After last weeks fairly gentle 16 mile ride along the Grand Union Canal together with Langley and Black park's, attended by John Ellis, Andy Lacy, Alan Jackson and myself, we decided to ramp up the degree of difficulty a bit this week with a visit to the Swinley Forrest trails.
Alan couldn't make it due to a Bowls match, but Andy, John and I were joined by Steve Fletcher instead. The weather was bright but cold as we headed off along the Blue(moderate) route, described as being suitable for intermediate riders with basic off road skills, this proved fairly challenging but manageable, so we left this at the half way point and joined the Red(difficult) route, suitable for proficient riders with good off road skills.
This didn't seem a lot more challenging as we made our way round to complete most of this route, we then returned to pick up the Blue route again which provided us with some of the best sections of the day and returned us to the visitor centre. We had only covered 11 miles but with the many undulations and level of concentration needed we all agreed it had been a tough two and a half hour workout, with luckily no falls or submissions although there were a fair number of close shaves, perhaps we should try the Black(severe ) route next time.
Richard Williams