The second day.....

The hunt to find the DH trails is successful.So on the morning of the second day I was woken by the glorious sound of typical Devon weather. Having met up we left for Woodbury managing to arrive just as it worsened to assemble bikes. It was wet, very wet, wetter than a haddocks posing pouch.

For non-Exeter Locals Woodbury Common is mostly sand and pedals so we soon rode to the sound of a mixture of sand and mud slowly grinding pads and gears to dust (although Matt's decision to ride a rigid singlespeed was probably very sane - it took me 90 minutes to clean my bikes including stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the drivetrain). As you can see - I finished this having snapped my chain once and completely worn out my rear disc pads.

Once again a lack of photos can be attributed to my camera sulking at the first sign of moisture despite being sealed away in a waterproof case. However the trip to find the proper, sculpted DH trails was successful after much wandering around near the top and then going down a fire road and following them up from the bottom of the hill. There seems to be more lines than we could find so I'll do some photos and a video once it dries out as in the wet it was lethal - for example a rooty corner with slimy mud to very steep drop. I slid out and ended up in a pile of bracken and it's the first time I've been grateful as it was at this point I realized I no longer had a rear brake.

It was a good laugh if anything and the Kona is, I'm afraid to say, a bit unwieldy and a real pig for normal XC mostly due to a far too short top tube. But if I put a long stem on the handling goes to pot etc etc. A plan has been hatched to cross breed my bikes.....

In the mean time I must begin to get ready for tomorrow and my first attempt at bivvying. Oh goody - the list of kit grows as the weather worsens.