An early start to miss the misery of the A12 was thwarted by leaving 45mins later than intended and as we crawled along that miserable road the thought that within a few hours we'd be clattering through some of the best trails in the Surrey hills seemed a million miles away. After the slow arduous journey we hit the M25 and things improved slightly, speed increased and we were soon over the Dartford bridge heading for the trails. The day was overcast but with no rain, strong winds when exposed and tempratures around 20 degrees, it was a pretty fine day to be blitzing through the trees feeling like you're on a Star Wars speeder bike. The first port of call was Leith hill, Leighton and I followed Adam to a car park that I don't think I would be able to find again on my own. After a short spin we arrived at the tower atop of Leith hill, we headed straight for my old nemesis Deliverance, I'm sure I could still see the forearm skin I left all over the roots on the last visit. The top of the trail was even more technical than usual as all the roots seemed more exposed, presumably due to the amount of rain that's been blighting the dusty trails lately, about three quarters of the way down we took a right to join on to the top of Summer Lightening. The top of the trail was full of weirdness first time round as the trees along the trail had all been felled, the lack of trees either side of me to slam my body into had clearly relaxed my reactions as I drifted haplessly wide on every corner and couldn't find my flow, I had to smile as the next section had not been felled I soon had my eye in and was back in the game. Amazing how the threat of body checking an immovable object sharpens up the senses, The three of us came out at the bottom grinning and the chat about the trail began as we spun gently backup for a second run. This time the top section came together and we flew through it straight into the second section, I nearly stacked as I was in awe of the way Adam was off the brakes setting an incredible pace slamming his back wheel into tree stumps intentionally as a control measure....apparantly!. After this we looped back round to the bottom section of Deliverance, which popped us out on a byway near The Plough Inn, we then had to ride back to the top to get back to the cars. At the risk of sounding cocky I was the only one to clear the climb right up to the tower, Leighton made an impressive initial effort but the final super steep rocky section saw him off and, well it's no secret Adam doesn't like going uphill, I graciously accepted some props from a guy who witnessed my incredible feet while doing some maintenance work at the tower, and we stopped for a bit of sustenance.
Holmbury Hill.
The next stop on our little adventure was Holmbury hill, I was uber excited about the four awesome trails I know of up there but Adam and Leighton seemed more excited about the pork and leak sausage roll offered by the post office in Peaslake, so from another obscure car park we headed straight for Barry Knows best. Taking the lead on this one I was unaware of the chaos that was ensuing behind me, Adam had to stop as his chain came off and Leighton wore completely through his rear brake pads pretty much using the copper back plate of his pads on his disc to keep his speed in check. As I went full tilt through the last set of huge berms I reached the bottom turned round and was alone, waiting.... waiting.... and then Leighton appeared, granted I heard him before I saw him due to his ruined pads, then Adam came down looking angry about his chain situation. With this it was off to Peaslake for a Sausage roll and a quick nip into Pedal and Spoke who although have a small shop had the right pads for Leightons brakes in stock and were good enough to let him use a screwdriver to whip out his old pads and resit the pistons, (Thanks guys). While Leighton was faffing about with his new pads I was suffering some severe bike envy about the brand new Santa Cruz Heckler and Butcher which were just outside the shop, those bikes really look so much more special in the flesh. In the post office Adam kindly let me order first and then to his disgust I went and bought the last pork and leek sausage roll, both he and Leighton were not amused, but all the baked goods from that little Post office are packed full of awesomeness so I knew once they started eating they would forget about it.
Time was ticking by and we were on a bit of a tight schedule from here on in, we slugged it out up the road to the right of the post office cut through where the logging lorries park up and pushed on to the top, took in the stunning (even on a overcast day) views before heading for yogurt pots. I love this trail it's like a roller coaster sweeping left and right round trees and off rooty drops you really need to be focused for the whole run or it could end badly. Once we were spat out of the end we rolled down and straight into Telegraph Row, over the initial hump of this trail it starts dropping down hill, speeding up, getting narrower and rougher all the time. As you approach the end the speed on the loose rooty terrain is ridiculous for the wideness of the little gully your nestled in and at the car park we all agreed we felt like we had been truly battered by it in a good way. Sadly that was the last run of the day, after popping back to Adams, Leighton and I left buzzing but with heavy hearts that we were leaving this great little spot behind. The journey home was a blur, we slipped through some sort of rush hour black hole, it seemed like it took about thirty minutes I guess the adrenaline was still pumping, As soon as it wears off i'll be planning my next trip back.
Quick edit from the day here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jXxQV_MNIA
Thanks again Adam for the guide work.
ReatinRides.
