This is an LCC and Lewisham Cyclists event

Meet: 10:40 Brookmill Park   map, 11:00 Cutty Sark Gardens   map Oxleas Woods cafe 12:00   map

Distance: 20 miles

Phone: Ian - 07896 872 205

A rumble in the jungle - we'll take the most direct route to Oxleas Woods for a thorough off road explore which will take in the adjacent Eltham Common. Either cruise around the woods or find challenging jumps, hops and fast downhills.

Refreshments available at the cafe in Oxleas Woods.

Ride Report

First things first – apologies for the mix up over the start times for this ride. It was definitely too cold to wait for an hour at Cutty Sark Gardens. Thanks Roy for taking them home to your house to get a cup of tea.

Just a word of warning about the labelling of our rides. An ‘off-roader’ is really for mountain bikes and hybrids with some knobbly tyres so Carol (on your lovely Condor tourer) you probably did the right thing by deciding not to come along.

So, 4 of us left Cutty Sark Gardens, Ian, Tony, Roy and Robert. We took a route through Greenwich Park, over the Southern edge of Blackheath and then trough some back streets to Eltham Common. We made our way straight through the woods to the café for a rendezvous with John who was coming from Sidcup.

Then the fun began. 90 minutes of riding every track we could find, jumping fallen branches and dropping into the dried up streams. These woods rides aren’t really about going anywhere, its just about enjoying the environment that you are in and taking on some off the challenges it throws at you. I did manage to fall off at one point. I couldn’t get enough momentum after a sharp turn and fell to the side. There was a nice soft layer of fallen leaves to welcome me as I hit the ground. No harm done.

After the ride we went to the café for something to eat and we managed to eat outside with a combination of winter sun and our exertions keeping us warm.

It was just a short ride and we left at about 2pm – downhill all the way to Greenwich.

Our next off-roader is on Sunday 26^th February and will be in Lesnes Abbey and Bostalls Woods.

Ian Pendleton

Lewisham Cyclists.