Race & (Cannock) Chase.

Back to Cannock Chase today, for the Cannock Chase Winter Classic. This is a mountain bike race held in a different part of the forest to the usual bike trails, around a 5k course set out purely for todays event.

Dani and myself both entered, she in the Enthusiast Ladies and me in Singlespeed Men. We arrived early, drank tea and had lunch, and rode around a lot to warm up (it was cold). We did stop to watch the under 10s race, a riot with older kids on 'proper' mountain bikes (one girl on a Rocky Mountain!) and toddlers on balance bikes being helped by their parents. All very heartwarming!

The enthusiast, singlespeed and fat bike races went off in waves, following each other with a minutes gap between, the fun and first timers races being held earlier. Enthusiast Men went off first, followed by the Ladies, then came the singlespeeders and fat bikes together, both male and female.

I hung around the back on the start line (and throughout the race), not being entirely sure as to why I was there (it seemed like a good idea at the time) or what to expect. The start itself wasn't too bad, the track wide and flowing, but I soon had my first moment of sillyness when I dropped my water bottle, in my defence I usually use a Camelbak. Not good. The track stayed fairly wide until we hit the first proper singletrack section, a muddy line through trees which took us to a short strip of fireroad and the first technical section, a short steep drop-off. All I saw on the approach was the horizon line, it wasn't until I was almost on the lip that I could see down and try and pick a line, unfortunetely my choice was poor and off I came, landing on my right and bending the r/h brake lever. No injuries, back on the bike but with shaken confidence I carried on, but not very well as I couldn't clip in (muddy and undulating) and trying to get used to my brake levers being out of line. Still, I got going (despite hitting a tree or two), made steady work of a short fireroad climb before jumping off for a muddy rooty climb (as did lots of others). It was here that I caught Dani, she'd come off at the same drop, got back on the bike and tried to carry on but then had decided to pull out. I thought that she had just lost confidence so left her to it.

The course continued to become more technical squeezing through the trees, mud and roots under my tyres, never quite allowing me to find any kind of flow. Not the kind of riding that I'm used to, to be honest. Another technical drop (for technical read short and steep), jump off at the lip, run down then up the other side, re-mount, repeat twice more. More trees, more climbs, then again everything opens up and we're back at the start.

Lap 2 was little better, although I was aware that I was getting de-hydrated. At the first drop-off I spotted a chicken run signposted right, not sure how I missed it the first time but then I probably would have ignored it anyway... By now the faster Enthusiast Males were coming through, who always seem to catch up in the singletrack, finding space to let them past proved difficult at times.

On Lap 3 I found my bottle, both water and mental, but the body was flagging even though the mind was getting a grip on the course. By now the fastest s/s men and fat-bikers were lapping me. Sluggish would be the best description of my effort on that final lap, I need to be fitter, better skilled and on a lighter bike. Then it was all over.

Dani met me at the finish, with dogs in tow. Her crash was worse than I thought, she'd gone right over the bars, landing on her left side and leaving a crack in her helmet. The marshal wanted her to stop and call a medic over, she got back on and rode as far as she could before the adreneline wore off and the pain kicked in. So, bikes on roof and straight back to Buxton, stopping at Buxton Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit so she could be properly checked out by the lovely people there (the nurse that saw Dani turned out to be a mtber). Dani's got a bruised calf, and big bruise/lump on her left forearm and a couple of cracked ribs. So she's now on painkillers and light duties for the foreseeable, not good as she's running a marathon in April...

I finished 23rd out of 28 s/speed riders. My time was 1 hour 26 minutes, the fastest rider took 55 minutes and the slowest 1 hour 35. Work needs to be done!

Paul.

Greenlaning? Or just bloody vandalism?

The Old Macc Road is a UCR which runs between Buxton and Derbyshire Bridge, where it turns to tarmac and leads up to the Cat & Fiddle. Being close to town and well known its often busy with mountain bikers, walkers, off-road motorcyclists and 4x4s (I drive it myself on occasions). The stony surface is pretty hardwearing, not challenging to a 4x4 (a bit tough in sections on a mtb though!). But the lack of challenge seems to be a problem for some, in the past few months some fuckwits in 4x4s have been tearing up the peat verges. By the tyre tracks and depth of the damage it looks to be vehicles fitted with lift kits (raised suspension) and extreme challenge type tyres (very deep lugs), neither of which are really necessary on a Derbyshire lane. The result is a bloody mess;

Looking towards Buxton, stone road on the right.

Same spot as above, looking the other way.

The hole on the left has been caused by 4x4s, and just gets bigger. The bottom is clay.

If I tried to drive my 110 through that it'd get stuck.

Looking towards the Cat & Fiddle. This was a peat verge.

The above were all taken at approx. SK024718, and shows the worst of the damage. This carries on to a lesser degree all along the whole length of the lane.
The big hole in the 3rd photo down has been there for about a year now. Late last year I tried to help a park ranger pull a Freelander out of it, even with my 110 coupled to his 90 pulling together we couldn't shift it. As I said to the driver, the stone track is the road, that parts the verge, and you don't drive along the verge anywhere else.
There will, I'm sure, come a day when this lane is closed to 4x4s due to the damage shown above. If it happens I'll have mixed feelings. I enjoy driving along it (although seeing it damaged takes a lot of the enjoyment out), but it does need repairing and protecting from idiots, and if that means a permament TRO then so be it. A lot will say education is the answer, but I get the feeling from seeing this amount of wanton damage that the culprits couldn't give a toss. There's also the 'we have a right to be there' argument, but with rights come responsibilities, in the case of 'laning responsibility means treading lightly and respecting the terrain, the conditions and other users.
There's a very strong anti-greenlaning lobby in Derbyshire, the above damage just gives them ammunition.

Paul.

Cannock Chase.

Cannock Chase today for a dose of trail centre silliness. Dani was keen to visit, we've never ridden there before, and her job takes her down that way on occasions so she wanted to see what the Chase had to offer. She has plans to take her bike with her when working in the area and fit in a weekday ride.

As Dani wanted a fairly long ride we decided  to tackle the 15 mile Monkey Trail, graded Red/Difficult. The route was quite technical in places, and some of the climbs are on the stiff side, the Insidious Incline sticks in the mind, with switchbacks to zig-zag up hillsides. What goes up must come down and the descents are fast, technical in places, and damned good fun! Rock gardens add interest as do the re-assuringly wide (I don't fancy North Shore!) wooden bridges.

I rode my Mojito, probably the cheapest bike there today, and I'm pleased to say that the whole trail was singlespeed friendly. Singlespeeds are, in my rather biased opinion, the best tool for singletrack riding, it seems that getting the power to the wheel feels more immediate than on a geared bike, and of course only having one gear to play with means that you concentrate on the trail and forget about changing up or down. Singlespeeds are quieter as well.

All in all it took us about 2 hours, which wasn't too shabby. We will return, but not too soon. Trail riding is great, but its not something that we want to do too often, especially as we live in the Peaks!

I forgot my camera, so here's a couple that Dani took with her over-complicated 'phone;

 

Note my fifteen quid Aldi jacket!

Paul.