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Yep that sounds like a plan - then depending on weather and tiredness we can either drive or ride over to stile cop WS15 1ND for some DH goodness.

ive heard the last descent on the dog is worth sessioning as well.

Looking to get there for 10 - I have Pauls # but not Noel or Akifs so ill Pm them over.

Sods law - the pope is leaving the UK from birmingham on Sunday -

http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/2010-Vi ... s-Timeline

will no doubt add to traffic mainly on the way back I would have thought

Its a long old drive, nearly 3 hours from mine, if there is no traffic. Aiming for 10am, but if there is any amount of traffic issues Akif and I are going to be late. Will chat to Akif bout leaving earlier but I dont fancy a 5am start on a Sun

No problem on my side, hows 6am?

Should we make it 6:30 just to be on the safe side mate?

No problem.

3.5 hours to get to cannock is loads - im allowing 2.30 back to loughton - google maps says 2.15?

Guys, You seen the forecast for tomorrow , high chance of rain all day ! Just our luck.

Normally rain would not put me off at all, but what do you guys think? Long way to get a first ride in the rain on what looks to be an excellent course. Think I read somewhere that you need to show care in damp/wet as some of it gets slippery (stones).

Well it turns out rain is the least of my worries. Some S.O.B has cleaned my account out and I am penniless until the bank can be sure I didn't go on a spending spree!

Trying to see if I can put some cash together for tomorrow.

Hmm, rain? Checked on ukweather and got drizzle/light rain.

http://uk.weather.com/weather/tomorrow-Cannock-UKXX1025

I dont mind if its a little wet. If it chucks it down like its monsoon season then perhaps its debatable. But it looks promising at the moment.. What dya think?

Sorry to hear that Noel. If theres anything I can do to help, be sure to let me know.

Gents I have got to cancel. My accounts have been locked and the sh*t heads have gone to town on clothes and shoes!!! Bank isn't sure its not me because I bought Body Armour the day before - can you believe it.

So I am officially broke until this is all sorted out. Apparently it takes 5-7 working days.

Apologies once again. I have told Akif already and hopefully we can reschedule for sometime soon before the weather turns too foul.

Sorry to hear it got serious Noel. Itd be great to organise this again before the end of october.. thats when it really gets crap.

Noel- real sorry to read this as its a sod to sort out. B''std's.

Did the website have a padlock for security? Otherwise I have heard that garages/ restaurants are culprits for cloning . Might be worth mentioining to police if you been anywhere new recently?

Just a thought - I always use a credit card with a very low limit on the net just in case something goes sh*t on new web sites I use. That way I have a ceiling limit and card purchase protection. You dont get the automatic purchase protection with a debit card.

Jon - I am looking at the weather in the morning mate and making a decision then. Sent you a text on this , as I think you are near there staying at your parents? Will try and get hold of you in the morning unless you bail tonight.

Great day out to Cannock with Jon, and Mrs Grin who came along for a ride around the easy stuff that Cannock offers.

Have to say there are some serious switchback hill climbs on the FTD & Monkey Trail and defo needed to catch my breathe a few times for sure !! The descents are worth the visit thou and add the single track through the forest , the combination is long & makes for an epic ride.

We rode Follow the Dog and then took the Monkey Trail off that, and after finishing the Monkey trail was working out how we could do the last two descent sections again and bizzarrly asked a random guy who turned out to know Jon from the Nicolai community . Brilliant, got a guided tour to the short cut & the sweet descents at the end of Monkey by which time we (well me actually) had knackered ourselves, possibly to do with an earlier 'over the bars' on a steep slabs section for me and a sprained ankle for Jon Hope it's healing up nicely Jon. Many thanks again Richard for the guided tour.

So we got directions for a short cut back to the centre which took in the longest continous straightish climb I have ever known . Was bad as i got cramp on the way and had to stretch out !! Was good call though as we found the last bit of the FTD back to the centre called 'tuckoroo' which was another brill section.

All in all great day, well worth the visit and better we now know some short cuts to some excellent stuff. May even have a guide next time for some organic trails. One thing to know is its seriously energy draining so fitness needed.

Noel - sorry to hear u got nailed with ur card dude. Hope it all gets sorted soon. You did miss a good one.

Took me just over 2 hours to get up there with a stop. I think when the 50's gone on the m1 2 hours dead is achievable. So significantly closer than the Welsh trail centres.

The centre itself is good with a cafe toilets and a good bike shop and its easy to find.

The trails were good too. The climbing was very similar to a lot of the welsh trail centres and thank fully not much fireroad. Overall i was really impressed. Obviously there was no UBER knar. But like anything when you attacked the flat sections and the downhills it was really rapid and fast and a good test for anyone. The all weather ish surface on most of it meant it stayed quick with not much elevation. The DH sections were like extended pump tracks with berms in the right places and lots of swoopy fast corners mixed in. Every time you climbed you got a quality flowing descent to follow which was class.

As with anything ride it slow its easy - pinn it and it becomes a real challenge.

The main problem was traffic on the bits we rode... super busy and i was just catching people like no ones business on the DH's and the flat.

Meeting Richard the Nicolai dude was cool - and he may be the key to some of the nice looking ghetto trails we saw up there! Next time there is a trip up there im deffo going.

Cheers for the drugs and bandages paul the ankle is getting better already.

pics in the gallery http://essexhertsmtb.co.uk/php/flogr/in ... 4995466520