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[Closed] Dalby Red Route = Awesome

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Thanks to singletraction, the FC, etc, that route rocks! Will have to go back again sometime and ride it flat out as a lot of sections seemd to have a fast start, then a few features that if you panicked/comfort braked for you ended up rolling the rest of the section as there was nowhere to pickup speed again, definatly a trail that rewards a degree of comittment.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 10:52 am
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When were you there? I did the red on Saturday morning; gears and bounce next time though, I'm battered...


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 11:05 am
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Sunday morning, I was on my Pitch, Simon on a matching green 5. Set off arround 10 from the dirt track past Givendale Head Fm. It's good, but not £14 to park two cars in the center when there's 101 free car parks dotted arorund the route! We did stop for coffee and cake though, the aded bonus of our start point was the cafe being halfway round!


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 11:12 am
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Wish I had called in when I was passing the other week now..


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 12:04 pm
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On a related note.....

Dixons Hollow, seems a bit out of place?

The 4x track only had room for 1 rider at a time, and didn't really flow. The three massive tabletops are probably only rideable for the top 1% of riders, on DJ hardtails not average trailcenter bikes. Just looked like a lot of money had been spent on somethig that didn't really fit with the rest of Dalby, and 3 massive tabletops alone isn't going to draw in dirtjumpers, the only poeple ridng them were a load og guys on XC hardtails pedaling over them.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 12:13 pm
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For the kids, innit.

When I was there in August there were loads of kids on DJ bikes at Dixon's Hollow.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 12:18 pm
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The table tops have just been rebuilt and were supposed to be easier. There was a singletraction dig on Sunday, check and repairs day.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 12:24 pm
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When I was there in August there were loads of kids on DJ bikes at Dixon's Hollow.

They're new (with a seperate run-in).

I dunnooo, maybe I was just imagining it would look something like a very minature version of a slopestyle course, i.e. lots of jumps/drops that were bigger than the red/black route ones, not three big tabletops in the biddle of the woods.

Just seemed out of place. Would have been ideal in a town center as a part of a BMX track for example, but it wasn't even part of a track.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 12:35 pm
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Agree - Dalby is awesome. A load of people on here hate it because its bumpy or something.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 1:17 pm
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Its also a kings ransom to park there, £7 iirc...


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 1:28 pm
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its FREE to park at Dalby.

It £7 to drive a car along the Toll Road that the car park is off...


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:23 pm
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It £7 to drive a car along the Toll Road that the car park is off...

Is there a toll at either end? i.e. could you drive from one end and out the same way and avoid it?

How much of the £7 goes into the trails? On the basis that Swinely is £20 for unlimited all year use, I'm not paying £7 for a one off!


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:27 pm
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Theres a toll at both ends.

Price is lower than £7 in the week and off -season (ie from about now), £4 I think?

You can get a season pass too.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:30 pm
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Costs more than 7 quid per person to go see a film at the cinema. I really don't begrudge paying 7 quid for a cracking day's riding.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:36 pm
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If you join singletraction and do three digs at any of their locations you get a year dalby pass


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:42 pm
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Costs more than 7 quid per person to go see a film at the cinema.

If you join singletraction and do three digs at any of their locations you get a year dalby pass

True and true, but for comparison the NT park I grew up in charges <£1/person for entry, previously it was done per car at about £4, and theres a lot more maintained paths there.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 2:51 pm
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It was getting a bit scrappy the last time I was round it, especially between the main car park and Dixon's Hollow. The second half of the red was in much better shape. I'm not that fussed about the 4X or the tabletops but I enjoy the other shorter sections around Dixons Hollow and usually spend 30 or 40 minutes mucking around on them.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 3:02 pm
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£7 is cheap for a few hours entertainment. some nice bits that are enough to have me visiting now and again, would not call it awesome though.


 
Posted : 31/10/2011 3:11 pm
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Having always wanted to ride there i finally have to option to ride Dalby on Friday. Only i might be limited on time so if i could only ride for say 2-3 hours where should i start from and cut off?

Fancy seeing some of the World Cup route and ive seen a few comments about the bits around Dixons Hollow so am i best keeping to the north section or is the south section worth it too? (in which case i better ride very fast or risk wrath of wife!)


 
Posted : 01/11/2011 4:30 pm
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3 hours, in the sunshine with no mechaniclas or cafe stops is doable as long as you press on a bit.

We did it in 4 hours with a 40min cafe stop, and a bit of a play arround dixons, and a couple of short pauses for breath but no real faffing or mechanicals, and that's on the Pitch.

Would love to go back on something like an Anthem-x, the down's wouldnt be as fun but the scope for saving time on the ups could make for a very quick lap.


 
Posted : 01/11/2011 4:39 pm
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Cheers for the reply. I'll be on a Cotic Soul so should have the best of both worlds and i'll be on my tod which normally means a bit less stopping although there is rain forcast 🙁 Might start from Low Dalby and if i need to bail on time i can do so


 
Posted : 01/11/2011 4:51 pm
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I did Dalby for the first time whilst on holiday in September, I loved it, I wish I had done it on my zesty though instead of my HT.

We had glorious weather until the last 20mins or, then it rained.

A good course, I will return next year.


 
Posted : 01/11/2011 4:56 pm
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Dalby is a stacked loop design so it's easy to break down into "pieces" to fit time and inclination.

So far as I know there's no direct link between the toll road fee and trails, some money goes into various bike related stuff (Rangers, resources, materials, etc) but whether it's more or less than what's raised by bikers going to the forest I don't know. Then again there's a lot more to Dalby than the MTB trails (although you do have to pay for some of it - cafe, Go Ape etc).

Dixons Hollow was designed by Adrian Carter (Pace) with input from the FC Engineer and was based on bike park style features Adrian had seen abroad, AFAIK. It's quite an old design and had to fit with requirements of the area and money etc etc. I doubt anyone would argue it's perfect, but recent rebuilding of the jumps has got to be a good thing (IMO). It has certainly proved popular for certain groups / users. I imagine it could be improved and with hindsight designed differently but that's true of many things, not just trails. Time consuming and expensive to do so.

SingletrAction built a wee pump track adjacent to Dixon's last year and that's proved quite popular (although possibly rather misunderstood ;-).

Dig days in general have suffered from really poor turnouts. Mind boggling really when you think how many people go through there and use the trails, but hey ho, that's volunteering for you. Efforts are re-starting so if you're interested visit the SingeltrAction site, ask on the forum or look them up on Facebook.


 
Posted : 01/11/2011 5:40 pm