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I may have missed it but..
I'm shocked Mach 1, 2 + 3 hasnt been put on here. Hours of riding (up)through grassy fields to be followed by a 5 min gravel path down billed as 'extreme'. Then a huge decent on a road.
Total dissapointment.
p.s. The Climax is fantastic
CUT GATE
Hora must be getting sensible in his old age; when time is limited and you need some concentrated good riding you need more than a plank on bricks at the end of your cul-de-sac to keep you entertained for a day, hence the name of this virtual tent we all sit under. What is life without Singletrack?
Funnily enough I am thinking of exactly that, some bricks and a plank near my house I can learn to jump my bike on. Good times!!
It's weird cos I love riding any bike anywhere. I did Mach 1 with my wife, PP and Mrs PP and I enjoyed it as a nice loop we could all enjoy in nice scenery. My wife didn't have to panic about any crazy technical bits and it was an ace day out. PP managed to crash into a ditch which was amusing too.
Me and Mrs Robdob went to Norfolk and did 2 rides of 25 and 16 miles on the road. Fantastic scenery, nice and relaxing on empty roads and a grand day out.
It's all good!!
And to whoever said bridleways were boring really hasn't travelled much. Some we went on at the weekend in the Yorkshire Dales were compared to the Alps in their type of riding!! Woo-hoo!!!
compositepro - Member
CUT GATE
POSTED 16 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
Eh?
Even the ride to get to Cut Gate is good, never mind the awesomeness that is the path itself. 😀
Another -1 for Grizedale.
Don't think I've ridden anywhere that I've considered dull.
The worst ride was when a mate and I attempted the Mary Townley loop and Mother Nature decided to teach us a lesson with gale force winds, rain, sleet, hail. Physically I felt fine. Mentally I was destroyed. I will never ride there again. Plus there are a lot of frickin' gates!!
Cut Gate? Really? Last year, in September after a prolonged dry period it was the best ride of the year. Fast dusty singletrack all the way down to Langsett, round the res and back again. Superb!
Another -1 for Grizedale.
it's your loss 🙂
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Dullness is all in the mind...
I feel sorry for the people who have suggested that the South Downs are dull .....jeez you haven't ridden it enough then!
I may have missed it but..I'm shocked Mach 1, 2 + 3 hasnt been put on here. Hours of riding (up)through grassy fields to be followed by a 5 min gravel path down billed as 'extreme'. Then a huge decent on a road.
Total dissapointment.
Ha - did this last year but lost the trail and descended the road. Maybe I was actually on trail?!
+1 for Lincolnshire on the dullness stakes. Although I go along with two wheels being better than none - there really is little of interest there.
Cut Gate?!! 😯
Good job this isnt a thread 'dullest person that you have ever ridden with'...
the ride to cut gate for me is open house front door .....go across field ....through langsett wood up little hill.....believe me it used to be a lot lot better.....it has been ruined by being able to ride it every day but having said that a lot of the features that made that ride special have been gone for a long time
even being at the little trig point at sunrise is meaningless now
however wharncliffe used to be a lot lot better...maybe im becoming jaded in my old age
What a bunch of moaning old to$$ers. You want to try the great swathes of UK land dedicated to farming, owned by the landed and firmly surrounded by keep off signs...
As much as you can do to stitch together a few country lanes, BWs and cheeky footpaths across very large parts of the countryside.
FWIW - Anyone who thinks The Gap is boring needs to have their mtb confiscated and reallocated to a more deserving owner. The long Gap climb (pictured) might not rate highly on fun, but the route needs to be judged as a whole. It is a classic UK ride by any standards.
I've only ridden the Marin once, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Stunning views and the feel of being in the mountains. Some very entertaining sections. I suspect it is a bit like the Penhydd trail - you need to vary the pace to suit each section and your mood.
maybe im becoming jaded in my old age
no "maybe" about it - any trail may become dull (to you) if you over ride it 🙁
Actually... I've just been thinking about this thread whilst working and it's about as relevant as some emo teens arguing which bands are the most boring.
Classic STW - Keep it coming 🙂
I racked my brains for anywhere to nominate without success. I have had a few dull rides (out of ~ 1500 in total), but those were a combination of mood, weather and company, and nothing to do with where we went
Anglesey! Shame because its got some great coast line and very rugged in places if slightly flat. Shame there are no bridalways etc... Please correct me if I'm wrong folks..
What a daft thread, even by STW standards!
Downslink is a way to get from Guildford area to the sea without going on the road, its not a trail centre! Does anyone think it would be more interesting to go on the road?
Swinley, and for that matter Cannock, you have to know where to go, and even Thetford (at the right speed) is fun. Some of the by-ways and BW round by'ere are a bit "field edge" but even then I can make up a nice 45 minute loop which me and my lad are pretty much guaranteed a laugh.
Cycling is what you make it, although having spent time there, I think Norfolk and Lincolnshire would be a struggle... 🙂
compositepro - Member
the ride to cut gate for me is open house front door .....go across field ....through langsett wood up little hill.....believe me it used to be a lot lot better.....it has been ruined by being able to ride it every day but having said that a lot of the features that made that ride special have been gone for a long timeeven being at the little trig point at sunrise is meaningless now
however wharncliffe used to be a lot lot better...maybe im becoming jaded in my old age
yep totally agree with you on the Cut gate thing.
Did i say Llangdegla.
Downslink is a way to get from Guildford area to the sea without going on the road, its not a trail centre!
There's more to biking than Trail Centres.
I feel sorry for the people who have suggested that the South Downs are dull .....jeez you haven't ridden it enough then!
3 times. First half - ditchwater, as, dull.
I'm shocked Mach 1, 2 + 3 hasnt been put on here. Hours of riding (up)through grassy fields to be followed by a 5 min gravel path down billed as 'extreme'. Then a huge decent on a road.
Yep.
A-Line @ Whistler...
I worry about people sometimes.
When I started MTBing there were no trail centres, no internet forums with responses in seconds to any route query.
All the family holidays I went on in the Lakes and Scotland, first day there I'd buy a map of the area and start looking at it, seeing what was around, I'd plan a route and go out early on my own before the family was up. Couple of hours riding, back home for second breakfast and out with parents/sister for the rest of the day.
Sure I had a couple of rides where I'd be pushing up a great descent or descending a road but by and large it'd be ace. Nowadays everyone wants instant trail centre gratification, routes supplied on GPS, a cake stop half way and no need to think. 🙁
Riding is what you make of it - bimbling round a trail centre fireroad then slagging the area off cos you can't be arsed to look at a map and work out where to go isn't exactly constructive...
+ 1 for Crazy-Legs
Well said crazy legs.
having read this I'm giving up mountain biking. There is nowhere in the UK worth riding and all mountain bikers are miserable moaning ****ers who demand that someone, somewhere makes their boring mundane lives more exciting by keeping them stimulated every 30 seconds with a challenge rather than having to look for the good bits themselves.
jeez you are all miserable buggers 😥
+ 2 for Crazy-Legs
Can't believe that yesterday I was putting forward the New Forest as the pits, now we've got Cut Gate.
FFS the New Forest has no bridleways, only a handful of ROW footpaths, everything is controlled by inbreds who could fine you for riding on anything other than fire roads (or anywhere off road at night for that matter). Yet anyone can jump on a horse and go ripping up that supposedly precious AONB.
anywhere around coventry / warwick / kenilworth.. flat, clay soil + horses = life sucking mud if its rained in the past week and horrible cut up hoof shaped chos in summer. some nice lanes + pubs if youve a road bike though.
Growing up in north Essex pre-driving was less than wonderful for riding bikes, but you persevere. Now I've ridden all over the northern hemisphere in some amazing places and yet Thetford still makes me grin stupidly.
[i]*counts RRRs toes/fingers - 12/10 and 2 thumbs* How's yer sister? [/i]
how dare you!! 😯
I was born in Cambridge though so I'm not a pure-inbred.. 🙂
Sherwood Pines, utter gash
the level of 'dullness' that will be tolerated semms to drop very quickly when you drive to ride, rather than ride from your door
Ive ridden trail centres and heard complaints about the amount of fireroad but the same riders dont bat an eyelid when road sections have to be used to link local trials.
its as if you deserve 100% perfection just because you drove your car for a couple of hours.
A&E. 🙁
Sandwich - Member
Plop pants last time I used my Garmin at Thetford on the black I recorded about 300m of climbing for the loop, which isn't too shonky for a flat as a pancake short loop. By comparison the red at Glentress came in at about 700m (not too sure of the exact figures as I lost the records when the laptop HD was changed).
I have to go back to this - I was thinking about it overnight.
300m of climbing in 10 miles in the flattest place in the UK? 1000ft?
I'm sorry to doubt you, but are you seriously saying that there is 100ft of elevation change per mile of riding in Thetford?
This thread just shows how subjective it is. If I ride any place enough it gets a little boring. the only place I tend to get utterly bored is Epping Forest / Richmond Park / that sort of thing.
I have just returned from a trip to Grizedale and apart from the north face trail I did leave a little disappointed. I was armed with a few trail maps but felt that there was lots hidden that i was missing out on. its a shame really with such a good centre that there aint more marked trails of the fire roads.
Can't believe some slagged off the Beacons. There is some brilliant riding out there - just because you had a bad time just means you didn't find good trails 🙂
And Swinley is fun too I think. Trying to nail all those windy bits flat out is a great laugh.
Riding is subjective though. Some places are dull unless you're fast/competent enough to really attack it. If you pootle then the trail has to entertain you; if you're good then you can make your own challenges.
When I worked in London I'd moan about the lack of riding. Almost everyone said 'oh there's Richmond Park' 🙄 'yeah not that kind of biking' 'oh no it's really big and great, hoenstly'. Well I went there just to see and I was right. Just a load of flat gravel paths and grass. Isn't it?
The Downs Link was pretty dull for 60km yesterday 😆
Grizedale is a great place to ride too. You need an OS map.. the majority of trails in this country are not waymarked 🙂
The long Gap climb (pictured) might not rate highly on fun, but the route needs to be judged as a whole. It is a classic UK ride by any standards
There's a far far better epic ride nearby that's on a similar scale but way better trails. Starting near Heol Senni, go west towards the A4067, there's a track on your left that goes up over Fan Gyhirych, then follow it down to Sarn Helen. The shortest version is then cutting NE across the river then up to meet the trail that joins the road north of Ysradfellte then branches NE off it again to come out back near where you started. It has many options for lengthening it down by Ystradfellte too. Very much a classic.