Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 52 total)
  • Top downhill routes in the UK?
  • thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    There’s that roadie book with the top 100 climbs in the UK, but has anyone though of doing the all-mountain/enduro MTB equivalent? Any suggestions for candidates?

    Not planning on writing a book, just thinking of rides to take the Pitch on and stretch it’s legs a bit.

    Criteria:
    Must be at least moderately technical and off road all the way.
    500m+ of decending
    <10% climbing on the way down.
    Long enough that people don’t ask “and where did you ride after that” when you describe the route.
    Bridle Path or other legal trail. So no footpaths.

    [u]Obvious ones…………[/i][/u]

    Fort William DH runs

    Rangers Path off Snowdon

    Anything used in the NPS/BDS/SDS/Draggon etc races, although some might be a bit short in relation to the original definition.

    [u]Starters for 10…………[/i][/u]

    Did Skiddaw on Saturday which arround 950m of climb/decent on the bridleway, but is fairly motorway like, abeit with lots of sharp pointy rocks which eat tyres.

    Still well worth doing through if you’re in Keswick and have a couple of hours free, it’s rideable untill you get over Little Man, and Skiddaw properly starts, at which point the gradient got me, it’s probably easier on an XC bike but that’d make it less fun on the way down.

    On the way down it’s continuous appart from a short sharp rise just as you leave the summit, 4 or 5 gates and spinning up Little Man about 2/3 of the way down. Best attempted with lots of air in your rear tyre (pinch flatted tubeless and the replacement tube!).

    Skills required:
    Cornering (there’s a lot of it, and its mostly loose and fast)
    Jumps (optional, but some of the water bars are ditches so it’s good to be able to pump them at 30mph otherwise you’ll be OTB and into a whole world of point rock related pain).
    Not much else, it’s just flat out top to bottom.

    Video to follow at some point, but the camera stoped working on the last section 🙁

    trailmonkey
    Full Member

    nan bield

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    Meh, I’m out. Your definition is ridiculous.

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    uplink
    Free Member

    Not really my cup of tea but I suppose Walna Scar on the east side fits the bill

    anjs
    Free Member

    Route down from Black Sail pass into Wasdale if you can get up there first.

    D0NK
    Full Member

    OK if we gotta keep it legit,
    Sty headEsk Hause to stockley bridge
    Nan bield
    walna scar
    helvellyn

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Ben Lomond

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    Dunkery beacon.

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    Descent off Skiddaw on the main path is rubbish.
    But Ullock Pike however…. (i know it’s cheeky)

    Helvellyn and Sticks Pass is a cracker.

    saxabar
    Free Member

    Y Das?

    hora
    Free Member

    Sticks Pass is great.

    sambob
    Free Member

    Ben Lomond looks good.

    uplink
    Free Member

    What’s Garburn Pass like these days?

    MRanger156
    Free Member

    Bradley’s descent – Ilkley Moor.

    d45yth
    Free Member

    Do the Walna Scar descent while you can! Was there last week and they’ve got a big track machine up there, turning the place into a motorway. Half of it has already been smoothed out!
    Whose daft idea was it to give the fells disabled access!?!

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    or, this is great news, as it means my girlfriend can ride it now.

    thanks! 🙂

    as for the thread-question, why not list the 96 highestest peaks in scotland, with helvelyn and snowdon thrown in there somewhere so the welsh/english don’t feel left out?

    edit: good point Stuart, 97 from scotland, cadair idris is good.

    disco_stu
    Free Member

    Cadair Idris

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    98 highestest peaks in scotland

    Because a short section of blustery summit path followed by steep, loose and rarely rideable switchbacks followed by the traditional boggy yomp at the bottom is rarely anyone’s idea of a good descent! 😀

    I’ve only done ~30 munros but am rarely inspired to take the bike up the ones I’ve done, the exceptions being a couple on the Glenshee area and Ben Lomond.

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    Helvellyn – Dollywaggon to Glenridding via Grisedale Tarn…. grintastic

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    why not list the 96 highestest peaks in scotland, with helvelyn and snowdon thrown in there somewhere so the welsh/english don’t feel left out?

    As Skiddaw proves, height doesn’t guarentee a good decent, although being the biggest bridleway downhill in England I figured it was worth the climb.

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Climachx at Mach should be up there, IMO. As should the Gap descent northwards (assuming you take the loony bridleway with the baby head rocks as well!)

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    13thfloormonk – Member
    a short section of blustery summit path followed by steep, loose and rarely rideable switchbacks followed by the traditional boggy yomp at the bottom is rarely anyone’s idea of a good descent!

    the O-P dint ask for ‘good’ he asked for 500m vertical, etc.

    imho, ‘good’ is not easily defined.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    imho, ‘good’ is not easily defined

    Mountain biking is ‘good’.

    Stopadoodledoo
    Free Member

    What are you after here, is this some sort of downhill Top Trumps? Most of the 500 metre plus descents will be a bit crap I imagine (Skiddaw main track is nothing special, as you’ve discovered). Take out the height limit and you get a lot more interesting and fun ones in your list. Rheola for instance – less than 500 metres but better than any of the ones listed above that I’ve ridden.

    Gary_C
    Full Member

    Ecky-Thump – Member
    Helvellyn – Dollywaggon to Glenridding via Grisedale Tarn…. grintastic

    Come on Ian ! The Dollywagon descent was a nightmare, one wheel sized water bar after another. Just couldn’t get any flow at all, & we know what happened to Callum…. 🙁

    ChristoGinger
    Free Member

    Tinto hill in lanarkshire it’s right good mile and a half of varied terrain.technical and fast n loose

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    @ Gary, yes but from the tarn down was about as good as it gets 😀

    swavis
    Full Member

    Descent to Annat in Torridon.

    warton
    Free Member

    ChristoGinger, our youthclub used to have summer camp at wiston lodge, under Tinto. we used to do an overnight bivvy up there, great times 😀

    hugor
    Free Member

    Y Das?

    You ever seen anybody ride that? Looks unrideable to me.

    TheSouthernYeti
    Free Member

    I rode y Das a couple of months ago… hardtail, clipped in, no pads.

    I would’ve taken pads if I’d known.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    What are you after here, is this some sort of downhill Top Trumps?

    No, just suggestions for rides in the UK that fit my idea of what makes a good ride (i.e. long, technical, fast decents).

    Skiddaw main track is nothing special, as you’ve discovered

    I didn’t say it was bad, it might not be technical but it was rocky enough to give me 2 pinch flats and the corners up-top are lovely and drifty, the bits of video that did work are enough to make you feel seasick the bikes leaning over so far!

    fergal
    Free Member

    You want to get up onto Quantock mountain, best descents in the UK by far.

    uplink
    Free Member

    Quite a nice one down from Grizedale forest to the south end of Coniston, no idea what it’s called but I must go back sometime

    Stopadoodledoo
    Free Member

    hugor – Member
    Y Das?
    You ever seen anybody ride that? Looks unrideable to me.

    Seriously? It’s not that bad at all. I’d be gutted with myself if I so much as dabbed on it, and I don’t even know what the 5 Key Core Skills and 4 Mental skills are.

    I can think of a lot of rougher and techier trails in the Lakes.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    500 m descents are few and far between. Carn Ban Mor is one.

    peterfile
    Free Member

    The Blue Pig in Midgehole (Hebden Bridge).

    Easy to get to
    Easy and quite enjoyable push up
    Nice scenery
    Ground stays pretty decent even in bad weather
    Super fast (i’m not sure that it’s possible to ride flat out)
    Not very technical, but plently of varied and interesting features to play on the way down, so just as much fun on my Mmmbop as it is on my Cove Shocker (completely different ride down).
    Cracking little pub right at the bottom of the run

    If you push all the way to the top (across the main road), you have about 300- 400m of dirt track, which is so fast that I always feel like i’m going to wee myself. There’s an amazing bermed and tight corner on the road about halfway down, and you can honestly feel the G’s as you rail it, it’s unreal. We’ve clocked 43mph on the last straight before you hit the main road and into the Blue Pig “proper”. That top section gets you absolutely pumped for the actual Blue Pig, I’ve stacked it so many times because i’ve just hit sections carelessly fast.

    There’s also an alternative top section which is a bit slower, but more technical.

    i would LOVE if STW/Ragely organised a mini DH race there. It wouldn’t matter what you were riding, everyone would stand pretty much the same chance. I’m surprised they haven’t already actually. Must be able to get a permit, they tape bits of it off for cross country running etc.

    DO IT!!!!

    saxabar
    Free Member

    Re. Y Das it’s not that tough. Saying that, that was in mince mode and not hitting it flat out. From memory a little bit of careful line choice needed at the top.

    Stopadoodledoo
    Free Member

    I would have been very gutted if we’d have pushed up Y Das to descend past the reservoir. In fact, I would have had a hissy fit.

    fergal
    Free Member

    The Bestest is in a remote back country location, six leagues north of Essex, not for the faint hearted, it will come right at you like a swift northern breeze.

    TJ Can Ban mor is rubbish :wink:.

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