Dalby

Mrs Toast

I'm Oop North at Mr Toast's parents, and we're off to Dalby tomorrow.

I've done the blue route a couple of times, and I want to spice it up with some sections of red. If anyone could tell me which sections of the red route are particularly difficult/comparatively easy, that'd be great too.

I find the blue a bit dull, tbh, but I'm worried that the entire red might be a bit beyond me - I'm comfortable with the reds at Cannock Chase and Llandegla, if that's any help.

MattHarper

Dalby is my local trail centre, with only living 20miles away on the coast!

Personally Id say if you started the red from the vistors centre and did the trail until you got to Dixons hallow(post number 13), that would be a good intro into the red trail at Dalby, as the steeper downhills are after Dixons hallow. Once you get to Dixons hallow, you can go back to the vistors centre on the green and then onto the blue trail, or even pick up the red again(post number 26). Cycle maps are free from the vistors centre too.

Hope that helps!

Matt.

Mrs Toast

That's awesome, cheers!

MattHarper

Mrs Toast wrote:

That's awesome, cheers!

Have fun, went with friends on Thursday and its running pretty smooth and fast in places

altern_8

id also say,get to dixons hollow on red route,then go right on road then straight onto fire road through a gate,follow this till it goes round to youre right and you can rejoin the red route,prob cuts about 6 miles off the full red route doing this.........

as matt said you can get a map,we actually got one given free when we paid to get in last thursday........hope this helps......

nonnac85

Route map HERE

Mrs Toast

Went today and had a blast! Parked up at Dixon's Hollow, as that was where Mr Toast was meeting his mates. I took the green to post 26 of the red, and did a couple of sections. I got off at 33 as the big drop after a corner on one of the previous sections made me feel like I was pushing my luck a little! The red bits I did do were great though - the big scary stuff made the rest of it seem a lot tamer, even though it's trickier than what I normally ride!

altern_8

Mrs Toast wrote:

Went today and had a blast! Parked up at Dixon's Hollow, as that was where Mr Toast was meeting his mates. I took the green to post 26 of the red, and did a couple of sections. I got off at 33 as the big drop after a corner on one of the previous sections made me feel like I was pushing my luck a little! The red bits I did do were great though - the big scary stuff made the rest of it seem a lot tamer, even though it's trickier than what I normally ride!

glad you enjoyed youreself up in this part of the country,if youre ever up this way again id say xplore a bit of the north york moors,there are some great rides up there...........

the red route of dalby isnt as scary now as it use to be,some of the drop offs now have a line you can ride which means you avoid the drop offs alltogether(seems to many ppl ride the routes but cheat by going round the drop offs,dont see the point,lol) but glad you enjoyed youre day out.........

tomxc

hey im goin to dalby this weekend and am tryin to decide wether to do the red route, i can manage a good four hour ride at sherwoods pines...basicly doing loops of my own multiple times...so how would that compare to dalbys red?...

MattHarper

Mrs Toast wrote:

Went today and had a blast! Parked up at Dixon's Hollow, as that was where Mr Toast was meeting his mates. I took the green to post 26 of the red, and did a couple of sections. I got off at 33 as the big drop after a corner on one of the previous sections made me feel like I was pushing my luck a little! The red bits I did do were great though - the big scary stuff made the rest of it seem a lot tamer, even though it's trickier than what I normally ride!

Great to hear! Just read your blog site, sounds like you had fun! Nice thing about Dalby is theres lots of different routes for any ability, so you can mix and match alot. Even though I have ridden the black route alot, I find that doing the red with sections of the black is more fun. Taking my sister to a Demo day so she can get a taste of biking, problery do a simlar route to the one i advised. However we might stop at gate 30 ish and head down to the blue. Even I was abit worried the first time I went down the descents from 30 one wards. Hopefully wont put her off!

altern_8

tomxc wrote:

hey im goin to dalby this weekend and am tryin to decide wether to do the red route, i can manage a good four hour ride at sherwoods pines...basicly doing loops of my own multiple times...so how would that compare to dalbys red?...

now then, we did red route last week in just over 2 and half hours,but we had been riding a lot of big climbs on moors for a month before hand,so you might have the stamina to get round mate doing 4 hours at sherwood,id give youreself 4 hours unless.......................read on :oops:

well last time i was at sherwood,i found it a bit flat and same,same mate,id say the red route at dalby is deff a lot harder,there are some killer up hills which if youre on a xc bike you will prob have to go up in granny gear,if youre on a downhill rig it will be a push to make it all the way up climbs if you dont do much up hill climbing.......but there are some great downhill sections,not long but will put a smile on youre face........id also say,if you can make it to the end of the red route the last blast through the forest is great single track,me and bro love this last bit,it ends with a few switch backs as well..............

you might get given a route map when you pay to get in(which is £7),if not go to visitor centre and they will give you one mate....................

also,one word of warning with dalby,i find it eats my pads alive,every time i go i have to replace them,bros been a few times and his got eaten away last week for first time,LBS said thats dalby for you,its the sand..........

hope you enjoy mate........i would of said id join you to show you where to go mate but cant afford £28 everytime i go for new pads,


hope this helps you out..........tell us what you 4ought of it when you get back???????

Andy B

hmm, I ride Dalby about 6 times a year, (Sintered) brake pads last me over 18 months usually.

altern_8

Andy_B wrote:

hmm, I ride Dalby about 6 times a year, (Sintered) brake pads last me over 18 months usually.

well everytime i go mate they wear down mine,ive got shimano brakes,ive been up on moors prob last 6 rides b4 dalby last week and had no probs,soon as i went to dalby i got to about 5miles left of full red route and had no brakes,

like i said,bros have been fine up till this ride......i tried to complain to LBS where i got bike and that was response i got back,seems as soon as i do about 20 miles there the pads are gone,even tho me and bro did a lot of night riding round there before xmas(about 10-14 miles per ride)..............if you can help me out anyway it will be a big help,as id like to ride dalby more........

Andy B

I've used Hayes Nines with 180/160 rotors & sintered pads & 2 sets of Hope Mono Mini brakes (160/160 & 180/180 rotors) both with sintered pads, I get at least a year out of my pads, including half a dozen Dalby red route rides.

Are you using organic pads?

Bedding them in properly?

Dragging the brakes?

altern_8

Andy_B wrote:

I've used Hayes Nines with 180/160 rotors & sintered pads & 2 sets of Hope Mono Mini brakes (160/160 & 180/180 rotors) both with sintered pads, I get at least a year out of my pads, including half a dozen Dalby red route rides.

Are you using organic pads?

Bedding them in properly?

Dragging the brakes?

using resin pads mate

how do you mean bedding them in,id of 4ought 6 or more rides on moors would of dont that?????

dragging brakes??????

sorry mate,i know a little bit,but not to much on how or what to do to bike on

Cheshley

The first time I was taken to Dalby (looking at the map provided above) we rode the Blue route out of the visitor's centre until it crosses the Red route and then rode the second half of the Red route back to where we started. I found some of the downhill sections of Red to be a little daunting to say the least and ended up walking down a few of them. I have been back and ridden the Blue route and found it to be completely non-challenging technically but think that the difference from Blue to Red is a huge leap in terms of the technical ability needed to ride it.

I'm looking into doing a skills course this year to get my confidence up to a level that will hopefully see me able to ride these downhill bits but is the first half of the Red route just as technical? I want to go back and have another go at it but don't want to spend the day walking down sections I don't have the confidence to ride again.

Giggsmaster

Cheshley wrote:

The first time I was taken to Dalby (looking at the map provided above) we rode the Blue route out of the visitor's centre until it crosses the Red route and then rode the second half of the Red route back to where we started. I found some of the downhill sections of Red to be a little daunting to say the least and ended up walking down a few of them. I have been back and ridden the Blue route and found it to be completely non-challenging technically but think that the difference from Blue to Red is a huge leap in terms of the technical ability needed to ride it.

I'm looking into doing a skills course this year to get my confidence up to a level that will hopefully see me able to ride these downhill bits but is the first half of the Red route just as technical? I want to go back and have another go at it but don't want to spend the day walking down sections I don't have the confidence to ride again.

I would say the first bit of the red route to Dixons Hollow is not as technical as the last part. You still get some fast downhills with a couple of jumps thrown in, but you can slow down before you get to them and just ride over them.

Anyway, you can't have a good ride out at Dalby unless you go head first over the bars....

tomxc

well im heading off tomorrow so.....ill let yano wat i thort wen i get bakk....ill probbs try to do full red :shock: ....nd if i dnt post a reply by monday u no am still out ther struglin

MattHarper

tomxc wrote:

well im heading off tomorrow so.....ill let yano wat i thort wen i get bakk....ill probbs try to do full red :shock: ....nd if i dnt post a reply by monday u no am still out ther struglin

lol, youll be fine! The trails are pretty well marked so no need to worry about getting lost. Theres also maps which you can get from the visitors centre too

tomxc

i went on saturday and it was amazin...parked near the new vc and took the blue route (because ma dad wanted to take it steady :x ) and we soon got bored so we joined the red route as soon as we could....post 27 i think and it was awesome.....didnt struggle too much on the climbs and then went to dixons hollow after....just as good.

TheKrikkitWars

Can anyone give me more info on the blue run, I've done the red run a fair bit, but want somthing simple but not too boring for a family day out, given that my parents moan we never do anything togther when I return from uni and my mum wants to get back into biking.

Can you give me an idea of the physical challenge and the worst technical dificulty encountered, lest a brilliant plan goes awry.

Mrs Toast

Er, the biggest difficulty I found doing the blue run the first couple of times I visited was actually finding my way around it - it wasn't very well signed at the time! The signage seems to have improved a lot this year though.

I wouldn't swear to it, but I think the challenge of the blue is mainly the start section, which is shared with the red - switchback climbs, and rooty singletrack. After that, it seems to be comprised mainly of fire roads - with the exception of the start, it's not really that different from the green route.

The Forestry Commission describe the blue as:

A long but simple route on mixed terrain of forest roads, with some climbs and descents, steep in places.

By 'long' it means 8 miles. Of the green, they say:

A short ride mainly on the high plateau around Adderstone. Mixed terrain of forest roads and grass tracks, with a few short climbs and descents. It can be combined with the more demanding Blue Cycle Route for a 12 mile circuit

Le Map!

As long as your parents have reasonable amount of fitness and don't mind a few climbs/fire road descents, they should be fine. I did see a couple of family groups coming a cropper on the start of the blue (the bit that's shared with the red) and having to push up, but that's honestly the toughest part.

TheKrikkitWars

Hmmm, if the start of the red is also the start of the blue, I'm not sure if my mother will be too impressed... But hey, we can give it a go.

Mrs Toast

You could start from Dixon's Hollow instead, and go from the green loop start? It does mean that you miss the convenience of having the visitor centre facilities at the start and the end of the ride, but it might prevent you from being disowned!

REMF

did some of the red route last weekend, fun but not too difficult.

stag-do hangover was much improved by the 3 grand Yeti bike i hired, and the amusement of electric mountain bike man.

p.fitz

the wot ??? wwhere my glasses did it say electric

shaun23

i'm going camping again this year at the campsite outside Dalby with some mates so any suggestions for any good rides? Did the black last year but got a bit lost near the end plus my mates chain snapped so i was towing him all the way back Looking for red/black ability but fun stuff. suggestions please?

55NF

We did Dalby last Sunday. Did the blue run & then green in just over an hour, taking it easy. TBH we found it too easy & shoud've arrived earlier in the day to do the Red. Just wasn't sure how fit or advanced we were at the time........... Now I know we'll be abnle to do the Red.

Just thought the red would be full of jumps of really experienced riders.

REMF

red at dalby is easier than the equivalent at nanty or coedy.

REMF

p.fitz wrote:

the wot ??? wwhere my glasses did it say electric

some 'enthusiast' had three or four electric hard-tails outside the shop which he let us zoom around on, fun, but not much cop on a red trail i imagine.