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Ride report: Sunday 20 January – an unexplained mechanical

Posted by Matt | January 21, 2019 | 5 comments so far

This is going to be a ride report unlike any I’ve done before… because I wasn’t there!

If I’m lucky, someone who was will pop up and explain how Jem’s Bronson appears to have ended up in pieces. It’s unlike him to break Santa Cruz’s after all…

Sadly, I couldn’t get out – I did commute on Thursday and was hoping to join JR, Jem, MarkP and Eliott for Sunday but to be honest I was feeling rather tired.

The Thursday commute was quite an effort as the Surrey Hills have reasserted their reputation for sticky and slippery mud, at least on the Ranmore side. It wasn’t a lot of fun, so I can see why the guys headed over to Leith – I think I would have enjoyed that myself.

It looks like a trip up to the Tower, down to Friday Street via the Witch Trials, then another Tower visit and a loop round to Summer Lightning before heading back down Wolverns, with some nice singletrack along the way. Looks good!

If it’s any help, I did spend an hour cleaning my bike on Sunday afternoon. I now have an extra pound or two of soil on my front lawn and the bike is ready to get muddy again… unless the ground is frozen of course!

Filed under Rides in January 2019

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.

There are 5 comments on ‘Ride report: Sunday 20 January – an unexplained mechanical’

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Elliot says:

I reckon that was quite a nice route with a few new bits for everyone 🙂

Not had many mechanicals on Mole rides lately but there were 2 Sunday. First Mark went to change gear and found his shifter hanging by the cable. After some deliberation a front rotor bolt was selected as a substitute for the missing one. Front because it formed part of a boost conversion kit so was longer than normal.

Later on Summer Lighting we looked back to see Jem scooting into view with a broken chain. One side of the quick link had jumped ship, leaving both pins jamed in the other side. Unbelievablely neither Jem or Mark had spare quick links in their back packs (well Mark had half of one) but I had 2 pairs in my tiny tool bottle. In the end the chain was shortened instead and held together for the return journey.

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Posted on January 22, 2019 at 2:45 pm
- Matt says:
  
  It’s a rare day your minimal tool provision saves the day Eliott!
  
  Top marks for quality bodging though!
  
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  Posted on January 22, 2019 at 9:33 pm
SSJ says:

It was a good morning’s ride on trails we don’t regularly use, such as the Greensand Way climb, Witches Brew, Weston Front and a new climb from the bottom of Superflow to the cricket ground area.

And despite the miserable grey cold start, the sun soon came out to make it a beautiful day for a ride.

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Posted on January 22, 2019 at 4:17 pm
Jemster says:

Nice to get over that way for something different. Quite liking that area at the moment. I had discovered a new trail to show and some older trails unridden for ages.
With Elliot’s help and his internal memory map we rode naughty but nice, and a new route up from the bottom of Superflow.
Yes schoolboy error not carrying a spare quick link, but I did have a chain rivet extractor, so not completely useless.

I did take it easy back to the car so that the chain didn’t give way again. A few spares to order I think.

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Posted on January 22, 2019 at 5:33 pm
- Matt says:
  
  Sounds like a good ride Jem and a good idea to start the better side of Ranmore.
  
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  Posted on January 22, 2019 at 9:35 pm