On a work trip with bike in boot. Worth a 30min detour drive?
Alternative is quite a bit longer the other way to go to Peaslake.
It was prime yesterday, only going to be better today.
Depends where the 30 minute detour is from, if its north then the Punchbowl is in great condition too.
Went up for a quick lap Saturday eve and it was pretty good. Should be better... er yeah, what Scott said 🙂
How easy are the trails to find? Been meaning to give QECP a try for a while. Same applies to Punchbowl. As a peaslake local its daft that i haven't ridden either of the other two.
How easy are the trails to find?
they are marked. pretty easy. i'd recomend blue then red. should be ~90 mins.
It was excellent yesterday. A little sticky in places, but no splashing and pretty grippy.
Blue trail is good all year round.
Haven't been to QECP but ride Punchbowl a lot (and Peaslake)
Punchbowl is actually quite tricky to find not least because the best stuff isn't in the Punchbowl and the main bit is not meant for bikes anyway (there are a few bits on either side that I ride, one obvious and ok, the other cheeky and hard to find)
But the best stuff is on the Gibbet Hill side and the Bomb Hole ridge beyond the temple of four winds or winds (can't remember which). Sme of it is q steep (and beyond me) with some hidden jumps and drop offs. There is a semi-hidden area q close to the well known Gibbet stuff which was ignored for ages*. Now been rediscovered with new routes, drops and berms being built and now that it's more serious new chicken lines. Which is a shame as its going to get spoilt. I showed this area to two ballsy riders about 6 weeks ago, so maybe I am to blame indirectly.
* used to feel like millionaires MTB as hardly ever saw tracks other than mine for most of last year. Three trails, one beyond me and scene of very painful face plant and lots of blood! Now my favourite run is being up-graded above my comfort zone and many new lines appearing each week!
Ended up at Peaslake before bad light stopped play. Managed all of about 15 mins after site visit ran over, but I had the bike in the car - seemed rude not to.
I rode up at QECP last week and as long as you avoid the wet bits then it's really good at the moment. Much better than expected actually.
I'll be going back up tomorrow hopefully.
That was you i bumped into last night. I was on the rusty Stanton. You were right about it being too dark to ride Eric.
Both times I've been to QECP it has been wet, and it was awful. I guess if someone can show you the off piste stuff it would be good, but the climb up from the car park is definitely "type 2" fun. Should be good in the dry though. Tunnel hill runs well in the wet, or give peaslake another go.
[i] I guess if someone can show you the off piste stuff [/i]
*disapproving frown*
That was you i bumped into last night. I was on the rusty Stanton. You were right about it being too dark to ride Eric.
It was too dark to see any rust... 😆
Eric remains my current bogey run - keep hurting myself on it. Was tempted today but had left my helmet behind. The new line that crossed Eric right at the start looked good.
Why do certain runs affect you mentally!!
Eric just takes commitment. The more you attack it the easier it gets. Oh it also needs light. It's tricky if you can't see it.