[Closed] Epping/Redbridge

I reckon I could sneak out earlier now, wife has taken my daughter to the swimming lesson as she said I'd probably be grumpy if she got stuck in traffic on the way home

I can probably meet you there at 1700, let me know if that works for you

Might be easier to arrange by phone? My number is o7764 5oo 56o

If anyone else is game to meet up tonight then post up on here on or text my phone

Nice one ,I've sent you a message.
& please don't be a 9stone whippet.:-)

I just walked though the door 🙁

@Epic,for hills on the road bike, banks lane is a short sharp double but leads into a nice rolling loop and Lippets Hill a ways behind Carls hut is a little tester. I never miss the road from Abridge to Theydon though just for the challenge. Regards the MTB, Epping is pretty good for what it is, you can ride a lot of singletrack with not much time spent on the fire roads, but once it gets wet, it's pretty slippy. Also Hadleigh, the olympic mtb course is not that far away and holds up pretty well.

Had a cracking ride with Senor J. Trails were dry and first half was light enough to not need lights on

Thanks Jason for the guided tour, very impressive knowledge of the area. Just over 40 mile round trip from my door, great trails in Epping, tired now!

Had an off doing zero miles an hour, fell into a little gully! What a ****, missed my footing. A few bruises and cuts but nothing serious

PS, hope the trails aren't too muddy on Sunday

Erm, I'm notified as I meet with my club colleagues this morning that I've double booked myself, and am supposed to be leading a road ride tomorrow.

If Senor J is confirmed as riding tomorrow and able to lead (?)I may drop out (apologies) but if not I'll honour this one and lead as I don't want to leave people stranded and not able to ride. By coincidence we are I think picking up a group at the Tea Hut at 9 as its en route so if the former scenario does occur I may be about to say hello.

Apologies maybe, Senor J let me know...?

I'm up for tomorrow - will it ride ok after the rain today?

But I'm also happy to postpone to another weekend, not an issue, I'll nip out on the road instead.

Nice one Ben . Good crack. I enjoyed it . Good company, Cheers.
Kryton..naughty .
I'll be at the tea hut by 0930 as planned. So if no one turns up I'll guide myself. 🙂
I can't promise it'll be as good as krytrons route ....I'll do me best.
Cycles goff-There's still plenty of foliage & leaves on the ground to soak up the rain ,so I reckon it'll be damp under tyre, with the prospect of puddles.

I'm attempting to be there at 8.30 tomorrow avec wife and friends with kids and dogs and Lord knows what. So 8.30 will rapidly turn into 9.30 I'm sure. Might see you for a cuppa afterwards

Cool. I'll look out for a harassed dad with kids and dogs. 😉
I'll be the barrel shaped bloke on either a black or silver "orange" hard tail (I'll decide in the morning).
Planning to do a similar route that Ben & I did last night,no bacon roll at 1045 ,sorry .
Probably back at the tea hut by 1230/1300 .

tea hut at high Beech next to the car park? I have a black SS with Jones bars and a Poc helmet that makes me look a bit of a knob. I can do a 2 hr ride so may bail early at some point. That'll be a 4 hr ride total which is about all I can manage.

See you guys tomorrow - in case you missed my earlier post i'm on a blue kona unit

Apologies. Not deliberate but a **** up on my part. This way anyway both sets of people get to ride. Senor J one of my past riding buddy's - a short chap called Jeff- might come and find you, he knows the forest more than I do, and is a bacon addict.

As mentioned if I get there via the club ride ill stop & say hello.

Had an awesome 3hr jaunt with Senor J this morning. Thanks so much for the guided tour it's amazing how much fun riding there is at epping.

I may have sort of fallen off. Doing jumps in the bomb hole area. Sore big toe and arm. Lovely weather wasn't it.

Two excellent rides in one weekend. I'm tired today. 🙂
I hope Cycles goff got home ok & both the Ben's wounds are healing.
#self-harmer 🙂

Excellent. Some else that new the route turned up so I could have come out with you chaps. In fact, I wish I did as in also tired, our group was pulled along for 133k at 32kmph average.

My legs hurt this morning.

Sounds like fun - I really need to get one of my mountain bikes down here! I ended up going for a walk near Blackmore with my wife and daughter - fitting in a couple of pub visits of course. Lots and lots of bikes out - seemed to be a sportive of some kind using the lanes round there.

Epicsteve. I rarely post on here but pretty sure we have just started following each other on Strava and live within spitting distance. Not currently got an mtb but would be up for a road ride at some point.

Epicsteve. I rarely post on here but pretty sure we have just started following each other on Strava and live within spitting distance. Not currently got an mtb but would be up for a road ride at some point.

I saw you popping up on the STW group doing a lot of the same segments (running and cycling) as me - looks like you're very close. Definitely be interested in making use of your local knowledge for a road bike ride. Do you ride with one of the clubs nearby?

So I take it after the recent dry weather the riding in Epping is ok now?

I'm hoping I've finally sorted out a place with a garage so I'll have room for more bikes down here so am planning to bring a mountain bike down to my place in Woodford next week. Still can't quite decide what bike to bring down though - possible will convert my Soul to 1x10 and bring that.

it's as dry as i have ever seen it, its very nice currently. mid travel hardtail would be ideal round there

Couldn't tell you about Epping, but I was in Trent Park last night and it's the driest its been all year! It was a peach

I've been riding Epping - its bone dry dusty fast trails. Come & have a play!

I've finally got around to bringing a mountain bike down here so plan to get out and do some exploring of Epping etc. in the near future. I've not ridden a mountain bike this year so far though, so might start with some laps of the mountain bike track at Redbridge.

Decided in the end to bring down my Bfe as it seemed a decent option to try 1x10 on as I've got all the bits do do that now.

so might start with some laps of the mountain bike track at Redbridge.

Steve - its very very tame at Redbridge. Although if you want to see/take part in some racing the Beastway series will be racing next Wednesday night

Are you free at the weekend? I'm recovering from a quad strain but I think I'll be able to bimble to test it out so could guide you round at Epping at social pace if you like, and don't mind me backing off on hills?

Steve - its very very tame at Redbridge. Although if you want to see/take part in some racing the Beastway series will be racing next Wednesday night

Tame is probably good for me at the moment! I'm a member of the Redbridge club so have cheap access to the circuits there (£40 for the year) so might well give it a go.

Are you free at the weekend? I'm recovering from a quad strain but I think I'll be able to bimble to test it out so could guide you round at Epping at social pace if you like, and don't mind me backing off on hills?

Definitely interested in doing something at the weekend although it depends on whether I decide to go on a 100 mile road bike ride the club have organised. No need to worry yourself about speed on the hills - I'm old and slow! Social pace is the upper end of speed range anyway...

When do you normally go out and where's best to meet up? The top hut maybe? Heading out early on Sunday would probably work for me this weekend, even if I do go out on the road ride on Saturday.

I've the whole weekend free, so early Sunday at the top hut would be good for me. My email is in my profile, feel free to drop me a line and let me know when you're sure.

I took a spin round the Redbridge circuit earlier. I'd agree it's pretty tame but still enjoyed it. The only issue was having to be careful not to wash the front out on some of the loose gravel on some of the corners, and also having to do that climb every lap! I only did a few laps but an hour or so would be a decent workout.

It certainly proved that my climbing needs work and what little technical ability I used to have is now long gone!

I was planning to drive up to Epping for a ride this weekend, mind if I tag along with you guys if you go?

I'm definitely up for a ride on Sunday morning although the earlier the better as I've got some family stuff to do.

Nice one Epicsteve. You should see the Wednesday races - the XC courses interwine acorss and around the circuit, ans if they dont go up that hill 3x a lap its unusual.

I'm good for Sunday, just name a meet time / ride time as im only 20 mins ride away and will head up to meet you.

Sunday is fine for me also. Its a short drive so can get there any time.

If we are doing this, I need to know a time to be there and I will be. If I don't hear anything I'm aiming for 9am at the Tea hut, black Anthem Orange helmet, likely black/green gloves. I'll hang around for 10 mins.

I'll know the score later when my wife gets back from Edinburgh, but hope to be able to make it for 9am at the tea hut as well. I'll driving a kind of burnt orange Mazda SUV (difficult to miss) and riding a Cotic BFE.

I'd be mad up for this but can't make tomorrow unforts- another time perhaps!! 🙂

I'll be there for 9 no problem. Dark blue kona unit with hot pink grips.

Can I tag along too? Be nice to visit my old stomping ground.

Can I tag along too? Be nice to visit my old stomping ground.

The more the merrier!

Looking likely I should make it - assuming I'm sober enough by then...

Crikey, quite a gang turning up! Right, im using Epicsteves bright orange car as a reference, see you all there.

If you need a group for Epping ride ,we ride from Heales cycles there is two groups there 9am sharp fast ish and medium no one knows Epping better as we also do some trail building aswell you must have a helmet ,there are some nice down hill sections or xc single track or killer climbs if you know where to look rarely touch horse tracks , I have just been on an afternoon blast conditions today fast but a little greasy on some corners ps
,you must have a sense of humour .

no one knows Epping better

Even those of us that have been riding around for 20 years?

as we also do some trail building as well

I hope you have permission, that kind of thing has been viewed badly and even removed in the past. But you would know that, right? As a non maintained "natural" shared public area, CoL frowns upon ecological damage beyond the existing trails and anything not natural that might pose a risk to the public.

Best leave it alone for us all to enjoy.

You assumed to much so all we have done is moved fallen debris on the trails no digging or up rooting of anything so wind your neck in we all live in hope ,I hope all the dog walker would clear their mess up .

Ok, so perhaps use the correct vocabulary? "Trail Building" is different from "moved fallen debris". And with the greatest respect perhaps you might take a look back at your writing style before you ask me to wind my neck in.

I'm sure you chaps are doing a good thing offering people the opportunity to enjoy the forest trails in a guided manner, but equally that comes with a responsibility to respect the By-laws especially as you are promoting a commercial premises and their reputation by association.

Proof it did happen!
[img] [/img]

Very impressed with the quality of riding although rather less impressed with my own lack of fitness and technique, so decided to bail at the half way mark and make my own way back to let the rest of the guys have some fun. Really enjoyed it though!

Big thanks to Kryton57 for showing us round and also a big thanks to the guys for waiting for me so I didn't get lost in what looks a very complicated network of trails!

Quite a few SingletrackWorld cliches on display as well - when knightsolaire pulled up with an impressive beard and a rigid singlespeed, tonto correctly identified him as having to be from the forum. I was just disappointed that his car wasn't an Audi and he doesn't work in IT...

I was the representing the fat, slow, middle aged IT guy cliche!

Some video from the ride:

Nice to meet everyone today, cracking ride. Thanks to Kryton for leading, sorry you had to bail early epicsteve glad you enjoyed it though.

I might actually be getting an Audi btw haha. No chance of a job in IT though...

Is that Pole Hill? Looks like you had a great ride! Nice one! 🙂

I enjoyed meeting you all and the excellent ride, thanks for coming along, it was my pleasure to guide you around!

Is that Pole Hill? Looks like you had a great ride! Nice one!

I had no idea where we were at any point!

Still debating whether to post the video of my embarrassing off into a boggy stream...

Please do, I missed it 😀

Here's the video with my off at the end - not very spectacular, more of an undignified fall off to the side really!