Well the 31st annual Cleland ride is over and legrandfromage has returned home to strip down his green mystery machine in order to get all of the Chiltern mud out of the workings. This was a classic old school Cleland ride, where the aim is not going fast or far, but just staying on the bike in the hope that you and it would survive long enough to make it back to Wendover. It started of quietly enough with a ride along the Wendover arm of the Grand Union canal followed by a steady climb from Halton in the vale of Aylesbury to the the cafe in the woods near Aston hill, the highest point in the Chiltern Hills, for tea and flapjack.
Moving on Geoff was soon trailblazing in between the trees. No trail, no path, and no idea if we would get through or end up trapped in an impenetrable thicket without a machete.
See an earlier trailblazing video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWuIHESe5M
After riding in the this area the week before I had said that the mud wasn't bad by historical standards. And that was true but we found plenty non the less. Mostly narrow trails where you could either ride the tightrope of the Landrover ruts or the gloopy quagmire in between. Meanwhile Danson67 found a good method of testing the depth of the mud, that involved sinking his front wheel in it all the way up to the axle. And we even threw in a few styles and gates especially for legrandfromage as he is an expert at negotiating these. We eventually arrived at the pub by about 3pm where I carried out a classic repair on the 2 inch long split in my rear tyre sidewall with the help of a plastic freezer bag kindly donated by Andyz. Andy is voted as 'man of the ride for A) putting up with this lunacy. and B) Riding all day without a sprung saddle and on narrow high pressure tyres because its 700c rims, where too big for the bike. These rims were put on the bike by its previous owner, Steve Chantler (deceased). Probably as some form of practical joke, along with the zero off-set forks. Despite this Andy trail-blazed and mud plugged just as if his Cleland had been designed that way.
Perhaps 29er wheels on 650b bikes with straight, no off-set forks will be the future of mountain bike design?
As the last of the Winter light faded we set off from the pub.
Did we go another way to avoid the mud we had encountered when we came? No!
Did we turn off our headlights as Geoff suggested so that we could not see where we were going? Yes.
Did most of us get stuck and fall off? Yes.
Did Geoff just plough on regardless on his bicycle equivalent of a tractor, the Cleland TT? You bet?
Was the experience of rising through thick mud in the pitch dark fun and memorable? Strangely, Yes!
And what of Cleland old school rider James Walters, who I haven't mentioned so far? Well he just took all of this in his stride. As like me, he has been doing these rides for nearly 30 years. And will no doubt be back for more next year.
You could join us too!
Like legrandfromage, all you need is an old bike that you are happy to rebuild!
Or a Cleland!
