North Yorkshire over Xmas, any suggestions?

GHill

I'm going to be staying with relatives in York over Christmas and I'm looking for somewhere to take my girlfriend mountain biking. She's not a total beginner but not massively confident when it gets a little hairy.

My first thoughts were Dalby/Stainburn, but I have no idea what the weather will do to these trails. Anyone care to share any experience of them? Essentially, if it's going to be thick mud or full of very slippery rock sections then it's not really suitable.

Any other suggestions for routes or destinations greatly appreciated.

Andy B

Dalby is ridable all year & the trails are holding up pretty well, there are diversions around the bombholes as they tend to fill up with water, but barring that it's a lot of fun. There are a few rock sections, but you can walk them as there are no chicken runs as yet.

You can also choose to just do sections of the red route if you want as it is about 23 miles long. You can get a map from the visitors centre.

Stainburn is (so I hear) quite technical.

Have a look on the trailbuilders website (for both Dalby & Stainburn)

http://www.singletraction.org.uk/index.php

Father Faff

Stainburn is a bit technical really. Dalby is your best bet if you want purpose built however a lot of the "natural" trails in the North York Moors and over here in the pennines/Dales have pretty hard all-weather surfaces. Get a decent guide to trails and rides and get out of the woods and enjoy big views and big spaces!

GHill

Thanks. I had no idea the natural trails would be ride-able this time of year, I'll take a look at some guide books.

Father Faff

Over on the North York Moors, which I don't know very well, I do know one trail round Rosedale and Farndale that uses hard tracks and old railway lines. It should be in all the guides and offers fine views and a nice pub at Blakey Top.

teacherman

Dalby. Even though the red route is long there are loads of opportunities to bail out. Around Rosedale is OK but it can get a bit muddy - there's something reassuring about the waymarked trails for beginners - I guess they know its been designed not to kill you (a bit like a roller coaster?) and most of the drops are easy to roll. Most of it drains pretty well too.

David Lund

Dalby is great all year round due to the variaty of different surfaces, several weeks ago i did the part of the red route which snakes along on a bank of red soil and found it extremly sticky and slipery but still great fun. the thing you have to watch out for is the north shore section after rain, its lethal with even a bit of damp in the last few days.

Andy B

True, avoid the 'Northshore' stuff at Dalby in the wet, it is lethal, even just walking it is tricky!

The FC will not let the trailbuilders use chicken wire & the other options are too expensive or labour intensive. There are plans to combat the slipperiness of the 'Shore' and some areas do have a kind of grip tape applied to them.

Apart from that Dalby rocks!