Sunday 27 May 2007 - Redhill loop

Is it mountain bike riding that makes the day fantastic, or is it these fabulous early winter days that make mountain bike riding so good...? Who knows, but today was another of those excellent ways to start off a Sunday.

We met at Sport & Rec - with T-Bone making a welcome return and joining Johnbo, Doug, Matt, Brian and Stephe.

We attempted the gully climb out of Sport & Rec (up to the end of the Rim Ride), which was always going to be a hassle given that we hadn't warmed up and started off in 5° weather! There were some amusing moments as various people tried various bits, and by the time we hit the top, most folk were now warmed up (or broken!).



The technical section was a challenge as always, and we tried a couple of new lines - with no spectacular bad outcomes (which is always handy). T-Bone claimed to have suddenly regained his fitness halfway through the ride, and then began being spectacular whenever he could...



Doug pointed out that we never seem to get a 'flow' happening on a Redhill circuit, and we do need to consider how to keep moving along on the track, while still having fun on the technical bits when they're available. That said, we did the Cross Country track in decent time, and the run along Deep Creek was as good as it has ever been.



A good, and quick ride (back at the cars by 9.30am - a 2.5hr ride), and well worth the price of admission... (which, given the water about, was probably pretty high today in subsequent bike repair requirements - Brian is looking to get a proper service, but after three years, perhaps that's not such a bad idea anyway!).

Photos, GPS, videos etc are all up here.

My favourites of the many videos are these (caution, some take a while to load):

Part of the technical section, with Brian in the background losing his rear wheel down a slope - watch carefully!

The last of the technical bits, with Johnbo demonstrating the classic 'over the bars' finish.

Matt executing a truly pointless maneuver (shouldn't be included, but sorry...).

Stephe on the single track lift (only here, because it's actually quite a challenge to some of us!)

And T-Bone doing the same thing.