[Closed] Is Gisburn fully open again after the recent repairs?

The big berms were still closed off on Tuesday.

And much of the top half is still in ruins! 😐

Thanks, might give it a miss then

I love that venue but a lot of it is knackered now. All the bit around the slab and even the singletrack (sandy) leading up to it is worn out. It's in need of some serious re-grading 😥

so, where else should I look at going?

Anyone got any good natural routes in the north west surrounding manchester?

The following is my definition of good:-

-minimal walkers
-long flowing downhill sections where some speed can be had
-technical downhill sections
-I hate the narrow rutted sections that are often found on natural routes in the peaks.
- I hate going uphill, so easy ups would be good.
- its got to be all off road.
- Minmal 'filler' sections, you know, where you ride for miles on an uninteresting trail just to get to a good bit.

Fancy discovering some good natural routes, as we've been to llandegla too much recently, places like penmachno/coedy brenin are a bit too far to go for the day.

Anyone got any gps tracks for anything that fits the bill?

The Gully with the berms has been resurfaced but there are a couple of yards of stone pitching left to do. Should reopen fairly soon. The section up around the slab is due for repairs at the end of April hopefully. The forestry guys will be onto to it once tree planting has been completed.

a lot of it is knackered now. All the bit around the slab and even the singletrack (sandy) leading up to it is worn out

That's a little unfair, the vast majority of the trail is fine. The only bit completely unrideable is the 100 yards to the crag. Granted the other bits around there are not as good as they were but they are still rideable. Hopefully all of it will be aback to a decent standard in a couple of months. Voulunteers laid over 70 tonnes of gravel over 3 days to get the gully resurfaced which was quite an effort.

Don't take this as a personal attack on any of the people who have put effort into trail building, I think what has been archieved up there is amazing. But a combination of the weather and the sheer amount of people who ride up there has seen a rapid rate of errosion that simply couldn't have been forcast.

I still stand by what i said however in that the sandy singletrack and especially the run up to the cragg are extremely eroded. I think on a dry day the run up to the cragg will be rideable, and certainly the sandy singletrack is but its just so rough that it is a little less enjoyable to ride. I suppose i was lucky in the fact that i rode it when it was new 🙄

keep up the good work guys!

Calderdale? Get a map/pop into Blazing Saddles and go for an explore on the trails around Hebden/Heptonstall/Stoodley... with a little guidance from the shop, you should be able to find a lot of the good stuff!

This route looks ok:-

http://www.flattyresmtbroutes.com/HebdenSingletrack.html

Has anyone got a GPS track of it, to save me having to try and draw it on google earth?

Cheers

If you hate uphills Calderdale won't be for you.

Thats a decent ride but it includes quite a few hills - the one out of the valley towards the Yoof Hostel towards the end is a killer towards the end of a ride.

Its a very XC stylee route is that and the sections towards Whirlaw Stones will probably be a tad boggy at the moment. If you want downhills, tech stuff and short but steep climbs (get them out the way quickly) then you don't need to stray further than a couple of miles from Hebden town centre.

A tip - look on an OS map of Heptonstall. Then trace all the footpaths and BWs down from there into the valleys that surround 3 sides of it. Chances are, it'll be ace.

But I like downhills, so will put up with the pain for a good down.

I guess I should have been more specific, I get no pleasure from uphills, so hate the sort of route where you end up going uphill on a section that would be awesome as a down, and you end up going down on a smooth wide stretch of gravel.

A few of us were there on Wednesday. Red all rideable apart from the short section below the crag as already mentioned.
[img] [/img]
Only been twice & I suppose it is now a bit rougher on the sandy singletrack

A few pics [url= http://www.fluidr.com/photos/pennine/sets/72157623678574931 ]here[/url]

I still stand by what i said however in that the sandy singletrack and especially the run up to the cragg are extremely eroded. I think on a dry day the run up to the cragg will be rideable, and certainly the sandy singletrack is but its just so rough that it is a little less enjoyable to ride. I suppose i was lucky in the fact that i rode it when it was new

I like the photo above, ironic the only bit of the trial left is the bl**dy rocks everyone rode around wrecking the trail 🙄

Wow, I haven't ridden at Gisburn for a long time (still go and build there tho, occasionally), jon had said that the climb to the crags was a mess, but that trail has been obliterated. In the early days, when it was being built, we were saying that putting those big rock obsticals on that climb was a bad idea.
Apparently a similar thing has happened on the qualifier to the slab, people riding around the obsticals.

A few of us were there on Wednesday. Red all rideable apart from the short section below the crag as already mentioned.

Went there for the first time on Easter Sunday and rode that section on both laps - can I have a medal?? 😀

I had mixed feelings about the trail, bits I loved and other bits just seemed to be a boggy and muddy mess which interrupted the flow of the route. I enjoyed it but I couldn't help but think how much better it would be if it was all surfaced to the same standard. I don't profess to have any knowledge of the trail or the work behind it but it felt almost as if the trail was too long for the budget provided and money was spread a bit thin in areas to get a longer loop. That said it is undoubtedly a great trail and I look forward to riding there again.

Will

the collapsed sections were genuine build mistakes rather than money related. They wanted to use local natural materials where possible, i.e. the sandy stuff was quarried on site and crushed as part of the build. There second issues was when they built the upper sections they thought the ground material was suitable and to be honest when dry it looks a bit like a stoney shale. In fact when it first openned the trashed sections were fine, really smooth and flowy.

It's been fully taken on board that the surfacing wasn't appropriate, hence the 70 tonnes plus of brought in limestone we've laid on the Gully (in fact 260 tonnes of limestone was brought in and stock piled in late january for repair work). Going forward (certainly on the volunteer bits) we're reserving the crushed sandstone for a base layer and then sealing it with the limestone.

As a matter of interest which bits did you like?

As a matter of interest which bits did you like?

On the whole I liked the entire red trail and it has some nice contrast along its length. I enjoyed the fast sections where the blue and red share to and from the car park, more for the sense of speed and flow than anything else. I also enjoyed the Sheep Hill(?) climb towards the crag and most of the other 'surfaced' sections to be honest. I can't say I didn't enjoy any of it, it was just not as much fun to ride through the boggy/muddy bits as it was the surfaced bits. My favourite trail centre is Kirroughtee just for the flow and speed that you can keep, sections of Gisburn felt like that but were interspersed with slower muddy bits which took the shine off a little I felt. I'm not averse to riding in mud, as I do it all the time but on the rare occassion I go to a trail centre it is for a fast and flowy ride.

Just to reinforce my statement though I did enjoy it and I'm grateful to have somewhere like that to ride at all close to home (Leeds). Now if you can do something about the A65....... I'll be getting the train to Long Preston and riding out next time I think.

At Gisburn personally i really like the singletrack on the red up from the river, into the woods twisty climb and the singletrack to the step, out on to main track and then short twisty section to river it is simply one of the best bits of red track. Well constructed, well thought out and just great. Ruined in places by riders wanting to avoid the rocks, or not following the track.

The crags are a mess but the materials were always going to lead to that but it has loads of potential, again i do not find the gully that wonderful, okay but other more singltrack bits is intresting.

Well done to all volunteers.
BUT after riding over to Gisburn on the road I was nearly knocked off my bike by vans owned by mountain bikers in a rush to get there, no consideration or manners.........middle aged rant but it was intolerable used to the 4 x4's but hells bells you would think that people would understand and show fellow cyclists some respect!

that climb looks a bit fall liney... but often the FE may dictate paths that are not sustainable. Switchback it at no more than 10 degrees and it ull last forever.

Hope to be off there in the morning but looks like the gully part is closed ..... is that still true ?

Yep gully is still closed. Switchbacks may be the answer, ridden some nice ones at Afan yesterday. To be fair Rowen Sorrel designed the trail and where it goes and the main FC man is also a rider so there was a lot of experience going into the design. Some bits worked, some bits didn't and will get redone.

It is dry as a bone up there at the moment. Now is the time to ride it.

As said above repairs are in the pipeline.

is the FE guy Martin Ovaster ?

Nope, FE guy is Martin Colledge. Anyway spoke to Nigel yesterday, hopefully the gully will be reopened with a temporary section (a couple of metres only) then be closed for a day in a couple of weeks time to complete the work.

As Ed says it's very dry up there at the moment.

It is massivle dry! nice and quick and the entire route is rideable. Went up last night in the evening sunshine, was well nice! can't help but feel how lucky i am to have that only 30mins from my house (driving time)!

To be honest people complaining about trail conditions in Gisburn have probably not ridden any of the "natural" stuff in Bowland or any of the old (pre-trailbuilding) Gisburn cheeky / XC course bits. The area has always been boggy and most bridleways in a 5 mile radius are far worse and very weather dependent.

The new trails are a huge improvement and offer true options for year round use (even with bits in current boggy state). Keep up the good work guys!