7 Stanes for a real beginner?

SilverC

Just how challenging is the blue trail here, specifically at Ae?

Have just booked a week here in March (somehow my other half won me round). I'm trying to build up to it fitness-wise in the lead up, and obviously will switch to the green (easy one) if it looks harder than it does on You-Tube when I get there, but just wanted to know what the general consensus was.

PS: Will be on something that only has mechanical and not hydraulic disc brakes, but they have decent pads on and are pretty responsive (they are Hayes ones, albeit 6 years old).

Cheers 8)

dave_hill

Have you tried looking at the 7 Stanes website for their grading explanations (as below)?

* Blue grade trails are suitable for: intermediate cyclists or mountain bikers with basic off-road riding skills.
* Bike required: basic mountain bike or mountain bike hybrid.
* Skills needed: basic off-road riding skills to cope with uneven surfaces and small obstacles.
* Trail and surface types: as for 'green', plus specially constructed singletrack trails. Trail surface might include small obstacles of root and rock.
* Gradients and technical trail features: most gradients are moderate but might include short steep sections. Includes small technical trail features (such as roots and rock).
* Suggested fitness level: a good standard of fitness can help.

They're usually pretty accurate. If you can ride 13.5km without problems (the length of the blue trail at Ae), you should be OK!

SilverC

Hi,

Yes, have had a look on there, which is what spurred my OH into persuading me to sack the green off and do the blue! Methinks a lot more fitness training is required between now & March :? Cheers for your help.

smokiewmb

SilverC you'll find one ascent and one descent on the blue at the Ae, nothing you couldn't manage i'm sure. Rest of the trail is flat or mildy undulating and even shares part of the green. Give me a shout nearer the time and i'll take you round. Easy hour in pleasant surroundings.

smokiewmb

SilverC you'll find one ascent and one descent on the blue at the Ae, nothing you couldn't manage i'm sure. Rest of the trail is flat or mildy undulating and even shares part of the green. Give me a shout nearer the time and i'll take you round. Easy hour in pleasant surroundings.

darren636

do not woory about grades- go there and if you suck- you suck but next time you will have learned so much. try it . it is ok to be out of your depth. just b safe

Whytepeak

Don't worry about grades, esp. 7 stanes.
many are graded red due to berms or drops, not doubles, this compulsary grading system means there are few trails of a proper quality (not just forest roads) that are less than red.

Northwind

I've never been to Ae but at Glentress, the green route is pretty much a canal path with some minor slopes, you could get a wheelchair round it or a double pushchair with 2 fat babies in, never mind a bike. I still quite like it, but it wouldn't challenge a 5-year-old on a raleigh budgie.

Blue on the other hand, you do need a little bike skill, but if you can deal with any typical simple XC route, you can ride the blues.

GT is probably one of the best places to start if you're doing the seven stanes- you get the short green loop if you want to do the baby steps (I did, nothing wrong with that) and also the skills area to have a bit of a practice at the features you find out on the blue. And the blue runs down from the buzzard's nest to the hub are absolutely first class and very good for the novice.

Joe_Pineapples

Even the Red Route at Glentress is suitable for a novice. All of the jumps and gnarlier sections of the route have two options, one to take the trail head on as intended and a bypass to the side if you don't feel up to it or are in any way unsure, but what you will have to do is have fun.

Ae is ok, but for pure enjoyment head to Glentress, it's worth it for the banoffee pie alone, plus it'll be busy no matter what day you're there and it's always nice to meet people.

Northwind

Heh, that depends on your definition of novice I guess but I wouldn't recommend the glentress reds to anyone who isn't pretty confident in their abilities. Sure, the spooky woods jumps all have chicken runs but the faster descending stuff doesn't as you get further down, there's plenty of scope to have a huge accident...

Joe_Pineapples

Actually, you're right.

SilverC, just ignore me, I'm talking bollocks again!

SilverC

Thanks all........if you hear of a massive accident mid March, you'll know that's me trying the red route!! In retrospect, I'll stick to the blue -thanks for all your input

Anderzz

I wouldnt be too worried mate.

Id never ridden a trail before in my entire life and because my experienced friend didnt fancy riding anything boring. He took me round the Black trail at Hamsterly Forest.

I dont know how it compares to other trails but it was pretty challenging, However I coped well and I had a blast on the technical sections. Really brought out the best in me

Northwind

SilverC wrote:

Thanks all........if you hear of a massive accident mid March, you'll know that's me trying the red route!! In retrospect, I'll stick to the blue -thanks for all your input

Hit the blue first then see how you feel... If you do the top blues out of the higher car park at GT, and find that easy, it still leaves you in the perfect place to do the climb and do spooky woods, which I reckon would be the perfect intro to reds. (though of course that's just my perception, I'm fine with jumps, drops etc but don't like fast descents much, I think most people are the other way round). I started on Pennel's Vennel, which I think was a fairly stupid starting point for reds Handy for the car park and ambulance though, and it's pretty short.

counterculture

no shame in pushing your bike if your out of your depth, better to be safe than hurt yourself and ruin it for others

woodywmb

Remember there's Ae Infirmary at the bottom of the slope. But it's pretty busy with blue trail bikers. It's next to the cemetery and both offer double booking deals.

The Northern Monkey

About Glentress (mentioned above) my sister-in-law did the whole red route, on her very first trail experience.
She was pretty much forced by me and my bro to do the red route but she really enjoyed it.
As long as you have someone more experienced that you can follow slowly down the trails there should be no problem, me and my bro took it in turns to guide Fi down the trails!
She even did spooky wood without falling or feeling out of control and loved every minute of it!

Just take everything at your own pace, and don't go out o your comfort zone. If there is anything you don' feel confident about riding, get off and walk it, there's no shame in that!

joko70

Hey bud ,it would be a shame to go to tress and
not do the spooky wood descent on the red i have never done much of the blue but done the red and black tons of times .The lower parts of the descent are a bit rough but just take it easy if you have to and you should have no probs. Anyway sounds like you will have a few days so have a crack at both the red and blue. Just make sure you get those brakes set up properly and they should do a decent job.

miss notax

Cool, I think we might be off here in the summer! I've been MTBing for just over a year and I think i'm going to give the red runs a good go....

I look forward to hearing what it's really like!!

SilverC

Well....I've been and ended up at Mabie and Dalbeattie.

Dalbeattie was first and we did mainly blue with a bit of green in at the start when we went the wrong way.

I have to admit that I struggled with some of the ascents as I have asthma and also a knee injury which came back to haunt me. Still, I battled on and did the lot with no injuries.

Did Mabie on Saturday, and the reason for my struggling at Dalbeattie was revealed.....my gonk of a fiance had threaded my chain the wrong way through the rear jockey wheel, so it was rubbing on the metal bit (sorry I can't be more technical than that as I am a lass!!!) - Anyway, as soon as the chain was threaded the right way, it was like I had a set of new knees and lungs as I flew it. Had a great time, and preferred this to Dalbeattie.

My other half thought he'd try the skills area and ended up with whiplash and a bent rear derailleur, and he's meant to be the more experienced rider, but we won't go into that. I think we'll be going back soon, as there was too much to fit in in 4 days. It certainly puts our local forest (Delamere) in the shade.

miss notax

Well done, glad you had a good time

Thanks for saying what they're like - we're off there in June so I hope I have improved enough to tackle them by then!