Trail Centre addict?

cee

ibbo68 wrote:

likewoah wrote:

Exactly. Does Mother Nature make trails as fun as trail centres? Not often.

No,man does by walking and riding what mother nature put here.
Pointless carrying on this discussion TC lovers won't budge and niether will those who favour natural.
As said in my previous posts i've ridden 7 or 8 TCs and have found nothing that comes anywhere near the fun or technicality of a good old natural climb/descent.

Actually....I have found it to be the sheepies who makes the bestest trails.

And what about those of us who enjoy both natural and trail centre riding?

Agree though...pointless carrying on.

Mancunianfightingcat

I've been to a good number of trail centres but never to the same one more than three times. Of the few I have been to twice or more, there's always been a long break between each visit or I've ridden a different route on the second visit. Meaning I honestly can't remember what's coming up next. Some of these places really develop your skills - Stainburn for example). I've also never had to wait for a particular part of the trail to be clear before I could have a go at it.

I can't believe that trails like Dalby's 23 mile red loop (longer if you add the black bits in) can be thought of as taming down the sport. If this was the case, how come the competitive elements of the sport are normally based around a loop????

Don't get me wrong, I love going for a good long ride out in the wilderness and regularly do so, but I also like going to trail centres and meeting other cyclists and enjoying the facilities (bike wash, cafe, showers etc).

Both trail centres and proper wilderness rides, with their ever changing terrain, have their place and I can't see why people aren't willing to try both. I'd say 85-90% of what I ride in a year is natural and the rest is man made trail centres or local down hill tracks.

If the people that haven't tried the trail centres, did so then I'm sure they'd enjoy at least some of it. Likewise, if the TC addicts, found someone to take them out on a proper XC ride, I'm sure they too would find the experience a pleasure, but probably a lot more tiring!

My vote goes for both!

miss notax

Gwaredd wrote:

Ha ha, you gotta laugh at some of the comments above! I grew up riding mountain bikes in the middle of rural Wiltshire & as an adult, still enjoy it - especially riding out linking routes together, stumbling across a gem of a track etc. Brilliant, but...

I went to Afan for the 1st time last month & can honestly say it's a different type of riding all together. The very fact they are well put together & 'man made' is the reason they are so much fun. They just flow so well. I'm only too aware that they won't have a sodding great rut at the bottom of a fast, chalky descent like we get out here on the plains, a real skill honer those, but they offer fast, continuous technical riding instead. An Espresso hit of all the good trails you'll find out in the open in one place if you will.

Of course, there is no reason at all why you can't ride & enjoy both. Having a fast lazy executive type of car doesn't mean you can't enjoy a Caterham at the weekends does it?

If you've never ridden at a trail centre before, your opinion counts for zero & makes you jump out as a keyboard warrior, hell bent on declaring how great you are & trail centres are beneath you. How can you slate something so much if you have never experienced it first hand? Yes, I'm looking at you JC!

Real shame, as if you lost your unfounded judgement, you really could have your cake & eat it.

As for trail centres becoming addictive, yes, I can easily see why.

Yes. What he said

(And loving the car comment. I am a nice Volvo / Lotus Elise girl so I wholeheartedly agree with the ability to enjoy both for different reasons. WHich was the point I tried to make about natural vs TC trails earlier!)

Gwaredd

Sometimes you just can't beat a good old car analogy to explain your point better!

busta gonad

Jesus_Christ wrote:

i live on the west coast of scotland, at the foot hills of the campsies, and there are miles and miles of natural trails all around me. there are hundreds of xc long slog tracks, plenty of fireroads for bombing down, millions of acres of woodland criss crossed with deer paths and, of course, a ring of mountains within a few miles of me. some of the descents are terrifying and have the benefit of not being rode every day by anything like the amount of people who ride trail centres

an hour on a train and im on the east coast, a far more rugged place, and it has all that the west does only rockier and more remote.

about 90% of scotland is barren waste and its almost all clinging to a long dead volcano or a mountain. i can spend a whole day riding a mixture of dh, xc and jups without seeing another person.

anybody who lives anywhere near arrochar should have a go at riding there. its a hard slog up, but coming down is the second best feeling in the world.

Northwind

Jesus_Christ wrote:

i would much prefer to ride natural trails that are never the same two days in a row and are constantly changing, with nobody to fix any of the bits that have been damaged or smooth out the bumps for me.

i compared trail centres to those carp fisheries you see on the way into london from the north. people there have spent hundreds of pounds on gear to go to what is essentially a fish pond and where they have a much better chance of success. thats how i view trail centres. everything is laid out nice and neat for you.

It's not a bad comparison. It actually works the other way round, though. Say you want to catch a fish, is it better to fish in the wild or at a stocked pond? Think before answering, I'm not saying "If you want to go fishing" but "If you want to catch a fish". Sometimes you want to go fishing, sit on the bank all day, switch your brain off, and it doesn't matter if there are fish there. Sometimes, you want to catch a fish.

Sometimes when I go riding, I want to put in miles, I want to explore, I want to get lost and find something new. I don't care if I actually catch a fish. But sometimes when I go riding, I want to kill and eat something, and when I want that I go to a trail centre. Basically, neither is better than the other, they're just different things. The fish tastes the same however you catch it.

geordiefreerider

busta gonad wrote:

Jesus_Christ wrote:

about 90% of scotland is barren waste .

As little as that I thought it was more !!!!

projectsome

I've never been to a trail centre. I like the idea of riding until i find a trail or something and heading into the unknown.