Leigh Woods, nearly brought me to tears!

Yeah, except all the diggers seem to have scared the deer and badgers away

They will be back as will a slightly more natural feel to the trail, give it a bit time.

the diggers seem to have scared the deer and badgers away

The reason you saw badgers on the old trail so frequently is because it depending on which bits you rode, it went right over the entrance to one or two setts. One trail even had a roller on it that kept getting bigger as the badgers pushed out more earth! I’m sure they’re still there, just enjoying a bit more peace and quiet.

We rode the new trails last night, then headed over to the Ridge trail

Which is the Ridge Trail? Phone mast down to Paradise bottom sort of area?

That’s the one. Predictably enough, apart from the middle section with the conifers, it’s utter mush right now.

At least you can badger hop the badgers… cow hopping’s a bit more tricky.

The ridge trail is perhaps a perfect example of my frustrations. This trail has never been significantly subject to wear, it remained in a good state all year round, being well known but not over ridden. But now even the steep sections near there are being turned to mush. I beleive this is due to the increasing numbers of riders attracted by the new trails.

So my original point still remains, personally I find the new trails uninspiring and the woods will never be like it used to be. The rise in numbers of riders due to the new trails means that the woods have changed, for the worse, for ever!

Maybe this is selfish, and the rest of you seem more accepting than me, but its the way I feel and I know I’m not alone.

This trail has never been significantly subject to wear

Eh? So the eroded corners and the succession of muddy pits just before the trail drops down to Paradise Bottom were always a figment of my imagination then.

It’s been wearing out, gradually, for years. All trails do this. The difference is that trails built of stone, with proper drainage and sideslope, do this a lot more slowly.

The ridge trail was the least worst trail in gloop … this is quite seperate from ‘a good state all year round’.

The reason is that the ridge trail has some topography and water run-off going for it. Not a luxury much of the rest of the wood enjoys.

The spot has had to deal with increasing number of riders getting out for increasing periods, night and day, come rain or shine, one way or another. You can’t limit riders to ‘only locals who have ridden here since the 90’s’ or stop rain falling on it. This is just about the only way.

In time the trails will revert to something akin to that perfect summers day in 1995 that you fondly idolise … maybe even *gasp* better.

Impatient people looking gift horse in mouth shocker.

Want to ride a natural trail 5 minutes from Clifton, head over to 50 acre or other parts of LW. (Or this north somerset stuff that I am not exactly sure where it is.)

Wet? Winter? Ride the man made stuff at AC or LW.

Dry? 50 acre, plenty of stuff in LW of old and the fun bits like paradise bottom, picnic table.

Wealth of opportunities for the discerning Brissle biker. What’s not to like?

Like others have said yes the new trails maybe don’t have the rooty challenge of old but the quarry was goosed with multiple lines and parts of Leigh woods were going the same way.

Some winters it was a gloop fest for several weeks at a time which meant either not riding offroad or 1:1 cleaning time and the knowledge that really the trail should be left to dry out.

And you know what, the new stuff is fun. Especially at night with a bit of pace and a few friends in convoy!

Maybe this is selfish

Ridiculous is the word you’re looking for. Like many of the walkers in LW you seem unable to understand that it is the harvesting of sections of the woods that has caused the majority of the old trails / paths to be covered up. These will reappear as the discarded wood breaks down and new trees grow throughout the next few years. I’ve found plenty of lines diverging from Yer Tiz – you can’t get far at the moment because of branches and mud, but that will change. Yer Tiz will be the backbone of the new network of trails, a nice mix of built and natural surfaces, and we’ll all live happily ever after.

This rather apt Johnny Cash song just started playing:

“If you waste your time a-talkin’ to the people who don’t listen,
“To the things that you are sayin’, who do you think’s gonna hear.
“And if you should die explainin’ how the things that they complain about,
“Are things they could be changin’, who do you think’s gonna care?”

I think I’m going to step away from this thread now and get on with planning our next trail day. 🙂

As a nostalgic footnote… this thread brought to mind an article (‘Scheduled Punishment’ by Mike Ferrentino) in one of my favourite ever issues of Bike (‘The Joy of Dirt’, March 1998). It covered a whistlestop tour of the UK, including a sojourn to San Fran Bristo, as follows…

Another day, another few hundred miles later, and we were again in another distinctly different piece of England: Bristol, port city home to the drum and bass movement* as well as Steve Worland, my spirit guide and revered mentor in all things bike… a very fit master class racer who had a quiet grace in the singletrack that made most of us look like shambling idiots.

And shamble we did. Steve, one-speeding, “recovering” after racing a day previously, took us on a three-hour maze of disorientating, root-strewn singletrack that would have made any Vermonter cry for joy.

I think the clear sub-text of all this is that Bristol needs far more woodland, in every direction, stretching as far as the eye can see…. The campaign to turn the Downs into a forestry plantation starts here. 😈 😉

*Open to question, of course.

seek and ye shall find

and

XC will never die

that’s all folks