Swinley Forest Forum Ride – Sunday 1st November

high 5 aliegh!! 🙂

A great day out despite the weather.

Thanks to Auntie C_G for organising and all her trail guiding volunteers.

CG
Been home long enough to dry out and upload some pics . I didnt take many as it was just a little too wet for my camera. My day didnt start well as I damaged my rear brake somehow in the car ! Riding with just a front brake was fun with all those roots but at least my rear pads didnt wear out. A big thank you to CG for putting the ride on and Pete for the cookies.

more here

WCA – Yes have BBB pic.

Rich P – Kirsty says she's glad you enjoyed them 🙂

Wow – what can I say? With a weather forecast promising doom and gloom, I honestly didn't know whether anyone would come.

Thanks to everyone who turned up, especially the guides and sweepers 🙂 Special thanks to Hairychested for the colourful banner. I will wash and return it to you at the next group ride.

It was good to meet new faces and to see again the old faces. The Slackers group were certainly entertained by jedi's toons and random sounds 😉

The conditions were "challenging" and certainly different to the January ride when it was minus 7 degrees 😯 However, it couldn't have been that bad cos many more of you wanted to ride after lunch!

I trust that you have all now washed and lubed your bikes, replaced brake pads etc etc 😉

Did anybody else think RiggsyB (not sure of his new forum name) turned up dressed as a ghost?

Cheers!

Probably cos I'd only had 2 hours sleep mate… Living it up last night you see, 2 nights in a row I hasten to add, and last weekend too! Despite the fact I'm only 2 years younger than you, I STILL know how to go out clubbing and have a party, not just talk about the good old times… 😉

Hehe. Sorry… A bloody ghost indeed! It was halloween yesterday though of course.

Cheers again Elaine for organising yet, well done Jedi for frightening the shit out of the guy riding behind me (and confusing the hell out of me as to why he just dumped his bike and dived into the bushes so suddenly), to Chris who came with me and my mate for whom it was only his second bike ride ever, and to everyone else for actually just being there in the first bloody place despite the weather!

Oh, and a MASSIVE congratulations to anybody who has any brake pads left after today… Mine had totally disolved by the time we got back to the carpark at the end!

I trust that you have all now washed and lubed your bikes, replaced brake pads etc etc

Gimme a chance luv, I only got home about 15 minutes ago! 😕

I trust that you have all now washed and lubed your bikes, replaced brake pads etc etc

i let muck off do it's job 😆

mboy!!! now i know who you are (high5)

i let muck off do it's job

Rotting seals?

Lol at cleaning the bike, didn't even bother putting it back together, just slung it in the shed in bits. I need to get a job doing destructive testing…

mines in my car still……………………. ruined 🙂

mines in my car still……………………. ruined

Yours ain't the only one!

High 5 back fella…

Mine is happy and clean in the shed, even though I don't have any brake pads left..

well i am well and truly shot to pieces .440 miles of driving in 2 days,been thoroughly caned by Aleigh at Afan !and at times today wished i had a snorkel !Shame on you buggers who haven't cleaned yer bikes off !! 8)you'll be sorry !thanks elaine for guiding me round swampley !!! :roll:too knak'd to tell whether i enjoyed it yet .

Aleigh – I am seriously impressed that you have purchased some Muc-Off 8)

Bikes need to be loved and cossetted cos if I'm nice to them then maybe, just maybe, they might be nice (read "not chuck me off") to me 🙄

Aleigh – I am seriously impressed that you have purchased some Muc-Off

well i thought i'd better make an effort seeing as winter's now here!

mukoff was designed by bike shops to kill bikes 😉

well it's a good job i don't clean my bike that often then! 😆

most of the mud fell off on the sunny dry motorway 😯

riders down south are more reserved on the stw rides than in scotland 🙂 🙂

30 of us for a curry after etc.. in peebles

Thanks everybody for a great day out, I really loved it.
My bike was taken to the shower, washed with a gently scented body wash and then rinsed with warm water. My wife had this idea and even helped me do it. Then it was my turn. Top girl I say 🙂

Pics slowly uploading. God knows how I managed to get any decent ones….!
Have a taster….

Full set now here…

Some great faces were pulled….

🙂

Wow Peter they look fab. All that wiping of the lens must've been a right pain.
Thanks for posting my big gob! 🙂

Love that first pic of solamanda 8) He's really enjoying himself and hadn't noticed the rain!

Wow, you got some amazingly sharp shots considering the conditions!

some cracking shots there PP

Nice one PP some amazing shots, I actually quite like the 'mistiness' on some of them looks pretty spooky and halloween!

Great day! Thanks very much. Bike is gonna need some serious TLC in the morning!!

Many thanks to CG for organising this one, and to Pete the plumber and the other intermediate guides.

I'll have to get a full day pass for the next one!

Ian (ancient Fusion)

Thanks Elaine for organising and thanks to the intermediate group guides, had a great day. Haven't had time to clean the bike yet, it's festering in the garage, but i did bring a fair bit of Swinley home in my cycling shoes!
Neville (white Pace).

Back to life
Back to reality
Back to life
Back to reality
The memories from yesterday will keep me going, thanks Elaine!

I better add my thanks to all. Cheers to the guys that led the intermediate group. I must order some new pads for my v brakes, I have never seen pads wear down so quickly!

Forgot to say thanks to mr & mrs p for the goodies .Top standard as usual.Thought i would feel better after a nights sleep .WRONG !!!!Had to be all the driving i done 😯

I had a great time thanks to CG for organizing. This was my first time doing anything like this and it was great fun. Thanks to Jay and Kate who lead the slackers. Although named slackers I was absolutely knackered.

Thanks again everyone I will definitely join you guys again. (maybe after getting my fitness level up a bit).

Nice one PP some amazing shots, I actually quite like the 'mistiness' on some of them looks pretty spooky and halloween!

That was the fog on the lens that I couldn't clear…..

Wow, you got some amazingly sharp shots considering the conditions!

Thank the flash for that. Without that, forget it…… 🙂

That pic of Solamana is my favourite of the day. It's just the look on his face and the water streaming off the bottom of the bike that do it for me. 🙂

The CG Swinley forest ride, in the press:

"*****, great day and great coffee" Singletrack Magazine
"*****, great day and a Specialized bike was your best option" MBR
"*****, beyond rad" MBUK
"*****, fantastique" VTT Mag

Thanks for such a nice day out with great people, all of you!

Gilles

Well that was a little damp wasn't it. Brake levers back to the bars here. At least the old alpinestars is still clean (apart from egg and ketchup stains on the top tube from a lunch time accident). Cheers C_G.

Yep, lots of fun yesterday – shame I had to do a runner back to Crowthorne to get my beef stew on in the afternoon! Cracking ride though, and no broken frame this time either!

That was truely a great days riding despite the mornings weather, nice to see some other people on sensible sized bikes for a change (bananaworld & the guy on the IF, sorry i forget peoples names real quickly 😳 ).

Loads of new (to me) trails to try and remember where they are for next time I'm up at Swinley although i was "lost" most of the time 😕

Cheers to everyone who helped make it such an enjoyable day. Right, now back to the bickering on the forum after the peace & love of the group ride 😉