Due to too many accidents and litter. Thoughts?
Never been into dirt jumping so doesn’t effect me directly but i do worry for the rest of the downhill runs and tricky sections of the red run, could they go the same way? The littering is inexcusable though.
I'm a bit gutted about this.The setup of the area is great, with a clear progression from super easy to big gaps which is great for building confidence. I can take my son there and we'll both have a great time on our respectively appropriate lines.
The litter is terrible, which seems to be a dirt jump thing, but one obvious solution is to provide more than one small bin!
I'm curious how many times the emergency services have been called out; it must be frustrating to be constantly called out to attend avoidable accidents when resources are so stretched
i do worry for the rest of the downhill runs
Really hope this remains - these are great fun. I think it should be fine - I don't see groups yoots hanging out at the downhill bit, smoking weed and egging each other on.
It’s a great shame, we loved spending a few hours there every week practicing being rubbish at jumping whilst the wives and kids belted out laps of the trails.
I can’t think of anywhere else even remotely local that has dirt jumps and trails at the same centre that we as a family can go to. Glentress is a bit far for every weekend from Nottinghamshire !
It’s strange that when they built it, 10 years or so ago they didn’t consider emergency access or facilities (on at least one occasion they had to get the helicopter out) and the solitary bin was never emptied but I guess they never knew it would get so popular.
The litter is terrible, which seems to be a dirt jump thing, but one obvious solution is to provide more than one small bin!
No, the obvious solution is for the dirty ****ers to take their shite home with them. It's not the FC'S job to be emptying bins and disposing of lazy people's crap.
No, the obvious solution is for the dirty ****ers to take their shite home with them. It’s not the FC’S job to be emptying bins and disposing of lazy people’s crap.
Yeah this. There's a park near me that has a litter problem and admittedly the bins are concentrated in a couple of areas by the entrance/exit. Locals regularly complain and explain that litter is the fault of not enough bins or somesuch, but it's not. It's perfectly feasible to not leave any litter, it's not like you go and stay there totally autonomously for a week - it's a few hours at the very most. If you can't leave a place clean having been there for only a few hours, there's no hope for you.
No, the obvious solution is for the dirty ****ers to take their shite home with them. It’s not the FC’S job to be emptying bins and disposing of lazy people’s crap.
Have you met humans ? You're either being very silly or overly optimistic there.
I'd be very surprised if the FC give a flying **** about litter.
I drove past revolution bike park in Saturday and it was rammed with people.
Couldn’t help think that it wasn’t good for the local hospital which was also rammed with people.
Same difference here I guess
Re litter why should there be any? It’s probably 0.5 mile at most from peoples cars ?
It has been shown (as in certain bodies have tested it) that bins actual increase the amount of litter, people just see a bin and if it’s full they dump the litter there. Having no bins mean that most people will actually think to take their rubbish away with them. Bins are also a vandal magnet and will often be set alight. So you’ll see the likes of FC and NT etc will only have a few bins throughout their sites
Have you met humans ? You’re either being very silly or overly optimistic there.
Totally agreed. Let's base this on the evidence of our eyes rather than what we wish was the case.
FC looking for an excuse to flatten it. A minority gave them that excuse. Nice things taken away.
Basically the story of anything fun in the UK that you don't have to pay for.
They should build some jumps/skills stuff near the main facilities in the forest, they'll get more revenue from it that way, and it'll be further for people to ride in from Clippo and Mansfield who currently use it "for free". That would also have easier access for cleansing and emergencies.
Haven't been for 5 years but it was dire back then.
The only place ever made Swinley look adventurous.
We were stopping there for a week but after the 23nd day just drove to the peaks every day.
There's no way it fits with what the FC see as being their core market. Only been once and was surprised to see some fairly big gaps, given how tame the rest of the route is I was amazed they kept it for as long as they have.
Sherwood (like many other FC areas) will see less and less investment in MTB facilities as the FC look to cut back and make savings. Its far easier to cater for the family market who cant hurt themselves, who'll get coffee and cake for the family from the cafe, and not leave empty energy cans / gels / tubes all over the trails.
Damn.
Booked in at the Sherwood center parcs in June, was looking forward to taking my DJ down for a few sessions.
😐
Have you met humans ? You’re either being very silly or overly optimistic there.
I haven't been to many countries in the world with a litter problem like the UK.
should check out litter problem in India, makes UK look pristine!
There’s no way it fits with what the FC see as being their core market.
I think the FC is VERY regionalised. Essentially it all depends who is in charge of that specific region and their personal view of MTB's.
The trouble with bins is someone has to empty it. Britain has a big problem (see public toilets) with paying people to do it or anything for that matter. Don't get me wrong some people really hate/resent their jobs (even though they pretend to like it) and want it to be fair i.e. shit for everyone.
You can get funding to build new things but there's hardly ever any money for maintenance. Apparently it should be free.
I've seen litter problems far worse abroad then here, not just poor countries either. Jump spots (especially urban or close to urban areas) do seem to attract individuals who don't give a ****. This gives fuel to the horrible (I'm being polite) subset of people who hate anyone younger than them and want to stop whatever they're doing by any and all means.
It'll interesting to see if the demolition of these jumps results in the FC ending up playing unsanctioned massive lethal dirt jump whack-a-mole.
I for one will fire up the shovel
if only they could use some of the £1000's they now make from parking fees to employ someone to empty the bins
wouldn't that be an idea
Or maybe all the manky bastards could just take out what they brought in.
if only they could use some of the £1000’s they now make from parking fees to employ someone to empty the bins
Seem quite happy to receive the coin, but do so whilst reducing levels of service in all areas with fewer and fewer staff. So they can eventually sell it off (bit by bit) as another poorly performing (blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs) public body. It's the British way to stitch people up, run it into the ground, then blame said people.
They see it as a right to extract monies without any of the hassles. Maintenance pffft get some volunteer numpties to do it and frame it as community engagement.
This is what you're up against, not to mention the hateful old ****s who just want to piss all over anyone else's fun.
Interesting point raised above. We pop over now and again with the kids. They used to have a nice play are, raised wooden walkways and the like. Anyway it's all been removed and next to where it used to be is basically a massive trampoline in the air.
Awesome we thought. Turns out it's run by Go ape. No problem we'll pay a bit for the kids having fun. When I looked at the prices it was way too high to warrant. I'm not overly tight (my wife may not agree with me on this) and we're not on the breadline so could afford it, but is seemed massively overpriced. Ended up just going for a walk instead.
Saying that I don't mind doing a lap or two of the red route. If you blatt around it then it's pretty good brain out fun without having to navigate.
Fancy mediating between all these competing interests? With some behaving like children with eaten crayon smeared all over their faces, throwing shit at each other.
I know there are a few on this forum, **** that for a game!
simon1975
They should build some jumps/skills stuff near the main facilities in the forest, they’ll get more revenue from it that way, and it’ll be further for people to ride in from Clippo and Mansfield who currently use it “for free”.
sobriety
It’ll interesting to see if the demolition of these jumps results in the FC ending up playing unsanctioned massive lethal dirt jump whack-a-mole.
the (non stop) dirt jump whack-a-mole shows the pent up demand for jump facilities as to people actually riding to the jumps...good on them...I'd argue (and used to argue with Sheffield City Council) that young people should have a right to BMX/Skate/Dirt Jumps that they can access without being driven there...those that need the facilities most won't get the opportunity to get there
need a user group and some persistence on the "litter you will lose it" side...not easy as littering is an attitude as is someone will clear up thats what they are paid for/thats what I am paying for and it isn't cool to pack it out
as to accident and filling hospitals I'd sit and listen to the traffic news on the radio/streaming service and work out where the real problem is
I think the FC is VERY regionalised. Essentially it all depends who is in charge of that specific region and their personal view of MTB’s.
Pretty much, Aston Hill is viewed as an annoyance by the FC
that bins actual increase the amount of litter
Bins have their place, but you're right, this isn't one of them.
People are a pain, unfortunately.
Anyone know where the next nearest dirt jumps are? Other than Bestwood
Having met with the regional FE leisure officer with Sherwood in his remit about our own local trails, this will likely be a purely financial decision. Goes back the the old 'FE are their own insurers' thing...
MTB is a pretty expensive thing for FE to maintain relative to the fairly small revenue it actually brings in. I think we'll see a fair few more smaller venues going in the next couple of years, but am a little surprised they've hit Sherwood as it is (was?) one of the regions two centres that did have investment still going in to MTB.
Up the road at Manfield Hospital there are some woods at the back. Fire up the shovel & build some death doubles in there.
When the litter builds up fill the gap with it & make a table top.
Job sorted, free parking at the moment as well 👍
Hi, I've set up an opinion form to gather some anonymous feedback from mountain bikers in the (very slim) hope that we might be able to get the FC to reverse their decision. I'm speaking to a journalist on Monday so if you'd like to have your say the form is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeef_SxbDtTEuur49wcLLVxCuqtSDrbjvMfPywZAFU57s8qPA/viewform
If you went round anestablished trail you would find as much if not more litter. Dirt jumps look worse as they gather in one area. Hate anything being knocked down or flattened. It solves nothing
Aye it's a shame this. Swung by the other day with my 6 year old and it was great to see so many people jumping, it was brilliant. Shame the place almost sees the popularity as a problem...I mean I know litter isn't good but at least it's evidence of a busy active place with people doing stuff.
If it was nearer the visitor centre the bike hire place could probably make some dough renting out DJ bikes, and I'm guessing there'd be a few folk out there willing to pay for jump classes/days. I know I would. Not that it's about £££. Bummer management there don't see the value in simply having something that people think is cool.
Everytime i've spoken to someone about the jumps (FC) they mention that the jumps are not an income generator so not interested.
The saftey thing is funny as within a few hundred meters of the jumps the is quite a high bridge with no guarding.
The litter along the red can be bad just spread over a large area.
cozz
Free Memberif only they could use some of the £1000’s they now make from parking fees to employ someone to empty the bins
Aye, I'm sure at the moment that's all pure profit. Most FC biking venues will never recoup the build costs, regardless of parking fees etc. It's a really terrible argument to make because it not only makes us look like we don't value the investment (and, let's be honest, we don't) and makes us look like entitled whiney kids who'll never be satisfied (and let's be honest, we are) but also every time it comes up, it reminds FC planners that spending money on bike trails usually loses them money over the long term, even if there's a budget for it today.
Houns
Full MemberIt has been shown (as in certain bodies have tested it) that bins actual increase the amount of litter, people just see a bin and if it’s full they dump the litter there. Having no bins mean that most people will actually think to take their rubbish away with them
There was a bit of this in the lockdown near here, council ended up removing the bins that were getting stacked up on (and also getting flytipping, binbags etc) and now there's way less litter being dropped in those problem places. It's weird tbh
It's not that weird. A bin means someone is responsible for emptying it and, hey, they'll probably be along in just a minute and so can pick up your trash too.
Folk deliberately setting fires in bins has already been mentioned too. Bastards.
I get that bit as far as individuals using the spaces- we saw a ton of that in the Pentlands "the car park is full therefore I will park wherever I want and it's not my fault" "The bin is full therefore I will throw rubbish on the ground and it's the fault of the council for not emptying the bins". It's wrongheaded and stupid but it's sort of comprehensible I guess.
But flytippers? That's weird. "Well, I was going to illegally dump all these bags of rubbish from a house clearance here, but the bin's gone so I suppose I'd better not".
FC want to fell, looked for an excuse to make it look a bit less obvious and some nobheads provided them with one.
So is this place safe now?
I've got the day off tomorrow and I'm looking for somewhere to play on some smallish jumps and hopefully work my way up. Not really interested in the trail centre.
Is it smooth enough for a slick tyred DJ bike, or should I take the gnarpoon?
It's still there, they've changed the gaps into tables. Smooth, yeah.
The only time I was there the biggest danger was passive inhalation of a class B drug.
I might go down tomorrow. It's a 50 minute drive but hopefully a change of scenery will trigger my mojo.
I'll try not to commit any silly antics but I can't promise I won't kick my Monster cans into the bushes.
I'm going to go tomorrow morning. Last time we went there we just did the red and the downhill bit, assuming that the dirt jumps had already been flattened.
If you see someone with a stiff back who can't turn his head to the left hanging up on everything in sight on a Transition PBJ, there's a possibility it's me.
It’s still there, they’ve changed the gaps into tables. Smooth, yeah
Seems petty much the same as before. The first two lines were never gaps AFAIK. The third is cordoned off and a rubbly mess (in the process of changing gaps to tables?)
The left hand lines are still doubles as before:
And some evidence of arseholery:
The litter is terrible, which seems to be a dirt jump thing
Not ALL dirt jumps, IME it seems to be a problem with a certain type. Ones at Trail centers, and rubbish ones where someone's thrown some topsoil onto some rotting logs and called it a jump.
Properly built dirt jump trails, the kind with a "no dig, no ride" policy and a group of locals that will enforce it always seems to be immaculate.
The kind of dirt jumps that attract MTB'ers just stopping by to do a few laps always appear to be an absolute sty.
And some evidence of arseholery:
And they'll be the same muppets who are up in arms now when it gets flattened next week.
I couldn't make it today, I could barely lift my arm this morning. I triggered an old injury during the week and it's getting worse not better.
It's definitely on the hit list though. I'll probably just chuck a last minute sicky when the sun comes out one day!
I was also looking for a map. Am I right in thinking the jumps are way out on the western edge, miles away from the carpark?
Yeah...you need to ride to them (possibly an attempt to reduce the number of very inexperienced riders happening upon them and doing proper injuries (rather than the experienced folk messing up a jump and properly hurting themselves)).