Join Us! EMTB Forums Rideout - Cannock Chase, 14th October

[Tunny]

Is it too late to join the list? We've been trolling around Austria and Germany for the last 4 weeks but we'll be back on Friday 12th. Be great to get to see some of the off piste sections.

The more the merrier bud ??

 

[Doomanic]

The more the merrier bud ??

I don't think the clockwork bikers will share that sentiment...

 

[steviedsolve]

Here's a quick vid of Cannock from a few weeks back to whet your appetites. CannockSamAllMTNQuickEdit.mp4
The exciting stuff is at 21:00 for those that have never been to Cannock. Has anyone been recently to know which sections are shut. They are usually pretty good at rerouting. As a few have mentioned, there are so many off piste areas to go and explore it won't matter. I won;t be over there until around 12 so if someone could post occasionally roughly where you are and I'll come and find you. I should be able to hear a 20+ convoy of ebikes. It'll sound like a herd of Dyson.

 

[Doomanic]

It'll sound like a herd of Dyson.

We have a winner folks! The collective term for a large number of eBikes one place!

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

OK folks, the time is getting close!

Do we have a volunteer for a lead? Also looks like we should have a couple of routes to cater for skill levels.

Thanks,
Rob.

 

[steviedsolve]

OK folks, the time is getting close!

Do we have a volunteer for a lead? Also looks like we should have a couple of routes to cater for skill levels.

Thanks,
Rob.

Can I suggest maybe you do the dog and the monkey first as it starts from the main car park and it will be fairly easy to re-group and not get lost. Plus it will be easier for me to find and join you around 12 as everything is signed and has a name, so you could post each regroup point. This will take about 1h30 to 2h15 with so many people and taking chat breaks into account. Afterwards I can show you quite a bit of off piste routes over Sherbrook Valley, the Quarry & Milford side which would suit a large group, but I'd be happy to follow if someone else knows this area and wants to lead.

At the end of the Dog + Monkey (Back to the car park) you'd possibly want to get an idea of the lowest battery levels to know how far you can go from here.

There are 3 Cafes. One at the start/end and one at the start of the monkey and you see it again when rejoining the dog. This one is the most pleasant as it's a locals house/garage converted, is mostly Mountain bikers and has great cake. This might be a good place to regroup after the monkey. It's probably worth one of you warning them on the way out that a large group will be descending in about 45 mins. The other Cafe is 3/4 around the dog (Marquis Drive) but gets busy and runs out of cake early.

If someone else who is getting there at 11 wants to chime in as you might have a better plan.

Hopefully find you on Sunday chaps

 

[Kangr]

you forgot springslade lodge (cafe)
I know the area very well and would be more than happy to lead, it might be a good idea if a few of us who know the area get our heads together so we have a more balanced opinion of which trails are fun.
As someone pointed out a earlier in this thread there are closures on the moneky. they have blocked off the fireroad in five ways that leads to monkeys uncle and the diversion bypasses all the trail until you get to lower cliff. Now i have not ridden the monkey on a ebike so i don't know how much good the rest of the monkey is to ride on ebikes but on a normal bike i would not bother going over there without monkeys uncle and upper cliff in there. Lower cliff is still great though. this is only my opinion though and its based on normal bike riding not ebike.

there is a quite a few really good trails to make up for the missing ones but the main thing will be battery life. fortunaly the trail network at cannock will allow us to venture out and keep a check on remaining power so we know when to turn back. at the moment im thinking of the trails inbetween the cadet huts and seven springs.

 

[FZPaul]

The 'byepass' at Five ways takes you down to the fireroad where the 'Lower Cliff' finishes up but you can go back up instead and take in both Upper and Lower cliffs (M7 & M8). Did it last weekend and they weren't doing any work on there.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Hey all, have had a few volunteers to support - I’ll PM you all and we can get a good plan in place ??

 

[Kangr]

Cool i did wonder if upper cliff was still open or not. theres a couple of good trails to get down that diversion instead of the fireroad as well.

 

[steviedsolve]

you forgot springslade lodge (cafe)
I know the area very well and would be more than happy to lead, it might be a good idea if a few of us who know the area get our heads together so we have a more balanced opinion of which trails are fun.
As someone pointed out a earlier in this thread there are closures on the moneky. they have blocked off the fireroad in five ways that leads to monkeys uncle and the diversion bypasses all the trail until you get to lower cliff. Now i have not ridden the monkey on a ebike so i don't know how much good the rest of the monkey is to ride on ebikes but on a normal bike i would not bother going over there without monkeys uncle and upper cliff in there. Lower cliff is still great though. this is only my opinion though and its based on normal bike riding not ebike.

there is a quite a few really good trails to make up for the missing ones but the main thing will be battery life. fortunaly the trail network at cannock will allow us to venture out and keep a check on remaining power so we know when to turn back. at the moment im thinking of the trails inbetween the cadet huts and seven springs.

I'm easy Kangr. You'll be well on the way before I get there anyway. My thinking was that if I'd never been to Cannock before, I'd like to do what most people know it for, before going off exploring and it would also be a good, safe way to gauge peoples skill level and how easily the pack will stay together. And also it would be easier for late comers like me to find you ;-)

I know what you're saying about the monkey and especially with diverts. I'm pretty sure they won't close upper cliff so I'd guess when you come down from five ways you could turn right to do upper cliff climb also. Alternatively you could just go straight up the fire road from the road crossing, do upper cliff and lower and then skip the rest. It'd be a shame to miss out over the rainbow and tom dick and harry though. Plus on a ebike all the uphill switchbacks are great fun. I know it well enough to cut sections out and go straight to the Cliffs if everyone was not enjoying it.

As for battery life, well I think this will be a deciding factor where ever we go. I mainly stick on eco+ and eco to maintain fitness but for those who only use standard or turbo, then obviously you'll need to keep the group aware. I wouldn't want to be as far away as springslade or seven springs with only 20% battery as it'll be time to head back. I did it once from Milford on my Full Fat Six with 10% and did the last 3km with no motor . I think you can get back from anywhere on the chase with about 20%

Anyway I'm waffling. I'm happy to do whatever

 

[Kangr]

You are correct, if your coming all this way you want to do the dog and monkey. with upper cliff being open i think it probably is worth doing it all. I'm thinking that by the time we get to tackaroo. we will know how much battery everyone has left and how far we can go as there are lots of trails not far from there.

For those who don't know the area Tackaroo is a event area right before the final stretch of descents back to the visitor centre.

 

[zeeack]

Can’t wait for this ?

 

[steviedsolve]

That'll work Kangr. Hopefully most people will still be over 50% then you can lead the way over the road into yonder.

 

[Tunny]

I'm heading over there tomorrow so I'll give an update on which sections are actually closed.

I'm happy with whatever trails we hit but i think the monkey has a good allround mix of trails in one loop for the majority of the group to enjoy who haven't been before.

Keep in mind that we're expecting 2 young'uns and an acoustic bike or two to be riding with us on sunday ??

 

[Stumpy]

Regrettably I don’t think I’ll be able to join you now for the ride as I had an unexpected heart attack this morning!

A quick trip to the hospital and an emergency op to fit a stent has restored me to my previous (I like to think relatively healthy) state but I don’t think I can persuade Mrs Stumpy to let me come out and play this weekend.

That said, I still hold out a sliver of hope (would be absolutely gutted to miss this one)

 

[Tunny]

Ohh man sorry to hear that, hope your ok and everything. It'd be great to have you riding if it works out ??

 

[R120]

Regrettably I don’t think I’ll be able to join you now for the ride as I had an unexpected heart attack this morning!

A quick trip to the hospital and an emergency op to fit a stent has restored me to my previous (I like to think relatively healthy) state but I don’t think I can persuade Mrs Stumpy to let me come out and play this weekend.

That said, I still hold out a sliver of hope (would be absolutely gutted to miss this one)

Just jack the lighting supply form your Levo into your saddle! hope your ok

 

[Doomanic]

GWS dude!

 

[Doomanic]

would be absolutely gutted to miss this one

Don't sweat it, all the best people are missing this one.

 

[Kangr]

hope you recover quickly

 

[Tunny]

So i have an update on trail closures after hitting the whole monkey this evening. The only section closed was from five ways to what goes up it's not a huge section but it is an enjoyable one so it will be missed.

On a good note though access is still available to the off piste trails to the left of here along with the upper cliff climb and downhill??. All of these sections in this area can be ridden several times if people fancy it and battery willing. I'm not knowlegable with all the off piste trails so would be good to be shown round them by someone who knows them.

Thought I'd add that it was a beautiful evening tonight with an awsome sunset as you can see ?

 

[Geoff Lee]

I'm bringing two more. One digital and an analog (he'll probably beat most of use up hill anyway).

 

[steviedsolve]

Regrettably I don’t think I’ll be able to join you now for the ride as I had an unexpected heart attack this morning!

A quick trip to the hospital and an emergency op to fit a stent has restored me to my previous (I like to think relatively healthy) state but I don’t think I can persuade Mrs Stumpy to let me come out and play this weekend.

That said, I still hold out a sliver of hope (would be absolutely gutted to miss this one)

Get well Stumpy. I was looking forward to meeting you. See you at the next one dude.

 

[Virtualmeuk]

Hey Folks,

I am going to have to pull out in afraid. Have a slight health issue that means i cant do anything strenuous. Apologies to all.

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

I've finally found the Cannock thread!!

Just chatted with Rob, interesting plans are afoot to make this event memorable. It's late notice, so we'll see what can be achieved, but it sounds amazing.

Having taken over 1000 bikers over there in the last 3 years, i know it like the back of my hand. Grew up here and it only takes me 7m on a normal bike to bike to the start of the trails. Gotta love that! I know most of the known off-piste trails, and the ones that aren't...as i created them or helped build/maintain them.

I'll be attending with the new '19 Levo, if anyone wants a spin around on it.

I'm sure it'll still be a grand ride. Can't wait to get out (first ride on new bike) and meet loads of new faces and bike nerds alike.

Unfortunately it's been thrashing down the last few hours and torrential rain for the next 2 days, so most of the off-piste will be a slop fest.

 

[Tunny]

So who's taking the lead and what's the plan? ??

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

So who's taking the lead and what's the plan? ??

With the size of group there will need to be several. Plan is still being "planned". Trying to sort out a few things for you guys. The route is pretty much planned though. Rob wants to keep the same start time. All shall be revealed soon

 

[Kangr]

I agree there should be a few of us dispersed throughout the group. at least two, one at the front and one at the back.

 

[gelfy666]

Please be aware that the Forestry Commission are closing the forest from 1pm today because of the incoming bad weather.
May be worth checking with them regarding Sunday.