Thursday 9 April 2009

Chicksands/Rowney Warren Wednesday 9 April 2009

For everyone that didn't make last nights ride i think you missed an epic ride. Blox, Rob and myself set off from the usual spot (outsde the Albion) and decided chicksands would be a good idea. Being fairly new to Ampthill (I have only been living there for 3 years!!) I didn't have a clue where Blox was taking us, past some allotments across some fields, he assured me he knew where he was going, then we popped out and were confronted with a stupid hill leading up to maulden church. It was granny cogs all the way up to the top of the hill, well nearly all the way up as we heard strange noises coming from Rob and his bike and then a horrible snapping noise and ping his rear mech had snapped off his bike, if you have seen the blog he just bought a new one this week, and he had bought an XT, and it snapped off and snapped his chain as well. He then strapped this to his bike, told me and Blox to head off and he would start walking home, after seeing the pictures of the mech i am assuming he got home ok. Blox and myself plodded on we did chicksands wood and rowney warren, the woods are in great condition and both Blox and myself managed some of the more challenging hills, two of which neither of us have ever managed to get up before. As it got darker and darker we decided we would head back, we got out of the woods and headed to the army base, where the smell of onions is almost unbearable. We then got onto the road by shefford and Blox noticed he had a puncture and typically we had no spare inner tubes so puncture repair kit it was, we managed to locate the hole and fix the puncture. We sat off for the ride back, it seemed to take quite some time as we had both got quite cold fixing the puncture, by the time we had got back to Ampthill we were so wrecked we didnt even go for a beer!!!!!! although we were still back by 9:30, so without all the delays it is a solid 2 hour ride. A great evening ride with some scary moments, especially being stalked for a good mile around rowney warren by a deer, this felt a bit like a disney version of the blair witch project. We will be doing this again soon I think
Dave

9 comments:

Blox said...

Dave's right the ride was really good and the perfect distance now it's dry.
Cheers Dave for finding the puncher in the dark, lesson learned never go out without spare inner tube. Thank god Dave had his new Exposure Race MaXx-2 Light to keep him entertained in the woods while i pumped up the newly fixed inner tube!
Poor Rob only got to Maulden before his bike gave in, as you can see from the pics (not good) there’s always next week!

I'll see you all on Wednesday next week as it's my Bday on Monday, so I will not be fit for anything!

Rob said...

Happy birthday for Monday mate! I went over to chicksands today with a mate from work on my singlespeed with v-brakes and rigid forks. Was rather uncomfortable on the wrists but enjoyed the ride and glad that I made it after last nights disaster. Ws quite amazed to see kids with bikes costing a couple of grand going rather slowly and rolling around jumps! Seems such as waste.

Anyway more parts on the way (the postman must hate me) so hopefully Ill be out on Wednesday.

Have a good weekend everyone

fuz said...

That's it, pick the one night I'm not out to go somewhere different!

For Robs derailieur to go again, sounds like there may be an underlying problem somewhere else??

Blox said...

Copy the link to view the route taken.

1 hour 46 minutes actual riding time, but 2 hours 18 minutes with stops!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110270060458240027833.000467239926525143898&num=200&z=13

Nick said...

As a regular rider in Rowney myself I had a look at the map to see how you got there the red lines looks strange (route wise) in places. I cant follow some of it.

Is there a chance you could do the map again or do a breakdown of where the main points are en-route. I quite the idea of doing this route in the reverse direction. It looks a good ride. Thanks

Dave said...

Hi Nick,
the map was done with Paul's GPS watch and unfortunately is all split up instead of one continous map, where exactly did you want to know about as the road bits seem quite clear to me. The route is a good one the reason we do it the way round we do is that it means that after quite a bit of off road work and a blast around rowney the way back is easier on the legs!!!!
dave

Nick said...

Hi Dave,

Looking at the map the bits that were not totally clear to me were:
i) Where you go after leaving Church Road in Maulden to get to Maulden Woods themselves.
ii) how you get from Great Lane to an entrance in Chicksands Wood, down Long Drive (or do you go around) before entering Rowney Warren from the north end.

Other than that the route is spot on and easy to follow. Once I have changed my tyres I will have a go.

Cheers
Nick

Dave said...

Hi Nick,
sorry i have been rubbish at replying to you.
Ok so from church street in maulden you go through the kissing gate at the church, through the field until you reach another kissing gate, you go through here and down the hill, up the other side through another gate and follow the side of the field until you reach a path that leads into Maulden woods and then we go up through the woods, follow the path through the woods until you reach the A6 where you can carry on further down with a path running parrallel to the A6. There is another path that then intercepts so creates a cross road where you can then cross over the A6.

For great lane into chicksands there is a bridal way you follow that takes you into chicksands woods and there are a number of paths that you can follow within these woods, you then come out at the bottom of the woods through yet another kissing gate, where you then turn right onto the farm track until you hit rowney warren.

i hope this helps

dave

Nick said...

Thanks for taking the time to explain those extra bits Dave,

It's all clear now!!!