[Closed] Must see - More to life than trail centres

Cool 🙂

Awesome, I keep meaning to go up there on my way back from the Long Mynd. I think that's called an inversion.

In wintertime, a temperature inversion occurs when cold air close to the ground is trapped by a layer of warmer air.

EVERY WEEK? You mean you rode a trail centre more than once without getting bored out of your skull? ...and worse, you rode THE SAME [s]hamster wheel[/s] trail centre?

Buy your local OS map and be amazed at what's out there.

Had a similar experience myself, low cloud rolling in across Winscar reservoir, half the reservoir was menacing thick moody cloud, the other half clear in bright sunlight. Tried to get a photo but spent ages fumbling for my zip and missed it. The tips of the wind turbine blades popping out then returning into the cloud was also pretty crazy!

I took the road bike out in that, it was miserable. Canned it after 2 hours even though I had a day pass because the ice was building up on my gloves and hair.

Can someone get globalti more smug pills,i think he's taken all his at once.

Can someone get globalti more smug pills,i think he's taken all his at once.

He must have a repeat prescription, going by his usual contributions.

Awesome pics OP!

Can someone get globalti more smug pills,i think he's taken all his at once.

Get him a handful. Smack-downs like that keep the internet turning.

🙂

I used to ride Cannock every week when I started almost 4 years ago. I did this for about 12 months as it was on my doorstep and the only place I knew. Now I ride the trails once or twice a year, usually at night. Off-piste is good over there though as new stuff pops up all of the time.

Can someone get globalti more smug pills,i think he's taken all his at once.

That would be glo balti who hasn't ridden a mountain bike in years? 😉

Variety is the spice of life. Or god is in the details.

Shhhhhhhhhhh, nothing to see in hropshire ........................move along......the chase is just up the road.

I know speshpaul, the amount of rides I've done in Shropshire and not saw another bugger all day...It's madness that no one rides there!

Can someone get globalti more smug pills,i think he's taken all his at once.

They ain't pills, they're suppositories.

Lovely!

Here's a pic a took a few weeks ago when up there

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I'm pretty much stuck with driving to Swinley at the moment as any trails near to me are largely composed of hub-deep clay clag. Gave it a valiant try last month and it was a walking pace slog of unparalleled misery.

Trail Centres have their uses, especially in the winter.

Can't wait for the natural stuff to come back online though.

Don't think I'll return to Swinley until the summer, I seriously couldn't get over how sandy and abrasive it was to every component on my bike. Wrecked brakes for 4 out of 5 of us and i'm still picking sand out of my pockets now.

It's pretty gritty but that's why it drains well and isn't a miserable clag-fest.

It was ace yesterday, some gloop on the fire road links but Deer Stalker/Labyrinth were riding beautifully as was most of the red. Tank Traps was closed for logging which was a shame but overall a cracking day out.

That said I am pretty anal when it comes to cleaning the bike after a Swinley ride, don't want that grit sitting there grinding away.

Don't think I'll return to Swinley until the summer, I seriously couldn't get over how sandy and abrasive it was to every component on my bike. Wrecked brakes for 4 out of 5 of us and i'm still picking sand out of my pockets now.

See, that sounds like a Globalti style smug post, but when you consider the local alternatives, if Swinley's claggy then the Chilterns are certainly beyond 'interesting', and the rest of the woods round Corwthorne/Mychet/Sanduhurst/Deepcut are pretty muddy! So you either have to not ride at all, or accept that Swinley isn't that bad really, especialy if you divert arround the worst of the fire roads after the rain/forestry opperations the trails themselves seem to hold up well.

Having said that I always take a 5ml bottle of chain lube for the ride home, it's soul destroying listening to that noise from the drivechain on the way home!

I don't mind wet and muddy, but it was just pure grit! To be fair it was probably the worst day of the year when we went down there. Incredibly cold and rained non-stop all day long. No idea on section names but one bit was fantastic, so much so we did it about 4 times! The start of it is next to a big old tree on the left and it drops down into tabletops and left berms.

Nice, my very first mtb rides were up the Wrekin when I was about 12 and lived in London, visiting Telford for the grandparents.

I remember a good descent over the 'back' of the hill away from where everyone tends to to walk up?

Cracking looking picture mate

I wish had this sort of riding local to me, its certainly the sort of riding I'd like to do most

I still haven't ridden a trail centre

I think I need to try one

I lived that way about 8 years ago, some good local cheeky trails, just had to dodge the whinging Shropshire wildlife trust nobbers! My commute to work was 95% off road down the Silkin Way and diversions round back alleys of estates. Live in an even better place now though, Sheffield, even riding the roads requires off road skills they're that bad!

Awesome photos, well done.