Big Cheesy Grin
There is a certain thrill that one gets from doing something that one isn't sure they're ready for. My bicycle is an "all rounder", not a fantastic road bike, certainly not a racer and just about rough enough to be considered a mountain bike. Age has been kind to the old girl. This bike used to take me to school and back and once a week out to Crook Log Swimming pool.
Once I left school I spent a couple of years on a moped riding to Greenhithe college and the bike stayed in the garage.
In '88 I passed my driving test and still the bike collected dust.
When I got a job in Sidcup the parking was limited so for about six months I was back on old faithful. Really, the last time the bike was used with any kind of frequency.
I changed jobs again and went to work in London, the bike was hidden back in my parents garage.
When I changed jobs and bought my own house I wasn't fortunate enough to have either a garage or a shed so the bike became a growing frame.
This was a low point for my old bike. She sat outside through the four seasons, tyres slowly perishing, chain, gears, nuts and bolts rusting.
As part of the move from the house in Abbeywood we cleared out the garden and I think the bike got one ride out, down to the Thames path and back.
Since moving to Bracknell, again the bike has been neglected only there's no excuse this time. Bracknell and the surrounding area is riddled with bicycle paths and fantastic places to ride.
It was only a post by a friend on LiveJournal that spurred me to take the bike out of the shed, oil up the chain and see how well she still goes.
As you'd have seen in recent weeks I've been cycling the "Ride and Seek" route as set out on the Brackell Forest web site (Route shown on Google Maps). This route is good for a little fresh air, it's suggested that this a route for beginners. I ride the circuit in a clockwise direction which gives only two relatively steep hills, one leading up to the Hilton Hotel and the other leading up to the London Road. The more I ride the route the easier it gets. I've started putting a stop watch to my journey but safety and other people tend to limit the speed in general.
Today I rode down to Swinley Forest.
Swinley Forest has broad paths through it, shared by cyclist, dog walkers, horse riders and ramblers alike. The traffic through the forest has both maintained the routes and broken up the surface. It's hardly "off road" but you certainly wouldn't want to walk through here in stilettos, well at least I wouldn't.
The soil is very sandy making for a "crunchy" ride. With the recent wet weather the dips in the path have turned to muddy streams.
Today the weather has been overcast and cool, beautiful for riding through the forest.
Following the main paths you find there are plenty of sign posts. I suspect the names would have made more sense to me had I thought to buy a map first. Thankfully with each sign post being numbered it was easy to tell when you'd double backed on yourself.
At some points I was riding for 15 to 20 minutes without seeing anyone. Then a team of fully kitted out mountain bikers would fly past me.
I was looking for an area of the forest I have seen on YouTube where true mountain bikes are required and a certain amount of aerobatic skill comes in handy. Not having a map and only having a cursory look at one a couple of days before I wasn't 100% certain where I was going to find the true mountain bike area.
Every so often, leading off from the main track would be a slightly narrower track. These tracks tended to be just a little too steep for most ramblers to walk down and with a loose surface. I pulled up to the top of one such turning and a childish grin crossed my lips.
Now let me start by saying, this picture does not do it justice. It's not easy to take a photograph that shows the gradient of a hill. Truth be told, if I had the facts and figures it would probably not be that impressive.
If I had seen anyone take this hill before me then again the magic would have gone but this was a challenge.
At the top of the hill the trail was pretty solid and helped to build up a false sense of security. Testing my brakes I found that they amply kept me at walking pace despite this being a steep hill. Then in the mid section the path surface started break up into loose stone. Now the fact that I had my brakes on meant very little. The locked wheels simply skidded down the path and the bike was a lot harder to control, so I had to bite the bullet and let the brakes go.
I stood up on my pedals and hung back on the handle bars putting my bum over the back wheel, behind the seat. Planning where was the most firm ground and avoiding the immediate large stones at a gathering pace puts your mind into overdrive! Just as it was all getting too much the path turned to mud at the bottom of the hill, a great natural way to slow you down. Not too deep the mud didn't snatch the front wheel but gradually slowed me.
I never did find the proper mountain bike track but I will most certainly be going back. Maybe doing that same hill wont be the same the second time but I'm sure there will be many more that will give the adrenaline rush.
Today was certainly a high point for the old bike. The bell and saddle bag rack may have rattled, the pedal crank most certainly has a worrying "knocking" sound to it but I'm sure if that old bike could smile it would have today.
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This update was first written by Darren Wall
on Monday 30th Jul 2007.
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