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Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor A weekend spent in Exmoor, staying in the Foresters Arms in Dunster. Our guides: James, Rich and Vince, local riders. The riders: Matt, Chris, Steve, Colin, Neil, Sam, Simon, Andy, Mick, Frank and me The forecasters forecast was quite correct. Saturday had indeed pants weather. But this did not deter the hardened group of MTB nutters, who pasted us early in the ride. Donning our light wet weather gear, we set out. The only way out of Dunster was up, which was quite apt, since it set the theme for the rest of the weekend. The locals seemed to only have two words to describe the trails, which happened to also describe the height of the saddle required to ride them, there was no flat. Steep ups and steep downs were the order of the day, and many a tumble was laughed at. In particular, Neil�s excursion off the side of the hill on the final descent of the day gave everyone a hearty laugh (after we made sure his bike was OK, obviously). Day two started out much more pleasantly and the forecast was for sun, pretty much for the whole day. After the belly fill of a full English and fettling with the bikes (many brake pads had to be replaced), we set out to do it all again. This ride was slightly shorter, and slightly easier on the climbs but the descents were more flowing and faster, but no less hairy in places. The weather mostly kept up, but a couple of showers kept the slippery bits interesting. The final descent saw us a stones throw away from the hotel, which ended the weekend on a high. Overall the climbs were long and steep, some of which were almost unclimbable without some degree of walking, the locals themselves rarely cleaned these sections, but without the ups there would be no downs. And what downs they were. It had everything from really steep technically challenging descents, to long swoopy, use your brake and you�re a pansy, fast flowing single track. It had loose stones, to hard slabs, loose soil to hardpack and everything in-between. The waft of melting mettle could be smelt at the end of every decent, a novel experience to us Chiltern lot. Exmoor is definitely an underrated area of mountain biking fantasticness The award for �most spectacular stack preceded by girlie whelp� goes to Neil, for his Broad siding off a switch back down a perilous slope and caught by brambles power slide. Award for �causing everyone else to wait in the cold rain whilst fixing punctures� goes to Sam, for not properly checking for thorns. Award for comedy �can�t get himself out of gorse bushes after a stack� goes to Frank, for his most excellent turtle impression Award for �drinking the most pints who isn�t Mick�, goes to Simon for an astounding 5 hour session on Friday afternoon. Award for �the most bald head�, goes to Steve, but with James coming in a close second. Award for �not crashing, or getting punctures, who must therefore be riding like a pansy� goes to Chris for demonstrating even girls can keep up with the lads. Total weekend riding: 14 riders 2 days 55 miles 10,000ft of climbing 2,000ft descent (at least it seemed that way) 8 stacks 25 hairy moments 15 punctures 20 slices of cake 40 pints 14 curries 1,000,000 perforations due to gorse 14 sore rings. Disclaimer: Awards distributes solely at the whim of the author. These figures may or may not be accurate. 24/06/2004 Paul Sheppard

Mountain High - Exmoo Day 1. Damp. 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Run awaaaaay! 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Frank gets intimate with the huge bull 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo They're chasing us! 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Helloooooooooo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Get orf moi laaaand! 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo Low level clouds 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Making our way to the highest point 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo There's someone missing from this photo. 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo Stopping for more pinch flats 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Some sun far off in the distance 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Chris (Grrrr), Matt and Steve 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo Someone thieved my camera 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Mid ride cake stop, very important 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo Many punctures fixed 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Many. 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo We've got a bit of a climbe to do now, ex 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo Noooooooo... 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo At the top, barely. 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -
Mountain High - Exmoo Matt crusies to the top 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -	Mountain High - Exmoo 25/06/2004 Paul Sheppard - Mountain High away weekend, Exmoor -

There are 80 photos

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