Dalby Forest!!

robjames92

I know this has been posted about a few times!! Just thinking of going up tommorrow thats all for first time is it worth the seven pounds to get in also which route is the best to do the red one looks good to me. How long will it take to do etc. also is it still worth goin if it rains a bit in the mornin..

Hope u can give me some advice cheers!!!

BTW Loving this website helped me loads!!

Cheers Robjames92

Wheelieguy

Now then bud im a newbie to all of this after quitting biking years back (stupidly) and ive been up to dalby about three or four times and loved it, we started off by doing the blue route to get us back into the swing of it all and was shocked how hard it seemed at first, so depending on your fitness id do the blue for a warm up then think about another run, ive been told by a mate who goes regularly that the red is the longest one at a two to four hours depending on how fit you are/stop offs and such, but apparently the black is the best, its shorter that the red however but it has more technical and has more stuff to try and get you doing everything, and after having done the black at the weekend i can tell you personally its great, there really is a bit of everything in it and ill definately be doing it again!

After we had done the blue route the first few times we went up to dixons hollow and played on the jumps track and the skinnies for a while which is also worth a shot at aswell, ill be going again on monday, taking a mate whos never been before round the blue lol!

hairy_boy

Dalby is definately worth the £7 parking. I'd take the bue route 1st time out, you can pickup sections of red and give those a try if your feeling good when your there !

The blue/red share the same climb out the carpark which is a bit of a killer as you've only just got on your bike - takes warming up to extremes !!!

You will have a blast though - Dalby is fantastic and can be as extreme or gentle as you want it to be and you can mix and match routes a little on your way round.

Sherwood Pines would be an option for you also, although its much flatter than Dalby so not such an 'experience' - The parking is a little cheaper at Sherwood Pines, £3-£5 from memory.

Definately worth still going if a bit wet IMHO - my 13yr old and me have been to Dalby when its been hammering down and we still enjoyed it.

rolf_f

I went for the first time a few weeks back - did the full red route. It's brilliant! Really thoughtfully set out with the track changing characteristic all the time. Gets a bit knackering towards the end but it is never that technically difficult.

abductee

I would budget 3 hours for the full 25 mile red. It's worth the £7 toll with free parking IMHO. The blue route involves a bit of fire road climbing but the descent is not rewarding at all and is dull fire road (about 10 miles). If you cut it short you will not get the £7 worth but you could start the blue from the lower visitor centre (not the Dixons Hollow car park) and when you get to the far side of the forest via the fire road you can then pick up the last 1/3 of the red route with a total mileage of around 15 miles.

I took the kids on the blue but I think the red would be a bit too much for them unless you know the route well and can pick out selected parts. My lad enjoyed Dixons Hollow however.

Sherwood Pines is around 10 miles of single track at £3 parking so cost per mile is similar.

Hope you enjoyed it . If not wadda ya waiting for.

thejesusandsedischain

sweaty cleft on the purple route

robjames92

thanks for the advice people on dalby. In the end i opted on the blue route as it was first time up there etc. see what u mean by the first bit of the route a killer ha ha ha. as for the blue route thought it was a bit boring tell u the truth. So i think im goin up tommorrow and doin the red route looks pretty good and as u guys said well worth the money!!

Cheers Robjames92

scale20

If its raining you get to listen to the sand grind away your bearings and chain!

I wouldn't put my bike through that again!