Which would you ride this Friday?
Where do you live?
Cannock as it's only 30 minutes away 🙂
Bristol but staying in Burnley this weekend.
Thought Cannock might be good because there will be less Audi Chav's compared to the weekends.
Lee and Cragg, definitely! I'd have to drive to Cannock, but I can do that ride from my front door 😀
Seriously though… I'd say given the present (horrendously boggy) conditions everywhere, Lee and Cragg are a better option, as they're all pretty rocky, and hard pack, and so drain well. And the winds aren't too high at the moment, so you won't get blown across a pennine moorland.
Edit: If you're coming from Burnley, then start at Lee, do the slog up to Cragg to start, have a good old play up there, then the brilliant link trail (you'll just have slogged up) becomes a joy when pointed down it, then a play in the much rockier Lee.
If you want to combine it with more natural stuff, I can recommend some good routes to extend it from Cragg too
How are you on dangerous pebbles?
Binners have you got a GPX Loop?
Would second what Binners has said. No point in driving all the way to Cannock when you've some of the best biking in the country on your doorstep. Cragg is more of a trail than Lee which is more bitty and sessiony (is that a word), so the advice to head up to Cragg first, do the loop then fly back down to Lee makes a lot of sense.
Worth bearing in mind though that Cragg/Lee is very different to a trail centre like Cannock. If you're after the trail centre experience you may want to head over to Gisburn which was good the few times I rode it and by all accounts has improved since then.
You've also got some superb natural stuff within striking distance of Burnley. Don't know too much about the Lancashire side but you can nip over the moors to Hebden where you are spoilt for choice (if you like steep, rocky, narrow, fast bridleways)
Will be doing Gisburn and a Jacobs Ladder route on Sat/Sun.
There are some trails locally around the two quarries but they are currently shite up to buggery and some bits are not a pleasure to ride currently , the circuit Binners suggests would at least be dry, apart from the puddles at the bottom of the descents in Cragg which give a delightful " watershoot " effect up yer shorts legs.
Haven't got any GPX I'm afraid. You really can't go wrong with that route though. Just Park up at Lee and head up. Cragg's really good, and worth the slog up too. As mr potato head said, a lot of the trails which are great in the dry are a quagmire at the moment, hence recommending this, as you'll stay pretty much mud free (apart from the afore-mentioned puddles at Cragg).
Get the Sealskins on and you're in business 😀
shite up to buggery
Brilliantly descriptive 🙂
the people's poet strikes again
SOAP - Member
Will be doing Gisburn and a Jacobs Ladder route on Sat/Sun
Fair enough. You're going to have a great three days of biking 😀
As said from Burnley defo go to Lee/Cragg over Cannock - no brainer.
if you didn't know the car park, start for Lee quarry is [url= http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=386330&Y=421795&A=Y&Z=120 ]here[/url].
I personally prefer to start from Edenfield. [url= http://www.gpsies.com/map.do;jsessionid=19758CE645F1E3ED0A2DF75C345B4E46?fileId=goexidbavdzaioir ]Route here[/url].
This second route, [url= http://www.gpsies.com/map.do;jsessionid=19758CE645F1E3ED0A2DF75C345B4E46?fileId=qnksdkeatqmuqete ]Tour de Cowpe[/url], gives you an idea of what could be done.
if your going to do lee and crag this [url= http://www.pmba.org.uk/Downloads/lee%20quarry%20map%20.pdf ]guide[/url] will be useful
Thanks a lot.....
Windy as ****! Aborted after 30mins 🙁
As opposed to Cannock sunny,warm & drying out nicely 🙂
oh by the way be careful, it gets windy up there !!!
I've never been to cragg or lee but was up Cannock on Wednesday and can concur that there is no boggy bits and it was all mostly dry. Cannock is always a treat imho but a bit biased as my local 35 mins away.