Id been meaning to tick it off for a while and should have done last weekend on the way to C Y B but was Tres sick so drove past , So took a 2 hour drive up there this morning with friends, undoubtedly im gonna piss people off but its a bit bland .. they have made the most out of the terrain sure, but other than one section at the end of the monkey trail (which i dutifully did an OTB at the last jump) its all a little forgettable .. far too much pedal mashing for scant reward for my liking … i guess its what you are after at the end of the day and im not putting the trail builders and locals down you have done a great job, the black rock gardens were fun .. just did not get the place ! – sits back with pipe slippers and armchair ! .. locals in the red lion were ace though ;]

What do you expect? Everyone knows all the mountains in England are in Surrey….

“they have made the most out of the terrain sure”

done

Yeah having to actually pedal a bike is the real kiljoy of mtbing isn’t it 🙄

far too much pedal mashing

Sounds cool, that’s one for the future.

dont mind pedeling up tom not in the slightest , just did not feel the reward was there for all the effort is all .. pedal up groan , go down grin … again im giving my opinion and i guess we all like different things just thought that some of the downs could have had more is all.. but to give ballance to it my mate who who drove loves XC, he thought it was great. i like free speed from gravity i guess . maybee im just jellous im nowhere quick enough on the ups as i am on the downs.. and im bloody slow on the downs ..

Given the terrain around there, I reckon they’ve done really well. Of course it’s not going to be like a trail centre on a 2000ft hillside, but it’s pretty good fun.

It used to be very average. When the Monkey was opened I thought it was amazing for a Midlands trail, and still do.
They have really made good out of what they have there, and lets hope for continual improvements in the future.

Sorry, yes bland … And I courted my first girlfriend right next to one section in 1984!

We’d love to put all kinds of exciting rock features, gnar shredding ttf’s, etc. etc. but unfortunately we just don’t have the local materials available, and if we did we can’t man handle them into place easily. Bit’s of the trail are gradually being ‘upgraded’ though, and as I’ve said before the more people that turn up to help the quicker it’ll happen….

Forgive me, my previous post was a little rude! Like you say, we all like different things….I race xc and find it a brilliant training route (there are some very fast riders who train using it too!) I find it quite enjoyable all the way around tbh. I can see why people would be disappointed if they were expecting huge decents in the mould of the 7 Staines etc, but lets be realistic…..its in bleedin Cannuck!

I know what you mean about it being a bit up/down, sometimes feels like you never really get into the descent before you’re peddling up hill again. To make the day more worthwhile i normally divert to stile cop halfway round to get a good dh/jump fix before finishing the monkey, extends the ride and adds some more fun bits!

To echo some of the other posters…

Did you really expect anything different? Think about the location… it’s in the Midlands with no mountains in sight, and I’d say with the prevailing geography they’ve done a bloody brilliant job.

If you just wanted something a little more gravity oriented, then you maybe should have gone to Stile Cop…

I love Cannock!!

They have done really well considering the area. you get good downhill sections that are fun and fast and the uphills aren’t too hard and i ride a 160mm travel bike, been back 3 times and i will go again

true tom no worries, and again im not nitpicking , honey b – not trying to be negative , i really feel that you lot have done a great job with what you have and its just not me is all .. the last trail at the end of the monkey i think ?? was great nice bit of flow and speed just wanted a few more of that for the pedal mashing .. That said im one man and it was sure busy enough so ya’ll must be doing something right & if you guys are doing that with limited funding kudos to you all .. i live in hertfordshire and sure wish it was on my doorstep.. They were all right about those breaking bumps though !!! allthough i hear you may be getting a rubble donation !

Living where I do (closest ‘big’ trail centres are Thetford and Sherwood with natural trails round here being flat mostly edge if field BW stuff) then Cannock is a godsend. Couple of hours driving is worth it for me I reckon (not to dismiss Thetford as my ‘local’ centre – some truly brilliant wooded singletrack if you’re prepared to pedal a bit).

Sure, having ridden Laggan, Whinlatter, Dalby, Brechfa and Moray it’s a little lacking in outright elevation but they HAVE done an ace job with the gradient available (especially on the Monkey where I think the descents are pretty cleverly designed in a roller coaster stylee to be as long as possible). In some ways I prefer the up-down-up-down-up-down approach of Cannock to the more traditional trail centre big-boring-fireroad-climb-followed-by-long-descent that you see in a lot of ‘built’ places.

More power to the Cannock builders elbows!

Mincing ahoy! (was my first time there so everything ridden unseen).

Hmmmnnn. Embedding not seeming to work. Linky – https://vimeo.com/40282224

slainte 😳 rob

In my opinion it’s well designed to make good use of the available landscape. It’s downfall for me was that parts of the new stuff (Monkey and end of the Dog) started falling apart as soon as it was opened. I’ve heard that local materials were used in it’s construction to satisfy the “green” contingent but alas think it’s been a victim of it’s own success, a huge catchment area means the place is packed at the weekends and probably sees much more midweek traffic than other trail centres too and it just hasn’t been up to it!

also i my just be bitching as 740mm bars were not made for those trees !

makkag – Member
also i my just be bitching as 740mm bars were not made for those trees !

Heh. That’s the one thing (weaving between trees) coming from the wooded flatlands I don’t need to worry about when I hit Cannock (although I have just switched from 710mm risers to 760mm flats).

slainte 😆 rob

I’ll echo Stu McGroo’s comments. Cannock has (as I’m sure the guys that built it know) been a victim of its own success somewhat. The Monkey Trail is IMO a brilliant trail, as good as it gets given the elevation and location. When it first opened and I went to ride it for the first time, I was blown away that this was in the Midlands!

FFWD a year or so, and because of its success, and the naturally soft terrain at Cannock, it has eroded somewhat and many newcomers to Cannock are completely blown away by the braking bumps in many sections. If you know your lines (as in you’ve ridden there a bit) you can generally do quite well to avoid them, but no matter how good a rider you are, there’s no doubt it had more flow and was more enjoyable to ride fast before the braking bumps appeared.

At the end of the day though, it is built and maintained by a load of volunteers (hats off to you guys), and if I lived close enough I would come and chip in on occasion, but sadly I don’t.

The other thing I will say about Cannock is the fitter you are, the more enjoyable it is. When I was pretty slow and unfit, I definitely preferred the kind of places where you sat and ground out one long boring climb for ages, to enjoy a longer descent. Cannock’s up, down, up, down constantly nature is definitely harder work, but the fitter you get, the more you can enjoy it IMO.

Cannock is about as good as you can do in a sandy forest with no real hills. We used to day trip from loughborough there for some easy riding.

Last time I went it had been raining and it was utter crap, slopy grinding paste with the trail in a bad state.

But like most things if I lived nearby I’d go there to ride, despite having the bike and going past a lot I never really went back.

Looking at most of the positive comments they are all caviated by the old with the elevation, terrain etc that we have. Yes it’s about the best you can do with what you have but that doesn’t make it brilliant.

The peak is to the north, shropshire to the west so go that little bit further

i feel bad now, was in wales last week perhaps i should not have been so vocal .. but still i will never like technical climbs.. maybe im in the minority but id rather grind the elevation of a boring fireroad to go down quick and long .. but different strokes for different folks thats the beauty of the world and biking .. i cant wait till july till I’m back out in Les Gets smoking a fag on the lifts then doing a 4 k decent barely pedaling ! But hey thats just me and it makes me happy !

Quit the tabs, get fit, get better at technical climbs, and I can guarantee you will love Cannock after a while!

Quit the tabs, get fit, get better at technical climbs, and I can guarantee you will love Cannock after a while!

What about me, don’t smoke and like technical climbs, how will I love cannock?

its not the tabs mate although that would help , just dont like going up , less so if i have to turn the bars , im a wannabe downhiller without the bollox, id rather push !.. my two riding mates who dont like the jumping and sillyness loved it , gravity is my friend ! prefer going fast and falling off , allthough at 33 i guess my attitude may change sometime as i dont bounce as well anymore !

😀

I’m the first to admit I’m rubbish on twisty climbs, though I’m getting better. For some reason, I find hairpins on climbs really difficult, but with practice comes familiarity. Otherwise the climbs are only technical in a good sense, in that they’re short, sharp, on singletrack in general, and are littered with obstacles, all stuff I’d much rather than just bashing up a fireroad personally.

i agree , in a sense but its all about whats at the end of the fireroad for me !.. i hate with a passion whites climb at afan , but am the first up the wall go figure ! gaining elevation is all about the going down for me .. some people love it i just wanna go fast , shake and bake

shake and bake

😀

Have to say since I got a lot fitter I do enjoy climbs more, so trail centres with their uppy-downy nature will be better I think. Going to have to revisit cannock soon as I haven’t been for ages.

To continue the off topic conversation, I dislike a technical climb less than I dislike a straight fire road climb simply because I’ve got something to think about and take my mind off the fact that I’m riding uphill 😳

Stu, all uphills mess with my mind to some extent.

At Cannock I’m fine (physically) on all the Monkey Dog climbs, both niggly technical ones and fireroad winches EXCEPT for ‘Kit Bag Hill’ (Strava name – bit after the level crossing between end of the Monkey and rejoining the Dog singletrack – no idea how universal that name is) which defeats me every time.

slainte 😳 rob

Rode cannock a few years ago,follow the dog.Was so dissapointed l swore never to return,however have heard better reports about the monkey trail and will/ may give it another go.l suppose with limlted funds and terrain its hard to put in diffrent graded routes to suit us all.

i cant wait till july till I’m back out in Les Gets smoking a fag on the lifts then doing a 4 k decent barely pedaling !

Classic.

Get yourself a SS rigid, and explore what else the Chase has to offer, there is so much more than the Monkey and the Dog

Style cop for one

Why would you go to Cannock when there’s much better riding close by?
Peaks, Wales, FOD, Shropshire, etc. I agree with OP, tick then move on to better stuff. It always rains there and the locals can be really grumpy 🙁

Get yourself a SS rigid, and explore what else the Chase has to offer

Or save yourself the hassle and leave it to the locals

The less people in the way the better

I think (goodstuff/m^2)/milesoftrail=good ratio of smiles per miles in my opinion. It’s good fun up and down, especially if you go with mates. More so because they have done very well with the available terrain. Lets not forget that no trail is set in concrete(for good reason!) and they will continue to evolve due to wear/diversions etc. Cannock 1.0 was very different to what it is now and the place much better for the changes. It will never be Wales/Peak district, but that is missing the point…i like it.

colournoise – ‘Kit Bag Hill’ (Strava name – bit after the level crossing between end of the Monkey and rejoining the Dog singletrack – no idea how universal that name is)

Official “Kit Bag Hill” Unofficial “5hit Bag Hill”

Bernaard – Get yourself a SS rigid and pretend it’s 1930

FTFY 😉

ASC – the locals can be really grumpy

I noticed that, usually at about half nine on a Sunday morning in the vicinity of MD!