Is it just me or is that qaury section just a bit to tight to get any real Flow?
Or do I need to learn how to ride like a Pro.
Bike Forum
Ashton Court! Brizzole
-
Posted 11 months ago #
-
Found it fine on my early morning slighlty hungover lap at Bikefest.
Posted 11 months ago # -
It's you. And me...
It'll teach a few of us how to ride differently. Pumping, small jumps, riding berms the right way.
Just avoid the posse that ride round in circles all night timing their laps and ostentatiously skidding as they exit the last bend, tutting as they fail to beat their personal best.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I may have been overly relaxed due to the previous nights frivolity, so would probably ride it like a bag of spanners any other time
Posted 11 months ago # -
It is a wee bit tight in places and nobody rides it like a pro - hence the bits wearing where people can't quite make the last of a series of tight turns etc. Obviously, riding a 29er like I do, I can't turn at all so just straight line the whole thing like it isn't there.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I find the new bit along the quarry fine but the new red section has some real tight twists and turns! Rode it a few times over the last week and never quite nailed it all in one.
Still practice makes perfect!
Posted 11 months ago # -
It's mint on a rigid big wheeler. Try locking your forks out or turning the compression right up - easier to pump without the bike squidging all over the place. Have only hit one tree so far, well below my usual average.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I am liking it. Been riding as they open it. I'm a yokel. Took the Pugsley up Saturday and yesterday, what a laugh and if I can get round on that, there's hope for us all. Just got back from a club ride there tonight, a few weeks ago I would have said it's not my thing, but now...I think it's brill........
Posted 11 months ago # -
There's plenty of flow for sure. I think most negativity will stem from people who are suddenly finding that their skill level isn't quite what they thought.
The less travel the better if you ask me. My Heckler is hard work round the new bits but my newly built Cove Sanchez (run SS) is pretty much perfect.
The final few rock drops towards the end of the New Barn Wood section are pretty unforgiving if you're not carrying enough speed.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I like it, although i wouldn't like to see Leigh Woods laid the same. Its tight in a couple of places up the quarry but that doesn't make it a bad thing... for me anyway. Overall its a lot easier but quicker than it used to be i reckon, especially the gradual climb up to the quarry section, that was a sapper for a long time! agentdagnamit hits the nail on the head though! ;o)
Posted 11 months ago # -
I like it, although i wouldn't like to see Leigh Woods laid the same
plus 1
Posted 11 months ago # -
LW won't be the same as they're unable to machine lay alot of the new stuff due to every thing being that bit tighter. Most of the new trail surface will be hand laid basically, as i understand it at least.
None of Ashton Court's trails were difficult anyway, just unpleasant to ride for most of the year. Given all the rain lately, i'd say it gives a good indication of how well the new trails will hold up over winter.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Anyone know why Ashton Court is in the direction it is when BBF seemed to be in the right direction?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Yep, it's trickier than the surface/gradient would suggest - great, as it won't get boring. Reckon this time next year we'll all be riding gods!
Posted 11 months ago # -
a few weeks ago I would have said it's not my thing, but now...I think it's brill
The sound of a mid ife radness!
If only people would respect the orange barriers and not just ride them down and through the unfinished parts - idiots.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Anyone know why Ashton Court is in the direction it is when BBF seemed to be in the right direction?
Planning restrictions. Something to do with the trail widening and encroaching on the ecology. I think there might be an interesting announcement about it soon.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Anyone know why Ashton Court is in the direction it is when BBF seemed to be in the right direction?
There was going to be a longer downhill to the bottom of the estate, but when the environmental surveys were done it became apparent that it was off the cards. That meant the only way they could build a decent length downhill was by keeping the existing direction. Swings and roundabouts though as the same surveys made it clear that it could go back into the woods for a lot of its length rather than plodding along the edge of a field in an uninspiring fashion.
LW won't be the same as they're unable to machine lay alot of the new stuff due to every thing being that bit tighter. Most of the new trail surface will be hand laid basically, as i understand it at least.
There's one section that will be built this way but the rest will probably be quite similar to Ashton Court. However the trail that's being rebuilt is the Ho Chi Minh loop round the top of the wood. This was running great a few years back but is now just a hole-filled mess, and anyone who mourns its passing is probably suffering from some sort of weird misplaced emotional attachment.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Yep, it was a struggle this winter to find anything to ride that wasn't soup.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Loving the new sections, makes me feel like a riding god! The walkers are also loving the new sections, saw 3 on the trail by quarry at different points, to be fair I couldn't see any signs saying it was a mountain bike trail by quarry.
A family tried walking the wrong direction on the trail, imo a 6" square sign saying no entry is not enough, people are muppets. Some of the sections haven't got the orange barrier, but its pretty obvious you shouldn't be riding, but that hasn't stopped some.
There was a lot of people going to the start of the trail and finding out it's closed. I couldn't see anything saying which sections are closed, but I didn't look very hard.
Signage aside, trails are looking good and looking forward to an all year round trail!
Posted 11 months ago # -
AC has always been an all year round trail. It just seems that people don't like to ride in mud. Pah.
Posted 11 months ago # -
There are signs on the board by the gate, showing what's open and closed. I don't mind riding in mud but longer term it does b*gger the trails so don't. LW / 50 acre etc are slightly better in the winter...
Posted 11 months ago # -
The quarry path is no longer a trail. It's a miniature bike park for the terminally unimaginative.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Still worth a visit, not as much as i used to though.
I've started using Ashton Hill Woods a lot more after coming through Tyntesfield from 50 acre. Need to find a good route back from Ashton Hill to Ashton Court without using the road or the golf course.
Posted 11 months ago # -
The quarry path is no longer a trail. It's a miniature bike park for the terminally unimaginative.
Stop with the negative waves, man. It's a trail that will be ridable all year round.
Posted 11 months ago # -
There are signs on the board by the gate,
What gate?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Is it solely a bike path now? as the old TT used to be a multiuse trail, so you had to keep an eye out for runners and walkers.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Back to the OP imo the trail has far more flow than it has for year, the berms allow you to carry far more speed than before and can be ridden on a ht as fast if not faster than a fs. Previously riding the quarry trail was a reward for having suspension not skill.
Having said that I've got an old school 29er that is just too long and cumbersome to get round the tighter berms in New Barn Wood so the FS wins just by being more nimble. That's just an excuse for a new bike though
I just don't understand those who complain, they obviously have rose tinted spectacles and remember the old pre TT days before hundreds of people used them. There are still plenty of 'natural' trails in LW and elsewhere and I'll continue to use them but its dryish but in the winter Ashton Court and the new LW section will be a brilliant change from plodding around in the mud and spending hours cleaning the bike or worse going on a winter night roadride.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I went for a 30 minute blast on the new trails in the pissing rain and I didn't have to clean my bike afterwards. That's a good thing.
I'm not mud averse but having proper riding near the centre of town and having to commute in that vicinity anyway, it's nice to nip in for a quick run at any time of the year and not have to worry about spending an hour or more in the garage dealing with the aftermath.
We've lost a great natural trail that's only fun to ride for a couple of weeks in the year, but gained a great obviously man-made trail that'll still be fun to ride on a miserable, rainy saturday in January.
And as CD says, plenty of natural stuff going untouched in Leigh Woods and 50 acre has been much better since the logging thinned the canopy. I probably rode these bits more than Ashton Court anyway. So it's win-win for me.
Posted 11 months ago # -
If anyone out there can hit all the drops, manual all the rollers, and clear all the jumps on the new bits of trail then by all means complain about how boring they are. Otherwise, get practicing.
Posted 11 months ago # -
It just seems that people don't like to ride in mud.
It is the relentless plugging around in the mud that trashes the trails in AC / LW etc - the belief that somehow it is more mountain bikey to churn up an already wrecked muddy gulley all winter repeated 100 times a week made the Ho Chi Minh Trail what it is now - useless.
It's a miniature bike park for the terminally unimaginative.
It is a single length of trail that won't die quickly from the ever-increasing numbers riding there. There are always dullards who session the same 400 yards 20 times a night - but at least the trail can cope with it there now.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I for one am very much looking forward to trails that can be ridden in winter without the use of a snorkel.
Posted 11 months ago # -
The new quarry section is ace fun - a great addition to the trails in Brizzle. Nice one Architrail dudes!
Posted 11 months ago # -
Is it solely a bike path now? as the old TT used to be a multiuse trail, so you had to keep an eye out for runners and walkers.
I would like to know too!?Posted 11 months ago # -
Got to say when you combine this new (completed) all weather stuff with the remaining natural trails we are going to be very spoilt in Bristol.
Rolled through the Barn Wood section a couple of days ago just to have a look. It will be a nice challenge at full tilt
Top effort by all involved
Posted 11 months ago # -
maybe my Pitch was the wrong bike!
but its my only bike 
Posted 11 months ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
