one for the mountain biker!

hi all.

I decided to part with dear company today.

Its sad, but many of us have been there.

Good times for the main - lots of wine, beer, and lots of nice food was shared.

Yes, its time to say goodbye - to my fat gut


Got my mountain bike out of the store room for the first time in 4 years pumped up some flat tyres, lubed where the lube goes, and huffed and puffed.

18 pathetic (mostly flat) miles later Im absolutely shagged!

what a fantastic day out though, man Id forgotten how great it is to ride.

the inspiration of 'mint sauce' upon me , Ive decided to renew my old habbit. Quite why I stopped ? ! ?

So! I thought I might start a chat page where people can talk about rides around the areas that they know well. Perhaps we can share the benefits of the trails we like the best, and between us learn a few more?

I have some great rides to share in the north east (where I got into mountain biking) - fab rides.... but not so many round here.

The towpath of the grand union being a doorstep ride for people in MK and nearby..

Anybody else got great rides to share?

 

I used to know a good few in kent:

Clowes Wood (north of canterbury). You can reach this by bike from canterbury, and do a loop in the woods. All manner of trails from fire-trails, wide horse trails and single track. A few superb little speed runs on singletrack if you know where to look.

Denge/Eggringe woods (south of canterbury). Lots of nice wide trails, as well as some good bits of singletrack with a lovely senna S bend.

Also from canterbury, if you climb up the hill to the university, then head east along the ridge until you're above sturry, there's some nice trails in the woods up there.

Unfortunately Blean woods were closed off to bikers, which is a shame because there are a huge number of brilliant trails there.

I've come across a few bits of good (read dangerous) trail on the moors too, but need to explore more.

 

:respect:

Brings back many wonderful memories. Is Mint Sauce still around? I might just lub up the Orange and join the fun. Maybe Calvin's dad is right after all.

 

Nice one Wolfgang!

Im not sure about 'ol Minty still being around or not, but to me (and I guess many others) he will always represent the feeling of mountain biking.

If you've stopped like me wolfie, dust off the bike and take it on a great cross country ride. Your spirit will soar

Chris

 

just had a look at .. www.mbuk.co.uk

that magazine has changed SO much its untrue.

The whole thing is about mis-shapen downhill/bmx style bikes that can only do one thing.. (go downhill very fast!)

what happened to the cross country emphasis?

Dont know about you guys, but I used to read MTB PRO (remember that?) and MBUK used to be far less downhill orientated.

Maybe Im turning fogey, but it looks like a kids bmx mag now.

 

Since my move to Sweden I've sold the road bike and got a good old hard tailed mtb, man the trails over here are sooo different from the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, I get major drop offs and endless single tracks with nobody else in sight. Fantastic feelings.

Most bikes now are full suspension things that weigh far too much and need a ski lift to get to the top of the hill, shame.

I think Mint Source was created by a Brighton/Worthing guy, can't remember his name but there used to be a lot of subtle bits about the local rides in the scripts.

 

Mtb pro morphed into a new name shortly before it was axed. It struck me as being much more mature than mbuk, and covered the sort of riding that I and many other people do, rather than the insane downhilling that is the preserve of relatively few.

 

I remember the days of buying MBUK and collecting the Mint Sause stickers and posters. Ahhhh, the memories .

 

Jo burt, that was it.

 

Thats it Philip! jo burt! (wonder if he still writes in mbuk?)

remember the reality vs love squadron planes that used to fly over the cartoons? (apparently to do with whether he was getting loved up or jilted at that moment of his life)

Sounds great in Sweden. Its painfully flat here in Milton Keynes (which my unfit state actually appreciates)

 

check this out..

http://grafixbyjorj.co.uk/mintsauce.html

for each picture you click on, you get a seperate mint sauce cartoon

sweet.

 

*Sits pondering whether I'm the only person on Z-G who is unable to ride a bike*

 

Cook link! all the bikes are good old hard tails as well, hmmmmm.

Can't you fit some spiked tyres to your bike and use the indoor ski slope in MK?

If not strap it to a car and drive to either Wales or Derby, you'll be glad of the flat when you return.

Maybe we should have a biking/bake off weekend?

 

mint himself riding a green pace by the looks of it, with pace forks too. Got good taste, that mint sauce.

Will - never too late to learn! you've got some great scenery on your doorstep too!

 

Pace bikes creak really loudly, think its the square frames

 

I'm lucky enough to have some of the best cycling country just two minutes from my doorstep. I have the entire Somerset Levels at my disposal. Miles and miles of narrow quiet roads and tracks. I went out for a ride yesterday evening. Met up with a mate half way, stopped at The Sheppey Inn at Godney (aka. The Middle Of Nowhere) for a few pints and then rode back. The sky was stunning. There were balloons to watch too. Cows in the fields. The backdrop of the Mendip Hills. Sun shining. Absolutely perfect.

 

Philip

Pace bikes do indeed creak, very offputting when hammering the tarmac and a silent Raleigh Lizard tootles up to you at a set of traffic lights..

I recently got back out on my bike after 4 years off. Apart form the ar*e ache (pace = very hardtail) it was a thouroughly enjoyable experience

One of the reasons i stopped was that the emphasis on riding changed from cross country to downhill. The local wood got chocka with downhillers with full body armour :clint: who'd walk up hills and bomb back own, completely disregarding etiquete for walkers and cyclists who actually wanted to ride up the hill. Didn't want to be part of that. It seems to be a lot calmer now and the time felt right to mount the steed again.

Oh... Hardtails rule.

Chris

 

you are right Chris, the whole MTB market went crazy about 10 years ago and only settled back down over the last couple. Friend of mind owned a bike shop during that period and we saw a real move from old skol Kona/Specialized style bikes to the full bouncy GT's and the like. Biking is a whole experience not just hammering down hills!

Pace made(make ?) nice bikes, bloody stiff rear ends, great for cross country racing, just a little extreme for the average joe on a 20 miler on sunday mornings. Never liked their forks though.... Oil and air, the only way to go, if its good enough for a motorbike then it's gonna work on a mountain bike

 

I remember my first pair of pace forks, 1inch of travel elastomer jobs.. Never rode a bike as good.. At the time stiffness in suspension was a real issue and the only choices were RockShocks (erm...flimsy) and Minitou (how heavy). Pace forks were really perfect (if you could handle the rebound, which wasnt that bad)and Merlin bikes shipped with Pace forks so they must've been good.

When full suspension came about, the skill of technical riding went straight out of the window. If you hit a bump the suspension just soaked it up. What happened to looking for the best line and going for it. I remember racing at Robin Hoods Bay which was a huge climb fillowed by an equally huge downhill. On the first climb it was hilarious watching the FS brigade either pushing their bikes or bouncing their way up. When it came to the downhill the hardtail lot had gained such a lead the FS lot just couldn't catch up... The winner on the day... Richard Thackery riding a Pace.

Chris

 

yeah, I first got into mountain biking aroung 1989 - had a go on a mates cheapo Raleigh - riding down this bank from Paddy freemans to jesmond dene (in jesmond, newcastle upon tyne) - it was such an amazing buzz, and the fact that I hadn't came off too!
So, I then bought a cheapo raleigh myself, then later upgraded top a Trek 950 (around 1991)…

I bought a Trek 4900 about 4 years ago, I still don't ride as much asd I used to - but where I live its great (weardale) - tracks everywhere…

I remember riding aroung 85 miles in one day, but I did get lost…my original route (again, from jesmond) was to ride along the coast road to North Shields, then hop on the ferry to South Shields, then down to Sunderland, and along to Fatfield, then over to Consett and finish off on the Consett walk back to Newcastle, but at Fatfield I got lost and took the wrong single track…I ended up going south!! Argh! I was in the saddle for about 13 1/2 hours…sigh…
I also had some great rides around hexamshire common…!