January’s XC Ride Away on Sunday 15th will be to the Quantocks.

Bit of a difference though: there’s an awful lot of trails there which I can *almost* guarantee you won’t have ridden before. They’re not particularly bad at all, they just get overshadowed by all the old favourites.

Back in the summer  I had the unenviable task of riding, filming, photographing, describing and grading all the cycleable Public Rights Of Way within the Quantock Hills AONB boundary. And got paid for it. “What a nightmare!”, I hear you cry, “How did you cope?”. Well, thanks for your concern. Somehow I got through it and nailed all 175km of the PRoW network.

I thought I already knew the Hills pretty well, but there are dozens of great trails that just don’t get the attention they deserve.

So. Let me introduce you to some new trails down there you may not know. Maybe in time they’ll even become old favourites too.

Meet at 8am in the Cheese & Grain car park. All being well, we’ll aim to start the ride from the lay-by on the A39 just outside Holford at 9.30am (grid ref: ST158408). There are no facilities or shops on the Quantocks so please bring enough food, drink and spares for about a 4 hour ride. It will also (obviously) be quite hilly.

UPDATE: I’ll be recce-ing the route on Sat 7th Jan. I’ve plotted it  out and it’s bang-on 3omiles with 4,500ft of climbing  :O0. Obviously, there’s loads of possibilities for bolt-ons or short-cuts. I will report back when I’ve seen if it’s viable. Or even enjoyable…

Hopefully most of you know who I am now, I’ve started a blog about my racing & riding which will cover next years events, but to start off i’ve covered what i’ve been upto this year.

By Ryan Mckee...

Well, I always moan about having to endure a 10 mile journey to my closest trails, so I thought I would dust off the trusty OS map and see what I could discover. I sketched out a rough route over breakfast, prepped the bike and ventured off into the (relative) unknown…

It took all my determination to get out of the door, it had been threatening to rain for the past few hours and I am highly allergic to rain! However, I am glad I did, stumbling across some hidden trails that I shall definitely be re-visiting in the near future.

So with the OS in my pocket and “Don’t worry be happy” on repeat I trudged along the 1/2 mile section of road to reach The Bell Inn where the trail begins.

There is a path that extends from the pub and joins the local woods, where most of the ‘local youths’ can be found on any given evening. After sliding along the tunnel-like dirt track, the trail opened up, with several directional options I chose to to head up-hill towards the Chalk Quarry. Due to large amounts of precipitation that seemed to have been falling for the past 7 days I was pleasantly surprised (and slightly perplexed) to find bone dry, dusty trails beneath the relative shelter of the trees above. Perhaps these new trails have a micro-climate all of their own?

My mind was soon drawn to other things as the track became narrow, rocky and very steep. This is exactly what I was hoping I would find. The climb continued for several punishing minutes, reaching a clearing at the top gave me a perfect excuse to have a much needed drink and check the map.

After confirming that I wasn’t lost (yet) I continued along the ridge line, scoping out lots potential tracks off the steep slope to the left. After eyeing up one particular track I decided to give it ago, it wasn’t in the route plan but the whole idea of this outing was exploration. I am glad I did. berms, jumps, off-camber, high speed, Heaven. I Got a bit over excited and ended up heading towards a particularly large tree, however my head was acting as an effective break so no damage, only pride!

A short, steep push up and I was back en-route.

I then emerged onto a gravel double track path which ran parallel to the Westbury Chalk Quarry. This is quite a sight, seeing such a large space of the Earth missing seemed like quite a shame when you consider the rolling landscape that Westbury is nestled in. Another road section followed, stretching from the White Horse to Eddington, where the next trail was located.

This is where things began to unravel somewhat, I had accidentally ended up on a footpath, which lead in the opposite direction to the bridleway I was originally aiming for. There was a steep, grass track climb to reach the the summit. It was at this point I had realised I was more than likely in the wrong place. There were several hints:

• It could be the lack of any visible tracks
• It could be the gunfire which echoed across the plains
• Or it could be the large “Military Firing Range KEEP OUT!” and red flags whistling in the high winds that swept across the vast space before me

Whatever the reason, I now had to rely on orienteering skills which I hadn’t used since completing Duke of Edinburgh 5 years previously. They were shoddy, At best. However, Technology soon came to the rescue as for some strange reason i had WiFi connectivity? Taking this as some kind of gift from the gods, I pulled out my phone and plotted a some points. I had no choice but to trust the directions it was giving me, as time was not on my side (I had to be in work within 90 minutes). For the first time ever, it took me to the destination i wanted to reach! This meant I was securely back on ground i could ride over without running the risk of finding an unexploded land mine or becoming a training exercise target.

All was well, I put my foot down mindful that the clock was ticking, re tracing my footsteps and revisiting the trails I had found only hours previously. They were fast and loose, and definitely made the steep climbs and risk of being “neutralized” by the T.A worth it. It was quite an adventure, I can no longer moan that nothing exciting ever happens, and to top it off I made it to work on time. Bonus.

Last Thursday night three bike riders (I won’t use the word cyclist it would be an exaggeration) set off on a jaunt around the hills of Blagdon and Black Coombe.

We started out after a protracted journey due to road closures, and when we finally arrived were subjected to watching Malcolm screw even more bits onto his classic GT Timberline (1993)….prompting me to almost rip the allen key from his hand.

Well eventually we set off down Loves Lane (no really..it’s not a euphemism) to get to the bottom of the coombe, involving chucking our steeds over a couple of gates…which is where the trouble began.

I dropped the trusty Duster over the second gate, which was immediately followed by a loud bang and the rim dropping to the ground.

Dave nearly wet himself with laughter, and proposed that it was the enormous weight of my Alfine hub that had caused the tube to explode.

Personally I think it may just have been a dodgy tube…and was glad that it happened whilst stationary rather than on the cheese-grater style rocks of the coombe.

Any which way I was more than a little disappointed as it was a new Slime Tube that had just gone bang, and there certainly wasn’t any self-healing going on.

So off came the tyre, and out sprayed\poured the entire tubes worth of slime, what a mess…new tube in and off we set with me now looking like Shrek and the Duster having an interesting brown to green fade paint job.

The rest of the ride was far more fun with dry, dusty rocky descents mixed with a few whoops and steep climbs through the woods and massive grins all round.

Everyone felt chuffed to make it to the top of the coombe without bringing up a lung, and looked forward to the drop from the top back down into Blagdon.

Brakes off and down we shot, Malcolm fighting with his fully rigid GT, when we met up at the bottom his eyeballs were still bouncing up and down in his skull. In typical Scots fashion he dismissed the idea of suspension and put his blurred vision down to a lack of riding gloves….fair play.

Anyway good route, good weather and great company…it’s why we ride.

P.S. it’s Daves birthday today…

Over the years we’ve happily allowed people to bring their pets (well dogs) along with them on club rides, but we’ve come to realise that as much fun as it is to ride with your mutt it’s not exactly a recipe for the most enjoyable ride all round. Even the best trail dogs can be unpredictable and make other riders feel nervous, not to mention scare the local wildlife of which there’s quite a lot.

So, from today onwards we won’t be allowing any pets on BCC organised rides.

Thanks

Four up in the post bus, Chris, Kevin, Steve and I (Al) meet up in Frome and headed over to Burrington Combe. I was breaking in my new toy, so stopped often to faff (I wasn’t catching my breath, honest!) whilst the other chaps stood about getting cold and offering “helpful” advice We rode up and around to Rowberrow, where we played like little kids amongst the mud and filth, before riding back over the highest point in the Mendips, through hub deep mud, wind and a little rain. We love it! Chris flatted twice, Steve bent his seat clamp and Kevin happily rode without issue. I faffed, but thats OK ‘cos she’s lovely! Back home for a late lunch and a snooze on the sofa. Perfect!

Stacey, Chris and I couldn’t make the XC Ride Away this month because of other commitments, but we managed to squeeze in a quick blast around Rowberrow at the crack of dawn instead.
The air was still, the mud was wet and we had a great time.

Dan Hunter will be leading the XC Ride Away this July, here’s what he’s got in store:

Hello I’ll be leading the July 11th XC ride away, across the Marlborough Downs and Ridgeway – so don your beards and prepare your retro steeds for a 17 mile trip across the neolithic landscape.

The Route: Click here for a Goolge map of the route and parking location

Difficulty: easy/moderate – highly recommend this ride for beginners who are comfortable riding the distance, but all are welcome.
This route is largely open flint covered tracks so little technical skill is required. I would say half of this route involves climbing, but again this all non-technical. There is little in the way of singletrack but the open countryside and views are fantastic.

Duration: 2:30 – 3:30 hours (Depending how long we stop for)

Travelling: 1hour 10 mins drive from Frome.

Ride start time: 10:15 – 10:25

Food: There is a café half way round for food and drinks, but riders will need to bring enough while riding, as its not always open. If its hot ring plenty of fluids regardless.

Clothing: Depends on the wether of course, but it is very exposed so bring a summer jacket or gilet if it looks chilly/wet or some sun tan lotion if it looking sunny.

Meet up: The ride is open to all members & non members, please let us know who coming by the Friday evening so we can arrange lifts etc, we’ll be meeting in the Frome car park near the Cheese & Grain on Sunday around 8.30am to leave for 8.45am, although your welcome to make your own way to the parking spot near Marlborough if your coming from elsewhere.

Check out the forum to arrange travel arrangements by clicking on the image below:

Tired of waiting all year round for set2rise? Keen to prove that the only reason you’re at the back on night rides is because you don’t know where you are going? Wish you owned a full face so that you could get your (non)competitive fix at the allotment?

Cross country riders – be sad no more! From Sunday the 25^th of April 2010, you too will have your own non-competitive (yeah right!) event at which you can spend the afternoon at the Allotment whizzing around adapted versions of the Allotment’s trails.

The event in question is “Dinner ’til Dusk” a three hour mini enduro where solo racers and teams lap the Allotment and surrounding area on a twenty minute circuit containing singletrack, fast descents, badger attacks and less climbing than descending*.

The event is open to all, but as all cross country riders know, downhill riders are too chicken and too lazy to compete. Ideally the teams will either be solo riders or pairs, but if people want to take part as a bigger team please get in touch.

The event will start at 13:00 and will finish at 16:00 giving plenty of opportunity to change into dinner jackets and ball gowns for the evening’s AGM.

Hope to see you there.

*not true.