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I'm certainly not talking about 'built' trails, there is so much nice natural.
I'd doff my hat to anyone who could ride both parts of two head dog, or all the pies on a road bike - respect if you can.
As for the trails you mention njee20, I'm hardly surprised that you are so blinkered and opinionated, if that's your representation of the riding in the area.
Crikey, blinkered and opinionated!? Where's that come from!
I merely said that most of the most well known trails (if you prefer that caveat) are made difficult by riding them at speed rather than being particularly 'gnarly'.
Happy to meet up for a ride, perhaps we can both show each other some new bits. I'm out Sunday from Peaslake if you care to join?
I could well be up there on Sunday - I'll be with the Nirvana lot if I do make it. I'll look out for you, shouldn't be many on drop bars and skinny tyres.
Oh sh1t, my side just split with the hilarity.
goodbye
What are the Nirvana lot like? I've sort of spoken to a few of them on occassions and I've always got the impression they were a little clicky and not always the most friendly bunch. Am I being overly sensitive?
... and not always the most friendly bunch
If woodsman is anything to go by I think you might be right 😉
Mixed reports from the Nirvana lot, I've never really had a problem with them, and know some of the guys who ride with them regularly, but I've also heard reports of being who are a bit off the pace just being left behind. Which IMO isn't really on on a group ride. Simon can be a bit miserable some times too, but he's northern!
I'm sure Woodsman will now tell me I'm a moron, as I seem to have offended him (blows a kiss to woodsman).
While were on the subject of BKB can i just ask why the hell was the demo day routed down BKB, i assume thats what all the fluro green markers were for given they left the Peaslake carpark and went straight up the top of BKB & there was a sign for a demo day on that day.
Me and my mates rode it on the Saturday evening after the demo day had finished and we all commented that if was ALOT more eroded than the last time we rode it a few weeks before. There were skid marks all over the place including down the rooty roll in at the top and also at the entrance to the S bend before the large 2nd berm.
To me it was madness to send wave after wave of riders, most on bikes that they would never have ridden before and so were unfamiliar with the performance of down so an already well used trail that it in danger of becoming a victim of its own success.
Isn't there other trails that could have been used for this ?
Nirvana = generally miserable and clicky from what I have seen. Although to be fair Simon is fairly proactive on the trail building front
And he really really knows his way around!
bigsi, its already a victim of its own success - maybe better to now just accept that this is the main trail in the area used my demo days/teachin groups and keep them off other trails?. But really it needs top to bottom grading like the new section to cope with the traffic
Is Simon the guy from the shop?but he's northern!
He's from a place about three miles up the road from where I grew up so he can't be all that bad!
I've spoken to him a few times and he strikes me a being someone who knows his own mind and doesn't mind who knows it. But like most people who might appear gruff on the outside, i'd wager he's a decent enough fellow if you got to know him.
freeridenick - agreed. The middle bit is fine (when taken at any speed on any bike 😉 ) but the top bit is getting quite eroded. Just as long as its not flattened out completly, just a bit here and there to make it more durable.
Its still the most fun way to get from the res to the cake shop/pub though 😛
Popped into Nirvana a few weeks back for a new hanger. Pretty friendly, good service, generally quite happy. Not ridden with them though.
Simon comes across as miserable, but he can also be very helpful and knows his stuff.
Most people who regularly ride with the nirvana lot do come across as miserable and very cliquey though. I wouldn't ride with them - not my cup of tea at all, and if woodsman is anything to go by then appearances are not always deceptive.
Woodsman : "But, the publicity (informal or formal) that this trail is receiving is far more than it warrants."
TBH I've never heard any publicity saying it's an amazingly brilliant, technical, challenging or otherwise fantastic bit of trail, other than at speed. What I've heard is lots of brilliant stuff about how they've worked with landowners to make sustainable trails that have a future, where the alternative was much worse and pretty much the definition of unsustainable. So they rightly get a lot of attention for that.
I'm glad it's not just me who thought woodsman came across as a bit 'prickly'!
He's actually a really nice guy 😉
ther is a much nicer, longer and faster trail running paralel to BKB
And he's abit tasty on a bike too.( Woodsman that is)
I'm sure he is, perhaps he'd like to take up my offer of a ride on Sunday and show me all the trails I'm obviously missing...
I've never heard any publicity saying it's an amazingly brilliant, technical, challenging or otherwise fantastic bit of trail, other than at speed. What I've heard is lots of brilliant stuff about how they've worked with landowners to make sustainable trails that have a future, where the alternative was much worse and pretty much the definition of unsustainable. So they rightly get a lot of attention for that.
+1.
In fact, +2 and +3 and more.
There is a crew that ride out of Nirvana. They ride xc fast. They don't respond when you say hello. They call themselves the Dorking Cocks. I had to laugh. Nirvana is a fine shop mind. Simon just says it as it is. Always happy to give 'em me hard earned and rate their mech very highly.
I have to say Simon and his crew know their stuff when it comes to builds and fixing, etc - have been using them since 2003.
Heard mixed comments about their rides though; Sat friendly and chilled, Sun fast and unforgiving (or the other way round).
On the subject of BKB, I really don't know what all the fuss is about. Sure, it used to be a good link-up trail to Peaslake/Pitch (always gave me that Endor/speeder-bike feeling) but it's hardly ground-breaking (even though I do continually find myself doing it when in the area).
The mechanic in Nirvana is one of the best in the country, Rowan is a top lad! Don't know Simon that well but always seemed alright when I've spoken to him.
Must get back for a visit would be good to see how the trails have changed in the last 10 years from when I lived down that way.
Maybe they were the guys I bumped into a week ago - I said hello - and got completely blanked - came across them again - blanked again. Whereas a couple of young lads in full stormtrooper + 8" travel bikes were totally the opposite - chatty and asking me how the suspension worked on my bike - I explained it didn't have any - they looked bemused and commented it must be a really old bike LOL.
^ ^ 😆
Is this going to come back round to a 'roadies/XC riders/storm troopers are miserable, they never say hello' discussion?!
Aren't there multiple rides that go out? There always used to be a jumpy one on Saturday and a normal XC one, the XC one was certainly infamous for being of the 'if you're not quick enough you make your own way home' attitude! I'd be interested to go out with them, but it's just the wrong end of the hills for me.
Totally agree with many of these comments. Ride anything fast and it will challenge even the best riders. I love that whole area - Leith, Pitch, Peaslake, Holmbury etc. Still think it's great that these sanctioned trails exist. It's a 25 min drive from my place, so is perfect. I can even get there pretty much all off road if I want to. For me I like riding with a handful of mates wheel to wheel, having tea and cakes at Peaslake or the tower and chatting with other riders and finding new routes that I haven't done before. This is why I ride and every time I do I feel lucky all this is virtually on my doorstep. To lose any aspect of the above would be a massive shame. There will always be the minority who think they own the place, but they are the minority, so let's keep it in context. As for the guys at Nirvana, I've not ridden with them, but they sorted out my bike this week within 24 hours when nobody else could, and they clearly know there stuff. Restored my faith in bike shops - helpful, quick, great service, great attitude and a top mechanic. Thanks to these guys I will be riding tomorrow and that means a lot to me.
anyway getting back to the original crux of the thread, there was a right knobber (MTB!!) on Ranmore on Sunday who thought it might be great to put a random log at the end of Abbazabba, which was promptly removed as being completely pointless. A heated discussion enthused "too technical is it" WTF - mong just wrong! I'll give you technical you spacca..
"Return Of The Jedi"? I've always known it as "I Should Coco"! Namingly, conceptually partnered with "In It For The Money" from the car park further up the hill...
Anyway, returning, as Sui says, to the crux - as a "Friend of Hurtwood Control", I recommend that if you're in the hills and you come across any similar knerb-heds ruining the trails, get on the mobile and ring ranger Mark on: 07920 705 070 or at the office on: 01483 267267.
I always carry some paper and a pen to note down any registration numbers or other identifiers to pass on to interested parties. 😉
PS: I tried joining in on one of Grumpy Simon's "social" rides once - after dragging off the back for ten minutes, I gave up. He attracts properly fit people - don't apply if, like me, you favour going first gear up everything... 😯
Good idea to pass around the ranger's number. If he knows people are on his side and on the lookout, this will be a great help.
So good, you posted it twice!
[i]there was a right knobber (MTB!!) on Ranmore on Sunday who thought it might be great to put a random log at the end of Abbazabba, which was promptly removed as being completely pointless[/i]
Whilst I'm totally against people altering trails like BKB and Yoghurt pots, I think its a much greyer area when you get to more unofficial trails like Abba Zabba. Obviously don't know the specifics of what they did but whats pointless to you is not necessarily pointless to someone else. As far as I'm aware nobody owns these trails and they end up evolving...there's quite a few more jumpy bits around Abba Zabba popping up.
Hmmm, I don't think that's on, suddenly altering a trail in a potentially dangerous way!
With my limited skill I can ride Abba Zabba, but frankly if I came across a random log at the end of it I suspect it would all end rather badly! As it would on most trails frankly!
nuke - Member
there was a right knobber (MTB!!) on Ranmore on Sunday who thought it might be great to put a random log at the end of Abbazabba, which was promptly removed as being completely pointlessWhilst I'm totally against people altering trails like BKB and Yoghurt pots, I think its a much greyer area when you get to more unofficial trails like Abba Zabba. Obviously don't know the specifics of what they did but whats pointless to you is not necessarily pointless to someone else. As far as I'm aware nobody owns these trails and they end up evolving...there's quite a few more jumpy bits around Abba Zabba popping up.
specifics is quite easy
it's right at the end before you do the 30 meters or so climbing. the bit where people normally stop to wait for everyone. just at the bottom of the runout a log was put across. - now why oh why would putting a random log across the runout of this bit be a good idea - it's something you expect the red sock brigade to do!
i'm all for evolution of trails, but planting random obstacles that play no part in a challenge, especially when it's used at night and people are used to razzing through, it's plain daft. Lets put it this way, it's just like putting a log across bosanova as a "challenge" - you wouldn't do it..
How big was this log? IIRC there's been a log across the trail roughly where you describe for a while now 😕
My word. Haven't been over there for 6 weeks as I had a fracture in my hand. Rode BKB today - its like a ****ing motorway! Can't even see where the original trail was.
If you can't stick to a trail without cutting corners everywhere, don't bother riding it.
won't hear a word said against Nirvana cycles (not that anyone here seems to be saying any). They've really helped me out over the years, always at short notice, and their rides are class! I don't know of any other shop quite like it. When my bike finally dies, I'll be replacing it with something from Nirvana, just because I've been going there for years and never really laying down serious cash and it's time I did.
I'm bemused by DHrs sessioning BKB, and the idea of building sad little 6 inch jumps just before the wicked berms is risible. I'm now all about XC, but I've ridden lots of DH and you need a certain type of topography for big MX-type jumps/drops. Holmbury just isn't it. It's got a different (and in my view way more compelling) appeal - smooth California type singletrack.
It's almost like they're trying to prove they're more hardcore than anyone else at Holmbury, the irony being, if they were truly hardcore, they'd be on the 30 foot gap at Woburn, and not anywhere near the North Downs in the first place.
You get the same thing skiing. Often it's actually more fun to rip down the middle of the piste right on the edge kicking up cloud of roost, than to go off piste, but you see kids trying to go off piste just for the sake of it even where it's crap and miserable. If they were real powderheads they'd be at La Grave, not...Meribel! It's a result of marketing I think.
Rode Pitch, Holmbury etc today, and whilst brilliant fun, it was quite depressing how many of the trails have suffered straight lining. Part of the problem is people insist on riding stuff like Xmas Pudding all year round, and then bypass the muddy puddles which when dry create the character of the trail but instead straitline them. T1 is a case in point. Given the number of riders now regularly turning up I guess there's nothing that can be done but depressing nonetheless.
I was also up there today and couldn't believe how busy it was everywhere! There must've been near on 100 riders in Peaslake, crazy! It's no surprise the trails get trashed frankly.
Lots of damage up there for sure, but 100 riders?? I was there around 8 am and there were three of us. Trails change and evolve but that's to be expected, I had a brilliant ride but the dog is worse for wear..
>I was there around[b] 8 am[/b] and there were three of us
Like durrrrr....