Swinley Forest Options

[French_Aristo]

Was still very muddy today although it was a lovely day
And the rain chucking down right now is not going to help



Anyone up for a night rice on Friday evening?

[Bent Wheel]

Just a heads up that I will be out in Swinley this weekend. Not sure if it will be Sat or Sun or both days or the timings yet. Just some advance notice if anyone fancies it.

Once I know exact times and which day(s) I will let you know.

Had the brake pads replaced, think that is the first time since I have had the bike so between 800 and 1000 miles, mainly off road. Can see myself going over the handle bars now as they seem a lot more powerful than the worn pads!!!! Also looks like the Front Derailleur had got knocked slightly on the ride and explains the intermittent slipping on the front from the middle to small ring.

Legs are not too bad considering the cramping I almost had, still a little stiff but not as bad as I thought they might be.\

Looks like heavy rain Thu / Fri so may be another mud / water bath in places, hey hum.

[Muscleburn]

Just a heads up that I will be out in Swinley this weekend. Not sure if it will be Sat or Sun or both days or the timings yet. Just some advance notice if anyone fancies it.

Rich, I should be able to make it out this weekend, probably Sunday but it will be my first time out since before Christmas so there is a chance I will have to keep up with you for a change.......

As for the brakes, I changed about 4 pairs on the hardtail last year (mostly summer riding) - so far none on the full-sus but the last time out the backs were beginning to squeal on hard braking so might be getting close, they have probably only covered circa 100 miles(ish)...

BTW - should probably introduce myself to the rest of the Swinley mob as Rich's mate, I would imagine we have passed on the trails many times but I have only just signed up to the forum so - hello!

[Bent Wheel]

Rich, I should be able to make it out this weekend, probably Sunday but it will be my first time out since before Christmas so there is a chance I will have to keep up with you for a change.......

As for the brakes, I changed about 4 pairs on the hardtail last year (mostly summer riding) - so far none on the full-sus but the last time out the backs were beginning to squeal on hard braking so might be getting close, they have probably only covered circa 100 miles(ish)...

BTW - should probably introduce myself to the rest of the Swinley mob as Rich's mate, I would imagine we have passed on the trails many times but I have only just signed up to the forum so - hello!

Ha, if you took a year off riding I would still be following your rear tyre!! I did get out today though, pretty much did the same route as the group ride covered on Saturday, but with fewer stops, will post the details later. Felt pretty good, no cramping near misses like Saturday. Legs ache a little now though.

Let me know what time you can do on Sunday, I would prefer an 8:30am start and then 2-3 hours riding means I can get home, cleaned up for lunch and ready for an afternoon walk in the woods with the kids which seems to be on the agenda!

[Bent Wheel]

Swinley was Ok today, I would say pretty similar conditions to Saturday, the muddy bits still muddy and the puddles around the back of the reservoir still deep and wet.

I wanted to push it a bit today, Saturdays group ride was good but we had approx. 1 hour of stops, breaks etc and wanted to see if I could do the same course in a shorter duration by cutting out the number of stops or by reducing the stop times when I did stop.

I tackled the same route we did on Saturday with the exception of the little detour over to the Bomb holes on the Crowthorne side after we did the seagull run. Instead I went up to Pips seat and did a right and followed the same route back to the car park that we did on Saturday. Looking at the GPS data from the route the route to the Bomb holes added approx. 1 mile on Saturdays route meaning todays ride was 12.36 miles and not the 13.4 miles we did on Saturday which is approx. 10 mins of ride time in the conditions.

Saturdays ride was 13.4 miles and overall duration was 3h 05m with moving time of 2h 05mins meaning we had 1h of breaks and stops.

Todays ride was 12.36 miles and lasted approx. 2h 07mins with moving time of 1h 55mins meaning only 12mins of breaks. So a similar pace to Saturdays outing in terms of time moving.

Quite pleased with the results. Probably 35-40 mins less stopped time for breathers on todays ride (the extra mile for the bomb holes had us stay there for about 10 mins on Sat hence the 35-40 instead of 48 mins of saved time).

Legs felt like they were going to cramp towards the end of Saturdays ride (the last mile). Todays ride the legs were just gone at times as the reduced number of stops meant I was working them harder and longer, but no signs of cramps.

This is the 4th ride after being ill before xmas and the cobwebs are starting to be blown away a bit.

Only issue I have is I am suffering a little from back ache when climbing hills or going longer periods without breaks. Not sure if this is just a case of getting more time in the saddle and body used to the position, weight of the backpack or my moobs and belly! Caused me to stop a few extra times today to stretch it out for 30 secs or so then fine for the next 10 mins etc.

Plan is to use this course as a marker and ride it on a regular basis and try to improve times over time (obviously factoring in conditions).

[French_Aristo]

anyone up for a ride tomorrow morning?
Also looking to see if anyone will be joining me Friday night? Stan? Ian?

[Shmikuk]

Hi Frederic, welcome back. Unfortunately I can't make this Friday night. Hope to get out at the weekend and possibly next week. Next Friday?

Rich, sounds good, wish I could get out a bit more in the week. Ian

[French_Aristo]

Hi Frederic, welcome back. Unfortunately I can't make this Friday night. Hope to get out at the weekend and possibly next week. Next Friday?

Rich, sounds good, wish I could get out a bit more in the week. Ian

Next Friday sounds good
Will post on calendar later

[Stan Leigh]

Welcome back - next Friday evening ?

A bit early commit myself at the moment , but i'd like to . Will have to see how work goes next week.

[Bent Wheel]

Whats lights you guys using for night rides around Swinley? Any recommendations. I know Muscleburn keeps on at me to get some lights so we can go out in the evenings but not really looked at what is required and what people would suggest. Would probably try and get out a couple of times per week if I got some lights

[Shmikuk]

Rich, I wasn't sure I'd take to night riding so bought the dealextreme magicshine as a bar mount and a trustfire tr801 as helmet light. Really pleased with them for the money spent. I've got a second set I bought for the other half that don't get used very often if you fancy trying them out next Friday or something?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13095

Obviously I bought the relevant batteries/ charger/ mount etc for the above too.
I know some of the guys I've ridden with have some really nice quality lights but I couldnt justify the costs, and the performance of my setup doesn't seem a million miles off these high end units, although I've heard the dx stuff can suffer on the quality control side of things.

[French_Aristo]

I personally use Lumicycle 3Led and they are fantastic
Add a tac light on my helmet when I lead rides so that I can look for hidden track entrance and voila....

This said, here is the link to the calendar for the ride Calendar

[Bent Wheel]

Just added a ride for this Sunday (16th) 8am start

Link is here:

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/forum/index.ph...mp;event_id=567

[French_Aristo]

Muddy Route done tonight

[Bent Wheel]

Muddy Route done tonight

Interesting route, can see some sections which are normally a no go (according to the standard Swinley map) but I guess you can get away with it at night when no one is around to moan

Whats the situ with access to Bagshot Heath (the bit behind the reservoir)? Never explored that area at all, are there any restrictions around access to that area? Looks like there are some interesting leg burners in there.

[French_Aristo]

Interesting route, can see some sections which are normally a no go (according to the standard Swinley map) but I guess you can get away with it at night when no one is around to moan

Whats the situ with access to Bagshot Heath (the bit behind the reservoir)? Never explored that area at all, are there any restrictions around access to that area? Looks like there are some interesting leg burners in there.

Wasn't me Mr Park Ranger...

There are nothing really difficult on my route by XC standard but I have to say that the muddy state of everything did made the whole thing a bit challenging.
I normally add a 10km loop near the end of the ride via Corkscrew, Seagull and the Whole 9 Yards trails but the dog seems to have enough of running for the evening and was falling behind so I head home instead.

[Shmikuk]

Ah , the old "dog was tired" excuse!

[French_Aristo]

Ah , the old "dog was tired" excuse!

well... you were not there to call it quit so someone had to ;-)

[Bent Wheel]

There are nothing really difficult on my route by XC standard......

That depends on how fit you are....13 miles through the mud on mainly single track is killing my legs at the moment, but all good miles to get under the hopefully slackening belt for when drier conditions prevail! In a few weeks I want to be getting back up to 20 miles (with a little bit of fireroad and flat sections)

[Shmikuk]

well... you were not there to call it quit so someone had to ;-)

I was expecting that!
Well in an effort to sort my bike out it's currently in the middle of major drivetrain upgrades ... New Slx , bb, chainset and cassette, new jockey wheels, chain and cables and pads and I may have just bought a wheelset too. I'm sure none of that will help my fitness/ skills but it will take away one of my excuses!

Got to add a big thanks to merlin as my lbs couldn't get an Slx chainset from Madison, and with merlins latest promo it was just 107 quid and I ordered it at 130pm yesterday and it arrived at 9am this morning! Now that is service worth shouting about.