Monday Baiku

Group Mountain Baiku:

Collect Bikes and bodies on route to the drop zone. Roll call of 12. Head off after slightly prolonged faff and emergency jacket procurement from local outdoor shop. First flat track claims first inner tube. And tyre. JV reappears re-tyred and off again. Weather forecast lied. Wet, slow and slippy. Roots out for a body count today. Gump squeezes through the narrow valley of death roots unscathed - just. Could've warned him I realise. Into the woods trying not to loose people. Look round, lost Tintin. Again! And at the same point as twice before. Figure he knows the area better than me now and let him reappear at his own pace. Lots of slogging along and up to get to a closed cafe for a late lunch that just got later. More singletrack before hitting the lethal mixture of chalk and fresh rain smply known as the South Downs Way in winter. Tea shop. Expensive, average food was never so eagerly scoffed. Cake. Train. Smile. Hand shakes. Disband. Best ride of my life.


Solo Mountain Baiku:

Morning after the group ride. Up early. Just me and a set of thinner tyres today. Fast rather than technical mood this morning. Into the woods. Trail is all dried out! Why couldn't it be like this yesterday? Breath. Lungs. Work. Climb. Lockout. Awake and alive. See people I know. Quick hello. See people I don't know. Quick plug of the site. GT LTS2 and old FSR implies they might pop by. Down the downhills. Up the other side. Climb the good climb. Spin home. Mind free'd, along with endorphins. Big smile. This makes me happiest. This is why I ride. Best ride of my life.


Interested to hear other participant's Baiku's from Saturday...

Long drive, quick brekkie, long faf in car park, quick hellos, short ride, long wait, short ride, long wait, long singletrack, sweet, horrid climb, no lunch, long climb, more long singletrack, quick road blast to car, long drive home. Big smile all day!

up early , train , long train again but with Tintin so not so boring . ride , wet , muddy , those Magic tyres are at the front are really good , hutchinson python at the back really crap , hard climbs trying to follow John and Gump , great singletrack , great downhill on the white stuff . nice coffee , not so nice food . very long train back , train again .

nice to see you all .

Up early. Full cooked breakfast with Ed. Faff then drive to Real Ale Wobble. Queue for ages, far quicker to enter on the day. Depart on long fire road climb, lovely. Gears skip, bugger effectively ss after all. Greasy, slatey descent. Yuck. Lots of deep puddles. Double yuck. Regroup, Jon's top still Persil white - how? Now peaty bog, now open grassland, now liquid mud. Fall off on gentle grassy slope. Prat. Brief road section to beer stop after 3 hours. Tasty. Eat chocolate raisins. Long fire road climb, beer seems to have sucked out strength amd willpower. Back to road then another beer stop. Final road section to river. Clean bikes. Mike cleans self. It's over. Beer and peach schnapps. Best ride in Wales on 17th November 2007 ever.

vroom. faff. vroom. sloosh. crack!! slurp...mmmm. squelch. sloosh. slurp. pffffff. pump pump pump. pffff. pump pump pump. slurp. munch. mmmmmmmmmm, tiffin. slurp. snore. savour. digest. vroom.

top weekend

9.45pm Fri go to bed...11pm still awake...3.45am Sat alarm call...4.30am Mike at door...glad loaded up last night...8am somewhere in Wales cooked breakie...9.45am meet Longy...10am meet Ed and Ed2...10.30am hit trails...cold...mud...cold...mud...mud...slip...mud...slip...wow the views...the views...the views...mud...slip...front wheels washes out...cant unclip...THUMP!...off bike climbing...slip...mud...climb...climb...climb...road...relax...relax...river bike and self wash...back to car park...get changed...warmth ...drink and grub with the boys...talk about the ride...laugh...this is what biking is about...best ride ever

Saturday morning 7.30am.. alarm goes off jump out of bed, get bollocked by G/friend for being more eager to ride my bike than getting up for work on weekdays :roll: !
9am Big black cloud looms over my workshop which is 1 mile from Arundel and heavens open, mount my Pace to relise that the headset bearings have seized so spray with release oil in a pikey fashion until the fork rotates.
10.30 am meet motley crew and start the stop/start ride of Joke, banter, ammusement, up's, downs single track, unexplicable holes in time. 4pm with heavy legs and slowing pace I hear the Voice of MADCOWKEV 'Steve... carry on peddling, don't stop now!!!!' Really good ride and company.
Sunday, quick loop over the South downs on the G/friends Clockwork and back into Brighton.. last 20mins of the ride upping the pace back into Brighton before the heavens open and I hear the tones of MADCOWKEV in my head ''Steve... carry on peddling, don't stop now!!!!' Good ride and with thoughts and memories from the previous day keeping the Grey matter twitching.