Hi, has anyone ridden UK bikepark at Blandford? I was interested to know what standard you need to be as thinking of taking the kids with me….

I have looked at the website and it seems pretty good but nothing quite like STW to check!

Haven’t been for a couple of years but as far as I can remember it’s all rollable but it can get a bit steep in places.

Depends on what kind of stuff your kids are used to I suppose, do bear in mind they are DH tracks and maybe not the best place to be mincing around when folks want to come flying down at mach 10.

As above, local soil is clay/chalk mix so very slippy in wet or damp conditions. Park has recently had a facelift and as such all my comments are based on prior experience.

Fair enough guys, thanks. Might be worth picking a quiet time to have a go then!

As above really, be very track aware of other riders going fast and hitting the bigger jumps. It has some steep tight turns, the jumps can be ridden round. They have spent the winter redoing the place, havent been yet this year to look.
They have multi DH runs, did have some low level north shore to play on, think skinnys but less than 2 feet high, and some bigger stuff you have to step up (jump onto) to at speed.
They did have a Dual track (fun) and they have an NPS level 4x track (bigger fun).
Scary fast in the dry as the ground sets like concrete, scary slippery in the wet. Also the ground is flint based so avoid lightweight tyres, armour is a very good idea.
Its a nice venue, they have crammed a lot into a small space, check the race dates, worth popping down for cake and a watch, the DH races are laid back and friendly if you fancy having a go.
🙂

Thanks Ace. I might try and have a cheeky look around on a weekday without the kids to see what I think. I will make them get some practise on local trails first! The older one has ridden Cwmcarn and was fine….

its good fun, evolves quite regularly – I prefer the top half of the hill if I’m not on the uplift, cos its not as steep so the pushing isn’t as bad 🙂

mind the jump at the bottom

5lab – wow, that is quite a stack off the tabletop!

I guess I am spending lunchtime looking for vids on youtube!

If the kids are fine at cwm carn and do the tight turns on the black run ok then they should be fine 🙂

As to the checking it out, well there is a public carpark outside the entrance and there are foot paths that run around the hill and woods, so you can walk round and stray off into the park, cant see Paul or Wayne getting the hump if you are on foot, they are up there working on the venue.
Also worth checking out is Torico’s bike shop, about 8min drive away, Ben has a cracking little pump track round the side of the shop.
If your south west based, and after uplift or race days, then Kustombikes.co.uk run uplfits near Minehead at the Avill Ball venue and Coombe Sydenham country park. Its about 2 hour drive from the bike park to Minehead.

Thanks again ace, I am on the Isle of Wight, but go over to the “mainland” for work quite often. I will have a wander in and see how it looks.
I am pretty sure the kids would be ok, just don’t think they have the speed yet and don’t want them annoying folks. There used to be a route map on website but I guess if they are changing it there could be a new one soon!

Hmmm, don’t say how competent your kids are but I had trouble on some of the steeper runs on the right hand side of the hill. I’m not a full on d’hiller but never had trouble in Morzine (swiss national was scary). It was wet though.

I quite fancy seeing the changes they’ve made. I also read in one of the mags that it is now free to ride?

It says on the website that it is now free to ride but you pay for uplift – which sounds fair.
The kids are both pretty good once they have had a few runs to check places out. I know its a strange comparison but they have both done a lot of skiing & snowboarding down black runs so tend to start slow then build up once they know the lines and risks, they ride in a similar way…
I’m going to take them for a bit of drop off and jump practise this weekend to see how they go!