5/6 Firle Snake MTB

A warm HSLCC welcome to gavin

Our second South Downs  mtb  ride of the season and a notable one, as joining us off road for the first time was Andy L and recent new contact Gavin Eivers. Both turned up on new bikes but at opposite ends of the price range. Gavin was on an impressive Whyte T129 while Andy was on a much more modest Trek X-Caliper 7. Gavin was also sporting an impressive beard, something sure to give the likes of Gareth beard envy.

Paul finally makes it up Bo Peep

Things started off with easy flat riding along the drovers track towards Alfriston but we then had to ascend to Bo Peep car park on the road. Paul Bx was in front when suddenly with a cry of pain he ground to a complete halt halfway up the climb. His back had completely locked up and he couldn't move. Fortuitously Gavin is a sports physio and soon had Paul on the ground where he proceeded to stretch his legs and back in various positions to try to relieve Paul of the tightness in his back. After about 10 minutes of this Paul was able to remount his machine and had no trouble for the rest of the ride- good job Gavin.!

The grassy climb from Bishopstone

What goes up must come down so we enjoyed five miles of glorious decent down towards Bishopstone but then had to grind our way back up to the SDW along grassy terrain towards Black Cap farm. After last weeks experiment with a giant saddle, this week I was on a specialised Toupe which was much more comfortable but not quite as long, so I could quite keep my front wheel down on the steep grass. Andy had no such trouble and despite being on flat pedals he managed to grind his way to the top without dismounting. I had never noticed before just how out of proportion Andy'y body is. He's only about 5'10 but has size 11.5 feet and massive calves that would not be out of place on some 6'5 rider. Those calves produce a lot of low speed torque making Andy a natural Off- Roader. Gavin was also going really well despite only recently from switching from semi-pro rugby to cycling due to injury (a common story although its normally ex runners that the club attracts)

Full suspension really comes into its on on those fast chalky descents that the Downs are famous for . So while Paul and Gavin glided down Itford Hill, myself and Andy had to rely on our legs for bracing before we reached Rodmell and a chance to refill our bottles at the convenient water tap.

Watch where you are going Andy!

Paul is yet another geolexic rider and gets twitchy whenever we come of the SDW but I have faith in my two garmins which successfully navigated us to the mysterious valley know as the Woodingdean Snake.  This is one of my favourite parts of the Downs and pretty remote. We only discovered it a couple of years ago despite ridng for over two decades on the Downs. There were hundreds of sheep on the hillside so the whole valley echoed to the sound of lambs and mothers bleating. T
 he climb out of the valley is long but the most perfect gentle angle, making it one of my favourite climbs.

Our refuelling stop was at Anne of Cleeves house in Lewes where there is brilliant little cafe and garden (so much nicer than the more commercial cafes in the town centre). All that was left was the climb over Mount Caburn . To get there we had to ride up the supersteep section of road up to the golf course. With hearts beating we arrived at the top but had trouble finding the preferred right of way. Eventually we had left the golf course behind . The tracks are quite indistinct around here but all of them head downwards so we chose one at random which did eventually take us to Glynde although I would try to give that rocky path a miss in future.

Back at Firle we enjoyed the usual sight of all the well to do locals struggling to find space for their Chelsea tractors in the Firle car park. This was another fun day out and so nice to have two new mtb riders to add to our little sub section of HSLCC.

Steve C