Chocolate Log

Well, ok - nine lords and one lady (i use that term loosely) decided to embark upon a forum ride at Swinley Forest. The sun was beaming down, and the God of fro-lite was smiling upon the CF massive and their eclectic collection of bikes. Well, all except James (biscuithead), who, of either superhuman abdominal strength or Wensleydale bars, managed to bend them after crashing on the single-track on the way to the jump gully. He then did what any right thinking freerider would do in that situation, and went home to get drunk. But for the rest of us, the day had just begun.

The jump gulley was just as I had remembered it - flowing and fun, with higher lines, lower lines, drop-ins and a gap or two. Everyone was getting air and looking smooth after the first few runs, with Jenx hitting up some of the higher lines and Jon (prawn) and Dan (SgtWilko) tweaking it up a treat. I managed my first proper (and intentional) hip, so we were all pretty pleased with ourselves.

When we’d had enough of that, it was time to ride some classic Swinley single-track. This has changed a little since I visited last summer. With the addition of the berms on most corners, it’s now even more fast and flowing. Speed could be carried into even the tightest corners, which is great because that meant slightly less pedaling out of them. And there was lots of pedaling to be done.

We then stopped for a bit of free-standing to catch our breath and to tell our Gary (mrsmith) anecdotes. I’ll do an entire Gary Special feature at some point in the future if demand continues to remain high.

Next up, the new (to many of us) trails. There were a few different trails which all started from the same place. I have no idea how they managed to fit that many minutes of grin-inducing riding into such a relatively small area. The first came as a complete surprise - there was nothing like it last time I’d visited. The top section (my favourite bit) started out steeper and looser than anything we’d ridden yet, with switchbacks and small drops, the gradient then became shallower, and the trail hardpacked and bermed with small jumps scattered all the way down. Everyone was sending it Special Delivery. The second was a bit of an epic. It was similar to the first trail, but with winding uphill and flat sections thrown in to extend the fun. It went on and on and on and on and on, and even though I didn’t want it to end, my legs were relieved when eventually it did. The last trail was so good, we rode it three times. It started out loose and steep again, then levelled out into a hip and series of table tops and berms, the second set being fairly steep but very short, which caught a few of us out, including myself. Others seemed to manage just fine though.

Beard stroking and milling around at the drop area was next on the agenda. This area consists of a gap jump and a collection of smaller, natural drops. After a respectable amount of free-looking, Jenx hit the gap. He landed it inch perfect, and made it look easy. Next up was Rodderz. He hit it with a little more speed, went bigger, and gave himself a headache even though he landed it smoothly. But at least I got my picture. Much respect to both of them for doing it on their jump bikes.

Most of us were flagging by this time, so we rode back via the jump gulley, where Jenx took a tumble off the hip jump and winded himself pretty badly. But he was up on his feet soon enough, and it was more flowing, fast single-track to the cafe for a well deserved post-riding snack, and then home.

I’ll definitely be back for some more very soon though. Swinley? Grinley more like!