I’ve no doubt they are steeper than they look. I’d say go slowly but if there’s a big lip on the wooden edges it’ll throw a spanner in the works and increase chance of stall/fall over.
With twisty turny steps like that I’d either go wide round the far side of the corners or straightline the steep apex. So either keep left till the sharp righthander and take the middle of the trail there or start right and zig zag across the trail cutting across the apex of the corners.
green or red

EDIT but yeah, if you don’t mind going off piste Poddys line is better.

i tried to draw a line to show evryone and cant get the marker pen off my screen 🙂

probably be using this bike….maybe so i think straight line might not be best

steps by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

this is a very cool thread (even if i did start it) i was expecting a **** take as i’m having trouble riding it, but some very good tips here

Straightlining/cutting corners kinda misses the point IMO.

Drop yer saddle, steady speed – fast enough not to stall, not so fast that your out of control – and then go roughly apex to apex all the way down. For the most part the steps look quite widely spaced so there’s braking space between them.

I dunno if my straight line is any good, but it does give you the option of braking on the flat bit away from the steps, which might be handy if you end up going a bit quick!

I always seem to be going a bit quick on steps. There’s some wooden ones down to the canal near home (Off the bridge near Mytchett Canal Centre, on the way to the cafe/pub!) that have a platform in the middle, on the second flight I’m usually pretty much flat out….It makes a helluva noise 🙂

The line I saw was similar to PPs* but you don’t touch the off-piste bit, just boost of the big nice looking step and then land for the corner after the nasty looking bit of the steps. The foliage looks quite soft on the landing/crash zone

*The curved bit of the line is meant to be where you are in the air

But that’s not riding them.

Outside right hand edge cutting to left hand edge on the nasty bit in the middle. You lot can stand at the side just in case. 🙂

Think about what normally goes wrong, then counter that with technique.

So, drop the saddle as far as it will go – you will then be able to rub your bum on the rear tyre.

Next, ensure your compression is adjusted so the steps dont eat up all the travel and pitch you forward – same with air pressure, get it right. You want to use the travel, but not at the expense of it compressing so fast it changes the geometry and pitches you forward.

Roll fast enough that you skim them rather than see/saw them.

Enter at the speed you need to finish with, thereby eliminating the need to have to use too much braking.

Lean dont steer, to get round the corner.

Where are they – id like a go.

How about this?

they are here aqueduct lane

STW forum session meet anyone…?

Rickmeister – now thats a plan.

Lets see how all those with advice on technique actually ride in real life – Oh, hang on, I offered advice.

Good idea though.

The most important thing you have to do when riding steps like these is to make sure the video camera is running before you start. Second most important is that it’s got enough capacity to stay running at least until the helicopter appears. 😀

Enter at the speed you need to finish with, thereby eliminating the need to have to use too much braking.

……and while you are at it, remember to turn off gravity for a few seconds 😉

…and LOL @ TheBrick

Lean dont steer, to get round the corner

That would depend on speed and tightness of corner, they look too tight to lean around.

Drac, you may be right – I can do stright down steps – but ones with corners Ive not tried. Didnt stop me giving advice though 🙂

OH dear, my camera has HD video too…gulp

Drac, you may be right – I can do stright down steps – but ones with corners Ive not tried. Didnt stop me giving advice though

No why not might add some comedy effect when he tries different techniques.

Aaaaaah just down the road from lickey hills.

Ohhhh thats on my way home to see my parents, I feel a challange coming on!

Rickmeister – yeah! Where / when?

Bart Green? They all ride £6000 bikes around there don’t they?

Will scope this one out on a ride to the in-laws (after a few others here have had a go and reported back injury stats)

Dont do it without witnesses.

Will have to drop in there and have a look next time I ride the lickeys, bet they are a lot worse than the photo appears

Does anyone remember coffeekings playground thread? 190 posts and 7 months later it still hasn’t been done:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/how-to-attack-this

rOcKeTdOg, don’t be that guy. You can be a hero, in HD. A video diary containing all of the aborted attempts, the inevitable half arsed, non committed mess you make of the first go, the slow road to recovery, and then finally (eight months later, once you’ve healed and learnt what it is to be alive. I mean, really alive)…redemption, in slo mo, with a soundtrack to match.

I can’t wait…do you need an agent?

If there is a half decent route that is nearby or takes the steps in email it and I’ll make the trip, have a crack/crash 🙂

Why not ride on the smooth dirt on the RHS until the turn, then just release the brakes and whoop till you reach the bottom, looks like a straight line to me?!

Popped over on the commute home and did a bit of filming, will upload later

do hospitals have wi-fi nowadays?

*excited*

remember coffeeking’s thread, massive anticlimax

thanks for the map link, without that i wouldn’t know there was a place called ‘bell end’!

thanks for the map link, without that i wouldn’t know there was a place called ‘bell end’!

How about Lickey , Lickey End and Rubery? 😀 😯

thanks for the map link, without that i wouldn’t know there was a place called ‘bell end’!

Look even closer and you will find a road up the Lickey Hills is called Twatling Road…….. 8)

What tyres? That’ll decide the line choice, that and your preference for either a superman no-hander or a tail-whip on the 7th step

i filmed the steps, not me riding them, i’m not doing that alone!

bell and lickey end are about as exciting as it gets around here 😕

video still uploading, but here is a pic from the bottom

bike and bemused dog walker for scale

from the bottom by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

another maybe better angle

bottom II by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Write to chipps, this should be a feature. ‘the forum shows its hand(to the dirt)’ who would be brave enough to turn up? Or jedi could do a ‘fish out of water’ of old with a jeyboy to do the steps.

that actually looks a lot more tame from the bottom

Is this like the ‘guess where the football is’ competition you get in newspapers but instead we have to put a dot where we think you’ll land?