Superheroes of Suisse Normandie - road trip 2014

On Wednesday 10th, Paul, Sprucey, Chris and I set sail for another adventure in Suisse Normandie. This wasn’t the whole team as Greg and Si were late editions they could only travel via Euro Tunnel, so planned to dive down in the early hours to all rendezvous late Thursday morning.

Captain America

Day 1, Grimbosq
Once we all got together we headed off to our usual first day destination of Grimbosq forest, however this time we proposed to ride one of the routes from the route pack.
In to Grimbosq we headed for the first singletrack run, this has a weird ‘bumpy’ surface that lasts for a good 500m, quite fun to try to ride fast. From here we climb to the top of the forest to the better singletrack. This is a snaking bath with roots, rocks and a couple of dips to traverse; we use this for photos and a little filming. We drop down to the old railway bridge over the river and then drop down to the river.



We follow the marked trail all the way to Auberge du Pont de Brie and cross the river then climb the road back to the forest then back to the car. The evening is spent with a BBQ and a review of the days video’s.

Greg having fun in Grimbosq

Grimbosq is always great for some singletrack riding

the railway bridge over the Ulm at Grimbosq

Day 2, Thury-Harcourt to Pont D’Ouilly
We parked by the Chateau under the trees and headed south. Once we hit the off-road, there is a decent warm up climb to Esson then over the next hill to the bottom. Here we usually turn left but instead we head right and climb the black route (it’s a black DH), it’s very technical with rocks, water, and roots etc but it cut the corner off to the paraglide launches. Here we dropped down a black run to pick up the GR to Clecy. The GR is amazing, about a mile of down hill running the length of the northern gorge. We pop out in Le Vey, across the bridge for a coke in clecy. From here we take a road climb to ride the LE Ham Downhill, another classic run of very technical and very brilliant singletrack downhill. We ride along the river with one more road climb to get to Pont D’Ouilly but Chris’s front brake locks on and will require further investigation.
In Pont D’Ouilly we have pizza for dinner then a short pit stop in the park while Chris gives his brake some attention. We ride out on the east side of the river heading for Clecy until disaster strikes….
Coming of a simple downhill run on to a tarmac road Sprucey and Greg have a coming together and both take a tumble of the bars. Greg has a cut elbow and a bruised knee but Sprucey is obviously hurt.

We make the decision to cut the ride short and head back for the cars, however Spruce can’t ride so we leave Greg with him and Paul, Si, Chris and I go for the cars. This is easier said than done as we are a good 12 miles away. We head to Clecy and attempt to get a taxi, however they quote and 1/12hr wait, so we man up and ride back to Thury. The ride back is pretty nasty, a really fast road turning in to a bit of duel carriage way with very fast cars… We make it back, load up then head back to pick up our fallen comrades.
At this point Spruce has made his mind up that he want to head on home on the overnight ferry as a foot passenger to go to the A & E in Portsmouth. Paul does the mercy mission and takes him to the ferry while the rest of us have the BBQ left overs.

Day 3, Superhero and Greg’s birthday…

L to R > Batman, Boba Fett (should be Robin), Venom Spiderman, Captain America, Spiderman. MIA The Hulk

After much debate we decided on a straight map ride (RED 30) from Athis-de-l’Orne. This ride starts with a quick lap of the local forest then back out over the road to the ride proper. Its not long and you drop down in to a gorge with deserted factories along the bottom, but the ride turns in to a seriously steep climb when you have to climb out again.

The ride is punctuated with lots of bridleway style tracks with lots of flow and speed.

We get back to the car and head in to Clecy for lunch and a coke. After lunch Greg is a little sore so we decide not to ride again, which is ok as my bike now has a puncture.
The evening is spent with Greg producing a roast dinner (Sprucey’s stand in) and lots of wine…
Sunday comes and it’s time to pack up a go with Simon and Greg heading back to the Tunnel with Paul, Chris and I back to the ferry.

Our thoughts are already plotting Suisse Normandie 2015, we have unfinished business with the ride that was cut short with Sprucey’s and Greg’s accident plus next year it will be our 10th anniversary of cycling in this area and lastly and most importantly it will be Greg’s 40th birthday. We might have to squeeze in an extra day and make it extra awesome…. See you in 2015!

Pegasus Bridge

Classic Citroen Traction Avant

South downs Way, Winchester to Havant via QECP

After last year’s Amberley ride back along the South downs Way we had the idea of catching the train the other way to ride westerly end of the SDW.

On Friday 15^th November I set of on my bike to meet Paul in Southwick, I jumped in to Paul’s car and we both went to Havant Train station, this would be the rides ‘official’ start and finish. We caught the train which took us down to Fratton and changed for a train that went directly to Winchester, Chris, Greg and Si jumped on the train in Cosham,

Greg, Si and Chris waiting for a train...

At Winchester we made our way through the city to the start of the South Downs Way, here the green ribbon stretches all the way to Eastbourne 99 miles away!

I got 99 problems, but the SDW isn't one...

After crossing the road bridge you are presented with two SDW signs, one for walkers, one for bike, although we plotted our route on the walking path we took the cycle path. This led us around the road eventually getting off road for the climb all the way to Cheesefoot head. We crossed the A272 on to familiar ground, as we have ridden this section many times but always the other way.

We follow the track to the bottom and turn right, after the first decent there was a mud bath, Simon loses the front and takes a tumble, he is fine apart from his muddy left side!

Not 100 yards later I have the first puncture of the day in my rear tyre. Frustratingly it was the tube I fixed the previous night (puncture on the seam), so a simple tube swap gets us going again.

first puncture of the day goes to....

From here the Downs are undulating and we cross fields, back across the A272, then climb up to the Millburys Pub, where we elect to have a food stop by Wind Farm.

from the left, Chris, Greg, Si and Paul

After some photo’s and some home-made chocolate brownies (thanks Mrs J!) we sent off for the nature reserve at Beacon Hill. Here we have a decision to make, follow the SDW down to Exton and brave possible mud or do the Nature Reserve downhill and do the climb of Old Winchester Hill on the road. Everybody votes for the SDW to Exton.

the view from Beacon Hill is stunning

The down hill was fine but leads out to the road for a long tarmac decent, Greg and I have fun slipstreaming, gravity style! At the bottom you cross the A32 then jump on the old Alton train line to the start the climb of Old Winchester Hill.

Here the famous mud (more like clay) took hold and the bikes soon became un-ridable and the wheels stopped turning…. We push them out of the mud, and try our best to clear them. From here it’s a spin up to the top, electing to stay on the bridleway and after a slight de-tour we make the road.

Simon's clay wheel

Gregs San An, not looking happy

Another food stop and we press on along the road only for Simon to get's his first puncture… After the fix we press on to Butser Hill, then hammer down the grass slope to the café at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. We all have lunch and a cup of coffee and Simon has to repair yet another puncture...

Butser Hill with the A3 was blocked

We take the Staunton way to Charlton with the intention of following this to Finchdean. Here it is elected to road it to Finchdean to save time and pick the off road up from there, however we are not sure of the route due to a battery out on the sat nav, so we road it to Rowlands Castle. Here we pick the cycle path up which takes us back to the train station.

Chris, Greg and Simon head off on their bikes for home, I jump in with Paul who drops me of at the top of Pidgeon House Lane and I cycle home.

It was a long day, but good day, my knee’s are feeling worse for wear and I have a little cramp, but the whole team made it even if the end of the ride didn't go to plan. We started as five and we ended as five, job done.

Time 3:47:45

Elapsed Time:5:54:14

Max Speed: 42.5mi/h

Avg Speed: 8.7mi/h

Distance: 33 miles

Elevation: 1964ft

route profile

Here is the mapped ride with downloadable .gpx file 

Road trip 2013: Return to Suisse Normande

Having missed out on the Alpes trip this year our cycling road trip was back to Suisse Normande.

We headed off to France on the overnight sailing from Portsmouth to Ouistreham on Wednesday 11^th October and landed at 07.15 French time. We had a ‘good’ night in the bar so we were nursing a few sore heads…

Day 1, Thursday 12^th.

We headed off to Grimbosq forest for some more fun trail style riding and some filming.

Grimbosq is locally used by lots of schools so it is not unusual to see School kids there, this time they had a lesson on bikes, how cool!

The first singletrack run is good fun and fast but has these weird bumps, so you can almost ride it like a pump track. 

there they are!

Pritchard strikes a pose...

The mummy returns!

We do this run a few times then head over the back to do the singletrack that’s part of the RED 7 route.
Grimbosq singletrack from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

We do a ‘sighting’ run at a low pace then return for some speed, unfortunately not everyone is feeling it… due to the previous night’s excesses! That evening is spent chilled with a BBQ tea and we make a firm plan for the next day.

Day 2, Friday 13^th – Greg’s Birthday ride.
We head of for Clecy and park down by the river, the aim is to ride for Pont d’Ouilly on the west side of the river and have lunch and then return on the east side.

The ride is quick and we find ourselves with a choice of a long climb then fire road downhill or a long climb and gully downhill, obviously the gully won. After the climb you enter the downhill with a drop off, so leaving a comfortable gap we all huck in. The route down is loose and sketchy and we all end with a skid and a big grin! A nice spin along the river we end in Pont d’Ouilly for a Pizza.

The afternoon ride back is mixed with hideous climbs and punctures but we climb the gorge to ride the red trail along the top of Lieu-dit Rochers des Parcs. Chris had a little crash along the top, which we never let him forget….
Ridge riding over Clecy, Suisse Normande from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

That evening we went to a little local restaurant in Le Billot for Greg’s birthday, all dressed in lovely Hawaiian shirts…

Day 3, Saturday 14” – Clecy.

Back to Clecy for two rides, this time in the ‘team’ Hawaiian shirts! 

looking dam fine!

The morning ride we chose RED 16 but chose to ride it in reverse so we could take in the gorge to the north of Clecy with the paragliding launch on. The ride itself was a tough one, lots of climbing and even more punctures due to a lot of thorny hedge clippings. When we finally made the paragliding launch we stopped to fix yet more punctures and talked Greg in to doing a little jump…

FILE0022 from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

more punctures, with a pre-crash Pritchard

not to sure what Sprucey was up too...

For the downhill we decide to ride the official red route rather than the black we usually take in the hope that the singletrack would last longer. Greg and I are first with Paul, Chris and Sprucey following. We get to a really steep, rooty, rocky segment which Greg and I clear, we stop at the next junction and hear a lot of noise, somebodys binned it… The other three rock up and its Paul, he came off on the roots and left grazed his arm, leg, crash helmet… We all take it easy back to Clecy for lunch.

After Lunch Paul wants to ride so we do Blue 14, don’t bother, it was a proper rubbish ride. That evening Sprucey treats us to one of his legendry roast dinners, job done.

Day 4, Sunday 15^th September, home.
We have got to catch the 2 o’clock ferry from Ouistreham, so potential riding time is very limited, nobody is that excited about it so we pack and head for home.

Another great riding weekend with lots of highs and lows, the weather was not great so it prevented some serious fast riding, but I would recommend a riding weekend in Suisse Normande to anyone. Clecy is only an hour away from Ouisterham, so new trails are only a ferry ride away!

kylie looking fine

going down...

Suisse Normande riding from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

Warnford loop to the SDW

Starting at the George and Falcon pub and Warnford, you can park here if you are eating or drinking or park on the side road (first left after the pub) on the grass verge.

Take the side road next to the pub (small stream on left) ride to the end turn RIGHT.

Ride past houses look for byway on your left at the edge of a field (field on your right).

Take the byway and head up steep climb, follow track until T junction. This track can get very, very muddy and only clears in patches on very dry weather. At T junction turn LEFT and follow to the road.

At road turn LEFT, look for RIGHT turn on to track, turn RIGHT.

Follow track until it turns in to a tarmac road keep RIGHT.

Follow road until T junction, turn Right, climb to Hinton Ampner, follow road down to A272 and cross. Be careful this is a fast road.

Follow track until the first cross roads, turn LEFT. Follow track until road, turn RIGHT.
Head through Cheriton village, stay on main road.

Turn LEFT by Cheriton Mill, follow road to Grange Farm, turn LEFT.

Follow track all the way to the barn on the South Downs Way.At Barn turn LEFT.

Ride down to gate, go through and ride up to gate, go through, cross field to gate on the far side, go through.
Ride down to A272, cross road (again very busy road, be careful) follow SDW through Holden Farm, follow SDW.

When SDW track runs out climb road to T junction turn RIGHT past the Millburys pub turn LEFT.

Follow road and turn RIGHT at Wind Farm, follow SDW past Lomer Farm all the way to the gate, go through and follow road until the 90 degree corner, turn LEFT through gate in to the nature reserve.

Strava section alert*, follow path until gate, go through.

Follow track (often over grown) until gate, go through.

Follow edge of the field, go through the gate (gate not there) on your RIGHT, turn left (DOWN) on to gravel track.

Follow down until the road, turn RIGHT.

Follow road back to the A32, turn LEFT back to the pub.

*we are in no way indorsing over stretching yourself to set a fast time… ahem…

Kingley Vale 2

Kingley Vale offers some of the best riding in the area. It has a good mix of climbing, descents and technical riding to keep things interesting – a good level of fitness + skill is needed.

Park in the lay-by on the B2146 / Walderton turning or if you are planning of a pub visit you can use the car park at the Barley Mo.

Head though the village and take the first bridle bath on the RIGHT.

Ride up the bridle path until you see a fence directly in front of you, ride through the gap on the left hand side and head left up the climb.

As the climb levels look for the path on the right, take it and ride up to the ruin and turn LEFT.

Follow the climb all the way to the top, there will be a little down (field on left) and the path follows the field around the end, little climb first RIGHT.

Follow the track straight on to the humps. It’s worth riding up on top of the humps as the views on a nice day are spectacular with views across Chichester harbour.

Keep on the main path until you come to a cross roads, turn LEFT, small rise then a flat out descent down to the main path.

You will now be at a quite big cross roads comminally called 'five ways' (long Barrows on the map), take the western path at the edge of the field, but look directly right for the start of ‘Sprucey’s singletrack’. We call it this after the guy who originally showed us it over 10 years ago

Follow Sprucey’s until it runs out, turn LEFT and follow singletrack.

This joins up with a purpose built DH track, everything is ride-able, however the faster you go the higher the likelihood of your wheels leaving the ground! Enjoy...

At the bottom take the main gravel path to your RIGHT and climb back to the top, back past five ways to the way to the humps.

Cross to the southern path you came in on and keep heading west.

When you get to the field turn LEFT (again where you came from) keep on the track around the corner and over the rise.

Look for the LEFT hand turn that has to access points, this is the start of the Adsdean downhill.

At the top its an open gravel fire road but quickly turns in to a path, the full length is 1.3 miles but if you exclude the fire road your have 1.1 miles of twisting super-fast track.

At the bottom it turns in to a road turn RIGHT, then turn LEFT and head to Adsdean house.

Pick up the bridleway to the left of the house which is pretty much straight on.

Small climb then it opens up to a downhill back to Walderton and the last chance to open the taps.

Follow down to the main road and turn LEFT, past the pub back to the car.

Pub Stop: The Barley Mo is a traditional English country pub with great beer and food. The home made beef burger is a must!

Soberton loop

We usually park in the gravel lay-by and the end of the forest on Hundred Acres wood rd.

Head north along the road and cross the main New Town road. Stay on the road all the way past Ingoldfield Farm, turn RIGHT.

Turn right again at Roy's Farm, keep on track until it splits turn LEFT.

Keep on the path (next to field) as you enter the copse, keep left. Ride track to the road, turn RIGHT.

Take the next track on the LEFT, ride the track all the way to the road, turn RIGHT.

Take Kings Way on your LEFT. Keep on track as it turns LEFT through trees and opens up to a fire road, turn RIGHT.

Gentle climb all the way to 'Buzzards Blast' downhill.... Named as you will always see a Buzzard somewhere down this track. Follow the downhill all the way to the road, turn LEFT.

Follow road all the way to Soberton, head under the old train bridge by the river Meon and walk (and carry your bike) up the steps up to the old Meon Valley train line.

Follow the train track to Upperford copse and head in to Hundred Acres woods just before the bridge.

Head to your right and take the first left and climb up tot he car park. turn LEFT on to the road and turn RIGHT in to the opposite car park.

Take the path down to the stream and turn Right and follow the track next to the stream. the track crosses the stream and climbs, keep LEFT and climb to the cross roads.

Head directly over the cross roads and climb the Pilgrim's Trail all the way tot he car park. Head to the road and turn LEFT.

Time for some gravity racing all the way back to the car, no pedalling! 

Images to follow.

Under the Bridge

This takes in as much singletrack as possible without heading in to QECP, there will be endless variations on this route such as stretching it out to Compton. Park in the back car park at the Country park just south of Buriton.

START.
Leave the car park and head EAST on the SDW as you reach the top of the first road climb look for 'V' gate on your RIGHT.

Head through the gate and climb up the path until it opens up on a fire road at the top of the climb in Head Down Plantation.

Look in the forest on your right to pick up the new Enduro trail, this trail runs parallel to the main fire road and will take you to the bottom of the hill heading SOUTH.



At the bottom take the LEFT track follow it round and go UNDER THE BRIDGE*, keep on the track by keeping to the left. Climb through the copse and pick up the SDW again at Coulters Dean Farm.

*When we did the ride last night the gates were closed under the bridge, if so just stay on the bridle way (marked orange) next to the train track all the way back to the SDW, then head RIGHT and pick up the ride.

Follow SDW EAST, once you cross the road (Sussex Boarder Path) to Forty Acre Lane, as lane climbs and curves to the left look for footpath on your RIGHT opposite the open sided barn. Take foot path.

The foot path is called 'Garlic Alley' by local riders due to the wild garlic that grows there. The singletrack twists and turns with some off-camber roots... until it opens up at its natural end.

galic alley from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

Take the field on your RIGHT, ride around the edge until you enter the woods on a defined path, take the left fork. Climb, keep left and pass through the gate on to the major fire road.

Turn right on to the fire road and climb, look for the major fire road on your LEFT, this is back on the Sussex Boarder Path. Follow SBP until you find the start of the singletrack at the junction where the main path turns right.

Keep on the SBP, follow the singletrack to the bottom, there are a few natural jumps at the top, lots of roots and be aware for fallen branches and trees.

sussex boarder path from DanJones34 on Vimeo.

At the bottom turn right on the fire road at the end of the wooded area turn LEFT for the very steep climb up to Ditcham Park School. I have never known anybody to make this climb, if you do you are a HERO!

Keep left and follow the path to the road, at the road turn RIGHT.

Follow the road, look for path at the end of the field on your LEFT. Take path (lots of roots!), at the end of the path turn RIGHT. Follow track and take the first LEFT, at cross roads go straight over.

Your now on the long decent back down to Coulters Dean Farm, there is a gate halfway down the hill so send someone down first to open and close the gate for the rest of the group.

coulters dean from DanJones34 on Vimeo.




Turn LEFT back on to the SDW and follow all the way back to the car park.

FINISH

Pub wise you can head back in to Buriton or drive to the Red Lion in Charlton, the choice is yours!

map