donate to get Gnar bike park up and running

Oh and my opinions, I am all for a bike park that is actually challenging and with some difficult features and great big jumps since any other trail centre in this country seems to be rather tame in that respect, so good on your if your plan is to create something of that nature. On the other hand the name is terrible and I might enjoy it if I was still 9 and read the Beano.

I am quite happy to pay to ride at Chicksands which I suspect doesn’t have 80m of descent. I think it sounds pretty good.

any plans to rent out full face lids? i would seriously consider tagging a visit onto the end of a lakes trip but I really cba to buy a new helmet just for the privilege.

Go North And Ride?

What about people living in Cornwall wanting to visitng should they call it FNAR (Far North And Ride)
People from Northern Ireland Head East and Ride – HEAR
Or people in Scotland what do they call it?

I think it’s going to get confusing

It’s only three miles from a station on quiet back roads – there might even be a cheeky short cut.

Win
Is that Penrith then?

Is that Penrith then?

Nope… but I’m not saying – I’ve already given the location away once.

Looks a good location and the pub at the bottom of the trails is a beauty!

langwathby? Kirkoswald? come on… spill it.

Watch the video it gives some clues to the location.

As far as the elevation goes there is still a lot you can do with 80m. Our trails at Stile Cop in Cannock Chase aren’t the biggest in the country but plenty of people still seem to enjoy it, we’ve got about 65m height drop.

I’m looking forward to seeing things develop, it’s just a shame I’m not closer to offer more help with the digging.

It’s not hard to work out. Google Earth is your friend

I found exactly where it is just by looking on google maps and finding some woods the same shape as the ones on the picture with the trails on it. Only took a few minutes.

Edit: Just like scotroutes said.

Why is it such a secret any way?? Surely if it has planning permission all the information is in the public domain any way….

Good luck with it Ben.

We will be making a trip up as soon as it is open.

I must admit, I like the name !!!

I will be sticking in my £20 come payday.

And wish Ben good luck and hope he pulls it off.

Love going to that lakes and its under 1.5 hours for me to get there.

The more bike parks there around the UK the better. If you want people to pay for riding them then they have to be good. The more parks the better they have to make them or keep them in good condition.

I think it’s going to get confusing

Really? GNAR bike park near the Lake District. How does where you’re coming from make that any more confusing than if you were driving up the M6 from Manchester?

Good luck with the venture and imo 80m is plenty for these types of trail.

Having ridden coast gravity park I wish you luck. What I will say about CGP is that it got boring quickly apart from surface to air.

Surface to Air = Coast Gravity Park??? The Coastal Crew trails? In Canada? Got boring quickly? Are you sure? Did you have your bike with you? 😛

Beans spilled.

http://m.pinkbike.com/news/gnar-bike-park-can-a-bike-park-be-crowdfunded-video-2015.html

I was taking the pi$$ Daveyboywonder
Obviously went over your head

My bad, it was called Flight Deck. It was good, but I found myself using the other trails as simply a means of getting to flight deck.

I live in the NE of Scotland so will rarely ride it, but what the hell, £20 in.

Good luck.

£20 in here too…

Sounds good if it’s unlike any trail centre descents …£20 from me

However, those of you who do insist on comparing everything, please, please do not bring that to GNAR’s car park.

I don’t really understand what you mean by this?

Every trail (not just trail centre) I’ve ever ridden has probably prompted some form of comparison.

Smooth flowy jumpy stuff is a bit like parts of Whistler, if it’s natural steep and rocky it might remind by of parts of Derbyshire, if it’s muddy sloppy singletrack round the woods it’s a bit like Shadey Pines etc etc.

If you’re telling us that GNAR is going to be so mind bogglingly unique and that it is NOTHING like anything else we’ve ever seen then I’m afraid you’re deluded. It’s a hill, with trees, in the Lakes, with man made trails in it.

It will inevitably be compared (good and bad) with other places! It’s all part of riding somewhere new!

If those who are likely to compare it to something else should stay away, you’d better save your cash cos nobody will come to ride it!

I remember BPW billing itself as something unlike anything else in the UK, our first proper ‘bike park’. In reality it’s just a trail centre with DH trails. Don’t get me wrong it is good but it really isn’t ‘that’ different to other uplift places. I was slightly disappointed on my first visit because it didn’t live up to it’s ‘uniqueness’ hyperbole. I suspect GNAR may be the same.

It’s a hill, with trees, in the Lakes, with man made trails in it.

No it’s not.

Oh ok,

It’s a hill, somewhere, with trees, with trails in it.

Even more unique!

I think the fundamental point he was trying to make was not to try to knock lumps out of it before you’ve been there.

I didn’t think people were?

Nobody had said it was going to be sh1t, they were just speculating what it might be like by trying to draw a comparison to something they can use as a point of reference.

I realise this project is his ‘baby’ and every parent thinks their child is super special and unique, but in reality, they’re not!

I hope it works out and he provides another opportunity for people to ride decent trails, but seriously, get over yourself.

Haha saw this on pinkbike and knew there’d be this thread with the usual miserable sad pricks spouting their predictable bollocks 😆 just need someone to comment on us not needing “another bmx track” or something equally as daft.

I’ll be donating as there’s really nothing like the trails in Whistler over here, mostly boring “tech” stuff rather than the big fast flowy jump trails that are so much fun!

this looks awesome, 80m is more than enough to build something special.

(it’s loads more than Grenoside – and we’ve got a Dh race and everything)

I reckon the last thing we need is yet another bmx track 😉

I’ll be donating as there’s really nothing like the trails in Whistler over here, mostly boring “tech” stuff rather than the big fast flowy jump trails that are so much fun

I really hope it isn’t just smooth flowing tracks with jumps! To me that is boring! Would much prefer something steep and technical that requires more skill to be honest…

I’ll be donating as there’s really nothing like the trails in Whistler over here, mostly boring “tech” stuff rather than the big fast flowy jump trails that are so much fun

I’d say Revolution’s Freeride trail is pretty Whistler-esque (in a flowy jumpy kinda way)?

The problem with only 80m of elevation and fast flowy jumpy stuff is it’ll probably take less than a minute to get to the bottom.

With 38 lines I’m assuming there’d have to be a mix otherwise it would become pretty samey over a full day’s riding.

Thing I’m seeing with planned parks and trails, even from fairly official sources and after planning permission is granted, is some NIMBYs and/or Natural England start going nuts that you’re digging up some bit of nature or spoiling a spot near their expensive house that they never go walking in anyway. Though if someone wanted to build houses on some land, then it’s always to hell with them and it gets built regardless. If it was in Wales then no problem. You’ll even get grants to build it.

Has this side of it been addressed yet?

poisonspider – Member

The problem with only 80m of elevation and fast flowy jumpy stuff is it’ll probably take less than a minute to get to the bottom.

it doesn’t sound much. but even a gradient of 10% (which is more than you need to generate a lot of speed) gives you a track 800m long.

800m, at 30kph*, takes 1min 36.

plenty.

(*and that’s the average speed, suggesting much higher peak speeds)

A 1min 36 decent may be enough when taken in isolation, factor in the wait for the bus to return (or even just the ‘next’ one with multiple buses running), the loading of bikes, the uplift, the unloading of bikes, the general pre-drop in fruiting and your ride-time ratio doesn’t look good.

At approx 1.5 mins riding with say a 10 min (optimistic) turn around means you’ll get about an hours riding in a 8 hour day.

Just to be clear, I’m not trying to knock the concept and I genuinely do hope it comes off and offers some great riding. However, I’m just pointing out that it is unlikely to be the total amazeballs experience it is being billed as.

factor in the wait for the bus to return

It depends if the uplift is slick like Antur Stiniog or not so much like BPW.

Amazeballs? maybe, maybe not, whatever.

do we think the uk mtb scene will be better if:

A) GNAR bike park goes ahead.
or
B) it doesn’t.

option A sounds chuffing great if you ask me.

Aston hill is a minute or two per run I think and push up back. Seems pretty popular and they don’t even need (or can practically get) an uplift 😉

They’ve added a season pass option if any locals are interested:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gnar-bike-park-cumbria-uk