Cake was eaten, drops were conquered!!!

Hectic old us. We've all been up against it recently, and with Finter's broken hand stopping him from coming out to play, I haven't been spending as much time driving round the M25 to go riding as I'd like!

The planets aligned and Chris, Adam and I found ourselves at one of the Leith Hill carparks with a whole day of riding stretching out in front of us, no rain and little visible sign of any hangovers! I hadn't seen Adam's 'new' S-works Enduro and it looked a nice beast, whilst mine started complaining the second I started pedaling - think I knocked the mech in the car...





So, off we trotted and did some familiar warm up routes, all feeling a bit out of shape and surprised at the number of large (10+) groups riding around together. We stopped to take a quick picture at the jump spot where Daryl nearly hit a tree and witnessed the most remarkable recovery from certain death, I think I've ever seen. A chap came riping through in a train of riders and completely lost both his pedals on take off, recovering the best Finter no-foot ever. After this, we headed to one of the many drops at Leith and one that I've not done before but watched others do from the side lines. Its a scary beast to look at from on top as the transition is very small and the height drop is probably 6-8 foot depending on how fast you ride it. Chris rolled it and Adam showed led the way with a nice drop. Bearing in mind I haven't been on my bike pretty much at all since December, I felt pretty nervous and had that annoying thing where you can't seem to set your pedals up nicely. But as fate would have it, another group of riders showed up and personal pride threw me off at far faster a speed than necessary. I think I almost went to the flat, but I couldn't tell as my eyes had involuntarily shut themselves! That felt good! Drop pictured below...









After that, a few more trails led us to an area I'd not been to, with another big drop - this time, Adam's nemesis - and some jumps which Adam dispensed nicely, as did Chris - I'd done my scared bit for the day... Then back up to the tower and some cake, whilst watching the weather close in down the hill. A calp of thunder sealed the deal and it was time to go, via a pint of ale and discussion of the finer points of bacon curing at The Plough in Coldharbour.