As above. Am I alone in thinking this, £4 for kids / concessions as well .
Are these what they've put in to make up for the loss of the Beastway trails? I'd be interested to hear what we ended up getting in return after all the pledges made before the demolition of Eastway. Old news no doubt, but I left London in 2005.
As to pricing, it rather depends what's on offer, but it sounds like an attempt to keep numbers manageable to me.
Yes, these are the replacement for the beastway trails. drove past them today. Never rode the old trails, [though seen plenty of pics of them] the new ones look like standard trail centre fare, more twisty and technical than before, mini rock gardens etc. not much elevation, though they seem to have designed in as many short-sharp technical climbs as they can. 4.5 miles long they say. looks like a good training loop for hammering, just a little surprised at the pricing and time limit of one hour for that price.
That actually sounds like a decent distance within the space. IIRC from putting up the Beastway courses they weren't quite as far and the legacy plans at the time started with less space and got smaller, so it didn't seem like there would be much point bothering. This sounds like something far more decent than we had hoped, although the elevation was what made (B)Eastway special. I wonder if racing can return, although the old courses would vary each week and new lines would be created.
When you think about how much your $2000 trail-conquering/all-mountain steed costs to run per year it's probably ok value for money. Compared to the price of the woods behind NatWest in Swindon, less so.
Someone's havin a laugh.. £12 for an averagely brief ride?
Jon Taylor - MemberWhen you think about how much your $2000 trail-conquering/all-mountain steed costs to run per year it's probably ok value for money. Compared to the price of the woods behind NatWest in Swindon, less so.
Converting the US dollar, that's only about £1,200.....
Plus I had no idea horses were that cheap. More expensive to run a year than a bike.
I would love to ride there for a couple hours.
Has any one got a link/more info?
I think it's a reasonable price for a novel experience.
I would love to ride there for a couple hours.
Has any one got a link/more info?
I think it's a reasonable price for a novel experience.
Is it novel? It's not like the trails were anything to do with the Olympics! Bit steep for my liking!
And people thought the 2 quid to park at swinley was steep.
only about £1,200
How did the word 'only' ever start coming before "£1200" for a push bike. 🙂
it would certainly make it the most expensive trail centre in the country!
People are actually prepared to pay to ride somewhere - madness 😯
For £6 per hour on nice trails on private (er, is it?) land I, I would be expecting first aid, event village, marshals and a race plate. Facetious yes, but there are xc races run for profit that don't charge much more than that by the hour-on-trails, partcularly longer/marathon ones. 😕 Last year's 24/12 cost me about £3.50 an hour for the time i was actually riding my bike, and I got all the above plus swag bag, three nights camping, drinking water, toilets and hot showers too.
That works out more expensive per hour than any uk uplift I can think of. Wonder what the thinking is?
If it's Stratford Olympic Park as the OP states, then no these trails weren't built for the Olympics. They bulldozed the Eastway road circuit and its "Beastway" environs to make way for the velodrome and competitor village, amongst other things I understand. The users campaigned for a legacy replacement for at least a couple of years, but the promises grew less and less viable.
I'm really interested to know what's come to be and how. Any ex Eastway Supporters or Structureless Tyranny about to shed some light on this?
I'll have a look myself later when I've got a proper computer handy.
Pricewise, yes, we're used to riding access usually being free, but £6 isn't that much compared to many things you don't think twice about, and the trails possibly don't warrant riding for more than an hour for most visitors. Eastway used to charge IIRC.
Another thing is that one of the great benefits of the Eastway/Olympic Park site is that Londoners can cycle there so there's no car, petrol, parking, or train cost required. It was also central enough to be able to fit in after work riding, like an entire 10 week or so Beastway series over the Summer for example.
So roughly the same price per hour as a cinema ticket. Doesn't sound like an outrage.
I've got mixed feelings about it really, agree it's similar to a cinema ticket or [london] exhibition entrance fee.
My better half [who rides as well] lives about 100 yards from the Olympic park, so it costs about the same as a return tube fare up to epping forrest, less than a train ticket or petrol out to the Surrey hills or Kent where we usually so it's great for us.
Still thinking it's quite pricey if you've got to travel there. especially surprised about it being £4 for kids, not much of a legacy for local youngsters coming from one of the poorest boroughs in the country.
So not that much if you're used to prancing about on a $2000 'steed' [we fall into that category] .I just feel that this particular situation says more about luxury than legacy.
Also, it seems this price is for an hours riding which seems a bit tight.
Is that a parking fee or do they limit access in some other way?
It doesn't seem that outrageous to me to charge for access to the space in London. I'm sure there are plenty of other activities who could use the same space and would be happy to pay £6 for it round there. If I lived in that part of London I'd pay for it on occasion to get a chance to ride when I otherwise wouldn't.
Is there a trail map?
London LOL
Does the £6 include the uplift service.?
It must be a London thing, I can't imagine anything similar lasting long up North.
And since when has riding your bike been akin to going to the cinema???
You've got a point there poisonspider,
I've been up to Lee Quarry a few times and it's great to see the local kids on their supermarket specials out enjoying the trails and the pump track rather than sitting at home on playstations. I can't imagine they'd be doing it if it cost them £4 /hour. some of their bikes probably cost less than that! and some of their skills put me to shame as well!
The 'per hour' limit seems a bit odd to me - can that even be policed?
Oh and Jon's $2000 is NZD not USD, so about £1000 8)
If it's managed anything like Eastway was then they'll probably be fairly relaxed about the time limit. If BC have got their grubby little track supporting mitts involved in it though then nothing would surprise me - I'm guessing the tracks are still close to the velodrome. I'd also guess any policing would be on the ancillary facilities rather than roving rangers/
Lee Valley Velopark
http://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/en/content/cms/london2012/velo-park/mountain-biking/
Referring to the entire Olympic Park legacy:
"'Ideally the park would pay for itself...the park has to generate its own income.' That means...charging the public to use them."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/10127550/One-year-on-the-transformation-of-Londons-Olympic-park.html
Perfect spot for the city bankers to get some use out of their carbon Santa Cruz shred sleds though, eh?
Increase it to £30 p/h I say.
Epping Forest about 20 mins ride away is free pounds per hour & you get nothing but unpolished natural technical single track for miles & miles & miles.
Could be good for winter though as Epping then transforms into one huge enormous swamp
The last I heard about the venue though was there was major issues with crossing points where pedestrians will have access across trails
stevious - MemberThe 'per hour' limit seems a bit odd to me - can that even be policed?
I'm hoping there's coloured armbands and a big multicoloured clock thing up a tree, with klaxons and stuff.
Just because you don't pay at a Forestry comission trail centre, doesn't mean it did not cost a lot of money to the public purse. I bet some of the less visited trail centres cost a similar per hour - you just pay in taxes.
Didn't we already pay for this with taxes though?
[i]That works out more expensive per hour than any uk uplift I can think of.[/i]
Are you sure?
I'm hoping there's coloured armbands and a big multicoloured clock thing up a tree, with klaxons and stuff.
😆
Is it a ride, similar to the grand national at Blackpool Pleasure beach? Jump on a bike on rails and race each other around...
It's like "THE RAILS COME ALIVE"....
b r - MemberAre you sure?
Pretty sure- who am I missing?
On a vaguelly related point i notice the velodrome introduction sessions are being priced at £30 for an hour. Its £10 in Glasgow and Manchester!
And riders with accreditation and racing experience from Manchester, Newport and Glasgow have got to go through all the lessons again to ride in London (normally if you are qualified to ride one of these you are allowed on the others)...whereas those who have riden at Herne Hill can skip the first two lessons. That is going to be a recipe for mayhem!
Compared to the price of the woods behind NatWest in Swindon, less so.
Been looking for those woods for a while, are they anywhere near the ones behind the Nationwide?
Captive audience for MTB - £6 or even £12 won't get you very far in your car to go riding and will take you ages in traffic anyway.
For velodrome its supply and demand, I bet it's sold out at £30 an hour given the size of the city and the amount of interest, plus London real estate costs are much higher than Machester and Glasgow so costs won't be the same.
Why has it got to fund itself FFS...
It gets folk off their rses, it gives what would be (I'm guessing), a peice of land in a shit part if London, a purpose...
How much cash is thrown at [i]arts[/i] every year...
The ckin money that Olympics cost this country, & we're still ckin paying.
Surely the legacy of 2012 should have been to put facilities like this cycling route into the community, for the benefit of everyone, not just those that can pay. Guess the ethos is the same with everything that was to do with 2012...charge as much as we possibly can, make as much money as we can.
The legacy of 2012 will be a fortunate few doing very nicely thank you, now Lord Fontlerroy & his Olympic dream have moved on.
if it was £1 all day I wouldn't use it out of principle.
The Olympics were sold to the nation as the legacy games, they were supposed to encourage the nation to become fitter and healthier by promoting sport for all. Back when the government wanted everyone to get behind the scheme there was a lot of talk about reducing the obstacles to participation, two of which are opportunity and cost. With this facility the opportunity is only available to those that can afford to pay for it, you're not going to get inner city kids going over there day after day building up their skills, getting fitter, getting faster and gradually falling in love with the sport of riding their bikes off road.
The original cost of the circuit should have been met by the regeneration budget and maintenance should be pretty minimal so i don't see why the fee is so high other than profiteering. If facilities are provided then they need to be paid for, that is fair enough. if there are changing rooms then charge for them, if there's a cafe then make it commercially viable, if there's a surfaced car park then charge for parking, if you want to run a race you book the circuit. But ultimately someone that's not doing any of those things should be able to roll up on their bike and ride the course at no cost any time of the day or night.
There are parks in every town and city that have football pitches on them, if you want to be sure of playing at 11am on a Sunday morning you book the pitch and pay a fee. Any time the pitch isn't booked you're more than welcome to turn up with 21 friends and play a full game on the marked out and maintained football pitch. That seems like quite a good example to follow.
You'd all know better than me how much the Olympics cost and the impact upon the economy, but judging from that Telegraph article I linked to it does seem to be a big money pit. From my recollection they're down at least £1 billion on what they need to complete the legacy. £650m needs to repaid, while at least that amount needs to be spent. I'm not sure if the £200m for stadium seating is included either, and Boris expects it to cost £10m pa to maintain. Sounds like they should impose tariffs on Westfield which is raking it in!
On a related note I saw a documentary fairly recently about how the Olympics were developed against challenging environmentally friendly targets. Given that the soil was polluted they washed it all with equipment and infrastructure they developed instead of carting it away and replacing it. You can imagine the whole enterprise experienced financial largesse.
Pay to ride in London, was only a matter of time! Money really does dull the senses!
Seems kind of practical to me. One small trail surrounded by millions of potential riders. If you didn't charge for it you'd probably get so many people on the trail it would be like the M25 in rush hour.
Of course a peak pricing system would be better so that you can go for a night ride for free.
Jesus.
One day the whole country will be like this... Once they build the high speed rail link so london can spill out to the rest of the country!
Seems a lot relative to other trail centers, but.........
Others are built to attract money into areas which need it (Borders, Wales etc) or to make money/break even (Aston Hill). This is presumably the latter, so it won't be free.
Compares to training sessions at velodromes which are open to roadies on normal bikes (brakes and gears), and that's just a 400m concreet oval.
Compares to swimming.
Compaes to a round on a council pitch'n'put golf course.
Significantly cheeper than the cost of getting out of London to Surrey/Swinley/Aston Hill/Epping etc.
Probably less per hour than the cost of buying/maintaining a lot of peoples bikes! £2k bike, how many actualy do more than 1000miles in a year (two hours a week, every week, all year)?
I still wouldn't pay it, I refuse to pay to ride at Swinely and that's 3x longer!
I also bet lots of you spend £££ getting to the trail centre's in car expenses. Having a local spot offsets some of that cost, no?
Still thinking it's quite pricey if you've got to travel there. especially surprised about it being £4 for kids, not much of a legacy for local youngsters coming from one of the poorest boroughs in the country.
This is the issue for me. What sort of legacy will be left if you make it too expensive for the people who would benefit most from it?
Compared with Manchester (Free trails and cheaper indoor BMX) it just seems to be aimed at the affluent rather than the local community.
Comparing it to swimming is just silly, a swimming pool is typically a massive building with very high running costs. Even a golf course is generally a large parcel of land that could possibly be put to other uses and needs a lot of maintenance and ground staff to keep it playable.
A bike track can be irregularly shaped to go wherever it isn't practical or economically viable to build anything else. For large sections it really need to be no wider than 1.5 metres and it requires little maintenance and even less staffing.
Guys I was at the indoor track yesterday and asked about the mtb trails. The cost is £6 for the day NOT just one hour, hope that helps. Also during school term on a Wednesday it is just £2, not sure how long this will be for though. I intend to ride it soon so will repost when done
Cheers
It's right in the centre of London, where else can you go mountain biking within 3 miles of the city? It's only £2 on a Wednesday. I'm going there twice a week, there's no one else there. At the moment you've got the place to yourself - not sure that will last. Twice round the circuit is a good workout, there's plenty of challenges. If you get there once during the week, you'll be in much better shape for a weekend ride.
how much is a cheap day return to the North Downs?
By god, it looks dull. You'd have to pay me to ride there!
Check out the 'black' section just before 7 mins...
is he wearing a knee pad?