January Ride-Away to the Quantocks… The Black Canon’s ‘Plan B’ ride featuring: Bigfoot, Babies’ heads, Brother-of-Chris Noble and Benatar.

“We’ll give her till ten past” was the decision made in the Cheese & Grain car park just prior to our departure for this month’s ride away to the Quantock Hills. At 8:09am Sharon pedalled into sight and by 8:10am we were all on our way. Phew.

During all the nervous foot-tapping and watch-glancing that preceded Sharon’s arrival, Ryan, after a great deal of deliberation (in a rather fetching ‘jim-jams and festival hat’ combo) finally settled on his tyre choice for the day and fitted them. Again. And then promptly changed them again in the car on the drive down.

The short journey to Holford was uneventful, save for the five lucky occupants of Geraint’s Fun Bus being treated to some of the finest pop hits of the 80′s, courtesy of Chas’ iPod and a compatible lead into the van’s ICE system. Contrary to popular opinion, he maintains that a little Pat Benatar turned up to 11 is the perfect hors d’oeuvre to a four-hour mountainbike ride.

By the preceding Saturday evening the ‘Plan B’ ride had evolved into a ‘Plan C’. Wary of the fact that many of those riding on Sunday would be new to the Quantock Hills it was thought best to include as many of the old favourites and highlights as possible, and to save most of the alternative ‘new’ bits for another visit.

11 Black Canons met with five Bigfeet in the Holford layby. The Bigfoot MBC were planning an excursion here anyway and, curious to see any alternatives to their usual routes, had asked a while ago if they could tag along on our ride.

The Quantocks’ trails always hold up well in the winter and didn’t fail to impress yet again. The first evil climb of the day was nailed by just a few and sent a stark warning to most of us as to just how… erm… ‘hilly’ these hills are. An Evil-O-Meter™ was then established with climbs graded on a one to ten scale: one being ‘evil but manageable’ and ten being ‘the purest of all evils’. Most climbs thereafter were between 8 and 10.

An entirely new descent was the first of the day. Starting fast and grassy, the Devil’s Galloping Path (real name) soon dissolves into a twisting carpet of loose rocks the size of babies’ heads covered in leaf litter. Add a smattering of roots to glance off and a fallen tree to limbo under and you have a great new addition to any Quantocks route. All riders made it safely to the bottom, most of them randomly pin-balling their way down with their eyes shut.

There then ensued the usual pattern of any Quantocks XC ride: climb/descend/climb/descend repeat until you can taste blood. Highlights of the day included: Weacombe Combe with its winding narrow singletrack; Smith’s Combe with its steepness, looseness and stream-crossings; the descent from Dead Woman’s Ditch with it’s rocky trench and narrow drop-offs; and Holford Combe with it’s numerous line choices. Even the climbs back up from those trails, though never easy, are always worth the effort. A small price to pay for fantastic, natural downhills.

En-route to the last descent of the day we passed a weary looking bunch who looked a lot like SPAM members. Their number appeared to include Mr Noble’s evil twin-brother sporting fluoro Oakley Jawbones. Our Chris would certainly never wear anything that garish.

Isn't that supposed to have SOME teeth, Geraint?

Given that we had 16 riders in our group, mishaps and mechanicals were thin on the ground: Geraint’s tired chain snapped under the vast amounts of brutal torque he generated grinding up a short-but-steep climb, and there were a couple of punctures to interrupt the sweet flow of Smith’s Combe. A few riders confessed to going sideways occasionally but no one had any spectacular offs (that they were prepared to share with the group, anyway).

In short, we enjoyed a day of spectacular weather, amazing scenery, brilliant trails and great company. 18 miles of off-road riding in 4 hours (and 3,000ft of climbing) might not seem very much but as ever with this jewel of the southwest, the Quantocks is all about quality, not quantity. Quantock quality.

Quantock Hills AONB PRoW network

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…

By Ryan McKee

6am Saturday morning and i am awoken by the all too familiar shrill, electronic tone of my alarm. Meaning i have to drag my poor old bones out of bed and pack my kit ready for this Month’s ride away to Afan. After a bacon sandwich and a can of red bull i am a little more lively and head off to meet Will at the pre-determined rendezvous point. Will was a few minutes behind schedule, giving me some time to realise the scale of the task i was about to undertake, dragging a 38lb DH bike around Afan’s notorious trails. But it was too little too late and we were on our way.

A faultless journey led by TomTom had us arriving in record time, only being beaten by the speed merchant that is Marjory. Whilst waiting for the others to arrive we had a poke around the Skyline bike shop and snapped up a few bargains. By this time everyone had congregated around the cars and were beginning to unload and piece together the 12 bikes, owned by our congregation: Will Hardy, Marjory Hatvany, Steve Corner, Sharon Loader, Chris Sheppard, Chris Snell, The Amors, Mark Vose, The Tileys and myself. Excited chatter ensued as serial faffer Will made some final “adjustments” to his bicycle and we made our way to the climb.

As ever the climb was challenging and slippery but we all made it to the top with little fuss (but much effort). It was at this point the group split, those who wanted to do the Black Run and those who would prefer to continue with White’s Level. Led by Chris Sheppard, Will, Rich, Steve, Marjory, Chris Snell and I made our way over to the Black whilst the others followed the rest of the trail. To begin with i thought the Black had been mis-graded, it was fairly straight forward. It wasn’t until we got to the final section that i realised why it had been graded. A short, very steep section of sharp rocks and steps to negotiate. Sadly my enthusiasm outweighed my ability, all leading to quite a spectacular crash (reportedly) with an audience of 20+, luckily only a dead leg and dented pride were found in the aftermath!

After a short fire road climb back up to the trail head we re-joined the White’s Level trail and began the hunt for the splinter cell group. A few minor incidents were had along the way, including Rich sliding off the trail and Will having a little moment but we made it down in one piece. We regrouped in the cafe, trading stories whilst taking on much needed coffee, beans on toast and sugar.

It was time for another lap, sadly Juliet decided to sit this one out due to a recurring injury (or the fact it had started to rain), so we put our coats on and headed off for another dose of pain… i mean fun! It shortly became too much for Steve who decided to call it a day, but left with a smile on his face after breaking in his “virginal” new bike. So the rest of us assumed our positions and began the slog back to the summit.

The plan for this lap was to do the Skyline decent, without having to endure the other 45km that makes up the trail. So a stretch of fire road brought us to beginning of the decent and after a little more faffing we were on our way. Chris made us aware of some rock steps, just so they didn’t come as a complete surprise.

It turned out there was another set that had slipped his mind, but they weren’t a problem for our trail centre veterans. We regrouped on a tight switchback to relieve the claw-hands that were rapidly developing and make sure we hadn’t lost anyone. As we were setting off, Rich decided to experiment with a new line, whilst still doing the SPD dance with his right foot. At this point the bike slipped from under him and he is greeted by a large boulder. He was now initiated into the dead leg club who’s numbers had now doubled to two (Myself and Rich). The rest of the decent was a howler, rough, flowing and exposed. This is the ONLY time i was happy to be riding a Monster Truck, the extensive travel made the decent a breeze. It was definitely the best decent of the day, and a perfect note to finish on.

We met back with the well rested Steve and Juliet, packed the bikes back into the vehicles and headed towards the showers/ cafe. The shower token system caused confusion, with the signs differing from what the receptionist said. It all got figured out and it gave us a chance to wash away the Welsh clag and investigate the war wounds we had picked up along the way.

Back into the cafe for more coffee, sweets, Beer (Snell) and a flick through March 2009’s issue of MBUK. We said our goodbyes and made our way home. Will and I spent the return journey exploring the classics on my iPod! Will was exceptionally good at singing duets with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Will’s favorite… N’DUBZ

Good ride was had by all, Thanks for organising it and i look forward to next month!

I can sum up August’s Ride-Away in two words.

“Epic singletrack”.

There. Write-up written. Thanks for looking.

Longleat’s trails have already returned to their ‘Winter setting’, and after slogging round their deep, sandy gloop on Saturday, I was resigned to putting the mud-tyres on for our club visit to the woods around Cranham the next day.

Good job I didn’t.

As part of my very informal trail exchange programme with other MTB clubs in the area, we were to be guests of Bigfoot MBC, a large and very active club based in Gloucester. Nine BCC members (Steve, Simon, Kevin, Will, Andy, Ryan, Pete, Sean and myself) met with 12 of the Bigfoot clan in a pub carpark on the A46 just north of Painswick.

The woods around Cranham are their local patch. And what a patch. A large, deciduous, not-too-steep-sided area to the east of Gloucester…. And absolutely stuffed choc-full of sinewy, natural singletrack and interesting features.

To my astonishment, it seemed that all the rubbish weather we’d had this summer (especially recently) had completely bypassed this corner of Gloucestershire. We were treated to three hours of the most amazing, hard-packed, dry, dusty – and above all fast and flowing – singletrack. And all in stunning condition with nothing badly overgrown,  and nothing unrideable.

We got our accidents and mechanicals out of the way early on. With a fast-moving group of 21 riders – half of whom were on unfamiliar trails – there were always going to be a few problems. Will had a worrying spill at the bottom of the very first descent, spectacularly going over the bars. Thankfully he was a just a little shaken and suffered nothing more serious than a squashed banana and a bent saddle-rail to show for his acrobatics. A singlespeeder’s chain snapped on the way back up. Simon suffered pedal-strike shortly after and toppled over sideways. A Bigfoot went over the bars in the bottom of a deep bombhole, his forks compressing to the max catching him out. A tyre was gashed at about the same time as someone’s freehub expired. The second-half of the ride went hitch-free.

Ryan in shock and awe.

These outstanding ribbons of singletrack seemed to go on forever. Due to some trick of the local topography, the downs seemed to be an awful lot longer than the ups. Throw in a drifty corner here, a little kicker there, a steep-sided bomb-hole over there and a short/sharp climb way over there, and you’ve got some world-class XC stuff that many man-made trail centres would be envious of.

After an hour or so we all stopped for a breather at the top of  Coopers Hill – the famous cheese-rolling hill – and admired the stunning views over to the Malverrns. According to local MTB folklore, some one HAS managed to successfully ride down the near-vertical grassy slope.

After another hour of more singletrack we were led to a little jump-spot where the Yoof amongst us amused themselves briefly on a series of smallish dirt ramps thrilling us oldies with their low-phat air.

We headed off again and had ­– yep, you guessed it – about another hour of yet more singletrack. Eventually our time was up and we were about to head back to the pub. A number of our party were beginning to reach their limits, and at this point I may have cajoled our guides into showing us a few more trails instead of taking the road back to the pub. Glad I did.

What a ride. 99% flowing, woodland singletrack. Over three hours of it. Seriously, 99%.

Oh and the sun came out too. Quite possibly, the best ride of the year for me.

*HUGE* thanks to Jason and the Bigfoot MBC for a great day.

As a club we think it is important to have ride leaders with the necessary skills to safely lead enjoyable rides. We have a number of ride leaders, but due to other time constraints too frequently the responsibility to lead the rides falls on a few. To take the strain away from these members, (and to encourage the development of the club’s riding calendar) we are looking to identify and train some new ride leaders.

The course will be partially funded by the club, and we will operate a payback system that allows ride leaders to recover the rest of the course cost annually as they lead rides.

If you are interested in becoming a ride leader – and you feel you have the time to take on the role (a couple of rides a month) – we would be grateful to hear from you, e-mail ian.crook@blackcanoncollective.co.uk to state your interest or to find out more.

Thanks!

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

The day began well with us all crowding out the little cafe in Talybont, with cups of tea, coffee, & beans on toast for Mr Sheppard.
On to the bikes to start the 7 mile climb, enjoying the views, blue skies and bright sun shine, the day could not be better. Geraint had to make a quick return to the van for his gloves, well he needed to ride off his Saturday evening head!
We all had a go at riding up the impossible loose, rocky, challenge climb, where Kevin, Chris & Neil went back for a 2nd go. The rest of us stood at the top cheering them on, but no one made it to the top this trip. So onward to the cafe and half way stop.
During our time at the cafe enjoying sandwiches, welsh cakes & tea, we noticed Geraints shoes were held together with duct tape, very nice handy work. Well fueled and back on the bikes, we made our way to the top of The Gap.
The 1+ mile rocky descent now awaits us, will Geraint make it down without a pinch flat? Off we all go. Half way down Neil takes a rock to the shin, nice lump ! Also a bent chainring tooth, Chris the mechanic to the rescue with 2 rocks to bash it out. At the bottom, guess what? Geraint not only had a pinch flat, his duct tape shoes needed some serious work, like a lot more tape. With both repairs sorted, we made our way down the comedy bridle path, where a rider that will remain nameless, decided to go over the the handle bars whilst trying to avoid rear ending another rider. Back along the canal path to Talybont and a nice cold beverage at the local crowded pub.

Thanks to eveyone coming along, next month were going to Dartmoor for a weekend if you can make it, please check the club forum for details…

Here’s some stats from the ride thanks to Gareth Simpson…

Distance: 34.9 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 4:58:17
Avg Speed: 7.0 km/h
Max Speed: 44.1 km/h
Avg Pace: 08′ 33″ per km
Min Altitude: 132 m
Max Altitude: 613 m

Here are the details that everyone needs for the ride……

The drive is about 2-2.5 hours, so we will car share as normal to keep things simple.

The Gap Route – Brecon Beacons

Distance 40km
Total Ascent 1100m
Time 5h +
Meeting point Talybont-on-Usk
Time 10am for a 10:30 start
(Parking is on the main road it can be busy, especially if the weather is nice!)

The ride is mainly on existing bridleways that cut through the Brecon Beacons. The highlight of the route is riding through the ‘Gap’ between Cribyn and Fan-y-Big at 599m

A route map can be found here: http://www.ridethequantocks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/gap.pdf And a description can be found here:
http://www.mtb-wales.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Subjects&file=index&req=viewpage&pageid=31

There is a café at about the halfway point, grid reference: SO055175
(Bring something to eat just in case the cafe is not open)

Notes:
Unlike trail centres, the tracks were not designed with mountain bikers in mind, and have to be shared with other users. At some places on the route we will be many miles from civilisation, mobile phones can’t be relied upon. The highest point on the route is exposed to the full extremes of weather.

• Ensure your bike is in good mechanical order
• Always ride within your ability
• Carry enough food and water for a full day
• Carry your own tools and spares ( Bring at least 2 inner tubes )
• Even if its sunny when you set off carry a waterproof and warm jersey
• A personal survival bag or blanket is recommended
• As is small backup light

The ride is open to members and non-members alike, but please inform us if a non member is coming to we know detaits in advance.

Any questions please let us know, we’re meeting 7.15am Cheese & Grain, Leaving 7.30

Last Sunday saw another successful Away-day to a firm BCC favourite, the Quantock Hills.

The weather was frankly stunning with a slight chill to the breeze but bright sunshine – a perfect, clear, Spring day. There had been substantial rainfall overnight so the trails were all a little wet, but that did little to dampen our sprits. It only seemed to dampen our shorts.

From our rendezvous at Triscombe Stone car park, ride-leader Chris immediately brought out the Big Guns with a decision for us to negotiate The Chimney via some very slippery, sinuous singletrack. The previous night’s precipitation had made it all a little dicey, but all riders successfully navigated the infamous steep, rocky trench with nothing more than the odd dab to spare our blushes.

From there, a long fireroad haul up through Great Wood to another highlight of the Quantocks – Dead Woman’s Ditch* – another long, rock-strewn trench made more difficult by the rain. Yet another long haul upwards, this time up onto the exposed tops of the hills with their fine views over the Bristol Channel, and then another magnificent descent, this time down Somerton Combe complete with its optional 2ft drop-off halfway down. Here we had a bite to eat and engaged in some suitably heroic photography. One of the most evil climbs on the Quantocks then ensued to take us back to the top via Lady’s Edge* to Bicknoller Post. Another pause here while the majority of us stuffed lungs back in and heart-rates returned to something like normal. Then the long scenic route along the spine of the hills via the Ox Drove back to the car park at Triscombe Stone.

A select few then opted to extend the ride by heading off for a second attempt at sampling The Chimney’s unique delights. In the car park at its bottom, all felt we’d made a better job of it that time. After a few minutes’ wait, two of our number failed to emerged from the woods and a three-man search-and-rescue party was duly despatched back up the hill (on foot) only to discover Al manfully fitting an emergency inner-tube to Marjory’s burped rear tubeless tyre.

We’d lost a lot of height there, so to save the usual long uninspiring fireroad climb back up to the top a new ascent was recommended and investigated via St Johns Well. It was noted that this climb was steep in places and uphill in others…

Back to the car park for tea and biscuits from Geraint’s catering wagon. It was agreed by unanimous decision that he can come again.

Thanks to all who came, especially the drivers, and Chris with his inspirational ride-leading abilities.

(* renamed “Dead Person’s Ditch” and “Person’s Edge” so as not to offend the delicate feminist sensibilities of our female contingent).