Counting down to Ecstasy

Started out with some trail maintenance on Countdown to Ecstasy- this has promise and more will come on this in future posts no doubt. Some of the guys had a go at riding the gap on it, so first efforts can be seen on the video. Much to do still though.

Then we headed over to Summer Lightning DH and went over to walk up and find the trailhead to trails coming off Moonlight in Vermont that we had not ridden before. It was a fast direct DH to a pretty flat landing kicker jump- yuk! But a good option off Windy Willows.

Up to Leith Hill for tea and cake- open on a Wednesday! What a treat. It was sunny out but pretty chilly at the Tower so we ranged from those in short sleeved T-shirts to me in waterproof and thermals!

We wound round the Leith Hill singletrack to the quarry for some jumps, where Ken showed off his flying abilities on his new Specialized Enduro bargain 2nd hand acquisition! We finally got him on a Full Sus and he is making the most of it. Meanwhile Gary graduated to the big jump- gradually!

We singletracked it back to the shop through fast and twisty dry trails and a great run down the Greensand way to Rookery- as always.

Old Girls Ride!

Jackie may not forgive me for the title of this blog entry (we're not old!) but that's nothing compared to what she'll say about the video!

I've been riding with the old blokes ride on Wednesdays for a while now, so today was time for us old birds to get out. Jackie and I headed up to Ranmore amongst fantastic views over the Downs in all their glorious colours in the brightest Sunshine we've had yet, luscious green fields, interspersed with swathes of yellow rapeseed, and the swelling blue oceans of bluebells-the best of what England has to offer this St.Georges week!

You'll witness from the video that we attempted the big tree trunk roll on the way to Abba Zabba, several times! Unfortunately I only got the 1st attempt on video and not the final successful runs as my hands were needed elsewhere. This was because after the swearing died down after the 1st attempt Jackie had the gumption to keep going back for another try while I spotted her.

The issue was however that I stood to catch her at the place she fell last time and each time she got a stage further and fell further from my reach. At one point she could not get out of her SPDs and was falling into the horrible hole between the logs from the highest point and she was only saved from an almighty fall by the fact I caught her camelbak straps and pulled her upwards as she fell to lessen the impact. (Not very graceful but it did the job- good old camelbak!)



I could not believe that she kept trying til she got it and indeed she did it! Hey this was the first time I've ever cleared the whole thing in one so it was a great achievement for us both.

After that adrenalin rush we mellowed out amongst the bluebells that are really sprouting up everywhere now. Such a sight! And we hurtled down a trail called "Coitus Interruptus" (don't ask where that name came from, I can only imagine!) at such speed that I realise Jackie's in it for the downhills if not the ups.

I carried on up to Leith as it was so dry and I wanted to check out Windy Willows. The trail is in good condition but still has some mud patches on the usual corners and dips enough to suck your speed back, but its certainly faster than recent times and I do enjoy the easy tree trunk jump at the end so I sessioned that a few times. Reluctant to come home out of this Sun!

Great to have a girls ride out at last!

Titus El Guapo Bike Review

Spanish for “The Handsome One”, The El Guapo is a 6” all mountain steed from Titus Bikes. Having spent many a Saturday gawping at it, it was time to take the bike out on demo.

Sitting in the same category as the Lapierre Spicy, the El Guapo has tough competition, but with trips to the Alps, Wales and the Lakes becoming increasingly common, a 6inch travel “do-it-all” bike is topping many peoples to-buy list. The Frame continues the Titus tradition by using the horst link, which over the years has been perfected by Titus under the license of Specialized.

 New for 2009, the front end has been completely reworked with Kylie like curves and a 1.5” head tube. The oversized head tube opens doors to 1.5” steerer tubes which means a stiffer front and stronger bearings, although step-down headsets can be bought to run a conventional 1 1/8” steerer. Kept supple by 4 oversized sealed bearings, the frame also has ISCG mounts meaning that a chain guide can be fitted to keep the chain in check on those rocky descents. With a trusty Fox RP23 coming as standard, the El Guapo can also take a Fox DHX coil shock to give a more freeride and rock eating feel to the bike. With 155mm (6.1”) of rear wheel travel, I wasn’t expecting the all mountain Titus to fly up the hills, and its by no means a cross country race bike. But considering there is the potential to eat singletrack, make mincemeat of downhill’s, glide over roots and inspire confidences to new levels, the El Guapo behaved remarkably on the inclines. 

The placement of the linkage (directly behind the BB) means that when you do apply pressure through the cranks on the uphill, pedal bob is kept to a minimum, and help is at aid with the 3 position pro pedal feature on the custom RP23 rear shock. The full build weight of around 30lbs (Spec. Below) also helped to get the 6” all mountain rig up the hill. A noticeable feature on the El Guapo, Is the super low bottom bracket. Sitting at 13.80” the bottom bracket is a fraction under an inch lower than the Spicy. This results in a much better handling bike, and a lowered centre of gravity, which in essence, is going to provide a more fun nippy, trail bike. The head angle is slack enough to allow the bike to feel at home on the steeper trails, yet avoids narrow boat like characteristics when turning. 

When riding the El Guapo down the steeper rooted sections, I couldn’t help but compare its handling with that of my Giant Glory DH. The frame felt fully at home on the rough, and could no doubt hold its own against bigger downhill specific bikes. 

Conclusion – with the aesthetic appeal of a half dressed Beyonce, the burliness of the Mitchell brothers, and the speed of that Jamaican bloke from the Olympics, the El Guapo ticks all the right boxes on a 6” bike checklist. Not only does it climb like a cross country bike, it comes back down like a downhill bike, and will eat jumps and drops alike without breaking a sweat. The El Guapo is a serious benchmark in the category. NB

Sun shines on the right Trails

As quick as the mud came it disappeared. Wow the last few days have been glorious sunshine and today was the best of the lot. So sorry to all you guys stuck in the office!

9 of us started and finished today. Although after the 1st climb we lost Gary to 2 punctures. While he returned to the shop for first aid we rode Grievous Angel. Scott from Oz had come down from Essex to ride and was in at the deepend with a bad landing, good attempted recovery and then a comedy crash off the first log. (see video) Gilles was back on form although he did have a refusal on the 2nd.

Chris had a laying down moment on the 3rd, right in front of me but fortunately I did not land on him.

We lunched on the green outside the shop while Gary got tubed up again and rejoined the ride.

Sweet sweet bulbs ws calling and we sessioned that which is really in great condition now, then down F&M. Climbing up to Coldharbour we rode the Summer Lightning DH trail then over to Valorian to find Ken's shades (apparently he went OTB last night and left them there).

At that point having mentioned everyone elses crashes and mishaps I dropped into the Valorian bombhole, and trying to go fast to make it up the other side I sank my front wheel in the mud, went OTB and shoulder checked the other bank. Ow! 1st crash in ages and no armour- that hurt and I went quiet. (Shoulder and knee are now rather swollen and black and blue already! Watch out there may be photos later!)

I was not alone in questionable technique as everyone after me had an off moment trying to get out the climb and some tree hugging was attempted.

Descending damn fast down Bassanova (is there any other way?) we finished down to Rookery so fast and dry- fun! Another great ride in the bag!

Riders: Simon, Roger, Scott, John, Chris, Gary, Matt, Gilles, Claire

Super Sunday Singletrack

Wow! After such a quiet Wednesday ride we had a huge turn out today- 15! And we were not the only ones- Peaslake stores were packed with hungry bikers out to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather even though the trails still had a few splashes of mud hanging around. (Especially at the bottom of big bomb hole drop ins!)

We climbed up around Leith taking in some time to practice drops off at"Jab it in the Eye" and the quarry before dropping down and up over to Holmbury, then dropped into Peaslake via Surfer Rosa and Golden Bridies which is in great condition. After a crowded snack stop we carried on up to Leith Tower again and then down via Windy Willows which was very muddy.

Stopping to video the jump on Windy Willows I was precariously positioned in the crash landing zone once again but had a narrow escape from a tangle with a Lapierre Spicy!

Miles and miles today at a mellow sunny pace- but clearly some technique practice still required by many preparing for their Alpine and Canadian holidays- no doubt a good turn out at next Saturday's skills ride I hope!

Riders: Simon, Simon, Mike, Martin, Andy, Jason, Nick, Richard, Giorgio, Mike, Matt, Laura, Claire, Dave

Dorking Holiday Destination

Officially the quietest ride I've ever known! Simon had to man the shop, so Claire led the ride but only John Chef turned up from our "regulars" and a newbie- Tim who was on holiday in Dorking for the 3rd year running!



As a local and regular I never think of Dorking/North Downs as a holiday destination but when Tim got us talking about it, it makes a lot of sense. They hired a cottage in Broadmoor which was very cheap, had a whole gang of them staying there. They can walk and mountain bike the seemingly endless trails locally from their door. They don't even need to know the trails - just come riding with the Nirvana shop rides and its easy. It's only the weather that's a gamble and it seems that gamble payed off this week.

Plus down the A24 for the kids there's Bocketts farm and for the adults Denbies wine tasting tours! I'm sure the tourist info has lots more you can do but I never put myself in the shoes of a tourist here before.



Anyway we rode and rode and hardly stopped today lots of mileage. Over to Holmbury where I managed to lose John briefly (yes I know there were only 3 of us how did I lose one!) We whizzed down sweet sweet Golden Birdies to Peaslake to regroup with him. Then we climbed up Pitch, initiated Tim on 2 headed dog (see vids) and got ourselves lost on the Perimeter trail in Winterfold.

Muddling our way back on track to take in the bombholes, switchback trail and Orange Clawhammer whilst fixing Tim's 2 punctures delayed us a little but the weather was soooo good we stopped and had tea and cake at Peaslake before winding our way back to the shop by the usual tracks.

Such a great weather day and trails were so so dry and fast. Where were you all my usual Wed crowd? You missed out!

Riders: John C, Tim, Claire (Capt from the back!)

Return to Mud!

Ah well we have had a pretty good stretch of dry trails and after all we probably needed some April showers but isn't it amazing how mother nature knows that it's a British bank holiday! 

After 2 days of solid rain and clearly quite a few mountain bikers who desperate to ride had ridden anyway- the trails today were back to a layer of mud in most areas and plenty of evidence of mountain bike tyres. Nevertheless we were 8 riders - the BH trains delaying Jonathan and Richards start and a lost brake pad pin scuppering Simon's efforts to start with us (Tip: NEVER throw away your old brake pads and parts til you buy the new ones!)  

Anyway we rode up to Redlands and the Deja Vu trail- off camber in the mud is a wake up challenge! Then over to Summer Lightning and Richard (who is new to jumping) hit the first rooty jump on the DH trail and landed it a little wobbly before hitting the deck hard! He jumped back up but clearly this 4th crash of the week had taken its toll a bloody knee, elbow and a shiner meant that he was taking it easy for the rest of the ride- but he still managed to stick with it all the way. (Next stop is the Saturday skills ride for him!)  

It was foggy all day and sitting up at Leith Tower for tea and cake there were no views to be had in any direction! I just found a photo from last Easter up here and there was snow so just a typical Easter again! We rode a lot of twisty singletrack in the area to let Adrian get a proper test ride out of the Lapierre Zesty and the new skills he acquired by riding such a great bike.

Then Simon made us ride delieverance/roller coaster in the mud! Now I only ever just about ride it in the dry so this seemed like a dumb idea but after filming Jonathan and Andy making it down in good control I decided to go for it but as I went over the edge and the bike picked up speed I started to doubt the decision but it was too late I let go off the brakes as the tyres squirled around on the muddy off camber diagonal roots and picked up lots of speed then just about managed to stop before I hit the metal debris at the bottom- phew!  

Well we headed out doubting we could get such a great ride in such muddy conditions but ended up with big muddy smiles on our faces. In fact Adrian loved it so much he bought that Lapierre Zesty as soon as we got back to the shop- proof of a great ride!  

Riders: Simon, Adrian, Andy, Claire, Jonathan, Richard, Jason, Simon(DNS)

Something a little different!

7.5 riders today heading out from the shop. The half was Gilles who returning from his knee injury (read down a few blog entries) managed to ride half of the first half and half of the 2nd half of the ride!

We rode something a little different today as from the shop we turned right along the road turning left into Unum and climbing up to Ranmore on a very steep climb. Descending down through Denbies and up through Mickleham to a trail called "Pete's Path" a very off camber narrow singletrack with exposure on your right meaning you need to stay on the trail and not slip off, plus a few diagonal roots along the way just for a further challenge. Finishing with a chicane steeply descending around a fallen tree. Thankfully it was dry even after all last night's rain or there may have been a few casualties.

Climbing up via High Ashgrove Scout camp, and right towards the viewpoint at BoxHill- Jonathon and I got chatting and spinning along we realised Simon souped up on all his energy drink had disappeared with the pack and we were dropped. We descended a hairy wet chalky rutty descent which threw both of us off our bikes before we came out on the A25- not quite where we needed to be! A bit of road riding got us back to Rykas to meet the gang just in time to get over to Gilles house to take tea and cake in the Garden- fabulous!

Full of cake - we climbed up the Denbies fire road, Simon having an energy crash again - (yup he had chocloate cake!) then we dropped into Grievous Angel and tried the three jumps currently rideable through this barely used track that is covered in leaves. The first was a diagonal jump over a fallen tree and a sudden right turn after the landing. Simon demo'ed it, Richard flew over it at speed and landed nicely then bounced off his bike into the foliage beyond but was fairly unscathed. I punched over it and landed a little to the left hitting every possible root on the landing, Jonathon popped off it with a nice controlled manual and John then did a half-pop to land on his front wheel a little squirly but not hitting any trees this week.

On the 2nd jump a little bigger onto an off camber loose landing, you really have to punch out as you cannot get speed. Simon gave us another perfect demo, new Richard full of bottle went for it and completly nose dived off it but survived. (He needs to cut his seat post and lower that saddle- weight back!). Jonathon again made it look sooo easy popping his front wheel up and hanging in the air. Then John went for it and punched out with such gusto that he was still way off the back of his bike as he landed rear wheel first and took another adrenalin shot as he decorated his shorts with mud.  After such demos I wanted to duck out of it but as John said the landing was soft I went for it and was full of my adrenalin filled self talk "ready and - punch out!" and ooh it was a very smooth landing- nice jump!

The next sections were pretty technical too espesh in the off camber leaves which really slide your bike from under you. Down the last drop in steep roll over a fallen tree trunk, new Richard decided to entertain us with one more fall- this time at speed towards a tree- and as we all heald our breath, fortunately he dumped the bike towards the tree and himself to a cushion of softer leaves. After all that we thought this might be his first and last ride but judging by his smile he's coming back for more.

So without my camera today the pics are from iphones and as they are not good for action photos you can enjoy the blurs! (No doubt some iPhone geek will be sending me an upgrade or some tips on how to get better photos on your iPhone).

Riders: Simon, Col, Gilles, Jonathon, John, Richard, Richard, Claire

April Fool's in the Saddle

Now today's Wednesday ride just happened to fall on April fool's day- setting out we all wondered which one of us would be playing the fool. Just 6 of us set out from a very busy shop- sprinting up Ranmore to ride over the tree roll and down into Abba Zabba, Blind Terror and Numb Skull.

Simon hit an energy crisis at Abba Zabba already and was refueled by some Power Gel and water both loaned out. (A busy shop keeper doesn't have time to prepare for his own ride!)  We blame the box of chocolate biscuits from John which was supposed to be a post-ride treat but became a pre-ride snack!

Testing out the new benches and bike stands at Peaslake and of course an excellent cup of tea and cake- Simon was banned from chocolate and pop and stuffed with bananas and energy drink- fully recovered we headed up Pitch at a good pace and played on the jumps at Proper Beau.

In an effort to improve take off technique we were rolling in without pedalling in order to compress and pop off the take off ramp to try and clear to the tranny. This was all going fine and then John mentioned how we should pick him up when he hits the tree. Now its a funny thing but when you pre-empt such things they often come about - so he promptly took off over the jump, landed it, squirled into the tree taking the full force of the impact in the saddle area (body and bike- ow!)

And so our fool of the day had indeed been found- yes the redesigned saddle is a picture that tells a thousand hurts!  And no these are not for sale at the shop in this design. 

John rode back with the saddle just resting on the rails and fastened Blue Peter style by me with some string from the Peaslake shop!

Great weather, good fun, plenty of miles and a few laughs at our fools expense.

Riders: Simon, Phil, Jo, John, Ken, Claire