Disclaimer: it's my first time on the trail, I'm not used to sand, I was tired and I'm recovering from a lower back injury. So there.
A chum took me to Swinley on Monday for the first time and I was really impressed. The maintenance is of a really high standard and the £2 license fee is perfectly reasonable for what you get. The locals we met were really friendly too, we even saw someone with neither a top or helmet ride jump gully on a women's hybrid 😆
I didn't like the feeling of seeing sandy grit all over my bike at the end of the day, it makes clay/chalk mud seem quite harmless. Definitely going back some point!
The song is "Taking Control" by Aphex Twin.
Love it, we are riding this tonight. My fave section as Swinley.
Aphex Twin too, nice touch.
Swinley Rocks, although I prefer the track to the left just as you get into the labrynth 4 seconds in, faster swoopier and with less braking.
Big fan of Swinley, very clever use of the natural terrain. Labyrinth reminds me a bit of Stanmer in places.
The cool thing about the labrynth is just one trail is about a mile and a half long (and there's 4+ options), despite it only being the size of a football pitch with a few meters elevation change it feels like once continuous downhill with a few short sharp switchbacked climbs!
I like Swinley because of the people.
Not the chesty I was hoping for 🙁
The wide angle lens and the camera position make it look like you did the whole thing on your back wheel!!
Rewski: Yeah, it's got the narrowness of Stanmer and rooty surprises you grow to love.
thisisnotaspoon: I didn't try the trails left or right of this as we had to get back to Brighton. I could easily spend a while just sessioning this bit of the forest!
billysan: I know what you mean, I find the GoPro seems to shrink my jumping as well (or rather shows it to be the mini-gnar it really is). I need to point that sucker up a little more.
I thought that too, unless you look for it it all but dissapears but the time between takeoff and landing can be quite long! The recent Grizedale vid was really bad for that too. Only way to avoid it seems to be to stop, put the camera on the ground and ride/jump past it which isn't hugely practical.GoPro seems to shrink my jumping as well
Swinley's great in general but I do like the labyrinth a lot! Came close to so many trees in there over the years - missed 'em all so far though 😀
That reminds me, must get my new season pass!
Herman Shake - we crossed paths at Stanmer last summer, I think, you got a Dialled right?
Yes that was my last bike, what were you riding?
I'll be down tomorrow night 17.30 onwards with a couple of mates, join us if you fancy!