Seamons 🙂 – my brother in law usually forgets to mention it was on Seamons course when he is bragging about ‘mid 21s’

£40 for some clip on aero bars and a decent set of race tyres and a HRM to train with and evens is pretty easy on a STD road bike. Evens is 21 minutes dead on that course. It’s an averagely flat course not a sporting one.

Anyway 25 mph avg is what to aim for. You want to do one hard set of 85% max heart rate intervals per week

Start 3 x 10 mins 5 mins recovery then when you feel the last one is getting easier switch to 1 x 20 building to 30

This where you will find out that the fun in road bike racing is masochistic 🙂

Tonight I found you can’t take the same lines/speed with my aspens as fire xcs when the trails are very dusty

It’s only blood 🙂

OP – face facts – you’re dead, might as well bury yourself now and be done with it

Or take a look at this

And look at GRF – he’s 75 – he will only stop riding when he shrinks so much he can no longer get a bike small enough

freeridenick – the money is to compensate for having to do it over. Im riding with one of the guys who told me about it tonight, I’ll find out what I can.

But as one trail dies, another springs up somewhere else, if you look around.

Nickknoxx – yes I am sure when the plants and animals crushed by the bulldozers have risen again this weekend they will be much happier.

joolsburger – my take on it is in the coherent two paragraphs in my reply to Poly above 🙂

Someone is trying to get a new trail maintenance collective organised – but has gone a bit quiet recently – dont know if thats due to general life busyness or because I am a gobshite/pain in the arse. EDIT – so its too dry – thanks Glen

I think it’s important to consider the difference between what Hurtwood would allow in an ideal world vs what they have to be seen to be doing to maintain relations with the community at large.

With the self-organising libertarian nature of MTB there is noone for people who like to complain to officials to complain to – so Hurtwood cop it in the way a road cc cops it when they run a timetrial or race and ‘take over the public highways harumph!!’

I think the rough sequence of illologic is: new trails = more MTBers at Peaslake bus shelter and in general = bad = Hurtwood’s fault

(I am not unsympathetic to the residents of Peaslake being a bit fed up with MTB (and roadies) to be honest – part of the reason I dont go up there at weekends)

Reggae Reggae Shake – what moron typed that? It was of course Sauce.

The whip round is to compensate for the cost of removing it – not to have it removed. Not sure how far it will get but there you go – seems reasonably grown up mea culpa idea to me.

Note to self: Dont type after beers…

Barrys sure needs some TLC

Poly – if only it were that simple – it isn’t unfortunately.

I can genuinely understand why the residents of Peaslake are hacked off with MTB . They get totally invaded every weekend. This perceived invasion has increased hugely in the last couple of years and I imagine in non MTB eyes it is linked to Surrey AONB and Hurtwood developing Barry Knows Best with subsequent footpath riding and all the other seemingly trivial stuff which hack locals off.

Subsequently IMO all new trails , wherever and however, are anathema to the locals – who Hurtwood are keen to keep sweet. Only 5% of locals are Hurtwood members and right now Hurtwood needs money. Even with my moan from last month I would like to think more than 5 % of regular MTBers are members.

Regular riders – apparently there is a bit of a whipround going on to contribute towards costs of removing the trail – so if you ever rode it and get asked give some thought to coughing up . The version I heard is that the miscreant (legend folk hero IMO ) who built it is organising this, praise to the painted man

(New trails may be available)

It was called Reggae Reggae Shake (I’ve only found that out since the bulldozing)

Even the Ranger liked it (allegedly unofficially etc) but it’s flowing lovliness and hence popularity was it’s own downfall and it became more popular than was possible for it to remain discrete. That and the obvious exit.

Anyway, it had to go, to ‘send a message’ that unsanctioned trails will go. Personally I hope we get to a mature relationship with the rest of the community where we can trade rubbishy old worn out unsustainable trails for really good ones like that. lots of lessons learned among the pro MTB community hopefully.

And don’t diss the Ranger (not that anyone has yet) – he did what he could for us.

Personally it looks far more of s mess now than when it was a trail so this ain’t about MTB bad for environment etc

(I don’t think I am totally contradicting my pro Hurtwood posts from last month – if we are not on the inside then we are outside – but if anyone finds my comments contradictory or hypocritical then I am genuinely interested in their thoughts/ opinion)

As more MTBers cross to the dark side of roadying expect more of this

If you start going for the full Lycra and doing events – even your local 10 – then you will be asked if you take drugs/offered drugs/spat on/generally abused – and that’s just the pensioners.

You knew there were plenty of morons about already, this kind of stuff just confirms it – just smile and wave

Heard a nightingale on tonight’s ride – more reliable indicator to me than helmetless riding – can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in central London – lots more ladies on bikes though which always lifts the Er spirits

I got Maxxis Aspen with my bike – which I bought in Nov – was recommended to change for winter which i did – bug have no put them back – seem pretty fast on local cheeky – but will they be good when I head for the hills?

dirtygirl – High 5 4:1 is already electrolytic – why are you mixing the tablets with it?

That might explain you feeling a bit sick?

Ahh – you mean it was legit?

So many good points there for our less successful trolls to take account of – particularly the implicit rubbishing of the Surrey Hills in the first post – if that’s not going to get a reaction nothing will.

I was so impressed I made you this

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Sorry OP!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

http://www.vcgh.co.uk/routes/roadRoutes

our jerseys may be wrong, but our road routes are many

Denture singletrack is good – google it or do a search on you tube

West of the car park and up towards Bignor Hill

Worth a proper good look.

It’s not going to get posted on here, but have a good look round

Edit presumably if you are from Houghton you know about Whiteways/Denture etc?

Not sure what you mean by ‘smooth and light’ – when mine went quiet I got worried and asked for help on here – and got good service advice. Now they are loud and clicky and lovely again 🙂

Don’t know that one but top of Duncton Hill (Barlivington Down) worth exploring

It’s just amazing what those cheeky trail pixies can get up to

I would like to apologise to the forum if in a moment or two of insanity I defended the poster ‘GRF’.

He clearly has issues which can only be resolved by sending me a Bandit size M

The Ritz 👿

I had completey eradicated that place from my memory but now it has been dredged out of my sub-conscious after two decades.

You ba5tard.

We clocked that – but sock puppetry is a kind of mental illness and people dont like to bring it up. It was a good troll but there is a bit of recognition neediness which is diminishing it IMO

You should go for for a beer with GRF though, he manages to give the illusion of merely being a closeted dwarf with a napolean complex when he is much more mental than that in real life. He can probably help you. The git.

beanieripper – sometimes I ride a bike for reasons that are more to do with challenge and progression, and the training rides to get there are not exactly fun.

That’s a road bike though 🙂

Of the four things I listed above I would say mates beer and sunshine are more likely to provide fun than how much travel your bike has. I was out on a ride for a mates 40th today and there was every bike, rider shape, fitness level, etc conceiveable on the ride, it didnt matter, it was sunny, trails were dry we had some beers and a laugh and a lot of FUN.

“So is the fun going faster over the same stuff or the same speed over harder stuff or faster over tougher stuff.”

Be careful not to confuse challenge and progression with fun – they may be the same, but they may not.

Fun is mates, beer, trails, sunshine, no matter what you ride

Northwind – I’ve just got some Shimano grippy flats shoes which are the next thing on from the AM40s = cant remember the number but it is AM 4something £50ish from wiggle.

They are a bit Joey Deacon lookswise but grip well, wipe clean and seem reasonably leaj resistant. Plus it gives all your mates something to laugh at, until they fall off from being clipped in.

EDIT AM41s are the ones I got – spud version is Am45. Spud version is cheaper on MRP – not sure how that works?

Statistically, you should be spending MORE time riding as you are 50% less likely to get that injury again, compared to normal life.

I am reasonably certain that analysis wil not bear scrutiny – hope you get well soon and in the meantiime a road bike is a good alternative – although when you go down on a roady you do go down hard.

I give an extra mark for the ‘invented my own shock’ stuff.

Keep going fastboy – what are your tips for tight switchbacky downhill? Should I lock up my rear wheel and carve the bike down? Us old mincers need help so we dont hold youngsters up.

The leaving gates open is a nice touch – but gives it away

YGM in case you cant hook up with Nirvana

what Stuey said

Can you spin out 50-12 on the flat?

Thread title still making me chuckle – nice one OP

Jedi’s park might look artificial* but the fear is real and the same

The difference is you don’t spend 20 minutes riding to the next feature you spend 20s

He could call it accelerated learning and management development and charge per hour what he charges per day

* nearly all natural trails are artifices

Allthegear – obviously I didn’t make myself clear ( and we agreed about stuff earlier in thread )

What I saw was a number of riders not taking on a drop while being more than adequately biked then while they were faffing a young lady rode it with style on an old hardtail . She wasn’t rubbish – they were.

Xiphon – don’t disagree with anything you’ve said, but I don’t think many people did actually do much skills/trials/BMX when they were young, if you did good for you, if ‘they’ did then they seem to have forgotten.

Only guy I can remember doing that from my part of the world was Carlo Griggs. Fair enough – he didn’t need a skills course and I doubt he does:)

EDIT That YouTube vid says it all – very funny

xiphon – allthegear and I were having a bit of joke there but your reply suggests you have reflected on your riding in the meantime, and I say that makes you unusual, or in a minority at least.

When I crossed over into MTB from roadying I thought ‘well I’ll be fit, but will lack skills compared to even a crap MTBer’ but after spending an hour or so watching dozens, if not hundreds of riders on my local trails I am quite clear that that was a misconception. Most riders in my neck of the woods, but that’s not all :wink:, seem to approach their riding with a ‘I learned to ride a bike when i was 6 and know what I need to’ mindset.

Which is why they pull up on basic drops on big bikes, then take the ‘cissy line’* while a 16 year old girl flies down it on a knackered old hardtail.

* my coachesses words, obviously I would never be that unPC.

LOL good answer

but… you know what I meant 🙂

reading the comments on that is so depressing

there is a self-reinforcing circle of hate between nob-end motorists and holier than thou cycloevangelists that makes meaningful online discussion impossible.

I knew all that beforehand, what is depressing is I still started reading it.

munqe-chick

Hopefully the guy who cracked his helmet is OK.

I would say that one of the key bits of jedi’s jumps and drops course is about acquiring the ‘mental skills’ to know when you should try something and when you should not. It’s about turning off the little ‘MTFUer’ that is in all our heads (all means all). Jedi’s success and transformational coaching is in large part down to putting male riders in touch with their inner riding chick. Checking stuff out first, not being afraid to say no, not succumbing to peer pressure etc etc

But… you can still screw up and hurt yourself. We are not robots. If it wasnt dangerous it wouldnt be fun. Both sexes get that.

EDIT

I also agree the ‘Ive been riding a bike since I was 6, what do I need lessons for?’ attitude is very prevalent. 20 years of riding a bike the same way you rode it when you were 6 does not Gee Atherton make.

FURTHER EDIT

I definitely see the place for ‘Chicks only’ skills courses. Although if the coach is any good there isn’t a real need as the MTFU vibe (which I guess an expectation of which can put females off mixed courses) will be swiftly eradicated. But you need to feel comfortable to learn and if that means single-sex courses then they are a good thing.

allthegear

i was coached recently by a girl on my local trails and you see it was er challenging for quite a few guys to not be able to do stuff in front of her and I was obviously a bit wierd for seeking advice from a bird.

jedi scores good on getting you over all the macho sh1t – which can so easily lead to A&E

At the risk of sexism…

One thing that seems obviousn to me is that girls do not have cojones (at least so far in my experience) and therefore do not have their thinking clouded by ‘grow a pair’ and ‘MTFU’ type issues.

therefore it seems likely to me that they will realise some skills training would be a good idea rather earlier in the learning cycle than your typical bloke – who thinks that everything would be OK if only he had bigger balls – and doesnt need to know about cornering or braking – just about hucking bigger drops.

I’ll get me coat