Swapping

We've drifted into autumn and riding is now all about the weather. I had a day off work and it seemed like the perfect day to go and give Cannock another go. Unfortunately, as I started the day studying the Met Office website, a large band of heavy rain was cycling that way and looking to sit firmly over the Midlands all afternoon. It was time to sub in an alternative and I pulled Swinley off the bench and pointed the car through the rain to the West, rather then the North.

The weather forecast looked like the rain would swing away from Bracknell at about lunchtime so the plan was to roll up there as it stopped and hit the wet trail without getting wet from above as well. For once this worked perfectly and having driven through some showers I turned the car into the Swinley car park as the rain stopped.

The ride was muddy as I expected, and actually the hardpacked surface was slippery and skittish under my possibly overinflated tyres, giving a whole different level of technical riding as I tried to go as fast as possible (and put any thoughts of Strava segments out of my mind as best I could).

There were some berms to rail round and fast rolling jumps to pump over on the largely well drained paths, with the odd section of loamy mud to power into as well and then break out into the faster sandy sections. Swinley delivered just the fix I wanted to feed my addiction, leaving the right type of trackmark.

In other news, the Internet threw up some Photoshop work that made everyone “LOL”. Look at it, celebrities riding bikes but there are no bikes. ROFLMAO.

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