[Closed] Ae Forest

Its been 18 months since I last rode it and I wouldn't say it was too tough, I just remember it being arduous riding. Starts off with a nice singletrack climb, then a lot of trail which is just unnecessarily bumpy. I know its mountain biking and I don't want smooth trails, but some trails are rough without being arduous; rough and fun. And once all that is done, the flowy sections weren't too well thought out. Bumps and jumps would land you right in or past a corner. Riding it more regularly might change that, but I guess a lot of people are weekend visitors to the area for the 7stanes. The final descent (Omega man?) was good fun. But overall, I haven't felt inspired to return yet.

As I say, it has been 18 months so things might have changed and my memory might be shoddy, but thats what I remember of it.

Rode this at the end of last year, so comments may not be current, but:

- First half of the trail was ace.
- Loads of the second half closed.
- Diversions were horrible, half expected Yoda to appear and give me instructions on how to pull my bike out of the swamp.
- One section over the top has been built from larger grade stone than usual and hadn't bedded in properly. Stilted, slow and rubbish.
- More sections of trail closed.
- Missed most of the end section out as it looked like a double orange "freeride area" rather than something for mortals.

So overall, not a great experience. Would give it another go if I knew the closures had been lifted, they were the most soul-destroying part. The bits of trail that were open were mostly really fun.

The first climb is nice (markers 9 - 12) IIrc there is a jump near the end of this section and a step up which need a freshen up, or maybe they are on Granny Green Luv. After the road (marker 17) the bermy bit is pretty good, just stay high and avoid all the debris at the bottom. Lots of people moan about the rocks and the shape of the berms, i quite like them. Next climb is fine, the tricky bit at the end of the climb needs a choke to stop riders going around the rocks. The new section after 18 is really poor. The rock used to surface the trail is too coarse, it slows you down too much, not in a technical or rewarding way, its just hard work. The Edge is fun, i preferred the older second half but it was falling to bits so i can understand why it was changed. Top half of omega man would be better if the jumps were better. Signage to divert onto shredder could be better, i missed it.

Its been about 8 weeks since i last rode there, the descriptions above may be a little vague! No closures at that time.

The Cafe does excellent coffee and the paninis are ace too.