I use to ride to work in Australia on my mountain bike. But that was all paved with only the occasional bump left by the dedicated workers of the Belconnen council. But this was a whole new deal. Pippa, Nick (Pippa's cousin) and I went to Bedgebery Pinetum near Flimwell in Kent for a ride.

Bedgebery is a pine plantation that has been converted in some places into a Mountain bike/walking park. Really a good idea as it serves a duel purpose while the trees are waiting for harvest. There is bike hire, cafe, parking and picnic areas all in the one location with many kilometres of tracks through the forest.

The tracks are divided into 3 difficulty levels. 'Family', which is essentially a road through the forest and easy to ride. 'Single', which is a big step up to a single file, one way track with dips, puddles, small jumps and tight turns between the trees, not to mention the banked corners and narrow wooden slatted bridges. 'Black' is for expert riders only with rock climbs and some very tight steep bits.

We 3 took a ride around the family track for the first hour to get our bike legs, well Pippa and I had to get our bike legs, Nick rides all the time around London which on a scale is a double black as there are things that will kill you in London. After this Nick assured me the Single track was not too difficult. He was wrong.

The first stretch was steep, bendy, rough and had several hill climbs. In credit to me I only got off my bike once. In credit to Nick it was fun and just challenging enough. Though 14 kms was a bit far and it took us the best part of 2 hours.

But the day did inspire Pippa and I to get bikes eventually and start riding again. Though it will be some time before I am confident enough to ride around the streets of London.