9th March: MTB

MTB

With the cruddy weather we’ve been having this year so far in the South of England, I’ve not managed to get out and about on my road bike since my Festive 500 failure, and I have been a bit slack of late in getting out and doing any running with not wishing to push too hard on my dodgy calf for fear of further injury.

With not making the squad for today’s footy match, when Dean sent out a message about going for an MTB session I jumped at the chance… Even though the last time I hit any off-road was a good few years ago!.. In fact the last time I had off-road tyres on my MTB was for the XT Duathlon - one of the things that pushed me in to doing what I am doing now!

One of the reasons behind Dean pushing to get out is that he is the driving force behind a little expedition planned for June: cycling around the Isle of Wight.

Rob, Stu, Dean, and me are all friends from school and back then were all in to our MTB’ing. We are being joined by Greg, who was also at the same school as us, to spend a weekend circumnavigating the island.

The distance of the route at 60 miles by road means you can easily cane it off in a day, however we’re planning on doing it as off-road as possible; so plenty of bridleways and paths and a trip to a dedicated MTB track at the start of day 2.

Physically this will be no challenge for me and only needs an average speed of 5mph to complete it comfortably, so I know I’ll be fine through my base-level of endurance. Rob cycles to and from work on a daily basis, covering around 15 miles, however Dean is recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery so is a long way from being at the level of fitness he was before his op, Stu has not really done any exercise in the last decade, and Greg is pretty much the same.

With the urgent need for time in the saddle, Dean managed to organise for all of us to get together at the same time and cycle some trails.

Picking me up as I was en route for him to get to Tweseldown race-course, the location of the ride, I loaded my bike in to the back of Dean’s motor and off we went to the car park opposite the Forresters pub in Church Crookham.

About 10 minutes after we set-off I took a call from the manager of the footy team asking if I could play… The squad of 14 from the previous evening was down to 9 for the start of the game. 15 minutes earlier and I could have gone and played, but hey, I was committed to the MTB session!

Greg, Stu, Rob & Dean gurning for the camera.

We all met-up in the car park, and finished the final adjustments of the bikes under the clear blue skies and the slight chill of the first properly decent spring morning of the year… And off we ventured into the woodland.

Following the leader.

Dean and Rob know the area very well with Dean especially familiar with all the nooks and crannies having lived next to it for a decade, so the two of them would be the ones to guide us around. The plan was to not be too strenuous with it being first time out this year and naturally we would be travelling at the speed of the slowest rider. Both Dean and Rob are quite serious about their MTB riding still and consequently have plenty of experience, so are quite adept at throwing their bikes around and knowing the realms as to what is possible… Whereas I’m back in this frame of things after a 20 year gap, so I can certainly match their speeds from all the cycling I do on a straight line in the open, but not the confidence of knowing what is and is not a goer on single tracks - so caution is erred on on my behalf, sometimes more than is necessary, which slows me down noticeably.

Looking back.

The first stretch was a long gradual ascent to get us up on to the race-course area - passing plenty of joggers, fellow cyclists and CaniX runners. Once on top we followed some single-track then the main routes around to the balancing pond which was still in flood from the shite winter weather. From here we diverted on a decent single-track stage with some fast descents - which certainly made me remember how to balance on the bike at speed as well as how to avoid hitting trees with my body and stumps with the front wheel... The biggest lesson I’m relearning is to trust the bike and let it take you and when not to brake, just let it roll and you will be fine rather than being overly cautious.

Looking from the southerly most part to 'Caesar's Camp' in the middle.

There was plenty of stopping and starting to ensure that we all remained as a group, Dean and Rob taking it in turn leading and bringing-up the rear as they knew the routes rather than us other 3 novices.

Once at the bottom of the area it was a long climb back to the very top. The slow ascent with the sun beating down upon us was a welcome hello to the spring, and made us realise that winter gear was a little OTT for today as we all began to bake as butterflies were hatching out and drying their wings on the flinty paths.

Stopping at the top to take in the view down over Farnborough and Aldershit - as well as some water; sharing the summit with families picnicking and dog-walkers mooching we readied ourselves for the return to the start, and most importantly the pub. This location was originally a Roman hill fort dating back to their conquest of Britain. From the commanding views, you can understand why they decided that this could be a strategically important area.

Admiring the view from the hill top.

Unfortunately a few minutes later on the descent I felt my rear tyre begin to go ‘squidgy’ and sure enough, I’d blown it out with a puncture that held us up for around 10 minutes as I fixed it.

At this point I think all our minds had certainly turned to the pub and its beckoning siren-like call and once back on the track we wound our way via a swamp that had confused another group of bikers who were trying to figure a way around as we just ploughed through it, albeit on foot, taking a fairly direct route back to the cars and a post-ride sit in the pub’s beer garden and reflection on our first ride as a a group.

Dean and Rob 'inaction'.

Ok, we were slow and the stop-start nature of the ride did not help with this, but it was good to get everyone together and riding. The Isle of Wight will be an entirely different proposition as the way will be clearly marked with just plenty of hills to contend with en-route, but time in the saddle is always a good thing, especially as I’m not used to the geometry of an MTB these days after being on the road bike for so long!

I’m certainly looking forward to my next session off-road!