Cannock again

[Cubist]

Mum has been in hospital having dislocated her hip on Saturday, so I drove down on Monday to give my sister a bit of a break from all the hospital visiting, and put the Soul in the back of the car in case I got a chance to nip over to Cannock. After a day spent with occupational therapists making sure her bungalow was well enough equipped to have her back I went and collected her yesterday. Today was a morning spent getting her in front with the housework I left her in the capable hands of a couple of physios and went over to the Chase. I rode it last month on the Ibis, but wanted to see how well the hardtail would cope.
I rode Follow the Dog and the Monkey as a single lap and boy was it engaging on the Soul. I managed to get hung up on one rock garden ("Dick" if my memory serves me correctly) by taking a line too far to the right and hitting the post, whereupon I found myself with the front wheel jammed between two rocks, my shorts stuck on the saddle nose and my right shoulder jammed up against the upright. Fortunately no one noticed (I hope!)

Just uploaded Strava and I got 138 PBs. Don't let anyone tell you Hardtails aren't better over that sort of trail! I went through all 120mm of travel on the fork, and had an absolute whale of a time. The Devil's Staircase was awesome, and Lower Cliff descent was an absolute hoot. The bike launches off in-trail jumps with abandon, and at one point I had to stop and reduce the rebound on the fork after being all but spat off into the weeds on one brilliant section. After that it really showed just how much abuse that bike can take. Fantastic couple of hours!

 

[PaulSecteur]

Fortunately no one noticed (I hope!)

I saw that! I waited untill you had gone before i started laughing.

Im still to do the monkey. Might give it a go this weekend.

 

[Cubist]

If you're happy and confident on FTD, there's very little on the Monkey that will faze you. A couples of the climbs are a bit steeper, and Tom Dick and Harry ( three consecutive rock gardens after Deer Skull) take some courage, but just straight line them and keep your weight back. They really aren't any worse than the stone drops on Are We There Yet in terms of technicality. Watch your speed on Devils Staircase, in fact any of the switchbacks and don't overcook the jumps on Lower Cliff. Ride out the worst of the braking bumps and stay high and tight on the berms, the line is smoother out of the worst of the worn out bits of trail. Stay loose and have fun! Look forward to your report.....

 

[Cubist]

I saw that! I waited untill you had gone before i started laughing.

Im still to do the monkey. Might give it a go this weekend.

 

[PeteXXX]

Are Tom Dick & Harry open again? They were closed for work a few weeks ago.
Must be time to revisit

 

[Cubist]

Are Tom Dick & Harry open again? They were closed for work a few weeks ago.
Must be time to revisit

Yep, and Deer Skull. They were both closed last time I was there.

 

[PeteXXX]

Excellent! Must be time for another visit

 

[PaulSecteur]

Bah!!! Raining - no after work cannock raid for me

 

[Motozulu]

Paul it's dry as a bone over here in Roojelly!

As to what Cubist said he is spot on - you really don't 'need' any thing more than a half way decent HT anywhere on the Cannock trails - did it for 2 years on my 100mm Cube XC HT.

However, I can go much much faster on my Chief, but I do miss the HT sometimes. A F/S 'dumbs' the trails down a bit, sometimes.

As for T,D and H - I did the same as you last year Cubist, wasn't so lucky though, couldn't get out of my SPD's in time and ended up toppling over right down the drop off to the left and ended up halfway down the slope wedged against a tree, made a nice mess of my face so just treat it all with respect Paul and you'll be fine.

Cubist - did you do the new 5 ways descent? I love that new section.

 

[Cubist]

Paul it's dry as a bone over here in Roojelly!

As to what Cubist said he is spot on - you really don't 'need' any thing more than a half way decent HT anywhere on the Cannock trails - did it for 2 years on my 100mm Cube XC HT.

However, I can go much much faster on my Chief, but I do miss the HT sometimes. A F/S 'dumbs' the trails down a bit, sometimes.

As for T,D and H - I did the same as you last year Cubist, wasn't so lucky though, couldn't get out of my SPD's in time and ended up toppling over right down the drop off to the left and ended up halfway down the slope wedged against a tree, made a nice mess of my face so just treat it all with respect Paul and you'll be fine.

Cubist - did you do the new 5 ways descent? I love that new section.

The Five Ways - was that the bit that started off with some bermed smooth stuff with a couple of kickers in the trail, then went down some rocks onto a steep right-hander, and then into some switchbacks with a couple more steps (seem to remember some boardwalk too)? Just checked it on Youtube. Yep.

Play Cubist's favourite trail feature bingo and you've got a near winner. It's still smooth, but no doubt when the braking bumps appear it'll be a bit more "hang onto yer hat!" I remember riding it and thinking that it was great. Didn't realise it was new though, it was closed last time I was there. (Don't think anything will beat Lower Cliff anytime soon!)

 

[Motozulu]

Both Cliffs are great fun. They do a lot of work do the trail pixies at Cannock. Five ways replaced a pretty horrible bit of fire road that linked to upper cliff - so the new trail is a massive improvement. I used to hate that fire road as the second part was horrible - just steep, rutted shale and gravel that meant you almost always came off if you hit a rut and caught the soft stuff at the bottom where there was a tight left turn. I actually prefer upper cliff but as I say - both are a hoot.