2000 Marin Mount Vision Build

[hawkhill97]

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Planning a big day out on the bike on Exmoor tomorrow. If my legs don't die I'm thinking of doing Dunkery & Selworthy beacons, a ride I've wanted to do for a while and never got round to. Lots of climbing though!

 

[RickTheUncivil]

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Should be pretty decent weather for it by the looks of things. Should be nice up there

 

[hawkhill97]

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Got up bright and early yesterday morning and stuck the bike and all my kit in the car. I'm a bit of a kitchen-sinker when it comes to packing so I had OS maps, mini 1st aid kit, warm jacket, waterproof, 2 litres of water, a thermos of tea and a pretty epic packed lunch, as well as the usual spare tubes and tools.

It always takes a little longer to drive up onto Exmoor than I think it will, but after a cloudy start heading off the sun broke out as I made my way up the Exe valley and I was quite excited about getting out on a proper big ride for the first time in ages.

Started off the ride around 10am at Webber's Post, which has some super views out across Exmoor.



It's also a popular spot for MTB'ing and there were plenty of big boys out on their "proper" MTBs in the car park. After rolling along a surfaced track a short distance I started the first downhill of the day, through Horner Woods down towards Porlock.

Have to say the trails were a bit too steep, muddy and technical for me to really enjoy the descent and it was more a case of controlling speed and getting down in one piece at times. The lowered handlebars obviously didn't help here, but neither were they too much of a hinderance - I'm just not that great at fast downhill riding, especially when it's a trail I don't know well... I'll bet the group I passed in the car park made a much better job of it than me!



There's some great riding to be had in Horner woods if you're ever in the area (check out Flora's ride on the OS map and the singletrack coming off it) and it's a lovely Exmoor oak woodland, I'd highly recommend it.

Leaving the woods behind I began heading North to Bossington hill for the climb up to Selworthy Beacon, the first check point of the day. The bridleway I'd planned to take was impassable - you can't see so well in this pic, but the stream was deep & fast, and there were some fallen trees just beyond.



Never mind, out came the OS map and a cheeky alternative route along a footpath gave a great view of the climb to come.



Ah yes, the climb. The first two thirds or so was pretty brutal, proper steep and lots of loose rock making the rear wheel scrabble for traction. Off came the layers and out came the water bottle! And I even managed a pretty decent time (judging from the Strava segment placing) going up, despite walking a few bits.



This bike climbs better than any I've had before, and the flat bars and stretched out position really shone on the (many) steep long climbs on the route. Even so I had to get right on the nose of the saddle and put my chin on the stem top cap at times!

 

[hawkhill97]

Further up the climb to Selworthy Beacon, the woods gave way to open heathland, and a series of switchbacks made for easier going onto the plateau at the top of the hill - a welcome breather at the end of an 800ft climb.



The heathland around Selworthy Beacon is one of my favourite bits of Exmoor - you've got the gorse & heather on the top, and then cliffs going down to the sea on the North coast, and stunning views looking South over Exmoor. I'd originally planned to head straight to the beacon over the top of the heath, but it was such a beautiful day I thought I'd add an extra loop to take in the rugged coast path along the cliffs.



The coast path is quite narrow, and has some very steep ups and downs in and out of the river valleys going down to the sea. The Easterly wind was very strong indeed making it tough going, but there were some real gems of singletrack set pieces along the way.



I had to get off an walk a fair few of the steeper up hills and stopped for a quick bit to eat and a breather along the way to enjoy the stunning sea views. Unfortunately the pants phone camera wasn't up to the job of capturing the view!

It's more of a walking trail than a biking one - worth riding for the view but not one I'd take a friend on as an example of the great MTB'ing Exmoor has to offer.



It took a bit longer to get to the end of the coast path than I thought, but when I reached the end and turned around on the top of the heath, the Easterly tailwind made for a sweet ride back towards Selworthy Beacon.

 

[hawkhill97]

Reached the top of Selworthy Beacon around 12:30pm for a much needed lunch break, and a little stroll around to take in the beautiful views.



I'd planned to get back down to sea level through Aller Woods, which I'd not ridden before, and I was in for a real treat! Some smashing single track right the way down The bits I rode weren't too techy, but they were good and fast with just the right amount of mud for a lot of rear wheel drift and slide. A few of the steeper drop-offs had me hanging right off the back of the bike with the saddle in my belly, but even so I didn't find myself missing my dropper post here (whereas earlier in Horner Woods I have to admit I'd have had a better time on the way down on my modern hardtail).



Once at the bottom of the woods, a short link along the back roads brought me to the climb back up to Webber's Post. It was another doozy of a climb with plenty of walking along the way!



I'd planned the day's route in two loops, so I'd have the chance to bail if my legs were dying. It was now about 2pm and I'd ridden 17 miles or so... legs were tired-ish but I wanted to bag that second beacon... So I got straight on to the Dunster way and enjoyed some lovely rocky singletrack contouring around the edge of Dunkery hill.



All good things come to an end and soon it was time to start the 1,000ft climb up to Dunkery Beacon. At the time this photo was taken I started questioning my life choices. Is mountain biking really fun? Are the benefits of healthy exercise over-rated? Should I have stayed home on the sofa instead?



The first 3/4 or so of the climb was relentless, steep and scrabbly, but I still managed to ride most of it, only walking when the rear wheel was spinning and throwing rocks everywhere instead of propelling me uphill.

 

[hawkhill97]

The last bit of the climb up to Dunkery Beacon slackens off a little, so I managed to get my breath back and enjoy the last half mile or so.

Very satisfying making it to the top, rewarded myself with a thermos of tea and some biscuits



The view back out to Selworthy Beacon:



I'd seen a few promising looking tracks on the OS map on the North side of Dunkery hill that I'd not ridden before, so gave these a go, heading down hill to Stoke Pero. Will definitely be riding this bit again, it was a cracking full tilt descent over the open moor, heading into some cracking singletrack through some wooded combes.





This put a big smile on my face all the way back to the car.

Was really chuffed with the bike today - after 4hrs 30mins riding it was still feeling pretty comfy (can't say the same for most of my other bikes!), and other than the steepest scariest bits of singletrack in Horner Woods took everything I threw at it in its stride. It also really rewards a bit of effort on the climbs, which was particularly welcome on this route.

Drove back home, cleaned off the bike, and plonked myself on the sofa with a cuppa and a friend. All in all a good day

 

[hawkhill97]

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I was curious how much the bike weighs given how well it climbs, so I stuck it on the bathroom scales.

Weighs in at 31lbs or 14kg - only a smidge lighter than my more modern hardtail, though it feels much lighter and more nimble.

 

[shedobits]

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Thanks for the pics, looks like you had a great day, on a 20 year old bike too.

 

[hawkhill97]

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Was one of the best day's riding I've had in ages. Wouldn't have swapped the bike for any of the shiny machines in the Horner woods car park either!

Looking forward to getting in a few more rides now the grounds has a chance to dry up a bit.

 

[hawkhill97]

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Well, not really been able to go on any proper rides for obvious reasons, but a quick after work spin helps keep away the blues

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download/file.php?mode=view&id=485248

Gave the bike a good fettle the other day and tweaked the rebound on the fork & rebound & air pressure on the rear shock. Feels a bit more composed on the rockier downhills and no sign of the fork packing down - result!

Almost tempted to try flipping the stem to further lower the bars, but I think that might be a step too far on the steeper trails I ride. Alternatively fitting a slightly lower bottom gear when the current cassette needs replacing might reduce the tendency of the front end to want to lift under power, helping keep the front end down when climbing.