Published March 2003 © Bob Shingleton

Killer Singletrack

By Bob Shingleton
Author of Cycle East Anglia

Scottish Travelers have a word in the Cant language called Conyach. It describes the state when who you are, and what you are doing merge into one. This is a Conyach morning on the singletrack.

The March weather is perfect, a cloudless sky. It's a weekday, I arrive at the Forest Park as it opens, and have 70 square miles of prime riding to myself. The unseasonally dry weather means the Black Loop is buffed and bermed. I've ridden Big Bear, Metabief, and the long gone Langbaurgh downhill BMX track with its tarmac turns, and this is up there with them.

A few hundred feet above the F-15 Eagles have the perfect sky to themselves. These all-weather, highly maneuverable tactical fighters are used by the Americans to gain air superiority over Iraq and other battle zones. They dodge and turn in the sky as I flow into the Mayday Section towards the end of my first lap of the Black Loop.

I am riding a miracle created in the last ninety years. In the Middle Ages these sandy soils were productive, and prized, agricultural land with just a few trees and light vegetation. An early form of environmental vandalism in the form of uncontrolled sheep farming permanently damaged the fragile eco-system and stripped it bare, and by the end of the 19th Century the only thing the land was good for was breeding pheasants and other game. The regeneration started after the First World War with the establishment of the Forestry Commission. They replaced the barren, overgrazed heathlands with Thetford Forest and other great plantations, and created some killer singletrack as well.

But killer is a word with two meanings round here. To the north-east is a large Danger Area with a preserved pre-forest landscape scarred by ruined villages which are still violated by military exercises. Just a short distance to the south-east is Lakenheath Airbase where the F15-E's fly from. Beyond that is Mildenhall, home of the evil looking MC-130 Combat Talons used for 'psychological operations.'

I'm riding my Bianchi 440 Pro hard tail. I've fitted it with a Bomber Z4 Flylight Air's which I picked up at a bargain price in Inter Sport in Bergerac, France, a couple of years back ('last year's model' - but more than good enough for me). Round here you don't need full suspension, although you see plenty of it.

The F-15 depends on its high thrust-to-weight ratio and low wing loading for its phenomenal maneuverability and acceleration. It's fitted with a heads-up instrument display, and powered by two turbofan jets with afterburners. There is an internal six-barrel cannon, and a choice of eight external Sidewinder, Sparrow, or AMRAAM missiles. You can't pick F15-E's up cheap in Inter Sport, they cost $29.9 million dollars each.

Three laps of the Black Loop, I'm toast and don't have the benefit of afterburners. The Conyach spell is broken as I clean and lube the bike, and load it back into the car. Work beckons, but if the weather holds I'm going to try and bag my first descent of the year of a favourite trail in Kent. It's right on the edge of Mereworth Woods, another military training area where trip wires and night maneuvers are common. More killer singletrack...