You are both avoiding coming to the conclusion that that is a hellishly dull long stretch of boardwalk.
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Lovely looking bit of new trail... don't you agree?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Dr Do. You came to the conclusion that there are other hills in the area to construct a trail on. That's my point, not if the timber section is exciting or dull.
Posted 2 years ago # -
when i paid for my lift ticket the lady at the counter advised me to not go on the new red northshore because some kid got blown off up there earlier in the morning. of course i headed straight for it
Posted 2 years ago # -
That's my point, not if the timber section is exciting or dull.
Whaddaya reckon then?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I reckon that's it's along piece of timberwork
Never been on it, it's a little bit too far away for me to justify a Sunday ride there
Some people might find it a challenge, some might find it boring. Reading the comments it seems that way.
Posted 2 years ago # -
It's just fascinating that the person with the negative opinion of this trail is judging it from pictures, while the people with a positive opinion of it have actually ridden it. Bizarre eh? It's almost like you might have formed a completely false opinion!
Yes, it's a hell of a lot of boardwalk. No, it's not "hellishly boring", it's not a patch on the rest of the trail but there's more than enough variation in it to keep it interesting, particularily when taken at speed, which is exactly how it was designed. But as has been patiently explained, the timberwork gives access to the rest of the trail. Most of the distance is NOT woodwork. This is like looking at a picture of the fire road climb at innerleithen and concluding that it's the worst trail in the world, nothing but fire road.
Stop trying to know a trail from pictures on the internet. Come up next year when it reopens, give it a crack.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Come up next year when it reopens, give it a crack.
It's a long way for a bit of decking.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Northwind, pay for the air fares from Aus, and I'll be there,
Posted 2 years ago # -
Dr Dolittle "It's a long way for a bit of decking. "
Obviously you're just choosing to ignore the reality here. Carry on...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Obviously you're just choosing to ignore the reality here. Carry on.
And the reality is?
I'm of the opinion that only enthusiasts would make the trip to FB in order to ride a trail (unless it's aimed at locals) and they would expect trails of the technical level of most of the 7 stanes. Only enthusiasts would care or pay for an uplift service, or only enough to make it viable... However that trail looks like it was designed for novices or people with some sort of OCD desire for deadly dull looking boardwalk. I travelled from London a couple of summers ago in order to ride all 8 stanes, but I feel no inclination whatsoever to ride that.
I suppose it has a "novelty factor" though.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nice video...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nice video...
I watched with the sound off. I saw fluorescent bicycles, gnarly skids, not much decking, and fullface helmets.
Did I miss any words of wisdom?
Posted 2 years ago # -
However that trail looks like it was designed for novices or people with some sort of OCD desire for deadly dull looking boardwalk.
Seriously the pictures don't do it justice! The boardwalk stuff can be steep, has a few interesting cambers, a steep short and fun climb on it, a few drops / steps and some places to get a bit of air. Its not dull - it might not be your cup of tea but its not dull!
After the boardwalk you get some very very nice rocky sections, reminded me a bit of sections of laggan or contin/strathpeffer trails. Steep slabs, some general rocky descents and then it drops to a nice spookywoods at glentress akin section to the car park and gondola station!
I have ridden nearly all of the 7 stanes reds, laggan red, strathpuffer route, and a whole pile of local trails, a lot of the routes in Kenny Wilson's book and I would say that its the hardest thing I had ridden.
However - i don't know if its worth a trip all the way from London. Next time your in Scotland though with a bike its worth a visit!
Cheers,
David.
Posted 2 years ago # -
i wish they would show some imagination when building wooden trails
Posted 2 years ago # -
I think a good deal of foresight has been shown by the designers in making something that's not too nutso.
Otherwise there would inevitably be tears when some of the forum heroes off here come up from London to ride it, exercise poor judgement of weather conditions and their abilities, and end up in a broken heap on an exposed mountainside in the middle of nowhere.
Posted 2 years ago # -
imagination doesnt mean danger
Posted 2 years ago # -
i wish they would show some imagination when building wooden trails
Not many words there, but that's the opinion I'm listening to and agreeing with.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've ridden it. It's total rubbish. The boardwalks are more interesting than usual, but still incredibly tedious. You're on them and nothing is going on, except that at any second you might get blown off because its built on the windiest bit of the hill. But the biggest risk is that you'll fall asleep and fall off.
The rock sections don't fit together very well and the trail doesn't flow at all. now I'll accept that when I did it it was incredibly windy and it would have been almost acceptable perhaps without the wind. BUT it's always bloody windy up there on the windiest bit of a very windy hill.
You've travelled all the way to Fort William and they have a proper mountain bike descent there too. Why the hell would you waste your time on this?
The thought crossed my mind also that the Gondola might close because it is too windy on the red run, when the black is still perfectly serviceable, so the real riders then lose out. They do seem incredibly trigger happy when it comes to closing the course. When we went up it shut an hour early with no explanation and the Gondola still running.
Regarding the bike shop there; it's also complete ****. Last time we had any involvement with them they charged my mate £40 to hire some Giant cheapo FS bike with v-brakes and no damping. Then charged him another £35 when the inevitable crash happened and the seat popped a rail. Then we saw them put the seat in a vice and pop the rail back in.
And the woman selling tickets, yes I do know what I'm doing, yes I've ridden the course loads of times, yes I'm in the minority because I'm wearing jeans, but I think if you check you'll find that they are in fact thicker material than all these other chaps are wearing. Grrrrrrr!
Posted 2 years ago # -
where is the trail in question, behind the ikea stuff?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Go on then Jedi, how would you make that more interesting?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Boardwalk stuff seems a complete waste of money to me, TBF I have not ridden that but I've ridden the stuff at Laggan and Dalbeattie.
Why spend so much building something like that that is not even remotely interesting or challenging?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I actually agree with Jedi - most boardwalk stuff in this country (uk) tends to be a bit dull: They could try offering different lines, maybe including a skinny line, maybe a see-saw or two, a steeper line, whatever.
Also, what is the surface like? It's not covered in chicken wire is it?Posted 2 years ago # -
i am in fact looking into doing this uk wide for trail centers
Posted 2 years ago # -
Trade secrets then?
Posted 2 years ago # -
LOL at Dr Do. I don't know of anyone who has ridden the trail and not really enjoyed it. If that boardwalk was in London they could charge twice the price for that alone and it would be mobbed.
The woodwork nay sayers should go have a play at Balnain unless the FC H&S dept have taken all the skinnys and see saws out of there too.Posted 2 years ago # -
The most annoying thing for me is that I live sooooooo very far away from all this stuff - if anyone builds a bridge over a ditch here in the south-east the FC and H&S have a heart attack and order it to be taken down.
I really hope you succeed Jedi and I think most trails centres would benefit dramatically from some imagination.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You aren;t going to get proper wooden trails in the South unless you go to a private venue like Esher, but the FC aren't anti- it as far as I can see. This is from a really popular trail in the Midlands.
If there's a dearth of "North Shore" on trails in the South it's because it's ridiculously expensive and slow to build, and it goes rotten and needs ripping out every couple of years.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Did the dalbeattie boardwalk last weekend, it was rather long and tedious. But I'm not too keen on ANY boardwalk because I find it either boring OR the exact opposite - designed to be ridden at one pace and one pace only (usually faster than I want to!) so it screws up a ride if there are not alternatives. The ideal use, IMO, I found in Slovenia where it was short (50ft sections to navigate impossible drops/sections, with the odd jump or drop thrown in, rather than a specific part of the course.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Also, what is the surface like? It's not covered in chicken wire is it?
Nope - its not!
Posted 2 years ago # -
I don't know of anyone who has ridden the trail and not really enjoyed
I've ridden it, it's gash.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Also, what is the surface like? It's not covered in chicken wire is it?
Nope - its not!
So how do they achieve grip? Or isn't there any?
Did the dalbeattie boardwalk last weekend, it was rather long and tedious
My point exactly - if they used a bit of imagination, it would be more interesting.
Posted 2 years ago # -
chicken wire is best for grip.
if builders had a maintenance ethic the problems of it ripping up after a while wouldnt be an issuePosted 2 years ago # -
I think the word you're looking for there is "budget" not "ethic". I'm sure there would be plenty of people out there willing to do the work if they got paid.
Posted 2 years ago # -
paulrockliffe - Member
I don't know of anyone who has ridden the trail and not really enjoyed
I've ridden it, it's gash.
rocky, it's nowhere near as bad as you make out. yeah the single time that we rode it it was completely turd because of the wind - we were more focused on trying to stay on the boardwalk rather than actually riding it. and the same with the non-board sections - i think the flow of the trail was limited by the wind. saying that there were sections where you had to scrub off loads of speed, whether it was windy or not, due to the technicality of the trail. i mean the parts where the trail used natural rock formations. but i don't think that is particularly a bad thing - it does feel a like you are riding on natural trails compared to many other trail centre trails. if they had just dug in to the hillside and laid down a weatherproof trail you'd all be complaining about that as well. you have to take it for what it is, not the best trail in the world and probably not somewhere that you would travel specifically to ride, but worth a couple of runs down if you are visiting Aonach Mor.
Posted 2 years ago # -
chicken wire is best for grip.
That is true, but it also shreds you if you fall off on it. It's still better than nothing.
Posted 2 years ago #
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