Is Sat at Swinley going to be the mole ride for the weekend. If so can someone post the meeting place as I have never ridden there.

If not Swinley I am going to ride Sat morning -an easy paced ride (post holiday lay-off) - probably taking in abinger, albury, newlands corner and back along the NDW, anyone interested I will swing by Bocketts at 8.30-40.

Lloyd

Lloyd, at the moment Tommo and myself will be at Swinley tomorrow at 0830am and sometimes riders turn up without pre-announcing, which is always a pleasant surprise.

Meet point is the GoApe/Lookout car park. There are two areas; as you go in on the left is the GoApe area and on the right is the Lookout area. I am inclined to park in the latter (I have a Silver CRV with tow bar bike rack) as the GoApe area can be a bit overfull by the time I return. But late am/early pm it is sometimes a case of grab a space wherever you can.

Pace should be ok, I think I am now tapering down for a long ride tomorrow week so I will be pottering between some fun bits (for me than means flowing sections; eg Whole Nine Yards and Seagull, that I like to take at a reasonable speed). If there are any youthful adventurers on the ride (their names seem to start with Da ) then there will be plenty of rest time available when they want to play or alternatively you just rest while watching the other idiots.

You will not be left behind and there are plenty of regrouping points between all the singletrack sections. If you have not been to Swinley before then you really should at some point.

Visit the http://gorrick.co.uk/swinley/index.php website re: getting a pass. Note: half-year Swinley passes start from Oct 1st, so there is probably no point buying an annual one.

You will enjoy Swinley, Lloyd, if you can make it. Steven is an ideal guide to give you an idea of the layout of the place. Take a GPS to record the route if you have one. The pass is not mandatory, but it helps to pay for the upkeep of the trails. You can always buy it on the way back if the shop's not open when you start, or if you like the place that much, splash out £20 on an annual pass.

I think you'll find that in the eyes of Her Maj it is! Most Permits are! Whether you choose to engage in pre-looter like behaviour is up to you!

Either way you can buy a day or an annual pass online.

http://www.gorrick.com/swinley/permits.php has all the info.

A little bit of overnight rain and suddenhly Swinley is deserted, we hardly met a soul, their loss was our gain.

We found an area with big jumps by Swinley standards, I may refer to it as the playground for the foolish and/or brave, but I am sure the youthful and adventurous Moles will enjoy it. Actually a couple of bigger jumps land on steep sections so that is good, but I would not be surprised if in true Swinley fashion that are a few nasty roots or tree stumps around that you would want to avoid.

It is sort of NE of the runs down to the Labyrinth and SW of the ski jump in the expert MTB area.

Someone remind me on a future visit.

Steven, did not make it to Swinley as I had (what I thought was a bottom bracket) problem on the Wed ride. When I checked last night it was actually a bolt from the swap drop-out that had worked loose and fallen out. No riding for me at all today

Lloyd

That's ok Lloyd, there is always another day. I stripped my bike down this morning and found one of the pivot bolts needed tightening. It is amazing what can work loose if you do not keep on eye it, but considering where we go with our bikes I suppose it is to be expected. I think my next Swinley ride will be during the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of the month.

awesome ride again....cheers Steven