E-Bikeshop Owners Club Ride: Friston Forest July 2016

On Sunday 31st July saw another great E-bikeshop Owners Club ride at Friston Forest in Eastbourne. We had a fantastic ride across the downs and then some excellent single track in the forest itself. As usual we were so lucky with the weather it was an absolute lovely day and the sun was shining high. This made all the difference as we met in the main car park in Alfriston.

This ride saw some new faces with is good, lots of new eBikers ready to ride their new pride and joy as part of the club. After a quick brief we left the car park in a long line of riders to joint he road and then turn off up a bridleway which offers a really long climb right up to the top of the south downs.

On the way up one member Paul got a nasty flint puncture which pretty much flattened his tyre within seconds, fortunately we had a spare tube to hand and were back up an running in minutes. In fact this was the only mechanical of the whole day.

A long gruelling climb which was made fun on the eBikes which smashed it all the way to the top, it was all worthwhile when we got up there to find an amazing view across East Sussex.

We then followed across the top of the hill to enter Friston Forest from the top. Which meant once into the trees we had lots of long descents and bomb holes to play in. A few of the bomb holes we stopped at for a few runs down with some riders getting a little ambitious and getting some air out of the other side.

Finally riding down to the bottom of the forest we then headed back up a fire road that seemed to never end to check out some of the trails over the other side. The next set of trails were long and swoopy with tight berms and the occasional jump which added to the excitement. Worth noting, everything could be passed so if you were not up for hopping over the jumps them each rider could ride round.

We led onto the 'Bomb Hole' challenge which involves each rider to enter the bomb hole at their own pace and you have to make it out the other side without pedalling. Only one of us managed to make it all the way out without pedalling which sounds easier than it is in reality!

Gary who led this ride mixed it up and took us over to some DH tracks which were eventful. Really good fun and pretty much most riders rode back up to the top to do the whole section again!

After a pit stop at a lovely local pub for a pint and some pork scratchings we finally crossed back over the downs to follow over the hill tops with a long descent back down towards Alfriston. At which point we managed to loose Ken and Kerrie, but safe to say they eventually made it back to the car park. That'll teach Ken for zooming off as always!

Conclusion

It was nice of Gary to lay out some new routes to mix it up and although we had ridden this same route in the previous year we took alternative trails this time round which kept it fresh. With thanks to Gary in particular for leading the ride. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and really look forward to coming back here again. All in all a great ride with only the odd puncture. The electric bikes were spot on and performed immensely well as always!

The next electric bike ride will be at Ranmore Common at the end of August. Already live on the club events section, you can sign up now. We will of course publish all the photos of this ride on the ebikeshop club page in the next few days, don’t forget to tag yourself in them.

The E-Bikeshop Owners Club is a closed group of riders, if you have purchased a eBike from us and want to get involved, please get in touch.