As per title realy , I used today to check the route for the easy group on the group ride 21st march. Its was my first ride minus sugary energy drinks/bars so I had to check I could manage that aswell. I managed to drag old timer Brian out to give his lungs a stretch and fit in a bacon roll stop. The route works well and has more options to extend or modify as the weather dicatates. Two crashes , two punctures but otherwise a great day out . Comments ?
thanks Charlie for the rides data below.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Ftrail.motionbased.com%2Ftrail%2Fkml%2Fepisode.kml%3FepisodePkValues%3D7746029&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13

Total Time (h:m:s) 3:21:15 12:57 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 2:15:33 8:43 pace
Distance (mi ) 15.53
Moving Speed (mph) 6.9 avg. 28.6 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +2,366 / -2,367
Temperature (°F) 48.5°F avg. 50°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) W 10.5 avg. W 13.8 max.

click the pic for more pics from todays ride.

should have ridden stert combe. its in amazing condition, they should mow the heather back more often….

i found my mojo whilst drifting the open corners at the top.

Im pleased for you(Jambo). Those open corners are great fun at speed. Did you get any video ?

Excellent ride, should be good for a group as it’ll keep em spread, but not so far we’re hearding sheep!
If the weathers good and everyone is game Slaughterhouse could be added in for an extra set on miles!
Sharki… have you got a 2nd local in your lot yet? I know Knottie and Nath are leading team slow (My arse!) Do you want me to do the following?

nope, couldnt be arsed. pushed back up and did it again though…..

then pushed up to higher hare knap as well.

stert and somerton would make a great extention loop. Then back up Holford combe.

Forks are still in one piece tooo!

Charlie completes a ride without breaking anything?

Hello! Am I glad you’ve posted this – was getting concerned about joining a ride organised by a West Country weirdo called Sharki who wears ladies underwear 😯

Can I join your slow group please? I sometimes ride with the Southern Shandy Drinkers and they really are a bit hardcore for me. Am normally well-behaved so just ignore what anyone else may say 🙄

May I make a special request? Would really like to see some deer so would be so grateful if you could organise that 😉

Looking forward to meeting you all.

I think we did a similar route today, with an added special stage via a DH run, WOOT! followed and DH’er on a full bounce on my ss HT was an awesome giggle!

Charlie, you can be my wing man…i haven’t the foggiest of what route i’m taking these munchkins on…..i reckon if i muster together the marginly nuttier half of the gathering we’ll bang in a super techy DH trail at some point and basically razz it through the combes making MX noises and giving lots of “WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’s”, there will be some climbing and if my legs hold out we’ll keep going till they’re all spent.

CG, i can almost guarantee you’ll see deer, i know where they all hang out and know where certain herds will be as the the sun goes down…

Phew, sharki’s ride sounds far too hardcore for a wuss like me!

sharki – shall I save some of my lunch so I can feed them? Presumably they need to be fed, like the New Forest ponies? Only problem is that when the sun goes down, I won’t be riding cos am a bit scared of the dark!

You can only see them from a distance i’m afraid, they’re proper wild and don’t hang about once they see us.

The hill ponies however will take food from you, but i’d not encourage it as they are meant to be semi wild.

The only wild animal up there you can feed is moi, so bring me your nom noms.

I especially like homemade shortbread, like what i’m nomin now……Yum!

You be about on the sun too sharki?

Si, yes i will be, i’ve booked a little bunkhouse fingy so no need to camp it up, bring a bag and brekie fooood!

Wohooo. Is that deffinite now? If so il put the word round with the dartmoor lot. Qs again on Sun the plan?

hey nice one cant wait now , see you all in a week or so.
P.S i got vodka

Hardcore? Have you seen Andy and me ride? Can I join the slow group to? I will mince with the best of them. 🙂 Looks like a fun ride never ridden the Qs before.

ah, listen to these hustlers “can I join the slow ride” don’t fall for it, they’re racing snakes the pair of em!

Being a racing snake won’t do you any favours if you can’t ride techy, rooty singletrack…

I’m not impressed with the gert big tree across the Chimney

wheres that last pic to ?

Is it Holford CP?

no no no it cannot be

knottie8 – Member
wheres that last pic to ?

part of the Q’s that has evaded mr K

I was thinking Holford cp but the camera makes it look steep and high.

Yep, Holford car park. It’s fairly steep, though the tricky part is the 90 degree left hand turn at the top, not the roll down over the slab.

The fallen tree just adds a bit of interest to the Chimney 🙂

Strangly, avoided it easily the first time when I didnt know it was there, then pushed back up for another go and dabbed on the 2nd attempt!

knottie, if you come down higher hare knap and don’t turn follow the lane down at the bottom you can ride into the top of that. its worth a go.

Yeah, quite clearly the rock slab dropping into the cp, looks steep in that pic but really aint.

And the tree down in the chimney is the perfect addition to a characterless non technical section of trail, it’s natural, it not a permitted byway and as Dibbs say’s it keeps things a little interesting imho. (The rangers and forestry are aware of it but are under know obligation to remove it) and my chopper aint up to the task.

this makes it look very tame

Jam Bo’s right about the location

sharki – just ignore soma_rich! He’s a Southern Shandy Drinker but definitely doesn’t belong in the slow group.

Any chance you could clear The Chimney please? Fancy having another bash at that, in SSD stylee naturally.

I have ridden it , it just looked different in the pic.

the tree down the chimney is just the right height to catch my camelbak ! Saying that I limbo’ed it yesterday only to fall on the off camber bit after the corner !

Any chance you could clear The Chimney please?

My neighbour’s a Quantock Ranger shall I ask him if he’ll get it tarmac’d at the same time? 🙄

Super idea Dibbs but you’ll have to find someone else to provide the entertainment!!

now now Dibbs !

I call this Dibbs’ trail….no trees blocking this baby.

looking like I cant make this now 🙁

I dont even get to prove how much of a non-racing-snake mincer I am 🙁

the low tree isnt much of a problem as you can see here.

As i said the tree is beyond the size my chopper can deal with…with all the snow damage the rangers and the NT have been too busy dealing with getting the ROW cleared, and now they’re busy burning gorse and braken…..so unsure if it’ll get done anytime soon.

It seems like the majority of riders coming, doubt or underestimate their abilitiy on a bike.

Before we set off all i’ll ask if is that people are honest about fears and types of terrain they really DO NOT like..

After this weekends experience, i’ve learnt that just because some riders are very confident on fast rocky wide stuff, happy to hit drops, step downs, doubles, etc, it doesn’t mean they’re confident on tight, twisty, steep and rooty trails….And never do i want to ruin someones mountain biking experience again!

So please be honest with me from the start as i don’t want to freak anyone out by making them do stuff they don’t feel they can do….It’s a socail ride and is meant to be FUN!

And it will be….

CG, Dibbs will be working so you can point at his work place and laugh at him…..

Sharki.

Impressed with your preparation Knottie! It looks great and I’m really looking forward to the ride- be nice to meet you again too!

Yeah, you go knottie with the preparation…..i’ve done mine, over a hundred Quantock miles this week, no gears lots of CAKE and i’ve not a clue where i will be going.

I’ve a basic plan though……..”Follow me!!!! stay tight and watch for my SUDDEN ERRATIC change of directions and i’ll see you at the bottom…………..WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”