Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)
  • Haldon new challenge trail.
  • thegerminator
    Free Member

    Have been for a blast this eve around
    the new blue graded run,
    Not techy but i found it a refreshing
    blat no excuses this winter, at night
    with the lights haldon comes into it’s
    own.

    bertberr
    Free Member

    Does it use any of the existing Adventure Trail?

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    Is it as shit as the existing ridge run trail? Is there, as the name suggests, some kind of challenge?

    As a seperate question, have the FC decomissioned all of the old unofficial/fun trails?

    snaps
    Free Member

    Its just been featured on the West country news, but only briefly

    hamishthecat
    Full Member

    What it does do is connect many of the off-piste trails so you can string together quite a rewarding collection without having to repeat stuff.

    Plus it’s good for taking my 11 year old daughter round on her first 26″ wheel bike. And that’s the market the FC is aiming at for Haldon…

    thegerminator
    Free Member

    Agree with hamishthecat it is aimed at the
    family market, but ride it early eve and
    you will have the place to yourelf.
    It does help link up the cheeky trails,so
    enjoy it ,yes not techie but hey that’s
    what the cleave q’s and my personal fav
    exmoor is for!

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    I’m in Exeter tomorrow, so might take my cross bike and have a look.

    kaiser
    Free Member

    Hi Germi …good to meet you yesterday evening . rode the route and yes it’s a nice addition although not for the hardcore riders as somewhat tame. Easy to break a leg on though if you go fast enough!

    grumm
    Free Member

    I like the germinator’s paragraphs, it’s like reading a haiku or something. 😛

    scraprider
    Free Member

    going up after work tomoz , be fine for a blast around and it does of course open up more parts of the forest.

    walla24
    Free Member

    Is it as shit as the existing ridge run trail? Is there, as the name suggests, some kind of challenge?

    As a seperate question, have the FC decomissioned all of the old unofficial/fun trails?

    FC uses ‘family’ orientated grading, hence its a challenge for those who are young or new to riding.
    The FC have not decommisioned the off-piste sections, if anything they are easier to access now.

    If anyone is not happy with the trails the FC have painstakingly provided feel free to come up and help the fairies build!

    Does it use any of the existing Adventure Trail?

    Yes it does, the latter half incorporates the old adventure…although you now ride it backwards 🙂

    scraprider
    Free Member

    up there tonite . tame yes . a loverly evening ride. still loose , opens it all up more . unofficial still there and some old stuff as well.all in all a nice ride .

    yunki
    Free Member

    I like the germinator’s paragraphs, it’s like reading a haiku or something

    + 1

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    If anyone is not happy with the trails the FC have painstakingly provided feel free to come up and help the fairies build!

    If it wasn’t a 3 hour round trip for me, I’d be happy to.

    bertberr
    Free Member

    No, the Ridge Trail is not that technical for an experienced rider, however, as has been said already, this is predominently a family orientated centre, where you can bring your little ones either to walk or ride in relative safety, have some coffee & cake, and be back in either Exeter / Newton etc in 15 mins. Would I drive a couple of hours to experience it? No, not by myself, but I probably would if I was coming up for a morning / afternoon with the family.

    I usually come up a couple of times a month by myself, and while not technical, you can make the ridge trail a hell of a lot more challenging by going for a time, stringing two hot laps together + say a lap of the Adventure and Family Trails to warm up/down. When really pressing on, it’s surprising how ‘technical’ some of those off camber bends become… I know I’ve got the cuts & bruises to prove it.

    You’re never going to be all things to all people, but on balance I think the FC have done a pretty decent job on what can’t have been a massive budget.

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    As a family-orientated centre, it’s really good. It’s just frustrating that it could be so much more. It’s also frustrating that the FC try and promote it as being more, whilst working hard to ensure it’s not.

    toys19
    Free Member

    The ridge trail is as technical as you want it to be. Can anyone say that they can ride it flat out in top gear? No,so just go faster and its plenty of fun. Just cos it isn’t radcore gnnarr doesn’t actually make it shit. I ride it regularly and treat it like a race circuit, you learn each corner and bump and progressively get faster and faster. I love it, well done FC.

    Trailseeker
    Free Member

    The old red route was OK & could have been added to the new red to make a good red of reasonable length but instead they actively distroyed perfectly good parts of the old red so we now have a shorter total length trail.
    Agree with S-M above reading this & seeing the picture of a feature that was never on the red trail http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourwoods.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandDevonNoForestHaldonForestParkHaldonGatewayRidgeRideTrail – if I’d driven a couple of hours to ride at Haldon (like I do most months to ride in S Wales) I’d be a bit miffed.

    I think the FC have done a pretty decent job on what can’t have been a massive budget.

    Many times the budget that some of those in South Wales have spent.
    If you mean build themselves a nice HQ then yes, if you mean deliver a good MTB center that appeals to all, then I don’t think so.
    And what kind of moron sends walkers against the flow of MTBers on a MTB trail to look up at pictures in the trees?
    These guys have even given up http://www.haldonfreeride.org/

    yunki
    Free Member

    I’m very disappointed with how the FC have tried to pigeonhole the ridge trail at Haldon..

    Plus it’s good for taking my 11 year old daughter round on her first 26″ wheel bike. And that’s the market the FC is aiming at for Haldon…

    That SHOULD be the market they are aiming for.. but we can see from their website etc that they are trying also to attract more experienced riders.. and so we get full grown men on 30lb bikes racing around at 25mph+ on what are esssentially good kids trails.. you can’t blame them though as it’s the only way to get a buzz out of these sanitised trails..

    As a family riding destination it is absolutely suberb.. I can take the baby round the meeker trails on the back or in a trailer.. toddlers and younger kids could enjoy a ride with mum and dad..

    The ridge ride.. well..

    It is undoubtably a bit more challenging.. and would make a great trail for beginners to MTB and older primary aged kids as a confidence builing trail.. if it wasn’t full of desperate heroes trying to wring a bit of fun out of it by blasting round at high speed.. this renders the trail dangerous for less enthusiastic and less experienced riders.. the trail blurs the distinction between grades and therefore blurs the distinction between potential users.. not a very satisfactory formula..

    They should think about providing a more technical and hardcore trail for people who know what they are doing.. or at least making the current ridge trail a little more adventurous.. maybe even in a different part of the woods clearly signed and marked as more extreme..

    I think that by trying to be all things to all people they have ended up with a mediocre and uncomfrtable conclusion that is a long way from maximising the potential of the area..
    I am definitely part of a majority amongst mtb enthusiasts in this opinion and not just part of a disgruntled and whinging few..

    all that said I will still enjoy taking my young family there.. it’s just a shame that there is no scope for them to progress as they get older..

    bit of a waste.. what a shame

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    The FC have not decommisioned the off-piste sections, if anything they are easier to access now.

    I ask this as I was informed by one of their staff members that they intend to do so. I tried to explain to him at the time that ‘it’s just the ground with less leaves’.

    hamishthecat
    Full Member

    That SHOULD be the market they are aiming for.. but we can see from their website etc that they are trying also to attract more experienced riders..

    Fair comment – I’ve never looked at their website – I was thinking primarily of the Challenge and Adventure trails. I wouldn’t take my daughter on the Ridge Trail for the reasons you suggest and confess that I only ride the Ridge Trail after work – which is in the dark in the winter – when it is a good ride at speed. I do agree that it is unreasonable to expect to hammer round on a Saturday afternoon when there are lots of families out and the FC may have their messages mixed on that.

    Ref the nice HQ comment above, I think that’s a bit unfair – most of the buildings were already up there apart from the loos – and the arts building was funded from a separate pot entirely unrelated.

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    there’s lots of techy stuff at haldon that keeps much more able riders than me happy.

    i suggest that some of you grab a guide and find some of it.

    if you’ve already found it then i can’t see what the problem is.

    other than that, i’m thoroughly bored of this argument (again).

    bye.

    Burchy1
    Free Member

    Trailmonkey +1

    Teepee, Teapot, Ring, RingRing, The Jerrycans’s, upthewrongun, even the Percolator, there is plenty of quality singletrack if you know where to look. 😀

    Trailseeker
    Free Member

    Ref the nice HQ comment above, I think that’s a bit unfair – most of the buildings were already up there apart from the loos – and the arts building was funded from a separate pot entirely unrelated.

    That makes the ‘pound per mile of trail’ value of Haldon even worse then 😥

    hamishthecat
    Full Member

    That makes the ‘pound per mile of trail’ value of Haldon even worse then

    Quite possibly. They do seem to have bigger carparks that are fuller on a weekend than Afan and Cwm Carn though, so maybe the buck per visitor actually works OK.

    As above, there’s plenty of reasonable off-piste stuff, not to mention lots of quality ‘natural’ trails in the area so it’s not as if we’re hard up for riding locally. An entry level set of trails seems fair enough.

    yunki
    Free Member

    there’s lots of techy stuff at haldon that keeps much more able riders than me happy.

    I suggest that some of you grab a guide and find some of it.

    oh well.. problem solved then 🙄

    sorry to bore you

    yeah that completely solves things on an individual level.. (if you’re in know)

    it doesn’t really answer any of the things I’ve spoken about though..

    I still think it’s a waste of a great resource

    EDIT: yes it is great that there are entry level trails.. brilliant.. that’s my whole point.. It’s a shame that there is nothing on offer to prevent/discourage dedicated mtb enthusiasts wazzing around those trails at full bore cos it’s the only way to enjoy them..

    bassspine
    Free Member

    The planning meeting on the future of Haldon (august 2008 IIRC) with Dafydd Davis had a planned series of routes which would get progressively more ‘technical’ starting from the beginners route.

    The devil’s price was initially the (official) death of Ratrun.

    Maybe if they are sticking to the plan, there will be a new route down below Pleasure Valley near the Dead Bambi bit next…?

    Sponging-Machine
    Free Member

    Despite my negativity, I have to say that the ridge run is a really good trail for beginners and improving riders. I love it on my cross bike.

    Stinky-Pete
    Free Member

    Agree with Germimator.
    Its a great place to ride with something for everyone especially in the dark.
    Off piste provides the icing on the cake if you you want stuff a bit more interesting.
    Lets hope the next stage of development will provide more technical riding for all those who find the existing official trails tame and fill the gap provided at the moment by the off piste trails and the new improved A380 side trails.
    Excellent job FC. Keep it up.
    There’s gold in them there hills.

Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)

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