Get your night time pics up, for us all to see

Last night.

 

Before.

 

 

After.

 

 

During.

 

This photo does nothing to show the true steepness of the bank, that leads to a stream crossing. I usually tackle this section in reverse, and have looped the bike on two occasions trying to get up. It's doable, but you do have to be committed to the attempt. I did discover that it isn't possible to climb the bank on the opposite side though last night. It wasn't steep, but was just too muddy to keep any forward momentum going. I'm also a little wary of not knowing where the rocks are in the stream. Children often play here, and move them around whilst making damns, and being iron stone, they are very slippery. I have also had to carry the bike across here one freezing cold February night, when the water was nearly waste deep. It was either that, or turn back and do an extra 5 miles.

 

 

Riding through this woodland a couple of weeks ago at about 8.30pm, I caught sight of another torch beam, which was headed in my direction. This woodland is miles from anywhere, and has not footpaths. We must have spotted each other at almost exactly the same time, but who ever it was, turned their light off. Needless to say I didn't proceed any further and headed in a different direction.

 

 

This is an old pack horse bridge.

 

 

Pooh Bridge.

 

 

Lovely and dry.

 

 

Slippery when wet!

 

 

In line with this thread, I am organising a 25 mile night ride in about 4 weeks time starting at Crowborough. There are currently 5 people already up for it, but I need to finalise the date and time. Other than approx half of a mile of road work, to link sections together, the route is totally off road.

What I can say is that it will be a reasonably slow and technical ride, and will be very wet and muddy. Some of the route also involves crossing ruts, so an ability to bunny hop is desirable, or at least the ability to hop the front wheel side sideways. It isn't the end of the world if this isn't possible, but it would make the ride easier. There are also two slightly tricky sections with a drop to each side, but these can be avoided, so no big issue. Helmet lights and helmet mounted camera are also not recommended, as some sections involved crouching down very low, and helmet strikes are a regular occurrence. I'll post up more about the ride, when I have the details finalised.

Edited September 30, 20178 yr by EddiePJ

I'm in eddy..unfortunately I stubbed my big toe the other day...so count me out...I hate ruts...they are the bain of my life,i panick everytime trying to keep a straight _ish line...I hate ruts big time..i,ll go on a forest trek with ewe anytime though.....do you grab handfuls of muck an just chuck it over that bike or what??

Due not feeling overly well, I haven't been on the bike for a couple of weeks, and was actually a little frustrated by just how muddy that conditions were last night. I need to further avoid tracks that horses use, and people walk.

 

Ref a ride, it would be a pleasure to take you on a ride sometime.

 

In respect of ruts, I used to feel the same, and I think that it is just something that time in the saddle time will help with.

The shot above that shows a series of bare tracks along a grass track, has proven to be a valuable training route for me in just this very practice. There is no height to the ridges, so using them to hop over and across is a very safe and easy exercise. I must admit that I did get it slightly wrong last night though on a taller ridge, as the back end didn't clear, and I ended up broadsiding the bike. Momentum straightened the bike up again, but my foot still came out of the clip.

 

My one and only fear is that one night I shall ride down the track shown below, and discover a rope or something strung across it. It a weird thing to be paranoid about, but for some reason it really bothers me.

 

Edited September 30, 20178 yr by EddiePJ

...I remember reading a post of yours a while ago..you used to take some sorta tool with you...shears or some such..to make your own track/trail......I thought at the time..insanity..such dedication..anyway I still think insanity.....you can come round my way eddie..plenty of branches for you to chop..as far as rides go around here it,s pretty dismal...lots of forest..but very little woodland....

...I remember reading a post of yours a while ago..you used to take some sorta tool with you...shears or some such..to make your own track/trail......I thought at the time..insanity..such dedication..anyway I still think insanity.....you can come round my way eddie..plenty of branches for you to chop..as far as rides go around here it,s pretty dismal...lots of forest..but very little woodland....

 

lol! I've also started to do a bit of foliage clearing on my dog walks.

I hate ruts...they are the bain of my life,i panick everytime trying to keep a straight _ish line...I hate ruts big time.

 

Sometimes I even find them a nuisance at night time.

 

 

 

edit.. I hadn't realised just how much this section had changed in roughly the space of a year. The ruts are still there, but now they are becoming covered over. Even this photo from a couple of weeks ago is already out of date, as I got fed up and have now cut down the low hanging branches to the right, to make riding the track easier.

 

Edited September 30, 20178 yr by EddiePJ