so, which one is it?

From the picnic bench there are 3 (?) DH runs (centre one has the steep drop in, the right down a sort of shute and the left starts with some off camber rockiness). I guess they might meet up lower down? I know another that heads of the trail that leaves the picnic bench area to the right (as you look at the bench from the main trail).

is it any of these?

I rode some nice stuff today, including the right DH above that included a very tight right hand switchback immediately after a reasonable drop off. Conditions very good though, despite the rain all day. didnt look like the youtube vids I've watched of the knicker trail though.

cheers

No, knicker trail doesn't go from that picnic bench. Difficult to explain in words but if you ride picnic table (the one you're talking about) to the bottom, turn left and climb to the junction, turn right (instead of straight up the rocky and rooty climb), climb and you'll reach the start of knicker at a left hand bend (trail on the right). It's not an obvious trail though even when you're there.

Ahh! Is it the one that has a fairly steep drop between 2 very close together trees about half way down and a fairly steep drop in?

Describing stuff in Lw is just about impossible…..

Maybe 🙂 it finishes with a drop to a path that runs at right angle to the trail and is v. Tricky.

AgentD,

Its the one that comes out almost opposite the bottom of the picnic bench or directly opposite the bottom of the picnic bench right you describe.

I can show you some time soon if you want – Monday night?

Can't leave it too late however as the trails will go to ming for the season and i am off for a week of European action, including amongst other places Argentina valley (where we met a couple of years back).

Turn right by the tree!
It's as as Clubber describes, near the top of what i always called The Rollercoaster. Tough trail and so called after a pair of white knickers which hung on a branch there for what seemed like years!

I'll never clean it and will never pretend I can, kudos to those that can.

Thanks PeterD, going up there again today, trails still in good nick surprisingly, but not for much longer I would guess.

I'm looking at a campervan monday night, for use in next year's extended trip to the Alps. Cheers anyway.

Not a bad effort today, rode it with one dab until I got to the drop and right hand turn at the end. Might try it with pads on if I can get back there before the mud arrives.

Well, mud has come and gone and so have my skills, several dabs on the knicker trail last weekend. Miss AD rode the drop and right hander at the end, I couldnt force myself over it. Damn, 3 weeks booked in the Alps and Leigh Woods still tests my bottle!

I love the Knicker trail…..i found it a hell of alot easier AFTER i had gone to the Alps, oddly enough. A week spent negoiating alpine switchbacks sets you up well for the Knicker trail.

I do the line around the two close together trees now as my bars won't fit between them, as i found recently 😯

Whilst we're on the subject, does that trail that you pass the top of on the way up to knicker from the PB run outs have a broadly agreed name?

It's a little chute into a distinct absence of berm that goes off the climb just as it swings gently left, drops into some trees, comes out near the bottom of The Old Downhill.

If not might I suggest Absence of Berm?

It's a fun and formidable trail old knickers. Great for testing the old skills and surprising yourself now and then. Like many of the well used tech trails they evolve over time. Used to have the picnic table run on the opposite side of knickers top to bottom down in 1 minute flat. Gnarly left entry. With a little pop off of the first of the tight right hairpin corners (The one which now has no actual corner to it) to meet up just after the second right corner and onto the log hop. Impossible to do now.

Was introduced to knickers by some of the chaps from Psyclewerx quite a few years back now. I used to have that run down to a tee on the Zesty. A couple of changes in bikes later and it still catches me out. There are some sneaky lines to be taken though and some very strict ones. Those two spots with the trees are buggers. The second section after the off-camber bomb hole had me for a few runs. However I came out and around the trees there was a little off-camber section after a small tree. Which I just kept slipping and bailing out on. Just in the run up to the part at the end where you insert your rear wheel into your anus and somehow turn right and survive wall section.

Man all this talk is making me wet. If only I wasn't ill. I'm game to go now.

Absence of berm. I like it. Is that the really steep bugger on the right? Spend a few hours years ago clearing that out only to ride it once. Just found it had no berm where it needed one.

might I suggest Absence of Berm

According to Barney it's called Evo (or Ivo) 2, after its semi-mythical creator, the South American bloke who used to ride an Ibis Bow Ti and do nothing but build trails (he was the heir to the Maxwell House coffee fortune or something).

I've ridden it once, made the turn after the drop-in, but ended up doing a full-on Koala a bit further down. 😳

Here's how you ride Knicker, as demonstrated by Gus from the Uni MTB club a few years back.

http://www.youtube.com/user/milkherd#p/u/6/k54CAdEZJAU

Mr A – you're thinking of Ivo Obregon and yes you're right, he was responsible for some of the "better" trails around here.

As for the Knicker trail, i wish you'd call by it's proper name – Jerry's trail (after local rider Jer Humphries…. first man to clean it!

And the off camber trail to the left of picnic bench is called Chamonix….. apparently

Oh yes, nearly forgot, i remember when 50 acre was just god old Porn trail…….. Ah, good days…

Forgot to say, Ivo is back in Santa Cruz, riding, surfing, playing guitar and raising a family…. one of life's good guys.

Ivo it is then, and at least now I've got someone to blame when I too end up clinging to a tree.

Peasnotwar, this one's for you. 😉

Gee thanks !!!!!!

Don't suppose anyone has got a copy of "Surfin Bird" by Colonel Kilgore & his Vietnamese formation surf team ???

Ah, Bristol trail nostalgia aside – great track, MrA… always gets me.

By a weird coincidence, I just posted it in the BBQ thread. Prior to reading this, I mean.

Is there anyone who rides here who could possibly show me and a mate some of the DH runs some time in the future? We're over in Bath and from this thread seems like it's worth checking out!

post on the Bristol MTB club forum m8. Sure someone knows the area. I have only been around that area few times so not an expert.

It's not so much DH, more techy XC. Still damn good fun though. I'm (a) fat and slow (b) hugely unreliable, otherwise I'd be delighted.

You can find Colonel Kilgores Vietnamese Formation Surf Team stuff and their songs on http://www.ckvfst.com

Surfs Up…..

I'm hopefully going to be visiting the great man (Ivo, that is, not Colonel Kilgore) for a beer or two in SC in October 🙂

Peasnotwar – who are you? Porn trail used to rock.. it's just not the same any more *sniff* – not since any of these Johnny-come-latelys appeared and stole our trails *sniff*

😉

Oh, and FWIW I think "Ivo 2" might've been a mis-hearing of something along the lines of "that's one of Ivo's too", but Ivo 2 is as good as any!