Obsessive Cycling Disorder from OTT

7 of us arrived 9-30am at Batford mill but someone arrived with a puncture and forgot their hat so eventually we  followed the Nicky line to redbourn, then across the fields towards markyate down roe end lane to studham, around whipsnade zoo (only deer’s this time) to Dunstable downs/Bison hill, 2 guys slightly knackered stayed on the ridge and cycled to the kite centre and waited whilst eating all the food in sight. 5 went downhill, then one sneaky uphill and then a good blast down, finally a nice climb upto the kite centre. Probably the biggest OTT feast to date, burgers,sausages,chips the lot. Very nice too! Everyone needed to get back by then so we blasted down the lanes back to Harpenden via a flooded road nr the shooting ground 30 miles was the distance, very good effort from all the guys.

Jordon? unfortunately (accidentally) decided to take a swim in an over flowed river much to the amusement of me and the others.
Plenty of punctures, turned out to be a long ride with plenty of incidents, I was told off on the nicky line for going to fast, no joke 10mph! His dog was running faster.

Nice to meet some new chaps, who helped out! - Craig (extract from message board)

Taking our normal nite ride loop the evening started well with Dave and his new DX lights on his hardtail , James (singlespeed) and me (Rich) also sporting various DX stuff. The pace at the start was good (me at the back -of course). We headed towards Lamer Woods and  Ayot St Lawrence and the single track woods on to Water End - unfortunately Daves rather nice carbon XTR rear mech snapped leaving us with a quick technical mod to create yet another “singlespeed” (shorten chain etc), closely followed by me getting the mother of all thorns in the rear tyre(i know - i should have tubeless!). As this all happened close to the Greenway we decided to limp home (via the Amble Inn). Good ride and it was the technicals (not me) slowing us down for a change - Rich 1

link to ride  

It was wet:

Wetter than it looks above anyway.  My new trousers worked a treat, still dryish when I got back.

Route was a variation on the Tues night one.

A good turnout with some OTT newbies joining the crew for a tough 23 miles (although the map only shows 15.5). Leaving the mill at 9.30 we where joined by Dom and Jordan R(lowering the average age of the OTT riders) and also two local riders who knew the routes, Richard (yes another one) and Tom. With James, Tim. Simon , John and I we headed along the route taken with gang from MTBB last month. Dominics task was made harder by the fact he only had hybrid tyres on what turned out to be a very gloopy ride - Jordan (normally a roadie!) has turned from the dark side and met the challenging hills and technical loops as thought he had been riding them for years. The weather was great and helped make the day and enjoyable one finished by the mandatory pint at the Amble Inn (for the older guys anyway!)- Rich

Nokia Sportstracker lets try again!

Just your normal evening ride I guess - leaving Harpenden for Breachwood Green and an unplanned trek early evening - Craig and I started at Breachwood Green, me on my recently repaired stumpy (thanks Ben -great job) and Craig on the carbon thingy. It was my first proper ride for 3 weeks and Craig suggested an easy steady route - take a look at the map and see if you agree!.  Our route was littered with wildlife and the photos (although dissapointing qlty) demonstrating the geotagging feature on the nokia sportstracker (great software). With Craig following a Monkjack Deer down the first path we then meet a Stag and Herd of 12 on the run later . He was also attacked by some Pipistrelle Bats on the same track. Great fun for just under 11 miles!

Nokia Sportstracker

 After some very late arrangements, Roger (radiorog), Simon II (badbod99) & myself headed down to to Bury Road in Chingford to meet up with the Epping Forest Mountain Bike Riders.

We were there quite early and it was great to see the bikes keep coming in.  There were several other newbies out today bringing the total number of riders to 30. 

We started by climbing slightly across Chingford Plain before getting into the forest proper.  There were masses of trails with enough roots, branches and logs thrown in for good measure.  Some very deep mud, small crossings over stinky waterlogged ditches 3 feet or so wide and a generous helping of mechanical issues meant something was always happening.   The group was very friendly and quite a mixed bunch of characters.  The female members certainly rode as good if not better than many of the men out today. 

We proceeded to the Forest Gate Inn for some refreshments and a bite to eat for those feeling the hunger setting in.  It looked like the Inn had a better stock of bikes than Halfords by the time we had all arrived.  The only difference being these bikes needed a good clean! 

Inn

Back in the woods, assorted chains snapped, people got lost and regrouped.  It was inevitable really with the high number of riders participating.  We continued on our way and passed close by the fence of the Deer Sanctuary near Theydon Bois.  From here, the trails got more fun and I had a big ‘off’ whilst negotiating one of the small muddy crossings - my wheel dug in nicely in the deep mud, catapulting me clean over the bars.  Luckily I missed the worst of the wet stuff and had a soft landing remounted and riding in a matter of seconds.  I must have been the third to go ‘OTT’ so to speak.  After a final regroup, some of us opted to head back to Chingford as it was now 4pm+.  The ride back was via High Beach and some great trails which will be very fast in the summer.

 There was a great assortment of hardware from rigid 29er’s, singlespeeds, AM bikes and hardtails.  Something for everyone, that’s for sure. 

 <— click thumbnail for the route

 Overall, it was a great days riding and it opened up a lot of trails that only local knowledge can really reveal.  The Epping crowd were a very welcoming bunch and there’s some great riding to be had there.  Enough technical riding and fun to keep everyone at Batford well amused - try it one Saturday (there are Wednesday night rides too!)  

Many thanks to the group leaders and to all that made it such a great day out.  We will return.

Mark

I was unable to ride with crew this weekend so I decided to go out for and hour or so on my own in the Sunday afternoon sun - I have exceeded my normal low standard of an average 6mph with 3 punctures and one OTT experience. I didn’t get any chance to “kick the rabbits” (see previous blog). I did have three punctures on a short 6 mile ride and gave up when I fell off the bike, I would however like to thank the male and female mtbers at the bottom of common lane, who seeing me with a bike on the floor decided to ride straight past me - cheers for the MTB spirit of stopping for other riders. Just to prove how c***p I was today have a laugh at the map.-Rich1

click here

I’m having a very slow start to riding for 2010. I’m too embarrassed to blog exactly how few rides I’ve been on this year. So imagine my disappointment when the first Tuesday night in ages that I’m not at work comes around and circumstances beyond my control mean I can’t make the 7pm Sandridge ride. Simon kindly offered to delay the start time but I was at the mercy of First Capital Connect and hate to think of people hanging around for me. There was only one thing for it, get out there anyway on my own. Ages ago I saw some moto-x types near junction 21a of the M25 and looking at google maps it seemed there was a bit of a circuit there. Hopefully the map is attached but IT is not my strong point.Anyway a bit of exploration was in order. There is a large area of waste land which is clearly regularly used by motorbikes. Lots of short sharp ascents and descents and I’m sure those with more skill than me would be able to launch themselves off parts of it.Unfortunately some of it was very boggy and still under about 15″ of water from recent weather but in the summer when its dried out it has real potential for a fun / play area. Especially if tagged onto a Bricket Wood ride led by Rich 4th. Once I’d had an explore there I made for Rich 4th’s place which provided a very pleasant pit stop, before setting off for a circuitous route home. As I cut through St Julians woods in Chiswell Green I properly caught a rabbit in about 1000 lumens, right in the middle of a narrow part of the trail, I thought I was going to hit it and unclipped a foot in anticipation of a crash. I steered right and caught the rabbit with my left foot as I passed, causing me a major wobble but luckily I stayed on two wheels! The rabbit ’snapped out of it’ and ran off, hopefully unharmed. Anyway I was glad to get out although solo riding isn’t as much fun as in a group so hopefully see you out there again soon, Rich II

Map (by Rich 1)