NE&Yorks- RBDW route survey Dalby- 23May -The Aftermath

Sithlord

Old School Grand Master
The day started off for me at 5am ready for a 6am pickup by the good Dr S, (cheers Si ;))

As usual Si, had his formula 1 racing head on again , heading at speeds close to warp factor 12, toward dalby for breakfast .. The amount of sheep that must have thought there days were numbered :shock: :shock: :LOL: :LOL: as they saw this turbo charged yellow vito coming toward them..... :shock: :shock: :LOL: :LOL: nothing stopping the good Dr from getting his breakfast on time, apart from the usual pit stop for me to hurl up :LOL: :LOL:

We arrived in the car park, as usual early, waiting for the rest of the retrobike massive to turn up... this was time enough for the Dr to drag his 38lb Klunker out of the van ..
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She needed a few adjustments, and luckily Si had his multitool on him...
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:LOL: :LOL:

Obviously the choice for me (sithlord) was the newly cleaned and assembled ritchey
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Next to turn up was Andy_b on what can only be described as a motorcycle, but sadly he had forgot to bring the engine..
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Lots of 'Test' riding , ensued over the next 20mins waiting for the rest of the crew to turn up.. Dr S was having second thoughts about getting round the intended route , and there was talk of him using his 'backup bike'

Sinnett and reanimation turned up next and yet further talk of the 'klunker' and the distinct lack of brakes was debated
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The Dr said that the brakes were spot on and were plenty good enough as he did'nt use them much anyway
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'honestly when you pull that lever it does move the canti.. :LOL: :LOL:

a healthy english breakfast was then had by all , The good Dr having a 'belly buster' to make sure he had plenty in reseve to haul his beast of a bike around the intended route..:) a special guest appearance for breakfast turned up ,Tim (justbackdated, really nice to see you fella ;);)) , although he had thrown us , as he had lost his 'captain hook' mustache..

a quick drive to the forest saw the arrival of MJM and P20 and after a little fettling by all the wide variety of bikes were ready to go.
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The rest of the day was filled with fun and frolics, which I'll leave someone else to fill in.. as I the sun is shining and the trails are calling.. :)

Thanks to you all for a great ride yesterday... take it easy...
 
If only I'd not have forgotten the engine for my bike I might have been a bit quicker :oops: :LOL: I think I need to get out a bit more...

Anyhoo, Here's the route: https://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/wor ... id=1036540

No pictures I'm afraid as 1hr from home I realised that I'd forgotten my camera :evil:

I arrived in Pickering a little early due to the wonderfully empty roads on the way :twisted: , I was greeted by Dr S. & Sithlord riding round the car park on the Klunker & Ritchey, I also had a little blast round the car park on both bikes. Trying the Ritchey then the Klunker was quite interesting, Both are cool bikes in their own ways!

After the arrival of Sinnett and Reanimation a very tasty breakfast was swiftly devoured & washed down with a good strong coffee & talk of forks, mostly from Sith & Tim.

So off we head to Dalby to meet everyone else...Dr S's Vito don't half shift!

Some fettling of headsets ensued as did more mucking about in car parks

Then down to the main event, the ride!

I knew I might be slow, which was proven within 10 mins of starting as I watched everyone slowly disappear up the 1st climb... Hopefully no one got too bored waiting for me!

Once at Dixons Hollow (we missed out the 1st 1/3rd of the trails to get to the fun stuff) we hit the trails, lovely singletrack through the woods, only interrupted by the tight switchbacks twisting back up the hillside, and everyone stalling out on the 1st one :LOL:

Then down into the valley via big berms & switchbacks & on towards the Adders Back climb upto the Crosscliffe fireroad and back into the flowing singletrack from Crosscliffe back down to the fireroad which links to the Riggs & Dales sections, which have some of the best sections of Dalby in them (IMHO) the last two sections are so much fun :D

It was a right blast to be sat about 2ft from Dr S's rear wheel, who was less than 1ft off the back of Sithlord through the last section :twisted:

Got home for tea, collapsed in bed at 10pm, absolutely shattered after a cracking day out

Great ride & cool meeting a few of the faces behind the usernames on the forum :cool:
 
There were a string on mini dramas on the Friday, which effectively meant we did the first leg of the journey; South Mancs to West yorks at 11pm and got to bed for 1am to sleep on my Chipboard DIY bed there, not best. Captain Sinnett was outside the house at 6:35 :eek: OMG My gear was still wet! Quik hair drying of gloves and shorts, I was dressed and got some mouthfuls of Shreddies! On the road we go.

Bit of brekkie at the caf. And then up to the meet.

I'd decided to fetch my modern since the invite was open, and seemed like a bit of a recee of the trail, and Si was bringing his Klunker, Pottymouth had his full susser, and a single speed on board. ideal for some new build modern klunker testing.
Its a bit of a kinda 4x jump bike type thing, bit weighty at over 30lbs and a bit small, and one gear. Not ideal I realised but really needed a proper off road test as its built to take on owt. :cool: P20 and MJN were flummaxed by my gearing choice and chuckled some, which dropped some confidence for the day. The 38/16 which is fine on the BMX track and local gooning about was going to be a bit much. Hmm :? To be fair the bike performed ok, I kept storming up hills with momentum and no sitting down stomping on teh pedals and pulling up on the bars. phew. I think the forks need attention as they are not giving much at all, and the tyres a bit hard, but they gripped beautifully. The track was great though really flowing and once comfortable with the still new to me bike I was dropping off roots and ledges happily, it loved it. Quite glad I wasn't XC nose down.
The 6.5lbs tight cromo frame wasn't so flexy for suspension but nice n point and shootable.

Weather was strange, nice n dry, but we all got a bit clammed up, current bun was hiding somewhere. Guys in front were doing well steaming up hills and stuff, The Dr steaming back to front a few times, and typically Andy pottymouthing with me at the back. I was chasing after Sinnett who was attacking all that got in his way on the AlpineStars. And Jack holding back occasionally to grab some pics, and OMG video! :oops: should be interesting. Lot of weight in that back pack. :cool:

20 miles between 10am to about 3pm? Andys Nokia said a average of 7 MPH. Pot of tea and a KitKat concluded the event.

Back home for Tea time (cheers Sinnett).
By this time I was totally shagged out, I got straight in the bath and fell asleep and felt totally worn and hungover. then went to bed with a throbbing headache/stomach and stayed there, with a neighbours BBQ party outside and the light coming through. Insania. Water and paracetamol fixed me eventually, so Starvin' Marvin followed it up with Pie and peas. Nice.

Bike got a clean on Sunday, I'm not sure what I'll do with it, it still fits the brief for riding local and the odd trail but 20 mile is a bit much for a small frame. Forks need totally servicing possibly and lowering a tad if they are staying on this and might look at a 17t (or 18t) for the rear. As for that kinda riding, it'd be nice to reframe it with something bigger, or build up and test my FSer, which would be over kill but fit. Don't regret taking it, it was another successful challenge and test ride :cool:

Cheers to all those oranising and helping. :)

Now looking for a chairopractor... :LOL:
 
no wonder young folk got out the way with Dr S coming down the hill super fast after you- I've seen those photofits on crimewatch ;)
 
neilll":1o5zuw6x said:
Did Dr S ride in that authentic 'repack' gear? ;)

Afraid to say I didn't. It was far too clammy for jeans and shirt, so after 40 mins styling it about the car park in Dalby whilst all the 'moderns' were fettled, I compromised with shorts and an old RB Tshirt. Still took the beard and the hair round which I'm glad to say have been removed now.

Back at work today so will add a few pics and thoughts on 21st century Klunking later today.

Si
 
Dr S' Dalby Report

Right then, some thoughts on Klunking and just a few pics as I was kept busy hauling that damn bike round. Hopefully Jack will have some better shots coming up soon enough.

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Opposite ends of the Retro spectrum, lots of progress in twenty odd years, but how would they perform out on the trails? I did have my moments of doubt before the off, especially as due to extended fettling of those pesky 'moderns' I had longer than usual to stew over my choice of steed. I had a good half hour practicing my speedway style cornering method- the only way to get a big heavy Klunker around the switchbacks.

First climb
Shortcutting up to Dixons Hollow to get to the juicier bits, I was supprised how well it rode. Yes it was comfortable due to that big Brooks saddle, but the riding position was also nice- upright, making the best of the views, and not too stretched out to the relief of my back which has had a hard time of late. The racing snakes streamed off ahead, MJN being the usual King of The Climbers, followed by Jack, Mark and an on-form Sithlord. Reanimation amazed me by being able to grind that rediculous gearing choice up the hill with little trouble.

We were on top of the plateux now and time to shift onto that big 52 tooth ring and stretch the Klunk's legs along a section of fire road. Stones pinged and Deer fled into the trees as we headed to Dixons. As the narrow and almost hidden singletrack that shortcuts to our destination suddenly appeared stage right I discovered two things. First, a speeding Klunker with 30 year old brake pads does not like to shed speed nor change direction quickly- the first of many hairy understeering moments, before the back end lazily gets in on the act and follows with its own slide and shimmy. Secondly, wide Knobby tyres and the thinnest of down tubes means a face full of Dalby at every turn.

Dixons Hollow
And so to the bike park. This is where I hope Jack comes up trumps with the pictures. A good twenty minutes were spent playing around on the jumps much to the amusement of the modern owning bystanders and families on hire bikes.

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Onwards We now took it in turns out front around the red route, rough in places and quite wet and slippy. Downhills were treat with caution at first due to those brakes but as my confidence in Arnold Schwinn and Co rose I started to relax a little. At this point Sith started to have transmission woes as chain automatically shifted from cog to cog on its own. Then there was the comedy traffic Jam around the hairpin at Worry Gill. A few nasty climbs back up to Crosscliffe followed which I was determined to ride even though that ancient Suntour front mech refused to shift onto the smallest ring up front. So here I was, grinding away just off Jack's back wheel on a 38T front. I though I was going to burst by the time the trail levelled out. Time for a fag, a drink and to compare notes of progress so far.

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'Oi mate, theres summat wrong with yer forks!' Jack heads up the hill whilst Sith takes the easier option as his transmission plays up again.

Next up was the part of Dalby I most enjoy. Superb flowing smooth singletrack that winds in and out of the trees. I was sat at the back of a line of five bikes through here, all a wheel width apart, comitted and trusting in each others ability as we flowed like ribbon along the trail- until we came to the bomb holes that is. Jack peeled off from the peleton and dived into the abyss with me just behind him. Unfortunately the trail has a kink in it after the hole and Jack slithered off line and regained the track at reduced speed just as I crested and rounded the bend. How i missed him I don't know- I had a vision of Klunk hitting exploding carbon like a F1 Car hitting the barriers at Monaco.

Riggs and Dales
The final push. This is a great section of Dalby with a bit of everything. It has suffered over the winter months and the steep downhill section with the drop offs and doubles which I had been looking forward to was very rough and I had the brakes on fully the whole way down as I struggled to hold on as the bike bucked and shook itself to bits requiring a hasty bodge to the front mech. It was here that we had another encounter with Dalby's wildlife- Snakes on the trail! It was getting more like Marin County than Yorkshire. The little bugger was right in the middle of the trail and was going to get squashed. We got him moved to safety after trying to get him to pose for the camera. He wasn't impressed and tried to wriggle free on several occasions but hopefully Jack got the shot.

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Riggs and Dales has a few jumps littered along it. I'm not usually very happy in the air and I usually just roll over them. Today was different. the Klunk loves jumps. It flys well and lands square and true everytime. I was now starting to hit them faster and faster and even bunnyhop for added height. I was really enjoying this and I was so glad I had chosen the Klunk over my beloved FAT back in the car park.

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Le Grand Finale
Tired arms and legs set in for some as we headed North again toward the finish at Low Dalby. The Schwinn now had several rattles and creaks that it did not have 3 hours before but bike and rider was in bullish mood along the last stretch. I passed a tiring Sinnett before reeling in Andy who replied with a 'F**k me I've been Klunked'. Just Sithlord to go. I was all over him like a rash as the trail pointed down for the last time. I started to harrass him- ' I'm gonna get you Gimp!' ' Ooooo, getting scetchy' 'right behind you' 'come on yer pansy- get yer foot down or I'm gonna have you'....I could hear Andy right behind me and though this could get messy if one of us made a mistake. Sith got more and more ragged under pressure as his skinny race whippet began to come unstuck- and there it was, my chance. Sith cruelly punctured on the final hairpin in the trees and as he slithered wide I was through and into the open. The final hundred or so yards are on an open banking overlooking the car park and cafe. I pushed the Klunk as fast as it would go with foot out slides around the last few zig zags. I was Gary Fisher on Mount Tam for just a few seconds and it felt great. I got to the bottom to find a grinning MJN waiting for us.

So a mountain of tea and cake was consumed as we enthused about our adventures. No real dramas to report but plenty of smiles and a good day was had by all. Suprisingly I felt much fresher at the finish that my last Dalby outing- that time on a Kona Hei Hei that weighed in 20lbs lighter. Proof that my Moutain Mayhem training has gone well. The Klunks next outing will be at MM so if you fancy a blast on it give me a shout.

A Grand Day Out

Si

Ps. Now i have got ny maiden outing out of the way I have had a hair cut and a shave much to the delight of Mrs S!!
 
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