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Hi All,
I am looking for a bit of fun all weather cycling near me and WH is only 50mins away so was thinking about popping over. I am more of an XC sort of guy so wondered if it was worth it or whether it is all FF helmets and jumpinesss.
I would love to hear your experiences and whether it is worth a visit on a 100mm XC bike.
Cheers
Dogsby
Lots of jumpiness, have a look at the videos
Yes a bit on the short scale for long XC loop, more massive jumps territory. However the blue and reds are nice to do. If i was you, I will try to go to the Mendips instead, nearby, unless you've done them already.
Massive jump line through the middle (pro line) is on most of the videos. Most of the rest of the lines are rollable without jumping (some drops though - but nothing more than 1-2 feet high that I found), but the tabletops on the red line have very steep take off ramps. The blue is great fun and the red on the far left from the top is just rooty and a little technical. The blacks are mainly steep and tech plus drops.
It’s really a push up and bomb down place. You could cycle up the fire road but it’s quite steep / rough and not very rewarding!
I’d take my hardtail there no problem (140mm forked trail bike with modern but not excessively long / slack geo), but I’d have more fun on my enduro bike. I full faced up and knee / elbow pads last time but if you aren’t pushing it a normal lid would be fine.
It drains pretty well even in dry wet weather - more flicky up mud than grind the drivetrain to a stand still mud.
Ride there every week, and was there this morning.
Drains very well, apart from the very bottom of Emperu and Bluetopia. Blacks ride fine in the winter (steepness helps the water run off).
Bluetopia (blue) is fine on an XC bike - rollers and table tops at the top, then some fast berms, a few jumps, then some more berms towards the end.
Emperu (red) is also OK on an XC bike, but if you don't like jumping it won't be massively fun. It's got some big berms and reasonable sized jumps. I don't bother with the very bottom section at this time of year as it's really muddy.
Pass the Dutchie (red) is very rooty, with some fairly technical bits and a couple of jumps at the bottom. Fairly natural in feel.
Feed Em to the Lions (black) is rooty, with a tricky drop in to a berm, then a road gap jump later on. The drop is hard on an XC bike, unless you manual off it (in which case you have to make the turn quite quickly).
Rootiful South (black) is a bit longer, with a section of rooty step downs on a steepish bit of trail followed by some flowy bits with catch berms. At the end there's a step down that you fly quite a long way off if you get it right as the track drops away steeply.
Ark at EE (black) is more jumpy - it's got a steep fast section then goes into a set of steep berms and fairly big tabletops. Halfway down you can take a harder route that goes over a gap jump, then a fairly big road gap jump, or head right and go over some tabletops then join the bottom section of Rootiful South.
All of these are rideable on an XC bike, but I find the blacks much more enjoyable on my Mega than my old hardtail.
JP