If You Go Down In The Woods Today.......

Ride Date: 30/01/2013

Riders : Jake, Ryan, Basil, Tony & Dan.

Another new route and this one with the promise of some down hill jump action!
Several of the team had jibbed due to a combination of the weather, destroyed brake pads, enforced dog sitting and alleged injuries, but the rest of the intrepid adventurers set off towards Huddlesford and our start point.
Things didn't start too well with me discovering that like Deley and previously Howard & Ryan, my rear brake pads were none existent (down to the previous ride from Denstone we think), still "who needs brakes" chirped Dan!
So off we set along the canal, which was a mix of real hard going mud and some incredibly fast harder standing parts where we were pushed along by some very strong winds and it wasn't long before we reached the bridge into Hopwas Woods.

Once in the woods we found protection from the wind and a surprisingly firm and dry surface, as we headed up the first slope we were greeted with the first ramp of the day.

The first ramp at Hopwas

After a bit of a chat about the ramp we headed further up to see what else we could find, and came across a steep trail down a gulley and some more ramps, further inspections and chatting was done, then it was time to try some of it out.

First up was Dan on the first ramp, then all down the gulley (except me) which would later provide big offs for Basil then Tony and finally Ryan, the latter ending up in quite a bit of pain after an argument with a tree root.
In-between the first gully runs and the crash riddled final runs, there was time to try out the double ramp further up the hill, with both Dan & Ryan giving it whirl to good effect.

Tony in the "post crash" position towards the top of the "gully"

Ryan inspecting the first ramp of the double jump

With Ryan struggling after his crash, my back brake getting worse and the weather staring to change towards the wet, we decided to head back using some pre planned bridleways, the first one lead us through Hopwas firing range and down a road it seems we shouldn't have gone down, then a short bit of road, followed by another bridleway, which as most thing recently would be a lot better "when dry & with the sun beating down on your neck" as Basil put it.
This slightly uninspiring track however threw up a bit of a bonus in the shape of a dirt jump area, but with the fading light and most lacking energy only Dan could find the effort to have a quick go, one for another time though.

Just a small amount of road back through Whittington left and we were at our cars.

This is certainly another area for the future, loads of potential in the woods and more tracks and bridleways than you can shake a mudguard at in the area & the bonus of only being a quick drive from work.

Bonus: Video of the Jumps & Gully

Music is The Skints - Rise Up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NgOTFQHh8s

See the full route here http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/155312919/151189

Mud, Rain & Badgers

Ride Date: 08/01/2013

Riders : Jake, Ryan, Neil, Deley, Basil, Howard, Ady & Dan.

With several days of nice and dry weather with a few glimpses of sun, spirits were high as we walked to our cars from a hard day at work. We all set off on a short journey west down the A50 to Denstone for our first crack at a route in the Churnet valley. As we drove along in convoy the heavens opened, "just a quick shower" I reassured myself as it continued to rain all the way to the carpark and while we got ready.

We set off along the road and onto the disused railway line, which we expected to be like the High peak Trail, however we were greeted with loads of water and mud, not to worry though, we've had a lot worse over the last 12 months, so we set off and at good lick for about 4.5 miles just skirting a few metres away from Alton Towers.

The former railway track, in believe it or not, drier conditions

At the end of the track there is a tunnel which is sealed off, so we took a left and followed the road for a short distance and went down into Dimmingsdale & Threap woods where we rode around looking for some useful trails to ride, this was however proving difficult mainly due to the weather & that the place was new to us. Eventually we came back to the road and headed for the Youth Hostel on top of the hill where we found some ridable trails, albeit very "sketchy" with lots of wet rocks and roots, which lead to a very muddy track littered with branches and logs (presumably to aid vehicle grip), this proved to be a fun and fast downhill which provided a few thrills and spills and lead us, eventually back down on to the disused railway.

The railway was even wetter by now and darkness had set in, but we still maintained the pace we had in the other direction. Then without warning Ady stopped, did he need a quick piss or had he spotted something? It ended up being the latter as he had seen a creature in the undergrowth, we all stopped to look and saw a Badger!! 

A Badger - Yesterday  (not THE Badger though)

Without any prompting a few broke out into chants "Badger, Badger Badger!" to which the badger now only a few feet from us turned, shrugged and promptly buggered off!

So after that excitement wet set off back along the trail and into our cars, it's worth noting I don't think I have ever been that wet in my life! Still we are used to all this rain and mud now, and it didn't ruin a good burn out, which hopefully will set a foundation for discovering a bit more around there.

Bonus: For those who burst into song & for those who had no idea what it was all about:

See the full route here http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/117987340/151189