ianfitz wrote:

Scattamah wrote:@Ian - I kept thinking of you on the Spearfish bashing down some of those descents...I bet it was a world away from the hammering I was taking.

Greetz

S.

I was enjoying the majority of them TBH. Where was that woodland singletrack? That was fantastic!

If it's the one I'm thinking of from last year, it's the descent into Porlock down Hawk Combe http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=284507 ... &A=Y&Z=120, definitely agree - it had me grinning

The one that rattled me (physically) most last year was the long descent from Dunkerly Beacon, was getting less than amusing by the time I got to the bottom.

whitestone wrote:

ianfitz wrote:

Scattamah wrote:@Ian - I kept thinking of you on the Spearfish bashing down some of those descents...I bet it was a world away from the hammering I was taking.

Greetz

S.

I was enjoying the majority of them TBH. Where was that woodland singletrack? That was fantastic!

If it's the one I'm thinking of from last year, it's the descent into Porlock down Hawk Combe http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=284507 ... &A=Y&Z=120, definitely agree - it had me grinning

The one that rattled me (physically) most last year was the long descent from Dunkerly Beacon, was getting less than amusing by the time I got to the bottom.

That's the one

Agree about Dunkery too, I liked the jumpy water bars on the top section but yes the lower bit was pretty rumbley.

Oddly enough, this year I went for it on the Dunkery descent... whereas last year it scared the hell out of me.

This is for that segment from the Bearbones group:

1 Mark McPhllps 7:47 17.5mi/h
2 R G 8:52 15.3mi/h
3 Marc Baker 11:31 11.8mi/h
4 Lars Henning 11:39 11.7mi/h
5 Steven McC 13:18 10.2mi/h
6 Sean Belson 15:18 8.9mi/h
6 Rob McIntyre 15:18 8.9mi/h
8 Scatta Mah 15:45 8.6mi/h
9 Mike Clarke 17:47 7.6mi/h

The descent that made me most nervous this year (odd DH section aside) was into Porlock. When we got there it was hammering down and properly misty. Really didn't want to make a mistake in those conditions.

I really enjoyed the little bit near Braunton (just after Long Lane). Up out of Woolacombe was nice too, as was the bit from Brendon to Watersmeet(?). Injury pain aside, climbing along the coast after the Valley of Rocks was neat too.

That time of mine is from last years ride - I was chasing Duncan Askew down there during Katie. I was much slower in the dark this year and crashed once.

Greetz

S.

Richard, what's the segment for the Dunkery Beacon descent called or its ID? I've done an explore on Strava but nothing comes up. I doubt I'll bother the leader board - it was dark when I did it and made a nav mistake when crossing the road - not that I'd bother the leader board anyway!

The full 2.2 mile descent is segment id 23111681265 and called Dunkery down, but not out! There are also some segments for just the top section or the bottom section.

It's quite a descent and much longer and rockier than I'm used to. Once the top bit with the water bars to jump off was finished I was soon wishing it was over as my hands were starting to fail and by the end I was just wishing for the next up hill to start!

Edit: For reference Liam did it in 7:21, 18.5mph, he cant be on the BB strava group.

The ID didn't work but the name did. Proud to say I've a time of 18:08

The dark would seem to make a big difference - last year I was roughly the same time as Gabes Mak and IanPV down there, this year looked like they got there in the light and halved their times. Not jealous, no, no way!

Yeah, I had pretty bad hand pump by the end of it. I had to slow down significantly.

Not really bikepacking bike friendly that descent.

Happy with 3rd off Dunkery with full rigid :)