My cross bike did a nice job on the quarry trail the other week, but that was before NBW opened. I don’t think it would be much good there!

Agree with clubber though, my 26er SS was better with the forks locked out. Even the new rock descent looks like it will be fine on rigids. Looks rocky, but controlled, so think it will be fine. Time will tell.

Rode it today on my FS (Giant Anthem X, 26″), and rode really nicely. I’ve got a shorty stem on it to speed up the handling, and the suspension allows me to hammer over the stutter-y-roll-y bits nice and quickly, but overall, it’s definitely overkill for those trails.

Tyre choice is a funny one too – these trails need low pro fast rolling tyres, larsons, small block 8’s, etc, but the trouble is, the rest of Bristol doesn’t (well, not in the winter). I want tyres with retractable knobbles….

Looks like a perfect green family trail TBH,

exactly what it is- perfect for getting the younger ones into the idea , all perfectly rollable, nothing stupid. I think they’ve done a splendid job if that was the remit. What it isn’t is a C-y-b or Cwmcarn with lots of techy stuff. Reckon a nice 4x bike would be just about perfect to thrash it.

Went on Sunday, tried out the new red route through the wood, hoping it becomes a lot redder but liking it very much! Found this on YouTube:

[video]http://youtu.be/YDvbKvb4eXA[/video]

Still not enough signs, 3 groups asked me which way to go and had to tell someone they were going the wrong way. A few no entry signs would be good, and a watch out sign by the roundabout, saw a few bikers n walkers nearly coming together. Also noticed there aren’t as many signs this week as last, a few no entry signs missing.

When will the bit by the mini railway be open!?

Any movement forward with the new trails over the last week or so? Can’t wait to ride them. When will they be starting on Leigh Woods, or have they already started?

rode a/c on monday had the place almost to myself and worked on a few sections that i was unsure on now fully confident beggerbush was still closed and second section of red still closed
had a awsome time tho.

Quite a bit has been done in LW now. Havn’t been up to AC for a few days but it was wearing in nicely. It’s getting a bit busy out there though ;-P

Yeah i had a look up LW this morning walking the hound, looks like they’re making the same sort of trail as AC near the main car park.

In other news, i ran over a baby rabbit up Ashton Court yesterday!!! 😥

ETA for the Ashton Court trails is end of July. Apparently lots of people are poaching the new Beggar Bush section already, which is a bit premature as it turns into a pile of gravel half way down! And before anyone asks, there are signs and barriers galore. The Leigh Woods trails are going to be finished by late October.

Head to @architrail on Twitter for the latest – you can just bookmark the page, you don’t have to join and start sucking up to Stephen Fry

yeah when i was there all the restriction posters and barriers were riped down y cant anyone see that its not just being a pain in the ass its there for a reason

So, following my recovery from an injury sustained in March, I had my first blat around the new Ashton Court trails today … and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Whilst I liked the ‘rutted rootyness’ of the original it had deteriorated into something attritional to get round (despite the fantastic work & commitment of the Bristol Trails Group) and clearly was no longer a sustainable route.

The new resilient surface, small berms, twist, turns and all that make for a decent streamy ride. I reckon that it will increase the average rider’s skill level – to ride quickly and efficiently. It adds something to the scene and compliments the more natural stuff at 50 Acre and LW’s. I noticed a number of blokes pootling along with their young off spring – which was good to see.

All the best.

I went up on Saturday on the Pugsley, ;still enjoying it and it rode well, despite the rain.

The Timberrland trail, (not open yet) looks pretty good. Can’t wait.

It gets more fun every time I ride it.

I’ve only ridden Ashton Court and Leigh Woods a couple of times, but before the new trails were built.

Thought I’d ask the question, how are people incorporating 50 Acre in their loops of Ashton Court? With the trails running anti-clockwise like they used to it was fairly easy to include it in a loop, by cutting through the wall and heading down and around 50 Acre, then climbing back up the lane and hitting the Quarry section. I don’t tend to like repeating trails so the new direction is making it difficult to include 50 Acre now.

It’s not a moan, just wanted to know what others did? I also don’t want to miss any decent parts out.

Once its all open, I’ll be starting in Keepers Wood, then when I get to the hole in the wall do 50 Acre wood, then back in to AC and finish off the loop, then maybe Leigh Woods.

At the moment I’m doing Keepers wood, Lower / Upper Quarry then up Barn Wood to the start of the red downhill, then generally repeat until bored/tired, with a couple of Cheeky Trails along the way 😉

How do I find out the names of the Cheeky trails!?

I don’t understand why they don’t drag some big logs over the trails every 100M or so, that would reinforce that they shouldn’t be ridden yet.

T hats what they have to do on the Welsh trails, to stop the VERY important people from riding trails that aren’t ready yet..

DJ, it’s easy to turn it into a loop if you turn rightinstead of left at the end of the downhill with the drop offs in 50 acre, then ride back out via the entrance. If you want to do a longer loop you can also link to Leigh Woods via tracks in Fishponds Wood, behind Abbots Pool.

Rich, they are very restricted as to how much they can disturb the ground around the trails. Besides, people would just go round the logs.

Cheers Milkie and Mr Agreeable.

Mr Agreeable – just been looking at the map on Bing and think I see where you mean for a larger loop. Are the tracks fairly easy to follow. need to have a good explore around there. Where would you enter Leigh Woods if coming from Fishponds?!

Just on the off chance, a couple of months ago I lost the battery cover to my action cam… Anyone found it!? I think it was lost in 50 Acre Wood Area…

Are the tracks fairly easy to follow. need to have a good explore around there. Where would you enter Leigh Woods if coming from Fishponds?!

Here’s a rough idea of the route:

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/map#userroute/E57A08B74D809AC6FD3B167876A9B84E,354108.75,173607.5,3

Or you can just keep straight on up the bridle path after leaving 50 Acre and enjoy a nice bashy doubletrack descent down the other side.

When you get to Leigh Woods, you can leave the fire road just after Paradise Bottom and do the Ridge trail in reverse, although the first bit is quite vomitous. Or just stick to the track and you should find yourself in familiar surroundings soon.

, a couple of months ago I lost the battery cover to my action cam… Anyone found it!? I think it was lost in 50 Acre Wood Area…

No but I can guarantee we’ll dig it up on a trail day at some point. Hint hint!

current sunday route stands as…..
golf hut down road to first gravel climb for warm up – left into t/trail to join with lower quarry – out quarry gate allong to wraxle come out by lights follow road to plantation(ashton hill) do a loop then wraxle backwards,loop 50 acre ither top or bottom first back up the road from bolders into quarry gate, upper quarry,gravel climb in to red section do a few laps then into begerbush when its opend again round to golf hut
beans on chips
done

Thanks Mr Agreeable. I’ll have to drag myself up there again.

They’ve done great work in Ashton Court, no doubt – a really good use of the space.

BUT… I have to say, I am pretty sad to see some of the LW stuff go. I notice that the interesting stretch of slanty, fractured bedrocky stuff on the corners just beyond the ‘rice bowl’ section has disappeared – having been completely smoothed over.* I usually climb up that bit of trail, and it was always nicely unpredictable in the wet ( I like that kind of stuff). I doubt it was in much danger of wearing out, either – shame it couldn’t have been incorporated into the new trail.

*I didn’t ride it, btw.

If it’s been covered over rather than dug out, it’ll be back at some point, no?

I was suprised by how far through LW the trails are going – they seem to be doing stuff as far over as Picnic Bench. And from looking at the map of the intended route it seems that Teacups and Don’t Look Down will both be incorporated, which will be a big shame if they’re smoothed over into a blue trail.

If it’s been covered over rather than dug out

Judging by the spoil heaps (I knew the archaeology degree would come in useful), I’d say that some of it has been dug out.

I don’t want to come across as a moaning git, because everybody knows that LW is seeing heavy traffic & there needs to be a solution (though, IMO, the felling work at the top of the woods kinda dwarfs anything tyres could do). But I can’t pretend that I’m not sad about seeing some of the natural stuff go (and besides, I tend to climb up many of the sections that are being built to run in the opposite direction!) I know they are working hard & I guess it will need a while to settle in – but the following (from the 1SW website) did amuse me:

We wish to
positively ‘draw’ riders onto the trails by giving them a great experience, not force them. A
boring trail will not do this, but conversely a very rooty and slippery trail doesn’t either.

I like rooty, slippery trails! Hell, it’s why I got started. 😀

I think it would be a great shame if the LW trails are turned into (or easy-ficated) a glorified pump track like Ashton Court has been. I guess we’ll just have to forge some new, more interesting trails instead.

I realise this goes against most of the posts on this thread. I’ve watched the these local trails evolve over the last 20 years and in my opinion their character will be forever lost to the current vogue for flowy-pumpy-smoothy bmx tracks.

Still, give it 2 or 3 winters and I’m sure the lovely mud and roots will be making a reappearance.

the current vogue for flowy-pumpy-smoothy bmx tracks

I’m looking forward to thread-the-needle singletrack and awkward technical climbs coming back into vogue. One can but hope…

It’s personal preference but I happen to like the new trails – some cliche about them wearing in rather than wearing out springs to mind. I like an awkward techy climb too, but the trails that are getting the facelift are pretty much flat, with nowt to keep riders on the line, so any “techy” bits just get ridden round and the trail widened or braided.

The Mug trail and Don’t Look Down are ditched-out zombies of their former selves to me. I remember clearing the former with Matt the Muppet and patting ourselves on the back (my original name for it was “Poke in the Shin” as the spindly trees we were moving had a tendency to twang back on you). After a couple of months we were watching with distress as it rapidly turned into a succession of wheel-gobbling holes and mud pits. The Mug/tea cup trail was christened “Phantom Menace” by a mate, as apparently it was just a substandard replacement for the “Return of the Jedi” trail that used to be there before the clear felling, so it’s a strange feeling to hear people referring to it with affection.

As for the “smooth flowy pumpy BMX track” feel, it isn’t really something you can avoid when a trail is being built from pre-sorted grades of stone by machinery. Despite the mode of construction being quite literally a blunt instrument, we seem to have been gifted a twisty, turny trail with lots of neat little features. I’ve ridden crap, straight line-happy featureless man-made trails like Sherwood Pines and the stuff we’re getting in Ashton Court is far superior.

Perhaps all the weekends spent filling the holes and blocking off the braided lines have smeared my rose-tinted specs, but I’m not going to miss the old trails much – they were worn out and it was time for something new.

I wonder, are there parallel discussions on skateboarding and BMX forums where people mourn the loss of shagged-out rotten plywood ramps, or pothole-filled parks that are crumbling back into gravel? I’d hazard a guess that people are just excited about having something new to ride.

I think the new trails in AC are great. I’ll like them even more when it’s winter, and they’re still rideable.

Embrace the new stuff. It will be brilliant in Winter. I’m sure that there will be opportunties to develop other off-piste trails for those who want something more challenging, as there are already. There are loads of little cheeky trails running through and bisecting LW. Not so many in AC.

i have to say tho is it me or can nobody rail a berm or hip a corner? quarry is already showing really bad signes of straightlining and cuting inners of corners

Perhaps all the weekends spent filling the holes and blocking off the braided lines have smeared my rose-tinted specs

Heh heh, I certainly intended no disrespect to the sterling work of the BTG over the years. I was just registering the, uuuh, shock of turning a corner & finding that part of a regular loop had disappeared. In a previous life, I always avoided LW during especially wet periods & stuck religiously to lines (not least because I’m a mid-90s era luddite with shagged-out ’95 Rock Shox Judys). Apologies for the slight storm/teacup interface. 😀

For sure, hard-wearin’ is good – and as you say, the trails need time to bed in. I suppose my concern is that LW is a very different kind of environment from AC & I’m not sure how one would enforce any notion of directional riding, or what that even means in a moderately sized area of woodland. I’d often ride ‘up’ the Ho Chi Minh/Faux Chi Minh (& variations thereof) – and much of the appeal of any network of singletrack is being able to re-route your, er, route. Or even better, getting lost in the process.

I noticed on the Better by Bike website that AC is due for completion at the end of the week. Looking forward to doing my first lap although debating whether to wait for Leigh Woods to be complete too. Anyone noticed if the trails are more popular? It says on the website that usage is up.

Way, way more popular. I was out in the pouring rain on thursday evening & saw more people out than I had on dry days on the old trail.

LW build has only just started, so you might be waiting a while.

Is it Ok to go on them when it’s wet now then? How’s it all holding up?

According to the trail builders it helps bed it all in. And really well, although the grit on the new bits make your drivetrain sound like you’ve spent the day at a welsh trail centre.

usage is definitely up – saw approx 20-odd riders (not all together) at around 8 a.m on Sunday.

They are open to ride but go easy on them as they’re still bedding in. The official snipping of the ribbon won’t happen until later in the year as they are still putting in final touches like signage. Popped in for a look at the Leigh Woods trails the other evening and they have only just got started over there, nothing is anywhere near ready to ride yet.

Apparently the counters they’ve installed in Ashton Court recorded about 20,000 passes over the past 6 weeks – a massive amount of use, even if a lot of that is just the same people doing laps.

Edit: In reply to Rondo101’s post above, the designer told me that a bit of riding will help it bed in, but loads of people hammering it may not do it any favours. The Quarry Trail is still mostly looking good after 18 hours of solid abuse at Bike Fest though.

They’re also looking for names for the new trails:

http://www.betterbybike.info/name-that-trail