Sorry everyone if I’ve posted this in the wrong section or anything.

Just wanted to give you guys the opportunity to get a ride on it.

We have 3 places left for tomorrow £45 for the day. Visit Essex legacy website for the booking.

Cheers guys and sorry again if I’m not meant to post this here.

Tom

£45!? With several races there next year why wouldn’t you just wait for those?

It was only £20 to watch the world’s top riders race round it!

It’s a guided and coached ride for the day.

The races they run there next year won’t be using the whole of the course and they are due to change lots of the features and tone it down a bit. Gives people the opportunity to experience the full on world standard track before the changes happen and receive some skills training at the same time.

Cheers

The cost is irrelevant you get the ride the Olympic course the way it was designed to be, not the way the ECC want it to be, which it will be soon.
I have attended one of these session and it is full of great coaching tips through out the whole ride, making it possible to have fun and learn to ride how the Olympians do it, not as easy as it looks on the tv.

Sounds damn good value to me and a fantastic opportunity – only wish I was nearer.

Will you be doing other dates?

I thought someone from Essex council came on here a few months back and publicly stated that nothing would be removed, just extra lines added on the more difficult sections?

What qualifications to the ride coaches have?

I’m going home to safffffend next weekend.
Can I NOT ride on the trail at Hadleigh?

What qualifications to the ride coaches have?

looks better than me!

I’m a ctc skills instructor and John is a level 3 bc coach.

The other dates will be up beginning of the week but we’ll be running sessions most weekend until the new year and just after.

Again there are no plans on the course as of yet but due to the risks some of the dangerous features could come out. We’ll have to see what ecc and the course builders come up with.

Either way it’s a rad track. Challenging and I race 4x, I should be used to rocks but these are quite substantial.
We’ve had a few battered bikes in the last couple of sessions.

If it’s coached and that it’s fair enough, thought it was £45 to pedal round! Agree with Matt that I thought they were just providing alternative lines, rather than removing bits.

Again the local guys are working hard to keep all the current features. I hope they do as it’ll be an amazing facility once finished.

Yep you get 4 hours on track with coaching help on the way round.

maybe im missing something but why would anyone need a guide ??

And why would you pay £45 to ride a (trail centre)

Keep up, it’s coached!

Because it isn’t a trail centre (yet) and won’t be open till late 2013 so we’re giving you the chance to have a go early.

You need the guide because it is currently closed to the public and is barriered off. The guide is there to provide first aid assistance, take the barriers out, sort out the paperwork and offer help with skills or riding the course where needed.

The course is more challenging that people think. Pretty much all of the riders who have currently ridden it on the rides have felt it has been challenging and have needed little bits of help. It’s Olympic standard at the end of the day, not the kind of stuff you’ll find at your average trail centre.

Easy way to receive some cheap coaching too 😉

£45 for 4 hours of coaching is a bargain and a chance to ride what looks like a brilliant course.
Really hope it stays as it is for the British round next August!

Never mind the naysayers Tom, they’re all big hucking gnarly dudes, if i was 350 miles closer i’d be happy to pay £45 to ride the course and get some coaching, If you work with or see Ian Warby say hi to him fae Kenny (blue soulcraft/7stanes team @ mountain mayhem 2007)

cheers guys. Luckily the council are also using the feedback they get from the sessions to decided what they are going to do with the course. Everyones loving it at the moment and we’re really pushing for it to be kept the same 🙂

I hope it does stay as it is, convince them to provide chicken runs round the techy bits to satisfy the health and safety aspects and perhaps introduce a short uber technical skills loop at the start of the course with a disclaimer stating “if you cannot ride this skills loop comfortably then do not ride the Black graded sections of the trail”, I dunno if that would satisfy the councils safety bods though?. Despite staying up in Galloway i want to make it down at some point just to ride the entire course and claim a chocolate gold medal for myself.

yer everyones pushing for it. Its just getting the council h&s to agree with everything. Fingers crossed. H&S ruins everything :(.

I’ll be seeing Warby soon so I’ll tell him you said hi 🙂

Cheers Tom, I raced wi Ian on our 4man team (Myself, Julie Cartner, Ian Warby. Luke Webber) that year and constantly had to stop him trying to tamper with the angle i run my levers at – he was on a crusade to tilt them up but i prefer them down, T’was a good mayhem indeed. 😛

Sounds like a great oppertunnity

Its much better to find a solution to people riding the track than have it shut while the paper shufflers err shuffle paper…

ampthill – Member
Sounds like a great oppertunnity

Its much better to find a solution to people riding the track than have it shut while the paper shufflers err shuffle paper…

Exactly. We had an awesome group today. Some pure bred Xc guys, I couldn’t keep up with them and some more trail, all mountain riders. It was awesome as both groups were feeding off each other.

Bring on next weekend. Payment buttons will be up on the legacy site tomorrow.

This sounds great, I’ll keep an eye out on the website.

Awesome day today, really enjoyed the track, brought a new perspective to how challenging it looked on TV. Off to re-watch some footage and shout “I did that!” Cheers Tom!

Nice to meet you today Simon! You all rode awesome! Hopefully see you again soon. We’ll have the 2 hour sessions for people that have been before up soon

Did this a couple of weekends ago and I cannot recommend it enough. Proper good hoot, worth every penny and its on my doorstep 🙂

Tom, or anyone else who’s been – as a self-confessed weekend warrior, who’s been on the bike very little in the last couple of months so even more unfit than usual – am I going to be getting in anyone’s way if I sign up for a go? I’m happy enough with the ‘black trail centre’ skills requirement but my fitness is frankly pants at the moment. I don’t want to turn up and find I’m upsetting a load of lycra-boys as I wheeze round to enjoy the techy bits!

As one of the “more trail, all mountain riders” from today’s session can I echo what simonbea said above. It was great opportunity to ride round a truly awesome track with a couple of great coaches and a good mix of people.

Some of those obstacles would challenge most riders and the track doesn’t let up, it’s either up or down most of the way with little chance to catch your breath. How they get round several laps in sub-12min times on bikes with seatposts high and little travel I’m amazed, it’s given me serious respect for those athletes.

It was nice to talk to Matt from the Essex Cycling Development Team about their plans for the site. He is really behind plans to maintain it as far as possible. However, even on these coached sessions there have been a few mishaps, one guy today will be heading to hospital, so don’t let the camera fool you.

At the end we were interviewed by Stephen Chittenden (not sure of the spelling) from Radio 5Live for a programme they’re doing on the Olympic Legacy. Have a listen out on the 30th November!

timmys, can’t see that’d be a problem as the first half of the day was spent tackling each obstacle one at a time. The most tiring thing was pushing back up for another go. We only did one full lap at the end by which time I was knackered.

Good to meet you today Roger!

It was amazing how much more confident you all were after lunch!

Also just seen some pretty negative chat about the hadleigh track on essex herts mtb forum. If any of the guys that have been could put them on track it would be much appreciated. Again we just want to give you guys the opportunity to ride it before little bits of it change and also in a concentrated group as we know its going to be mobbed when its opened!

Great to meet you all today and I look forward to following weeks with hopefully some more of you guys off here!

When are the changes expected to begin kicking in? Any more £45 sessions around the corner? Will try and get a pass if I can keep up my good behaviour 🙂

You need the guide because it is currently closed to the public and is barriered off. The guide is there to provide first aid assistance, take the barriers out, sort out the paperwork and offer help with skills or riding the course where needed.

The course is more challenging that people think. Pretty much all of the riders who have currently ridden it on the rides have felt it has been challenging and have needed little bits of help. It’s Olympic standard at the end of the day, not the kind of stuff you’ll find at your average trail centre.

Easy way to receive some cheap coaching too

The next dates will be up tomorrow but we are putting up the dates saturdays and sundays until mid december.
The changes now are likely to be due to start around april 🙂

Is there any news on the extra dates. The website only shows yesterday. A group of us are really keen to give ta go before it is changed.

pmc00per – Member
Is there any news on the extra dates. The website only shows yesterday. A group of us are really keen to give ta go before it is changed.

I’ve just sent the updated dates button to the ecc web person so hopefully they should be up this evening for everyone. We’re taking bookings for every weekend up to the 15th December so far. More will be added as time goes on.

cheers

The new dates are up!

having been on the original (test?!) course with Tom and the other guys who’s name Ive embarrassingly forgotten, I cannot recommend this enough, and will be doing a few more – I tried to ride it on a hardtail xc bike with 100mm of travel and in all honestly failed..! How a slight girl / woman rode this with a broken collarbone is so far out of my comprehension.

This is a chance to ride the course as it was, as the olympians rode it, we don’t know what changes are planned (minimal I hope) but it may be that whatever changes are planned take some of it away – we don’t know yet, this is just a chance as I said to ride it as it was on telly.

Can’t wait to get back over there….

I don’t wanna poo poo anyone but tbh it didn’t look that technically challenging IMO
Don’t get me wrong I would be **** after a lap and maybe that’s where the challange lies.