how hard is stainburn…….very

Good ain’t it Tony. Every time I go back I enjoy it more and more than the last. Having ridden a variety of bikes there (including a Pashley 24MHz with slick tyres, one gear and one brake – I was as quick as my mate on his Patriot on the descents but not out of choice!) I can safely say my Blur 4X is by far the best. Just enough to take the sting out of the big stuff but rips around like a hardtail. But thats why I got it…

Having spent far too much time in the woods (and not enough of it riding) I’ve seen folks ride it on almost every and anything. As some half-arsed roadie once said, it’s not about the bike (which given my own “collection” is a bit rich 😉

There’s an awful lot of folk up there nowadays on “big” bikes which, IMO, is a bit of a waste. The trails work as a series of loops (double black / Boulder trail, red loop, red out/Descent Line/double black climb, cheeky/secret Aldo’s line/double black climb). You can do any of these (and other) combinations and as many times as you like / can keep turningthe cranks. Big bikes (or thir riders 😉 can’t do the “up” bit, which just seems like you’re only getting the most out of half the trail.

Whatever though, better out riding on whatever you’ve got than not 🙂

All are welcome at Dig Days (first Sunday of the month, check out http://www.singletraction.org.uk) if you ever fancy putting a bit back in. Certainly over the next two months extra bodies would be great to crack on with the Descent Line Extension.

Looks like a lots been done since I was last there 18 months ago. Its the hardest patch of built trails I’ve ridden in the UK, I’d say. Other than Stone Edge quarry in chesterfield!

DBW, I think i may have seen you today if you was up there with two other riders? I heard someone muttering about only one brake and then got passed my a blur. I was at the rock drop on a Heckler and my missus with the camera two of your mates went over it while you took the alternate route.

Dig days at Stainburn (1st sunday of every month) are very rewarding. Everyone who rides trail centres should think about putting something back 😉

A few images from our recent digs

Descent Line extension (20 people turned out that day )

Log rides being made all weather

PJ knackerising a log

Laying Sample grippy boards

A big hats off to the original guys like Cheeky Monkey, who built it.

Its still big enough to scare me though

Rich, wasn’t there yesterday but passing people on my Blur sounds familiar 😉

Me playing at stainburn

I found my lightish, 5 inch travel hardtail, with 2.4 tyres, was ideal.

I keep meaning to go back and have another go at the photos, I reckon my new wide angle lens will be better at capturing the difficulty and steepness. Because of the darkness of the woods I suppose, most pictures of Stainburn tend to be of the sections out in the open, like those above, which, as Ton says, are much easier than the stuff in the woods.

Lets not forget, no one is going to pay your mortgage if you spangle yourself. Leave the heroics to nippers 🙄

Pook – nice video. Excellent use of the Benny Hill music 😀

Nice video there,Pook.
Like the way you kept going back to do the log ride…”It will not beat me!!”

Leave the heroics to nippers

Nippers, yesterday.

He was doing alright for a 6 year old on a 20″ wheeled bike with about an inch and half of suspension 😀 Plenty of ‘proud dad’ moments.

PS How big is too big to pedal up hill at Stainburn ?

mark, owt heavier than a 25lbs bike for me….. 😉

Wahoo.
Well, I will be visiting on Saturday and will just be happy to not mangle myself too badly. Given my extremely low fear threshold, that shouldn’t be too much bother. I tend to overbrake and then topple over at an almost stationary pace.

looks good, how long do people end up riding there for (1/2 day or is it worth spending a full day there)? as its a long way from me, so I would try and do a 3 day weekend and combine it with some proper ridings in the Yorkshire Dales.

Half a day is probably enough. Remember there are no facilities. In time you should be able to spend a good day there once the naturals trails on the other side of the road are reinstated.

what happened to the trails on the other side of the road? and are they likely to be reinstated this year? or is it an ongoing project?

Looks like a fun place.

Mark: it’s not how big it is but how you use it 😉 If you can pedal the “big” bike up then kudos. TBH there’s plenty of “not big” bikes get pushed up too. Mleh, I know you get my drift 😉

Forestry operations trashed Norwood (the “other” side). They had previously designated the trails over there as “informal”, hey ho. We have permission to reclaim them. This will probably involve a fair bit of re-alignment to improve matters.

As for timescale it’s very hard to say. Originally the trails were simply pre-existing stuff and some brashed lines, maybe a tiny bit of organic was swept off. There was a bit of re-routing and some limited sections got re-built/reclaimed after phases of felling that occured during the last couple of years. This got us to where we were before the most recent felling phase (and there’s one more still to come).

Depending on how we reclaim it might work to simply clear our intended route of brash. This might give enough for people to ride almost immediately. TBH this is unlikely as felling works are incredibly hard on the ground as it is and knacker whatever ad hoc drainage existed before hand. You can but hope ……..

Then the long slow process of building (to whatever standard we agree with FE) can begin. First though we have to finish the Extension to the Descent Line.

In short, there might be something rideable in 6 months time (ever the optimist 😉 In reality it’ll probably be a year unless something special happens.

Cheers for the heads up 🙂

Personally I prefer the stuff up top (above the road). Loads of drops, mini downhills, jumps and all sorts.

Few of us at Stainburn up top

Oh… and me on the drop…

There is loads to ride in Stainburn, all ridable after a few attempts. Next time you go back you’ll be 10x better.

did you make that? you look very nose down for the landing

Hey guys I’d like to say well done, some great challenges there. And I did the rock drop on the descent line on Sujday which I was chuffed at. Learning how to ride my Pitch Pro as it’s my first full suss bike and Stainburn has certainly helped!! Me and two friends went on Sunday and we all loved it. I think we may have seen some of the people who have posted on here too.
We will be back for sure, keep up the good work!

Yeah made it fine. It’s a little bit of a downward sloped landing and the camera angle is a bit skewiff!

Me on the pump track on Sunday, just look how niche my bike is 😉

More pics here.

sorry for the hijack but, Jimmy, where is this stone edge quarry you speak of? as a chesterfield local that sounds interesting!

robdob: Was it you I was talking to in the carpark before you went home?

Yeah, might have been. What a nice day it was!!!