Re a post I saw on Facebook with a picture of some more (excellent) work done, I posted a question:

“I don’t wish to be a moaning minny or anything, and this is a genuine question: But what’s the obsession with the tiny doubles/triples/quadruples? They’re often too small to jump and too space out to manual (or the trail not fast enough). What’s the thought behind them?”

Can anyone help me here? Are they to slow us down or something?

They’re a bit fustrating at times…but if there is a reason then fairy muff 🙂

Cheers

Neil

I belive they are to slow you down as most of them are before a pair of rocks indecating a crossing……

Do you mean the rollers? Not sure if they are all manual-able (by me, yet) but therein lies the challenge. Try pumping them to increase your speed, and after a few laps, once you know where they are, you can double some of them too.

It’s not that I can’t technically handle them – however, in my case at least, I’ve done the best part of 5 miles before I’ve hit the trail and am hanging out of my hoop before I’ve even got to them.

Sometimes I just want to mooch smoothly sat down, and you can’t do that easily with them in the way, and likewise, if you try to manual or jump them, you’re generally not carrying enough speed or if you are, you waste a lot of energy doing so.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not grumbling and understand why they’re not proper doubles etc, but it can be a bit fustrating sometimes – never mind that it slows down the less skilled riders even more!

Um…you’re complaining that Ashton Court is too tiring and you’d rather just be able to sit down? I really do feel for the trail designers!

p.s. Have just checked your history, and you’ve done the Mega, so I may have missed your point rather….

It’s kind of difficult to say without seeing the section in question. I did speak to a guy who ride the course with one of the builders who said that there are some doubles which you wouldn’t believe could be doubled, unless you’d seem someone do them.

In general I’d say – if you can’t jump it, manual it or pedal through it you can still pump it. There are a couple of sections that are deliberately designed to slow the riders down, e.g. the mid-point of New Barn Wood, but not many.

Oh and doing the Mega is no indicator of bike skills. ’09 participant here and still a stone overweight and unable to wheelie. 🙂

Mr Agreeable: I did wonder if some of them were doable – with the right run in and also knowledge they were there – I’ve probably ridden some of these sections a handful of times and am still learning the trails. Of course, some sections gel together better than others. Was there a concious decision to keep the lips and jumps minimal?

TheBunk: I tend to ride before or after work and often have little time to be ‘sessioning’ sections so, Bristol being Bristol, it’s a hilly place and I have to climb up into Ashton Court from home or work, so (being out of shape at the moment) I’m usually a bit knackered by the time I get onto the trail. With it being ‘straight into it’ type of trail, I’m usually a bit shellshocked from climbing and need a little rest. Hence, sometimes I like to just mosey around (this isn’t a criticism) the trail rather than attacking it.

The eldest part of the new trails is probably the one I know the best and I find that easiest to ride, with the different sections linking up neatly and being able to be pumped very nicely. The section from the Golf Course to the Quarry trail (cant remember the name) can be a sod though (and has caught me out before).

Mind you, there is hardly any rollers on that section.

When are we expecting Leigh Woods to open? Did I hear correctly it was uni-direction?

Mr Agreeable: Re Mega. You’re right. I’m a participant of the Mega.

07, 08, 09 and 11.

I still can’t wheelie. And also overweight.

I can jump though. A bit*

*still mourn the loss of Still Woods

I think (not wanting to put words into the mouth of the trail designer) that the jumps are mostly designed as rollers first and jumps second. If you made jumps with a bit more kick to them, you’d have the twin problems of higher maintenance (sharp lips crumble away more easily than round ones as a rule) and accidents from unexpected air.

If you’re still getting the hang of the new trails then it’s fun trying to ride them just by pumping. You get a real feel for the shape of the trail, you go slow enough to learn them and it’s do-able on most of the downhill sections. The Upper Quarry Trail works beautifully from about the second berm onwards. My mate can get all the way to the end. I generally need to put in a cheeky pedal stroke or twenty.

Opening date for LW is pencilled in for mid November. Some of the trail there is nearly ready to ride but a lot is still under construction. As far as I know it’ll be signed and designed as one way trail with loopable sections (e.g. the skills area).

Oh and this seems like as good a place as any to plug the new pump track in the Cumberland Basin. If you can get round that without pedalling you’ll be able to thrash round the new trails like a rubbery teenager.

Absolutely understood – I can see why you wouldn’t put them into a trail looking to attract new riders and if I’m honest, it wouldn’t suit the trail.

I’m looking forward to the trail maturing and it getting *slightly* less busy as the fair weather riders disappear. I’ve been banging the drum to all and sundry whom I ride with to pump the trails to learn how to maintain and gain speed (a well pumped roller and berm can slingshot you very nicely into the next) so the Quarry trail is very much a looked forward to trail after work – I should think it’ll be very fun at night!

Can you explain some of the trail features that perhaps we don’t see – someone mention two rocks either side of the trail as a crossing? Are there other things that some of us are not aware of?

Oh god. Don’t get me started on the bloody pump track!

>makesmefeelmassivelyshitandnolongerthe18yearoldIoncewas<

Not sure I’m up to explaining invisible trail features. 😉 I wrote a short article about the trail construction here, which doesn’t really tell you much, apart from that it’s got a feckload of stone in it, meaning it should last for years and get rougher and more interesting over time.

http://www.bristoltrailsgroup.com/news/175-behind-the-scnes-at-ashton-court

If you have any more questions about the design of the Ashton Court track the builders (Architrail) are easily findable on FB and Twitter, they are all very approachable and happy to have a chat.

[heretic] I don’t want it to get rougher [/heretic]

Stick the kids in the Skinner Box and come out and help on a trail day then. 😉

There does seem to be a move towards the design of smoother trails with “man made” features such as rollers and berms, over man made rock gardens and other stuff replicating what you might find on a natural ride. Not necessarily wrong, but personally not particularly my thing (in part because I’m not good at riding that sort of stuff). Haldon seemed to be one of the first trails like this. Verderers is an example of a good one IMO. They are the sort of trails that anyone can ride, but experienced riders will ride them quicker and differently.

But…I’m looking forwards to trying out the pump track and trying to learn some bmx type skills (in a quiet moment, when no one’s looking mind!). Maybe I’ll enjoy the new AC more if I do.

I think I’ll always struggle with the rollers and small jumps on the uphill sections though, good luck to anyone with the fitness to really make the most of those.

Yeah there do seem to be lots of roller-y pumpy trails springing up. I think the reason is that you can build these sorts of trail by machine on any type of terrain and they will generally be fun to ride, suitable for a range of abilities and weather resistant.

If you contrast with, say, the trails at Afan, they are built by cutting through to the rocky subsoil, and the drainage is taken care of by the sideslope off the hill. This makes for a more natural feeling trail but you need the right sort of terrain.

Haha, the pumptrack! So glad I was having my first go at 7:30am when I binned it on the middle/tightest turn. Rather than my original plan to get there at 6pm on the way home when it would no doubt be full of school kids nailing the doubles and getting round twice without a fraction of a crank turn.

Did I hear correctly it was uni-direction?

Can we be licensed to ride [sections of] it in the opposite direction? It’s going to be hard to break old habits. 🙂

the pumptrack!

I believe the children fearless kids on beater bikes are our future/Teach them well and let them lead the way.

I’ve noticed this at FOD they seem to love odd numbers 3 or 5 why?
never a 2,4,6 pack grrrr
There’s is a nice little double at the first right hander at AC

When are we expecting Leigh Woods to open? Did I hear correctly it was uni-direction?

Evening. The trails in LW are being built to best utilise what little gradient there is, therefore features are designed to be ridden in one direction. I suspect the triple you mention is the three bumps near the Valley Rd car park, this is actually the end of the trail, they’re there to slow people down before hitting the path.

The start of the trail hasn’t been built yet, and there are a few other bits and pieces to come including optional red loops.

Some of the trail there is nearly ready to ride but a lot is still under construction.

Yeah, but a lot of it isn’t. Just because the trail looks good to go doesn’t mean it’s ready. If the signs say don’t ride, often that means extra bits are being added at a later date, or that a section is going to be adjusted.

Thanks for the update Wordnumb. Really looking forward to the new stuff! Rode around Leigh Woods a couple weeks ago and there was a lot of work going on. Stuck to the paths though and wasn’t tempted to hit the trails but I noticed some people had!

The photo’s on facebook look good. L like the look of the rice bowl! Are there any other ‘different’ features which will be included?

As Wordnumb says, it’s hard to tell the difference between the freshly built stuff and the trails which have been there longer. It’s pretty obvious that people are poaching it but if we can try and make people aware that by staying off it for a few weeks, it’ll last much longer overall, that’d be great.