Ride report: Sunday 26 July – Leith and Holmbury
Today was quite a day with a number of new faces as well as an appearance from at least a couple of riders who have recently been absent. Bockett’s Farm saw a gathering of riders that included Tony, DaveW, DaveC, Jez, Jem, Philip, Erick, Jenny and Barrie, totalling ten including myself. Later on we rendezvous’d with Paul and Joe at the Rookery bringing the number to 12 riders. Not bad at all!
So, who were all these people? Well, Erick (from Brazil), Philip and Joe from Northern Ireland (along with Paul who’s ridden with us before) and Jenny from Dublin gave a distinctly cosmopolitan feel to the ride. As always it’s good to welcome new faces.
Not only that but we had a few new bikes to coo over. DaveC has just built up an Intense Spider 29er, taking niche to a whole new art form, Jez was first time out on his new, improbably light Inbred 456 Ti and Erick was aboard a spanking looking Lapierre Zesty 314 demonstrating all the finishing detail I remarked on earlier this week; although the large volume, low tread Conti Race King tyres could have been better specc’ed!
But what about the riding? Well, Leith Hill was firmly in our sights so it was a case of getting up and over Ranmore as quickly as possible. A run along Admirals Track to Polesdon led on to a blast down Yew Trees and haul up the other side eventually popping out up on Ranmore. Everyone seemed comfortable with the pace so we headed on toward Badger Run.
At the end of that we turned left onto the LandRover Descent which was suffering a bit from the recent heavy rains. Not slippery as such, in fact it was well drained but the rain wash had eroded some of the roots more than usual. I found it quite enjoyable as I’ve finally got round to resetting the air pressure in my fork and rear shock on the Orange. Put it this way, a lot more air went in than came out with beneficial results. At last I can stop complaining about my Five!
At the bottom we crossed the railway and headed to the Rookery where we collected Paul and Joe. Then it was up the Rookery climb where my glasses steamed up almost totally; which is an unrelated comment on why I had to dab three quarters of the way up. It was only brief but telling – at least I was in good company with Tony and DaveC both needing to take advantage of the Mincers Toe during the course of their own efforts.
Up onto Wolverns then and a steady roll along to the top of Summer Lightning, interupted while DaveW countered the effects of a fat nail in his tyre and tube. I was definitely aware I hadn’t been out for a couple of weeks as the ride seemed to have consisted mainly of climbing to this point. I normally don’t notice.
At the head of Summer Lightning various groups seemed to converge. For a moment it seemed a ride-off was on the cards but we were headed onward to the bombholes which look totally different to the bracken-free conditions I last saw them under in the Spring. Then, almost without trying we were at Deliverance.
DaveW showed us how to do it, his recent Scottish experience with DoMTB clearly showing while the rest of us toyed with the idea. Joe gave it a go and got down it despite looking at a couple of points like he and the bike might be arriving separately at the bottom. By then I’d looked for too long even though I had thought I might give it a go. Everyone else appeared to agree so we pressed on for the Tower.
I had to make use of the Mincers Toe again on the climb up to the Tower but took a much more direct route thanks to the extra grip afforded by the Five compared to my usual singlespeed efforts. At the top it seemed the Fives had spawned with several in evidence (mostly ours), including a 6 foot 5″ blokes 20″ model. Good taste. We also bumped into LordOnOne off Flickr who was photographing our bikes, particularly DaveC’s Intense Spider 29er and said hi to Dave Farmer from Cycleworks out on his Sunday constitutional.
After tea and cake we pressed on to the Quarry via the play area and various trails which we really should put names to. I was starting to really enjoy the Five again as it took everything in it’s stride with little fuss. Finishing the run with Chocolate Jesus brought us out onto the road near High Ashes Farm for The Mother Descent to Holmbury. I had thoroughly enjoyed noodling the Orange round all the technical obstacles but we soon picked up speed.
I’m pretty certain my tubeless set up saved me from a couple of snake bite punctures as again the rain seems to have brought some pretty big rock debris into the middle of the trail and left the gully heavily eroded. I banged by front rim a couple of times but Jem was not quite so fortunate, being forced to stop with his own pinch flat.
At this point a quick assessment of time led to Tony, Philip, Jez, Barrie, DaveW and myself taking the bail out option to head back for a sensible finish time. The rest were Holmbury-bound so it would be interesting to see how they got on (and when they got home!). Our breakaway group rolled down via tarmac to the Volunteer Pub before picking up the Raikes Lane bridlepath back. I’d have liked to have done the Holmbury loop but was aware not only of the time but that I was already tiring after a break from the bike, as was DaveW.
We ended up on Abinger Roughs, setting a comfortable pace toward White Down. I wasn’t looking forward to whichever route we decided to take to get back up on to Ranmore but the White Down choice, while shortest, really killed me. With Barrie and Tony in the climbing group it was never going to be easy but by then the sun was fully out and I was just gritting my teeth to finish the climb.
But we did it. Then it was back via Collarbone and Badger Run (again) to Ranmore where we retraced out wheeltracks back down to Polesdon. DaveW by now was clearly tiring on the Yew Trees climb and I was of pretty much the same opinion when all of a sudden Jez floated past us as if we weren’t there. That Ti Inbred of his certainly seems to have magical properties!
By then the climbing was done so it remained only to roll back to the car park for a pretty decent 12:30 finish – I estimate that was a 23 miler today so not bad going.
It was genuinely great to see everyone today and I hope to meet up with everyone soon. Next Sunday has Swinley stamped firmly in our diaries which on the evidence of today on my Five should be a treat. See you there…
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
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AndyLeeds says:
Sounds like another good run and I’m particularly pleased to hear of another Zesty making an appearance. Surely only a matter of time now until the 5’s are outnumbered!
Really disappponted to miss out on Swinley next week but staying down for a weekend really wouldn’t go down well with Mrs Leeds. Moot point in any case as I’ll be on hol but look forward to the report and hopefully some pics.
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Posted on July 26, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Dave says:
I think the new bike has similar qualities to the teenage “my car is faster after a bod standard service” phenomenon. I certainly glided up to Jem in a similar manner on Yew Trees on our return.
After dealing with Jem’s puncture and handing out some Jelly Babies we headed up to the Cricket Pitch at Holmbury before heading back down Telegraph Row. The Spider certainly smoothed out the roots on the final section! Then we followed in your footsteps and while I accept we didn’t have any climbers left in our group to match Tony and Barrie I didn’t think our efforts were too shabby either.
Great ride and great to see new riders out as well. If we ever get everyone whose ridden with us meeting up in one go we’re in for a major of a convoy!
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Posted on July 26, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Jez says:
I’m very pleased with the new bike but think the ‘magical’ properties of the Tinbred may have been psychological judging by my need to snooze on the sofa later.
Also, there was a note left on my car windscreen at Bockett’s. It said that ‘The Muddymoles are a bunch of seagulling, poo jabbers. Walkers rule OK.’
It seems that Matt has finally enraged the walkers to call a jihad. Either that or one of our absent brethren may have been out and about without us….
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 9:14 am
Matt says:
LOL! Sounds as though either Lee or Colin have lost their touch for double entendres and are going for the direct approach!
Oops, did you see that? I said ‘touch’! Fnaaar.
Oh dear, make it stop…
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 9:25 am
Colin says:
Shameful abuse that Jez.
Funny that, I was in that neck of the woods myself on Sunday……………………….
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 9:58 am
Jez says:
Gosh it’s darn lucky you were in the area Colin as who knows what might have happened 🙂
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 10:52 am
Dave says:
Have I stumbled into the “Scooby Doo” ending of the ride?
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 11:34 am
Philip says:
Guys
Cheers for a great day yesterday. I got back to Surbs just in time for the GP start – although I ended up sitting at my mate’s house in my stinking kit! Needless to say I was relegated to the floor. Anyway, I’m looking forward to Swinley this Sunday so see you there…
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 11:48 am
Baz says:
Hi All
Many thanks again for a great ride last sunday, sorry to push on the way back, as I was under pressure from ‘er in doors to be back for a family bbq.
Hey Matt the climbing does kill me (honest), I was just hanging on to Tony’s tail! so to speak..!, anyway i have a pink pass for Swinley, so I should be there.
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 5:08 pm
LordOnOne says:
Sounds like a great ride!
I’ll see if I can get some of the Spider 29er photos up on Flickr later…
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Posted on July 27, 2009 at 5:25 pm