Hardtail Heaven

[Cubist]

Don't often do this, but here's a vid of a very wet day at Mabie's red route, incorporating the "descender bender". This was our last trip this summer, Cubester and I went for the last few days of the summer hols, and rode Kirroughtree one day then Mabie the next. It rained from the moment we got out of the car, so we got over 2 hours of an absolute soaking. Grip was sketchy in places, but the route itself is fantastic, especially these three sections. Riding it on a hardtail makes perfect sense, both of us were on Cotic Souls. Wet trail and rock made for some entertaining "grip" moments. The camera's a GoPro 3 silver on a chest mount.

You'd be forgiven for turning the audio off. The track came with the video editor, and had to be used to edit the swearing........

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmbT6DHxXDg

 

[benb]

That looks fun!

 

[Haitch]

Nice video. How long is the tral?

 

[Cubist]

Nice video. How long is the tral?

It's 19km all told, the red Phoenix Trail.

The bit you're watching here is this bit. The Scorpion is where I grind to a halt and Cubester does the same alongside me right at the end.... wrong gear completely. The bit of steep rocky stuff from 7min 10 was a true test of grip, it's all on wet rock.

Descender Bender, The Burn Splash and The Scorpion
Starting as a switchback climb, with the steepest and trickiest bit near the top, you will be ready for the gravity-assisted descent that follows. Watch out for rocky obstacles and a sharp drop off early on before the gradient increases through some tight berms. Crossing the road slows things briefly before more fast, bermed descending and a small water splash.

The next road crossing allows you to carry speed into the Stan’s Pond section that follows, with its fast rolling surface. Soon, after the last of the berms, the trail reverts to “old school” and a rough descent to theBurn Splash - a big one this time, followed by narrow, natural-feeling trail that rears up into the Scorpion, a climb thats a true sting in the tail and a local test piece

 

[Crackle]

Looks good, very hard to tell from vids what the surface is like but I saw a drop off or two and the wet rock and I could tell from your handlebars when it was getting sketchy

 

[Cubist]

Its not until you watch someone riding it in the dry that you see the trail. My chest cam tends to flatten off the gradient too!

 

[Adam Parker]

What a shame it wasn't a little bit drier, excellent video..... and hurrah on the Cotic Souls Adam