The rideout on the 28th of Feb was supposed to be an introduction to the area for up to five newbies, but in the end all but one pulled out. Keith was supposed to bring a mate but he dropped out for some reason. I’d bumped into two guys in the KTM centre in Hemel and told them about my website. One of them emailed me that night and I sent the meeting spot through but two dropped out and the third wasn’t keen on coming so far on his own. Phil also dropped out as he couldn’t find he bike tax or mot so wasn’t sure it had been done. So it was just ‘Kingy’ on his xr600 that made it in the end he’d been on my mailing list for a while now, but had never managed to get the ride sorted. He knew some of the area but hadn’t gone any further than Chievely.

Scott-rider and Zulu doing a anti-rain dance - it worked!

We all met up at the usual spot and were soon ready to hit the trails. In anticipation of having so many new faces on the ride I’d planned a squeaky clean route staying well away from any questionable lanes. This took us slightly further east than our normal route and through some ‘Do not use Ridgeway’ signs that can be confusing to some. These in fact warn you of not using the Ridgeway which is up ahead and not the actual lane you are on. Once we were through the village we turned left, following the lane up the hill and under the A34. A bit of road work and then we turned back up towards the start of the Rat Run. This little gem of a lane is the best at this time of year as the going is not too wet and the greenery hasn’t grown enough to block the view ahead. That means you can crack on a bit knowing you aren’t going to have a nasty surprise around one of the bends.

Knigy having just enjoyed his run up the Rat Run

We stopped for a quick breather after the Run and Kingy declared it a cracking ride. We carried on further south on the same old route (the only one that’s left) and skirted round the TRO’d section. Why they’ve done that I’ll never know. The surface is fine with only a few ruts so I’m sure there are other things going on. There is a new house that is being built near here so maybe they have something to do with it? Crossing over the road by ‘The Crab’ I went on ahead to grab a few photos. I stopped in a spot that is normally muddy and waited. I shot off a few pics as people rode past but as soon as I turned around I saw that Keith had toppled over. I frantically powered the camera back into life but the old thing never managed to catch him on the deck! Mind you I’ve never seen anyone pick a bike up so fast! I think the thought of being plastered all over the net again motivated the high speed recovery action! I took one of the muddy brush guard just as evidence.

Scott with the others in the background

Zulu ie Keith having made a lighing fast 'remount'

Zulu? "me fall off? Never" - the muddy handguard says otherwise!

We carried on, and for those of you that know, this route becomes a bit churned up by 4x4’s near the last section. My worn rear tyre was no match for the mud so I carefully made sure I didn’t get stuck in the muddy ruts and climbed out of the track just before the big bomb hole. Keith and Kingy both got caught up in the slippery ruts and didn’t have enough grip to dig out, so they went for it – through the water. Now this normally looks worst than it is and it’s fine if you stick to the mind section. But today it was particularly snotty and both riders slid into the right hand side rut. Keith got through ok but had a few slippery moments when he got to the other side. Kingly had a few more problems and ended up having a little mini rest in the puddle. For a moment I was worried he’d stall it and that would mean dragging him out as it would be hard to kick start the big 600 in that position. Luckily he kept it going and had another crack at getting out the other side. There were a few moments when I though it would all go ‘tits up’ but he got out ok - but only after getting stuck again and having to jump off. Resorting to the good old extra oomph of foot power to push the bike out and get going again!

Zulu going for it

Kingy having a go... and making it
I counldn't make mymind up which on to post so I've included them all

We all made it to the dry grassy bit at the end of that lane (before it heads down to the road) but noticed that scott-rider was nowhere to be seen. He eventually pulled up, face a dark crimson colour. He’d had a bit of a nightmare on the last leg and ended up tipping off I think. He then got stuck in a deep rut and had to push and peddle for a while. Once he’d gone from the ‘I’m about to have a heart attack red’ to the more normal ‘I’m knackered red’ we deemed it enough time so we set off again, heading towards Great Sheford on the road.

Keith and Kingy both did a splash and dash in the petrol station as they’d ridden their bikes to our meeting spot. Just out of Great Sheford and heading towards Lambourn I took a slight detour up the byway leading to the chicken run, and back down to the road again on the tar road. It’s a pity the c/run is now closed as it was a cracking little bit of fun – very similar to the rat run. Again we stuck to the usual lanes leading to Lambourn but I had a small little tip off on one of them. I still had my GPS mounted on the bars and that distracts me sometimes. Not only that but it tends to make me ride too carefully instead of using speed and momentum to get you through ruts and mud. Anyway it was no big deal, the bike plopped over and I did a little dance without hitting the deck. Keith was over the moon that he’d eventually seen me fall off – maybe what he has is catchy? Oh ho!

Dropping down into Lambourn we headed back out and turned right down through the cow field. At the bottom of the lane I offered Kingy a go on the KTM450. I set off in the lead again on board his xr600. Once again the first thing I noticed was the awful handlebar position. It was nearly impossible to stand up straight and Kingy is taller than me so no idea how he rides it. The exhaust was commendably quite but it was so restrictive I could feel it strangling the motor. I had an older version to his and I’m sure it made a lot more power with it’s slightly more fruity exhaust. I carried on over the gallops and stopped at the intersection of lanes just as you come off the hill. Kingy and I exchanged view points of each bike and he clearly felt the KTM was a lot easier to ride. I recommended he sort out the bars asap. Pushing on we had a good run alone the next section as the gates were all open bar the last one.

mmm i think this should be in the engine!

Knowing the sugar hill lane was tro’d we turned left at the M4 then right down into a village. I stopped in the village and waited and waited. Turning back I found Kingy working on his bike. The plug had blown clean out the head! While he was fitting his spare one scott and I discussed what could have caused it. The bottom two or three rings of thread looked fused so we were a bit perplexed. I then noticed that the washer hadn’t been crushed down so I think the plug hadn’t been turned in tight enough and had worked its way out – popping the plug out once it got to the last few threads. Once the new plug was in, it still refused to run, so we resorted to pushing it along in second and eventually it roared into life. I suggested we head back but Kingy was up for more so we carried on, heading into and then straight out of town. It was here that we said goodbye to Keith as he had to be back to go to a birthday party he’d forgotten about. Heading out of town we took a left and made our way over to the water to tower. This is a nice little lane that can catch people out due to the ruts. Normally I’m ok with it but last May I made a mistake and the resulting crash damaged my forefinger and thumb – both of which are still not 100%. I think we all made it through ok and the next section up towards the farm is a cracking little lane but was made a bit dodgy by all the fallen logs lying in the path.

Local sparrow hawk population is doing well

We carried on until we eventually got to the café near the Barbary Castle. I was starving (had been for a while) and tucked into a lovely egg and bacon bap that had egg running down my fingers , yum! Two cups of tea later and we set off again, returning over the humpy humpy field back down to the main road. Stopping off at the petrol station I had a bit of a fight with the petrol pump. I opted for the ‘pay at pump’ service but by the time I’d got my card back in my wallet and open the tank the pump had turned its self off! gerrr.

crash number? ... time for some adjustments

As time was cracking on a bit we set off once more and were bound by the constraints of nerc to backtrack our route along the very same paths. After one particularly rutted lane we waited for Kingy to arrive and when he did pull up he was looking slightly worst for wear. The broken hand guard had now completely gone as he’d had another fair size off. He said he was having troubles dealing with ruts. Recognising he needed a break I broke out the spanners and adjusted his bars slightly by pushing them forward to maximise the height. This would enable him to stand a little easier. I also got scott to hold the back of the bike while I demonstrated how to move your body from side to side to balance and to push the bike down in the direction you want it to steer. At the next stop he agreed that the little bit of extra lift on the bars had mad it much easier to ride. I suggested he get himself a set of 20mm bar raisers to finish off the setup (and some metal reinforced hand guards!)

Andy Baxter's motorcycles - click image for website

In Great Sheford i was just about to pull way from the junction when a small 'motorcycle shop' sign caught my eye. i headed over to the clapper board and went up the drive way. I was very curious as I didn't think there was a bike shop there. We had a nice chat with the guys running it and they treated us to a cup of tea while we chatted about bikes, the lanes, racing etc. He had a very eclectic mix of bikes ranging from old 80's bikes to more modern trail bikes and road bikes. It's well worth knowing about it and taking down the number if you every get stuck in the area while out riding. Andy Baxter Motorcycles 01488 648348. they have a website - click image above.

half way home and Kingy gets stuck in the ruts.... again

but managed to slip past the bombhole

only to tip off again a few mile later... getting tired?

We got back to the car having traveled about 100 miles. Another good days trail riding. I got back to the house, packed the bike away but left everything else in the car as tomorrow was enduroland – but first I had to cook dinner!

Enduroland 1st March 2009

I set off nice and early as I didn’t want to get stuck out in the road again like last time. Lucking it hadn’t rained in the night as I’m not sure my car could have made it up the chalky slope that led us into the car park. My front tyres were past their best at the time, so I was a little concerned about getting stuck and while moving forward in the queue to sign on my fears were confirmed when the front just span up … then I released the handbrake and everything was fine! Doh… and all in front of the Enduroland babe as well. Once kited up I had a walk around saying hello to various guys and enduroland staff.

the guys parked next to me had two of the cleanest bikes i ever seen!

the pits and on site medics. the weather looked poor but it cleared up nicely

Setting off on the sighting lap we dropped down a slope and weaved through some tight trees before getting out onto the open going. A short blast and a tight flat turn that was very slippery was followed by a 90’ right and another, opening up into a field that had some turns marked out with tape. These could be taken at speed and I had some good slides going through the right hand bend. At he bottom of the field we turned left, skirted the field at the bottom, turning left up the hill and zig zagging up and down a small four foot high ridge before turning back down the field. At the end of a fast blast you dropped down a bank again, turning left straight away. It was a bit iffy here as this also got a bit slippery. Another blast across the field took us into some very tight going through tress that had loads of drops, climbs, twists and turns. It became obvious that the standard gearing I’d left on the bike was completely wrong for this tight stuff.
Climbing out of the woods on a steep slope we came back out near the car park and this corner became lethal in the afternoon as it wore down to pure white chalky clay.

Moving back along the slope we ducked back into the trees briefly and then climbed back out over a high bank before double backing and coming back round again to complete the lap. I stayed out for about an hour or so then pull back in for a drink and a bite of my garage forecourt BLT sandwich – not so yum.

I was having a good time on the course but again was struggling for grip. I’d hopped to pick up another tyre from the on site parts guy, but he didn’t have my size in stock. Still, I wasn’t too worried as it gave me a chance to get used to sliding the bike about. I was still faster than most but there were a few little 2T’s that I couldn’t keep up with. I caught up to a small group of guys in the last few sections of the woods and noticed the bike ahead was blowing smoke a bit. There was no water about so I knew it had to be oil. “Ah that’ll be a 2T running rich” I though. Then I noticed the exhaust shape and it was a 250 KTM 4T so there had to be something up the matter. Sitting on his back wheel I tooted the horn to get him to pull over but it didn’t have the desired affect (probably though I was some dick trying to get by). As we zoomed up the banking I tried to get alongside but promptly lost the front end in the corner and ended up in a heap on the deck! Oh well, I hope your bike was ok mate.

crash was caught on camera by Dave Burton check out his other picutres of the day

Earlier in the day I’d noticed someone riding around in a jacket and denim jeans, sitting right at the back of the seat. Seeing that, it was obvious that he was new to this lark and had more than likely come from a road bike. A couple of hours later I noticed him again, still sitting right at the back of the bike and struggling like hell. I pulled up next to him and shouted for him to pull over. Stopping next to him I looked over and his face was so red I think I’ve only ever seen one redder and that was Rhomech’s in Wales! Sweat was dripping out from his helmet onto his jeans so I told him to sit right up at the tank. Ok better yet pull into the pits and I’ll give you some tips. I waited in the pits for a while chatting to some of the guys and eventually he rolled up. I immediately set about explaining the basics of cornering and how to position yourself on the bike. I grabbed my spanners out the car and adjusted the bars forward a bit as well to raise them up. It turned out this was only his second time on the bike and yes he really didn’t have a clue how to ride dirt bikes. He was really please that someone had shown a interest in helping him though. His weapon of choice was a nice mellow 525 KTM! After the bars, levers etc were all set up I carried on with the riding lessons and suggested he dump the jacket to cool down a bit!

slidding the back end a bit in a high speed corner

I finished of my sandwiches and went out for some more punishment/fun. It was round about now that I had a really funny ‘off’. I’d caught up to some guys in the woods and sat behind them for a while looking for a way past. Just then a rather rapid chap on some old Kawasaki caught up to us so it tried to go up the inside of the guys in front and overtake them on the table top jump/climb in the woods. Unfortunately the front end washed out big style (more on this later) and I just managed to get a foot saving it momentarily. What happened next was unfortunate – I’d twisted the throttle open I think when saving the front end and the rear hooked up and gripped so much it shot forward and basically zoomed out from under me as my weight was on my left leg. I was still hanging on (oh I can save this) as the bike changed up the slope on it’s back wheel with me ‘supermanning’ behind it! once at the top it reared up and over onto it’s side crashing down into the biggest bramble bush I’ve ever seen. The bike was more or less suspended in the bush and I slowly extracted myself from the thorny mess. One rider stopped to ask if I was ok and carried on when I said yes but the next one along helped me get the bike back up the slope and out of the brambles.

After a quick break in the pits I got another hour in but had another off when I lost the front end on the concrete slab trying to overtake some bike going to the left. Before I knew what was happening I was do – hard. I carried on for bit after that then decided to pack up half an hour early. Another cracking day at enduroland, interesting course and good weather - must do something about the entrance though! Ref the front end washing out. I’ve found that the front brake is sticking. The front seals were recently changed so I started there and lubed up the pistons. On further investigation I found that the brake master cylinders plunger was sticking in! A new repair kit was picked up at The KTM Centre today so hopefully it’ll all be sorted for Sunday’s race at Leighton Buzzard.

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