On a cold, wet and muddy Friday evening I headed over to Sherwood Pinesin Nottinghamshire to sample it's only red route, the Kitchener Trail.

What a difference a bit of rain makes. Normally a flat fast flowing trail with berms and rollers, and a nice mix of rocks and roots. This time a muddy, gritty energy sapping water filled trail. The 13km took over an hour to complete and my brake pads well and truly ruined.

Over the next few articles I'll be breaking the root down section by section so you can see how the trail fares in the rain.

This week is the release of section one's video. Check it out above.

The start of the Kitchener Trailis on the opposite side of the car park to the café. Section one generally is trending downhill with right and left hand mini berms. The rain hadn't impact this section much at all and it still felt relatively fast. Nothing to moan about apart from one or two deep ditches full of water.

The section itself is only about 400 metres long finishing with a slight hill climb up to the Sherwood Pinesentrance road which you cross to head into section two.

I love the section as you feel like you are somewhere in a deep Canadian forest with the lush dense pines trees around you. As I ride through I always imagine the Gruffalo jumping out from behind a tree. I've never passed through the section and it be too busy to block your flow. It gives you a real sense of isolation to allow you to gather your thoughts as you flow around the berms.

Keep an eye out for next weeks look at the Kitchener trail section two.

For other related articles showing the different sections of the Kitchener Trail please click below:

Kitchener Trail in the Rain

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Two

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Three

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Four

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Five

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Six

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Seven

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Eight

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Nine

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Ten

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Eleven

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Twelve

Kitchener Trail – Section Thirteen

Kitchener Trail – Section Fourteen

Kitchener Trail – Section Fifteen

wet Kitchener Trail – Section Sixteen

Mountain Biking The Kitchener Trail - Sherwood Pines