[Yossarian]

A new thread in which you are invited to record the details of your favourite mountain biking trail or trails. It was all starting to appear in the XC thread in dribs and drabs.

I haven't ridden anywhere particularly amazing in the UK and need some inspiration.

Whites Level at Afan was quite fun, but I got a bit pissed off with the initial climb on subsequant visits. I rode Glentress Red a few years back, and that was amazing. I think it might have been improved since then too.  The last bit of the Ae Line at Ae was pretty good too.  There's a push up path alongside, and from what I understand it's only that last bit that's worthy of a bigger bike. The Ae DH course shat me up.



this drop looked much worse in the flesh, and it went straight into a viciously twisting bermed section. no thanks...

[Oli]

Where's that drop? Ae? Looks good fun, although like you say I imagine it's more intimidating in the flesh.

[Yossarian]

It's on the DH course at AE. Quite near the bottom. The course was pretty cut up cos there'd been some Scottish DH series race the previous weekend. The section leading into it was all very steep muddy tree roots and twisty muddy trails. The kind of thing it's difficult to get squared up on. The actual drop is pretty fucking fierce. What you can't really see from the pic is that there's a big flat section directly under the drop. Well you can if you look carefully. The transition is very steep, and you need to land in just the right place so you have long enough to swing into the berm. No doubt talented people can do it easily, but my brain made it quite clear that it wasn't having any of it...

think this is another view:

[Yossarian]

and this...

[Yossarian]

not to mention this...

[cofe]

A new thread in which you are invited to record the details of your favourite mountain biking trail or trails.

are we allowed natural stuff or just manmade type shit?

Ae Line was good btw - I enjoyed it. Very aggressive. Couldn't see much difference between red and black options on final descent though.

[Yossarian]

No, no - more natural if anything. I think Norton made some comments about natural vs man made, and it got me thinking about proper quality real world trails...

Saying that, the DH / freeride area at Cannock Chase was pretty awesome. Other side of the main road from the (rather boring) XC circuit.

I didn't ride the full Ae Line. I just walked up the push path from the end. Was the full loop all good?  It was my first day out on a new big bike (which is now hidden in a container somewhere) and I just full-faced up and tried to jump quite high on the bits at the end.  I thought the harder end section had slightly tastier ramps than the lesser one, but it really just seemed to be about how fast you were prepared to ride it.

[cofe]

full loop was good. there was forest road but the singletrack was nearly all great and at 20-odd km it's a good length.

it's not really a 'favourite' but i rode the fabled Ciaran Path nr Kinlochleven on the same trip (was up watching world cup at fort bill). It was piss wet with non stop rain but incredible. 8km of extremely technical, virtually all downhill, rocky singletrack. norton would wet himself. only took one tumble over the bars but a couple of sections require carrying.

[sharkey]

Isn't that AKA the coffin jump.


Dalbeatie hardrock trail in the borders is pretty good, roughly 30km, rocky single track in the main but no heroics, with some tasty black graded rock features, like the slab and the terrible twins.

[Yossarian]

i was pretty sure that i'd end up in a coffin if i'd tried it...

but according to google this is the coffin jump:

[Yossarian]

and this is perhaps the best view of the nasty one...



i'll stop now.

[Yossarian]

[unclesomebody]

That looks rad. Where is this AE place that you speak of?

[Oli]

http://www.7stanes.gov.uk/forestry/achs-5rnfq9

[neil h]

 

wow that looks ace


anyway for all interested there is a big big big, big slope style contest just outside font this weekend, in this place i just found. looks like its going to go off

[Yossarian]

That looks rad. Where is this AE place that you speak of?

it's fucking fierce. i pushed all the way to the top, and that nearly killed me. very very steep and pretty muddy. prob ok during the summer. the end of the ae line is a lot better drained and drier. the DH course was just savage.

Uncle - it's up near Peebles. Quite a mission, and not as much stuff as Glentress. But it's quite special.

[sharkey]

That reminds me Thrunton wood (the county) not a trail center, a small group of trail builders have handcut trails in the forrest, to produce some really exquisite technical trails utilising narural rocks, the very best being stuff like the evocatively named Eiger sanction (black graded), with technical sections such as the White spider, really steep singletrack, dropping into a slippery rock slab -this leads into more steeps and rooty shenanigans, finishes in alpinglen what a trip.

Traverse of the dogs is another funpacked black graded trail, this leads into the ES again a fantastic section of singletrack, with some easy north shore, at the end are some rock drops the hardest being the death drop!!

These trails are some of the best i have ridden so far, finding them early in the summer, considering how wet it has been here, the climbing has been put on hold just for now.

[Bubba]

this drop looked much worse in the flesh

They always do!

I fancy AE some time - there's another DH course there now too. Uplift is run by the same people who do Innerleithen.

Although i have pretty limited experience of UK venues, the best place i've been by far is Innerleithen. 4 main tracks with countless variations between them. From totally man-made to gnarly natural rooty, muddy and rocky. Everything from little drops to large ones, small jumps to massive doubles. Mostly very steep and the tracks are long, about 4.5 to 5.5 minute descents at old gits pace, but make that around 3 minutes at national race standard. Excellent uplift service giving you up to around 8 runs in a day which is plenty. I've already posted videos elsewhere. Shame it's so far from Sheffield.

Other great venues:
Cwmcarn - only 1 DH track (a new one coming soon) but it's really good - video here. Very well designed, varied and again a good long run. Think we're going down there soon

Caersws - Awesome hill in mid Wales. You can arrange private uplift with the farmer if you get a crew together. Another venue that's used for various race series' and contains several tracks, varying from quite tricky to pant-filling. The hill is very steep, ridiculously so in places. Here's some video of racing on the most popular track:


Bringewood - Great venue in Shropshire. Pearce Cycles run uplift days there but so far this summer it's all been race days which is a shame. Several tracks all of which are quality. Generally very rooty in the lower half and I believe it becomes a mudbath when wet.

Hamsterley - Another great place to ride, up near Bishop Aukland. Has several DH tracks (quite a lot of new stuff since my last visit I think) and a HUGE 4x track. The main track is quality. The top half is quite easy angled but fast and flowey with a classic large tabletop. The bottom half is much steeper and gnarlier with some small but tasty drops and some good fall potential. You can session the top half if there's no uplift running but the walk up from the bottom is about 30mins so you won't be sessioning the whole track much unless you're a masochist. Lots of other stuff there including a newish and very gnarly looking double-black trail.

Wharncliffe - it'd be wrong not to include the local. Overpopulated urban wood but with some fine riding. Fast non-technical tracks like "Fastrack" to more serious stuff like "No Human". Various freeridey stuff dotted about. More stuff over the hill in Greno Woods including the massive "Peaty's Drop" which only the brave will attempt. If you can session this then I suggest a move to Whistler or something

That list makes me realise how much more i need to spread my DH wings and check out more places like Fort William (supposed to be great but poor uplift and a total bike and rider wrecker) and more of the many Welsh DH tracks.

For fun, freeridey messing about venues I'd suggest:

Chicksands - In Bedfordshire. Fun northshore, some freeride lines, amazing looking dirtjumps and national standard 4x tracks. All in all a really fun place to mess about at and watch some amazing DJ action from the cool kidz.

Hamilton Hill - An improbable northshore venue at Market Rasen in flat Lincolnshire. Has a really classic northshore trail called "The Flow Show" and a few other bits and bobs. Great for a day's messing about on. This is a club only venue though and you have to join up to ride there.

Storthes Hall - A small wood near Huddersfield where local students have built a fun little track and a few other bits. Not really worth driving past Wharncliffe to get too but fun for a few hours if you're nearby.

Abbeyford Woods - Tiny FE wood near Oakhampton with some quality northshore hidden away. Great for a day's entertainment on the techncal wooden trails.

[Yossarian]

I've never got around to visiting Chicksands.  It sounds pretty good.

Woburn is quite fun.  The dirt jumps are probably the biggest draw, but there's quite a lot of other stuff.

[joel]

Bubba that's a quality list.

Caersws is the best on the list, an amazing place where the farmer has decided he can make more money out of uplift days and races than just having a wood sitting there... tech, fun trails and good uplifts. No point in going unless you're on a big bike. Unfortunately the online contact details for the farm and/or organisers have vanished, perhaps it can be found through the midlands superseries site http://www.superseries.info/ but there's not a lot there at the moment. Much better than Ae in my opinion. Innerleithern is still the original and best out of the Scottish venues...

Go to http://www.dragondownhill.co.uk/ or http://www.pearcecycles.co.uk/events for uplift days, all the tracks they do uplifts on are fantastic. Mtn. Ash has given us the best fun over recent years, a mellow DH track by modern standards, but long and flowing. It's been at least a year since I was there but I can still remember almost every corner (probably a bit sad!)

Chicksands is small, but OK. Lack of big hills means it will always suffer, but the 4X track is great fun and worth a visit.

[Bubba]

Aren't the DragonDownhill uplifts always linked to race days? So many Welsh tracks to check out

Maybe we should get a ukb Caersws uplift day organised

[SA Chris]

Even further than 7 Stanes is wolftrax at Laggan. www.forestry.gov.uk/WolfTrax

www.basecampmtb.com some great tracks, but pretty short (although not been since the new red was opened). Uplift too.

[Oli]

Maybe we should get a ukb Caersws uplift day organised

I'd be up for that...

[Yossarian]

Indeed. Though I need to go and dig out my big(ger) bike...

So, what about natural trails?  I have got the Dark Peak MTB book, but I haven't actually got around to riding any of the routes.

[Fj]

With the 7 stanes make sure you check the status of the tracks before you go. We rode Ae 2 weekends ago and there were diversions on many of the descents including three quarters of the omega man.
Glentress red is still ace.
Innerleithen - traquair loop is now my favourite trail in the UK. Big easy climb followed by bmx track like singletrack with berms and jumps and more natural descents at the end.