Maybe just drop a selection of random objects for me to pick up 🙂

Agreed that the blue trail (I guess it’s Osprey I’m thinking of, but I’m not really sure of the names) is worth riding. Nice and flowy. It’s as challenging as you want to make it to be honest. If you want a nice quiet ride through the forest or with kids or whatever, bimble down it. If you want a bit of a challenge, put your foot down and stick it into the corners.

Last time I looked for a map of the blue loop it was still missing the newest section. A quick google suggests some places still have the old map up (im looking at you bikeplace keilder!).

This is the current map. Ive not ridden the new Chick Line but i have walked it (to take pics at the K101 last year) and looked like it was fun to ride, lots of ‘whooping’ from the riders anyway. Its not especially long but would be a shame to miss if anyone does ride the blue (you climb up to it from the lakeside way on the return back to the castle, not on the way out).

My son (4) rode Chick Line on Sunday. His second proper bit of singletrack after Spooky Well earlier in the same ride. He was absolutely knackered but beamed from ear to ear at the end. Whoever built that needs a pat on the back.

I sometimes ride the first section of the Osprey Trail and go directly to the chick line after riding Deadwater ..as a little add on.
I was marshalling at the 101 last year ( and the year before ) …

hot_fiat
A lot of the work on the Chick Line was done by Alex Maclennan ..the Forestry Commissions Recreation & Tourism Officer for the North of England ..sometimes working on his own .
He also organised a few visits from Barclays ..as a team building exercise and one of the descent sections is named after them ..” Barclays Bank” ..what else!
Well Done to your son ..thats brilliant ..

Last time I looked for a map of the blue loop it was still missing the newest section. A quick google suggests some places still have the old map up (im looking at you bikeplace keilder!).

The map you quoted is exactly as it was when we rode it in early 2016. Great ride in the winter when the snow is on the ground 🙂

Oddly, the biggest slog of the whole ride was the lakeside path. Although properly surfaced and flat, it was pretty damp at the waterside altitude when we did it and it had turned into a sort of sludgy mess which glued to everything and dragged on the bike pretty heavily. I think I had more complaints from the boy from that flat section than from all of the uphills combined!

Hodgynd

good to see you and Ian are still riding! I used to love our Night Rides!

Steve c

Bugger me Stevie ..thought you were lost to the dark side 😀
Hope you are keeping well .

There is a Dirty Reiver lite – the Dirty 130

Oh OK, lite-er than that… 🙂

Just back.

Its a really nice part of the world.

The Deadwater trails were pretty good, rode all the way to the top, which was indeed a horrible slog but the sun came out so at least I was rewarded by a nice view. there was some quality singletrack on the way back to the car park but it was all over too soon so I did a quick spin round the short blue loop and then followed the Lakeside Way down to where is was staying at Leaplish, non technical but some lovely views along the way.

Thoroughly enjoyed the riding and the weekend as a whole, will defintely be back.

I love the area but I always feel a bit like Kielder could feature in a gritty murder themed drama. One where the locals all conspire to cover things up. It just has a slightly odd feel about the place.

Best that you don’t probe any further Frankie baby ..we’re watching you …
Bruhoohahaha….

Glad you enjoyed it Rich..

great, glad you enjoyed it.

I love the area but I always feel a bit like Kielder could feature in a gritty murder themed drama. One where the locals all conspire to cover things up. It just has a slightly odd feel about the place.

It’s almost certainly been in an episode of Vera… I know what you mean though. You have to remember that the valley was flooded in the 70s so there are houses under the lake. There’s also discussion about introducing Lynx (the wild cat not the deodorant) into the forest to control the deer population so there’s opportunity for mysterious big cat sightings as well 🙂

20 miles south of the trail centre but still part of the forest on a bridleway in the Allerybank area ..5 hours of wet & muddy bliss yesterday afternoon

20170914_154230 by Neil Hodgson – Flickr2BBcode LITE