Is it worth the 130mile journey from near London?

It was for me for a while, not now I have kids though, but used to go down a fair bit a couple of years ago. Its probably the best couple of xc trails and a couple of bits of wood spot in the South of England really.

Raced there at the weekend for the student champs, is a wicked place, loads of tracks, longest downhill is about 1.30mins, is uplift on certain days which i recommended as the push up hill is insane.

That’s a freeride spot?

Looked more like a couple of xc trails and a couple of bits of wood to me.

Cheers mate. I am thinking of making the trip. I am tempted by the fact that Cwm Carn is only about 50 miles further, lol.

That’s a freeride spot?

Looked more like a couple of xc trails and a couple of bits of wood to me.

In that case don’t comment on what you don’t know about.

Mikey – I too was there at the weekend. There is nothing there I wouldn’t ride my xc bike down with the saddle up.

One of the guys from our lot was riding the DH course in less than 1:30 on an orange 5.

So what exactly is the bit i know nothing about?

Yeah but you could ride FortBill DH on a XC bike with seat up, doesnt mean its not a full-on dh track…

Well everything I have seen (videos on you tube I have to admit) suggest that there is a lot more to it. Maybe you didn’t find alot of it.

Go to Cwm Carn.

Spending 4 days there, I saw everything the place had to offer.

Saying that I do live at Inners, so I probably expect a bit more from a riding spot. 😀

Smee, now I know you are a DH freeride legend on your singlespeed uphill downhill kona, but would you ride these on your XC bike with your saddle up:

Cwmcarn is great for XC, UK bike park is better if you want to get your wheels off the ground.

Yip. Sure would.

Bollocks!

Certainly looks like a FR spot to me… (from those pics, and the pics/vids Ive seen elsewhere).

My Kona is a Coiler – Why not ride stuff like that on a Coiler?

I do love the downhill at Cwn Carn though.

Yeah – Whatever.

I’m glad I live here and not there – that would be a proper shit place to live.

I do love the downhill at Cwn Carn though.

Never been a fan of it, prefer the other S wales tracks, if I was taking a 7-8ins bike out for the day it would be to UK bike park over Cwmcarn

Smee stick to your smooth gravel foresty loops round the twee borders eh?

I will do.

So long as you promise to never come up here and ride the crap trails that we have.

i’m with smee tbh, with inners being my local dh spot (and dunkeld the just longer the other way)

i didn’t think much of the uk bikepark when there over winter. didn’t seem to be a huge variety in the tracks, all rather short.

theres a few jumps/drops that are bigger. but other than that, its pretty tame. would much rather spend the day on an uplift at inners. or head up the road to dunkeld, for some proper tracks.

Well I know I live in a sh*t place for mountain biking and therefore dont have anything like Glentress or “Inners” (that is not sarcasm by the way), but I am trying to find the best biking I can, within a reasonable driving distance.

And for the record: I have been to Glentress and Innerleithen and loved it, but unfortunately driving for 8.5 hours to get there every weekend is a bit much, don’t ya think?

Which is why I suggested Cwn Carn. Peaks might also be a good bet for you.

To be fair I’ve ridden Inners 3 times and also at Ft bill and they are DH courses and they are excellent. If you are looking to session something with bigger gaps then UK bike park has something a bit different that neither of those offer.

I bet Smee didn’t ride any of the big ladder drop / gaps at bike park. If he did I’d like to see the evidence from this self professed riding god!

I could do Cwm Carn and then stop off on the way back 😀

djglover – There are far far bigger gaps at inners and the other forests round here than anything UKBP has to offer.

pics?

It would be a good stunt taking pics and riding at the same time.

There must be a picture somewhere of someone jumping these enormous jumps 😕

Did you ride at the weekend Smee?? if so, what time did you get?

mikey74

Its a great day out and worth the trip down, we do it from Dorking.
IMO its better than Cwmcarn downhill as more trails to ride. Just make sure you go when its dry as can get very wet and sticky in the winter

Spending 4 days there, I saw everything the place had to offer.

I doubt that. There’s only one XC trail and a DH trail but there’s tons and tons and tons of natural riding. Only limited by how far you can ride in a day 🙂

I live about 30 mins from UK Bike Park and TBH given the choice I’d ride Cwmcarn. However down south we don’t have the same terrain as you lucky people at Glentress etc. but the guys at UKBP are trying to make the best of what we have and I think they have considering! It’s unfair to compare it to a location that has been quoted as having some of the best MTBing in the world!!
It is also quicker for me to drive (minus the ferry journey) to the Alps than it is Scotland!!

But going back to UKBP, good short DH tracks and some good jumps and northshore bits – pig of a push back up – if we do ride it normally we stick to the top sections and save our legs. Go on an uplift day and it’s OK.

what about rogate? similar type riding and probably a bit closer.

Mikey,

Long time no see! You were kind enough to let me ride your Rune (ooh eeerrrr!) around Dorkers.

Head to UK Bike Park for a day, get an up-lift sorted. If you’re up for it, enter a race their, the atmosphere’s pretty relaxed.

Track wise, there’s a few to chose from, and if you like the stuff on Ranmore then you’ll love the stuff at the Bike Park. Although there’s the Freeride area, most of it is DH runs, and they’re plenty technical enough when you notch the speed up.

As for me… I’ve not been on a bike for over three months, still trying to recover from back injury. Rune is on its way and I’m hoping I’ll be out on the trails soon. Hopefully see you out there.

Dave