearing to do. When I was there I bumped into John from Gorrick who was doing some route planning.

The problem there is that the MOD are closing it off for army trainng so much of the time now that the trails aren’t getting ridden enough (other than from those doing a cheeky one in from the canal).

Good to see the footage, thanks for posting.  I am looking forward to it.  I got into gravel and out of MTB about 4 years ago, so today was the first XC/trail I did in ages!  Very rusty on the descents!

A couple of updates on this…. from the Gorrick Pre-Event info email that my son received (he’s coming down from FOD to race) there are a couple of things to consider.

1. The gates will be locked between 10:00 and 12:00 due to MOD restrictions on the site. Apparently there may be a possibility to get in/out briefly around 11:00.

2. They are saying and I quote ” We’re sorry that the course is a bit ‘wilder’ than normal, this is because of restricted access due to military training.”   This ties in with what I said earlier on this thread…  access to Porridgepot has been much restricted by the MOD over recent times than normal.

Btw, if anyone wants to get a more general impression of the area here’s me pottering around on a couple of the trails,

Rode there last night

Its obvious which trails will be in the race, they’ve been leaf blown and are clear. Running nicely if you like slick roots (its rained yesterday morning and it was about 0 degrees, sunday should be better). A few puddles which I hope will get sorted. In general, good soil conditions with ample grip in between the roots. A few nice bits of singletrack bypassed, but I get that it would be unsuitable for the “everyone off together” marathon format of the brass monkeys.

The problem there is that the MOD are closing it off for army trainng so much of the time now that the trails aren’t getting ridden enough (other than from those doing a cheeky one in from the canal).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/south-east-training-estate-firing-times/aldershot-training-area-closure-times-november-2024

(scroll down to area G2) It was open 10 days this month with another 9 evenings open on top of that. Not as nice as in summer where an evening ride is in day light I grant you.

I don’t think thats any worse than at any time since the gates went in?

Please don’t break in at the canal when its shut – we need them to not shut that gap off so we can use it to link up with tunnel hill on the days when it is open.