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Hi All,

first trip to some single track trails, this time I've planned for Thetford forest. Really nice trails, and a good choice of levels of difficulty, as shown below...

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/thetfordbike(A3-DL)loresLandscape.pdf/$file/thetfordbike(A3-DL)loresLandscape.pdf

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-8ygkcr

Aim to leave just after 8, be there ~10am, and be back about 2:30pm, giving around 2.5 hours at the woods. (Of course, people are welcome to stay later if they want to, it's just I need to be back).

If you click to attend above, I will try and organise car shares etc. It'll help if you indicate if you want to stay the full day or leave around lunchtime.

Haven't organised one of these before, so this should be considered a bit of a test run(!) - I may change some details by agreement once I know who's interested (i.e. we could leave a bit earlier, or whatever).

Phil

Hi all,

sorry I'm posting this so late only got back from holiday last night, 24 hours later than expected.

I'm going to borrow a course from @PaulW as I've not had time to plan one, which is here:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activi­ty/1175435078

I can't download it @PaulW, maybe just me but if you can help I'd appreciate it.

Hope to see you all at the Swan Pool later :-)

Phil

Hi Adam,

yes, posting details now :-)

Phil

Thanks guys, he's ok now, running around, shouting and causing havoc just like normal! They're tough little buggers at that age.

Luckily, he seems to have no memory of the event either.

Hi All,

many apologies but I am going to cancel the ride on Thursday.

We've only just got back from our Eastbourne camping weekend a day late after our little one nearly drowned in a swimming pool incident. He's ok now, has been discharged from hospital, but he was grey faced, blue lipped, unconscious and not breathing when I pulled him out of the water.

Luckily we were in the Eastbourne District General Hospital's social club at the time, so the ambulance arrived within minutes and had about 100 yards to take him to the main entrance.

After 24 hours he's been released as aok, and he's back to his normal sunny self, but as you can imagine we're all absolutely frazzled, stressed out and exhausted.

I nearly didn't post this picture, but if anything good is to come of our miserable weekend it may be that this reminds everyone with small kids how important it is to watch them constantly around water. There were 10 or so people in the pool, and no-one even noticed him getting in to trouble until we started shouting...

@PatH Yes, sure. I would say around 7:15, or shortly after, on the corner by the cattle grid. Depends a little on how wet and how muddy it is and who turns up. PM me a mobile number and I'll give you a call nearer the time.

I would definitely be intetested in the odd Friday afternoon

Thanks David, I got that too late as I've just ridden round it but I would love to meet up for a coffee/beer some time and have a chat about a few routes for the future.

If you're coming Thursday perhaps we could look at our diaries?

Hi @paulw - thanks for the question :-)

In fact, it's absolutely fine, Silverstone have done a great job of preserving access through the public right of way, but I am very pleased you asked as I had an absolutely fantastic 45 minutes checking it out! Just what I needed after a long day.

It's worth saying to anyone coming along - learn from my mistakes - long trousers, long sleeves, and gloves will be the order of the day!

Hi @PaulW - a good question, I don't know. It's not a bit I've ridden, the only bit of the course I haven't, but it is a public right of way, a bridlepath, on my OS maps, and ought to be unobstructed.

I've just been having a look at the route on the map but there isn't an obvious alternative so I'll pop up to Stowe after dinner and have a look.

Morning All,

my first attempt at posting an event on the forum - I hope this works :-)

First Mountain Bike Ride is this Thursday at 6:45pm for 7pm, starting from the Swan Pool as usual.

I have not quite worked out how to put the route up on here via Garmin as yet, but I hope to work out how to do this later today!

The route is through Buckingham via a slightly quirky route up to Stowe, around the edge of the gardens and along to Silverstone, exiting the track and travelling back past Dadford on road, but leaving the road at Home Farm just after Dadford and rejoining the bridlepath at Stowe School, going up and down over the bridge, and then back on to the road to rejoin the cycle path along the edge of Stowe Avenue, and back to the Leisure Centre. I hope this is a nice mix of road and track with some fun bits included.

15.2 miles - 974 feet climbing - Estimate an hour and a half, depending on who (if anyone!) turns up...

It is meant to be fairly decent weather Thursday evening but will rain a lot of Wednesday, so expect some mud!

Hi @paulS - could you put the above dates on the calendar? Let me know if you need any more details or anything. Thanks :-)

I'm slightly embarrassed that the team that I picked mainly by luck managed to lead the competition from start to finish, however I can confirm that the "Swish Swans" will be competing again next year, albeit under the new team name of "Eat my dust, losers!"

Hi All,

apologies it's taken a bit longer to get off the ground but I've had a few very busy weeks what with one thing and another.

I've got some Thursday evenings put aside for local rides starting from Buckingham, and maybe a couple of trips to Woburn to try out the new trails there at @JohnnyG and @AdamPool have been telling me about.

I have also got dates for trips to Swinley Forest and Thetford, to do the single track routes there.

Finally, I plan to finishing the clubs mountain bike events for the year at the end of October with a Mountain Bike Gran Fondo, a trip to Nuneaton by train to cycle back to Milton Keynes along the Grand Union Canal towpath. It's not quite 100 miles, more like 56, but I figure miles take longer on a mountain bike, so it's close enough for me :-)

So here are some mountain bike event dates for your diaries below. @MattH - is it possible to put these on the club website diary?

Thursday 27th July - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Thursday 3rd August - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Thursday 17th August - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Saturday 26th August - Trip to Thetford Forest 8am - 1.30pm
Thursday 31st August - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Thursday 14th September - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Saturday 23rd September - Trip to Swinley Forest 8am - 1.30pm
Thursday 28th September - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Thursday 12th October - MTB Evening Ride 7pm -9.30pm
Saturday 28th October - MTB Gran Fondo - Time TBA

I will publish routes and trip details on the club rides thread as per the normal Wednesday and Sunday rides.

I hope that this suits everyone, and I'm looking forward to Thursday and our first ride. It'll probably be Stowe/Silverstone, as everyone tells me it's a really good route.

Looks good to me :-)

Any of the dates are good for me :-)

Sounds like fun to me...

@MattH I think James and Guy have summed things up very well.

I understand what you say about the numbers @StephenT but I think we clearly need a 14-16 and a 16-18.

SWAN WHEELERS TDF 2017

270 points
Swish Swans
Phil Metcalfe

170 points
Tinsley`s Tigers
Paul Tinsley

160 points
B-Spoke
StephenT

100 points
Mikes TDF team
Mike Smith

100 points
Velo Deux Gateaux
Matt Hoey

50 points
Boys are on Tour.com
Paul Woodham

5 points
swansflyers
Alastair McVail

0 points
I couldn`t afford Sagan
Heidi Turnock

0 points
Below superstars
John Ganderton

Hopefully my Swish Swans will do better than the fantasy football team I did this year... :-(

Excellent, thanks Paul.

Hi @Malman, yes, probably will. (Although I'm having great fun exploring for myself too! 😊). At the moment I'm just trying to get people to give me an idea of what they want to do by replying on this thread - hint hint!

No Paul & Pete, that's my problem 😊. I quite fancy an 'adventure bike' but there's no way I'll get away with it!

Here...

Hi David,

What I'm aiming at is mountain bikes. That's why I volunteered to do this because I love taking mine out on forest trails, and on local paths and tracks, and will be anyway even if no-one else turns up!

Most people I guess have hardtail or dual suspension mountain bikes, and this is what these events would be designed for.

If anyone wants to use any other type of bike I've no objection at all but I guess I've got to warn that I wouldn't take any responsibility for any damage and I'm sure the club committee would say the same.

I don't disagree with what you say, I just don't want to put people off by making them think they need gravel bikes or have to use their road bikes across fields! You can if you want, but the events are aimed at mountain bikes.

For the avoidance of doubt I include a picture of my Norco hardtail below, which is what I'll be riding... Mine's a bit more battered than this, but otherwise the same. Anything similar or better and you'll be fine.