Going up north in august, got no idea what the three days included, but now been told Saturday will be an uplift day at the above! I've no idea as I've not been before. Is it full down hill gear only, pads, full face etc? Hope not coz don't own any of that stuff!!

Depends how fast you ride. I've ridden some of the DH trails at Innerleithen with just helmet and gloves, but then I'm a mincer by comparison with some.

Then again, I know of some folk who have had serious injuries there even with pads, so it all depends on what you're prepared to ride I suppose.

give tally a call and ask him as he's running the uplift so he's likely to know the routes.

Ive been to a few uplift days there and allways go fully padded up.Its up to you how hard you ride but look on you tube and you will see most of the runs.Enjoy cause they are great days(no peddlin up)

If you don't normally do DH riding maybe take a loop of the red? If you haven't been before it's pretty challenging and most people would be doing well to clear all options on the way down. [Cue STW riding gods to arrive and rip the piss]

Most people would be doing well to clear all the options on the Inners XC regardless of whether it was the first time they'd ridden there or their 1000th time.

Rode there for the first time a couple of weeks ago with some lads who are regulars. I had some kneepads with me and stuck them on when I saw the other guys were doing so, at the top of Minch Moor. Other than that I was in the regular riding gear.

I couldn't tell you all the routes we did, as there was a lot of stringing bits together, although I know we did 'Make or Brake'. It was all bloody good fun though.

It dawned on me halfway down that, should I bin it, my knees would probably be the last thing to hit the floor, but at least they helped me look like I knew what I was doing.

Most people would be doing well to clear all the options on the Inners XC regardless of whether it was the first time they'd ridden there or their 1000th time.

bar one or two bits in the rocky section towards the end, really?

You can do it all with or without pads, all depends how confident you are as a rider in yourself. XC route is great, has a couple of tricky bits but it's all doable, don't think its quite as daunting as jimmyshand makes out. Done a few of the DH runs in XC lid and no pads, again it all depends how you you feel you'd cope with it. Steep, rooty tight, twisty sections, but some fantastic runs down.

Ive ridden the downhill tracks there a few times and never used a full face helmet or armouer (cos i didnt own it at the time)

You should be ok without id say. You could just ride make or break(?) and the caddon bank(?) tracks all day if you dont fancy the proper dh tracks. These are nice and flowy with no technical sections, just a few small step downs and drop offs.

I've seen people do the uplift in XC gear, ie no full face or back armour, although they are few and far between. Personally I'd say arm pads at a minimum, arm and leg even better. As long as you stay off the Matador all the other DH trails are OK on a non DH bike with XC riding gear, you just can't go as fast and take as many risks as you could on a DH bike with full protection.

as coogan says, confidence is the big question. i'm pretty local. and wouldn't bother with much for uplift days. sometimes use a full face. but thats about it.
quite often spend days riding up, and riding down the dh tracks. so just use normal open helmet and gloves. nothing more. don't feel any worse for it. and ride just as hard and fast as i would in a full face helmet.

and what cynical said re the xc.

You say uplift so i guess you are doing the DH tracks. I've minced these on my xc bike and xc lid but if you are going to go faster then definately ff and some protection. Sounds like you haven't done much DH so id suggest a ff if you can get hold of one – not essential but nicer if you have a tree interface 🙂

Usually I am fully padded when doing DH at Inners, but when pushing up I haven't bothered so much. I will be there on the weekend of the 7th and 8th doing the uplift and can lend you some armour depending on your size? I have plenty of spare, but all in size large.

There are times on make or brake and caddon bank that you get some serious speed, crashing would be very bad!

Cynic_al – You kind of need to include those bits too if you are talking about clearing everything. I know of a VERY good coach and rider who didn't manage to clean it all first time round. (This is the black at Plora Craig that I'm talking about as the rest is easy)

1st time I didn't clear it. Cleaned the 2nd time. It's not that hard.

In that case Coogan I have a new hero – it's you.

Jimmy, up to you how you measure a trial, "cleaning everything" seems a bit meaningless to me if you go on to say there's only one tricky section.

Awesome. I'll send out your fan club membership card.

Innerleithen is pretty much the tamest national standard DH race venue in the UK these days, having said that there are DH sections that are difficult but you're unlikely to ride them by mistake and it's no more dangerous than riding a trail centre until you get to the level where you're hitting everything at DH race pace. you don't need any protection to ride there, it's just advised by the lame signs trail centres seem to love.
One thing a lot of newbies to DH don't realise is that you don't stop in the middle of a track ever! even if you crash, get yourself and your bike quickly and safely off the track and when you set off again always look (and listen) for a clear gap before heading off.. just use common sense and I'm sure you'll have a great day 😀
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I did an Inners uplift with my (10 year old) lad a couple of years ago, both fully armoured and full-faced – we did the easy routes (when you leave the coach/bus, the one on the right).

At the speeds you can go, and the proximity of rocks and trees I'd be careful if you've not the gear. To give you an idea my son managed to crash on one of the initial jumps, ramming the nearby (within a yard) tree. Just winded himself, but did manage to bend the swingarm pivot on his Norco…

Otherwise the Inners XC route is fine with just an open lid and no leg protection, as long as you don't crash…

why wear a helmet if you're not going to crash? 🙄