Tales of Trails: 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