Solo Swinley
Today I headed out to Swinley on my own to ride the new range of trails they’ve put in there recently. I’ve seen bits of them before but the markers weren’t in and a lot of them weren’t open. This was the first time I could ride it as a complete loop and tie it all together.
What I hadn’t realised when the development was taking place was that all the other trails will be closed now that these are open which is a bit of a shame. The official loops do use quite a lot of the existing trails though. There’s a blue and a red loop as well as a very short green loop – for kids I guess. I did the blue then jumped over to the red before coming back to the centre on the blue.
I got there at 10am and even then struggled to find a parking spot. I don’t think I’ve seen so many riders at Swinley. There’s were 100’s of them. I can’t tell if this was due to everyone bunching up on the trails or just the sheer number of riders wanting to try the new trails out. There were loads of large groups too which I still never understand. Riding with more than five or so others as it just takes so long to regroup all the time. I had to keep going to make sure I didn’t get caught behind them all.
Off the compacted trails it was a total shitfest, muddy as hell and slippy too. I had a few funny moments in the corners and it took me a while to get used to the terrain after riding rocky slabs last weekend in Wales. The trails also felt quite sanitised at first but then they’re often taking the place of a fire road and getting you to better trails. To be fair they’re also generally flat and work exceptionally well. As the trail progresses there are some really nice moments in there with some enormous berms which switch you from side to side rather nicely. I’m hoping these will be maintained properly as I’m sure people will drag their brakes through them.
Being on my own it’s hard to judge how fast you’re going. Normally I’d gauge it against those I was riding with but I did feel like I was riding faster than normal and only stopped twice to take on some food and water. I tried to not stop and constantly adjust my bike all the way round. The saddle stayed at the same height and I just pedalled as hard as I could round the whole lot. It was all a bit XC but I got a lot out of it and not stopping all the time helped keep a lot of momentum and speed. I whipped round the whole lot in around two hours and got back to the cafe for a veggie burger and a drink.
Some of the jumps on the loop back had the tops ripped out of them already, presumably from some overzealous braking. I hope it doesn’t get ruined too quickly and that a decent bit of maintenance goes into it. I’m sorely tempted to go back next Sunday and have another go when hopefully its dried out a bit.
I was completely caked in mud by the time I got back so hit the jet wash in Streatham to wash the bike (and shoes) and then went to the Albanians in Peckham who did a great job on the van. Clean as a whistle all round!
Had a great day out in the sunshine.
