Why we wear helmets....

Today's freeride group ride had surprises for each and everyone of us. Everyone surprised themselves with how far and high they jumped but some were also surprised by that thing called gravity and how quick the ground can rise up to meet you sometimes! There was definitely some helmet product testing going on.

We set out with 8 and decided given our skills levels we should do a gradual warm-up and build up before we tackled the bigger challenges ahead at Donnie Darko. So we had a go at the gap jump, Captain Underpants, and then over to Heads roll where we sessioned and sessioned the 2 gap jumps in the middle. The first one kind of throws you up a small kicker to a natural tranny into a dip but the 2nd one you really have to have speed and a good take off technique to clear a horizontal gap of around 10+ foot (maybe 3-4m).

At first everyone was landing on the flat landing on the 2nd or landing rear wheel first but you can see from the video analysis that gradually speed and technique were pieced together until we were all landing on the transition with 2 wheels together of front then back. And the smiles said it all- each rider was stoked to have nailed a gap jump!

Matt and Simon then impressed us by tackling the "stupid" 21 foot gap where there is no option but to clear it, no nice flat landing to save you mid way you MUST commit and you MUST make the transition. They both went for it and heart in my mouth they both landed it- spot on! Phew!

Next stop was Rollercoaster really just en route to Donnie Darko but Luka riding it blind got into a fast flow and flew over the last big bomb hole, taking air and landing in a rut to go over the bars or rather into the bars, winding himself badly and crumbling on the ground, gasping for air. We decided once he got his breath back that he should finish riding for the day and we called "Thunderbird 2 to the rescue" (Jackie) to chauffeur  him and his bike off to get checked out- just in case. 

Meanwhile some hairy descents down deliverance were had and the group then had to split off. 5 of us carried on to Donnie Darko. Now without Simon our chief jump demo guy with us, I took the lead and expertly described the technique (in theory) for dropping off the stone ledge and I got Matt to demo it (well I have not done it for 2 years!) Then I did a demo and clearly it was good enough for Anthony to try it too. Ed decided "maybe not", but while Gareth was videoing we all did it again and this time we did it better and it looked and felt smooth. 

Clearly it was impressive as Ed decided to go for it so I clicked record on the video and ... "oh boy" he decided not to jump it but rather to try a front flip off of it! Unfortunately that turned into a somersault landing on his head and folding in 2- all on video- watch to the end for the entertainment!  (My reaction in words says it all!)

Amazingly he was soon up and walking away, a little dazed and confused! Imagine if he did not have a helmet on! Which reminds me- I can't believe it when I see people riding the trails round here without a helmet, even if you don't ride off the technical stuff like this- you never know when a branch will catch you or a root grabs your front wheel and over you go. Protect your bonces guys!

So well done Luka and Ed for wearing helmets- anyway we would not ride with you without them. (By the way there's a special on Giro Xen's on the Nirvana online shop (best helmet ever) - especially there for people like you).

Riders: - Simon, Claire, Matt, Chris, Ed, Anthony, Luka, Gareth

Stats: - 4 jumps mastered, 5 raised egos, 2 broken helmets, 2 broken egos, 8 new friends- ahhh!

Share your Ride Experience!

Whether you ride with the shop group or just ride the North Downs/Surrey Hills.....

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I feel like a Proper Beau

Not a big turn out for today's ride, probably because of a forecast of slight rain, although that failed to emerge. Just 5 of us, Chris back for more after his baptism last week, Ken, Gilles, Simon and Claire the regulars.

So as I'm just one of the boys when it comes to riding, Simon decided I needed to become a "Proper Beau" master. So we sprinted on up to Peaslake and up Pitch and turned onto the "Warm-up" jumps on Proper Beau- the first is a slight downhill onto a small ramp and a tiny gap jump that if you don't clear it you won't get into trouble, the 2nd is a bigger ramp and a bigger gap to clear, the gap is filled with logs so its not too nasty if you land on them but its not that comfy either.

After a few fast and faster sessions over these playing with our speed and technique we were clearing them enough to be ready for the big gap jump no.3. Well all except Tree magnet Chris who despite never trying this stuff before was valiantly leaping off everything but frightening us with his wish to hug trees after each jump!

As we are still learning this stuff I've tried to show some freeze frames in the video to help everyone with their technique analysis.

Next Simon and Gilles demo'ed the bigger gap jump on Proper Beau - it's about an 8 foot gap but the ramp up looks huge as you roll in fast to it. However if you miss the landing tranny, again, you won't hurt too much but you'll get a jolt.

There were far too many trees around for Chris to attempt it and Ken was preserving life for his holiday but I gave it a go and landed pretty well on my first attempt, so next we rolled in as a 3 rider sequence and this time I was faster and flew of the ramp and landed perfectly on 2 wheels on the great tranny- it felt sweet!

We were just getting ready to move on when Ken went back to get his bike and after a long pause and thinking about it he rolled in fast and cleared it first time- I just got the video on him in time! Sweet!

We carried on down T2 to the car park and then watched Simon and Gilles drop off "New Values" - a DH roll in to a large drop over roots and a nice steep smooth transition. As usual they made it look easy.... so I rode up to it twice but decided to leave on a high note and save that adrenalin shot for another day. Watch this space....

Sounds like we only play but after that we got some fast miles in and fixed 2 punctures in a row for Chris. Fortunately he saw fit to invest in new tyres back at the shop, ready for his next tree seeking expedition!

Traveling the World? Ride here first!

I'm gonna start right off the bat and apologise for my lack of camera battery management skills, so today's photos come from my iPhone and clearly I'm just learning the timing for action pics on that! I came home and found the charged battery sitting on the side- oops!

Luckily I was bailed out by newcomer Christine from San Francisco who took loads of pics and even got me on video doing intrepid stuff- read on for that. So keep watching this space as I'll add her pics/vids later.

Lots of new faces today with an international flavour and not so many regulars. 13 of us headed out (and all 13 came back together!). I'll take a stab at some names but as usual you know I missed some... Sasha over from NZ for an extended holiday met Melanie (from Vancouver) and Christine (US) on the train and decided to join us to find the "best stuff"- good decision. Now we all know Vancouver is home of the North Shore and Marin in SF is the reputed birthplace of mountain biking so we had some terrain to live up to.

As we headed up the first climb I was admiring Ronan's mud guard from THE industries- it looked robust but after "selling" me on it, it promptly fell off at the first sign of mud and he wore it as an aerofoil on his backpack for the rest of the ride. In fact it has worn away at the bolt so I'll still consider it as a possibility for my fat seatpost!

Chris' bike had suffered months of neglect at the back of the garage and was creeking from every corner in pain but incredibly survived the whole ride despite the most amazingly worn jockey wheels, a sticky freewheel and chainsuck meaning he had to keep pedaling even downhill! (Some TLC please before my next ride!) Tim was the lucky rider on the demo Lapierre and he rode off everything we threw at him and stormed past me on the stony descent off high ashes throwing me into a wheel eating rut! Well I can't blame him- you gotta ride that bike hard.

Our first taste of the fun trails to come was rollercoaster on Leith- with a few bombholes to roll down and up and enjoy the g-force. Then we headed up past the tower but no tea stop yet....

Rollercoaster & Agony Aunt (click to enlarge):

Click here for more photos from Christine

Steve got a swift lesson in jumping after hitting Agony Aunt (noisily as usual) and pretty much pogoing from his front wheel to back and almost over the bars. Simon gave some good advice and demos of how to compress into the transition and then throw your bike forward through your legs to land so his weight was not so far over the front wheel as he landed. The tip here is to practice your manuals on the flat in a similar way kicking the pedals away and extending your arms. 

So we headed towards the quarry to practice the technique. On the way Simon took us to "A Jab in the Eye" a steep drop off that you could just about roll down but is better to throw your bike off and clear the 'HUGE' root to land on a nice verticalish tranny. Calvin watched him do it and to prove he had his Mojo with him he rode up to it nice and slow, threw his bike forward and landed sooo smoothly- text book! At that point I announced that "you made it look so easy I might do it." (Did I say that out loud in front of a dozen people?) 

So there I was riding up to it..... push the bike thru.... I'm airborne.... wow I've landed... a wobble.... no I'm still upright- yeehaaa that feels great. By now my knees were wobbling with that adrenalin hit. And what a great gang- all cheering me on!

Melanie proved that Canadian girls have gumption and she rolled over the steep drop in on the left as if she does it everyday (although that's not what her face said!)

Sessioning the quarry everyone tried at least the small jump, with Steve practicing his new technique, and Simon had Calvin and I going off the big one. I did it but I have a way to go before I clear smoothly to the tranny.

A rapid descent down High Ashes heading for the Peaslake tea stop via a great run down Golden Birdies (as usual) by all  although the exit onto the road proved an over the bar experience for one who shall remain nameless. Then we pretty much headed back the lowland way via Friday Street to the shop taking in some steep descents and rollovers and one steep leafy climb to keep it interesting.

Always great to see our local trails through the eyes of newcomers and see them acheive new skills. So Thanks for joining us.

Oh yeah and did I mention how dry the trails were and how sunny and warm it is? (That's for all you poor regulars who couldn't make it this week- sorry!)

Riders: - Simon, Calvin, Melanie, Christine, Sasha, Ronan, Chris, Tim, Mark, Steve, John, Claire, OK I know there's one name that eludes me- who is it?- please leave a comment!

Stats: - 31km, 4.5hrs

Lapierre Zesty Review

Many of you may have read our Rowan's review of the Zesty way back in January 2008,  it seems the bike mags have caught wind of this wonder of a bike and are loving it as a longtermer test bike.

Here's the latest review from MBR's Andy Waterman: -

Want to test ride one yourself?

We have a Zesty 514 medium demo bike available for test rides from the shop- just give us a call.

But if you've already ridden one then leave us your comments below...

Lapierre Spicy hits the headlines

You may have noticed in the bike mags this month quite a lot of reverance for the Lapierre Spicy that MBR and MBUK have both had on test.

Check out the reviews here and if you don't believe them or you want to try them out for yourselves we have a Lapierre Spicy 316 medium available for demo rides at the shop. Why not take one out and write your review or comments on this blog. (and if you already had a demo or bought one add your comments below)

What brings you here today?

OK so we all come for the marvellous mountain biking but inspired by the fact that 2 new riders joined us today because they found us on the blog I thought the theme for today would be what brought you to ride with Nirvana Cycles?

Today Chris joined us as he's on leave from the RAF having just got back from Afghanistan and being a northerner down south he doesn't know how to find the great local mountain bike trails that he has heard of via the grapevine. He chanced upon this blog and here he was riding with us and having a lot of fun just having a go at some of the jumps and singletrack we regularly ride. He'd have never found it without us and now armed with his maps from the shop he has a better chance of finding it again. But I'm sure he'll be back for more group rides.

Guy also found the blog and came along as he wants to train for his holiday tour riding across the highlands of Scotland this Summer. He's here to improve his fitness and had not ridden such technical trails before but hopefully he'll be back for more and will not only improve fitness but gain some more technical skills to beat his buddies on that ride.

Then again there are the long termers- Richard used to play Golf but wanting to lose some weight he started road riding until he bumped into an injured mountain biker in A&E and decided that looks like fun. So he came and joined the Nirvana rides. There was no turning back and I'd guess that his mountain biking love has surpassed his Golf nowadays. The bikes have also gradually upgraded from that £100 secondhand heavy weight clunker to a svelte plush 5" travel Turner 5.5 spot- and wow what a difference the bike makes eh?

John and Chris started out on a guided ride with Nirvana and borrowed some demo bikes, John loved his Lapierre Zesty so much he phoned the shop to reserve one before he even finished the ride, now he's a regular weekly rider. And as for Chris- well just look at him on the video and you just know he has the bug!

As for me well I was a competitive netballer always trying to find time to play on my bike between matches (and not get injured!)- but eventually the netball commitment got beaten down by the freedom and thrill of riding my bike when and where and with whom I liked. I bumped into the Nirvana Group on holiday in Morzine in 2001 and was thrilled to find out they had singletrack trails in my backyard of the North Downs- wow!

Whatever your reason for riding- you're welcome on the ride as I'm sure we'll infect you with this bug and convert you to a regular or as a minimum show you some awesome local trails to ride.

(Free) Ride Sunday

It's valentines weekend and clearly those of us whose first love is really our mountain bike were out for a ride- 8 of us started out. 

The Sunday rides from Nirvana Cycles are advertised as free but this one truly became a FreeRide, unintentionally we ended up not piling on the miles this week but instead finding anything that we could rollover that might trip us up or we could launch off to get 3 inches of air, and there was plenty of material around Leith Hill.

We'd lost Nick off the back in the first climb so we played on the Summer Lightning DH trail jumps getting some good speed and air off the first 5 jumps while we waited for him to find us. Then we let Jason ride his nemesis jump that had ripped his shoulder rotator cuff some months ago, fortunately no repeat of that. 

Heading on up to Leith- Gilles and Simon sessioned Donnie Darko until Nick found us, then we played on Windy willows a little then back up to a packed Leith Tower for tea and cake. We met with Ian, Jo and Vier and picked up a couple of other riders at the Agony Aunt log jump, who tagged on to play on some drop ins and then play on the jumps in the quarry.

There was quite a bit of sessioning the kickers in the quarry until Gilles cleared the big one and hit his high for the day. We started back over to Redlands via Deliverance which we all made it down in a variety of sketchiness and then we watched Simon's build up to the big jump and then his bunny hop technique off the ramp at the bottom (what an anti-climax!)

Over in Redlands there's a fallen tree to ride over and our confident team knew they could ride it no problem but with a camera on them their unanticipated circus antics were entertaining for the cameraman if not the riders!

The trails are pretty muddy but all still ridable and again we were blessed with sunshine and the warmest day we have had in ages.

Finished at the shop for some of Liz's cake and a cuppa with Simon to tell our tales and show videos!

Team Lapierre v Turner (& Orange Squash)

Team Lapierre Zesty

Wednesday's ride saw a rivalry between the Turner riders and the Lapierres, with a Cove Stiffee and a less than Zesty Orange thrown in.

Claire, Matt and John were riding for the Lapierre Zesty team with his and hers blue 514's and Matt's bling top of the range 914 in black. We slightly outnumbered the Turner 5 spots for a change who were down to 2- Gilles and Richard but just to throw in some mix Chris was squeezing his new Orange 5 in there and ex-singlespeed champ Jason was back with the full 27 speed Cove Stiffee.


Team Lapierre v Turner (oh and an Orange boy!)

After 2 days of rain and freezing temps the sun again shone on us and we ventured out into the blue skies and deep mud. Heading over to Holmbury, Pitch and Winterfold where going was pretty good versus the slop on the Leith Hill trails. Again we all took on the adrenalin shot of 2 headed dog and then further into the mud we ended up riding up a river (OK Gilles it was justa stream but its all your fault!).


It's always great to look at the different levels of skills and fitness of each rider. After all we have all been there at some stage. So often a newer rider comes along and feels concerned to be at the back or not able to ride some of the technical routes but are soon regaled with stories from the rest of us- we all started out there too, looking over precipice drops and saying "You ride down that?!" and yet now we just ride over it with hardly a qualm.

Plus we have all had our stint at the back of the group (some of us more than others)- always catching up and breathless as the rested front runner take off again when you get there. BUT we all stuck with it and kept on riding, kept pushing our skills limits and kept on improving so now we can ride with the pack or ride the technical stuff (which gets to be more and more fun).

So the moral of this story is "Stick with it", keep coming out riding with us and you too will see the improvements in your skills and fitness- and boy that sure feels good!

The Good, the Evil and the 2 Headed Dog

Sunday's ride was a real melee of experiences. 12 riders rocked up at the shop ready to roll at spot on 11am,  despite the forecast of freezing rain and snow due this afternoon. As usual some old regulars and some new faces, some new bikes and some old trusty rides! 

Calvin having broken a Titus was riding his newly built Mojo SL and I was riding my new Lapierre Zesty 514 which has already won my heart! We even had 2 roadies, Simon and John who were trying out the demo Turner and Lapierre Zesty as we attempted to convert them to the dark side of biking!

There was still some snow on the trails in a lot of places but melting to slush with a splash of mud, a nice recipe for sludge. The going was entertaining in places due to these varied conditions wheels could slip in any direction at any moment. But the sun was shining and the sky blue and it was really another glorious 

winter's day.

Heading up to Holmbury, Jason skipped his Cove Stiffee into a rut and a stick promptly entered his rear mech and broke his rear hanger off. (Testament to why we have replaceable hangers instead of broken frames). This is where we split into EVIL nasty riders who took off with Simon to carry on riding and the goody two shoes NICE riders who stayed with Jason as we converted his bike to a singlespeed! (Ken and me!)

The Nasty and nice ones reconvened at Peaslake for a cuppa after a run down Golden Birdies/Barry Knows Best/ Reservoir Dogs (whichever you call it). Then we headed up over Winterfold and everyone had a look at the 2 headed dog, most riding it to varied levels of success- John who was riding the demo Turner 5.5 Spot took a real fast run at it and escaped with only a minor crash. (See video)

We piled some more miles under our wheels skirting the edge of St Martha's and back through Albury. By the time we got back to Abinger Jason's singlespeed legs were burnt out and Gilles was spent (and that hardly ever happens!) but we made it back to the shop to repair bikes and replenish energy with a nice cup of tea. Smiles all round and a couple of roadies who had also been won over by the Zesty and the North Downs riding- only time will tell if we succeeded in converting them but judging by their smiles.....!

Riding stats: -

Riders: - Simon, Nick, Gilles, Ken, Claire, Jason, Simon, John, Calvin, (oops- 3 names I didn't get sorry guys let me know who you are and eventually I will learn!)

Distance: - 37 km (for the NICE guys, a tad longer for the EVIL ones)

Duration: - 4hrs 24mins

Photos: - see slide show in right column and video above.

Lube Station!

Simon and Jackie's son Joe (aged 9) had a great idea- riders need to lube their bikes before and after a ride so....

here is the new free lube station on the shop front door. For all you regular riders, so come snow, ice, rain and sun- make sure you lube well- help yourself!

Snow Old Blokes Ride - 4th Feb 2009

It cannot have escaped anyone's notice that its been snowing lately! So the Wednesday's Old Blokes Ride from the shop was going to be a fun one. For those who haven't made it out to the North Downs while its been white here is a taste of what its like...

5 of us turned up, Simon, John, Ken, Brian and Claire and headed on up Rookery on some crunchy ice to start with - which (if you know the stepped bridleway climb) led to a lot of wheel spinning and eventually hike a bike!

Climbing up to Coldharbour called for some skilled pedaling- you have to keep your weight even on both wheels, pedal very smoothly and try not to turn the wheels too much or else you are fish tailing all over the place. The terrain quickly varies from slippery compacted ice to crunchy and very grippy snow. You can get speed up on the latter but beware because you can suddenly find your self back on the slippy stuff.

Once confident on the snow conditions Simon led us over some nice technical sections around Leith Tower, its amazing how different the trails look when covered in white stuff and it feels like riding new trails. Everyone had a go at playing over the technical drops and all stayed upright!

A quick coffee at the Plough in Coldharbour and warm up by the open fire and then we headed back out on the Summer Lightning downhill course which was a thrill then back via New soemthing Face trail (I must remember the trail names Simon tells me!) I was sweeping up the back while Simon and John were crashing and getting buried in the snow - it was like skittles watching them fall in front of me.

Well the trails are in excellent conditions to ride and the blue skies made it a perfect day, but beware the backroads on the way back- they are still compacted ice and it was like riding on an ice rink on the way back to the shop.

If you haven't been lucky enough to ride it yet, hope for more this weekend and come out and play!

28cm Snow + 5" Travel= 4 hrs of fun!

Having heard the forecast on Friday for heavy snow on Sunday/Monday, I,like an excited kid on Christmas eve, kept looking out of the window on Sunday night watching the white stuff falling and settling- "oooh tomorrow I need to ride!"

Monday morning and it was still snowing and we had about 20cm on the ground already in the North Downs- bike gear on and I was off skidding up the bridleways to Colley Hill. I met a lady on snow blades skiing down with a big beam on her face. At the top the kids were toboganning through the amphitheatre/bombhole and giggling as snowballs hit them. Everyone was in such a jolly mood.

Most people were off work/ school but some sorry people were still having to travel

despite reports that the M25 was shut in several places. I crossed over the M25 and it was difficult not to be smug that I was playing on my bike while these people suffered...

I probably did not choose the best tracks after this as, what was flowy fast singletrack just 2 days ago became a tough slog through almost 30cm of snow right on the top of the golf course at Banstead Heath.

I headed into Walton on the Hill and narrowly avoided the

snowballs as I pedaled through a battlefield near the pond. The swans and ducks did not look too amused at the state of their pond today.

I had set out with the intention of reaching Box Hill to collect my snowboard from my parents garage and hike up to ride the hill, despite the tough going I was stubborn enough to complete my objective. I had a pretty hairy descent down Box Hill but the climb up the icy road was the worst of the day.

I was exhausted taking 4 hrs from Reigate to Box Hill (normally takes 1.5hrs). Too much so to go snowboarding, or even to ride home. I had lunch to revive myself and dried my clothes then I cycled back across Denbies and down to Deepdene station. Caught the 4:30 train (which departed at 4:55) into Reigate and then cycled home in the dusk. Phew what a day!

The BBC tell me we had 28cm of snow (not seen so much for 20 years), combining that with the 5inch travel on my new Lapierre Zesty 514L bike led to a fun and very memorable day. Yippeee!

(Here are some pics and antics filmed along the way- apologies for the screeching brakes on the last downhill)

Sunday Ride 1st Feb 2009

A good turn out of 11 people on Sunday considering it was around 1 degrees and the forecast promises heavy snow this afternoon/evenings. 11 riders turned up, some old faces, some ones that had not been around for ages and some totally new riders. Gilles led the ride with Richard sweeping up the back of the group.

Trails were reasonably firm as it was cold so the mud was a little more frozen. From the 11 people at the start we dropped a few after the Peaslake tea stop with just 6 of us left, the others having split off and headed back to the shop. We rode from Westcott up rookery to the Summer lightning DH trail where some entertaining approaches to the jumps were observed! Then over Leith Hill Tower - and down to watch Gilles and Sam ride sticky fingers then over to Peaslake for tea and cheese straws or cakes depending on the need for sustenance!

We headed up Pitch Hill via the church to get warm quick on a steep incline and over the jumps and into Proper Beau where Gilles and Sam were persuaded to pose for the camera in the above video while Ian fixed Jo's flat tyre. Then we made a speedy return through some very light snow flurries back to Nirvana Cycles for tea and more cake with Simon.

I'm still learning everyone's names but here are those I remember: - Gilles, Sam, Richard, Ian, Jo, Claire, Bettina, Simon, Duncan, and 2 names I don't know yet- sorry guys but I have a terrible memory for names!