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so from Todmorden to Gisburn forest arrived at 10.30am...gets to the car park bottle ice everywhere....people were turning away and heading home, one or two people with snow tyres even fell off..... my son and hubby had a walk down the trail -just bottle ice all over... two people did set off down the trail and within minutes skidded on the bottle ice....bahumb...
if you want to go to the forest today all you need is a Toboggon.... for the cresta run.... 😉 
just got home bored now 🙄
Bugger, was planning on going there tomorrow.
yeh total waste of time dont bother, on my previous thread asking about gisburn forest conditions and some people said it wad fine? talking out ur ars! save ur self time and wait until the ice has gone or find somewhere else.
I was thinking of riding Gisburn forest today, glad I had a lie in now!
Just back from a couple of hours of Hebden Tech.
Largely ok - Some ice on the Pecket Well descent and parts of Blue Pig - All rideable albeit slower than usual
Church lane all bottle ice but easy enough to stay on to top as long as you sit and spin.
Aly's wound and zig zags descents were perfectly fine - Mud all frozen which is an added bonus
at ninish this morning picked up a bloke who had fallen on the ice on longride fell and walked him to the the main road where he was going to get picked up...nasty out there...saty in watch the rugby!
Aye, we were supposed to be doing some trailbuilding / maintenance today, but the session got called-off on Friday due to the state of the fire-roads, not to mention the frozen gravel piles (and believe me, there's nowt worse than frozen piles... 😉 ).
some people said it wad fine?talking out ur ars
Apologies, obviously I wasn't there and it wasn't ridable. I distinctly remember being there so I must be going mad. I did point out that it may have got a bit more icy since Tuesday.
Saturdays ride from Haworth 2 H, Bridge and back was a real test of ice riding. Great fun if a little tiring 🙂
Some none bike ride photos included.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorkshirebiking/6862473311/ ]IMG_0231[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/yorkshirebiking/ ]Yorkshirebiking[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorkshirebiking/6862474617/ ]IMG_0233[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/yorkshirebiking/ ]Yorkshirebiking[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorkshirebiking/6862476849/ ]IMG_0248[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/yorkshirebiking/ ]Yorkshirebiking[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/yorkshirebiking/6862477523/ ]IMG_0245[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/yorkshirebiking/ ]Yorkshirebiking[/url], on Flickr
Lee Quarry is the same. Starting to thaw in Rossendale but I think it'll be a good few days for the ice to go, Crown Point and Deerplay Moor were solid yeasterday, ended up riding home on the road.
Worth keeping an eye of www.pmba.org.uk/gisburn.htm as I try and keep an up to date summary of trail conditions, hopefully be doing the same for Lee Quarry if I get the trail guide finished.
Gingerss - i think you told me it was fine but hully gully was pretty bad and you said the hope line was ok but fair slippery towards the end, its all the same m8 its a no go u was wrong lol
in my opinion people should look after the trail centers better and grit it all down, if they know we are in for snow get the grit down before so people like me dont waste our time turning up :/
You were given a conditions report in good faith. Just because we had a couple of thaw/freeze cycles in the interim doesn't make him worthy of abuse.
I agree with your gritting comment though. Obviously it's a bit of a chore for the volunteers to nip around 13 miles with a bucket of salt, so perhaps they should tarmac them so a proper gritter can get through?
people should look after the trail centers better and grit it all down
People are usually complaining about "kitty litter" trail centres, now you want MORE grit?
its just annoying turning up when u spend all morning getting ur gear ready and u wake up early etc all the messing around for nothing :/
i think you told me it was fine but hully gully was pretty bad and you said the hope line was ok
Yep, that's about right.
Maybe one persons ridable is another persons no go. Sorry you had a wasted day Chris. It sounds to have deteriorated a little during the week.
I don't think there's anything that could be done other than keeping an eye on the weather, e.g. thawing and freezing and to just accept that when you head out in conditions as they are now to be prepared to have a different experience to when the trails are dry.
Regarding gritting, it's just not going to happen given that maintenance is largely volunteer based and grit isn't going to be effective anyway. Besides I had a laugh in the snow and ice. I like the variety.
I agree with Chris, what are we paying council tax for if thery're not even gritting trail centres? Bloody country has gone to pot, I blame David Cameron 🙄
*post may contain sarcasm*
yep thx bish, least someone agrees on that point, and yeh gingerss, its got alot worse since u last went, its not even rideable, they had people there with snow tires who even then were falling off :/
Can't believe they haven't gritted the trails. We don't all have ice spiked tyres do we 🙄
😉
I rode from Blackburn to Windermere in drizzle today. There was lots of snow in The Lakes.
@ stumpyjon - we'll have to design some form of under-trail heating before we start digging that next section, and then go back and retro-fit it to the rest.
Or maybe we could just stick a roof over the whole lot, keep all that nasty winter weather out... 😉
in my opinion people should look after the trail centers better and grit it all down, if they know we are in for snow get the grit down before so people like me dont waste our time turning up :/
This is my favourite STW post of all time.
Tony M, thanks for info, when will this^ be finished?
I've been designing airborne grit dispensers all afternoon
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One of those situated up by the quarry should be able grit all the trails and then for the rest of year we can use it to pick off those riders who don't stick to the trails, drop litter, skid, drag their brakes, ride the wrong way, ride sections before they've bedded in and generally whinge about the state of the trail we've built in our free time that they've haven't had to pay to use.
I'm sure gritting would be ineffective, even when applied by tank, but...
Maybe we could set up a lobby group campaigning for under trail heating for Gisburn. I reckon with about 100mil* investment and an annual fuel bill of just 10mil it might just be a goer. We could raise some private investment by asking for the dog & partridge to pay half. They might need to charge a little more for flapjacks though.
I recon with this we'd be able to prevent inconvenience annually for at least 30 people.
*Figure may be completely made up, post may contain sarcasm.
Grit the trails.
STW has hit an all time high with that one.
On which thread do I criticise all your hard volunteer work, saying I could have done it better, but never having actually ever lifted a finger do so?
LOL @ gritting the trails 😆
lee quarry is very icy , watched a couple of guys climbing up a frozen waterfall passed a little while ,not really fit for any riding at the momment .
Grit the trails.
I can see it now. Centre Parc MTB Paradise, featuring 10 km of indoor technical trails including 'the freezer' - a section kept frozen to give you that real winter experience. Just £599 for a faux wooden chalet for a weekend. Where do I sign up?
On reflection, both gritting and undertrail heating seem a little impractical. How about a retractable roof? I'm sure it's not too late to work it into the budget for the new facilities.
It's shameful that Gisburn charges so much for parking and yet gives nothing back to the users who have made it what it is.
It's shameful that Gisburn charges so much for parking and yet gives nothing back to the users who have made it what it is.
That's coming I believe, but with all proceeds [u]guaranteed[/u] going back into the trails. Altho I'm not convinced that gritting the trails for Chump_mbuk will be high on the volunteer builders priority list.
Retractable roof? Now you're talking - like Wimbledon. I think with an entrance fee of say £50 per circuit it might be viable. Maybe extend the motorway from Blackburn. Let's get some lottery funding for a Gisburn Eye so the family can enjoy an ice cream with a view of the Forest of Bowland. And perhaps enlarge the reservoir, an artificial island...
Great pics sturider...
New cafe coming as well as a new skills track and more carparking at Stephen Park I believe. Maybe plans should be submitted for a nice drainage system to get rid of all that horrible mud as well.
Wasn't Hully Gully originally called The Rollercoaster? A proper one of those is the answer - clamp your bike into the carriages at the top, pull down the harness, and be launched down the track with all the speed and g-force but zero risk, even when it's icy.
Gritting the trails... Genius, absolute genius.
That's it, the Gisburn Towers. Cover the lot in rides, dodgems, tunnel of love...fun for all the family. Never like biking anyway. Dirty.
My bike had all this grey muck on it when I got back. Can we do something to sort that out? Maybe a team of trail sweeps? Can we have a travellator up to whelpstone because my legs got a little tired.
Whilst we're at it can we employ Steve Peat or someone with similar skills to permanently man the freeride trail to give hints, tips and advice?
Actually I think this is a good opportunity to tip my hat to the volunteers and thank them for all their hard work over the years. You've done a great job with Gisburn.
I have the answer
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^^ might be interesting on Hully Gully or the boardwalk sections 😯
Actually I think this is a good opportunity to tip my hat to the volunteers and thank them for all their hard work over the years. You've done a great job with Gisburn.
Ta 8)
May have some news on the new car park development in the next few weeks, charging is coming though (the pay and display meter was delivered last July!). As B.A.Nana rightly points out the proceeds will be going back into the trails, volunteers who've put in enough dig days should also be getting free car parking passes.
My bike had all this grey muck on it when I got back. Can we do something to sort that out?
Funny you should mention that, was thinking about it last night, might be worth the volunteers setting up a hands bike wash station some weekends to raise a bit more cash / awareness of the volunteer activities. I've got a pressure washer, all we need is a small generator, a stream and some sponges.
SJon IMO you should be gritting them trails, I'll be checking!
While it's being dug up for under trail heating, would it be possible to put a layer of that d30 stuff out of 661 knee pads down, i ony ask as the ground can be a little bit hard.
Where's young Chris? in bed? 😀