CTC rides are a lovely diverse mixed bag. I do some of the more well known rides in the Surrey Hills and love their British eccentricity (sp?). There will be some high level riders going for it and there will be tandems, fixy lezzers, Moultons, everything.

However be humble, there is a good chance of being overtaken by Gandalf on a 30 year old steel audax bike if you go off too quick on the first half of course.

I much prefer them to sportives – £2/3 to enter and if you can read a map then you will get a great feeling of sang froid over muppets who can’t and expect signposts at every junction.

Plus you will never come last 🙂

trasnapp – who are you?

Some might say winterfold could be Shingly – but they would be wrong.

I have been keeping an eye on him and he has been a perfect gent so far on here.

He could show his true colours on the SPDs vs Flats debate, but I am with him on that so havent pushed on that.

Once he knows you know who he is, he is giving out free frames and everything to keep his ID secret.

The tearful ‘mans best friend’ thread was utterly priceless. If I hadn’t got so old and wise that would have been shared without mercy, but I forgive him for his merciless Hetracil lycra taunting, as long as he comes up with the goods. Bandit Medium.

so you’re a youngster then stoney? 😛

GRF’s bike is soon to be in a box with my name on it, on account of all the favours Ive done him recently. Although I would settle for a Bandit.

stoney – Im currently mid 23s on my std road bike and want to take a minute off that this summer – if I cant do it by fair means I will take back what I said about Kermit and ask nicely to borrow that Ridley 🙂 (which is lush, so you must have some taste)

I’m a roady who has recently got an MTB with 2010 reba’s with 20mm maxle and while I cant directly answer your Q I will say I wish there was a roady version of maxle because it gives amazing control.

I rode quite a few bikes before buying mine and maxle vs qr seemed one of the big differentiators to me.

stoney – if you are fast you might get away with it – looking at that Ridley – you’d better be 😈

I think that one of the worst mistakes you could make is thinking because people have been doing it 20 years that they know what they are doing.

Some do, many don’t. Just stand at the side of a drop on your favourite trail for half an hour on a busy weekend and you will realise how many overbiked muppets with less skill than 15 year old girls there are. You will realise being a ‘noob’ may not be so bad.

Of course you cannot tell who is good and who isnt on Interwebs, so don’t take it seriously, look on it as something that is funny and better than work that is sort of related to having fun on your bike.

That green Trek is wrong in just so many ways it is difficult to now where to start.

It’s like someone wants to do Dirt Jumping in their heart, but half listens to their head when it says ‘but you are an old queen get a road bike’.

wrong wrong wrong

Do your LBS still talk to you or do you find the shop is closed every time you go there?

No offence.

SPDs have as much place on an MTB as flats do on a Pinarello Dogma. Fact.

“if you didn’t lift enough!”

Lift?! Lifting leads to the dark side. That is why you fail. Push or push not.

depends what wheels – bearings on my R3s are nice sealed ones. Bearings on decent Campag/Fulcrum wheels should last for ages – they are well known for it.

sketchy double fail you must

Sounds like jedi needs you back – the reprogramming is first and foremost about not killing yourself and having the mental courage to tell MTFUers to FO.

So your mate done good. You failed. Hope you get better soon.

A well made triple butted alu frame is very nice too.

In a different way to a steel one but nice none the less

For your money you could get something in Reynolds 520 but it won’t have many gears which will be a problem on hills do Genesis do a Flyer with gears?

Edit doh missed that post after mine – nice looking bike that

£1000 sounds about right for that trouble is your budget and aspirations are mismatched

Cheating on reliability trials. **** that pisses me off!

This sportive is rubbish! There are no signs and I am expected to read a map! And it’s too hilly… This village hall smells of wee and rosewater A lady with ond leg overtook me on a recumbent etc etc

Never mind it cost £2 rather than £20.

Considered getting an old frame and building it up on the cheap?

I got an old 531 frame (from holdsworth as if happens) that was bought in for a respray yonks ago and never collected.

I paid £80 then built it up with tiagra off my old dead bianchi new stronglight chainset and a pair of new aksiums for £99

Lovely frame, not sprightly up the hills but fast and comfy once you crank it up.

Even the colour was great

I’m down that way later in the week, er, not that I’m expecting to find anything.

Just back from a nightride on Pitch and Holmbury. Blacker than a witches hat but very little pedalling required on even the slightest down slope.

Fandabbydoosie

At 5 months they might want a bit more neck support than they will get in a trailer?

But if your kid can hold it’s head up already…

Trailers are great – wish we’d got one sooner. Seem much less effort than a seat and more comfy for the kid although don’t think they can see as much.

And we are only child family – if you have 2+ sprogs would have thought trailer is essential.

We got the Halfords £70 one – lasted us a couple of years and was in good enough nick to give away to friends after sitting outside for 6 months

I live on the Weald nearer Surrey but have to drive down thru Petworth to various places on the Coast a couple of times a week.

Every time I drive or ride the road bike up Duncton Hill the mind wanders and thinks about getting a mattock and seeking advice from Surrey’s most able trail pixies. The N facing slope of Duncton is steep long chalky and deserted – so gagging for it…

Saddle with cutout is the cure. Harder glutes is another but doesn’t sound like you ride enough. Even if you do a cutout saddle is more comfy in any case.

I never used to get it, then I did for no apparent reason other than getting old.

Do the old chap a favour get a nice saddle

I nearly spewed when I spent £90 (trade!) on my SLR team gel flow but **** it is comfy and no tube aggro 🙂

Definitely worth spending £60 pair on tyres for your roady and getting decent saddle – riding is just so much comfier when you do

Base Allez is great for that money, you will not go wrong.

If you can get a deal on a Bianchi Nirone then it looks nicer and has more cachet but the Allez is light stiff and racy for the dosh.

Or discount Boardman, good bikes and light and great spec for the wedge but they lack desirability

Pity they should be cool as because Sir Chris definitely is

You shouldn’t need to eat for that distance but one banana is a pretty good pre commute brekky in my experience.

The humble nana remains the ultimate energy food. Excellent easy to open biodegradeable wrapper, tasty, easy to eat and digest, complex sugars, cheap, fair trade, organic – even a bit of potassium for the old chap

Marvellous

That blows chunks

Good luck for the future

Bury Hill/Houghton Forest/Whiteways its all the same area.

The Denture is heading West and there are some good trails heading into the woods East too.

Watch out for all the benders in leather.

Then you also need to be mindful of homosexuals hanging out around mens toilets (unless you are into that of course, takes all sorts, dont like to judge, just like making cheap shots at 50 year old CEOs on ninjas and Ducattis)

Why is that rooty off camber one called secret squirrel?

There’s some decent trails at Whiteways on the top of Bury Hill. If you go there and have a look around you’ll find them.

The Denture is fast and fun and not a secret – if you go there in evenings or weekend when there are other riders are about ask and you will get shown it. Basically head W from whiteways car park when you get to bottom of valley start looking for a big bombhole on the left, push up that then follow the trail back up towards bignor then ride back down it very fast in the top ring.

Put whiteways and denture into YouTube and you will find a few headcam vids

hora – because some new trails relieve the pressure on existing ones, and I am speculating here, but eg they might have been a quid pro quo to get help maintaining and building more sustainable sections to replace existing trashed sections? Or they might be more tucked away and give the overall impression or fewer mountainbikers and thus make some people lives easier eg less moaning by other recreational users about people on bike. Or because they are really good and sustainable trails?

Idealism is great but recreational use of someone else’s land is all about pragmatism. If landowner says I will tolerate that as long as you lot keep quiet about it and ask mates to keep quiet when they find it what is wrong with people keeping schtum.

freeridenick – not on here, you’d nver find it among all the ‘what colour superstar hub should i get?’ threads – mind you it would keep him busy…

There are other groups who are much more easily googled with a few sensible keywords who got asked not to be so explicit about locations because trails got found and trashed. It might have been coincidence – but why take the chance when we are already taking the piss?

I like to think I am doing my bit by using this alias but only riding Hurtwood land 😉

“The non-riding land owners in some of the Surrey hills allow us access. Who are we to say ‘no its mine’? “

What about if the landowner or representative asked that new cheeky but tolerated trails were not that publicised as they are prepared to allow them to stay as long as they dont become heavily trafficed, ridden in the wet by Skiddo Marx and friends etc etc?

So in this particular case ‘trail nazis’ who dont feel compelled to provide GPS coordinates are complying with the landowners wishes.

Oggles – I used to think like that, but for a start MTB is nothing like surfing in that you arent all trying to catch a trail in the same place at the same time, and most MTB ers are 40 and have grown out of fighthing, but also
a) finding trails yourself is more fun so not telling people increases their pleasure
b) if ‘get orf my land’downers find trails on their land online and then put them out of action then pressure is increased on nice landowners trails or we end up on bridleways. Again the sum total of available fun is less.

Ultimately it is a personal decision, there are arguments both ways and it is not a matter of right or wrong.

One example of the above is it’s alledged the misery guts landowner who owns a large chunk of my namesake hill keeps an eye on certain websites and then knows if the trail pixies have been out on his land.

Hence the trail pixies have to use their Interweb connection to keep an eye on various ‘my mtb blogsitesis to get comments and clues taken down when they would rather be building trails.

It’s a lot more fun to find a trail ‘for yourself’, than to be told x marks the spot.

I am not sure this is logically consistent but IMO GPS tracks just randomly left on Interwebs are OK. Posting explicit directions on eg blogs and forums is not. Vague directions where people have to think or look at a map is OK. Asking me if you meet me riding is OK too.

Getting out there and keeping your eyes open is best of all.

Love that pic thv3 I’d like a whippet but don’t think my daughters cats would 🙂

Thx tim

geetee I mailed you via the email on your membership

Grumpf that border terrier looks a good size for you – those ridgebacks could replace your bike

If youre riding midweek there’s hardly anyone around even in Surrey Hills so a dog makes good company – doesn’t answer back tell you what to do or laugh when you fall off for a start

Dont think I’d take mine up there at weekend she is too small and it’s too busy

Thx to everyone else who has joined. If more riders join the Trust it can only be good for us:)

no offence taken – its an unsubstantiated claim

geetee – nothing extra but have a look around and they are bearing fruit – hurts mainly 😉

no chance of pastcaring’s bike getting nicked 😀

because someone I know and trust was told by the Ranger?

I can ring him up and confirm it if you want.