Gisburn Forest Trail Development

sparrowlegs78

Yeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...i'm going playing next week..if my bikes fixed
Caz xxxxxxxxxx

Whytepeak

Looking forward to making a visit. Pics are ace, can't wait to rail them berms

pdid

Cool, hopefully get up there in the next few weeks

delcol

will have to pay a little visit up to gisburn again to see all the hard word...

dub

so you are allowed to ride the new trails (if you can find them) and no one will grumble?

tony_m

This here's the slabby bit we finally finished today.

From the top...



And looking back up from the bottom...



The first bunch who rode down it (a whole 10 minutes or so after it was completed, to be precise ) commented that it came as bit of a surprise after all the limestone gravel singletrack which precedes it, so consider yourselves warned. :!:

It's also a tad steeper than it looks in the pics... :shock:

B.A.Nana

It was good to see that volunteer build section finished off today (there are only just a few little bits to sort out) and we are now moving onto the next short drop to the bridge. Personally, a big applause to those who have been there digging regularly (I've only done a few dig days over the last 10 months). There are a hardcore of people who have been there at nearly every dig, much respect to you, you know who you are.

Massive respect to Tony, I think he is the guy who was always pushing a wheel barrow when I've been there, one of the most thankless tasks that most people don't want to do (except today where he appeared to have been promoted upto motorised barrows )

tony_m

B.A.Nana wrote:

Massive respect to Tony, I think he is the guy who was always pushing a wheel barrow when I've been there, one of the most thankless tasks that most people don't want to do (except today where he appeared to have been promoted upto motorised barrows )

Not this Tony, I always do my best to avoid barrowing if at all possible...

(I believe the Barrowmeister you're thinking of is Terry)

stumpyjon

Tis indeed Terry, works his socks off and is there for practically every dig day 8) .

And yes Dub, you can ride the trails without being moaned at .

v23

How long is the trail then. And is it a one way only job, some people I know went over a couple of weeks ago and didn't really enjoy it as there wasn't really a lot of direction. Is the new trail in the same vein as other 'proper' trail centres? Red/black graded one way routes like?

have to say the pics look good.

stumpyjon

v23 wrote:

How long is the trail then. And is it a one way only job, some people I know went over a couple of weeks ago and didn't really enjoy it as there wasn't really a lot of direction. Is the new trail in the same vein as other 'proper' trail centres? Red/black graded one way routes like?

Yes

Yes

Yes

They direction posts should be going in the enxt couple of weeks. The route isn't completely obvious at the moment as it is a figure of 8 and uses some of the fireroads. The signage should sort out direction problems.

Most of the new route is graded red, there are some bits of blue trail as well and some sections are aslo graded black. I believe there are some temporary notices up giving grading info at the start of the trail sections. I can imagine if you don't know the forest it would be a bit frustrating as some of the new sections will be hard to find. Once you're on them it's fairly obvious where to go until you hit the next section fireroad. I'm going to log the complete route when i go up later this week and will see if I can post a map up on here.

Not sure about trail length, but definitely over 10 miles, but that's continuing to grow, the volunteers started a new section that wasn't planned on Sunday. Again I'll post up results after logging it with my GPS.

TheRed

The route's great, well done to all involved, we went yesterday afternoon in the thunder. It's 21km long (the way we went) which I think covered all the new sections. The section with the largest berms is great, like a rollercoaster and the first section which is tight and twisty through trees is very good too. Even the blue sections, sometimes a little tame on other trials I've been to have a few little surprises.

largephil

Cant wait to give it a try, the pics look great. Might wait for the finished sign posting to be done though... I would not want to miss any of the new sections. Also, from the trail development map on the other page of this thread, the lap arrows seem to show a clockwise figure 8 loop... is this correct? I've only ever done Gisburn anti clockwise before... I would not want to come accross the 20 foot berms from the wrong direction!!!

stumpyjon

Yes, clockwise figure of 8. I think most people have done it in the other direction, I certainly used to go around the old red anti-clockwise.

When you ride the new stuff it does makes alot more sense clockwise.

stumpyjon

Rode the new route at Gisburn tonight. Clocked it at 12.7 miles on the GPS and 13.5 on the Cateye so take your pick, guess it's around 13 miles. 1450 ft of climbing and it's bl**dy brilliant. Rode some of the blue bits today as well.

GPS output below:



Some excellent bits, took loads of pics, all the pics are here.
Choice pics below:
Nice bit of boardwalk.

Nice techy bit, fall off and get wet

Top of an optional black bit.

Silly slab on the black loop, gotta be 70 degree slope and 15 / 20 ft drop :shock:

Bermtastic, these berms continue for 7 or 8 switchbacks 8)

Exit from the rollercoaster, through a ruined building.

Mancunianfightingcat

nice one jon! I'll be up there tomorrow ( Thursday) afternoon. If anyone wants a guide let me know and we can meet up. I'll be filming some bits too. Setting off from the pub so I can wash my steed when I'm done!

stumpyjon

There's some debate about how steep that slab actually is, 70 degs may have over cooked it slightly, but it is still scary steep, going to try and measure the angle with my iphone .

Starting from the pub has some serious merit but I think it's best done from Cocklet Hill car park, nice bit of flowy easy blue bermy stuff to finish.

Mancunianfightingcat

No crisps and Guinness at cocklett hill though!

There's a cafe and hose pipe by the pub too!

stumpyjon

stumpyjon wrote:

Starting from the pub has some serious merit

Yeah, I do accept there are some good reasons for starting (and finishing) at the pub

MTBmaniac

I'm glad to hear someone is supporting the D&P in Tosside. There seems to have been very little mention of the facilities available in the village up to this point. Anyway, Tim the landlord is very welcoming to mountain bikers. He even laid a wooden floor so people could go straight in with their muddy biking shoes. As someone born and bred in Tosside it's good to hear of people making use of the pub as we've already lost the shop and school. I've noticed that there has been several mentions of opening a cafe/toilets in the forest. This seems to be quite a contentious issue with some of the locals.

Anyway, the tracks are awesome and I can't wait to start riding them at night. Not had chance to get to any of the recent digs, but hope to get to some in the future.

stumpyjon

Fair point about supporting the local businesses. Probably my fault for lack of mentions, I always come in from the Cocklet Hill side so don't come in through Tosside.

Thing is there are already facilties of some sort in the forest at Stephen Park. Most trail centres that have facilties have them at the trailhead, next to the carpark because that's where many of the riders want them, they're less likely to go a couple of miles to get something to eat. That said there ought to be some co-operation with and consideration for local people. For example with an MTB friendly pub on hand I don't see any reason for onsite facilites to have an alcohol licence. The maps for the site should also show that you can access the trails from Tosside as well as Cocklet Hill.

At the end of the day you can't stop market forces, people will use the facilties that are best suited to their needs. Either way I can only see the extra people coming to Gisburn as increasing trade for the pub even if there are onsite facilities.

delcol

stummpy you are the man you are a legend,.. those pics make the trail look amazing,..

i want to try get up there this weekend,..

would a idiot be able to find the unmarked sections of trail...

Mancunianfightingcat

Well, I've just videod ALL of the singletrack on the new loop.
I've already uploaded the rollercoaster bit onto Youtube, but I'll get the rest on as soon as I can. So check my other videos from this link.....

youtube clicky

If you watch them in order from 1-16, that's the order you'll ride them in if you set off from Cocklet Hill.
However, if you set off from the pub in Tosside, you can either do 4 or 15 first depending where you join the loop.
I made it just over 15 miles from the pub, which is about 3/4mile from the loop, I also did afew bits twice. So I guess the loop is about 12 miles long.

Edit: I've now set up my own home page to make the vids easier to find click here

realnumber 1

Mancunianfightingcat that vid makes it look stunning. Think I will have to get over there soon. Some good pics above also

Mancunianfightingcat

This is the last one I'm going to link to, but I think it deserves it.
This is the section that has been built entirely by volunteers, who gave up their time and effort to create this mega twisty fun-fest.
It's knackering concentrating on not hitting anything, but it is brilliant fun.

Big thanks to everyone who was involved!

:oops: Embarrassed to have not been there!

twisty bit

realnumber 1

All looks very good, I kike the cam position and quality what kind is it?

Whytepeak

Mancunianfightingcat great vids - thanks.

the trail looks so good.

sparrowlegs78

i think i just wet myself!!!!!!..i am so excited that there's such brill trails withing easy distance if us ...i am buzzing so god knows what i'll be like when i actually ride them
Caz xxxx

Mancunianfightingcat

realnumber 1 wrote:

All looks very good, I kike the cam position and quality what kind is it?

it's a VIO POV, which I've got on very long term loan


I realise some of these vids are a bit tame compared to the others, but if anyone's thinking of travelling a long way, at least they can make an informed decision!

realnumber 1

Mancunianfightingcat wrote:

realnumber 1 wrote:

All looks very good, I kike the cam position and quality what kind is it?

it's a VIO POV, which I've got on very long term loan


I realise some of these vids are a bit tame compared to the others, but if anyone's thinking of travelling a long way, at least they can make an informed decision!

Just checked the price, you lucky sod :shock: