Sunday 16th Feb

Sunday 16^th February,

My off road riding was off to a good start and I was aiming to carry on my off road riding regime to build confidence, technique and fitness. Today I was aiming to ride with a couple of old friends and a new rider who had not ridden off road before. But that’s all part of the fun and we all have to start somewhere. I wanted to get a good day’s ride in, so I had arranged to start early and had set an 8am departure time from a local petrol station.

Josh a good friend turned up at my house around 7.30am on a bright sunny but slightly chilly Sunday morning, to un-ceremonially wake the rest of the family with roar off his 450 Husaberg. I was ready to roll and we took the 15 minute ride to the petrol station to fuel up and await the arrival of the other two riders.

 

 

Smokey2t was waiting at the garage when we arrived. He hadn’t ridden off road before and was uncertain if he would come along, but I had assured him, he had nothing to worry about, we were all out for the same reason and I wait for people because I want everyone to enjoy the day.

We fuelled up and then got to the introductions whilst we waited for Tony. Life’s a funny thing and the world is a small place, the new guy was in fact a person I had met before.

 I was travelling on the M3 when a car coming the other way lost control and hit the central reservation just as I was passing in the other direction, flying debris hit my car and smashed my windscreen. He was from the windscreen replacement company. Whilst he replaced my screen we talked bikes. Now four month later we had met again and I was going to lead his first ride.

Tony soon arrived and with everyone sorted, we set off toward the first lane. The sky was a pale spring blue, the hedges brown from the long wet winter, and the lane was wet, rutted and as slippery as an eel on a riverbank.

 

Half way along the first lane a large tree had fallen and blocked the way. The continuous winter’s rain had loosened the ground and the recent high winds meant that there had been a lot of wind blown trees. After a bit of shuffling around we managed to negotiate our way around the tree and finished the lane. We then headed down the road toward the next lane and the two river crossings. When we arrived at the first ford I looked and could see that the river was extremely high. We had a quick chat and decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. We had only ridden one lane, it was cold and we had the rest of the day ahead of us. So with discretion being the better part of valour we used the bridges to cross.

We were now back on tarmac and riding toward the next lane. The day has started well, but that was all about to change. I was approaching a right hand bend and noticed a large puddle covering most of the road; I could see the uncovered part of the road was wet. Being February and early it was also frosty . This all added up to a “NOT GOOD” situation. Before I had time to react it was already too late. It was a strange crash; I could see everything happening so vividly, not like the usual shut your eyes and hope. The rear wheel was trying to overtake the front, I was going down on the right, I could see the wheels slipping from under me. I felt ok at this point thinking the bike would slip from under me and we would slide for a bit. But then something unexpected happen, I don’t know how or why but the wheels suddenly kicked up and away from me slamming into the tarmac.

 

 

I lay on the cold hard tarmac, HURT! Luckily for the other lads they had seen the crash and had avoided the black ice. They were soon around me asking if I was ok and picked up my bike. As I lay motionless trying to catch my breath and gather my thoughts I could hear them asking me if I was alright. I thought to myself “you’ve seen me crash before and you know I get up” finally I got to my feet, struggling to breathe and my shoulder felt like  it had been hit by a sledge hammer.

The lads asked if I wanted to carry on, I felt bad that they had made the effort to come out and we hadn’t gone anywhere. After a few minutes I made the decision to carry on. The next lane was hard and I felt every impact. Every time the wheel hit a root or step up the shock travelled up from the wheel through the forks, past the handle bars up my arms then into my shoulder I could have cried. The next lane was quite flat. Lane three, I knew was going to be hard going so I pulled over and let the others go and said that I’d meet them at the end of the lane. About a third of the way up this lane yet another tree had come down, but we managed to negotiate our way around it. This was now the practice for the next few lanes, I would lead the road work, and then they would ride the lane while I plodded behind.

Lane seven was another technical lane, but they opted that I lead this one so they could follow my line, I started but saw a small tree across the track, I knew what was going to happen so I throttled off, stepped off the bike and let it fall. The lads laughed at the sad attempt. But I didn’t have the strength in my shoulder to be able to pick the bike up so Josh had to help me. Tony then said he’d lead this lane, so they set off Josh said he’d stay behind me in case I needed help. The lane went well until the end when another small thorn tree blocked our path. Crossing at the lowest part of the tree, the stump, Tony crossed OK! The new lad gave it too much throttle and although the bike flew across he was left sitting in the dirt, Josh had to get my bike over and then followed.  We made it to the garage where we refuelled, grabbed a bite to eat, and I dosed up on pain killers.

 

 

 After a short break we set off once more. A large tree had fallen across the main road blocking it totally, so we had a short road ride to get around it. Finally we were back on the lanes. The next sections of lanes went well although I was really feeling it. I was looking forward now to get to the next garage and have a rest and a short break, but as we approached it, it had gone, they had taken it away and were now using it to sell cars, BUGGER! I was now a little concerned about fuel levels. Josh was now near his home and decided to leave as he would now be travelling away from his house and he also wanted to see his kids.

 

 

There was now a fair bit of road work to do to get to the next section of lanes, which gave me a bit of a break, but it went all too fast. The lanes were nice and fast but I had had enough. This group of lanes had led us fairly close to where we had started, I pulled over and said to the lads “sorry can’t go on” it was now about 2pm I had been riding for 6 hours, they were more than happy with the day’s ride and were glad to go on their way. I then took a leisurely road ride home.

 

 

The day was good but hard. I ended up with several broken and fractured ribs, with both deep and soft tissue trauma to my chest and shoulder. The bike was put away dirty while I sulked J lol

 

   

First Ride 2014

First ride 2014,

This was never going to be a full on ride, I had just returned from a long holiday from Australia. My plan was, if I lead a ride it would keep me awake, giving me a reason to get up and keep me occupied so I didn’t doze throughout the day. However my plan very nearly back fire.    I had planned to sleep on the last 13 hours of our flight home, but it never happened. We landed at 5.30am on the Saturday morning, not wanting to suffer from jetlag I kept myself awake until 9pm. This lead to a 50 hour stint with no sleep.

Sunday morning arrived all too soon. I hauled my sleepy carcass out of bed and started to prepare for the day ahead. Time this morning seemed to be travelling faster than my body and I found myself leaving the house with no time to spare.  I had covered about a third of the distance to the start point when I thought, my knees are cold.   It was then I realised that I’d forgotten to put my knee braces on.  Bugger!  I span the bike round and travelled home.  I got kitted up and once again made my way to the start point.

I was really hoping that there wasn’t going to be a big turnout, the thought of a lot of people depending on me for a good day’s ride was a little daunting. But I needn’t have worried. The weather had been awful the past few weeks and I think this put most people off. I arrived at the petrol station about 5 minutes late, I fuelled up and paid, Dave was waiting for me when I came out and we talked about going to the Isle of Man TT. He had a spare place as someone had dropped out. I really wanted to go, but unfortunately had already booked the dates up, to go on a European tour. As we talked Woods an old mate I hadn’t seen for a very long time turned up and we chatted for a while, just catching up on what had happened in the last year or so.

The time now was nearly 10am and it was quite clear no one else was going to turn up so we fired up the bikes and headed off. The first lane was to prove a tester of what the rest of the day was going to bring, and I was unprepared as to just how difficult the ride was going to be and glad our group was small. Weeks of solid rain had turn the lane into a slurry trap, my lack of riding lately saw me sliding everywhere, the nerves kicked in and my riding pace slowed to a crawl. I wobbled, slipped and skidded to the end of the lane, where I stopped abruptly puffing like an old steam train, with my heart beating through my chest. Five weeks of doing nothing had clearly taken its toll. I was knackered and could have quite easily packed up then and there, and gone home.

The next lane involved two river crossings, but as I approached I saw the rivers had swollen with the weeks of torrential rain. With my lack of ability clearly highlighted on the first lane, I decided that to tackle the fast flowing deep river was best avoided and so we took the bridge instead. Later in the day I was  to find out I had made the right choice, as I recall a friend of mine who I 4X4 with had told me he had driven through it the evening before in his 110 Land Rover, and the water had come over his bonnet.  

The next few lanes saw my confidence grow a little my technique return and my speed slowly but surely increase. After tackling a lane I love, because of its length and just because of the way it is, we stopped for a break. It was then I noticed Woods’ front sprocket, well let’s just say it was more of a washer now than a sprocket. After a chat we decided it was best to change the planned route, to one that would see us heading back toward his house.

The ride was going well, Woods sprocket was holding, we were covering all types of terrain, broad gravel fire roads, muddy rutted trails, slippery clay lanes and steep gnarly root covered hills. By late lunch we had made the pub where we would split and make our own separate ways. Woods was now only a few miles road ride away from home. I would back track and make my own way home. But before that, we had a drink some food and took the chance to catch up a little more.

The time came to Part Company and head our separate ways.  We agreed to contact each other once we’d gotten home just to make sure we were ok. Woods headed off down the road and I must admit the noise of the slipping sprocket didn’t sound good or bode well. I headed off back down the lanes. I made good steady progress home, my riding continually improving. On my journey I passed a group of eight or so riders. The weather was good with broken cloud and sunshine, the lane were mostly empty, probably to the fact that it had rained constantly for the last three weeks and the general condition of the lanes.

I arrived home safely around mid-afternoon. I was happy with the day’s ride. I put the bike away, had a shower and then text Woods. He replied saying he’d got home eventually; he’d apparently got within a mile or so of home when his sprocket had given up and he had also got pulled by the old bill for having a small number plate. He had luckily managed to get in contact with a friend who then collected him and his bike.  All in all it was a good ride to start the year.

My last ride of 2013

Last ride of 2013

After the Christmas ride with the GLC, I decided that I wanted to get the riding going again. So that evening I posted a ride out on the GLC forum, for the next weekend. I also rang a couple of friends to invite them along too. So times and dates where all set and there would be at least four of us attending.

I had the route set, in my head, which I wanted to follow, but the problem I had was that when I sent my Satmap back for repair I had accidently deleted  all my routes, and not having ridden for a while my memory of some of the further away loops were vague. So I set about re-mapping and plotting.

With it already being  Saturday and the middle part of the route still vague in my head, I decided to ask Dave if he didn’t mind leading this part of the ride. As a backup I also asked Josh if he didn’t mind, but it was then he decided to tell me that he couldn’t make it due to being ill.

Sunday was now looking like a three man ride as I had no replies on the forum, although this didn’t bother me and Josh had now pulled out. The forum is a funny thing, you find people will say they are coming then not turn up, or no one will confirm that they are coming and a few will arrive last minute.

Sunday morning had arrived and it wasn’t as forecast. The forecast was for a nice day but at this point it was overcast with dizzily rain. I made the short ride to the fuel station and filled up; I brought some new batteries for my GPS and waited for anyone to arrive. I was due to leave the petrol station at nine and meet Dave at the John Bunyan pub at around nine thirty. By nine fifteen no one had arrived so I decided to make my way to meet Dave.   

Lane one is only a few hundred yards from the petrol station. It’s only a short lane but one of my favourites. It hasn’t been graded and it remains a natural lane. The grass lay across the lane doing its best to hide the ruts and making the surface unpredictably slippery. There is a sharp corner about half way along that is rutted, not deeply, but enough to make me a little wary so on the approach I drop down from the standing position, sat as far forward on the tank leg out trying to use the rut as a berm to help me round. Once round I was back up on the pegs for the rest of the lane, this part of the lane is enclosed by trees, the ground is leaf covered mud that’s slightly loose under the wheel. Dead fallen trees lined the edge of the lane from the recent high winds.

I rode the road down to the fords that were now running high due to the recent rain, the water wasn’t its usual crystal clearness, and was a murky brown, hiding the gravel bottom.  I could have taken a detour over the bridge but decided to tackle the river, although deeper than usual the current wasn’t too strong and the crossing wasn’t too bad.  Fords now dispatched there was just one more lane to tackle before I met up with Dave.

 

 

I arrived safely at the end of the lane, but Dave was not to be seen so I decided to chill for a while. The sky was now blue dotted with large white clouds. The trees and hedgerows were brown and here and there, dark green ivy climbed up through the hedge and tree trunks. The fields lay baron and brown whilst the grass banks were a rich green. The lane was wet and rutted with an ivy covered small tree blocking its entrance.

 

 

 

A short time passed and I heard the distant rumble of an engine heading toward me. Dave arrived soon after, with the warning that the lane was slippery and treacherous.  The lane for the most part is bank either side, these banks where covered in golden brown leaves, fallen trees had been pulled to the sides to make the way clear and here and there along its length braking the winter brown of the landscape were green holly trees. Just before the end of the lane a large, long and deep puddle covered the trail.  Once through the puddle we ascended up a short root stepped bank which led us up to the road.  We then caught the road to the next lane which in part is tarmac and the other graded so we made quick work of it.

 

At the end of this lane my intentions were to turn left, but Dave suggested we go right. It meant cutting a chunk out of the ride, but it also meant we had more time to explore. I had asked Dave to show me a short lane which he uses to link up a small section of the loop he rides and this was our next lane, after we had done some extensive road work. I have ridden this lane many times before. It is only a short lane most of which has been graded and flat. But it was a lane that was going to catch me out big time. Now I knew where it was and how to find it I set off at a fair pace.  I had travelled along about half the length of the lane when I rounded a corner. On the line which I was taking the heavy rain from the last few weeks had washed away a section of the path exposing a large root. I have in the past coped easily with bigger step ups than this, but as the front wheel hit the root it slid violently to the right causing me to steer to the left. Then in a split second I had hit an overhanging tree which knocked me backwards and sent the bike spinning through the air. I looked up to see the bike at ninety degrees to the lane with its handle bars buried into the bank. I jumped up full of adrenalin checked myself over then went to check on the bike. The bike was fine the handle bars were a little out of line, but nothing serious and the hand guard had been knocked up, which was soon put right by a short sharp tap.

From here Dave took the lead as I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to go. The next two lanes where known to me, but again as I rounded a corner the rear wheel stepped out scaring me a little. This proved to me that you need to practice to stay on top of things. A small amount of road work saw on some familiar lanes once again.  It was here that we met up with a couple of quad bikers and a motorcyclist. We passed them and headed toward the end of the lane. We were on the last section when I made the silliest mistake of the day. The end of the lane had several deep puddles along its length. I decided to take the right hand bank to avoid the puddles. But it had recently been cleared and had several trees lying along it. I thought I would be clever and pop the front wheel over these trunks and avoid the puddles. No, what happened was  I didn’t pop the front wheel enough going over the first log, as it was wet the front wheel then tracked along the log causing me to fall off toward the puddle I had been trying to avoid. The next thing I knew my hand to elbow is submerged in water.  I’ve managed to avoid a soaking, but on retrieving my bike I notice that the hand guard was now catching the clutch, so at the end of the lane we stopped so I could make some minor repairs.

 

 

Whilst making the repairs to my bike, the quads and other trails ride turned up. I tinkered away and Dave got reacquainted with the trails rider; apparently back in the day they used to ride at the TBEC together. Introductions were made and it was agreed that we would join forces and ride as a group. So we headed back up the lane we had just ridden. At the end of the lane we waited then waited some more. The sun had now come out and the weather was good. The trail rider said he would go and check where the quads had gone. We waited some more, on his return he informed us that they had taken the wrong route, but where close behind and would soon be with us. We then waited a bit longer then some more. Eventually it was agreed that Dave and I should carry on and let the rider go back and find his friends. Hopefully we might meet at another point during the day.

 

Dave and I now set off again. Dave has a wealth of knowledge of the lanes around this area and now started to show me a mixture of lanes that I had already ridden and some I didn’t know of.  There was also a nice mixture of fire road and graded lanes and untouched muddy, slippery lanes.  Slowly we covered lanes making our way back toward home and soon I once again knew where I was. However Dave still surprised me with some lanes I didn’t know off.  Although riding now for several years I still need to learn some essential skills such as the wheelie. Wheelies aren’t for showboating but play an important part of riding, for coming off of banks or getting over logs etc. I would also like to be able to spin the bike on its axis. But  today’s lesson was on how to roost your mate.  A useless piece of knowledge unless of course you want to cover the person behind you in mud.  It was now past lunch and I was once again on familiar ground, so we decided to make our way to the garage to refuel both ourselves and the bikes.

 

We sat for a while and had a chuckle about the morning’s ride and activities. However the day was getting on, and we had to make a decision on what we were going to do for the rest of it. One thing was for sure and that was we were going to tackle Fox’s Lane. This lane always has an amount of water running along and we wanted to see just how deep it had gotten. Soon it was time for the off, we made our way to the lane. We had just started when we rounded the corner to meet two four by fours blocking the way. They hadn’t broken down or anything like that, they were in fact just ferreting and although one walked out to see what was coming, they made no effort to move. I quickly weighed up the situation and made my way around the inconsiderate ferreters. Dave joined me shortly afterward; we now tackled the wet lane I was thinking ahead trying to map the best route available to me, which is hard when all you can see is a nice flat level surface of water. We were doing well, the line I had guessed was most of the time round hub deep. Then suddenly, but I can’t say unexpectedly, the front wheel was suddenly engulfed. The engine stopped dead and I must admit I thought the engine had sucked in water through the air box. I quickly pushed the start button and luckily she started straight away. I continued relieved but with slightly wet feet. Once through and in what I considered to be a safe place I turned round to see how Dave was getting on. We both made it through safely, even if we did paddle a little, and then headed off to the next lane.   

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We covered a few more lanes and ended up at a point where we were both about the same distances away from our homes. Whichever way we went now one of us would be travelling away from home. The days are short at this time of year and when the sun goes down it gets cold very quickly. So after a quick chat we both decided that today had been a good day and that it was now time to quit while the going was good and make our way home.