Chicksands XC

Although Chicksands is not that far from home I had never visited. It is known for its jump areas, 4X tracks and various other ways of doing serious damage to yourself :-)

A trip to Bedford left me with some time to kill and a look at the map found a bridelway route down to the woods, fairly easy going, but on a bright spring day it was good to be rolling on dry trails.

The Chicksands website says that the XC trail is in a poor state, but actually it was not that bad compared with the churned up bridleways we often ride.

Red and yellow arrows painted on trees guide you round and in such a compact area it is easy to find a few variations. Although surrounding countryside is flat, the terrain here has some steep, if short, climbs - in fact when I came to the first 'up' I thought the arrows must be pointing me the wrong way! This was my first proper 'off-road' outing on the Duster and the phrase 'climbs like a goat' came to mind - I would not previously have though I could clear such slopes on a bike.
Not worth a long journey, but well worth a visit if you are in the area. Also fun to try the 4X track and other stuff if you are feeling brave. There is a charge of £5, this is supposed to apply in the week now too.

Posse: Uphilla. - Charge Duster

Weather: Bright and sunny

Mechanicals: None

Tracklog