I’m trying to think whether BPW has any features that are really out of place,
One of the best things about trails centres is that you can ride what you like, but also poke your nose down harder stuff to see if you're up to it.
If you know you're an "all the blacks" type rider who's riding a bike to suit and is happy to trust the course designers to roll everything blind at the exit speed from the bit you just did, fair enough.
For pretty much everyone else, a stop and a look at stuff you're not sure about/ can't see as you ride in is also absolutely fair enough.
Pausing and sussing out the best lines through visible stuff is maybe more of a DH thing, but anyone who's interested in progressing their riding could do with a bit of that here and there.
Skills vids are full of it, any coaching session will have a good slice of it too.
Here's Rob Warner looking at some alternative lines through some flattish rooty turns.
Super super days riding. The trails were dry, fast and flowing... However they were a little on the scary side at times. Especially A470 which was quite daunting after my last crash there. We also did AC-DC which was somewhat unpleasant ! No flow or fun to that one.
Mostly we did Sixtapod into Willy waver, trying to lower my best times and improve throughout the day, which i seemed to manage well enough, so really happy with that. The Bird was superb, but that sort of trail is exactly what LLS geometry bikes thrive upon, fast flowing, swooping. But i do also think the front tyre being back to the Vigilante helps me along as well. However, that doesn't mean i won't get the G-170 because i still will, i still thinks it's more what i need and want at the moment.
My lad as always was silly fast and smooth ! One of the other youngsters lobbed it and had to sit out 90 mins to recover and get a bit of movement back in him.. He's ok though and didn't seem to hold him back once he eventually got back out 😀
The buses were efficient, the drivers were ace and friendly... nothing to dislike 🙂 I don't think we waited more than 2 mins before getting onto a bus... straight up, straight down, there were always 2-3 busses waiting as we got to the line.
Sounds good Weeksy.
I had my first visit to Black Mountain Cycle Centre yesterday and it was fantastic. So good that I think it's knocked BPW off the top spot as my favourite destination for a day of uplift.
The best bit about BPW is it is well laid out and the runs are planned top to bottom, the drops that have been mentioned are all able to be taken at speed, or slow, they have good run ups and are mostly flat take offs, or even slightly upwards and going to downslopes, so have a better margin for error.
I need to get back again soon, still have a rebooking to take, i think the talk about how many runs and so on again is down to what you do, i tend to reach the end of the day with arm pump and just sore due to repeated jumping/landing and so on taking it out of you, a trip down the likes of rim dinger at speed will have those forearms burning!
Yesterday was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. There were so many buses on, the most we queued was probably five minutes, but mostly we walked straight on and left straight away.
Great day.
Went last Saturday.
Very busy but the uplift was running like clockwork and we never had to wait more than five minutes. Did the blues all day and they were in the best condition they've ever been in. Credit where its due.... everyone seems to be doing a grand job.
Went on Monday too - first time in ages due to Covid etc.
Must admit, got there early doors and was shocked how busy it was but to be totally fair to them, the uplift rocked, probably the least amount of queuing I have had there ever plus they looked to have around 10 buses running.
Managed 10 uplifts, could have done a couple more but a combination of the heat and lockdown cake saw me bow out at that. the good thing about BPW is that even when it's busy, once at the top and people spread out a bit it does quieten down a fair bit on the runs. Hope that rider on A470 that had the bad off is okay too. Overall a great place
It honestly felt like the break and then the covid restrictions did them some good- could be wrong, maybe it would have happened anyway. But before, it always felt pretty minimum effort, and it didn't really have to be very efficient, it all just had to work. Then with smaller busloads etc everything'd get harder and everything would have to be more efficient and smooth. I reckon some of that's carried on even though the restrictions have relaxed.
Or, could be just coincidence, or a deliberate strategic change. But it definitely seems like they've come back stronger, at a time when they could probably have just reverted to minimum effort and people would still have been grateful just that it's open again. Regardless of the reasons, it's great, I really hope it lasts.
I agree - having heard a few reports of uplifts being rammed I was expecting a queue fest on Monday, especially based on the number of cars and people bimbling around the cafe area but I wrong.
When I got to the end of Norkle - my eyes nearly popped out of my head, I was execting 2 or 3 buses for the 10am roll off but there were loads
I think there were always 3 or 4 buses just arriving or waiting at the bottom during the day and the guy by the little gate kiosk had it dialled and just pointed you to a numbered bus. As usual all the staff there are great and super friendly - they must have the patience of saints when it comes to all the goons (me included) getting the straps twisted all the time.
good to see people sticking to their mask rules too
I was supposed to be there on Monday, but bailed as I'm still suffering from Covid (would've been my first time there)
My mate still went, and was the first person on scene at the A470 crash.....healing vibes to the guy, safe to say he's going to be off the bike for a while 😔 My mate is a handy rider and has spent a lot of time snowboarding off piste etc so is fully aware of the risks involved in our sports etc. He was so shaken up by the guys condition that he went home once the first responders had taken over.
I honestly think threads like this actually help.
If you realise you're getting some bad press on biking forums then hopefully you'll try to rectify any negative publicity. It certainly looks like someone's listening and that can only be good news. Nearly £50 for a days uplift sounds a lot but after a day there I challenge anyone to say that's not great value for money.
@Tom-B that was a friend of mine who crashed on A470 Monday. He's in good spirits and is home now. I've seen a photo and I was shocked but seeing that in person must have been upsetting.
Thanks to anyone who helped him.
Im at BPW today after some FOD off piste yesterday and the thought of that accident has reigned me in a bit.
For me, A470 is just almost instant disaster if you try and ride it... The first couple you can land flat and that 'kinda' works.... but the rest with the lips on are either full send or full fail. If you roll over the top it's OK, but that's as good as it gets... as soon as you semi-launch, you're in a point of almost binning it.
I crashed there recently pretty hard... so this last time i went down i basically whimped every single one. The only reason i went down is because one of the 11 year old 'senders' needed shadowing... well, as much as you can shadow an 11 year old who's buggered off after 2 turns 😀
I'm not sure if i was making sure he was safe or he was making sure i was !
