By the way, you don't [b]have[/b] to ride the rutty nutty bit - you can always swing left down the bridlepath to the road!
Some signage might be a good idea to prevent premature use?
Some signage might be a good idea to prevent premature use?
2nd this. I know the Hurtwood policy is no signage put surely something temporary is ok? Loads of people riding round there will not be on this forum...
Could you not tape off the new stuff, so you would have to be a total <£$& to break the tape and ride on.
Signs would help, and maybe some notifications at Peaselake Stores? & and the Bus Stop?
I know its against the grain to restrict access in the Hurtwood, but surely the protection of the new trail until it can fend for it self is a necessary evil?
Any new photos of the reworked ending?
If there are no signs it will be trashed before its ever open.
Don't worry - signs, tape and more are in the works. If you do see someone trying to ride it in the mean time, please ask them not to - usually when you explain why, people understand.
Had a look at the new part of the trail today.
Very very impressed, lots more metres os swoopy Surrey singletrack. And a few large berms too!
The surface of the trail is bedding in nicely, but stil fragile. Remember kids, leave it alone until told you can ride it..............
Had a nose today as well, good work and thanks for the efforts!
Went for a gander yesterday,
some sweet looking berms in there, could do with some doubles or table tops - but doubt these would be allowed?
I really like the rutty bit shame it's going really.
Doubles/tabletops - can't be part of it, I'm afraid. However, I do think you will find that the trail (when open - please don't ride now!) will have ample reward for the better rider, in so much as if you ride faster it will take on a different quality. But the relative novice will still be able to get down in reasonable safety and without dragging brakes and ripping up the surface.
Rutty bit is going going (not quite but will be) gone, I'm afraid. There are other similar challenges in the woods thereabouts (esp Pitch) if you know where to look.
whoo-hoo. Excited. An early Xmas present 🙂
Table tops and/or other features were simply outside of the scope of the budget as they take days not hours and you can do 100m of trail in a day (the new trail section is almost 600m). Had things gone quicker then yes, something may have appeared as long as they met the strict requirement of being robust. It's still an excellent bit of trail. Will post a message about next steps in a mo..
Oh, and please don't straightline any of the new (or old) stuff - whoever you are that is doing it a lot at the moment. I can recommend a good local skills training company that can help you get around corners!
[i]Why is the new ending of BKB currently closed?
The new ending to Barry Knows Best (Golden Birdies) is now complete and the trail now needs to consolidate before being ridden. This will ensure that the trail surface has settled and that the life of the trail is extended. We have estimated that it will take a month of consolidation before being ready to ride. We will be monitoring the trail and will open the trail as soon as we can.
Your co-operation is appreciated during the consolidation period is appreciated. This is your trail and if you keep off it for one month it will give you years of quality riding.
Ian Warby, CTC[/i]
On a similar note, there will shortly be a communication to people that have been added to the volunteer email list (send an email to mtb@hurtwoodcontrol.co.uk) arranging sessions to get the finish on the trail done. We now have a trail report from Ian Warby that we can use to get the trail up to a standard that it can be considered finished - mixed with the right weather over the next month and we should see the trail openened soon!
If you wish to help with the trails and their future on the Hurtwood estate, there is no greater way than to become a Friend of the Hurtwood with an annual donation. This can be done online now with a very wide range of payment options. Only takes a few minutes at www.hurtwoodcontrol.co.uk - hit the Donate Now button at the top of the page.
I took some pics for my club forum yesterday, didnt ride it and it doesnt look ready to ride so DONT! On the lower berm you can already see where people have been riding it and ruining it.
Very impressed with the work and the short time it was done it. Well done to all the builders. It looks like it will ride very well and fits in nicely to the old trails character, looking forward ti riding it.
It starts just after the small jump after the berms, you can see the old trail continuing down the middel of the pic. New trail carves off to the right and switches back on itself.
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Looking down trail,
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Looking down trail, possible small jump and into berm
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Berm after jump
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Looking up trail, after berm it comes back on itself and goes past new starting point
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Looking up trail, bit further down
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Looking down trail from same point as above photo
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Looking up trail from bit further down
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Looking down trail from same point as above photo
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Looking up trail and same bit in photo above
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Looking down trail, it then flows into this beauty of a berm
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Looking up trail, exit of berm in above photo
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Looking down trail, trail then continues
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Looking down trail, into large berm
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Looking up trail, exit of berm
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Looking down trail, it then goes into another berm and finishes, you can see where soem idiots have ridden it here and scuffed the berm up.
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If you dont want the pics on here then get a mod to delete it.
Great job guys. Looking good.
looks good. Who has been riding it then?
It's going to be hard to resist. I suspect there will be a lot of people who either won't know they aren't allowed to ride it or will just disregard that direction.
s'right altho as mentioned above some signage would help. I havent been there yet meself but in that first pic it does look like the fork is optional, no indication which way you should go and which is 'closed'.
(yes, I guess that the tape in the bushes on the right hand side previously barred the way but it doesn't anymore...)
There is signage and tape - some f@*kwits have ignored the former and broken through the latter. Morons.
Lots of people riding the new bit today --****s.
Tapes were up today so they must have been deliberately going through them 🙁
Interesting, but I'm concerned this is a step towards sanitising the trails. The end section is the best bit of BKB. It's tricky and requires skills, and can scare you. It's important to get scared sometimes :D. I can understand the concern of riders dropping onto the road though. Is this more of a concern from residents though than real danger?
i think it also has to do with preserving the side of the hill which the current end of BKB is not doing 😕
Lots of other nice stuff to ride in the Surry Hills if you don't like the new trail.
Well done to those who have helped build this new ending, fantastic job 😀
It looks fantastic and i can't wait till we are given the all clear to ride it, please no locking up of brakes into the berms people 😉
Yup, someone broke the tapes today - one of us has been up there tonight in the dark to fix everything up.
Please- if you see the tapes broken again, tie the bits back together and ask people to resist the urge to ride it - it will have to remain closed for longer, and need work to repair if people keep riding it.
Wow, it's made BBC News!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/surrey/8349871.stm
Not sure that's a good thing though as it means a lot of advertisement and that means a lot more riders.
grade reversals are good, but the berms 'aint gonna shed water, it'll scour out in no time - nobody heard of rolling crowns round there?
Local knowledge and experience tells us that the yellow sand berms will solidify and hold firm once they have a period of consolidation - provided people can keep off it for a few weeks it will shed water and be durable.
The builder is one of the most experienced specialist diggers in the country - he most certainly [i]has[/i] heard of rolling crowns!
As for more riders coming - well we can't have it both ways. Surrey Hills AONB have provided funds to help us from their sustainable development money - stimulating the local economy and increasing appreciation of the countryside is a good thing, not something to be avoided. I've lived here all my life and I've never felt like I wanted visitors to not come and enjoy.
'Bike Danger Trail' don't you just love the BBC!
grade reversals are good, but the berms 'aint gonna shed water, it'll scour out in no time - nobody heard of rolling crowns round there?
Would be interesting to know your thinking Z11.
Pretty sad indication of people's skill level if they couldn't get down the existing finish without locking up and ripping it to shreds. Having said that, I think the new ending looks great and stopping damage caused by bikes and therefore alienating residents can only be a good thing.
Looks like the tape didn't last too long though... some hefty wooden barricades/logs would have more effect I hope.
well we managed to keep most people off with a bit of diligence and with some help from some volunteers we finished it off last weekend and the trail was opened a few days ago.
Lots of people riding and enjoying it today (many of them phoning their mates telling them what they were missing).
Thanks to everyone who stayed off or helped! We'll be keeping an eye on how it beds in as there is bound to be bits to sort.
Zulu - The berms have lots of reinforcement and stones (and will have more) on the inside to slow and control water to prevent erosion. Their design also prevent shortcutting which is one of the issues with rolling crowns - and they're a lot more fun! We also don't have the right sort of geology for robust crowns, just sand and small sandstone bits. The sandy berms also absorb and drain through them and channel water less than in stoney areas.
geetee - good to chat to you at the bus shelter and congrats again onb the baby, i'm pretty sure that your email address bounces these days so you may not get the email we discussed.
catch up with you soon glenp/bent udder
+1 to all the good comments on here, flows really well and by the time I rode (twice) it at about 10 ish this morning it looked like there's been a few down it!!
As said a bit above, I can't see any reason why anyone would need to lock up and skid, they'd have to be shockingly bad or deliberate / inconsiderate. The only bit that even really needs any significant braking is the s-bend before the big RH berm near the end, and that was only where I was a bit 'positive' on the approach first time down it!! But it does seem as if a few have made that mistake, the surface is a bit looser as a result.
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I rode past on the road bike about 10 and people certainly seemed to be enjoying it, maybe if it had been drier I'd have had a go on the Madone!
Good work to all involved!
Looks good. Can't wait to check it out. A big thanks to everyone who helped build it
And finance it. You can all help by donating to the hurtwood friends charity. All the money is used for maintenance and development and you can give as much or little as you like. Details on the hurtwood website.
Rode the new 650 metres of trail today, great fun.
It was the only dry and firm part of the whole surreyhills.
A much better faster ending to the trail than that horrible skid down the fall line that was the previous ending.
Definately in keeping with what the surreyhills is all about to me, swoopy woodland singletrack.
Firstly you guys are doing great work
But Ilike that cliff face finish its puka
cant change that. Its what trail riding is all about
Its a natural part of the Forest, also how to progress
as a rider.
I just hope you dont change the similar finish to a trail in Pitch Hill.
Cant you leave the old finish as an optional end to the trail?
The best ending to BKB is neither of these 🙂
Sorry grantway, but you can write a very long wish list for trails here (sustainability, fun, flow, weather resistance, suitability for all etc etc) and get no-where near needing to boost your progress as a rider. The Hurtwood are to be thanked and appreciated for engaging with mountain biking and doing what they can to accommodate us - they have no need or desire to encourage the type of riding that you are missing… and as you point out similar scrabbly slopes do exist nearby if you know where to look.
If we all keep up the good work of being responsible and not tearing up the woods (plus slowing to a crawl when we go past walkers, horses and anyone working) then the land owners will continue to look favourably on us. As will folk such as Surrey Hills AONB, who are very much behind people coming to enjoy our open spaces and maybe boost the local economy at the same time.
Rode it for the first time tonight - new section is awesome! Almost 3 abreast trying to overtake on the berms on the final run 😛
The new ending to BKB was great fun riding it in the dark for the first time tonight. 😀 That 2nd new berm (i call it "The Wall") just seems to disappear downwards into the dark but is oh so fast once you know what to expect and having it ending at the bottom of the bridleway that climbs back up the hill is a good idea as well.
Top marks for all those who made it happen,,, although its a shame the old ending [u]had[/u] to go
djglover - you naughty boy, i know exactly what you 😉 are talking about
is the ending now officially open then?
Aye - open. Wednesday nights are v busy usually, so might get a bit more feedback tomorrow.
