So, I sort of ignored all your advice

and took my first-time-on-a-mountain-bike brother up through Lee Quarry over to Cragg Quarry.

It was fantastic!

Because it was dry, the rocks at Cragg reminded me of riding in Kamloops, BC. At the same time, because I live in Cardiff, I haven’t actually ridden rocks like those for many, many years, and I LOVED it. I know the trails at Cragg are not very hard, but you can really get ‘flow’ on them.

I can’t believe that my mum just lives a kilometre from the entrance to Lee (and that, in 13 years, I have never explored the trails up here!).

I will be back.

I used to take my also first-time-on-a-mountain-bike brother-in-law out on his BSO around the best of East Dartmoor..

He loved it and rode most of it capably and fairly confidently, never once worrying about suspension set-up or tyre choice..

Ignorance is bliss

We were there on Saturday morning, it was battering down with rain and really windy, so we stayed down on Lee Quarry. Past experience suggests that it’s windier up at Cragg.
I was a bit disappointed that we got so cold and wet after a couple of hours, we didn’t bother with Cragg. And today while the weather has been lovely, I’ve been working for 9 hours.

I took a guy at work for his first ever ride on a mountain bike around Real Ale Wobble on the Sunday, he had a great time, i think 😉

I had done the trails north of Cardiff on Sunday with my other brother, and between a tyre blowout and the slick, sloppy mud, it was not my best experience. By contrast, the trails at Cragg were a blast. As I said above, very rocky, but because they were totally dry, they were a pleasure to ride.

Lee and Cragg are ace if you don’t think you are riding round in a loop in some woods.

Now then Saxonrider, tis great you loved it but how did the ‘first time on a mountain bike brother’ find it? I assume the advice you mentioned was regarding him and not you liking it? 😀

Love it up there. The established routes are good (something for everyone at Lee) but there is so much potential for more! possible northern hotspot. Oh well looks as though Lee & Cragg will be the end of the story 😥

I’ve done lee but not cragg, is it any good? Spoke to a couple of lads lAst time I was there and they told me a good place to park. Is it any better than lee?

Well done, ignoring good advice is the stw way.

Glad it worked out well.

🙂

Cragg is ace. We took a totally new to MTB bloke up there – very competent and fit rider but never been on anything gnarlier than a tourer – stuck him on a Trek Stache and listened to the stream of (mainly joyous) expletives as he realised what it would do. Great day out.

Lee/Cragg always seems to get a few grumbles.

It is what it is and I actually quite like it. The alternative is for it not to be there. It’s never going to be a degla or GT because of, well, geography.

It’s suitable to a beginner. I’ve taken a couple of people there who had MTBs but had never used them in anger and it broke through their comfort zone and they were off and running elsewhere.

Cragg is good fun imo, especially if the sun is out and the wind is under control. Good for a thrash about and practising getting a flow on.

Grumbling about the hill at Lee Quarry is my favourite one, especially in the sport of mountain biking!

Jonnytheleyther- Cragg Quarry is just a short ride up the hill from Lee, take the signposted trail from Lee.

Glad you enjoyed it. cragg is miles better than Lee IMHO. Its like a BMX track on steroids. Add in the fact that you can put it in to the middle of a run taking in some fantastic surrounding trails, which we do on a regular basis, and it takes some beating. And the link trail back down to Lee has a grin factor of 11! It inspired me draw this…

Weatherwise you need to check the forecast. We have been up there when its been so windy you could barely stand up. They put those turbines up there for a bloody good reason!

Those is my colours 😀

They are mate. I think I’ve done pretty much every colour combination now. It’s without doubt the most popular illustration I’ve ever done

You could sell tshirts of that design!

The only negative thing about the place is the litter and dog eggs everywhere at the car park.

SaxonRider – next time you’re up here, give us a shout and we’ll show you how to fit in Cragg and Lee with some of the brilliant local trails. This is Waughs Well, that runs from the Coal Road down the back of Cragg, that brings you round to the top of the Link trail…

As you can see: if you like rocks, you’ll love this 😀

I’ll definitely do that, binners.

In the meantime, I just got back from a fantastic, if windy, tour on the road bike, through Bacup up past the Deer Play, then around Crown Point to the A682, and back to Rawtenstall, then home (Shawforth). I simply cannot believe that in 13 years, I have never brought my bike up here. Whether on the road, or the trails, it really is very good.

On a side note, your illustration is brilliant. Would you allow it for use on a t-shirt (assuming a fee, of course)? I wouldn’t mind one myself, but I am also thinking for the brother who enjoyed his maiden voyage yesterday.

This is Waughs Well

And a footpath, so expect some grumpy looks from the red sock brigade.

SaxonRider – its already been done as a t shirt. I had them silk screened for the Monday Night Pub Ride mob. I think I’ve got one left over from that print run. I’ll have a look tonight, if you want to drop me a mail. Address in profile.

This design…

^^^^ Heartily recommended 😉

I like Lee and Cragg, though I think Cragg should be ridden first as it’s best on fresh legs to carry speed and enjoy the flowy swoopiness.
Obviously, it can be bleak as flip but it packs a lot of variation on a rocky theme into a small area.

If the tshirt’s the wrong size for SaxonRider, can I be considered for it instead? 😉

I’ll show you some better trails around Cardiff on Saturday, OP 🙂

Also, if you are around on a Monday night I would recommend the MNPR lot, best group ride I’ve been on and I don’t normally like group rides!

Saturday should actually work for me, molgrips. I’ll text you.

Lee Quarry, before it was sanitised, was a wild place. We used to ride down from Rooley Moor Road through there. There was a small cairn of stones on RMR that you needed to spot to find the link. Mostly though we used to go Land-Rovering and terrify ourselves; there was one place where the big circuit around the periphery dropped down on the right to a cliff top, you had to do a hard right and get the car over an awkward little ridge where you’d be cross-axled if your angle was wrong. My neighbour in his S111 got into trouble and almost slid backwards off the cliff, scariest thing I ever saw as a Land Roverist.

Stunning image in the shades of pink Binners 🙂 + 1 if you ever do a run on a nice grey background 😉