Black Canon Collective

Category: Monthly XC Ride Away

  • Ride Away – April 2015

    Ride Away – April 2015

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    The weather was booked in advance so we were greeted with warm sunshine and a gentle breeze as we arrived in Porlock. 8 riders took on the challenge of Sean’s outing which promised some “punchy climbs” and some long descents. Having ridden the Exmoor Explorer previously some were prepared for what was waiting for us but after 1400m of climbing and 40+km distance we were all in awe of our ride leader. He had scoped out the route and rode it all in 4 hours – sadly he was on his own when he did this and there was no-one to verify his claim. We would not, of course, have any comment to make about his good character and honesty.

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    From the car park at sea level we climbed and climbed in beautiful scenery pending the first descent which was a neat introduction to what was to come. A selfie stick was produced and how we enjoyed the moment! The only punctures of the day came on this descent and sadly one of the group punctured at the top (no one took the micky). Following this was some fab XC riding and a short stint of tarmac to get to Dunkery Beacon. This offered the opportunity for nuts and bananas or malt loaf depending on each riders personal preference for high performance food intake. Photos were taken – the selfie stick was replaced with a tripod and photos from the beacon were taken before we took to the descent. This proved to be a rocky river of shattered stones which made the forearms quiver and numbed the fingers as it went on and on. Grins were huge and there were no crashes although there were real tears when a tranny was abused!

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    More XC riding traversing hills on singletrack followed and we were almost back. However the closer we got to the car park the further away we were as the ride leader teased us with trails that wound this way and that. At this point I will have to confess to witnessing some pushing of bicycles as there were some very steep bits. However each up was rewarded with some exhilarating down. The final descent was dusty and narrow with whoops and grins we descended, at speed, to near the finish.

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    A final piece of tarmac to the nirvana of the ice-cream van was negotiated and all arrived back safe and sound. No one sensible fell on the tarmac and there was no blood!

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    Bring on Heaven of the South, May’s ride away.

  • Ride Away – March 2015

    I’d be surprised if you have never been to Glyncorwwg, or Afan depending on which end you start riding at. Its an old favourite of a South Wales trail centre and with recent additions the trails are better than ever.

    In yet another happy coincidence, the weather was warm and dry. So warm we had to stop at the top of the first climb to remove layers and base skin. A marked difference to the last time some of us were here when it was cold, wet and blowing a gale. The main climb out of the cafe has itself changed little over the years but in recent time has had a hair cut due to a tree disease. Its now open and you can enjoy the view all the way up.

    We started on Blade for a jolly loop. Its a good fun trail that once you are at the top gives you a cracking descent with some fun fast rocky bits to keep you on your toes. The climb back out isn’t to bad, for a climb and the final descent (we did the proper one, not Jetlag) is just a rock embedded fun-fest all the way back down to tea and cake at the cafe.

    Suitably refuelled (and re-inner tubed in Ade’s case) we headed back up for a lap of Whites Level. Windy Point and Energy are just brilliant fun. We tool the “new” final descent and to be honest, no one was a fan. The “old” descent, which is still there as an option if you want it, is just more fun in our opinion, but like so many things in life, its good to have options ‘cos we are not all of the same mind.

    More tea and cake before the long drive home. Next month, Exmoor!

  • Ride Away – Feb 2015

    What with it being winter and all, we thought for this month’s ride away we’d stick to something surfaced. We had ventured over to Swinley just before new year and had a blast so what better place for February’s ride away!

    We were 13 in all, some old, some young, all out on bikes for one common cause. Fun! It turned out to be sloppier than ever, especially on the red where they were doing some works, but the water was only below with favourable weather so who’s going to complain? Exactly.

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    Next month its off to Wales to enjoy the cafe at Glyncorrwg, oh and ride some trails too!

  • Ride Away – Jan 2015

    What with it being a whole new year and all, Its time to get back into some regular ride aways. They are the third full weekend of the month, and this month we headed over to the Quantock Hills for some favourite fun, in the sun!

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    As always with Quantocks rides, your Garmin never tends to suggests you have travelled all that far, and a modest sounding 14.4 miles was the case here, but if you have ever beed to the Quantocks you will know that its up or down, never flat! 6 of us today, up Ladys Edge, down Wea Combe, up to Smith Combe and down, oh thats a fun down. The climb out is a bastard though… along the tops to Frog Combe, up Hodders, down Dead Womans Ditch and home via Holford. Its a lovely way to spend a few hours with your mates.

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    Next month its Swinley. See you there!

  • Joint Ride-away

    No… before any of you Stoners (you know who you are) get the wrong idea, this is simply another inter-club ride with those excellent fellas from the Bigfoot MBC.

    We had such a good day on the Quantocks last time that Jase recently suggested it’d be good to revisit together.

    So, here’s a heads-up well in advance: Sunday 18th November. We’ll meet at 8am outside the Cheese and Grain and aim to meet up with them in that lay-by on the A39 just outside Holford at 9.30am (grid ref: ST158408). http://binged.it/zbCKEb

    There are no facilities or shops on the Quantocks so please bring enough food, drink and spares for about a 3-4 hour hardish XC ride.  It could even be wintery!!

    More details here: http://www.bigfootmbc.co.uk/2012/10/away-day-quantocks-xc-dark-blue/

     

    NB: if no certified BCC ride-leaders are in attendance, it’ll just be a ‘forum’ ride.

  • Quality Quantocks

     

    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.

     

     

  • January XC Ride Away – Sunday 15th *update*

    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…

  • October ride away- Glyncorrwg Trail Centre

    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!

  • Big Grins with Bigfoot MBC

    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.

     

     

     

  • Small, But Perfectly Formed


    Small, but perfectly formed.
    Ryan’s choice of gears?
    The area of Exmoor we went to?
    The number of BCC members on last Sunday’s Ride Away?
    Chas’ skill set?
    All of the above, actually.
    With no ‘certified’ Ride Leaders present for the first of this month’s Rides Away, the club outing to Exmoor quickly devolved into a slightly less formal ‘Forum Ride’.
    We few. We happy few.
    Chas, Will and Ryan met in the Cheese and Grain carpark and made the 90-minute drive to Dunster, while Paul, holidaying near Ilfracombe, had a much more tortuous journey eastwards along the north Devon and Somerset coastal road, arrived nearly an hour late and successfully snaffled the last available space in the car park.
    Chas explained that this small corner of Exmoor is a very steep-sided ridge with bridleways radiating from the the top in all directions. “There will be some pushing”, he added.
    The sight of our XC Rep in knee/shin and elbow pads had a couple of the more DH-oriented members of the group raising their eyebrows, but he explained he’d fallen-off on one of the descents on two previous attempts and was keen not to do so this time. As we all know, when you wear pads it increases your skillz. :Fact:
    After some world-class pfaffing from Will, the party of four headed out of the carpark and immediately zig-zagged up one of the steepest climbs in the vicinity. Even the mighty Mr Noble would have struggled here (I think). After catching our breaths at the top, we aimed for the first – and worst – of the day’s descents (the one which Chas had yet to conquer). Impossibly steep at the bottom, it’s also very loose with no traction available nor any particularly good line to choose. At its steepest section, it has a 90-degree left-hand turn, and then a number of roots and trees to negotiate. With a cemetery conveniently situated at the bottom, Chas led the way down and – for the first time – actually felt in control of the bike on this his third attempt at this descent. But disaster; a dad and his two young sons were scrambling UP the climb just at the tricky left-hander. The cry “Dismount!!” went out and we all had to grind to a halt at pretty-much the steepest point. In a deft move, Chas baled-out off the back of his bike grabbing a tree with his right hand while catching his seatpost with his left. Skillz. Those pads were clearly working their magic, but success at nailing this trail would now have to wait till another day.
    Singlespeed fuel.
    From the bottom a nice, rideable, rooty, singletrack climb off to the left brought us back to near the trail-head where a gnadgery, shortish drop with a steep, trough-y, switchback was the reward. Then began the long climb back to the very top where a wide path spans the length of the ridge. Off to the left from the ridge we took a Restricted Byway all the way down to the road. Fast, long, wide, stony and twisty with bermed corners, ditches and bedrock all the way. We wiped our streaming eyes at its foot and headed north along the road to pick up ‘The Fireroad Of Doom’ through a forested area, which would take us all the way to the top again. Over to the Northwest end of the ridge where we forked right and took a seemingly endless deciduous singletrack descent all the way down to the road again. Fast and straight-ish with obstacles to negotiate en-route, it got steeper and funner towards its end. More eye-wiping, whoops of enjoyment and excitable chatter at the bottom.
    Will demonstrating his Fly Tai Chi
    Another short stretch of tarmac to the left and we soon picked up another stony bridleway which would take us back to the top. Rocky and almost unrideable at the bottom, it soon levelled off a bit and we could ride back to the fork where we headed over to another descent, this time on the north side of the ridge, down into Periton Combe. A long, fast and fun singletrack path through woodland, a short climb, and then another grassy descent which steepened and turned rooty. Yet another hum-dinger of a downhill.
    One of the many evil, evil rides/walks/pushes.
    The less said about the next climb the better, really. Another evil, evil fireroad which twisted its bitter way to the highest point on the ridge at 300m. Occasionally it widened sufficiently to ‘tack’ up the gradient, but at one point we were all pushing. No shame there. From there we decided to call it a day but since our first attempt at ‘that’ descent (at the other end of the ridge) was spoiled by pesky pedestrians, we would have another go. So we took the gently-downhill, straight bridleway along the ridge – about a 100m drop in altitude over about 4km – to the top of the oh-so-steep troublesome one. Fourth time lucky, then? Some of us dropped our saddles (not for the first time today) and we headed off down the slope in procession, with Chas bringing up the rear.
    Nailed it.
    Chas arrived intact and beaming at the bottom (he *may* have done a small happy-dance at this point) only to find Will stretched-out and rubbing his knee. Apparently, in a fit of youthful exuberance, he had caught Paul up near the end of the trail, their wheels overlapped and Will, unable to stop, had taken a tumble. Nothing too serious – not even any broken skin. Just dented pride.
    To sum up the ride in a small-but-perfectly-formed way: staggering climbs, awesome descents, amazing views, fantastic weather and dusty trails.
    Special kudos and XC Beans award must go to singlespeed evangelist Ryan who attempted to ride (but didn’t necessarily complete) all of the evil, evil climbs.
    Nice ride, fellas.