eMTB owners photo and ride thread.

[Croxden]

Wrong side of the post. Beautiful pics though Ed. This one is particularly panoramic. What a great ride. I need to get out there and enjoy those gloomy skies now.

Nothing you can't fix in Photoshop.

 

[IR772]

Ahh!!! That must have been the shot that Gubbins had been trying to shield me from!

Certainly amazing views.

This is the last of the lot from yesterday.

Spot the schoolboy error with this one!

I'd be interested to learn what the axle came from on the left of this shot. Sadly you can't get close enough to look.

Sadly the light was very poor yesterday.

And finally Alfriston village. My favourite start/finish location. This is the first time that I have ever seen it traffic and almost people free.

I could spend some serious money on the food that this little shop has to offer.

The South Downs do look a lot like Mid Wales.

Dwarf weather ravaged trees and Gorse bushes, wide open scrub grass land, old stone ruins and no-one there! Normally a lot of Sheep?

There isn't much like Beachy head though.

 

[EddiePJ]

Normally a lot of Sheep?

There is always plenty of both sheep and cows, and it is an impossibility not to get the bike covered in their poo.


Yesterday again.

And one from a previous trip.

Weather permitting, I might well venture back down there again this coming Wednesday.



.

 

[IR772]

That is why I chose an eMTB, you get the freedom you had when you were a kid, I can't stick to the roads.

Those are some good looking girls no wonder you are going back!

Best bit about Cow and Sheep muck is when you have sped through it and lick your lips, not that that ever happens to me.

 

[Deere John]

What a day! I was on two rides, sunny weather and a few degrees cold. So the mud was frozen, found a funny trail with good flow. But something happened so I bit the dust there, literally well, back and ordered a full face helmet on cyber monday discount actually from UK also

And... homeride then, has been curious about these mountains on the way home...



Found the trail up there but to the left and not to the top seen here, but cool cliffs where you could play around alot (like such). Great view also over the sunset...


Lexbybergen sunset Haibike by Daniel Cederberg, on Flickr

 

[EddiePJ]

Sambal I'm starting to hate you!!! Another stunning location to ride.

I had a very good ride tonight with my regular riding buddy, and took in a few places that would normally be deep in mud at this time of year and unrideable. The fallen leaves are proving to be a nuisance in that it is hard to see where any ruts are, and in the case of my mate tonight, where the deep mud was. I don't normally lie following behind, but I was glad that I did tonight has he gracefully slide out of control in the mud.

I also discovered that I am too old to ride! Not really, but the following did make me laugh. One of my mates has just realised the 2017 programme of events for his down hill track, and I fancied doing the XC class on the pedal mtb.

It looks as though I am just too old to have a class to enter!!

He did post up a good little clip of his track as well though.

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/261122/

With the weather still holding, the next outing for me is the South Downs again on Wednesday.

 

[Nealh]

Wear warm gear because it will be bloody cold esp with possible morning fog and any wind chiil factor later. I haven't made my mind up yet but am also thinking of the SD on Wednesday probably over Chanctonbury way.
P.s
Definitely will need my merino base layers on and have the new gold lekkie fitted so will try and get out early looks like it will be about -5 or 6 Tues p.m into Weds a.m.

 

[Deere John]

Sambal I'm starting to hate you!!! Another stunning location to ride.

haha, yes, you should see the surrounding area here at my new place, really dreadful places that got me into buing this new bike also

 

[EddiePJ]

Wear warm gear because it will be bloody cold esp with possible morning fog and any wind chiil factor later. I haven't made my mind up yet but am also thinking of the SD on Wednesday probably over Chanctonbury way.
P.s
Definitely will need my merino base layers on and have the new gold lekkie fitted so will try and get out early looks like it will be about -5 or 6 Tues p.m into Weds a.m.

Sadly like all the best plans, I doubt that I can now make it. Oddly I had also been thinking of Chanctonbury.

I still intend heading out at some stage during the day, but it'll probably end up being a trip somewhere around Ashdown Forest. Not quite the same!

 

[chris130256]

Hopton Woods Monday 27th...
A crisp, clear, cold, day and an empty car park when we arrived mid morning. I'm always amazed how its never busy when, as far as trails go, it's as good as the Forest of Dean. Maybe the fact that there are no facilities put people off? We did all the runs apart from 2 of the blacks, 15 miles in total. 3 more cars parked, so there were some riders using the trails.
A couple of pics and a short vid shot from my helmet cam of the last section of the Pearce red xc circuit....


https://youtu.be/nsj2631k3b4

 

[EddiePJ]

As usual Chris, well done.

I sneaked out this afternoon for a quick ride and walk around some of the new playground. I was actually surprised by how frozen that a lot of the ground was.
It opened up a couple of opportunities to try to ride across sections that would normally be impassable, but even so, the bike still ground to a halt a few times.
Sadly I had to cut things short, as the back tyre started to slowly go down, and being tubeless I really didn't want to be mucking around in the cold and mud fixing it, so just trundled back home to a warm fire.

The high bank to the right hand side in this photo, was the bank that I recently tried to climb at night time, and had the bike loop backwards when I inadvertently knocked the assist off and stopped.
The bridge is an old pack horse bridge that dates back to the late 18th - early 19th century. Up until recently, it had remained buried and lost in undergrowth.

 

[Deere John]

oh man, could we swap places for a month? You explore my area, and I explore yours, looks great there.

 

[IR772]

Chris if your battery ever goes flat Harley will pull you round, he looks like a coiled spring!

You are lucky with the weather.

Those are some narrow demanding trails good find, what a gentleman going first on the tricky bits, chivalry.

Eddie you really do live in a different part of the country, it was freezing here today, the only reason to go out would be to fetch more logs.

For a bridge that is 200 + years old I am gobsmacked at the true arch and the integrity of the stones of what was just a run of the mill project, built in a river bed as well. How would it be done today?

 

[Nealh]

Frosty/chilly start and a bitter end to the ride, layered up with base,mid and top layers I was quite nicely wrapped up today.
Start of ride through local public Golf course.


67 and a bit miles today though sadly only about 28 miles on the downs, approx. 14miles on tracks/ forest run and the rest road to and from the Downs. I didn't go over to Chanctonbury but road the lowlamd downs and the 2 golf courses and bits between and around.

https://www.strava.com/activities/789988840

I found some cake some of Eddie's fav stuff and 3 or 4 times had to stop to clear all the accumulated debris from the fork bridge and brake caliper. The front Nobby picked up cake/crap like nobody's business and didn't shed it very well at all, meanwhile the rear Maxxis Ignitor was the opposite and did a great job.


Finally Bramber Castle remains circa 1268.
Remnants of rear wall.


Entrance gate tower revisited.

 

[EddiePJ]

For a bridge that is 200 + years old I am gobsmacked at the true arch and the integrity of the stones of what was just a run of the mill project, built in a river bed as well. How would it be done today?

The bridge and the photos below, are all set within the 500 acres of private woodland that I have recently been given permission to ride in.

The area used to be a series of five mill ponds, records I believe only show three, and the flour for queen Victoria's wedding cake was ground at the mill.
I grew up in the area and spent many happy hours and days fishing in the two remaining ponds. The ponds were very dangerous, and claimed the lives of two children in the same day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
I also fell into the pond shown below, and have no recollection of how I got out. All that I remember is going down and down, darkness, and tree roots. The next thing that I recall is laying on the side of the bank coughing and spluttering. I really have no idea how I even got there.

The mill spillways and various aspects of the mill pretty much remained in tact up until the early 90's when very wrongly, a local stone company bought the stone and demolished most of what was around. All that beautiful and irreplaceable workmanship lost forever.

There is actually a second small bridge that still remains covered, and I would suspect that I am one of very few, if any, that know that it still exists.

This is it.

There also used to be a series of amazing vaults, that were pretty much destroyed when the stone was taken. As a child it always fascinated me that one of them wasn't as deep as the others. I always figured that the monks had something hidden behind it.
When I went back there this year in May, I discovered that someone else must have thought the same, as they had removed a small area of stone to the side, to gain access. Thankfully it was just solid rock, so I wouldn't at least be left wondering.

I'll have to take some more photos of the various bits and pieces that are still left standing.

It is also a very odd and freaky place. When I left school, my first job was working in the woods there, and for the most part it always felt fine, then there were days that you would turn up, and not even want to get out of the vehicle, and you would leave to work somewhere else. It felt very oppressive, dark and nasty. Oddly in the last year or so, I have met other people that worked there, and made exactly the same comment.
I ride through there all the time now, but occasionally I manage to freak myself out when riding through there late at night. Bloody daft!

I have been down there late evening working and had someone jump out of the bushes and try to get into the vehicle claiming that they were lost and wanted me to show them the way out.
I've had someone that I didn't see, come charging through the undergrowth from about 100 metres away towards me at night time. Oddly I didn't hang around to find out what that was all about.
I have ridden through there, then turned back along the same track, only to find that someone had dragged a log across the track on a bend, which sent me tumbling off the bike.
Then I had the discovery of the children's and ladies underwear hung as trophies forming a circle around a hollow, along with restraint straps to the trees. On that occasion, because of the child aspect, I reported it the police. The knickers went from being very old decayed and rotten, to seemingly very recent.

As I say, it is an odd place, and I bet that I now freak myself out again when I next ride through there at night time.

 

[EddiePJ]

Nealh, I had the same issues with mud today. I think that the combination of autumn leaves and the partially frozen mud, made for a very bad mix.

 

[Nealh]

Nealh, I had the same issues with mud today. I think that the combination of autumn leaves and the partially frozen mud, made for a very bad mix.

Today added to the mix to help extra binding was dry fine feather like grass/hay imbedded.in with the clay.

 

[IR772]

The bridge and the photos below, are all set within the 500 acres of private woodland that I have recently been given permission to ride in.

The area used to be a series of five mill ponds, records I believe only show three, and the flour for queen Victoria's wedding cake was ground at the mill.
I grew up in the area and spent many happy hours and days fishing in the two remaining ponds. The ponds were very dangerous, and claimed the lives of two children in the same day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
I also fell into the pond shown below, and have no recollection of how I got out. All that I remember is going down and down, darkness, and tree roots. The next thing that I recall is laying on the side of the bank coughing and spluttering. I really have no idea how I even got there.

The mill spillways and various aspects of the mill pretty much remained in tact up until the early 90's when very wrongly, a local stone company bought the stone and demolished most of what was around. All that beautiful and irreplaceable workmanship lost forever.

There is actually a second small bridge that still remains covered, and I would suspect that I am one of very few, if any, that know that it still exists.

This is it.

There also used to be a series of amazing vaults, that were pretty much destroyed when the stone was taken. As a child it always fascinated me that one of them wasn't as deep as the others. I always figured that the monks had something hidden behind it.
When I went back there this year in May, I discovered that someone else must have thought the same, as they had removed a small area of stone to the side, to gain access. Thankfully it was just solid rock, so I wouldn't at least be left wondering.

I'll have to take some more photos of the various bits and pieces that are still left standing.

It is also a very odd and freaky place. When I left school, my first job was working in the woods there, and for the most part it always felt fine, then there were days that you would turn up, and not even want to get out of the vehicle, and you would leave to work somewhere else. It felt very oppressive, dark and nasty. Oddly in the last year or so, I have met other people that worked there, and made exactly the same comment.
I ride through there all the time now, but occasionally I manage to freak myself out when riding through there late at night. Bloody daft!

I have been down there late evening working and had someone jump out of the bushes and try to get into the vehicle claiming that they were lost and wanted me to show them the way out.
I've had someone that I didn't see, come charging through the undergrowth from about 100 metres away towards me at night time. Oddly I didn't hang around to find out what that was all about.
I have ridden through there, then turned back along the same track, only to find that someone had dragged a log across the track on a bend, which sent me tumbling off the bike.
Then I had the discovery of the children's and ladies underwear hung as trophies forming a circle around a hollow, along with restraint straps to the trees. On that occasion, because of the child aspect, I reported it the police. The knickers went from being very old decayed and rotten, to seemingly very recent.

As I say, it is an odd place, and I bet that I now freak myself out again when I next ride through there at night time.

Pretty sure you have just put me off the South all together, that means Gloucestershire and below for me.

I complain about the fly tipping and poachers but no Voodoo here.

Do you have Deer on the downs as riding in the woods here at night is a no no in the autumn and winter.

 

[mountainsport]

There is always plenty of both sheep and cows, and it is an impossibility not to get the bike covered in their poo.


Yesterday again.

And one from a previous trip.

Weather permitting, I might well venture back down there again this coming Wednesday.



.

I love to watching the cows playing musical grass.

MS.

 

[mountainsport]

The bridge and the photos below, are all set within the 500 acres of private woodland that I have recently been given permission to ride in.

The area used to be a series of five mill ponds, records I believe only show three, and the flour for queen Victoria's wedding cake was ground at the mill.
I grew up in the area and spent many happy hours and days fishing in the two remaining ponds. The ponds were very dangerous, and claimed the lives of two children in the same day. One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
I also fell into the pond shown below, and have no recollection of how I got out. All that I remember is going down and down, darkness, and tree roots. The next thing that I recall is laying on the side of the bank coughing and spluttering. I really have no idea how I even got there.

The mill spillways and various aspects of the mill pretty much remained in tact up until the early 90's when very wrongly, a local stone company bought the stone and demolished most of what was around. All that beautiful and irreplaceable workmanship lost forever.

There is actually a second small bridge that still remains covered, and I would suspect that I am one of very few, if any, that know that it still exists.

This is it.

There also used to be a series of amazing vaults, that were pretty much destroyed when the stone was taken. As a child it always fascinated me that one of them wasn't as deep as the others. I always figured that the monks had something hidden behind it.
When I went back there this year in May, I discovered that someone else must have thought the same, as they had removed a small area of stone to the side, to gain access. Thankfully it was just solid rock, so I wouldn't at least be left wondering.

I'll have to take some more photos of the various bits and pieces that are still left standing.

It is also a very odd and freaky place. When I left school, my first job was working in the woods there, and for the most part it always felt fine, then there were days that you would turn up, and not even want to get out of the vehicle, and you would leave to work somewhere else. It felt very oppressive, dark and nasty. Oddly in the last year or so, I have met other people that worked there, and made exactly the same comment.
I ride through there all the time now, but occasionally I manage to freak myself out when riding through there late at night. Bloody daft!

I have been down there late evening working and had someone jump out of the bushes and try to get into the vehicle claiming that they were lost and wanted me to show them the way out.
I've had someone that I didn't see, come charging through the undergrowth from about 100 metres away towards me at night time. Oddly I didn't hang around to find out what that was all about.
I have ridden through there, then turned back along the same track, only to find that someone had dragged a log across the track on a bend, which sent me tumbling off the bike.
Then I had the discovery of the children's and ladies underwear hung as trophies forming a circle around a hollow, along with restraint straps to the trees. On that occasion, because of the child aspect, I reported it the police. The knickers went from being very old decayed and rotten, to seemingly very recent.

As I say, it is an odd place, and I bet that I now freak myself out again when I next ride through there at night time.

Yes I know and tell me about it, she must have happily surrendered after all. Above that wonderful photos.

MS.