[Closed] First uplift tips

I'd tape a tube and CO2 to your frame, saves a walk down the hill. You're never more than 5 minutes from the car, no need for a bag.

Body armour and a full face makes you feel invincible, you're not, the armour only really stops superficial stuff, crash and you will still end up end up with a broken arm, just without a scratch on it, I stopped wearing anything other than kneepads after that.

Learn to put the straps on properly.

I carry a pack for uplifts; it's not [i]necessary[/i] but for me it's about maximising ride time. I can fix mechanicals without wasting a run or risking damage, I can get back in the bus without stopping much for food, water, whatever, or being parched coming down the hill, or riding down in pissing rain in a tshirt or whatever. BPW's uplift road is pretty slow so there's plenty of time to refuel.

No major downside, imo, and I've helped out a load of people too with 5 second repairs that would have wrecked their runs. Some folks think it's weird but when I'm up the back of the bus eating a cake, while they're in the car park, I don't care 😆 I never really understand the half-a-dozen-runs crowd but they seem happy.

YMMV of course, for a lot of people ditching the pack is a big bonus.

Yes use a camelback - you're not doing much pedalling uphill after all.

Make sure your bike's in good shape beforehand.

BPW is very approachable with plenty of easy trail centre-style tracks, so no need to worry (in case you were).

Remember to let the air out of your tyres BEFORE the uplift van arrives. Saves time loading. You can spot all the newbies stood there not doing this until they are told by the uplift driver.

Rachel 😉

Noobs wear camelbaks so you will look like and be a noob. If you can handle the noobness, noob on.

Tongue firmly in cheek of course . Wear what you like and have fun!

Just enjoy it.

BPW is probably less intimidating than some of the full on DH venues with lost of people on big bikes. Build up steady - the blues there are pretty good.

Personally on an uplift I never ride with a pack.

Warm yourself up on a blue or red first as well.. I didn't bother with a pack last time and seemed to enjoy it more not having it there. As said above your not far from the car park. full face and pads I'd recommend, not essential but there is a lot of tree stumps at the sides of the trails waiting for you to come off up there..

I'm up the back of the bus

BPW busses are a bit far from the car park to just pop back to grab a drink. You could dump a bottle at the pick up though, but then you need to find it in the mass of others and hope no one's peed in it 😉

Sometimes I take the backpack, sometimes I don't bother. I need a drink on every run, more so on a hot day. On a busy day and everyone's rushing for the next bus it's tricky to go grab the bottle at the pick up while trying to get a place in the queue. Other thing is judging the hassle of a walk of shame with a flat tyre vs fixing it and ride down. Had that at Cwmcarn and it was a long walk down! Though bus driver spotted me half way down and gave me a lift rest of the way 😀

Tubeless generally will sort you out for punctures though, but make sure you have reinforced sidewalls or maybe dual ply.

FoD, Cwmcarn and Stiniog are better in that cars are close to the pickup, and easier to leave a bottle by the pickup with less of a queue and more efficient bus system.

I take a camelbak whether im riding for half an hour or all day. I'd rather have the tools to fix my woes than walk.
Plus need somewhere to stash grub and water.

Been a while since I did an uplift day, but my top tip is to get going straight away as soon as you're off the bus.

There's usually a lot of faffing going on, plus a lot of "after you", "no, after you" style stuff, which just results in either getting stuck in traffic, or holding the fast boys up, most of whom tend to want to go last for some reason. Get going straight off the coach and you can generally get a clear run down AND not hold anyone else up (assuming you're not a total numpty).

Then you can wait in the carpark where there's water, tea, cakes etc, plus you can faff by your car, where there's proper faffing facilities.

I've tried it both with and without a camelbak, as said, the car park isn't far, but its far enough that its likely you'll miss an uplift whilst getting a drink.

Save £30, ride the climbs (there's a couple of variations) and get the descents all to yourself 🙂

philwarren11 - Member

Learn to put the straps on properly.

Yes, do the straps properly or you'll get called back by the driver or he'll tell the whole bus that someone did the straps up shit. Put the bike on and put one strap on each of your handlebar grips, not on the bar anywhere, on the grips. Put the strap on so that the metal buckle release is on the outermost strap, the one facing the ground.
As an aside I think a helpful notice on the queue bars about where to put the straps wouldn't go amiss.

I wore a pack and pretty much everyone else was, don't see any issue tbh. The uplift point is generally near the end of (some of) the trails, which isn't near the carpark.

I started with a red just to get the metal of it, then went onto the rest. After we did the reds once we stuck to the blues for the rest of the day, great fun, I prefer speed over tech!
Have fun, it's a great place.

Can,t you run a bottle cage for the day?

assuming you're not a total numpty

Remember to let the air out of your tyres BEFORE the uplift van arrives. Saves time loading. You can spot all the newbies stood there not doing this until they are told by the uplift driver.

Try and pick a slot on the trailer with a bolt across the front wheel bit, unless you prefer bent rotors. It'll make sense when you see it.

I thought bolts were for 26" wheels only? I compress the forks down when putting the bike in, the rebound keeps it tight against the strap. Don't put the straps over your brake levers, just the grips.
I echo what the chap said about, get going first. There are a few trails to pick from at BPW so never too bad, but if you wait you will end up waiting for a while!

Be rad. Be very rad.

Like Northwind, I wear a Camelbak - pockets would be full of phone, car keys, multitool, food, etc otherwise. Or you have to attach it all to the bike. And unless you do this all the time it's surprisingly hard work so I like to have some water too. Plus I like to just head straight back to the bus line rather than make visits back to the car.

Grades are all harder than normal trailcentre ones, the reds have plenty of stuff that you can't just roll over so take care if you're not confident with those.

The trailers have different size slots for the wheel sizes - if you're on 26 or 29 you might have to use one end, but check with the driver.

Have fun!

The only time I've been to BPW pretty much everyone had a pack

It makes sense to carry a pack, as you can have a bite to eat or a drink on the bus. I got lucky on my day (weekday, early Jan) in that I had very little waiting around, no queues and the bus was nearly always there already (sometimes waited for us)

I wore the wrong gloves so had to go back to the car. Got lucky with the right trail that ended near the car park so just popped back and swapped them over, would have been easier to have it with me

I also found it easier to jump straight on the bus and faff around at the top of the hill, it was then quieter to get down as most had already hit the trails

It was quiet a cold and wet/damp day so the shelter at the top was really handy

My tip would be to ride up the first run after lunch instead of waiting for the uplift.
For some reason that I can't work out they stop the uplift for an hour for lunch (and hence the cafe is rammed and there's a big queue) and then after lunch every single person on the hill is in the uplift queue at once. Ride up and you'll get to the top quicker, and you'll get back to the uplift just as the queue dies down.

Another tip.

Make sure whatever trail you pick before lunch goes down to the tunnel (then dont go down Insufficent Funds). You got a nice walk back up to the cafe if you dont.

I was going to post how to put the bikes on but its easier to ask the driver when you get there as really you should pick the correct strap for each side of the bar, not just where the straps go.

Sixtapod/Willy Waver start is pretty much what most people do.

Best route imo is... Vicious Valley, Bonneyville, insufficent funds. Or Dai Hard, Coal not Dole and Insufficent funds.

I'd take a backpack, I got a pinch flat near the top and it was a long walk down to the car, wasted a good few runs there! Took a backpack after that. Not as comfy but I'd rather ride than not.

They dont stop for lunch now, its staggered, so less buses running.

Ive never done a day with a pack there, probably done about 15-20 uplift days there now and Thursday evenings (theyre awesome) and i've only had 1 puncture.

What you need a pack for more is water, you sweat like **** on some of the long trails if giving it beans.

Can always get a smaller slimline pack. I'm looking for one that's barely much more than a 1 or 2L water bladder and pocket for tool, tube and/or co2.

Everything Northwind said.

Also, don't be intimidated by the storm trooper crowd. Half of them will be slower than you, but will still talk it up anyway.

Don't Strava the uplift.

They dont stop for lunch now, its staggered

This sounds good...

so less buses running.

but this sounds less good...

So does this work better than before in terms of time spent waiting for uplift or not?

My tip is relax, start off steady, and focus on riding smoothly. Not so much for safety, more for your endurance. It is probably harder work than you might imagine and you don't want to be knackered by lunch.

My preference is camelback if the weather dodgy or changeable (i.e. most of the time in Wales)

When are you going? I am there tomorrow for my first uplift so am watching this with interest 😀

Actually, here's a good tip that I wish someone told me about

I was planning to do blues only, but did a couple of reds at the end of the day

The problem was I ran out of time, and also body function. I was so tired at the end of the day that I wasn't really concentrating enough.

I should have done the reds earlier in the day, so that as I got more tired I could move back to the blues. I also would have had more concentration/energy earlier in the day

Don't underestimate how much you'll ache/tire out. I then spent the next 2 days bikepacking round Wales!

all of the above...i always wear a camelbak too at BPW

i'd suggest starting off on some of the more smoother and flowy tracks like sixtapod through to willy waver first just so you get warmed up and get a feel for the place

I always use my pack, it's a long day without a drink especially in summer and whilst yes you can dump a bottle near the but stop, don't be upset if a member of staff comes along and puts it in the bin, because almost no-one goes back at the end of the day to bin their own so they treat them all as litter unless told otherwise.

As others have said, don't be 'that guy' and dismiss the blues as being "too easy". It's not a DH venue, it's never been sold as one, but it's very fast compared to trail centres. The blue trails are brilliant fun and it would be a shame to miss them, even more of as shame is to act the hero head straight for Vicious Valley, chicken out a second too late on the drop into it and lad straight on your face from 6ft up - I've seen it happen, I'm not sure what would be worse, the pain or the embarrassment.

Might not have time for it, but get your wrists strengthened! First time I went it was my grip which went first, my wrists were killing by the end of the day. Probably a result of poor technique and lack of fitness, but worth thinking about.

Leku - Member
Don't Strava the uplift.

Too much faff turning the thing on and off each time. I've tried and end up forgetting, so just leave it on now.

Doesn't piss off any roadies anyway as they're not riding up the fireroad.

Unlike at FoD where the bus goes on the road 😀

Though I find signal gets lost in the bus at times and you get a straight line from pickup to drop off.

Does mess with your overall stats. My biggest climbs have been uplifts.

Have a decent breakfast a good hour before you go. By the time for lunch break im always a bit shakey as the blood sugars drop. But don't over do it at lunch. Chucking up a full burger and chips in side a fullface on a DH run isn't fun.

Try to ride as many of the lines as you can. You'll get comfortable on one track and tend to stay on that all day.

So does this work better than before in terms of time spent waiting for uplift or not?

Went on Friday. Didn't have to wait more than a couple of minutes to get on a bus.

Seems to keep the buses better spaced out on the hill so you don't get a big queue then 2-3 buses at once like before.

- Take a packed lunch and save yourself some money and time queueing at the cafe.
- Watch out for the steeper lips on the A209 (or whatever it's called) if you can't jump good and do other things good too like me.
- Arm pump is a killer. Watch your braking!
- The drop into Coal Not Dole is not that bad.

I/we always take packs. I'll easily drink 2.5l of water in a day, there's a good chance of a mechanical and the weather can be very changeable.

The blues are great fun, the reds have the odd feature that can catch you out, but even the blacks aren't particularly hard and worth a go (you can roll/miss the really big features).

If you are straight off the bus, down and straight back in the queue you can get 9/10 runs in, but you'll be knackered. Faff about too much and you'll only get half a dozen.

Terry's belly and Hotstepper are ace...

Oh and don't let any air out of your tyres whilst waiting for the bus 🙄

Checking into thread as same applies to me. I did a self powered day in Oct 13 (2 1/2 laps) on a HT, back on 10 June for an uplift on my newer 120mm boinger. It sounds like it's changed quite a bit. I really enjoyed the reds I did back then. I'm not hardcore so will probably skip the blacks.

I felt like only 29er on the hill back then, bet I will be again.

Thanks for the tips all, useful.

Further tips: don't **** yourself 5 minutes into the first run and spend the rest of the riding day in A&E having wound cleaned up. (I'm fine, nothing serious, but bloody annoying all the same). Also the BPW beers are very good, especially Badger Run.

Hey Mattjg! What run did you spanner yourself on? we were there on Friday and didn't hear/see any commotion?

PS (get well soon! ;-))

PPS - these days, there are MANY more trail bikes on the trailers than DH ones! Since Trail bikes got good, it seems the vast majority of peeps at BPW ride 'em. Lots of 29ers now too thanks to ENDURO etc

Thx Max, I'll be ok. It wasn't a super big deal, but did wipe out my weekend. Nasty gouge out of shin from pedal or brake lever contact, and a big slam on the hip that's now a bruise the size of Australia.

A couple of minutes into Terry's Belly. Yeah really can you believe it. Grrrrrrr. On a 29er too!

I wear those 661 padded liner shorts at BPW, they aren't going to save you, but they seem to work to reduce bruising etc from minor offs!

But hey, chicks dig scars eh! 😆

But hey, chicks dig scars eh!

Not mine. In the doghouse again.