— bikes and things

I’ve been meaning to write a few words about this for a while now but other things have been preventing me, work, work and more work really.

Graham, Matt and I recently went away for a few days to reacquaint ourselves with our bicycles and each other. The idea being that we would ride some “dusty trails” as the subject of Graham’s email. I was pretty sceptical seeing as the summer had been fairly poor, however a plan was formed. Early start on the Thursday for a ride at Cannock Chase, then head over to do Llangelda on the Friday and finishing with a natural trail over at Long Mynd on the Sat with a drive back to London that evening to spend Sunday with our respective partners.

Our first port of call, Cannock Chase, was surprisingly good. I’ve heard it mentioned many times over the years on the various internet forums I used to frequent. It’s a firm favourite of many people living in the middle bit of the country apparently. It turns out that choosing a week day to ride there was a very smart decision as it was still busy even on a Thursday. We were all pretty impressed with what they’d managed to achieve there with two small hills and a lot of effort in terms of trail building. You never felt you were climbing then descending like Whites at Afan but it flowed a lot more. Just one constant trail which felt great. There were parts which were like an enormous BMX track mixed in with the tress. And surprise, surprise it was dusty! I was having so much fun that forgot to take any pictures of us riding. Still here’s Matt & Graham posing on a rest stop.

We ended up staying in a very reasonable little bunkhouse which was a short walk over the fields to a fairly lively little town. Here’s Matt & Graham on their way through the fields. This photo could have been perfect if they’d just held hands for a brief moment.

We also met a few friends on the way who came running towards us when we approached their little enclosure. A good night in the pub as well as a feed in the local curry house and back through the fields for a good sleep.

Next day we hit up Coed Llandegla for a trip around the Black Run which always satisfies. Again, amazingly dry and flowing. Hardly a soul about on the trails even though the car park was busy. I think we’d all warmed up from the day before and things were a bit faster. Some serious grins at the bottom of some of the runs. Again, I as having so much fun I didn’t take my camera out but Graham did get this shot of me on the berm at the start of the first fun bit. Proper lean on it and all!

Image © Graham Jenks

At the end of the trail there is a small skills and drops area as well as a fun little pump track. Here’s Matt showing how it’s done. Looks easy from the video but it’s hard work not pedalling and just pumping through it, especially when you’ve just ridden 25k off road.

Rather than spend another night at the curry house we had an improvised BBQ and fire outside the bunkhouse. Being the aspiring middle class tossers we are we managed to find an array of posh BBQ treats rather than basic burgers. Just look at that feast.

We also had an additional guest join us for the evening, Jenga, the campsite dog. And what a sweetie. She wasn’t after the food but just a stick or two to be thrown and all of us were happy to oblige. Back into town again to the same pub which was even livelier on the Friday. We also went past a round bowls pitch being used which I’ve never seen before. They play across the pitch which all looked very odd but plenty of people getting involved.

Next day was a natural trail from an old issue of MBR which Matt had researched. I’ve long been a fan of the trail centre since I’ve had access to a car and longer travel suspension forks. You’re almost always guaranteed a decent ride whatever the weather and there’s often a cafe at the end. However it was great to make a return to some of the natural stuff. I definitely regretted the removal of my inner ring on the front. Fine for trail centres but a bit grindy for the open moorland around Long Mynd we were riding. Lots of exposed and fairly barren landscape with a few fairly decent climbs.

Once we’d got all the climbing out of the way we managed to lose the trail slightly around an airfield at the top. Fortunately a friendly local rider got us back on track and we were treated to a spectacular tight single track descent. Narrow as hell and rocky, root and very twisty. Also with a drop to one side and a few section where the trail was washed out we were all pretty pleased with the end result. The climbing was forgotten at this point. A bit of a slog back to the car along a road (we may have missed the last bit) then back to London.

What a weekend! Thanks to Matt & Graham for organising.

Image © Matt Noble