Not ridden at Swinley before. What’s it like this time of year please?

yeah its fine the odd puddle here and there but it holds up pretty well

some of the signage can be a bit dodgy first time, check the map first

It’s like Whistler. But wetter.

Quite muddy on a couple of trails, red 4 and 7 come to mind.

Great everywhere else though

Very busy at weekends.

It’s like Whistler. But wetter.

And flatter, a lot flatter

There’s no uplift running at the moment either.

I really like Swinley. It gets some stick sometimes, but it is always a good fun ride out.

I tend only to go after a few dry days – everything is perfectly rideable in the wet but I prefer dryer conditions.

As has been mentioned, some trail markers are a bit elusive (I used to miss the entrance to Tank Traps until I followed another rider…) but the Trailforks app is a good reference.

What app is that?

Trailforks

It’s like Whistler. But wbetter.

FTFY 😉

some of the signage can be a bit dodgy first time

It’s more than a bit dodgy 😆

I’ve been once and there was probably 3 or 4 places where the trail comes out at a maze of fireroads and I genuinely didn’t have a clue where to go. I think on one of them I never actually found the right way and ended up going off piste which worked out quite well in the end.

I went in on the way back from London and there had just been a massive thunderstorm and it was hammering down but the trails still rode really well.

Very busy at weekends

This is true in the same way that saying the universe is “quite big”

CaptainFlashheart – Member
It’s like Whistler.

Two new drop off’s and a tabletop on Seagull.

OK so summer tyres (it’s the yellow brick road after all) and winter slop made them a bit scary in all the wrong ways, but at least the Red is a bit more legitimately red now!

No longer is the most gnarr feature the pebble of doom on stickler 😈

I havent been for a couple of weeks or so. Under the new signage, the early bit is boggy and not much fun. Perhaps better to follow the fire road. And you have to cycle further up a FR to find the final part of the blue that you might imagine first time. Other than that, its pretty easy to follow. Like most places, the riding is mixed. There are some quite dull bits and some really good bits. IMO, its worth spending time over at the deerstalker area trying out the various runs there. I would say the same about corskcrew but that is harder to find on your first attempt.

I always feel more tired after a ride at Swinley than my normal stuff in the S Hills largely because there are fewer excuses to stop!

Midweek, it can be very quiet. I often see no one.

yup, the landing looked quite sketchy on Sat, but actually rode fine and landed well…. Was interesting standing there for 10 mins watching peoples reactions and a few “oh crap” moments

I think after a bit of an

“oh crap” moment

plopping off the drops I actually took off sideways and landed straight over the tabletop!

Try that on your bone dry whistler trails!

Bloody hell, not another drop for me to mince over!!! 😉

nickc – Member 
This is true in the same way that saying the universe is “quite big”

Swinley is more of a parallel universe where you are riding around the M25 in one long queue. And parking in the morning is a nightmare.

That said, Surrey Hills is getting that way with parking but at least people are more spread out on the trails, not all following the same motorway.

You don’t have to ride the drops on Seagull though do you? I mean i did the one time I rode it in the recent past, so it’s not like they’re unridable anyway but there’s still a ‘red-lite’ option round them – pink if you will.

Where’s the tabletop?

LOL you rode the Tabletop last week with me… it’s directly after the drops.

+1 for confusing signage.

I did a lap with weeksy and his pals who knew where to go, then set off for an extra solo half-lap got lost several times.

😳

Did find some nice off-piste bits though.

Slight hijack, planning to be near Swinley between Jan 31st and Feb 5th with possibly 2 x half days (one during the week, one at the weekend) free to ride, since I cannot bring my own bike due to further travel plans, are the hire bikes from the Bike Hut worth hiring to get some pedal time?

They’re Whyte T130s, G160s, HTs and Marin HTs… So all good.

If you’re not wanting that i could likely meet you for one and bring multiple bikes 🙂 You’re paying the £1 for the wash though 😉

Did I? Can’t be that big then……

theotherjonv – Member

Did I? Can’t be that big then……

It’s a bit under profiled IMO for a full on tabletop. Watched a few guys really trying hard to carry it fully and it wasn’t easy. Unlike for example the old jump gulley which your natural speed carried you over them, the new one needs to be a bit steeper faced to give you enough.

@weeksy, thanks for the offer, will let you know nearer the time once I get my work plans fixed, staying at my Mums down the road so would be a waste not to get a couple of rides in.

Will have to pop over and have a look at the revised Seagull. Are these drop offs approaching the gnar level of the werewolf drop at Cannock?

Different, because the drop at cannock is more of a roll in as the corners stop you flying off it.

It’s just 2x steps (<12″) and a small tabletop on the ‘downhill’ bit of the 2nd part of seagull after the little climb (and before the next little climb).

I wouldn’t describe it as gnarr or technical!

It was a bit daunting for me…. LOL

I have to admit, add another 6-8″ drop on there and i’d be needing new pants.

is “seagull” part of the numbered red trail sections? If so what number roughly?

Cheers

Yes, 7.

Ta.

As for how busy it is at weekends – I normally arrive at about 8.45am and it is fine. May get held up a little during my second lap of the red but people are generally very good at letting faster riders pass.

Swoons @medders as he passes by 😉

Are the new drops any bigger than the “pebble of doom”? Actually is the old double drop near-ish to the manhole still rideable?

Yes to bigger. 1 is a tiny bit bigger, 2 is 6-9″ bigger but more scary looking as downhill

ah, the old double drops

I remember them being in the old style Gorrick Enduro BITD before it moved to Porridge pot; I’d been following and unable to pass a skinny roadie for what seemed like ages, on every fireroad or hill he’d open a gap and then I’d close it on the ST, but never quite enough.

Until the double drops – in fairness although he wasn’t ‘fast’ on the ST he hadn’t done anything truly roadie to made me consider what happened as a prospect – but right at the lip he suddenly jammed on his brakes and as befits a man of my name I promptly ‘potted’ him from behind.

I still don’t know how he rode it out – I think he was sat down on the saddle but with both feet off the pedals – but i couldn’t properly see as the failed momentum had turned it rather sketchy for me as well.

HAHA!

Yes bigger than the pebble of doom, not much bigger though, and easier to ride because your wrists don’t snap landing to flat.

Oh, so that’s seagull !!! I always wondered where it was….
I rarely if ever follow the paint by numbers anyway…

For some reason those two tiny drop-offs have confused my 7yr old…
He’s fine down axle run… but because they changed the trail he now freaks out on the two little drops ???

Man was Sunday wet though even though it was just drizzle it seemed to make its way through the trees. We missed out Red 1-5 where the bog usually sits.