Grogley Woods Revisited.

If you check out the TrailHead Project page on this site you’ll see I’m on a bit of a quest to identify more about positive well-being through Mountain Biking (MTB). As an organic project, the idea behind it has always been to get out and ride new places, ride with and meet new friends within the riding community; talk to people about their well-being, develop some new riding skills, and enter my first MTB enduro event along the way. The timescale of this project has continually been extended because I’m a self confessed procrastinator, and what seemed like an amazing idea during Lockdown, has been tougher than I’d imagined. Maybe the realisation of the massive task got to me,  going back to work after furlough, and losing my train of though numerous times, but there also seems to be a little more to my non-achievement than meets the eye. So in 2023 this is something I’m keen to investigate more, and maybe get a few answers. I will say it seems ironic that trying to write a book on how MTB has a positive impact on well-being, and it has come to a halt because of my own well-being. It will get done, and I’ve put objectives in place to achieve this, one being writing more blog posts to get me focussed on writing.

After that long introduction, this post is a little reflective on certain riding events, but I tried to bring it to the present, if that makes any sense. 

Entering an enduro was a major part of the TrailHead Project but required a little more confidence on my part. By the end of 2020, I’d had some amazing coaching, got myself fit, ridden more than ever, and at 51/52 felt I was riding better than I've certainly ever needed to. By September 2021 I’d completed not one, but four Enduro events, including the Southern Championships at MInehead which was a huge weekend on the bike, and those experiences meant my confidence and understanding of my own riding had grown massively. The last enduro of that year was at Grogley Woods in Cornwall and was absolutely fantastic because I managed a third place in the over 50’s. This result taught me that my ‘self talk’ (as it’s called now), was to ride smooth and steady, 'race my own race' and remain on two wheels all day. To be ‘pipped’ into third by less than 800th/second meant I’d done really well. As my confidence was buzzing, and I achieved more than I believed I would, so I booked more Enduros for 2022.  I began training hard and making more progress on my bike. 

I’d met some amazing people. The boys from Portsmouth were just a pleasure to ride with and took all the seriousness out of racing,  and I immediately witnessed the positivity of the riding community. I'd fallen in love with Enduro and wanted more, but competition is a strange entity for me because I have a kind of love-hate relationship with it. The most important aspect for me personally was I knew ‘why’ I wanted to try MTB competition. I’d made my decision to not enter with any aspirations of success in terms of results, I just wanted to experience the Enduro community, see how I would handle the nerves or pre-race anxiety, the emotions of raceday, the fitness and nutrition needed to last a day on the bike. I wanted to ride well, but these events were about learning and that's a great reason for anyone wanting to enter an event for the first time at any age. Even as I  race towards my mid-fifties, I would offer this same advice to anyone at any age, be it racing bikes, surfing, badminton, or Brazilian Ju Jitsu, (which a good friend has just done at 63 years old), just do it for the learnings.  
 
As I looked forward to the 2022 season I began training throughout that winter. Committed to doing sprints, intervals, hill climbs, and timed stage rides at night with lights on during the dark months. Weekends were for endurance road and gravel rides, and just lots of fun rides too. As Spring came around and the first event got closer, the excitement grew and I was frothing on riding bikes. I'd even been doing Friday night manual practice whilst my son had Football practice. One hour in a large car park, trying to keep develop a real cool skill that you can take to the trails.  Then things changed. The War in Ukraine began, and the price of fuel immediately went through the roof, belts were tightened and I've mentioned this before in a previous post, but I had to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel my entries. One by one I saw my fun slipping away for financial reasons, as I just couldn’t justify the expense of these weekends away across the South West.  In fact as much as I love riding mountain bikes, it can be an expensive pursuit. 

As the year now comes to a close with no events completed, I’d ridden my enduro bike twice since August. Although I've worked many of those weekends, been surfing a ton,  and riding the skatepark and dirt jumps on my trusty 26" Jump bIke; it was ten days before xmas, two weeks until the end of the year, that my neighbour Tom (who’s also not ridden much these past few months) put the shout out in our three man messenger group for a riding day. Next morning, two fo us, myself and Tom we’re heading back to Grogley! 

Grogley Woods is a pretty special place and both myself and Tom had not ridden there since the South West Enduro back in September 2021. Before I started the TrailHead Project, or even decided to do an Enduro,  Grogley Woods was well on my radar. So many people had asked if I'd ridden there, and my answer was always no, but when I booked my first race, I needed to practice. To get better at riding over roots, endurance on longer trails, handling technical sections, and going as fast as possible through tight single track in woodland is essential to be any good at Enduro. Grogley Woods and the surrounding woodland of Bishops and Hustyns has this in abundance, so I began to take the odd trip up there and it helped so much with my riding preparation. The fact that both myself and Tom, have not ridden much for months, a trip to Grogley Woods was very much full of excitement. I suppose if you ride trails like this all the time it can get boring, but for us, irregular visitors keep us stoked and we love it.  

The first time I ever rode there we had a guide, our friend and local rider Adam Semmens who couldn't make it this time, but he's an experienced Downhill and Enduro rider, who’d ridden there numerous times when he was racing and he showed us the trails. He knew the name of each trail, and the details of each feature andit was a valuable day out. If you're heading somewhere new this will massively help when you have no clue to where you're heading.  Having a guide just boosts your confidence and positive energy, and experiencing these moments just adds to the confidence boost. 

From our homes in West Cornwall, Grogley is a steady one hour by car, so it’s certainly not the ‘every weekend’ kind of trip, but when you need a good fix of enduro riding, Grogley Woods is the nearest. When our local downhill runs are about 45 seconds max, Grogley  trails are at least 2.5  minutes and it's physical.  Combined with a one mile fire road climb to reach the start of each trail this will always be a great training ground for enduro, and the better riders at Grogley have all said that to find this type of riding, then Wales is the next stop. 

Riding there again was a standout experience this year. This was all about riding with a mate because we both just needed it, and I'm sure my friend Tom won't mind me saying that he needed it more than me, with a whole bag of emotional stress to release. We also made the decision to just take it easy on the trails; a week before Crimbo, no one wants to be visiting A&E, especially during an NHS Strike and while I’m here “All Hail the Frontline Staff”.

We tested a few roots, walked some unfamiliar trails and found that they were prime. After all the cold and frost, and with a sprinkling of thawing snow on the hills in that area, Grogley was just perfect but it's important to just check the conditions. Accidents can be easily avoided by taking a little track walk. We rode about twelve miles and were both absolutely stoked to have stayed on our bikes, although I did find myself in a couple of  precarious positions on the way down the odd section that is clearly well used, but that is probably due to me still being too heavy on the front brake, and if I hadn’t incorporated the Sam Hill method of throwing a leg out, things could have gotten out of control very quickly. After not being on a bike for so long we both felt we rode well, but I realised that braking is still an area of my riding that still needs to change. 

To avoid any bad habit that might develop further I’m heading back for some more coaching in the New Year. My mindset  has always been to minimise the consequences as much as possible by becoming a better rider and when I did some coaching in 2020 with Jay Williamson, he unlocked some real progression in my riding, and I've continuously worked on those new skills since then, but always knew this progression would be an ongoing process.

As much as I’d love to, I’m not sure I’ll be competing in many Enduros in 2023 but that’s not to say that I won’t do any and I'll certainly be riding a ton. What is certain is that riding this weekend sparked such an enjoyment for being out in the woodland again, riding technical and good level natural trails, that I’m going to hunt for some more in the New Year. Thank you Grogley Woods, you’re no bike park, your trails are beaten and worn, you're a tough cookie, a physical beast, and four hours in the saddle was enough right now; but we’ll be back, and we’ll explore more of that area and its fine offerings, and when we do, i’ll be posting. 

Note: I’ll be posting about my coaching experience back in 2020, but I can’t stress enough how valuable a day's coaching can be to your riding. We think we ride well until an elite rider points out the smallest thing, and a change to that can transform your progression as a rider. I went to Jay Williamson MTB here in Cornwall but wherever you are, forget your ego, seek out your local coach and let them help you, you will not regret it.  To find out more about the emotions of race day, you'll have to wait for the book!

Thanks as always to DMR Bikes and Upgrade Bikes for their continued support and Jay Williamson for his coaching back in 2020. 
www.upgradebikes.co.uk
www.dmrbikes.com
​www.jaywilliamsonmtb.co.uk