Todays ride was wet and windy, the highlight was a Red Kite overhead quartering the fields above Church Lane Longstock. So twenty nine kilometres in one hour fifty minutes. The weather was not much fun - persistent drizzle and a breeze from the south so completely soaked on our return home. Did a loop through Monxton, Kentboro then past Danebury Hill Fort, down to Longstock via Church Lane, then back north along the Test Way to Chilbolton Common, then home via Fullerton and the Clatfords.
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I have to say that I have been very impressed with the new bike, it has proved it's worth on the climbs and descents of the Heaven of the South event, always feeling stable on all but the muddiest switchbacks. Once it got going it really kept the momentum up and it was only held back by the skill and stamina of the rider. The bike has remained pretty much stock out of the box; apart from the rear Schwalbe Noddy Nic tyre being replace with a Maxxis High Roller for more grip in the mud and less rolling resistance on the harder packed surfaces. There was quite a lot of mud in places on the single tracks that the Heaven of the South route took, the Noddy Nic tyre again didn't really cope with it and soon clogged up, the High Roller coped better and enabled us to find grip on the muddy descents and climbs when required. The only other change was the saddle, the factory fitted Selle Italia X1 saddle being replaced with a Specialized Henge Model. As expected the Shimano Deore brakes and Shimano SLX/XT drive train have had no issues, and we have had to make no adjustments to them sine taking the bike out of the box. The Manitou Marvel TS Air Fork and Manitou Radium Expert RL Rear Shock have been great, very plush in their stroke and easily setup for the riders weight, the Front Fork has a very handy sticker attached to the forks lower leg for setting the forks pressure vs rider weight, this made up for the not so informative manual which came with the bike,Having set up the rear shock for a firm ride I have yet to blow through the rear shock's travel. The Mantiou fork is the only thing which has caused a frown, the paint of the crown and lower legs seems to be rather thin and not very robust - even with cable frame protectors fitted the paint is showing areas of rubbing, I am rather surprised considering that i have had the bike for such a relatively short time; the paint work on the Suntour forks fitted to my 26inch hard tail have faired much better over the two years of use and over the same Hampshire chalky mud. The Mantiou fork comes with a handlebar mounted remote lock out release which looks a little cheap, but does the job, locking the fork out when climbing really does have it's advantages. I generally level the rear shock open when riding in all conditions. If I was to improve upon the bike as it is - it would be the addition of a Dropper post; there is the provision for external cable routing for a dropper post remote - this would of made my life a lot easier on the event; not having to adjust the saddle height manually for the hard climbs and descent; my knees are never very happy with a compromise position. Well the Heaven of the South 2015 event saw the end of my campri hiking shoes I had been using for the last two years, they had finally succumbed to the ravages of the Shimano Saint MX80 pedal pins, and the soul was ripped apart literally. Luckily the replacements arrived in the post today - Axo Sport NC1 shoes, bought via a flash sale on the Sport Pursuit website. They can be used on flat pedals or with a little bit of rework can be used with clipless pedals. As expected with this type of shoe they have a very stiff soul with very little give, the uppers are made from leather so we shall see how they fair through the summer. Heaven of the South is a charitable mountain bike event based in Kings Wood and the Wotton under Edge area which is a very pleasant part of the Cotswolds. We took advantage of the camping on site and arrived on the night before, registration was straight forward, and onto the camping field (Kingwoods AFC football pitch). Along with a well appointed village hall, extra toilets and two very nice shower blocks where provided for the mountain bikers and family's who where to enjoy a very pleasant weekend there. A hot breakfast was provided in the way of a bacon/egg/sausage roll and coffee/tea provided by the great volunteer catering staff. So at 0850 we assembled for event briefing, which could be succinctly summed up as 'Don't Die'. This would be a mass start, which meant for the first road section we followed a convoy van, this got us to the first section of bridle path and then we where off into wooded ridge line which over looked Kings Wood and Wotton under Edge. As to be expected there was a lot of serious climbing involved in route. The first feed station arrived at the 19km mark, which provided us with flapjacks and water, and a quick moment to catch our breath. The 50/75 kilometre routes diverged shortly after; I took the 50 kilometre route which would provide approximately 3000ft of climbing. (The 75km route would provide the hardier souls with 5000ft of climbing.) Along the route there where many very friendly and helpful marshals to direct you on your way with a word of encouragement. The route was the a mixture of bridle path, single track which threaded it's way up and down through wild garlic scented woodland (some of it on private land, kindly opened for the event), and sections of country lane. The Wild Garlic was in full bloom and the blooms scent was heavy in the air underneath the tree canopy. The second feed station was at the Breakheart Quarry, again there as plenty of supplies on hand in the shape of more water and bananas. There was also the option to buy hot food if one desired it Country lane followed then back under the tree cover on more twisting single track which brought us on to more country lane and the final water stop, we would pass the Cider Stop without stopping, head down for the finish. Once we made it back to the finish it was a very nice soak in the 'Posh showers' and then food and free music was laid on for the adults and entertainment for the children, and a prize packed raffle draw to finish the day off. All in all the best organised event I an attended, not a surprise the tickets for the event sold out in else then 4 hours for this years event.
Beautiful Sunny Morning, loads of Skylarks singing their hearts out above the fields which we threaded our way through. 28 Kilometres in One Hour 40 minutes, took in a new loop from Fullerton past the Longstock Nursery, the Up the church Lane, through Kentboro and Monxton, Anne Valley and home.
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