Muddymoles mountain biking in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley

Ride Report – Sunday 1st April 2012 – Swinley No Fools Ride

Posted by DaveC | April 2, 2012 | 12 comments so far

Karl

On a slightly cloudy and cold morning a few of us headed over to Swinley with high hopes of a sunny, dry ride. We were not let down!

The count at the beginning of the ride was 11 with Tony, Jem, PaulM, JohnR, Jason, (new)Paul, Andrew, Stu, JamesS, Karl and myself. A few old names and a few new ones in amongst that lot.

I was sort of leading and took my normal route heading over to do Stickler first, followed by a trip to the Tank Traps.

Here’s a short video of following Karl down the last gully for a second time;

Moles in Tank Traps from muddymoles on Vimeo

From there we headed towards Crowthorne and took Seagull trail on the way to the Corkscrew.

Here’s a short video of me following Jem through the Corkscrew;

Moles in Corkscrew from muddymoles on Vimeo

After that we pretty much headed back the way we came and tookin Tank Traps once more before hitting the Jump Gully for maxing out the phat air, innit. Well…..I passed by without looking as I hate the site of blood.

We headed up to the top of Surrey Hill and took in one of the woodland trails but I exited too early and we missed the run to the ski-jump but headed up to the top anyway for a quick run down. Here we had out first and only casualty as (new)Paul took a tumble going down, breaking a brake lever and pringling his front wheel. Not too much blood! We said “goodbye” to Jason and Paul and they headed back to the lookout. The 9 of us headed towards the Labyrinth area.

Here’s a video of me following Jem down Deerstalker;

Moles in Deerstalker from muddymoles on Vimeo

We did a few more runs including Labyrinth itself and then headed back to the lookout via some other trails I know, taking in Stickler one more time.

It was an excellent ride with everyone enjoying the dry trails and pushing themselves a little on the varied trails.

Another video here
Photos on Flickr here

Filed under Rides in April 2012

DaveC

About the author

Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.

He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.

Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit

There are 12 comments on ‘Ride Report – Sunday 1st April 2012 – Swinley No Fools Ride’

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  1. Big Al says:

    Karl ,
    Is that a new bike your riding ??

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 2, 2012 at 9:10 pm

  2. StevenD says:

    Some nice videos there, great stuff, I am glad you had such a good time.

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 2, 2012 at 9:35 pm

  3. Andrew akak says:

    I had a really great ride – hope Paul is okay.

    Thanks to Dave Jem and Tony for navigating.

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 2, 2012 at 9:45 pm

  4. PaulM says:

    Fantastic morning, really glad I made it on-time. Did you all get that …me ON-TIME 🙂
    Promise I won’t make a habit of it!

    Trails were in perfect condition and thanks again for stringing together a great route Dave & Jem (co-piloting)

    Hope the tumble hasn’t put (new)Paul off

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 2, 2012 at 9:52 pm

  5. Karl says:

    Thanks Dave and Gem for a great fun ride.. (brakes and headset faultless).

    Trails dry and fast, skill level often exceded.. well why not?

    JR contract is out..

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 2, 2012 at 10:00 pm

  6. Tony says:

    Hi. I spoke to one-lever-Paul yesterday. He said he’s fine. Impressive tumble. 9.4 technical 9.7 artistic merit.

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 3, 2012 at 7:52 am

  7. KC says:

    Sorry I missed what must have been a great day out. Could have christened my new body armour too!

    Add a new comment, or reply to this comment

    Posted on April 3, 2012 at 2:17 pm

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