This was our main Group Ride for February, open both to visitor (non-member) riders and to our club members. Nineteen of us hit the trails including four club members, thirteen new faces and two staff riders. Our group was of a good mix, some novice riders right through to some regulars and racers, but it was a superb group with some amazing characters in attendance!
After some (edit: lots of) cups of tea I ran through our usual pre-ride briefing and M-check safety checks on the bikes before Mike took over for a brief chat about the route and trail etiquette.
Our route for the day was one of our usually "safe" routes in terms of trail conditions for the time of year, taking in an eighteen mile Chiltern Hills loop starting from Wendover and heading our around Tring and Pavis Woods.
After a couple of early mechanicals, strong wind and some awful going muddy sections of trail we modified our route to keep everyone moving and get everyone back to the car park on time for about a two o'clock finish. We lost a couple of people during the ride who had afternoon places and they headed off due to time restraints.
In the end we did a fun twelve mile singletrack loop taking in some fun descents and a couple of tough climbs before finishing back at Wendover Woods Cafe for tea and cake before everyone headed off home to find a bike wash and warm bath!
A big thank you to everyone who attended our ride, its most appreciated. Apologies for the few delays along the way, the curse of mud and mechanicals held us meaning we had to shorten the route.
News of our next rides coming up in March coming very soon...
Best Wishes
Scott, BucksMTB Club Chairman
