Last weekend I went to Ross on Wye and the Forest of Dean for a couple of days mountain biking. We were planning on going Canadian canoeing on Saturday and then mountain biking on Sunday. However because of the extreme weather we couldn't go canoeing.
It rained even more on Friday evening on our way to the youth hostel some of it torrential. It's often rained hard on a Friday before our rides, but never this hard.
We stayed in Welsh Bicknor in a local youth hostel. The hostel was located down the bottom of a zig zag single track road that was quite treacherous to drive down. There was only one passing point along the long lane and on one side were a steep wall and the other a big drop into some trees. The road was also very bumpy and I scraped the front of my car a couple of times on it.
There were eight of us on this trip. Susan, Wiki, Dave, Peter (Emily's fiancée), three of Wiki's friends Catherine, Caroline and Nick. The boys stayed in one bunk room and the girls another. It really reminded me of a reality TV show or being back at school on a school trip!
Starters on the ride, Catherine, Nick, Caroline, Dave, Susan, Wiki and Peter.
On Friday evening Wiki had bought me a birthday carrot cake, so we tucked into that along with a home made improvised pasta meal on Friday evening.
On Saturday morning it started out dry but quickly started to rain by the time we set off on our ride. All eight of us started on the ride in the initial light but constant drizzle. We were of quite varying ability on the ride and because of this and the large numbers we started off quite slowly. It was a really nice single track with tricky tree roots to negotiate. As the morning progressed the rain started to get much heavier without any sort of break.
Decision time at a T junction.
We got lost from the very start of the ride. Even with Dave's GPS unit and a couple of maps it was very difficult to navigate though the forest trails. There were so many trails in the forest and a junction at almost every few hundred yards.
We had a good long uphill ride which Wiki and I really enjoyed, while waiting for everyone to catch up we found a good spot to stop for lunch. Once Dave arrived at the lunch spot he said that I couldn't have enjoyed that uphill ride but I really did!
Lunch in a sheltered spot in the forest.
Just after lunch four of us took a shorter route back to the car park while the other half of the group pushed on. Wiki, Dave, Peter and I decided to carry on the ride. We still suffered from the same problems as before in trying to find our way along the route and got lost several times.
The rain still poured on us, but that just made me even more determined to cycle on and it was really good fun too. We found some trails that were really water logged and covered in mud. Then we came across a trail that was littered with nettles and we were all stung over our legs and arms.
More navigating in the pouring rain.
We finally got back to the car park after 16 miles, and 2800 calories. It was lots of fun and we were all absolutely caked in mud and soaked through. We couldn't have got any wetter if we had jumped into the Wye and swam out, in fact we would probably have been much cleaner.
Celebrations after a great days riding in demanding conditions.
In the evening after some welcome showers we walked to a local pub across the river from the hostel. It was a good 30 minute walk which would prove quite entertaining at times as it was very slippery on the mud. Even more so on the way back as it was pitch black on the route and only half of us had torches.
We had a good look at the river Wye on the way to the pub. It was flowing very quickly and quite a bright brown as well. There was plenty of debris on the river such as a gas canister, a hay bail and several trees!
A hay bail being washed away in the river.
The local pub served fantastic pints of Guinness, or maybe it was that I was really looking forward to a pint after the days riding. There was also a curry house next to the pub, which had quite good food and great value for money as well. It only cost £106 for the eight of us and we were all totally stuffed. We did something which proved to be a really good idea. Each of us ordered our food as normal, but instead of just eating our own food we shared around all the main meals so we could each have a taste of everything.
The following morning we took a short walk along the Wye at Symonds Yat. At this point along the river there should have been some rapids and what would have been the end of our Canadian canoeing trip.
Island on the river rapids, no rapids and no island either
There were only four of us (Wiki, Dave and Peter) who were up for riding some more of our killer loop route today. It was quite overcast for the day, but at least it wasn’t raining. Caroline and Nick went on a shorter bike route on their own, while Susan and Caroline went for a walk into the forest to see some sights.
Overnight we put all our wet gear into the hostel dry room. This consisted of a permanently warm room in the basement of the hostel, like a big airing cupboard. Our clothes and equipment dried out really well in the room, but as it wasn't cleaned it was as stiff as a board and still covered in very dry mud. It was however much better than putting on wet clothing.
Bike cam!
The ride was still quite muddy because of the recent rain, but at least we didn't have the constant rain to contend with as well. Most of the ride consisted of some really nice hills to climb and one gentle climb that even Dave enjoyed!
A camper van for sale that we thought would be ideal for Susan. Here's Wiki hugging it for her.
After several climbs we found ourselves near the peak in a forest when the GPS device and maps said we needed to find a path to the bottom of the hill across a stream and main road. We tried several paths down the hill but none of them really led to where we wanted to be. Initially it was fine and fun to cycle along a muddy path with a big drop beside us, but this trail led to another dead end.
Just before the downhill off road route.
Eventually about half way down the hill we decided to walk the rest of the way through some dense ferns and undergrowth down the steep hill. Dave did comment that this was his worst nightmare for a bike ride, as he had to ride up the steep hill and then walk down it! :-)
We then decided to stop for lunch in a tree clearing surrounded by the ferns. As it turned out it was a very pleasant place to rest for a bit. After a bit of digging around Dave had fortunately found path across the stream to the road. We were fully prepared to cycle or swim across the stream!
Lunch stop view.
Once we had crossed the road we had yet another challenge as we wanted to be on a trail just above us, but couldn't find a path onto the trail. We decided to start climbing up the hill, either pushing up our bikes or carrying them. Once we got to where we thought we saw a trail it turned out to be a short plateau and we had to climb up even further to find the trail we wanted to be on.
Not the mountain biking experience we wanted, but fun all the same.
After managing to get back onto the trail that we wanted to be on we had to cycle up a few more climbs, but this time they were covered either side with brambles and nettles! It wasn't that pleasant but yet again we all came out the other end with smiles on our faces and laughing at the pain that we were in!
The last section of our ride consisted of a really good if slippery single track though a forest with some nice jumps. Peter was in his element here as he used to do some motocross. He really appeared to enjoy the jumps and short steeper downhill sections. This short section finished with a big drop back down to the road. Wiki and I decided to walk down the final drop but Dave and Peter rode down it, twice!
It doesn't really look that steep but believe me it is. Peter coming down at the end.
Here we all are after the second day's activities. As you can see we're all considerably drier and a little less muddy.
We all met up again at the cycle shop in mid afternoon. We had covered another 14 miles, and around 2000 calories. What I was really pleased with was that my bike had covered just over a thousand miles over the 18 months that I've had it, during today's trip. Hopefully I'll have another thousand miles of just as enjoyable riding on it too!
It was a fantastic weekend of riding in the rain, mud in the Forest of Dean. Even though we were all disappointed to not have gone canoeing on Saturday I think the days riding on our bikes more than made up for it.
Thanks to Wiki for most of the organisation of the ride.
As usual I can't wait to get out again. :-)
