[Closed] Gisburn Forest

Ahhh John it was me that tagged along after hope line on the Orange Rune.

You should try lee quarry 🙂

The trail guide section on here is very poor. I'd be suprised if its been updated in the last 4 yrs.

If you like Gisburn please vote for it...
http://www.ibikeride.com/trail-of-the-year-2014

My mistake. Looks like a few were added at the beginning of the year..then it was 4 yrs before.

Just got back from having a blast of the bottom section with a riding buddy,never get bored of Gisburn really,on my doorstep aswell,yes it does need updating,glad you enjoyed it,the trail builders work hard up there and iff I can find time next year I will try and get up there and put some hours in with them.

It's been a few months since a few of us last rode Gisburn but with the addition of new stuff I really enjoyed it, some good techy stuff in there now & better than my local which is Dalby.

The trails there are in need of serious work to bring it up to the level of Gisburn never mind any of the 7 stanes, it lacks flow and there's nothing challenging, just done 3 days larking at Inners & Glentress red & back & squeezed in a bit of world Enduro runs, great fun.

Might have to give Gisburn another go sometime as I've never rated it apart from the handbuilt sections. The rest of it I've thought was borderline average...

Rode it last night - it's our go-to night ride when it's wet as the trails drain better than the fells round here.

It is a cracking little place, but I can't help thinking the trail builders should concentrate more on maintenance than expansion. I do feel a little guilty saying that, as I know it's all volunteer-built, and they do an amazing job given the lack of money and manpower.

But a gripe I've had for years is that the first path from Cocklet carpark is so pot-holed that you're piss-wet through before you even get on the single-track. Just filling those holes with a few barrows of crush would improve the experience for so many people.

And the northshore is lethal - I'm still suffering from a separated shoulder after slipping off it 4 years ago! It's just unnecessarily dangerous.

G

Gisburn is my local too and I think it just keeps getting better and better. The latest section on the bottom loop that removes the fire road climb is a welcome addition.

Was up at Lee/Crag Quarry at the weekend for the first time in a while. I used to rate it at a similar level to Gisburn but was left a bit flat this time as it's stood still while Gisburn has grown. Crag was the biggest let down, seemed very unloved although the idiots tearing about on motorbikes won't help. Thought the same of Dalby last time I went.

but I can't help thinking the trail builders should concentrate more on maintenance than expansion.

They did revamp HomeBaked relatively recently, so I think their focus would only be on maintaining the sections that were volunteer built. Given the amount they continue to contribute, I think it's only fair that they are allowed to dream up new stuff rather than do the drudgery.

But I do generally agree with your sentiment. We've just had one of the driest summers for years, and I was a bit surprised to ride it the other day and find a lot of sections still in crappy condition - even relatively new stuff like the Snake which is part of the blue yet has really nasty potholes caused by poor drainage. The red descent on the way to the reservoir has cut up very rough, and there is loads of damage to various bits on the top loop like the bottom bit of 'Bottoms' (!).

The increase in popularity really is a double-edged sword.

Hello,

Im a trail builder at Gisburn. Nice to see some nice comments 🙂

As for maintenance, we do have plans for that. We have a dig day on the second Sunday of each month. We have just finished 'Rocky Road', the bit that cuts out the fireroad before Home Baked and at the last dig day we started a brand new section that is hopefully going to cut the traffic down on Hully Gully as it is getting quite worn (its going to be a fast route with some drop offs thrown in).

Anyway, maintenance, as I said, we do have dig days, but the turnout to these are no really quite good, which means planning repairs isnt as easy. So many people on one section of trail will cause problems with cyclists which we want to try and avoid. So the core diggers are planning on having some extra, smaller dig days to do some rolling repairs. These are due to start soon! The Snake (which was built by contractors, we try to manage it all not just the bits we build), odd bits of Home Baked, Swoopy and a few other sections are on the list

Saying that, puddles and the odd bit of trail that has got rough, isn't that essentially mountain biking?

Saying that, puddles and the odd bit of trail that has got rough, isn't that essentially mountain biking?

Hi Dan! In answer to your final comment - yes and no!

The attraction of trail centres like Gizzy are those swoopy, flowy man made sections. When you build a section (like the new bit from Cocklet down to the main car park) that has fast rollers, berms and jumpy bits, it's imperative that it's maintained in that way. If there are puddles in all the dips that in time get mashed up and become deep, square edged potholes, the trail is no longer fun to ride. At worst, it can become dangerous, because a man-made trail that begs to be ridden hard shouldn't have hidden surprises!

Like I said, I think you're all doing a great job, and I wish I had free time to come along on a dig day, but there are some areas that have been neglected for years that a minor bit of TLC would transform, and in turn would improve the whole Gizzy Experience.

Cheers!

G

Voted for it Darren.

Gisburn - trail of the year? I really have to get back ASAP as I must have missed all the good stuff earlier in the year and just ridden the 10ft wide mashed up mess intermingled with pretty cool man made sections.

I've never been there but it's on my list to go, however..

I was told not to bother and that Dalby is better.. Make that what you will. Anyhoos I was set to go to Gisburn's on the CX'er but having been told not to bother is shot over to Dalby and did the Red. This was well doable and only a couple of sections foxed me (large slab rocky steep section up near 23/26 section and the rutted slabs/stone layouts were a bit hard on my back) other than that I had a great time.

Anything like Red over Gisburn? I'm itching to have a crack at it on the CX'er..

Dalby would be way better for CX. Gisburn would be an awful lot harder work, depending on your handling skillz of course.

It's also a lot shorter, so I wouldn't personally bother driving a long way past loads of excellent CX-friendly natural stuff to spin around that for less than 2 hours.

I was told not to bother and that Dalby is better..

😆 were they taking the piss?

Dalby is different. Much longer and XC like. Its a proper work out and the trails are better the faster you go.

Gisburn has more sections you get to the bottom of and think "that was fun".

For CX, I'd say Dalby would be better - its a great place to smash around on the singlespeed.

Gatsby The attraction of trail centres like Gizzy are those swoopy, flowy man made sections.

No it's not. The attraction of Gizzy is the excellent technical gnadgery sections that need a bit of skill to ride.

no I agree with Gatsby - you go to trail centres for a bit of flow and speed (helped by not having to stop every 10 mins to go thru a gate) and I can't think of any trail centres that have challenging technical lines apart from McMoab, Stainburn and perhaps Drumlanrig for some wet root action.

The Snake is quite flowy but is ruined by the deep puddles at the moment, although hope line and the berms towards Cocklet hill car park are holding up well.

I tend to only ever ride the bottom half cos of home baked which is the highlight for me

My 2p worth - Hope line needs biggerer jumps.

Well thanks Guys, I did enjoy Dalby and will be back there when we pop up to Yorkshire again soon, so a good choice then.

The "don't bother with Gisburn" comment was made by a Guy in the Carpark at Dalby Visitor Center and could quite clearly see I was on the CX'er, he was on a full suss.

I'll steer away from Gisburn then, thanks for the comments you've saved me a journey.

Ta

No it's not. The attraction of Gizzy is the excellent technical gnadgery sections that need a bit of skill to ride.

I love a techy gnadgery section as much as the next man, but when you're hammering down a swoopy, flowy bermy bit, and there's what looks like a puddle in the bottom of a roller, and it turns out to be a 10" deep squared-edged hole, then it needs a barrow-load of crush dropping in it.

I'm not in favour of "wheelchair friendly" trail centres per sé, I prefer natural rides or wild bridleways. But I think the groomed parts of trail centres should be maintained. They're great fun when they're in good condition, tedious when they're not.

G

its definitely very popular now, is it feasible to have a professional full time building and maintenance crew? I don't know the logistics or politics involved but surely the only way it can continue to grow. The volunteers do a great job but there's only so much you can do with a monthly dig day.

if you look at the growth of llandegla for example, although its critics say its the epitome of man made trail building its got flow in spades I think and can handle loads of people i.e. it never feels too crowded and is kept in good condition.

I have to say some of the spending priorities have seemed odd like the pimped out toilet blocks and rocky road (was there that much demand for an uphill rock garden? - particularly with all our modern low bbs :-))

and I can't think of any trail centres that have challenging technical lines apart from McMoab, Stainburn and perhaps Drumlanrig for some wet root action.

That's just not the case. Gisburn has some excellent, if very short, sections of techie just before the wall just before the top of the hill.

[Gatsby]when you're hammering down a swoopy, flowy bermy bit, and there's what looks like....then it needs a barrow-load of crush dropping in it.

Fair point. I was just trying to defend the technical parts of Giburn, which I think are great.

Dalby would be way better for CX. Gisburn would be an awful lot harder work, depending on your handling skillz of course.

Some bits of Gisburn are ace on a CX - that new/repaired bit of trail from the Hub down to Cocklet for example. Hope Line is also surprisingly good fun so long as you work out in advance where the drop offs are!
Some bits are truly awful, there's some of the more exposed bits out on the moor which just batter you senseless, they lose all their flow.

Not been to Dalby on the CX, will give it a go sometime.

If there are puddles in all the dips that in time get mashed up and become deep, square edged potholes, the trail is no longer fun to ride. At worst, it can become dangerous, because a man-made trail that begs to be ridden hard shouldn't have hidden surprises!

Should the volunteers ensure your swoopy playground is well [s]groomed[/s] kept swoopy and well maintained?

FTFY

I agree with the puddles and depth as they catch riders out used to..... I will bomb along, its a trail centre...rather than I will ride this carefully as I do not know the depth of the bog water chasm

what I like are the climbs are intresting off road and through the trees not a fire road and then down

more swoopyness please and length....less hully gully more homebake for me

As Dan said we're going start some repairs although it is a little more involved than tipping gravel in the hole, we've tried that before, the hole is back in a few months. We have to deal with cause of the hole, be that water or riders, either way its usually quite involved doing a good repair and avoiding sanitisation. There's a couple of us doing the lottery, if the numbers come up we'll have a full time repair crew. In the meantime the forestry team do way more work on the trails than they're probably supposed to. The car parking revenue won't cover a full time trail builder, it's already being spent on toilet maintenance and paying for materials as well as paying back some of the enormous amount of money the FC has already spent.

A lot of the worst wear an tear is on the contractor built stuff, snake being a good example, contractors use machinery to lay trail, we do it literally by hand, laying the armour layer under the gravel takes a lot of effort to do properly. I'm not knocking the contractors, their business model doesn't allow them to take the time to build like we do, they also don't have the luxary of coming back later when the trail has bedded on to tweak lines etc. I'm also culpable for Snake as I laboured for Clixbys when it was built, spent ages getting the roght camber on the trail to shed water only to have it wash off / be scrubbed off later.

The review was written by me on here was written ages ago, I did do an update but it never got published, there's a more upto date guide at pmba.org.uk which I also put together but thats a little out of date because I don't get the time I used to trail build and update the website (trail building is more fun). Anyway good to hear the generally positive feedback and I think the comments about wheel eating camouflaged holes is fair, just don't mention the Hope Line or chicken wire cos that really ticks us off.

We ride there a couple of times a year and think it's great. We keep saying we will get to a volunteer trail building day; it just hasn't arrived yet. Anyway the point of this post is to flag the fact there is now a cafe at the hub and there has been for 18 months apparently. However the FC won't let them put a sign up by the car park so you'd never know it was there unless someone points it out. It just strikes me that the FC are shooting themselvs in the foot if people don't know the full extent of the infrastructure on offer. Also more riders = more cash = more trails? I'd have thought that gisburn should really be similar to llandeglla in terms of footfall because it offers a much better trail. It's just a little more difficult to get to perhaps. That said, it's actually closer to greater manchester than llandegla is.

LOL at those moaning about puddles.

I rate gisburn, good place to ride, thanks to the trail builders who work there - you are AWESOME!

- but trail of the year, sorry its just not. Are we talking trail center only?

You guys should check out Hopton in shropshire - its rad!!! Think that would get my vote.

Manderson, no idea where you got that idea that idsa about the cafe, the FC see it as a vital part of the infrastructure, in fact they'd like to see more made of what the cafe could offer (but I'm not going there), anyway the head forester was talking to me two weeks ago about putting up a permenant sign for the volunteer group so I wouldn't have a cafe sign in the right place would be an issue.

in fact they'd like to see more made of what the cafe could offer (but I'm not going there)

Why, is there something wrong with it? 🙂

It's a great cafe, surprised it closes so early at the weekends though.

The traditional 'tearoom in yer front room' up at Tosside is a nice alternative when it's shut though.

chestrockwell - Member

LOL at those moaning about puddles.

Whoosh.

[I] just don't mention the Hope Line [/I]
Hope line Hope line Hope line.
Why can't I mention it? I have my own opinions but interested if there is politics behind it?

Why can't I mention it? I have my own opinions but interested if there is politics behind it?

IIRC there was some unofficial 'tweaking' of the jumps that turned it into either a potential crashfest or properly rad, innit, depending on your viewpoint. Hard to satisfy both types of punter on one bit of trail, cue moaning.

The chicken wire thing is a running joke. Some people find the boardwalk a bit lacking in friction in wet weather...but I'd rather fall in the bog than scrape my face off on chicken wire.

The boardwalk in the ice is [i]hilarious[/i]

The boardwalk in the ice is hilarious

I've only tried it once, with hilarious consequences...you can't even walk across it! Now at the first hint of chilliness I just bypass the entire section.

They really should grit the trails. 🙂

My knackers didn't find it so hilarious last time i was there

Rode there recently with a friend who lives down in Bristol. He's used to riding the likes of Afan and Bike Park Wales. He rated it for two reasons. Firstly the level of challenging, technical, yet generally fast riding. Said he'd not seen the like of it before (I've never ridden Afan or BPW so can't comment). Secondly he was well impressed with how friendly everybody was, he was amazed that people actually talk to each other!

From my point of view it was the first time back in a couple of years and I really rated it. I think that the trailbuilders have done a fantastic job and am of the school of thought that if the trail gets cut up a bit, that just adds to the challenge.

I'll certainly be going back and sharing the good word!

[i]IIRC there was some unofficial 'tweaking' of the jumps that turned it into either a potential crashfest or properly rad, innit, depending on your viewpoint. Hard to satisfy both types of punter on one bit of trail, cue moaning.[/i]
But isn't it supposed to be a black line? Its not even part of the main route you have to specifically go down it and pedal back up a fireroad. Jumps should be much bigger IMO else its just catering to the lowest denominator which is what the blue is for isn't it?

But isn't it supposed to be a black line? Its not even part of the main route you have to specifically go down it and pedal back up a fireroad. Jumps should be much bigger IMO else its just catering to the lowest denominator which is what the blue is for isn't it?

You could argue it either way.
There's the full on DH track which (IIRC) has signs all over it saying that you should only be riding it if you're part of the Trail Fairy crew (digging/maintaining the trails) and also warning of certain death if you attempt to roll anything.
Then there's the Hope Line. I've ridden it on my CX bike so it's hardly double diamond grade but, like the best Blue trails, it's a progressive trail - it can be ridden by a mincer on a CX or it can be properly nailed by an experienced rider on a DH or jump bike. The trick is actually catering for that wide base.

If you've ridden Swoopy Blue at Glentress, that's kind of the benchmark. Any idiot can bimble down it on a hybrid. But ride it fast and it becomes very challenging, a trail fit for even the best XC racer. I think that's the aim with the Hope Line - if you don't find it challenging enough, go faster and jump higher!

[I] I think that's the aim with the Hope Line - if you don't find it challenging enough, go faster and jump higher![/I]
I get what your saying but the jumps are tiny, I'm braking not to overshoot them. I could squash them all to get to the bottom faster but where's the fun in that?
Interested in this DH line though - whereabouts is that?

Left at the top of the Hope Line and keep going when the red peels off on the right.

Secondly he was well impressed with how friendly everybody was, he was amazed that people actually talk to each other!

Thats not Gisburn specific. Its this thing called the north.

Looking forward to getting back over there, just had a look at video of the DH stuff, might need to take two bikes.

I wouldn't take my dh bike to gisburn to be honest mate - unless your other bike is a hardtail or something

the official DH trails aren't steep or rocky or technical at all and are do-able on a mid travel bike

[I]I wouldn't take my dh bike to gisburn to be honest mate - unless your other bike is a hardtail or something[/I]
Oi, I'm on a hardtail.

Stevet1 - Member
My 2p worth - Hope line needs biggerer jumps.

Not wrong there! The last ones especially. You hit them at full speed and you are landing on the face of the next jump never mind to flat! Really have to squash them.

@stumpyjon it was the cafe owner who told us directly that the FC have taken signs down and won't let them put one up in the car park. Don't know of its crossed wires, bureaucracy or what but it seems daft that the toilet block is far more prominent than the cafe when it's the cafe that's likely to draw more people into the forest.

I wouldn't take my dh bike to gisburn to be honest mate - unless your other bike is a hardtail or something

the official DH trails aren't steep or rocky or technical at all and are do-able on a mid travel bike

Good to know cheers. I've got a 130mm 29er or a 180mm 26in bike to pick from so might still prefer the big bike!

@stumpyjon it was the cafe owner who told us directly that the FC have taken signs down and won't let them put one up in the car park. Don't know of its crossed wires, bureaucracy or what but it seems daft that the toilet block is far more prominent than the cafe when it's the cafe that's likely to draw more people into the forest.

Manderson, I will have a word in a couple of weeks and find out what happened. Probably crossed wires concerning the type of sign maybe, there's a fine line between useful information and turning the forest into Picadilly Circus. Plus there was some bad feeling generated at one point when the cafe started putting up lots of signs saying outside tables only for cafe patrons, toilets only for patrons, no change for the pay and dusplay etc. Not the most welcoming approach.

The cafe is run by the people who lease Stephen Park, the toilet block is owned and maintained by the FC and had to be close to the carpark for planning approval and to discourage people from using the bushes (which upset the landlord, UU, who don't like people weeing in the resevoir catchment).

Just got into riding at Gisburn after borrowing a carbon 29er did 2 & 1/2 laps on Sat and thought it was mint, challenging in places but also very natural and not overly sanitized- the fact it's rideable when its pissing down appeals!

Went back to Gisburn at the weekend - shock horror there were still puddles on the trails. We managed to cope, somehow. The improvements to Hully Gully were noticeable and appreciated and the climbs were as great as ever. The hope line was underwhelming as usual. Found the DH track after directions on here and it was excellent, the most fun I had all day. Now comes the controversial bit, there is nowt on the DH track that ought to be out of reach of someone who is an experienced MTB'er. In my eyes this should be the level of trail that is classified as Black, not the small tabletops and rollable drops that often feature on 'Black' graded trails. I'm not saying this as some way to put myself across as some kind of riding god but as someone who thinks the skill level of MTB'ers seems pretty low in general and won't improve unless people are challenged as to what they think is a technical trail. Anyway there has obviously been a lot of work gone into the track so thanks to the trail pixies for that.