Hardest Trail you have ever ridden

As the title says uk or abroad.

going up cwmcarn always kills me but so does all the other climbs if i think about it!

I’ve ridden in the Lakes, Scotland, Wales, Peaks, Austria and Spain, with some very technical and quite necky stuff. Three trails jump to mind tho’.

1. The singletrack on the east of Ullswater is a great technical challenge. It undulates so you can’t just point and go, you need to pedal and use some good balance and careful line choice (and avoid walkers). NOthing scary tho’

2. The second is (down) Cave Dale into Castleton. I’ve not done it for a few years now, but I always struggled to find good flow on it. Again this is not helped by having to pick my way through walkers. Must go back (with better bike and more skillz!) and see if it is as hard as I remember.

3. Can’t remember the name, but there was a trail in the Sierra Nevada that was the epitome of singletrack, but traversing a steep slope with a very serious penalty for failure. Technically not too bad, but defo a head game

Too many ascents have defeated me to pick one as the hardest 🙂

Probably whiteside crag comin off skiddaw, cat bells ridge descent was suprising. Super morzine had a bit of everything, and a double black route at deux alpes was super steep and tech, but short in the middle of a red run

The Bitch in Verbier. Even attempting it is hard! Steep, loose, no run out and used my body as a brake. It’s not a long section but enough for me never to have ridden it.

Jackass in Verbier as well. There is one switchback I have yet to manage at the very start and the run in is just a head melt of exposure.

Stainburn black clipped in on a lightweight xc hardtail.

Great fun!

A lot more confidence inspiring on a mid travel full suss but I am still rubbish!

The blue at Llandegla

In my head – the lemming trail with switchbacks.com in Sierra nevada, basicaly switchbacks down a shear cliff, mess it up and there is no run out, just a 400ft vertical drop.

Bryan Addams/Mapple Syrup in the same area just didn’t work for me, felt too tight then too steep to really get into the flow of things.

Tortoise, do you mean gorgeous gorge or 48 stiches? The first I’ve not done and the 2nd for no apparent reason I felt fine on but others said the drop to the left put them off.

Hystorectomiser is by far the hardest, just seemed to be a never ending sequence off wheel sized rocks, switchbacks, drop offs and speed.

inners national xc downhill…. 3km of downhill nearly unbroken after a 4km near constant climb ,slick and full of very hard sections… i did it on a rush 110 and found it hard a good amount of people couldnt ride it.
Bruce

kilbo path into glendoll on an 80mm arse up head down race bike ….

still fun though

was harder than the capel mounth on a cross bike !

I still cant believe I actually rode this. 😉

Jackass Verbier for sure that one switchback scares the shit out of me. No not done it never even built up the bottle.

Ulswater one mentioned is superb fun love has you thinking all the time.

Probably riding down Ullock Pike off Skiddaw a couple of months ago in the snow. Not that I’m claiming I rode very much of it.

Stainburn black for hardest man-made trail. Not really my kind of thing, but impressive to know someone built it and that some people can probably clean it.

😯
where’s that Rustler?
And why’s the front wheel off the ground in the second pic? I’d be leaning damned hard against the wall there.

I couldn’t stomach riding that, I hate exposure on a bike.

Rustler – are you bunnyhopping that gap?

That’s insane.

Mabie Forest darkside trail. It was rewarding when managing to string a few sections together though. A lack of an easy to pedal gear probably didt help either.

North Lakes – from the tarn below Dale Head down to the valley bottom (Goldscope mine). Unridable pain in the butt.

Rustler: You’re a braver man than me. No chance in hell i’d be attempting to ride that. Consequences of messing up there are pretty fatal to put it bluntly

Wow Rustler that is wild. Hard enough to get your head around walking something like that never mind riding. I’m getting some minor vertigo just looking at this on screen. Very impressed – where is it??

**** me, i would never ride that!!
pretty buggered if u fall haha

http://www.stevepeat.com/2006/10/peaty-and-hans-irish-pub-to-pub-road-trip/%5B/url%5D
County Clair Cliffs of Moher

Er hang on Rustler – you sure that’s you??

Who is Rustler??

I’m getting some minor vertigo just looking at this on screen

phew, not just me then…

Tortoise, do you mean gorgeous gorge or 48 stiches?

Neither. I can’t remember what is was called but if someone says it I’ll know.

If you’ve ever been to the west of Ireland, chances are that you’ve visited Co Clare’s Cliffs of Moher, 702ft at their highest and with a drop straight into the Atlantic Ocean.

Nice to look at, sure, but not somewhere you’d necessarily pick to cycle along, even if you had a spare few metres between you and certain death.

However, it’s that curious thrill which has encouraged several websites (mountain biking ones, we should add) to claim the cliffs as ‘the most dangerous bike trail in the world.’

One site says: “For those who want to experience an unforgettable adrenalin rush, you need to refuse to settle for anything short of the best.”

US bike manufacturer Fezzari has also namechecked the cliffs, calling them ‘gnarly.’

The plaudits, appear to stem from photos and a video of pro MTB riders Steve Peat and Hans Rey dramatically and controversially riding a 20 metre, 600 ft high stretch of the cliffs in 2006. The ledge was no more than a metre wide, and when the pictures appeared on the internet it was thought they were faked. But Irish snapper Victor Lucas confirmed they were genuine, and showed Hans Rey and Steve Peat blithely ignoring the Grim Reaper as they tackled the ledge.

Fearful of copycat attempts on the Cliffs by other riders, Clare County Council has appealed for people to behave ‘responsibly.’

The council’s director of services Ger Dollard told the Clare Herald: “The Council would certainly not encourage any behaviour which places the visitor and others in danger and would appeal to all visitors to the site to respect the environment and behave in a responsible and appropriate manner at such an important location.

“While the Council has done a significant amount in terms of improving overall safety the Cliffs, by their nature, they carry certain risks and dangers and there is a responsibility on all visitors to act in a responsible way in their own interests and for the safety of others.”

Local councillor Martin Conway told the paper: “We can’t control what goes up on international websites and we can’t legislate for lunatics but we have a responsibility at the same time to ensure that we do all we can to prevent any such irresponsible behaviour. If this means that we have to introduce a bylaw governing cycling at the cliffs, then we should do that.”

Reacting to criticism of his stunt at the time, Hans Rey said: “Of course, nobody should ride their bike there. I have tons of experience to ride in stressful situations like that, its no place to take a chance.”

Goat’s Gulley (Whistler) in the wet
steep and rocky
you have no option but to just let go of the brakes and hold on

Those pics above – Hans Rey & Peaty. I think they know their stuff.

Hardest stuff?
Ullswater – very demanding, no one section is especially undoable, but the constant short tech up, short tech down is a headf…

Darkside @ Mabie? Yup. hardest UK trailcentre effort. Stainburn doesn’t even begin to compare.

LaVarda – Les Arcs – 45 minutes of balls to the wall tech. Fantastic

19th Hole, Squamish. Never spent so much time sliding DH on my face.

Some of the Whistler valley “xc” trails are pretty mental – again short, sharp, tech ups; short, sharp, tech, downs. Climbing with your saddle down and descending in the granny efforts.

Cavedale is cleanable, maybe 80% of the time. Walkers just add to the fun. 🙂

There’s loads of great trails in the Lakes that are pretty mental. Nan Bield the “wrong” way, Rossett Gill, Scarth Gap-> Buttermere.

Surrey – Princess Dianas Seatbelt
England – Rosset Ghyll
Alps – Jackass in Verbier, Sick track in Chamonix
BC – Most of the Northshore. IE Sexboy on Cypress

Riscar.

2 hidden local ones which are STEEP but sadly been modified by people now so they present no real challenge anymore.

East of Ullswater is a beautiful trail in either direction. I always run out of steam by the decent climb half way through as it’s normally after a decent ride. Haven’t been since 2005 :0(

Scarth Gap Pass heading north to Buttermere.
Hard and hurty if you fall.

That Ullswater track is good – failed on some of the uphill sections. In the Lakes Dollywagon Pike is also pretty damn tough in places.

Bits of Ben Lomond are pretty tricky. Couple of bits I failed to ride and I’m not sure I will ever be able to.

Some of the Mega course was pretty hard for me.

Garbanzo.

Goat’s Gulley (Whistler) in the wet

Sir, I take my hat off to you.

Stuff in Sierra Nevada – no specific trail.

Tight switchbacks, fast rocky sections, sections with drops/large rocks/off camber bits etc. etc. none of which I am particularly competent at.
I think it’s mainly a confidence thing, but my normal riding location of Thetford doesn’t give much opportunity to practice rad or indeed gnadgery to any great degree….

The Quantocks DH lines scare me silly, being frightened and braking all the time and basically not “riding” them.

I was going to say Red Pike, Scarth Gap, Buttermere. I was thinking of the steep switch back stuff I have done in the Alps or Downhill stuff but the rocks for rocks and penalty for failure then that ride marked itself out as tough.

😀 😆
Makes my legs go to jelly just looking at that pic.

A mate, & some locals, took me down a little run near his place in Derbyshire once. Ambergate Woods I think it was, technically that was the hardest thing I’ve ridden.
Theres a rocky gully at the top of the MachX that always catches me out.

along the side of the tazmon glacier new zealand. very technical, slow going climb with an awesome view.
oxford falls DH course Sydney on fully rigid was hard work.

close the thread rustler wins! 😀

The ‘Two lakes’ trail around Colwyd & Crafnant in Snowdonia.
Technically too tough for us, bad weather & I fell off and banged my head near the start. Lost all confidence, but we stupidly decided to carry on, both of thinking that the other was still up for it.
Between Ms Spanner and myself we’ve got over 60 years of experience in the hills and we still managed to make a stupid mistake.
Ended up riding back down to Capel Curig feeling sick and shakey in rapidly deteriorating conditions.
We’re a lot more cautious these days. 🙂

The Fort William World Cup DH track, amazing fun though.