Hamsterley Ride Report and Pics

Filthy · Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 407 Location: Costa del Smog

Well what a day, about 20 riders turned up to join us for the charity ride. The weather was great with just a couple of welcome cooling showers later on. Dave F led us round the forest and showed us some of the better bits that Hamsterley has to offer. We left the visitor centre at 10:30 and headed up the fireroads to some sweet singletrack.

Some more sweet singletrack and a few climbs lead us to a couple of nice river crossings, most of us got through without getting our feet wet, then we dropped down to the Grove carpark and started the climb up to descend. The downhill run started at the top of the 4X track and took us back down into the woods. Thankfully we all made it down safely and didn’t need the skills of our qualified first aider.

Then our first mechanical happened we lost Matts brother due to a broken mech hanger so he and Matt rolled back down to the carpark. Steve is also a closet downhiller as he decided to climb back up to the top and have another go at the DH track. After we regrouped we headed back towards the start for some more nice trails. A little climb took us up to the bombhole which everyone enjoyed especially Mel going by the sounds she was making.

A short roll back down the fireroad lead us to the skills loop, well would have been a short roll had my back tyre not decided to leak Stans sealant all over the track. So much for tubeless systems, a quick tube sorted the problem. The skills loop was great fun loads of little drops, jumps and bits of north shore to play on.

Back at the visitor centre we had the raffle which raised another £130. Callum was there to draw the winning tickets with a bit of help from his sister and my two. Big thanks must go to all those who donated prizes, Westbrooks, Bikescene, Jewsons, East Coast Cycles and I think Paul still has a few bits of Ride Central so hang on to your tickets. If anyone didn’t win some safety glasses I’ve still got a few pairs left. Shaun won the star prize, an Apollo mountain bike donated by Rip from Trailblazers.

So far we have raised £545 and the donation page will be accepting money up until 3rd October.

Some more thank you’s for people who helped make the event possible. Stuart Clarke for his trail leading and first aid skills, thankfully the latter weren’t needed. Dave F for his route planning and showing us round. Lookers VW for lending us a 7 seat Sharan and all the people who donated or gave prizes.

See you all next year.

Rest of the pics are on my Flickr Page

Phil

paulb · Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 190 Location: ingleby barwick

Managed to get to " Ride Central " on the way home, and colected a few t-shirts from Dan ( Many thanks mate )

when we got home Callum and Katie picked 3 numbers out . So here are the lucky winners.....

1 Fox t-shirt 164

2 Fox t-shirt 114

3 Thor t-shirt 176

Many thanks to everyone who turned up and a big thanks for the guide of the day.......nice to see there is more there than fire tracks......

And a massive thanks to all for their donations to a fantastic cause

I think we maybe should make this an annual event, Phil and i spoke about this on the ride and would make it a different charity every year.

What are your thoughts?

Paul Very Happy

Filthy · Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 407 Location: Costa del Smog

Yes the second annual MTBE Charity ride sounds like a good idea to me.

176... I've won a Thor T-Shirt.. cheers mate but you were supposed to pick me a winner for the camelbac Wink

Dave F · Joined: 06 May 2008 Posts: 257 Location: Darlington

Phil, sorry I sat on you mate Shocked

hope there was no lasting damage (to your bike that is!)

This was my first big, organised ride and I thought it would either be cracking or really messy - turns out it was cracking Very Happy

Doing it for a worthy cause was the icing on the cake - I'll definitely be there for the next one.

badblood · Joined: 01 Jun 2008 Posts: 127

I Won, I won!! number 164 for the Fox T shirt. Does it come in extra fat?? suggestion for the next charity, how about Kidney Research? or the Local dialysis unit? Those who know me will know why.

paulb · Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 190 Location: ingleby barwick

well looks like James has got a new t-shirt Thor(small)

sorry badblood the Fox one is medium so someone else in the family is in look!!!!

PM me your address and i'll get it off to you Very Happy

Tim.P · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

I won with ticket 114.

Well done to all those who organised the event & had a hand in planning the route. I've only ridden Hamsterley a couple of times before & had a good day.

Will try and sort some videos out, but swamped with hours of Mega Avalanche footage that I need to edit too.
Once I get it sorted I'll post the links up here.

Tim

SeanO · Joined: 17 Feb 2008 Posts: 539

paulb · Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 190 Location: ingleby barwick

Nice one Tim. PM me and i'll get it to you. paul

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