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I have found that I've been sat in a full bus at the bottom for 5-10 minutes on recent trips with no obvious explanation as to why. I would have thought with the uplift road widening it would mean they can set off at any interval. It almost seems like they've been told to go in convoy so you have to wait for 3-4 buses to load before you can set off.
Always been pretty happy with the drivers tbh. I mean, the Flyup 417 guys are in another league but they’re really the exception. I think BPW’s obsession with checkig and doublechecking probably comes partly from that time someone’s bike fell off the trailer and was never seen again, that sort of thing gets under your skin a bit.
Say what? :O
They used to have riders drive the busses that understood the riders needs
It is driving some sweaty blokes up a hill without crashing and without any bikes falling off the back, what exactly would the drivers be do differently if they were riders? Would it make you feel better if the drivers had matching Troy lee pajamas, a hat on backwards and they railed the corners on the way up the hill?
Perhaps understand that you are keen to get as many runs into your day as you possibly can? Every other uplift I have ever been on seems to get this so why not BPW?
Best uplift drivers were the aggregate truck drivers on the old Dragon DH days. Could be as scary as the ride down.
4-5 minutes
Rubbish... unless you're Sam Hill 🙂
The quickest descents are around that time, such as Sixtapod - Willy Waver etc; most are 8-10mins though, and Terry's Belly is the longest at 10mins++
hooli
Member
It is driving some sweaty blokes up a hill without crashing and without any bikes falling off the back, what exactly would the drivers be do differently if they were riders? Would it make you feel better if the drivers had matching Troy lee pajamas, a hat on backwards and they railed the corners on the way up the hill?
😂 Thanks for a morale boosting mid morning chuckle 👍
The blues may well be the fastest trails but they are the longest.
If you ride blacks top to bottom you can do it in 5 mins
Perhaps understand that you are keen to get as many runs into your day as you possibly can?
This very thread (sadly) proves that not everyone feels this way.
If everyone was still queuing up at 4pm, I imagine they would change their tune.
Perhaps understand that you are keen to get as many runs into your day as you possibly can?
You don't need cyclists for that, just a plan from management and a word with the drivers to say leave at XX time even if the bus isn't full etc.
terrys belly 10 mins+ ??
i can get down there in 6 mins ish and i dont think i've ever had a clean run.
it's pretty much 6 minutes of tedium too, left berm, right berm, left burm, right berm. . .
only on stw could people complain about the drivers being fat and old offering what seems like a good service Bet them makes them happy to do their job. Surely mtb is about being part of a friendly inclusive community.
.
it’s pretty much 6 minutes of tedium too, left berm, right berm, left burm, right berm. . .
God I hate Terrys Belly...
I've always found the drivers to good, last time I went one of the old boys kept cranking up the stereo and calling it the party bus. Another one had classic FM playing, was very relaxing ride back up.
Paceman
Terry’s Belly is the longest at 10mins++
Maybe if you include the pedal over the top and the climb out at the bottom.
The bottom line is this, however good, or poor the service, reducing the uplift operating times reduces the service that you get.
Some will finish before the day finishes regardless, they will be unaffected
Some will want to ride non-stop all day and get in as many runs as possible, that will be fewer, regardless if they were capable of 20 runs or 6 runs in a day.
Others will take their time a bit, space out their runs to keep fresh doing the same number over longer, they will get less chance to rest, or fewer runs.
Some will have a mechanical, and want the time to catch up on their value for money
They sell lots of tickets, and run lots of busses (esp at the weekend) compared to the competition so they must be doing something right, even if its just the marketing!
TBH it wouldn't upset me if more and more people started using the other excellent uplift venues around the country, I am sure they would welcome the business, and if it encourages them, and even new venues because people start looking elsewhere, then great.
vote with your feet, if you still think BPW is good value for what you get and are happy, go there, if not, go somewhere else!
Personally, I have always been a bit frustrated at how slow the uplift is at BPW, as said above there feels like there's quite a bit more dead time than other places.
Its towards the more expensive end of the uplift venues (if not the most) but it does have many trails.
I prefer other venues, but still go there as others I ride with love it, maybe we will get to go other places more often
b45her...
Have a look at Terry's Belly full run on Strava, the fastest of all time out of nearly 15,000 riders is 8min50 ...and yes I know not everyone uses Strava, but only the top 60 riders have done it in 10mins or less. You could get yourself an easy KOM there mate 😉
Look again at "Terry's Belly Full Run", like I say it includes the link trail at the top, and the climb out to the fire road at the end, you're talking about 2 different things. The actual descent has a 6 minute KOM, I just looked and even I did it in 9 minutes despite stopping twice and probably making a total arse of some of the berms.
the KOM of the actual descent is 5 mins, ive done a 6 and could probably shave a few seconds of that with a clean run and trying a bit.
Probably not the most exciting job in the world and I doubt they get paid much more than minimum wage. Yet still they are amiable enough
Holy shit. I was going to say something similar to this on page 1, but thought it so ****ing obvious I didn't bother. Like, anyone would need [i]that[/i] explained to them. Jeez there are some moany ****ers on here. Piss off and ride somewhere else if you don't enjoy it eh? Simple.
Ten till four does seem a little stingy but I do love riding there and I'm sure will go at least a couple of times this year. Drivers, trails, cafe and shop have all been good for me. Life is so much more cheerful when you are easily pleased 🙂
b45her
Member
the KOM of the actual descent is 5 mins,
Is that one not just from the fire road?
Look again at “Terry’s Belly Full Run”, like I say it includes the link trail at the top, and the climb out to the fire road at the end, you’re talking about 2 different things. The actual descent has a 6 minute KOM, I just looked and even I did it in 9 minutes despite stopping twice and probably making a total arse of some of the berms.
The thing that was being talked about initially though was how long it takes to get from top (uplift drop off) to bottom (uplift pickup) so yes, you do include the link trails and the climb, because that's how long it takes.
The uplift pickup isn't at the bottom. And you yourself said "descents"
I do wonder why some of the posters have ever returned to bpw as they seem to dislike it massively. Good heads up re the cafe though, will check the website before we go in two weeks as laddo is a pain in the arse if he gets hungry!
wrightyson
Member
I do wonder why some of the posters have ever returned to bpw as they seem to dislike it massively.
I guess I'm one of the louder critics? I like it a lot, I just wish it was as could as it could be, and I think the reasons it's not are by design which sucks- I'm not even really asking them to improve, first I'd like them to stop getting worse.
I have to agree with the uplift time reduction, but I've yet to experience it. Even though I've been twice before both in 2018, once on a Monday and once on a Saturday we never had a stop for lunch, just half the busses. It wasn't a problem on the Monday but on the Saturday we had two half hour waits for the bus during the lunch breaks even though there was 11 running that day. As I say we are riding there two weeks today and I know laddo will want his dads money's worth more than anyone.
As for the ambulances, I do feel the weekend is frequented a little more by the not so advanced rider so that may have some bearing on that.
Just got back from a day there. We easily managed 8 runs without any effort, plenty of faffing and a longish lunch. Rode mainly reds and blacks and had plenty of breaks, often between trails. If you were really on it you could easily get in 12 or more runs in a day.
I've been there around a dozen times and the uplift felt quicker to me today than before - there was no longer than a few seconds' wait in the queue. The new vehicle is quite slow, but we were only on it once, and there was never a time on the other 7 uplifts that we were stuck behind it.
The food offering was pretty poor, with the cafe shut, but I guess the toasties, jacket potatoes and pies that they did have were probably the sort of tat that the cheapskates who complain about the standard menu love.
JP
Cafe was still shut yesterday, but other than that, it was exactly as it normally was.
Tell you what though.. I noticed something which may answer a few questions about the drivers.... VERY few people said thank you to the driver. Either at the bottom when loading or at the top when he'd taken us up. Both myself and my 10 year old made a point of it.... but we were very much in the minority... Maybe something to think about guys ?
We only did 2 runs due to a crash for my boy, but the others did 7, without really trying hard to squeeze in and taking a few breaks for chatting... None of the lads went away wishing they'd had more.
VERY few people said thank you to the driver.
Pretty much the depressing norm these days. I always thank bus drivers as I get off, but I think I'm in a tiny minority!
In Cardiff it is customary to thank bus drivers, probably elsewhere in South Wales. When my son moved to London he adopted this practice, but people gave him strange looks. "Cheers Drive" is a common way of doing this.
Yeah i thought thanking drivers was a regional thing? In Glasgow it's the norm but like greyspoke I've been other places where the driver just looks at you like you're a weirdo
When I had my first trip to BPW someone told me how the drivers were ignorant and miserable. I'm the type of person who will thank everyone for everything and I thought they were a right laugh!
Some of them were properly witty and dry 🙂
The people who told me this though kinda had sticks up their arses and probably don't really thank anyone...
Had one taking the piss out of me trying to work out how the racks worked on my first go 🙂
What's the deal with the uplift truck? Haven't been on it yet, it looks awesome tbh but all I'm hearing is about it being slow? I want a go
First visit yesterday and booked uplift, was fully booked up and never had more than a few minutes wait. Didn’t see any issues tbh worked well
What’s the deal with the uplift truck?
Its slow, if you're in the back it feels like being in a boat, the ride is quite harsh and I think in the summer it'll be an absolute sweat box!
@ oikeith - this sounds like a good deal to me. Boats are expensive, so if you can uncomfortably hot, motion sickness and a jarring ride for £41.50, I think that is a bargain.
On top of that it looks cool!
What’s the deal with the uplift truck? Haven’t been on it yet, it looks awesome tbh but all I’m hearing is about it being slow? I want a go
Last time I was there it wasn't running - apparently it breaks down more often than an Aston Martin.
An absolute blast today, we bailed at 3.30 and had done 10 runs. We were admittedly first in the queue but hey what's wrong with that. Don't like the new truck, it's a polished turd. The "new" cafe isn't much different either, I can't see why the closure was needed. Staff were lovely, had the crack with the drivers all day long.
Weirdly I now want a go in the big truck even more than I did before.
Was also there today and managed 10 runs top to bottom and was done by 3.
Had a ride on the joey wagon and to my surprise it only took 9 minutes to load and be on its way.
Sorry for the fat/old drivers comment but today it worked well.
They just have to many trails now to get them dialled. Lol
Feeling ****ed now.... 🙂
Took my eldest to BPW last week for his first trip and he loved it.
First time I have ridden there as BPW – used to race there when it was running as Gethin and a was a favourite leg of Dragon DH so I know the venue well.
Maybe we were lucky but the whole thing was ace – the uplift on the minibuses took less than 10 minutes each time from start to finish and we never had any waiting around bar one 5 minute wait in the queue.
My son rides a 24” so we needed a spacer for the front wheel but all the drivers we met were awesome- they were friendly, helpful and helped my son with his bike each time and set it up with the spacer too. They also helped hm getting it off too and the only delay was down to the straps when some people didn’t seem to know how to use them and used the wrong ones – the driver at the start of the day gave us a demo which was helpful and meant we knew which ones to use.
We started around 10:30 – had a break for lunch and finished early too and managed 6 runs.
Terry’s Belly, Sixtapod and Will Waver were all ace
Had a chat with a couple of them too at the top and they were all good, local guys.
Sadly the “thanks” thing isn’t new – I used to get proper wound up by people on practise mornings and race uplifts getting their bikes handed down to them from the back of Bob G’s quarry lorry – then they’d just ride off no thanks at all and often a couple of us would be left sorting out our own bikes having helped a fair few off before we got to ours – then there would be no-one left to hand ours off to.
Say hello to driver – thank him if he helps you at the top or the bottom and also thank him again when you ride off – easy to do and everyone will feel better !!!!!!!!
Did I say how awesome BPW was too………………
@churchwood - what age is your son and what runs was he able to do on a 24" hardtail (I guess)?
Hi - no on a 24" FS. He is nearly 12
Norkle from café to uplift
We started off on Melted Welly/Blue Bell - Norkle back to uplift
Then did Terry's Belly and then MW/BB again before lunch.
grabbed a sarnie and bits at the car.
then did Sixtapod/Willy Waver, Terrys Belly again and ended on Sixtapod/Willy Waver.
also had a load of food with me in Camelbak too to keep him fed.
He loved it - we cycle the FOD and Verderers/launchpad and also Blue Scar at Afan and he found all the bits at BPW to be totally fine - just watch out for them getting tired as after lunch we took it a lot steadier