The new ending won't be open yet will it? Just need to know if I should avoid it for the ride i'm planning tomorrow…?

It's been open for about a week now! Did it last Saturday.

I have heard its open. Hope it stands up t the rather lovely weather we have at the moment

Actually open, or open in that someone has removed the tape?

Officially open.

Did it yesterday. They've done a great job of keeping the trail well drained and almost completely dry. It's fast and non-technical, personally I'll only use it to connect Holmbury to Peaslake as I'm heading over to Pitch tbh.

Excellent, I will ride tomorrow 😀

rode it today, it's good

Rode it today too – it rocks. I enjoyed the rooty challenge of the old trail ending but this is much more flowing & much more fun.

Well done to everyone who created the fast dry berms!

same here: good work fellas

Rode it today. Its far too sanitised now and is far too boring. If I want to ride stuff like that I'd go to a trail centre.

I'll be using another route to descend Holmbury Hill from now on.

I'm sorry if that offends people.

nope. not at all. Leave it free for me to ride

Be my guest. Take a roadbike down there. It would be better suited than a mountain bike.

It does look a bit 'non-taxing' in the pics.

Nice work But shame looking like a Cosmetic trail centre
Whens it being Tarmaced, road lights and looly pop ladies?
Quoted above as being fast and non technical LOL
Not to offened you guys have been doing a great.
Shame love riding there.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. Then go back up and do it faster 😀

Sort of understand where the comments about it being non-taxing are coming from, but then at the same time, there is a challenge to riding this sort of thing as fast as possible.

go back and re-read the reasons why the end of the trail has been finished in this way. I think it said somewhere this is the most ridden trail in the country (maybe just the south, but you get the picture) and the end was dangerous, unsustainable and a nuisance to road users and nearby residents, although I agree to more experienced riders it was still fun. The top is still twisty and rooty as it always was.

If you want still technical trails there's plenty in the area.

Er, I agree it was unsustainable but it was hardly dangerous and once we all stopped riding the last section past the residents house, it was no longer a nuisance to locals. Maybe it was dangerous from a novices perspective; is this what you meant?

Grantway, I'm now 'LOL' at your quote of my post – I've obviously been far too subtle, and you've completely missed my point! 🙂

I'm sure someone will add some features to the lower section in time, personally I've always found BKB overated, we used to do the gulley descent that runs parralel to it, back in the day when disc brakes were only on motorcycles and cars!

With the speed held after the big berms, and the straights that follow, I think the trail will lend itself to some small jumps to pop off!

The signs around Peaslake that say that the trail is now safer for everyone point to it being dangerous from a novice's perspective.

The top section is still twisty and rooty, which was always good because it built up to the steep, technical(ish) ending. Now it builds up to a practically tarmacced section where you can yawn your way through the berms.

I can see the unsustainable argument clearly, but am confused as to why it had to be replaced with a section that would barely qualify as a green trail up at a trailcentre.

One of the good things about the trails in the area is that they still have that natural feel – the odd berm and jump sculpted out of what is essentially the natural flow of a trail. First the roots on yoghurt pots are covered over during the maintenance and now this?

I apologise if I come across as negative towards the work and effort people are putting in, but i am concerned about an area that is teeming with natural singletrack being turned into a southern version of llandegla. The point with places like Surrey Hills is that you are not in a trail centre.

People have pointed out that there are other technical trails in the area – agreed, but how long is it before they are "improved"?

With the speed held after the big berms, and the straights that follow, I think the trail will lend itself to some small jumps to pop off!

That would probably be quite good actually.

It was dangerous from a novice's perspective. With the disadvantage as well being that once you'd started the drop, the roots and steps got bigger and at that point stopping and stepping off becomes very hard too. Guys I've ridden with who i wouldn't call bad riders have come off pretty badly down there trying to step off when they got phased by it, and given the top half is a nice flowing trail, well known, marked at the top it doesn't really warn you what is coming at the end.

And the last drop and exit out on to the road was definitely dangerous. Seen a few near misses there over the years. I think this is also a significant factor in routing the end to the the far shallower, wider b/way exit.

The vast majority of the trails up there are no way similar to BKB. They start in the woods, end in the woods, without crossing major bridleways or ending suddenly at a dangerous road. ie: whole different series of constraints to BKB which is basically the main path from Holmbury to Peaslake and as such sees far more traffic that any of these other 'hidden' trails on Pitch, etc.

To the builders and supporters. It is a good ending to a good trail, and while I still mourn the loss of the original ending, like I suspect the large majority I understand why it has to be the way it is.

Some random points:

It will ride in a bit and acquire a texture of its own, but it isn't really feasible to build the bumpiness in unless it is all done by hand, which would have taken a very long time. Some volunteers have put in a hell of a lot this year already.

The smoothness of the new section is the reason it is the only dry trail on the Surrey Hills at the moment – every rut and dip eventually catches water, then provokes random braking, then gets worse… and six months later it will need more hours of work.

If you're finding it a bit dull why not keep on trying until you can get down without brakes? If you add speed I think it is interesting enough!

I went down there yesterday and hung around for a few minutes – when you see the range of riding ability in everyone that is out there enjoying the Hurtwood it makes you cringe to think of some of the less experienced riders going down the old fall line section. Its all very well some of us giving it the "MTFU", but that attitude looks pretty dumb when you actually see some poor person properly hurt.

Oh, and as for filling in the roots on YP – there I have to agree with the complaint! But we can't have everything and I think you'd be taking a pretty churlish line to say that on balance the work that has gone in has not been for the good.

agreed Glen, BKB and YP are both over used trails and needed maintenance. I rode both yesterday and it was great to have firm dry trails to ride in what has been the wettest November in a long time.

As someone famous once said you can't please all the people all the time.

a few more would have been hacked off if both those trails were just blocked off/closed as we have seen with others over the years.

Yep – when you think about it Hurtwood Control could have just dropped a couple of trees over the old ending – job done, total cost a bit of chainsaw fuel and a few hours.

But HC and Surrey Hills AONB actively want people to enjoy the countryside, and that means being inclusive, not exclusive. If some people have particular trail needs they may feel free to, er how shall I say, "go away" and find them elsewhere!

I actually think YP has changed for the better but was confused about the covered roots in the middle. I though it was quite unnecessary.

As for going away and riding elsewhere, how is that an "inclusive" attitude? If the trails that we have ridden and enjoyed for years are sanitised so that novices can safely ride them are we not supposed to say anything?

How is having the major trail in the area inaccessible to a significant proportion of riders inclusive?

GlenP is merely saying that you have the option to find your particular challenges elsewhere on the Surrey Hills, not that you're banned from riding BKB. It's one trail, ffs, and it's not even the trail, it's actually about a 30m dangerous and unsustainable section that has been taken out and replaced by 300m of sustainable alternative.

Yes, I'm sad to see the rooty drop gone too but I can see the bigger picture.

I did Barry's for the first time this morning. Still fun as ever and a right laugh seeing how near horizontal and fast I could get on the berms.

I like it and there are are still shedloads of tech challenges 10 minutes up the trail, it's not like were wanting for choice is it?

I really appreciate the guys taking the time to build it it's a nice quick ending to a decent trail.

The fall line ending was getting wider and wider because people who weren't capable were bottling it and carving up the hill it had to change I suppose, oh well, things change. When I first started riding up there there were pretty much no trails except the ones we made, things evolve but overall I like it, it's fast!!

its does make me laugh when people say that the only 'technical' bit of barrys is now gone. Rubbish, that last section was just, well, shite. A wide section of ruts with a couple of trees to avoid. Granted, the new ending is easy and trail centre-esque, but its longer than before, and a bit of a grin really. Some people seem to take this bike riding thing a bit too seriously….its fun remember.

Rode this a couple of times today in what was basically a downpour – the whole lower section had no standing water. Very impressive.

Agree with what people are saying about it being easy now, but then, as others have pointed out it gets a lot of traffic and is ridden by beginners a lot. I'll probably still ride it, although not as often as before, but that's cause I happen to like rooty/techy trails.

The comments from other riders at the bottom were very positive. Although I suspect those berms are going to grow some pretty savage breaking bumps quite quickly….

So – good job trail builders, seems to be properly robust.

maybe it's just the speed of DaveBus going down BKB that makes it look tame 😀 If it was a Muddymole it would look much more extreme/out of control.

Seriously the newBKB is fine but it's no ultra tricky trail centre, it's not even the hardest trail in the surrounding 200yds – Death Star anyone? but if the options are a fine riding smooth bermed trail or no trail I'll take BKB.

that's right Tony, the wheels on davebus go round and round, round and round etc.

Oh BTW, on our second run down there yesterday i encountered a local walking two huskies UP the new section of BKB.

I just shouted 'two more behind' as I couldn't be bothered to stop but I'm sure if I had he would have claimed to have 'been walking this trail for years'

We met a lady with a Malmut up on Ranmore when we were doing our lights test – most impressive! The mutt I mean.

We need to Whiteboy (aka Beanarillo) to style it up down BKB to make it look good.

Perhaps it need a bikes only sign at the bottom?

Maybe it's about time to take the tandem down bkb again as the final section recently has been beyond my comfort zone.