Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)
  • Gisburn black sections
  • ThePinkster
    Full Member

    A group of us are heading up to gisburn for the first time in a couple of weeks and I was wondering how black the black sections are?

    Would they be Llandgela level black (i.e. red but more fun) or more like Kirroughtree type black?

    I’m really looking for a bit of a heads up before I go charging into things and the get tougher than expected.

    Cheers.

    grim168
    Free Member

    I’d say nearer red. Nothing at Gisburn is harder than degla

    ads678
    Full Member

    They’re not really black, but they could freak some people out if they’re not that experienced. You sound like you know what you’re talking about so you’ll be fine.

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    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    Cheers guys.

    Yeah we’ve all had plenty of experience riding ‘degla, Cannock, most of the 7 Stanes, bits of the Peaks & various parts of Wales, etc, just didn’t want to get unexpectedly caught out.

    Can’t wait. 😀

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    I’m not really following what you’re driving at with the ‘degla and kirri’ comparisons.
    IMHO they use the label to mean different things:
    Black at kirri’ translates to not technical but a lot longer.
    Black at ‘degla translates to fast+jumpy = opportunity to hurt yourself.

    Gisburn’s black sections are only short deviations off the main red loop, so they don’t add any real distance. They’re mainly just ever-so-slightly more technical balancy bits, certainly nothing that will get you airbourne ‘degla style.

    The Hope Line is worth a few circuits in its own right and there is a more jumpy/droppy section a few hundred yards along the fire road from the top of the Hope Line that’s fun too.

    patriotpro
    Free Member

    go charging into things

    There’s nothing at Gisburn, (appart form the Hope-Line), where you can’t do just that. Except for Hully-Gully which turns into a right mucky-mess when wet.

    binners
    Full Member

    Where you heading from Pinkster? You’re not too far from Lee and Cragg Quarries either, once you’re at Gisburn. If you fancy something a bit different, you could easily get both in in a day

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    Yeah, I probably wasn’t very clear about my definitions. I was just trying to work out whether it was big nasty rock steps & things to catch you out type black or not proper black at all, like most of the ‘degla black.

    cheers for the feedback folks. hopefully it won’t get too wet in the next couple of weeks, or at least have a chance to dry out.

    Dare I ask what tyres? 😉

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    There’s no nasty surprises on the blacks, Hully Gully is designed to be ridden reasonably quickly and flows nicely, and all the other stuff (little deviations from the trail) can be inspected or avoided altogether.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    I’d say nearer red. Nothing at Gisburn is harder than degla

    Whoa, I’m completely thrown. This is just completely and utterly not true. There is a significant amount of stuff at Gisburn that is way harder than anything at delgla apart from that one rocky drop off on part of the red.

    The black options at the top of the hill at Gisburn are way more tricky.
    The ride up the quarry is also way more tricky than anything at degla. To say otherwise is just ridiculous.

    Just to clarify my position here… I love Gisburn precisely because it does have a few reasonably tricky sections that you need to think about, I dislike degla precisely because there is nothing of interest to ride on it apart from the jumps.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    There’s no nasty surprises on the blacks, …..and all the other stuff (little deviations from the trail) can be inspected or avoided altogether.

    Ah right. Now I understand, there is nothing tricky at Gisburn as long as you avoid the tricky bits at Gisburn.

    I think I’m in agreement except that I’d phrase it as follows:
    There are lots of excellent little tricky sections at Gisburn. A key reason to go to Gisburn is to search them out and do them.

    Missing them out just misses the point.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    My understanding of his question was that he didn’t want to get unexpectedly caught out by a trail feature or section – ie to come unstuck after barrelling into it at speed.

    There’s only two sections where you are likely to be moving at reasonable speed – Hully Gully and the drop on Swoopy. The former, as I pointed out, is fine to hit at speed as there are no nasty surprises. You can stop and inspect the black graded bit on Swoopy first if you want to.

    The other black bits – Slab, the rocky bit just before that, can all be seen from the main trail, so if you fancy them, you do them, if you don’t, you don’t.

    I don’t know what was so hard to understand about my post. The bloke just wants an enjoyable day out, whether that means riding the blacks or not.

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    My understanding of his question was that he didn’t want to get unexpectedly caught out by a trail feature or section – ie to come unstuck after barrelling into it at speed.

    That’s it martin, cheers. Far more succinctly put than me. I’m not phased by tricky stuff (whatever the definition of that is) I’m just a bit ‘risk adverse’ these days.

    patriotpro
    Free Member

    the drop on Swoopy.

    Just to clarify, this can be rolled, unless I’m mistaken…

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Yes, it’s rollable, although pretty steep at the top. I can’t think of anything on the 8 at Gisburn that isn’t rollable.

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    “Swoopy” is the new section I take it. I don’t remember a drop anywhere on that. Sounds like I’ve missed a bit out.

    philfive
    Free Member

    The swoopy has a chicken run so no need to worry there.

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    The main trail is red, black is all optional. Some of the red is tricky despite what the internets warriors like to say. There are a number of short sections on the red that often cause people to stop and think.

    Staircase on Homebaked has a lot of people walking, less so since we built the bypass (at least 50% of riders won’t ride it). Log ride is tricky in places even ignoring the logs, the two little bridges require a bit of strength and balance or you’ll end up face down in the ditches. The climb through the quarry needs strength and balance (don’t try with black ice), there’s a lot of boardwalk in places that phases people, the large slabs end to end through Simon’s swap are again a test of line choice and balance. Hully Gully catches lots of people out. Swoopy has it’s moments although the black drop isn’t a drop, just a steep off camber slope with a nasty berm at the bottom.

    To the OP there’s plenty of challenges but very little will catch you out at speed around a blind corner. The Staircase and the black drop on Swoopy are probably the only things you’ll not notice until it’s too late, both have alternate lines.

    The unofficial DH stuff below the leap of faith has been closed as of yesterday after an official FC inspection found many of the jumps to be dangerous (from a construction point of view rather than riding).

    Ecky-Thump
    Free Member

    The unofficial DH stuff below the leap of faith has been closed as of yesterday after an official FC inspection found many of the jumps to be dangerous (from a construction point of view rather than riding).

    🙁
    That’s not good news at all Stumpyjon. Do you know if there is a plan to repair and re-open anytime soon? They were some of the best bits.

    [edit] is there an opportunity to get involved with rebuilding those bits? [/edit]

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    Thanks Stumpyjon, from your description I can’t wait.

    Love a challenge, just prefer to know it’s there first. 😀

    stumpyjon
    Full Member

    Ecky-Thump

    There is no official plan to rebuild those bits but…..

    As I understand it they’ve all been built with permission by volunteers (Steve basically). The agreement was they would be built to agreed standards in an agreed area. On that basis although unofficial they would be allowed. A recent jump of dubious construction was reviewed outside of the agreed build area. This was torn down as it was well outside of the agreed build area and was reliant on untreated and unsuitable timber to hold it together. This unapproved build then prompted an inspection of the jumps in the sanctionned area. Unfortunatley they were deemed of unsuitable construction and condemened as well (although I don’t think they’ve been destroyed).

    Martin Colledge is happy for the jumps in the sanctionned area to be brought up to scratch and the area reopenned. The FC don’t have the resources to do this. Martin’s happy to work with volunteers as long as they work with him (from personal experience he’ll stick his neck out to allow stuff that many other forests would automatically bulldoze). The problem appears to be the main builder has deviated significantly from what was agreed and pissed off a lot of the other volunteers who wanted to work on the DH stuff. This could be an opportunity for more volunteers to get involved with the DH stuff, however I doubt much practical support or materials will be forthcoming as that goes into the XC trails which is a big enough job. So whether it gets re-openned will be down to those using it stepping up and putting the hours in.

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