Tips for riding wet boardwalk

They’ve taken some of the longer / more awkward bits of boardwalk at Grizedale out I think, and replaced it with rocks.

I don’t intend this to sound like I’m bragging (I’m not, I’m crap on a bike!)

But the only time I rode his bum was in winter, ice and frosty. The wood had frost on it in the shaded areas and was wet where the sun hit it, I rode it all fine

I stupidly rode the wood at Dalby with fresh snow on it, the first banked turn I went down hard and fast

(iPad autocorrect fail left in on purpose as made me laugh!)

But the only time I rode his bum was in winter

😯

Need something to do on those long dark cold winter nights

Autocorrect of the year there. 😀

Not all boardwalk is equal though.

Although some of the sections at Fort William have a bit of exposure all of it is actually very grippy.

Most of the stuff in the 7 stanes is pretty grippy too.

Laggan on the other hand, i think they must polish it.

And Grizedale – do they have teflon trees in the Lake District?

Of course all bets are off when its icy.

But yes, smooth steady and don’t touch the front brake

Ouchie 😯

You know when you see one of those gifs where you think ‘I bet the bloke was hospitalised for some time’.

That.

I hate the board walks at Gisburn they go narrow and quiet high at one point if i remember correctly.

What I did was take it very easy going on and aim the front wheel at all the boards sticking up above the normal level thus slowing yourself down without touching the breaks. 🙂

But most of the time there **** death traps, I have some on my local ride smooth wood plus green slime came off twice hard twice at weekend and ended up walking across VERY carefully. 🙄

Yeah, I seem to remember I fell off somewhere near the transition point between Boardwalk & equally slippy rock at Grizedale.

Not all boardwalk is equal though.

Perhaps boardwalks will all start relatively grippy then get slippy as any timber treatment wears/washes off and moss and lichen grow on the surface.

I’m not going to be able to offer any usefull advise as I almost only ever ride cannock and it’s always been fine in all weathers.
It’s a useful tip though, I didn’t realise how different they all could be. Will be more wary in the future.

Just to add had one of my best days riding, I was able to cleanly ride the uphill quarry section and the climb out of the valley for the first time. Really enjoyed hilly gully and the swoopy section too.

Grum tyre pressures around 30psi rear 35 front.

Loddrik “don’t accelerate or brake ” I think I get it ……maintain momentum.

Will be up there again next week and put it into practice.

Thanks

Took another trip today and whilst drier the advice proved useful, kept off brakes and smoother steering & pedalling inputs keeping my body low meant I managed all sections comfortably, thanks all.

mud + wet + woodwork = pain

chickenwire is great but can still get slippy and needs lots of maintenance if well used as holes appear and you go back to the equation above but + cheesegrater.

I rode laggan in the semi wet and it caught me out. not enough to crash but definately brown trouser moment as i tried to brake and stay upright.

i`ve built enough fun timber features to know when to not even bother.

some stuff locally is worse than green wet chalk for lack of grip.

Gisburn in about -3 last winter was hilarious on the boardwalk. Just standing on it I was sliding sideways, all had to walk through the (mostly frozen) bog beneath

There’s not much you can do in those conditions though.

Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it’s crap it’s dangerous it’s not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it’s absolute garbage!

We have a section near us that is on a FP and cheeky and we only use it to get to other sections but it’s covered in chicken wire so not so bad but if it didn’t have they it would lethal

Just do not get it at all

Mate came off some in Kielder a few years ago. Ended up with a broken femur & a ride in a helicopter.
Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it’s crap it’s dangerous it’s not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it’s absolute garbage!

This.

Hate the stuff. It’s a dick.

So in the UK’s climate, purpose built MTB trails have surfaces that are nearly unrideable when wet? Makes sense.

Let’s not forget where the whole idea came from though. The north shore of Vancouver has way more rain than the UK – it’s basically rainforest. The cedar is saturated for 10 months of the year. The main difference is that riders there are manly gruff Canadians who don’t mince.

Although I strongly feel that UK trailbuilders don’t ‘get’ north shore. In Canada it’s a way of getting over/ around an impassable bit of terrain. It’s not supposed to replace the trail for hundreds of yards at a time!

Boardwalk is the biggest pile of shite I have ever seen/had to ride, it’s crap it’s dangerous it’s not remotely fun and 9 times out of 10 it could be replaced by nice flowy singletrack! I understand some sections use it as a bridge to get over boggy sections etc but the centres that purposely put it in as a riding obstacle/fun section absolutely bewilders me, it’s absolute garbage!

This. +1

Edit: argh I replied to the month-old topic not the new one. Sorry folks.

The tighter you “clench” your ring, the easier slippy boardwalk becomes.