im doing the duathlon on the 14th Feb and i wont get chance to do a recce before the race, so i was hoping the lakeland riders (or whoever) can give me a bit more user feedback on the trail!
is it a lot of fire road, any jumps, whats it like in the wet, how much climbing etc...
ta very much!
Not much climbing, not much descending, no jumps, rides fine in the wet but watch out for the boardwalk sections and wooden berms cos they are slippy. Theres also a fair bit of fire road aswell.
watch out for the boardwalk sections and wooden berms cos they are slippy= MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT! just avoid all together if its really wet or even worse, icy. Why they haven't rubber coated or put some other form of 'grippy stuff' on is beyond me.
It gets knocked a lot but i think its a decent route. Its also useful to use as a base to explore trails leading off it as there are some beauty's!
watch out for the boardwalk sections and wooden berms cos they are slippy
= MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT! just avoid all together if its really wet or even worse, icy.
They arent that bad, you've just got to take your time, take it steady. Ive decked myself a couple of times in the wet, just because Ive been going into the berms to quickly.
Some of them have now got rubber grippy bits on and others have been taken out altogether.
= MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT! just avoid all together if its really wet or even worse, icy.
honestly, I'm quite a poor rider, but the boardwalks - before most of them were removed - were plenty grippy enough when wet to allow you to lean over, and though I've not had the opportunity to try them icy, I've been told they were still fine!
It must just be me then 
Most of the boardwalk stuff has gone now but I always wondered what the problem was with them as well - they were fine even in ice and snow, even on semi slick CX tyres!
It must just be me then
I think they were pretty lethal - fallen off them several times. Think they did get a bit better as they got more roughed up though.
were fine even in ice and snow, even on semi slick CX tyres!
*cough* rubbish *cough*
Wouldn't a slick tyre on a hard wet surface give you more grip than a 'knobbly' one?
Wouldn't a slick tyre on a hard wet surface give you more grip than a 'knobbly' one?
I admire your diligence in selecting the correct tyre for each obstacle, but many of us just fit tyres and wait for them to wear out 
Any tire on a hard/wet and mostly polished surface is going to slip, let alone icy as it was on sunday
Any tire on a hard/wet and mostly polished surface is going to slip
but the boards have been roughened by thousands of tyres!
Speed is your friend on that kind of surface.
When I lived up that way I used to ride Grizedale all the time, day/night/dry/wet/ice/snow on FS, HT and CX and I can honestly say that the boardwalks were the least problematic part of the whole route!
Snowy Grizedale.
If most of it has gone, what have they replaced it with or was it just there for the sake of being there. I think they have missed out on making a very good trail at Grizedale. Did it in the summer and seemed to very little change from when it opened. I'd have thought they would have added more singletrack where there are currently long stretches of forest road. Shame as I like the singletrack that's there, more so than Whinlatter. If I'd had the time I'd have ridden some of the bridleways I'd heard about but only had a couple of hours.
so what are the best tyres for the north face trail then? looks quite loose?
Its not very loose, pretty well packed in really. Not muddy either. Dont know what the best tires are, I have maxxis high rollers on my bike and they are ok but you could get away with something quicker rolling/lighter. Ridden it on semi slicks before and it was ok
hmm, im thinking of giving some 2.1 small block 8's a go in March
It's shit, that's what it is. Pointless slippy boardwalks, smooth as hell descent, badly placed corners, etc., etc. It is quite possibly the worst trail in the Lake District, of any sort.
Seriously, I'd sooner ride down the bloody fireroad.
I quite liked the NF trail, certainly the last 1/3. Didn't find much of it particularly slippery though, I have only been on dry days.
Pointless slippy boardwalks, smooth as hell descent, badly placed corners, etc., etc.
I always liked the boardwalks though a lot have been removed
It's more undulations than any real descents
A "badly placed" corner is a funny idea, and must translate as "I couldn't do it"
there's much better stuff in Grizedale to ride but the first and last bits are quite good fun.
I enjoy the initial climb (as enjoyable as climbs can be!), but some parts are lacking variety. (Certainly better then fireroads though!)
Have ridden the board-walks many times, wet / dry, and never had a problem apart from when it first opened. Plenty of grip.
Fireroads comment may be a bit tongue in cheek, and maybe badly placed corner was phrased wrong. What I should have put is that the corners seem to ruin any flow the trail attempts to have and as such, it's just not that nice to ride.
Basically, I just think that they could have done so much more and a trail built in Grizedale should at least have been nearly as good as the bridleways which criss-cross the forest. I presume, Simon, that you just use it to get from one part of the forest to another, rather than do full laps of it?
I presume, Simon, that you just use it to get from one part of the forest to another, rather than do full laps of it?
correct, I've looped it twice, and done the first bit (which I enjoy) about 15 times - once the wrong way
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