Went over to tunnel hill (south of swinley) on sunday.

Wonder if anyone on here is familiar with the area and fancies a ride sometime to show the best bits?

Basically we just explored and questioned any passing MTBer as we went.
We found some excellent gullies , loads of cracking downhills, berms, drops and even some northshore.
Generally its a bit more gnarly than swinley.

OMG the climbing!! arrg

Kerr

Last summer I did a ride with Maj and Andy Symes (if I recall correctly) and rode from the Lookout all the way to Tunnel Hill. By the time we got there we'd more or less run out of exploring time.

If we went that way again it would be better to park at Deep Cut and ride from there.

We parked just east of the road that goes over tunnelhill itself. Pretty much takes you directly onto the single track.
After riding from swinley, I can imagine you would be too knackard to ride round tunnel hill as its is pretty dam hard going.

Wonder what has happened to Maj? Not seen him for ages! Does he know the area?

Kerr

I think the Tunnel Hill Trolls are the main guys for riding around here and naturally i would be up for a bit of exploring with the swinley crew

used to ride there loads back in the day. used to have some great northshore

I was chatting with a guy involved with the Tunnel Hill Trolls last year and it sounds like there is some pretty interesting stuff over that way. Up for a forum ride over there some time.

Count me in.

A few of us (7 confirmed so far) are off over to Tunnel Hill, Camberley, on Sunday 22nd.

Meet point is the lay-by opp Potters Restaurant, just past the Basingstoke Canal Centre – nearest post code GU16 6DD
Start 2.30.
Riding for 3hrs approx.
Pace will be moderate with a bit of time for chat.

We’ll probably have a look over at Frith Hill, if time as well.

Anyone is welcome to join us.

Shall I stick it in the "New rides" diary?

Kerr

Cheers!

GREAT ride sunday.

Awesome place! Makes swinley seem like a bowling green!
You guys are a bit pacey aswell!... phew!

I really hate wet roots (broken bones on them) and it great to ride somewhere that is not worn down to endless exposed roots, particularly when its raining.
Certainly a gem of a place, must keep quieter about it

Cant wait to get over in the dry.

Thanks ParkerMan for leading and all of the guys for making me feel welcome.

Kerr

Will get over there soon...

Kerr, no problem. You're more than welcome to join us again, and anyone else thats fancies it. Just shout ....

Cheers
David

Yep...I'm in, in a few weeks!

If anyone is off tomorrow I could offer a basic tour of the area? Say 1030 start?

Went riding with Parkerman this morning - Tunnel Hill is awesome - a secret gem. I loved it and apparently we only did a 1/5th of whats there. Its a cross between Swinley and Surrey hills.

DrBike, the other Andy and I and went exploring here last year but we only touched on whats on offer. Corkscrew galore, nice climbs, hair raising drops, ridges and bomb holes. Oh i forget to mention the seesaw. I would love to do this with the swinley regulars, perhaps when kerr is better.

Thanks parkerman for a great mornings bike riding.

Maj

Tunnel Hill porridge pot ride posted for this Sunday sign up if you are coming.

Got to work.

Sunday - day of rest and er biking. we should be finished by 12 ish i think does that make any difference?

Sadly not.

Morning all. Would you mind if i tagged along for the ride and maybe followed by a few friends no more than 4 at the moment??

Hope this is OK

Works for me. Could be upto 14 of us if no-one bails last minute, which is probably about just right for whats planned.

What's planned

A few drops some glorious single track one or two corksrews some pretty nice downhill sections some short climbs with a couple of long big climbs and a bomb hole of three with a cafe or pub stop at the end for those that have the time

If I've got the energy and I don't have a late night on Saturday, I could be up for this, although I'm slightly concerned that I'll be lagging at the back and holding people up. I rode some of those boardwalks with Kerr a while back but bottled a few more, so I daresay I'd be walking most of them. If I'd be more of a pain than anything, being not that great a rider and all that, then frankly I'd prefer to explore on my own sometime and make a judgement on my abilities before embarking on a forum ride led by people whose abilities and patience levels I know nothing of. So be honest... I won't be offended.

I'm not sure many have riden across these first time around - they are a little on the daunting side. Most of the tricky stuff at TH, bombs, drops etc have chicken runs beside them anyway so you dont have to do them - there certainly be no pressure to.

The large group size is going to dictate the speed we all go, so its not going to be the fastest of rides, and the weather is going to put a stop to any silly fast speeds anyway.

If you decide not to, I'd be more than happy to show you around one evening as I am up there an awful lot (probably too much).

May see you Sunday.

Okay, well I'll see how I feel. If I do come, I can always bail if needs be. Cheers.

This may work out better for me as I can't make this Sunday and I may have swung the odd evening (once in a while). Specially as I just watched the video that Maj posted of the area - looks absolutely great. Although woodwork does scare the bejeesus out of me. Mind you...nothing ventured, nothing gained! Have a good one guys.

Sooooooo gutted I can't make it. Tunnel Hill is fab. The weather will be great. And I still have to work.

a riding buddy and i are lookin for something different to ride tomorrow, i've let him know about this thread but not heard back from him yet, so thought i'd ask: is there provisionally room for two more?

AYTE has really wet our appatites for bombholes and genral tunnel hill/deepcut/aldershot/keogh style trails, that was an awesome course!!!!

Yes, there certainly is and you would be most welcome. The directions to the canal centre are in the ride details. Just a word of warning - its going to be really hot so bring plenty of water.

Bring some money, and we'll see if we can get a half way house stop in (local Spar).

well that was a wicked awesome ride!!!!

some of the best riding i've pulled out of the bag in a long time, you guys definately gave me my riding mojo back this morning!!! just a shame i couldnt ride like that last weekend..........................

i only regret not having a go at that seesaw.

cheers for a great morning lads, hopefully we'll get out again soon!

Really enjoyed the ride today - thanks for letting me tag along.

I'll keep an eye on the board for future rides.

Jon

Dave, awesome ride today despite taking off when i was not expecting it and landing in a heap. Thanks to Carl also who was sweeping most of the ride.

I am absolutely shattered now - whens the the next one

ooohh...tell more?!?

lol, there were a few crashes today, including my comedy SPD moment, and that damn log that decided it really wanted to be in the same place as my right foot!!!!! all my toes are ok now though!

Thanks for a great ride today. Dave you did a good job and thanks again for showing us around. Will keep an eye out for the next one.

Click to view attachment

Thanks for the great ride today... sorry to bail early but just made it home in time for the F1. Till next time... Suren (the one with the yeti)

Sorry I missed it. Stayed in bed for a lie-in in the end. I'll try exploring it on my own at some point.

So that I can cycle there, how do you get there from the Lookout?

Thanks Dave for leading us on a great route and to the others for your company. I'll be back...

(BTW let me know if you want that tour of the Surrey Hills)

Dave (on the pale blue Dialled Prince Albert)

Well, since you ask. I was trying to keep up with Dave, and there was this big steep bomb hole / downhill bit with a mound / ramp which i was intending to roll over. I flew down the bomb hole which was great fun and then as i went over the small ramp / mound i suddenly realised both my wheels were off the ground. I then had a kind of matrix moment where everything was on pause. Several thoughts came into my head

1) Crap i am in the air.
2) You can't jump.
3) The bike is not straight.
4) This is going to really hurt.
5) I have not got the wardens number.
6) Crap there is no warden. You're not in Swinley.
7) There are 15 others - this is going to be embarrassing.
8) Perhaps I should unclip and let go of the bike.
9) Hang on you have full susser - that compensates for your riding mistakes
10) There are some ferns - its going to be spongy - break fall like in karate.
11) ET
12) Please god forgive for all my sins...

I landed with the front wheel, and then the back wheel, the back wheel bounced back up and then i kind of rolled around a bit and smacked into a bank. Lucky i was way ahead of the others so they did not see me apart from dave i think. Anyway I got up, said yeah no problem and then when he was not looking rolled around for bit on the ground. I later nursed my scratch with a plaster.

It was a really good ride though and i even bumped into an old friend who tagged along for a bit. Marc, you will love this area - you have got to give it a try this summer. Anyway, any chance of you doing surrey hills again sometime soon?

Dave thanks for leading this morning and good to meet so many new faces. Really enjoyed it and i'll be back for more.

so tired now though...

Cotic Brian

LOL I know this feeling well!


Will do.

LMFAO - best description of an off, ever. I just remember congratulating you for getting the big air, whilst you were in the air, turning around, then hearing a smash, turning back around and seeing you on the ground.

You even put a plaster on with no-one seeing, brilliant work Maj.

I really enjoyed Sunday. We had a few offs (I counted 5) - Ian may have a blackish eye but other than that only minor scuffs and we only lost a couple of people off the back of the pack twice (but found after a few manic phone calls).

'Till next time.

Looks like you guys had a great time. Sorry I didnt turn up. Had awful nights sleep and was waking dead in the morning.
Would have been a liability.

Kerr

nearly choked on my coffee reading that, lol

Does anyone have a gps / route for the ride we did on sunday. Just wondering how much we did and how fast we were going.

I would just like to say thanks to Dave and the other guys who shephearded us round on Sunday Morning. I loved the ride and had a great laugh with everybody in the group. It was a lot of fun to ride in such a big group and I would love to do it again some time.

I too had an embarassing "over the handlebars" moment going down the big desent in "Pants Way Down". If you don't crash at least one then yor not trying hard enough I say.

We travelled up from Portsmouth to enjoy some better riding terrain as unfortunately we don't really have any great riding spots down here. The only half decent spot is QECP and that really doesn't require a guide as the loops are short and well signed, however if anybody would like to come down for a ride, Whakka and I would be glad to host another forum ride. The course is quite intense with technical steep climbs and fast downhill runs, but it does not have the variety or quality of the Pirbright area.

We are also planning to do a weekend in Wales, possibly Afan, at some point. Might be fun to get a big group of riders together for that, for the social side as much as anything. We could split into fast and slower groups for the riding then all meet up in the pub after!

Hope to see you all again soon.

Cheers,

Will.



Not as far as you might think. We stopped a lot and the terrain keeps the avg speed down. I would guess at a moving avg of about 8-9mph. But with the stops I bet it was about 15 miles tops.

In the race the previous week I did 40miles in 5 hrs with no stops. The pace on Sunday was about the same for me, maybe a bit quicker at times.

This is just guess work so I am happy to be corrected!

A few of us are off to Wales over the weekend of 31st July / 1st August. We are doing Brechfa on the Saturday, then driving down to the Afan area, stopping over and riding W2 on the Sunday. Maj and a couple of others are planning on coming down to meet us on the Sunday as well - 7ish in for Sundays ride so far.

You're more than welcome to join us (and anyone else) if this works for you.

Off to Afan next weekend but may looK at coming back up for the Sunday to meet you guys. Keep us posted