The Dorset Jurassic Classic.

This dramatic coastal ride had more than a whiff of the usual suspects about it as Colin from Enroute Cycling assembled together an eclectic posse of riders. Colin is the author of the popular MTB Dorset guide book (Ernest Press) and is the authority on where to ride off-road in Dorset. But the real secret here is that Dorset has probably the longest coastal stretch of perfectly legal rights of way for you and your mountain bike to explore.

With conditions that only the British weather can conjure up the group waved goodbye and set off on the 85km epic in the middle of what you might call ‘a bracing Easterly shower’. The blood was soon pumping as the first real climb of the day is up the grassy slopes of ‘Golden Cap’ which just happens to be the highest point on the South Coast of England and epitomises this dramatic and historical coastal stretch. The Jurassic coast stretches East and West as far as the eye can see from here which is what makes this ride pretty special. On every crest there is a mouth-watering view that makes you want to linger and soak up the spectacular and dramatic slopes. Those of the group who had never ventured to this area before were suitably impressed. There is nowhere else in the UK where you can follow the coast for such a long stretch. Sure, there are plenty of other areas with just as dramatic coastal trails: Exmoor is certainly one of them, and to some extent the South Downs Way – but nothing on the scale of Dorset’s Jurassic coastline. The classic Beatles song: Four seasons in one day, would easily sum up the weather programme for the day. The wind of course mostly blows South Westerly, so it feels like a friendly push on your right shoulder as you try not to look up as you pedal hard up the slopes of Dog House Hill. But it isn’t all climbing. After a welcome brew at one of the many ‘food shacks’ at West Bay the terrain levels off along the B roads of the Brid Valley for a few kilometres. Here the coastline is hidden from view until topping out above Abbotsbury where another breath-taking view awaits. And after the four km climb that leads you there a chance to flash the camera is a great excuse to get your jellified legs back into some kind of working order. It’s a tough ride. The climbs are followed by sweeping descents, usually back to sea level, but there is always an opportunity to sample the local watering holes along the way; near the begging of the ride the Anchor Inn at Seatown is always popular, as is the tea house at Down House Farm near Higher Eype. Towards the end, Corfe Castle is awash with plenty of great tea shops, pubs and cafes to soothe the soul and weary legs. The weather began to tease us with its own version of some Californian sunshine as our usual suspects approached Lulworth Army Ranges.

NB: When you do ride this area always check out if the ranges are firing or not as the ‘Jurassic Classic’ route marches straight through the centre of them!

The range road is generally open most weekends and holiday periods but it’s worth quickly checking out timings and road closures at: www.dorsetforyou.com for a hassle free trip. The final watering hole and the end of our ride is just after what might be described as the most dramatic descent in the South of England. As we approach the collapsed arches of Old Harry Rocks we keep one eye carefully on the cliff edge which seems closer than it really is, but for first time riders to this area it’s a wonder to behold. The Bankes Arms at Studland is a welcome sight and here we discuss the highlights of the day; which in reality is pretty much the whole length of the 85km route. From here the gang of usual suspect breaks up and heads home.

Shouts go out to Richard Hilton-Foster from ‘Ride’ in Poole for supplying the mechanical back up and transport for the day and to Mule bar for energy! Thanks also to Jim Pascoe from the National Trust whose land most of the Jurassic Classic covers and who helped smooth the way on the day. Dave Whild from Endura Clothing helped Colin get the original concept and idea off the ground and into the saddle. Simon from Shred (who seemingly wheelied his way along the entire route!) and Keith at MaxBikesPR who got stronger as the day went on, on his new Marin 29er. Tony from ‘Soapbox’, Jonathon from ‘The Training Room’ and big Roger from ‘Bionicon Bikes’ provided their moral and riding support along the way, and finally from all to Sam who supplied the excellent chocolate cake.

For further details on riding along the Jurassic Coastline contact Colin at Enroute Cycling www.enroutecycling.com or email info@enroutecycling.com

Big Bike Bash

Pitched at all levels of mountain biker this years Big Bike Bash event is predicted to have even more riders, prizes, bands, and beer than ever before. The cross-country course is 5 km of twisty single-track with water crossings and a bit of north-shoresque boardwalk. There are also unique competitions like pint-to-pint racing (happily not a misprint), malt loaf eating (also liking the sound of that – Ed) and the infamous lake jump.

Ride guilt free as the weekend is perfect for the whole family, with live music, DJs, a beer festival and plenty of activities to keep non-bikers and children entertained, and you’ll even be doing your bit for charity.

Ticket prices for this year’s event, with overnight camping available, are £40 per adult and £20 for under 18’s for those who want to take part in any of the competitions and for those that simply want to soak up the atmosphere, enjoy the music and beer festival, tickets are £10. Under 12’s tickets with an adult cost just 1p!

The leading youth work charity UK Youth has enhanced the off-road cycling facilities (specifically aiming at  young people and the local community) at its Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre in the New Forest. It raised an impressive £8,000 at last summers’ annual ‘Big Bike Bash’ and has also received a recent £2,000 grant from the New Forest National Park Authority which it used to make the improvements Not only has it improved existing sections of bike trails and new ‘north-shore’  decking at the 65 acre site (near Bransgore) it also has a fleet of new bikes and training for instructors who cater to growing demand for biking skills sessions. The groundwork has just been completed and with further support from the bike industry and the CTC (National Cyclists’ Organisation) has ensured the money raised goes as far as possible.

At Shred we think grass roots developments are to be applauded to get more people into discovering the many benefits of mountain biking. Louis Bonney, UK Youth’s Director of Fundraising agrees, she said “ It’s great to have a place where people of all ages can come and have fun and learn new bike skills in a fantastic environment. We are really grateful to all those that support UK Youth’s work with young people and the local community who make events like the Big Bike Bash such a success! We hope to continue investing in cycling opportunities for all in the coming years.”

This year’s Big Bike Bash www.bigbikebash.co.uk event takes place on the weekend of August 18^th/19^th.

If you would like to be a part of this year’s event or would like to know more about UK Youth and its work with young people at Avon Tyrrell contact Louis, Catherine or Anne on 01425 672347, email bigbikebash@ukyouth.org and visit www.bigbikebash.co.uk 

The Charity – UK Youth

UK Youth is the leading national youth work charity supporting over 750,000 young people, 40,000 volunteers and 7,000 youth clubs, groups and projects across the UK.  UK Youth helps young people to raise their aspirations, realise their potential and have their achievements recognised.

The Venue - Avon Tyrrell

Situated in 65 acres of beautiful grounds in the New Forest Hampshire, Avon Tyrrell has since 1946 been providing new experiences & opportunities for thousands of young people. As UK Youth’s National Activity & Residential Centre, around 20,000 young people visit each year for holidays, training courses and to participate in activities such as climbing, canoeing, archery, abseiling, ropes, swimming, environmental studies, team-building and personal development courses. The Centre provides full-board facilities in the ‘Arts & Crafts’ Grade 1 listed Avon Tyrrell House, and self-catering facilities within the listed estate, as well as being open to day visits for the local community.

Useful links:

Big Bike Bash website: www.bigbikebash.co.uk

UK Youth website: www.ukyouth.org

Avon Tyrrell website: www.avontyrrell.org.uk

UK Youth cycling team website: www.teamukyouth.co.uk

It was all set to be a weekend of good times, tanning up and riding some Yeti mountain bikes in Yorkshire’s beautiful Dalby Forest.

First up a word on the bikes. We are all riding Yeti Big Top 29ers, despite us all having fairly different ideas on bike set up the Big Top has allowed us a lot of flexibility. I have been running ‘Porter’ in a single speed set up with a Niner rigid fork but swapped over my dropouts and have thrown on a 10speed XTR set up for the next few events. Brendan has been rolling on his usual uber-light fashion – every bolt weighed and every component about as bling as you can get it. Hodge rolls on a pretty much factory bike set up, an SDG I-Beam and Formula R1 brake system the only upgrades from the standard XT equipped model you can buy in bike shops across the UK. All of us are running a 1×10 set up using e.thirteen XCX chain devices to keep things in check.

Back to  the weekend. Saturday was a wash out, huge amounts of rain made a tough course tougher and with a lot of open class riders stomping their way up the climbs it would make the circuit even harder for the riders the following day, especially if the rain eased up and the mud turned into a sticky mess. The race site wasn’t the place to be, especially for unhappy campers.

Sure enough come Sunday the gloop remained, despite a few early showers the track started to dry out and the sticky mess arrived, bikes got heavier and broken bodies, bikes and spirits littered the trackside. Being from the temperate South West we kind of have an affinity with racing in the rain, the conditions faced at Dalby were not so different from the conditions we race all winter, spring and summer so our guys were relishing the challenge. Steve Hodge was the first act to enter the crazy circus that was basically Dalby’s World Cup course. Hodge had a reasonable start and made good progress on the really technical sections to get himself up to 4th place, a brilliant result for his first year in Expert class.

Brendan Murphy took on the nation’s best in the Veteran class. A late start and a reduced lap count evened up the odds for most of the Vet riders and probably worked against Brendan who’s fitness usually allows him to make up extra places as the race progresses. A reasonable start in a lot of mud got him into the first half of the field of 80 or so riders and he worked hard to get himself up to a respectable 12th place overall.

So an unpredictable weekend but for the most part in our favour. We didn’t get to sample the full delights of Dalby’s trails but we came away with some decent results for the racers and enjoyed a great weekend at the British XC series. Full rundown on our road trip in Issue 60 of Shred Magazine.

The Summer Tour moves on to the Dyfi Enduro in Wales on May 6th.

All images shot by Bob Bogdan Williams.

Shred Summer Tour 2012

The Shred Summer Tour, in partnership with the National Trust and powered by Yeti, kicks off this weekend!

We’ll be on hand to witness the action at Dalby with some of the crew racing, some riding trails and some as usual handing out complimentary copies of Shred mag. At Shred we are proud to show our support for the British racing scene and show non-subscribers what they’re missing!

With a great venue and challenging trails boosted by Olympic hopefuls keen to secure their places, we’re expecting loads of exciting, close quarter race action. There’s plenty of non-elite riding action planned for the weekend as well, so there’s no need to feel left out if you fancy a ride.

It’s worth saying that, whilst it may not be obvious as the racers (of all categories) fly by grimacing, having vocal supporters yelling encouragement really does make a difference to lift the competitors spirits. So even if you’re planning to just get a local trail ride in, try and make a point of dropping in to show your support for the sport and lending your voice!

If you spot the Shred van feel free to come over and say hello, tell us your ideas for features, shoot the breeze about the forthcoming Yeti Tribemeet or find out what the National Trust are doing for your sport and we’ll give you a Shred for your trouble.

Stay Fast…

Hope Cross Country Race Series 2012:

The long awaited Brownbacks 2012 XC MTB Series is now open for entries. Now in it’s fourth year the grass roots race series is sponsored by Hope Technology, Leisure Lakes, Big Bear Bikes, Cooksons Cycles and DHP11.  The series is designed to allow riders of all standards compete and enjoy themselves in the dramatic Lee Quarry.

With it’s excellent Rowan Sowell designed trails, cheeky ‘off piste’ sections and the presence of high exposure against the scenic backdrop of the Rossendale Valley is somewhere once raced, never forgotten. To enable riders of all standards to compete, two courses are operated at the same time. There’s a ‘Have-a-go’ course that threads its way through the quarry on a smoother less challenging route than the main course. Here the organisers push hard to cram in exciting descents mixed in with technical climbs to test the all round riding ability of the riders. Each race is different with familiar sections often reversed and new sections introduced each week to ensure that the same course is never raced twice.

New for 2012 are 40+ and 50+ age categories, responding to rider demands “not get beaten by the kids” the organising team have decided to change their policy for 2012 and let these riders race against each other at last. This should bring in proper racing for the “old enough to know better” generation and there are great hopes for large fields in both these new categories.

Not riding? Show your love by spectating! Lee Quarry is a compact site and is great for spectators who can see the racing at many places during the event . Each event is a single race with a staggered start, and a common finish this makes sure everyone gets to feel they are part of a big event and riders all finish in time to enjoy the rest of the weekend. There is plenty of car parking (with facilities) and catering in the event ‘village’.

Help please!

As always lots of volunteers are needed on race day for everything from sign-on, timekeeping to marshalling, if you want to get involved and support these events and the team get in touch via the website.

The organising team are all volunteers and without the generous support of others would not be able to put on these great events. Entry is priced to make racing accessible for all and full details of the generous prize list is on the website www.brownbacksracing.co.uk .

Race dates: 27th May, 1st July, 2nd September, 14th October.

Keep checking the website www.brownbacksracing.co.uk facebook http://www.facebook.com/brownbacksracing and Twitter @brownbacks over the coming weeks for more news.

Pictures by memememe831@hotmail.com and Gary at gary.brown1701@hotmail.com www.gbwedphotography.co.uk