The first of our two club member only rides on Sunday 12th November was a "Sunday Swinley" ride at Swinley Forest near Bracknell. Just two of us turned up for this super short notice organised ride (it was only confirmed late the day before). An early start was cold, but the sun was out. The trails were running fast but there were some large areas of standing water and some nice sloppy sections and lethal roots thrown in too. The carrot cake went down a treat mind.
What a great day in the calendar, three rides in one day (12/11/2017)! Our first ride was our Open XC Group Ride at Invinghoe, open to both non-member visitor riders (to try out the club!) and existing club members too. Six riders took part in this ride, including a mix of new and returning faces. A sunny but muddy 15 mile (ish) Chiltern Hills loop enjoyed by all. A big thank you to ride leaders Darren and Mark for planning and leading the ride.
Our last Club Members ride took place this weekend just gone (28th October). Five club members took to the trails on a Chiltern Hills 'Chequers Loop'. Trail conditions were pretty good considering the time of year. The photo taken at our 'secret club office'. Thank you to club member Steve Attwood for planning and leading the ride. More club members rides to be published in the diary very soon.
After some changes at work and some short notice holiday being approved it was decided for a cheeky three day mountain bike weekend. After looking into the lack of short notice flights to the Alp and the poor weather forecast for Scotland I decided to head to North Wales. As it was far too short notice to make it a proper club trip I decided at least to open it up to members to come along; Chris, Adam and James all appeared for a various combination of days.
Read more: Club Members in North Wales; Llandegla, Coed y Brenin & Penmachno Report
Our July open group ride was held from Ivinghoe Beacon and took in a circa fifteen mile Chiltern Hills loop. Non club members are invited to join us for these open rides to try out the club, meet the staff, meet some members and try out some new trails before joining as a Club member. Nine people turned up in total and a good ride was had by all with no mechanical issues or punctures (unusual!). The group did encounter a little bit of rain but generally a dry ride with tea and cake at the Bluebell Cafe. It was fantastic also to have a great mix of new first timer riders, returning faces and members too.
Club member SteveA kindly led yet another great Chiltern Hills based loop taking in some fantastic views and singletrack in and around Wendover, Hastoe and Dunsmore areas. Four club members joined Steve out on this ride, taking in some new dusty trails and enjoying the sunshine!
The view from Ivinghoe Beacon during our club members only ride at the weekend, one of the many reasons we all love the Chilterns.
Club members Steve kindly organised an extended Chequers route out and about in the sunshine with both some long standing members and new members alike. A big thank you to everyone for attending and to Steve for organising.
Our May open ride was a tough ride due to muddy conditions that we ended up with due to bad weather during the week. The ride however went well without any mechanicals. One member of Bucks Search and Rescue attended as the others were on standby for a possible call out and Max a young member of the club did very well battling through the muddy conditions.
What absolutely fantastic weather! A chilly morning to get going but a stunning summer-worthy day for our exploration around the Chilterns. Four of us joined this ride, and with most of us having ridden to the start point at Wendover Woods we all finally all united at the top of Wendover Woods to start the ride. The ride out to Ashridge was for tea and scones, literally - there is no false advertising here at BucksMTB! The trails were fast, flowing and very dusy and we made up good time on the first half of the route only to lose what seemed most of the day waiting to be served at the Ashridge Monument Cafe. After a refuel and a brew (and did I mention the scones!?) we headed off via a different route back towards Wendover, taking in some fast descents and then some sections of canal to make up the mileage back. The route was 20 miles, plus the extra mileage some of us put in to get to Wendover in the first place. Great to see so many other mountain bikes out and about too, the sport is definitely still growing. A big thank you to Chris, Mark and Steve for joining me, a great fun day all round. Final thought for the day, was this possibly the first BucksMTB ride in history where we didn't have a mechanical!?! More club members rides coming soon.
