I can’t believe people are so fussed about what others do. If someone only wants to ride one or the other who cares?

Mucking about with a map and dragging myself through muddy fields in the vain hope that there might be a good trail has never appealed to me even when I was paying my dues on a rigid Kona Koa with cantis. But I would never tell someone that their idea of fun is rubbish and not proper mountain biking (not that we have many actual mountains in this country).

I’m quite happy blasting around a trail centre chatting to people, but I’m also happy taking in the view at the top of Stanage early doors on my todd on a crisp cold winters morning. They’re both fun.

As for the bike thing, who cares if someone has a nicer bike than you? What they spend their money on is up to them. It’s no different to mountain bikers turning up at a BMX track on their custom built 4x bike and getting rinsed by a kid on a knackered Halfords special. Again, who cares aslo g as they’re having fun.

It’s the same as boarding / skiing. Therrs those who spend more time in the cafes than on the slopes, those that hammer out runs on the slopes all day and others who want to brave it off piste. It doesn’t affect anyone.

@nic C… Have you read what I put properly? 🙄 I’m passed the ego bit, it fizzles out with age… I’d have to care what people thought of me a lot more than I do for it to be problem! I just state my opinion based on what I know and have experienced! as I’m sure do many others on here!

But then again I know a **** when I see one…

I think people who only frequent trail centre’s and enjoy them selves is great! I just think they could enjoy them selves even more by trying to be a bit more adventuress! I want them to do more , I think they are missing out! I want them to enjoy the selves even more!

Trail centres can limit imagination … and the other side of the coin is that they get people started!

Just my 2p… 😉

Fuzzhead – I agree, it would have been ace if there were such things when I started riding, certainly better thanmucking aabout in the local woods in the Beaconsfield area. I remember the excitement when Aston Hill first opened its official trails.

timax – Member

I think people who only don’t frequent trail centre’s and enjoy them selves is great! I just think they could enjoy them selves even more by trying to be a bit more adventuress! I want them to do more , I think they are missing out! I want them to enjoy the selves even more!

Trail centres arrow-straight, featureless tracks across endless, windswept, barren, boggy moorland can limit imagination … and the other side of the coin is that they get people started!

Just my 2p…

i completely agree!

🙂

my girlfriend and i are leaving the peak district on friday. We’re driving to Whinlatter, where we will ride the blue loop at the trail centre. i expect to have a lot of fun, and i won’t apologise for it when i do.

(and we’ll even go to the cafe for a bit lot of cake)

just to confuse the haters – i regular stitch together both trail centre trails and “natural” (for want of a better word) in the same ride. And I love it 🙂

I like riding trails centres every now and again but can quickly get bored. I prefer going taking a few wrong turns then looking at an old OS map with tears along the folds and try to work out how to get myself to the next point

I can get bored on any trail, no more so at trail centres than “old skool” trails. Sometimes the mojo just isn’t there 🙂

Doctor’s Gate? Mastilles Lane? If you think they’re navigational challenges you’ve spent too long riding those pesky sanitised trail centres

That was rather my point to be honest.

Are you being ironic? I can’t tell. I may have missed your point completely or you missed mine. Never mind, bigger problems in the world and all that

I like towpaths.

I like people thinking they are navigating the great outdoors,in the UK………

TBH all trails have been “built” by someone, I’d rather mine were built by someone who has me in mind.

It’s all riding bikes so therefore it’s good.

However…to be honest I find some of the more popular and compact trail centres a bit over crowded to be honest. I’m looking at you Cannock. I guess Cannock is a victim of it’s location/success.

I’ve ridden most of the Welsh Trail Centres, Sherwood Pines, Cannock, couple of the Scottish Centres plus Whistler and lots of Euro Bikeparks and love them to be honest. (I think you can can lump Bikeparks in with trail centres).

But there are less people about at most compared to say Cannock (unless you are doing laps of La Pleney/A-Line). You can feel pretty out of the way on the top of Afan, and I have ridden the old Marin trail at Betws on my own on a midweek afternoon and seen NO ONE! Also a midweek day in September is an awesome ime to ride the Whistler Bike Park, you basically have the place to yourself. (Well you have to share it with the Bears)

Given the choice of any sort of ride anywhere I would be heading out on some big mountain adventure armed with a map, a plan and plenty of snacks, however I understand some people don’t like navigation and the unknown.

The only things that worry me about trail centres (apologies if this has been mentioned already) are as follows:

1) Some will think Trails Centres ARE mountain biking, they’re not. They are a part of Mountain Biking.
2) Some riders who are used to ragging around trail centres hit shared use trails and suddenly make a nuisance of themselves with other trail users. (see also the Strava Racing thread) Or they get in massively over their heads coming down Jacob’s ladder or something.
3) Other user groups start lobbying for reduced access for MTBers based on us having all of these “lovely” trail centres to use.

Now where to ride at the weekend?
Peaks, Cannock, FOD or Long Mynd? Hmmmmmmm

Trail centres have their uses for sure. Some people will prefer them, some people may use them from time to time.

It is also clear that some will avoid them at all costs and then mock those who frequent them.

Well just a thought, but I wonder how many of those people mocking trail centres will go on a hmmmm ski trip for instance? Where they go to a purpose build centre and use the facilities with others, rather than seeking out their own “backcountry” off lift adventures…. just a thought

Bill Oddie – Cannock can be pretty bad, especially at the weekends. I’ve found that its better a bt later in the day – early morning is a pain because you have a load of people out for a blast who don’t want to stop (I guess kids, limited time) but mixed with big groups of slower / faffing riders. This tends to lead to some getting a bit grumpy.

Mid week in the summer is pretty good too for a cheeky couple of hours after work. Its got worse since the Monkey Trail opened because it has made it more of a worthwhile destination for those sligtly further away.

Anyway, I’m planning to visit a few more centres this summer. I’ve got a week booked in Peebles in July so am looking forward to that (the cycling was a second thought, we just wanted a week away somewhere and found a nice cottage there). A few of the Welsh centres are on my hit list to, especially because they are quite easy to get to from the midlands.

@ah wiles

Have a great laugh on me… 😉 Car park wheelies all round!

Enjoy!
🙂

This is worth highlighting again:

I have to say, if trail centres existed 25-odd years ago when i was “paying my dues”, i’d have been first in line

Any reasonable person knows it’s a false distinction. I’m all for big mountain days out, techy climbs, descents, and endless vistas, but trail centres are a blessing for the UK and let’s not forget it. Anyhow, does anyone seriously prefer wading through bogs to razzing around?

A bike is a tool that helps us do things we want.

i like using my tool to help me go fast downhil, rail some berms and get some air.

others use their tools differently to me. Some like to have a big adventure in the wilderness.

I like riding Downhill, berms and jumps most of the time this will be trail center/ mad made but i will go all natural if i know it is worth the extra effort.

Some may try saying i am not a mountain biker. All i can say in my defense is i like riding my bike off road what ever you want to call it.

Is there a ski forum somewhere where people bitch about ski resorts and graded runs being ‘unnatural’?

A bike is a tool that helps us do things we want.

i like using my tool to help me go fast downhil, rail some berms and get some air.

others use their tools differently to me. Some like to have a big adventure in the wilderness.

I like riding Downhill, berms and jumps most of the time this will be trail center/ mad made but i will go all natural if i know it is worth the extra effort.

Some may try saying i am not a mountain biker. All i can say in my defense is i like riding my bike off road what ever you want to call it.

^^ This +1

Some like big long natural rides to clear their head/escape a loveless marriage/job they hate etc etc

Some like fast, guaranteed adrenaline serving man made trails.

Some prefer neither and just go down the pub/watch porn/play xbox

All just different hobbies innit?

Is there a ski forum somewhere where people bitch about ski resorts and graded runs being ‘unnatural’?

Yes.

There are always people on ski forums looking down their noses at people for skiing on piste.

Nobody ever listens though 🙂

As someone said above trail centres are just part of mountain biking, when I started mountain biking on a DIY job after reading bicycle action over 25 years ago never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would have a choice of over 6 trail centres and bike parks/ uplift venues within an hour and a half.
I still enjoy trail centres but it’s nice to mix it all up underground downhill tracks, old school forestry rides such as beddgelert, Xc loops, epic rides hike a bike etc, as well as rides around some back roads looking for new singletrack.

So where do the N Downs fit in then…?

I’ve stopped bothering going to trail centres since the riding locally is so great (and free!). Can do a massive ride from my front door for free on ace trails with a nice cafe, or spend £100 on petrol, £60 on a hotel etc etc and ride more excellent trails. Or I can ride Swinley/Tunnel/Frith/Minley etc, from my front door, for free.

Got to love the choice these days :). Mountain biking has never been in better shape as a sport. So much choice over where to ride our bikes and that can only be a good thing. Those trail centres have brought tourism and an income to otherwise quite deprived areas. Again, this can only be a good thing.

I can’t bear all this car park snobbery business – one day I will be fat and slow. I’ll ride my bike once a week. I’ll want to have a nice bike to do my one ride on. Can’t really see the problem. Everyone’s enjoying themselves so who cares?!

GB

nealglover
There are always people on ski forums looking down their noses at people

.

Those trail centres have brought tourism and an income to otherwise quite deprived areas. Again, this can only be a good thing.

+ 1

I’d just like to give my opinion, a view from an outsider. I’m a British expat and I’ve been living in northwest Spain for very many years. It isn’t the sunny dry part of Spain, it’s very mountainous, green, rural and wild. I’ve recently started MTB and the only option here in northwest Spain is the wild countryside. When I say wild, it’s really wild, no routes of any sort whatsoever. You just follow paths that the farmers use, that animals use, stuff like that. You never know what sort of places you’ll have to cross: a thick forest, rocky paths, overgrown paths, many leading into fields. The maps here aren’t very much up to date and the only “biking routes” are made up by fellow cyclists who upload them on the internet to use with one of those expensive gps.
I visit my family in the UK regularly and two weeks ago we hired bikes in Afan forest and Thetford forest and tried MTB in a new way! I must say even though we generally have better weather and more area to do mtb here in Spain, the options in the UK are amazing.
You are very lucky to have both options, and you should make use of them! I thought it was great to have the possibility of riding a trail which has been specifically designed for cyclists, singletrack, one way, where you don’t need to worry about walkers and horse riders. You also know how far you’re going, how long it may take and you make the most of your time as there are technical parts, descents, uphill, etc.
Also, for someone who is starting or wants to improve their skills it’s a great opportunity. I only tried the red trails so I can’t really give my opinion on the others and I imagine the trails must get busy when the weather is better, but still, it’s a great thing you have!
It’s always better to have more options rather than fewer, right?

The best natural rides are better than any trail centre.

The worst natural rides are worse than any trail centre.