This is the third rendition of this event that starts and finishes on Leighton's Farm at the northern end of the Woodhill Forest.
The Jolly Roosta is fast becoming one of those must do events-even if just to see what new sections have been thrown in by Tony B and the team from the Kawasaki Sandpit. In the 3 or 4 years since the team have taken over the Sandpit and started to organise trail rides and races through the forest they have gone from strength to strength in the quality of the rides and organisation.
Tony is a great believer in giving the punters value for money and opens up the trails earlier than other events giving great value for the very competitive entry fee. The tracks opening at 8am 'ish and closing about 3pm and provides something for everyone. Best of all he even appears to groom some of the main trails and while some of the ground gets covered reasonably regularly in different events there is always something new to see.
These rides are sand based events, ride able in any weather but more fun when there has been a bit of rain to compact the sand. Unfortunately Tony isn't a weather god so the open trails were a bit fluffy. But what the hell if you nail it then they are not any problem and most people understand they are what they are.
One of the things I like about these rides especially as I get older, fatter and less fit is that there is something for everyone. There is enough challenging terrain to test the gun riders but if you have a bit of a hangover or aren't the most confident or experienced rider then you can still challenge yourself and have a whole lot of fun.
For most people, including kids on anything but a peewee most of the tracks-including most of the main trail are achievable by anyone with decent fitness and confidence.
Tony also seems to get together plenty of helpful sweep riders and most importantly in these days of get going when you get there rather than a massed briefing, someone to give you the key info as you roll through the start gate. 'At the water tank decide which way you are going to go. If you hit the main trail from there there are no shortcuts back so make sure you have plenty of fuel.!
The ride consisted of one main 50 odd k loop and several shorter loops. The main loop took us out to a lookout after a really neat hill climb that in all my years I can't recall ever having seen.
There weren't too many road sections, for me they seemed to come at just the right time to have a bit of a rest before ducking back into the forest.
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