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I wasn't actually knocking the new ideas ( despite my usual sarcasm ). Swinley, as you say, has developed a reputation for the newer, marked routes being rather dull, so anything that might enhance riding in the area is to be welcomed imo.
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Yes, for clarity I should have responded to individual comments. Instead I targeted you all as a grouchy lumpen mass. :-D
My response was more specifically for @Jimm and @MarthaFarcuss. Just wanted to include others who have commented on this specific topic to have an interesting discussion. :-)
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a grouchy lumpen mass
Nah, that sums me up pretty well ;-)
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Perhaps I should be sober when I read the forum
Wouldn't recommend it.
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I think it's good the folks want to develop the site and put more things in it.
Ultimately if they do put chunkier features in they will need a different approach to safety and the site might end up being pay to play to fund additional staff. This may not be a bad thing, unless the trails are shit, because nobody will pay.
Personally I think qualifier features are a sub standard approach to risk management but perhaps that's the best they can do with the resource they have.
Personally I think the south east desperately needs a dedicated trail center similar to the scope of BPW - the grass roots efforts at Swinley and the 'will they be there next week?' trails of Surrey are fantastic but aren't enough to sustain growth and development and are under increasing pressure.
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I think that qualifiers have a certain utility in that it is a useful warning for any rider entering a trail for the first time to assess their own ability before descending.
But on the other hand it can be seen as purely obstructive for if, as with BPW, you cannot get around a qualifier feature without clambering over a wall or fence then a rider's ability to progress might be hindered if they intend to session the trail & its individual sections to be able to achieve riding the whole thing.
Qualifiers could be seen as an underestandable kneejerk reaction to the high levels of injuries occurring on black and red runs by unprepared, unskilled riders at BPW. Far easier to collect the injured at the trailhead than halfway down Dai Hard after the boulder drops I suppose.
And yes, the south-east could do with a dedicated bike park and trail center like BPW. Aston Hill is a long way there as regards quality and variety of trails but just needs facilities (cafe, toilets, bike shop/bike hire, etc) and an uplift. But who knows if that will ever happen.
What places like BPW possess that does not seem replicated in the south-east is funding & resources available through being a thoroughly deprived area that can be spun into a bike tourist destination. As with Afan Forest Park, Coed-Y-Brenin, Llandegla, etc. Many of these locations benefitted from EU funding.Considering that we might consider building some hills in Peckham a la the London Olympics MTB venue and apply for a European development grant. :-)
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Hypnotic.
My XC/AM mess is coming along nicely.
Keep buying AM bits though. So the XC bit is kinda falling away. I know a guy that runs enduro tours in the local alps (sunnmøresalpene). So I'm moving my eggs towards that basket I think.
Should have all my wheels bits soon.
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Aston Hill was good today. Some runs were just downhill icerink-like rutted toboggan runs. Was slipping around like Bambi on the last section of Root Canal.
It was a fucking good day though. Definitely the best trails I have ridden in the south-east. Surface to Air was fucking great though the previously "all-weather" granite surface has been totally worn away to reveal the super slip-slidey chalky goodness beneath. -
Our quad team came 28th out of 118.
Nice one!
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I only started mtbing last winter, my brother has ridden his bike literally 10 times and my other cousin's bike skills are questionable
Oh... now I hate you all...
;-)
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Just had my first taste of MTB. The redwoods in Rotorua is an awesome place to start out!
https://www.strava.com/activities/477883319
BareNecessities
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Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt
Posted by
@Howard , @BareNecessities , @MarthaFarcuss
Or it might leave a legacy of fond memories of have fun had by young & old alike, of the furtherance & development of freeriding & downhill skill, and the nurturing of future stars of the sport.
Maybe ask Brendan Fairclough, Bernard Kerr, Olly Wilkins, and Sam Reynolds, all riders from the south of England nurtured as youngsters by the kind of trails proposed here, what their opinion might be.
Maybe we can roll around in perspex bubbles just in case. Safer that way.
All trails everywhere, no matter what grade they are, have the potential to injure the rider. Mountain biking is an inherently hazardous sport.
I suspect that the main problem with the now destroyed jump gulley is that it was a set of jumps not sanctioned by the Crown Estate, perhaps this element meant that insurance was not obtainable in relation to riders injured there. The newly proposed freeride area will be sanctioned and perhaps this is what it comes down to.
Whatever the case may be I welcome the new trail proposals. Swinley is in danger of becoming a fucking snoozefest. I find myself in more danger now nodding off to sleep while riding the red & blue loops.