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...

[img]

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.

So proves what a good job the BKB builders have done! Looks bone dry and complete contrast to the T trails in Pitch. Was driving around Hankley and bottom of Punchbowl this morning and water still streaming down. Still cant help feeling that better not to be on the bikes at the moment, although dog walking showed that foot wear was as bad a the odd cycle erosion. Its tough as I am twitching to get out.

Lovely little vid!

It's classic evidence of how riding the natural trails at the minute turns them from beautiful narrow singletrack into dull fire-road crapness!! 0:15 to 0:45 shows exactly how to ruin a trail by riding around puddles...

And is your mate seriously on dual crown forks for Surrey Hills? 😯

Wednesday was as expected, it hadn't rained Tue and Wed so Holmbury was ok but Pitch was wet with some trails looking a mess, we climbed up past the church so avoided the forestry damage until we got towards the top where it was very visible. Some damage to trails due to logging, the little section at the top to West of path is blocked and un-ridable. We rode a few trails but mostly it was a reconosense.

So proves what a good job the BKB builders have done!

Thank you. Will always readily accept praise.

[url= http://hurtwoodtrails.co.uk/ ]Hurtwood Trails.[/url]

[url= https://twitter.com/#!/hurtwoodtrails ]On Twitter.[/url]

[url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ze_biAQQcao ]On youtube.[/url]

Pitch was wet with some trails looking a mess, we climbed up past the church so avoided the forestry damage until we got towards the top where it was very visible. Some damage to trails due to logging, the little section at the top to West of path is blocked and un-ridable.

Unfortunately, the forestry work will be around for a bit.

btw mini beer-fest at King's Head this w/e, hoping to try and get out there tomorrow evening ...

That has to be one of the worst videos I've ever seen, if that's the Surrey hills I don't no what the fuss is all about.

Blooddonor, good, spread the word! It's rubbish everyone stay away!

😆 With that video hopefully they will.

Did my xc loop today to stay off the trails and it was the muddiest ride in 6 months, the tracks and bridleways around Ranmore we're totally churned up bog, 'orrible and not even the bluebells could lift the gloom.

Do people realise that riding trails which are a saturated, boggy mess, does the opposite of making them less boggy? 😯

Did my xc loop today to stay off the trails and it was the muddiest ride in 6 months

What's the difference?! It's basically all XC up there!

[b]njee20[/b] - Member
What's the difference?! It's basically all XC up there!

teamhurtmore - Member

Its tough as I am twitching to get out.

Moving into a full-blown case of the shakes, here... 🙁

My non XC: Singletrack, rooty steeps, drops, small jumps. I can't do the bigger jumps, gaps or non rollable 10-20ft drops but it's fun to look at them and watch the riders that can.

Fair enough, I'd call that XC 😕

Comedy mud fest today. Horses have really been churning things up Headley way. Once you get into it though, it's huge fun.

Threads that post news of trail conditions should really be stickies.

Mods any thoughts?

[i]Mods any thoughts? [/i]

I'm not a mod, but my 2p;

We've had the wettest April for 100+ years and May's going the same way. Anything that's likely to get wed and muddy is wet and muddy, that stuff that doesn't get muddy probably isn't.

There's more 'local' trails than there are threads on the front page. Unless you have somethign bland like 'South East trail conditions' (which woudl be meaningless) the forum would be populated by people all trying to get to page 23 where the real threads started.

Most areas have a local mtb club with a firum - best to post on there for a detailed view of where's good and bad to ride.

Had a cracking day at Leigh Hill yesterday, a bit boggie in places but on the whole it was much better than i expected. not to many people about though, only saw 4 other riders at the tower for cake

Understand the well meaning idea but fell that there are too many area frequently used by forumites for stickies to be workable. Current threads work ok IMO

Might have first ride since crash 4 weeks ago later.

Hey all,

I'm working around Dorking for the next couple of weeks and iv shoehorned the bike into the van.
is/are there any kind soul/ souls who would show me around of an evening? 🙂

cheers!

p.s (mattjg, YGM)

Moving to London tomorrow, this could well be my local riding by the looks of it...

any updates?

Is it so bad its unlikely to have improved much by sunday? Plenty of sunshine forecast friday/saturday.

Cheez0, If you fancy a bike ride one evening or over the weekend just let me know. I know the hills fairly well.

Email address in profile.

Cheers

Andy

@sailor74 - Pitch is quite beaten up from combination of weather, lots of riders and forestry work (trails destroyed, bridleways/tracks smashed), Leith and Ranmore always suffer in the wet. I tried to ride around bridleways on Ranmore last weekend and it was a total bog. You can find drier tracks and some of the better draining singletrack will be fine. Fact is if it's sunny lots of riders will turn up and it will be carnage 🙁

Missed the Pitch carnage - has the clearing been post Easter? Which trails have been smashed?

All work since Easter. The top carpark is now a wood store midweek, partially open weekends. Upper section of bridleway climb from Walking Bottom and on paths on saddle of hill above. Tree harvesting smashed up bits of trails on top part of the hill (in the area to East of Quarry). This is from a combinaton of my ride with @rickos and other STW'ers like @deadkenney who've been up there more recently.

I'm not riding much at the moment, but I can give you an conditions assessment because I'm out in the woods every day with the dog. Put it this way - it's wellies all the way at the moment and for the forseeable future! I would avoid the North Downs completely because its claggy clay, and Surrey Hills will be navigable but not exactly sustainable. Even though Barrys and (to a more limited degree) Yog are built to drain and therefore hold up a bit better, there is a limit to what a trail can withstand when it's not much more than a pile of sand. As mentioned, logging operations are not helping.

Ultimately, I suppose, nothing too bad will happen - you just have to decide on a personal level where you draw the line. A nice walk is always an option!

Why people feel the need to ride when its this wet - I have no idea. it really does the trails no good...

go on a road ride, go for a run or go to the pub! or better still actually do some trail maintenance....

Why people feel the need to ride when its this wet - I have no idea. it really does the trails no good...

err no they are not.
I mean proper built trails - have you seen the state of supernova...

Yep... just avoid the worn out trails, Surrey Hills and North Downs is a big area, plenty of decent riding to be had if you don't mind getting muddy.

fair enough then! Problem is many don't !

Trails built in the manner that many consider boring (ie. designed to shed water slowly, rather than channel or catch it) are doing better than the other fun stuff like Supernova.

On the one hand its all good splashy fun, on the other hand there'll be nothing left in places if ridden willy-nilly. In between those two points of view there is some sensible middle ground.

Anyone got an update from Saturday?

I'm sure someone will be along regarding Piltch/Holm/Leith but I was out on Ranmore/Newlands/St Marthas/Blackheath and was amazed how dry it all is. Few wet bits under the tress in places but overall a dry-ish ride 🙂