Went down yesterday to Swinley and have to admit I’m very impressed with the trails. I’ve been going there for about 5 years now (admittedly not week-in week-out) and have never managed to find myself a good flowing loop around all the random trails and usually end up lost on the MOD grounds or spat out the back of the forest (which to be fair ends up in a nice mid-ride pint!). Being a bit of a lazy rider I enjoyed not having to worry about getting (too) lost and could enjoy the ride as a ride and not an ‘adventure’.

I’ll be going back pretty soon I reckon and will probably make more effort to go on a regular basis now it’s a fairly simple turn up and ride scenario. Oh and it was fairly quiet yesterday afternoon too.

Big thanks to the trail fairies!

Oh and it was fairly quiet yesterday afternoon too.

It really was. I was wondering what had happened to everybody…

So is Labyrinth haunted? Every time I have ridden their (on my own) I can clearly hear other riders close by. But they never appear. Last week, their voices made them feel very close and I felt that they were about to fly past me at any moment. I waited for several minutes at the end and then kept looking back from the FR – no one.

I agree, although I’ve not heard the voices, but I have heard the Hope Hub ghosts. You hear the hubs but never see the bikes or riders! Labyrinth the ghostly Singletrack 😉

It’s the ghosts of people who ride down one of those entries and never come out again. Maybe a portal to another dimension down there.

Went to the new Swinley for the first time yesterday (thanks Dorset Rough Riders!) and thought it was excellent. Went to the old Swinley a couple of times. Can’t wait to go back, never felt like that about it before. Loads of bikers in cafe area, the trails felt strangely empty in comparison. I didn’t read anything negative about it before I went because I wasn’t interested in doing that. Just go with an open mind, have fun and don’t consider doing any same ride week in week out! Nice change from open XC for me.

Anyone ridden the new trails in the wet ?

Just got back from there after a couple of laps this morning in the wet.

It runs better than the old trails did but it’s a bit grim in some sections. Not sure which number it is but the first section after the long fire road in the second half of the blue trail doesn’t seem to be withstanding hte weather too well.
I was there early on and didn’t see another rider on the trails until I got back to the car park where there was a few more people heading out. It’ll be interesting to see how it fares after a lot of people have used it in the wet.

The worst bit will probably be the red section 4/5 from the lower star post – it was just about drying out but I expect boggy carnage will be back by now. The fire road alternative isn’t much better as they’ve dumped a load of orange muck on it and dug drainage ditches that mess up the sneaky line through the woods too.

What he said, the red bit is a joke in the wet, and the fire road used to flood to about 2ft deep.

The trail itself seems to cope well in the wet, but the fire roads really suffer due to the increaced trafic concentrated on sections. I’m kinda hoping that the increaced trafic might stir up the mud enough that it washes away or CE stick a strip of ‘trail’ in.

Thanks, was originally thinking of QECP but that also appears to be ” not as much fun when wet ” 🙁

Was there at the weekend when the trails were wet after last Friday’s rain. You rarely encounter standing water on the singletrack but it does make for a skittish surface when damp. Quite often you can find yourself off-camber and I found it difficult to really hook the tyres up round corners. Tyre pressures and all that properly setup too.

The surface is good but quite hard. Looks like’s it’s all been properly flattened but don’t let that put you off going, we had a great time. Just wish I could have stayed for another lap.

edit: I meant just the bit that runs parralel, but in the opposite direction to, seagull. The rest of the Red (appart from some of the fire roads) is fine, and if you know the woods there are still the old trails holding up well due to the reduced trafic which you can use to bypass bits.

Didn’t want to waste an opportunity so went for a lap of Red and Blue this morning. Lookout was quite busy (it is half term) and car park and overflow full when I got back about 12ish, didn’t see many people out on the trails though.
As above Red4 would benefit from being closed as it is indeed boggy carnage and no fun at all. A couple of the fireroad sections are also like something out of the Amazon rain forest what with the orange gloop everywhere.(looks like some one splashed fake tan on my lower legs). A couple of Red sections after labyrinth are closed till August because of nesting birds and therefore have a fireroad diversion in place.
No walkers on the trails this time but did come across one dad leading his sons the wrong way around a bit of the Blue. I did explain the risk and the one way system but he didn’t seem that bothered and carried on trying to pedal up the hill through the berms.
So a pleasant pootle around but much more fun when the trails are dry.Apparently construction of the bike park is to start in September.

bike park?

From TrailTeamSwinley on FB

Good day out with Rowan and Steve from Back on Track yesterday, rode some trails, took some pics with Steve Behr, and most importantly of all for everyone, spent some time scoping out Bike Park Swinley! Expect some updates on the plan soon.

Are we going to get an uplift service too? (only joking)

TrailTeam Swinley if we did it would be the fastest uplift ever.

If Rowan can make the FR area half as good as the one he did in Afan then we are in for a treat! WRT timelines, are we talking 6 weeks, 6 months, etc?

TrailTeam Swinley Building will start in Sept.

Edit: 😳 This may be old news and the “bike park” refers to the the new trails ?

No, they are building on the hill opposite the gully, where all the rubbish, half finished runs were.

Maybe its the new Black area then ? but it says September 2012

From Ibike.com

BIKE PARK SWINLEY – CONSTRUCTION STARTS SEPTEMBER 2012

The new Bike Park Swinley will incorporate the Freeride area, gulley, and the three DH zones. It is a mixture of revamping old, and new build. For clarity the famous and much loved Jump Gulley is part of the new free ride area. The Alpine and Camel tracks will be incorporated into a new 1/2/3 * graded run system.