This is my current favourite..

The only issue we have with it is filtering in the option to avoid collisions as its currently a bit blind for both riders on the black and red parts of the trail until the last moment where the trails should meet.
But we'll find a solution somehow 🙂

Fingers crossed for a decent day for digging tomorrow 😀

Whats going on to the left at Whitecliff decent? (I think its Whitecliff, where the new improved bermed decent is, its the one where the rock drop is at the start of the decent (immediately after a switchback), about 3/4 of the way around) – hard to describe sections of trail

Anyway just prior to the decent you pass some big drops, a 'warning keep off sign' and a blank marker post.

Does this have the makings of an optional black descent?

Haddock, that's our current project! A roll in to a nice big rock drop followed by another rock drop and then we have to clear a trail and loop it round and filter into the red at some point.
Definately a black option – I've stacked the Faith a few times off the first rock drop and now am struggling to ride it – it's the offcamber landing and root system that we need to clear out thats giving me the fear I reckon.
We'll be working there on Sunday, so if anyone's passing come and say hi!

I ride there, and am currently in between building a nice descent up in the top end of the forest.
A lot of the good stuff is hidden but there's plenty of trails to ride in a "see where it goes" attitude.
A couple of things to look out for – Cropton is a very wet forest – you'll find a lot of boggy areas that are difficult to get over. The other thing to look out for is ticks. Last summer I managed to pick up at least 1 tick on every ride I did in the forest and had to resort to riding in my downhill pants most of the time.

Yeah the black downhill is intersting isn't it 😉 I really should get up there and do a bit of tidying and reworking of some of the features.

The big drop off that I can think of at the top of that steep decent about 2/3 way 'round is not big if you ride around it!

I think you're talking about the rock step at the top of Whitecliffs section. It's only about a foot high in the middle and even lower on the left.
There's too many shortcuts and alternative lines appearing round features we worked hard to put in 👿 You build a nice singletrack section only to find a few months later its as wide as a motorway because people are too lazy to ride the existing trail 👿 We get asked to put technical features in suitable for a red grade, which we do, then people ride round them. And then they say the trails boring!
Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Without a doubt my 2004 Orange MsIsle.
Followed closely by a GT I-Drive which I still regret selling.

The drops onto the fireroad are completely rollable, and they're nothing compared to the new Worry Gill drop.
It was first used in the British XC round last year and has been reworked to give a steeper drop and narrower roll in.
Brilliant to ride, but you certainly want to get off and look at it first, it's easy to go over the bars if you'r not careful.

Forget the Northshore (you can't really call it that as its pretty much ground level) around Dixons Hollow as its slippery, but the boardwalk dscents further up on the black are completely ridable.

Akira.

Yeah it will be more of a drag on a 6" bouncer. I've stupidly done the red on a 8" bouncer when riding some of the bigger stuff hidden in the forest (living in Pickering gives me plenty of time to explore both Dalby and Cropton forests for fun stuff to ride 😉 ), and that section pretty much killed me. I just use the section now as a slow ride to save energy for the final sections back to the carpark.
SingletrAction Dalby dig days ae usually the 3rd Sunday of the month, depending on othe rcommitments of keyholders.

The fist sized rocks have been used where there has been need of an armoured trail due to erosion, soil type, bogginess etc. Yes they are a pain on a hardtail, but I still stand by my own opinion that riding Dalby on a hardtail is fun. Being local though, I can tailor my ride using older and cheeky trails to avoid the worst of these sections.
A lot of the stuff SingletrAction is building is trying to be more natural, such as the new section at Crosscliffe – 90% of which was hand dug with no machinery – not an easy task! I do agree with the section that is a gradual climb being a long draggy pain, I hate that section too, but the payoff of the rather excellent singletrack descent back to the visitors centre more than makes up for it. If you've got the fitness left, before heading out into the meadow and down to the carpark, hang a left and then take a short climb back up the tarmac road and do it all over again 😉

+1 for Lastfm as well.

Think Dalby is boring?
RIde it on a hardtail – I got to that stage with one of my full suss bikes and switched to a HT for a bit of fun. In fact Dalby rides so much better to me on a hardtail that I'd only think of taking a full susser now for the new stuff we're currently building.

Now, on to the subject of building – we will be up at White Cliffs for a dig day next Sunday (15th) and would love to see some new faces if at all possible. We're building a new black optional descent and the sooner we get it finished the sooner you lot can ride it and rave/moan/whinge/giggle/cry* about it! Shameless plug I know 😆

*Delete as necessary.

More info about the dig day can be found HERE

Well, my employer has basically pointed out that the weekend time off would be breaking my contract of employment as all members of staff are required to work Saturdays apart from when annual holidays are used.
The other issue is that the company is a small family firm and if I were to take extended time out, he would need to employ 2 extra staff to cover myself and any other absences which he could not afford to do in the present climate. (We're unable to double up on holidays due to staff levels)
It's a sticky one, and to be honest, I'd rather look for another job first now that I know the attitude of my current boss.

My family is fine with it, after all my wife is from a family who have serving military, and we both have friends who are regularly deployed – her brother has not long been back from a second deployment to Afghanistan.

For me, the RAF taught me to fly and and how to navigate in the air (whilst as an Air Cadet) and I would love to give something back in return.

I guess if I can't go down the Reserves route, then a visit to my local ATC squadron and enquiry about being an adult instructor may suit me better..

Well, my boss has pretty much put paid to my thoughts on this. I had a chat to him today about me applying, and once he heard the amount of time off I would require, he pretty much told me the only way I could do it was if I found other employment first.

Bah.

That would be drunk EX girlfriend in my book.
And she'd be sobering up in the garden by now.
I bet all it was was just a sicky burp instead of full blown chunder 😆

Within Temptation and The Metropole Orchestra – Black Symphony.
Nightwish – End Of an Era ( Last one with Tarja, and I was actually at this concert 😀 )

I've had a look at our local Squadron, and it is indeed a Regiment Squadron, but the posts offered aren't all Gunner type positions. And that leads to one of my Q's regarding the medical, seeing as I wear glasses for driving, how would that affect me in a Logistics Support role for example.
The other issue would of course be current employment related and would I be wasting mine and the Squadrons time if my boss suddenly decided to get awkward and refuse me time off for annual training/camp for example.
I have sent off for an information pack and am awaiting that, but I think I need a heads up on the above before I waste the time of a recruitment officer…

And with wheels…

Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
Best Album by far that I've heard this year, never mind 6 months.
Off to see them at Leeds Academy early next year too! 😀

stop watching porn when she's in the house then….. 😆

There's only one program on CBeebies that cuts the mustard with me and my 2 year old…..

And the Autumn song is pants – we preferred the summer song – my littl lad would stand and do the movements as it played.

I gave up on Moyles and his drivel ages ago.
I like my radio to play a lot more music – all you get with fatmouth is too much rubbish being spouted and not enough tunes being played.

MAybe I'm getting old…

Nice and well thought out.
Good reports on the rides too, I thought.

I might have to cadge along on a ride sometime 🙂

I get mine from CRC whenever the need arises.

What compound do you use mtbcol and what bedding in methods ?

I always use sintered, and I use the hard stopping method – at speed down a hill and hauling on the brakes hard but not locking up wheels. The aim is to get them hot and then let them cool down so the pads "key" themselves to the rotors. Repeat as necessary until you get great stopping power.

Dalby is notorious for its sandy stuff eating pads.
Strange thing is, I ride there at least once a week all year round and haven't had to change mine in around 5 months.
I use Goodridge pads, and if bedded in properly they seem to last an age.

Not bad at all, was up on Tuesday in the rain and it was riding really well.
lots f leaves on the trail in a few areas which can create a bit of fun when you realize its bloody hard to see where the trail goes! 😆

Another one for stumbleupon
I use it when I'm bored and it allows you to search througfh your interests to find new pages too.

+1 Bruce Dickinson
Chester Bennington
Michael Hutchence RIP

Sharon Den Adel
Tarja Turunen
Amy Lee
Belinda Carlisle
Bjork

I use a Bell Bellistic, in fact I have done for years. Had a number of helmets that have retired due to ground/helmet impacts but I must admit they're rock solid when it comes to impact protection.
Nice and comfy and a good retention system in use. Ventilation is adequate, but as with most full facers it does get stuffy in summer.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30295

Here's a few off the top of my head, in no particular order…

17 Burgate, Pickering[/url]
Farfields Farm, Lockton[/url]
White Swan, Pickering[/url]
Black Swan, Pickering[/url]
Grindale House, Pickering[/url]

When are you wanting to visit?
There's plenty about and as a Pickering resident I can give you a few pointers. (The business I work for also supplies a lot of them too)
If its this weekend you want to come, don't bother – it's Pickering's Annual War Weekend (think silly buggers in World War 2 uniforms) and all B and Bs have been booked up for ages.

Yeah, I'm a member and Dalby is my home turf. I just felt I had to give something back after using Dalby for so long.
Some of the stuff is ours, although we tend to build from scratch and FE usually get Clixby's in to tweak existing stuff.
I'm especially proud of the work we did on the new Crosscliffe section, it's turned into a really lovely piece of singletrack riding.
I can't take all the credit, there probably wouldn't be much of a trail if Gil_m hadn't got involved, he's the leading force behind SingletrAction in Dalby – we just follow his orders! (He does need to learn that not everyone is as masochistic as him when it comes to climbing though) 😆
There's some not so little stuff going in at our next project – a little black option on White Cliffs – and it'll include some big drops and a few other features if FE give us the go ahead…

Over The Hills And Far Away. Nightwish's version just blows the Led Zep and Gary Moore versions away.

Hmmm tough one!

My current favourite is Within Temptation's Black Symphony.

And a few others I like:
Evanescence – Anywhere but home – Live in Paris
Nightwish – End of an era (Last live gig with Tarja, and I was there 😀 )
Faithless Live at Alexandria Palace
Oh and Iron Maiden – Flight 666

The only saing grace was that I had loads of unspent energy for those last few Riggs and Dales which meant I ould ride them at silly stupid speeds. 😆

I have a Fuji S1000fd.

Seems to do okay for me.

Lots of automatic settings for sport, beach, night etc and you've got the option for manual setting too. It's a bit bulky, but still miles smaller than a DSLR which will be my next purchase after I've outgrown this camera.

Well after today's ride, I'm of the opinion FE need to work on their bloody diversions!
Looking at the map above, they could've diverted the red down Adderstone Hill to join up with Adderback climb that way, so that the unused sections of Adderback, Crosscliffe and Bickley could be used.
But no!They had a diversion in place that took you along some crap rally damaged fireroads that brought you out at the bombhole section, nicely cutting off a large portion of the red route.

Muppets!

Oh and next week the British Red Cross are using the red for their sponsored ride, so don't expect to ride any of it! 👿