Morning *waves*

SleepyLea

Ok, so heres the deal. I have the WHOLE day off. There is nothing to do in the house, or garden, weather looks like it may hold up, a few showers if any, yet here I am stalling getting on that bike!!! :evil:

:roll: kicks rock... :roll:

Must get on bike, I am off to find a route...

SpinningJenny

get on the freakin' bike!

oh, and morning *waves back*

SleepyLea

Ok ok lol... I have my shorts on, back pack ready... Now, I have had my coffee, I am off to cycle the river route to my old home village... then cycle back past a cafe that does the BEST breakfast in the whole of the land, is that defeating the object?!

SpinningJenny

if the object is to lose weight, then probably!

if the objec it is to enjoy your day - definitely not!

get out there woman and enjoy yourself!

Thewaylander

Yes get out there.. I'm at my desk, and after dull ride at cannock yesterday i would kill to get out..

SpinningJenny

a *dull* ride

wtf? :shock:

Thewaylander

Cannock chase... it was flat with really poorly designed single track. no speed or tech challenge. got bored jjust spinning pedals to go round. (was gonna do it twice but couldn't be bothered to do it again as it sucked so much)

Get back to my local tomorrow and blitz round Cwm.

elPedro666

Day of cleaning & fettling for me, oh, and then maybe fetch the missus her NEW BIKE! Yes - I finally found her something!

[/hijack]

Hope breakfast is up to expectations, it's very important to ensure your body has the necessary fuel to rebuild damaged muscle fibres after a ride. Personally, my muscles are bacon-based...

Just out of interest, where is this fabled cafe...?

SpinningJenny

Thewaylander wrote:

Cannock chase... it was flat with really poorly designed single track. no speed or tech challenge. got bored jjust spinning pedals to go round. (was gonna do it twice but couldn't be bothered to do it again as it sucked so much)

Get back to my local tomorrow and blitz round Cwm.

aaah, i see....

disappointing!

Thewaylander

On the upside, me little Sleepy there both had good cake and tea by the sounds though

Ditch Witch

Which trail did you do at Cannock?

Thewaylander

Follow the dog :S

Mrs Toast

Thewaylander wrote:

Cannock chase... it was flat with really poorly designed single track. no speed or tech challenge. got bored jjust spinning pedals to go round. (was gonna do it twice but couldn't be bothered to do it again as it sucked so much)

Get back to my local tomorrow and blitz round Cwm.

Ah, I take it you did both of the skinnies then!

I can understand you being a bit disappointed if you’re used to Welsh trail centres – Follow the Dog has always known for being an ‘easier’ red, and that area of the Chase doesn’t have many hills that can compete with Wales. I don’t think I’d go as far as to describe it as flat though…

It is a bit harder to get speed up compared to some other trail centres (admittedly, I mainly thinking of Llandegla), as a lot of the track is very tight and twisty through dense trees. I’d just say that it’s a different type of riding rather than being badly designed though.

elPedro666

There's a couple of really fast sections to blast through at Cannock, particularly the sweet descent followed by loose/sandy rolling trail followed by short rolling/descent after Marquis Drive are all fast and fun if you hit them hard enough (but nice and safe if you don't, which makes a good place for introducing newbies).

It's never going to rival trails built on the side of Welsh mountains - it's in the Midlands ferrchrissakes - but are you sure you weren't just going too slowly...? :P :twisted:

SpinningJenny

*stirrer*

Thewaylander

Lol, Actually we found a local on the trail who rode with us, so we had a guide to blast round after.

So we didn't take them slow.. took a few goes to get used to the sand in the corners and so on, but no flew along fairly easily for the first time around the trail, could ride it fast now with a little knoledge but i really wouldn't want to.

I can after riding that understand peoples arguments for hard tails though. with my local trails i just think of how punishing a hard tail can be. but there with it being very smooth and sandy it would be perfect

There are a few good local trails in the area im sure but i think i am just way spoiled for local riding.

SpinningJenny

yeah, spoilt brat....

Mrs Toast

Aye, as I said in the other thread, living in the Leamington area makes me deeply grateful for Cannock Chase – we go there every weekend. The riding on our doorstep is either on roads, or on disjointed flat bridleways through flat farmland. There’s some pretty scenery, and the ride’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but it’s not exactly challenging, unless you count ‘dodge the angry cows’.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be able to actually do proper mountain biking during the week – we’ve actually been looking at relocating to Sheffield to do just that (the miles cheaper housing is also a bit of a bonus)!

elPedro666

Thewaylander wrote:

I can after riding that understand peoples arguments for hard tails though. with my local trails i just think of how punishing a hard tail can be. but there with it being very smooth and sandy it would be perfect

There are a few good local trails in the area im sure but i think i am just way spoiled for local riding.

Hmm, I have only ridden it fully rigid, which is probably the best way!

And yes you are, git!

SpinningJenny wrote:

*stirrer*

I've no idea of that of which you speak...

Mrs Toast

elPedro666 wrote:

Hmm, I have only ridden it fully rigid, which is probably the best way!.

True men ride FtD on unicycles!

Thewaylander

He he yeh, was kinda riding thinking how is this red.... but its all relevant to what your used to,

But if you ride cannock at weekends as its local. youare are about 2 hours ride from Cwm carn.. thats a nice easy day trip with some good riding!
With Cannock we left about 12 chilled out with tea and cake chatted to local, and fannied around and were home buy 6.30 so i mean its not that bad a day to go for a ride.

elPedro666

Mrs Toast wrote:

elPedro666 wrote:

Hmm, I have only ridden it fully rigid, which is probably the best way!.

True men ride FtD on unicycles!

True men don't ride unicycles at all :evil:

Cannock is a bit 'local riding for local people', but that's got it's own appeal. I wouldn't honestly drive two hours for it though. Cwm Carn, on the other hand, is two hours diesel well spent...

Mrs Toast

Thewaylander wrote:

He he yeh, was kinda riding thinking how is this red.... but its all relevant to what your used to,

But if you ride cannock at weekends as its local. youare are about 2 hours ride from Cwm carn.. thats a nice easy day trip with some good riding!
With Cannock we left about 12 chilled out with tea and cake chatted to local, and fannied around and were home buy 6.30 so i mean its not that bad a day to go for a ride.

Grading's a bit of a funny business - for example, I find Llandegla red a lot easier than FtD, and both Llandegla and FtD a lot easier than Dalby.

We're actually 2 and a half hours from Cwmcarn (we have to drive for an hour to get to Cannock Chase), and a five hour round trip is a bit excessive for a day trip. Do want to do some more Welsh trail centres, but we're hoping to make more of a weekend of it.

Thewaylander

To be honest the red route at Landegla is a joke.

The only reason to get there is for the fantastic black sections farily early on.. they are stunning fun.. Funny you raised that cos when we had all finished the Black bits about 2 weeks ago the main comment was that the red was silly easy.. Still black bit its not that haard either to be fair but just wicked fun.

Dalby i haven't ridden though will have to give it a blast one weekend

And 5 hours split the driving, drink lots of tea its all good. but then the only other thing i'd do with my sunday is sit on my bum lol

elPedro666

Camping at Afan is dirt cheap, and the trail goes through the camp, um, field (site is a bit too generous!). Bit lacking in flat pitches though!

Thewaylander

Which trail, glyncorrwyg or Afan forrestry.

Afan forest one sucks... thats for sure. glyncorrwyg

SpinningJenny

i have yet to experience graded runs... pretty please explain?!

Thewaylander

Blue = fire track

Red = danger high voltage

Black = wet your pants hold on.

Thats the idea anyway, following the same stye as ski grades. but the consitancy of the grading is all over. I've ridden hard reds, easy blacks and stupidly easy reds. its a mixed bag. just go and try them.

Fixed trails are a blessing for just turning up and blasting round and not thinking about where to go as its laid out(it often concentrates alot of great singletrack into a good 20k loop or so)

SpinningJenny

thanks

hmmmm.... sounds great

*must arrange next holiday around a trail place and persuade OH twould be good for photography purposes.... mwah hahahaha :twisted: *

Mrs Toast

Thewaylander wrote:

Blue = fire track

Red = danger high voltage

Black = wet your pants hold on.

Kind of depends where you go, though. The blue trails I've ridden in Scotland have been mostly singletrack, complete with berms, jumps and drops - just obviously not to the same scale as on a red route. But the blue route at Dalby is just fireroad (quite similar to the green loop at Cannock Chase), with the exception of the climb at the start which it shares with the red. Not sure what the blue at Llandegla is like, I've only ever done the red.

elPedro666

Thewaylander wrote:

Which trail, glyncorrwyg or Afan forrestry.

Afan forest one sucks... thats for sure. glyncorrwyg

There's two trails from Afan, and two from Glyncorrwyg (plus W2, but that's a bit of a cheat), they're all ace! Unless you meant the campsite, which is 'basic'. But cheap as and the showers are nice!