been today with big g and his brother tony….
it is very good indeed….well done to the trail people….
creamed the slab……but nearly came unstuck on the berms (proper big)
the mud was very slippy slidy….
cant wait to go in the dry………… 8)

Good init

ton – It is a lot better in the dry, cos the rolacoster (the big burms bit) is so smooth and fast flowing 🙂

I think there is still some trails to be opened yet 😀

hi , yes there are a lot more trails to come,i,v been on the dig day today but as there are only 6 or 7 of us that turn up and put some effort in it will take quite a while before anything else is ready to ride

There's another rocky drop (about 10ft) due for openning at the end of the volunteer bit. Started some new stuff today but can't tell you where or Terry ^^ will shoot me. The feature we were working on today required the felling of a failry big pine tree and then slicing it along it's length to make a big skinny, about 3ft off the ground. Got a second tree to fell to extend it.

A few more pairs of willing (or unwilling I don't care) hands would be useful (get a free T-shirt 8) ). Need ideas for more woodwork, already thinking more skinnies at various heights, see-saw and some narrow boardwalk. Anyone got any other suggestions (and photos would be handy too).

Who organises the dig days? I wouldn't be averse to lending a hand for a couple of hours before riding. Can bring my own tools too

Who organises the dig days? I wouldn't be averse to lending a hand for a couple of hours before riding. Can bring my own tools too

Email me (address in profile) and I'll pass the details onto you. Dig Days up to now have been organised by the FC guy (Martin Colledge) but he's scaling back the official dig days to monthly. However he's happy to let us start to organise additional days (think he got hit on the head by a tree today 😆 ) so extra days will be in the pipeline. One of the Lancashire County Council guys organises a regularly update of meeting locations and times & dates etc. Tools are all provided although Martin may not let us play with the power barrow again (well not Terry anyway, so far a rock has torn the front off whilst Terry was driving it and today it over turned twice and threw a track as well 😯 ).

What's the guy called with the burgendy transit – he's a nice guy and pretty much built the dowhill bit on his own! He deserves a mention.

them power barrows are tricky beasts 😳

oxnop , the downhill trails have been built by a different team of guys i think the landlord of the pub (dog and partridge at tosside) has been heavily involved with them so i don't know about burgundy transits

Hi Terry, so you finally got a Singletrackworld account!. StumpyJon, Myself and Tony M are looking at organising alternative Sunday digs at Gisburn, are you interested?.

hi nana, yes i certainly am , we were discussing it at the dig day today 1st one is on the cards for a fortnight today , wait till you see the log ride we were working on today 😯

Terry, I'm not a regular like you and Jon, so keep me informed please. 🙂
paul(dot)hopwood(at)tesco(dot)net

Hi Chaps

Yes Gisburn does rock. Terry is a demon with that power barrow! As for the new stuff I would love to tell everyone on here where the track is and what is being done but you guys an girls will have to pop alone to one of the digs and come and play in the woods! Lots of different options in lines and so on… this will be a great section!

oh dear i hope its not all ruined by silly wood work bits ;-(

igmc 😉

hi mick , all the woodwork is totally optional so if its not your thing then just ride past it , we are just trying to build something for every one , "variety is the spice of life" and all that

i was only kidding hence the igmc 😉 its not really my bag but only as ive not tried it much. ive been to gisburn twice and think its great tho . so can only get better 😉

Had my first ride up there last week. As someone who has ridden the old trails for years I have to say – WOW! That was really good. They managed to add lots more singletrack and plenty of challenges and kept it fun. Loved the rollercoaster and volunteer sections.

Seems like there is a lot more climbing than before. I have been known to ride the 15 miles up to the forest in the past and then do 2 laps of the red route. Going to be driving up more often now.

hi mick , all the woodwork is totally optional so if its not your thing then just ride past it , we are just trying to build something for every one , "variety is the spice of life" and all that

Even that first rough section if you start from Tosside? That always bounces me to a standstill on the HT.

hi chatsworth , you could always bypass the board walk section by taking the fireroad on the right after the quarry , this will take you to the end of that section and then to the start of the next , i agree the natural nature of the board walk is fairly rough but it also gives it more grip

Yes, I can see the benefits as to grip, until the bark wears off, but it's just so uneven, and once momentum is lost it's hard to get going again. Of course it could be that I'm a sh1t rider!!!

It's you 😆 . I really like the new boardwalk. Bark shouldn't wear off as you're cycling on the inside of the wood, they're split logs. In fact we remove all the bark as it makes the timber last longer (my hands are covered in blisters after stripping an entire tree yesterday).

As Terry said all the stuff we're working on now will be bypassable on singletrack. The whole emphasis is on giving people the opportunity to have a look and a go if they feel up to it.

Paul, will definitely keep you in the loop. I think Martin is looking for a few of the regulars to take some of the strain so he can have a weekend or two off. He's quite happy for us to go up mid week if we want to. terry, myself and Scott are considering sneaking in a mid week dig in a couple of weeks.

Nowt wrong with the Gisburn boardwalk stuff – probably the best compromise I've ridden and no problem on HT singlespeed. Much better than the alternatives (slick smooth stuff / chickenwire / bumpy logs). And all options are infinitely better than wading through a bog – especially if they provide access to new bits of the forest.

Good way of doing logs/long skinnies from Stainburn:

Lots of details here:

http://www.singletraction.org.uk/news2/fullnews.php?id=52

One day we really musts all get together.

Tim, SingletrAction 😎

only bit of wood i remember seeing at gisburn tbh was the little raised bit in the woods before you pop out on the track and then decend on your way to the slab direction. like a bridge for a little way with a couple of raised up bits on it. have i missed some or has any been made in last couple of weeks ?

There are two existing boardwalks, approx 100m in length, first one is after the quarry and before you cross the fireroad on to the clear felled area (this one has a couple of raised sections). Second one is on the last blue section leading back to the Cocklett Hill car park.

We're now building some more, technical woodwork bits, going to be a good few months before they are open though.

Cheeky Monkey, quite agree, got your mail so i'll keep you in the loop too.

mmm must have somehow missed some out as ive not seen the second bit im sure 🙁

I thought the woodwork @ Gisburn was really well done, it's the nicest timber I've ridden and as mentioned above its done for the right reason, i.e. to raise the trail above boggy ground, rather than just for the thrill of it

Ooo eck, we're about to put some in for the thrill of it.

I like woodwork, adds to the fun.

It's you.

Thought it might be. Lets hope my £60 to Ed O will sort that out. (And everything else I can't do!)

Lets hope my £60 to Ed O will sort that out. (And everything else I can't do!)

Ditto… 🙂

Terry, Jon, Scott and Tony, I can do mid week digs, so yes, keep me in the loop please.

Cheeky Monkey/SingletrAction have, in the past, offered space on the STA website forum for Gisburn trailbuilders. Martin Colledge was quite keen on the offer 10 months ago, but I believe Martin Charlesworth and/or Nigel Pilling seemed to 'poo poo' the idea, saying they wanted to set their own website/network up (which never really materialised). I think that's the rough history. Might be worth suggesting the idea to Martin Colledge again. It would open it up for more general knowledge/information, rather than just a select few of us emailing each other.

Paul

quite like the idea of piggy backing on the Singletraction website. Was also going to use the existing the route of Martin Charlesworth to publicise any extra days via his mail shots. I get the impression (could be wrong) that Martin Colledge just wants to ease back a bit and have the odd weekend to himself. I can't see him having any objections if we as volunteers can organise ourselves a bit more in the same way Singletraction have.

Mid weekwise I'm looking at 28th / 30th October, think Scott is OK for Wednesday and Friday (bl**dy students), I'm OK for most of that week (holiday). Think there may be a volunteer run dig day on the 25th as well which unfortunately I can't make (gotta visit me mum…….). I'm starting to build up and email list now and will co-ordinate something next week (need to confirm with Martin Colledge that tools etc. are on site, get gate codes and stuff sorted).

Watch this space. Any one else fancy getting incolved then feel free to email me.

*raises hand*

I should be OK for either the 28th or the 30th (mmm, nice bit of digging sounds like the ideal preparation for the Braveheart Ride on the 31st… 😀 ).

What a strange place.

Chainring eating, bike breaking, multiple puncture, rock slab fest.

Please assure me thats not a professional trail design?

At least the car parks free.

What a strange place.

Chainring eating, bike breaking, multiple puncture, rock slab fest.

Please assure me thats not a professional trail design?

Huh? My gf who is pretty much a novice rode almost all of it without any trouble – what was the problem exactly?

yeah and i am a big fatty and i pissed round it……mtfu girlpants….. 😉

except for one puncture ton
ginsterdrz- bash ring (big ring not req), bike strong enough to ride off road in the north and some air in the tyres prob solved also rocks = fun
all in all a great design in the main g