Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)
  • Climbing at Glentress
  • LMT
    Free Member

    Im no mountain goat, but im fairly adapt at getting up a hill on the bike, at the tweedlove event i held my own and overtook a few climbing so quite happy with my climbing power.

    My OH on the other hand not a great climber, tbh she is awful she gets fed up less than a mile in. Im determined to get her to the top so she can ride spooky wood. We have a week or 2 before we head to glentress, ive managed to get her out on the roads just to get some cyclng in, but anything else i can do to encourage her uphill??

    Its not that she doesnt want to climb uphill, she just loses all power and gives up as its too hard as she puts it, being supportive in the past we have walked uphill, would be nice to cycle up together.

    dazzlingboy
    Full Member

    Drive to the top car park. Head up the red but stay on the forest road till you reach the Spooky wood climb. There might be some swearing and cursing up the wood climb but it’s short. Fire road to top. You’re there.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    Assuming she is using all the gears – and they are low enough – it’s likely just to be that she needs to try harder. Practice makes perfect and all that. Is she a regular cyclist? If not, you are maybe forgetting how tough it can be.

    PS: what length of cranks on her bike?

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    DJC75
    Free Member

    To be honest, given that you compete and obviously have a deep cauldron of power if you can overtake people, she’s probably just overwhelmed by your climbing prowess. Perhaps you could throw down a couple of furious loops of the black before you ride the red together? That way you may be reduced to her ‘awful’ level and can both feel fed up as you slog to the mighty Spooky Wood.

    peterfile
    Free Member

    Spooky Wood isn’t worth the extra climb IMO. 🙂

    I think i’m in the minority with that opinion though!

    Diane
    Free Member

    What dazzling boy said – get there quicker (More direct – less up and down to the top) go really slowly yourself – don’t let her always be catching up. Let her get off and push for a bit if she needs to – even suggest it just to get her to the top and the achievement then she might want to put some effort in to improve.

    Give me a shout if u like – if I’m off work I can go slow 😀

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    peterfile – Member

    Spooky Wood isn’t worth the extra climb IMO.

    what he said.

    The blue descents are quite simply, amazeballs.

    drive up to the car park, a quick pootle up/along the gravel road, start at ‘blue velvet’ and you’ve got 4, brilliant, swoopy, easy, fun, descents down the cafe.

    spooky wood isn’t nearly as much fun as berm baby berm – especially for a noobie.

    At the bottom of ‘berm’, explain/point out just how close they are to the top, and how easy it is to have another go. if they don’t jump at the chance, give up trying to get them into biking.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I’d sooner do pennel’s vennel (and some messing about on the blue and zoom or bust and the jumps and that) than spooky woods most days- spooky’s alright but it’s a lot of pedalling for a descent! Especially compared to Berm Baby Berm…

    Someone might suggest going up Anderson Road past the quarry. As far as I know, the road’s still shut for forestry ops, but also, it’s just not very nice- gets you up fast but not easy. Spooky climb is probably the easiest way to the top.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Spooky Wood isn’t worth the extra climb IMO.

    I think i’m in the minority with that opinion though!

    +1, thoroughly underwhelming, for all it’s hype it didn’t actuly feel like it flowed (comapred to the blue decents).

    As for climbing, it’s just fitness*, “get her out on the roads just to get some cyclng in” is all well and good, but it takes about 10 weeks of structured training to add 10% to threshold power (i.e. the bit that matters) so it really is a long term thing, which is why roadies (and other racers) start training for next year in mid October, and it takes 2 years to actualy get compettatively fit (apparently).

    *with some bike fitting issues as well, you’re not making a 5ft2 lady climb on an XL DH bike with 180mm cranks and 800mm bars are you?

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    The blue route from top carpark sounds a better bet for your OH – it’s a good trail. Even that will have some testing climbing for a novice, but there’s always an end in sight.

    LMT
    Free Member

    Lol no she isn’t on massive downhill bike, she has a very nice much better spec’ed bike than mine, it’s one of those she loves being out on the bike once out, it’s the getting out thing that’s the key. When we go on holiday no problem, just days off, weekends always too busy.

    grum
    Free Member

    I would park at the top car park and do as suggested above – carry on up the fire road straight to the spooky wood climb. You can do spooky wood and super g then rejoin the blue to do blue velvet and berm baby berm. Then the blue down to the bottom car park is great fun (and you go back up and get the car).

    Not sure why everyone is slating spooky wood – must be one of those STW ‘trying to be different’ things. Everyone I know loves it.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    I think you are expecting far too much then.

    thesurfbus
    Free Member

    Jelly babies work on my 7 year old, he will happily pedal/push to the top, as long as I leave a trail for him to follow.
    I agree with everyone else, the blue is much more fun for less effort.

    peterfile
    Free Member

    Not sure why everyone is a few people are slating not as keen on spooky wood – must simply be because one of those STW ‘trying to be different’ people like different things. Everyone I know loves it.

    grum
    Free Member

    If you just do the blue you still do the worst climb of either trail – the bit after Pennel’s Vennel which is shared between red/blue. It’s brutal for a blue run.

    The combined blue/red I suggested is perfect IMO – I did that with my wife who also hates climbing and she loved it.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    grum – Member

    Not sure why everyone is slating spooky wood – must be one of those STW ‘trying to be different’ things. Everyone I know loves it.

    i don’t think anyone is ‘slating’ spooky wood*, just voicing their (my) opinion that singling it* out is a little odd – from an effort/reward-for-a-noobie point of view.

    MrsToast
    Free Member

    I’ve always had problems with climbing, partly to do with my crappy knees (which I can’t really fix) and partly due to my fitness (which I am fixing!). It’s just about practice, really – when I first started biking, I was terrible at climbing, even if it was only slight uphill, or a short hill. At Cannock Chase, on FtD, it was a major achievement when I could get up the fireroad hill to Section 8 (now Breeze the Trees/High Voltage) in one go. I had to stop every 10 or 15 minutes on the initial climb at Llandegla. Same for the climb from the Hub car park to the Buzzard’s nest at Glentress. I can now get up all of them without stopping, or dropping into granny ring! \o/

    Doing mid-week rides as well as weekends has really helped me out. If she’s only ever going out occasionally though, she’s not going to see a miracle improvement – outside of a motorised bike, I don’t think there’s a quick fix.

    On the plus side, the climb from the bottom of Glentress to the Buzzard’s nest is pretty much the only climb I’d classify as ‘fun’ – it pretty, it’s fairly varied and there’s some optional trail features along the way. If my legs are feeling a bit knackered on a Glentress trip, I’ll actually do the blue from the bottom car park to the Buzzard’s nest car park, ride up a bit more and get to the bit before Berm Baby Berm and then ride all the way down the bottom, and do that a couple of times – feels like less effort than doing the entire blue. 😛

    The climb up to Spooky Wood isn’t too bad until you hit the fireroad, which if you have trouble climbing seems to go on forever. And as Grum said, the red/blue climb after Pennel’s Vennel is really quite tough, harder than any of the climbs on Follow the Dog (more like the climbs on the Monkey, only made out of pointy rocks instead of sand, with slighty roomier turns!). I actually find the red climb up to Spooky Wood easier than that bit of trail.

    athgray
    Free Member

    Agree about Spooky Wood to some degree, although I reckon it is worth the climb. It is a good bit of trail for a fairly easy climb. Good view from the top alone make it worth while. IMO it is the least enjoyable descent on the red though apart from Pennels Vennel which I have never liked.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Spooky Wood isn’t worth the extra climb IMO

    +1

    Completely overrated – much prefer the natural stuff.

    ChrisL
    Full Member

    Spooky Wood is one of my less favourite sections at Glentress too, but that’s not really relevant to the original question.

    One thing I find is that it’s nice to be mildly distracted when climbing. Fire road climbs can be grim because there’s nothing to take my mind off the climbing, whereas when climbing on singletrack there’s generally other things to think about, line choice, cornering, etc.

    On the other hand it’s easier to chat on a fire road climb, another handy distraction, provided I’m not short of breath.

    LMT
    Free Member

    I just want her to enjoy biking as much as i do, and i know what its like climbing and hating it, been there when i first started. After a big off at Laggan it dented any confidence and she avoided biking. Slowly beginning to put biking back on the agenda and get her out when we can.

    When out on the bike she loves it, the blue at CYB we did that loop 4 times over and over, FOD the new blue route she loved that. Ive avoided going back to cannock as its not the same beast it once was, we went to glentress about 3 months ago and yep the natural red and the blue was great, we have a week up there soon just wanted us both to take in more of the trails. If its not to be then its not to be, im glad ive got an OH that will go biking with me and understands those wiggle parcels are essential 🙂

    geoffj
    Full Member

    dazzlingboy
    Full Member

    I enjoy Spooky Wood, but am constantly pissed off by the amount of rubbish left lying beside the picnic table at the top. Much prefer sections of the black nowadays (not much use to the OP perhaps) at least partly to avoid the Spooky Wood rubbish tip.

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    LMT – Member

    Ive avoided going back to cannock as its not the same beast it once was,

    has your OH ridden at Cannock? – my girlfriend really enjoys it.

    we went yesterday, it was bloody great! 🙂

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)

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