Haldon

camerauk

I spoke to one of the rangers up there yesterday and asked why the red was closed, she said she liked riding the old red run but they had closed it because when you rode it one day it would be totally different the next ie the track condition, well I would have thought this was a good thing!!!!!

Anonymous

The thing I love about some of the non trail-park areas is the way the conditions constantly change. Throughout the year it makes the rides fresh and new as they are different all the time.

Sponging-Machine

I was talking to a FC worker a few weeks ago up there. He told me their team were a bit gutted that they were being told to destroy the old trails, but these were orders coming from above. He could see that the kids using the family style trails needed somewhere to progress and had voiced it to management, but reckoned they weren't interested.

I would suspect there's more profit to be made from family-orientated facilities, as they're probably more likely to pay for parking and use cafés, etc., while I normally park up the road and take my own food.

silveringsurfer

Ok - here's my review of the new Ridge Route at Haldon

Firstly it helps if you take out any comparisons with the old Red route. This was a downhill route with a fireroad exit and ideal for full sussers and heavier bikes (RIP) .

The ridge route is an XC circuit and therefore aims to target a different audience. Leave your pads and full face helmet at home and take out your hardtail or short travel full susser and you will have a ball. It is well armoured and after a week of rain there was almost no mud on the whole circuit . Tkae a rear summer tyre for speed and a front that likes cornering - you will be doing a lot and the gravel can be slippy!

Once you get to the start of the route proper (about 2 minutes from the centre) you are straight into the main theme of the route - narrow winding singletrack that really flows 8) . At least 80% of the 6 mile circuit is in this style. The smooth flowing surface begs you to ride it as fast as you can and the faster you ride it the better it becomes. There is very little in the way of technical ground but the course has plenty of lumps bumps and dips; most are 4X smooth. What makes the course really work is how narrow it is. It is rarely more than a meter wide and in places barely 18 inches. With trees, stumps and rocks and in places a steep bank next to the track. You have to concentrate as a lapse could be nasty. :shock: I had a couple of peddle strikes and nearly snagged my rucksack on a tree but nothing worse than this. There is a lot of contouring around the hill but you can blast through most of the climbs in the middle ring as they are not that long.

At about half way the trail drops down to a fireroad and onto the bottom section of the old red route - this is by far the most technical bit of the circuit (For the timid you can miss this section by just riding on up the fireroad and picking up the track at the top) So straight down a rock garden and some other nasties before dropping into a number of really sweet bermed turns before you are spat out onto another fireroad. You are then faced with a slog back up a fireroad for about 10 minutes before turning right alongside the main road back onto the new skinny path.

After a little more climbing and a nasty short rocky rise (just after crossing the road) and my only dab of the day :roll: you are on a reasonably flat section of the skinny path all the way back to the trail centre. I won't describe this in detail but just encourage you to hammer it - really nice if you do this. It took me about 40 minutes on my own but no doubt the fit could cut this considerably.

So to summarise its:

Good for:
XC boys
Windy singletrack (and lots of it )
Hardtails/ Short travel full sussers
Ragging yourself silly
Pulling the tripe out of lardy arsed mates

Bad for:
6'+ travel bikes
Full face helmets
drops/ jumps
Lardy arsed mates
Those looking for the old red route

I really enjoyed it and as a wet weather alternative to the moors it's a great ride. Come on Haldon FC now it's time to put in a couple of downhill only routes.

jimmurray

<< After a little more climbing and a nasty short rocky rise (just after crossing the road) and my only dab of the day

I came off there. Went to put a foot down, forgot I was trying out spd's and took a dive into the 'pit'. Was very lucky not to smash my face on the rocks.

silveringsurfer

It is a nasty little rise I ran out of steam as my front wheel hit the top lip and ended up balancing on one foot and my brakes. :oops: Had to hop forwards until I could get on top. Bizarrely it is the kind of feature that is missing on the back of some of the rollers on the downhill sections and would be great on a straight but I can see a few people doing the same dive that you did! :roll:

The other point I forgot to say is that the route would be a nightmare with really wide handlebars there are a few trees and fence posts that nearly caught me out. :shock:

I'm really looking forward to returning as once it gets some wear and tear the loose gravel will pack down and it will get even faster. There are one or two corners that will hopefully develop some camber or mini berms as well. At the moment they ruin the flow and you have to crawl around them (the main one is just before you cross the old red route).

Overall though I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to doing it with mates. 8) [/quote]

jimmurray

Went round it again this morning and throughly enjoyed it, didn't come off at the corner this time as I'd unclipped a foot beforehand to dab down just in case. It's definitely the trickiest corner on the trail. Also need to work on my fitness as found some bits hard going especially the bit at the top of the fireroad which was spolit a bit because I was knackered.

camerauk

I am looking forward to giving it another go tomorrow afternoon, I know the feeling about fitness I was shot at the top of the fire road lol

silveringsurfer

Ha Ha - Glad it's not just me. Took me until over the main road before I really recovered. I do think the damn route encourages you to blast and but then you suddenly get to the fireroad and are running on empty.

Whisper in the carpark was that they are still building up there. Here's hoping it's a new red downhill/freeride course with some drops, jumps and berms because the old red does need a replacement.

camerauk

silveringsurfer wrote:

Ha Ha - Glad it's not just me. Took me until over the main road before I really recovered. I do think the damn route encourages you to blast and but then you suddenly get to the fireroad and are running on empty.

Whisper in the carpark was that they are still building up there. Here's hoping it's a new red downhill/freeride course with some drops, jumps and berms because the old red does need a replacement.

yeah I heard a few whispers that they are going to be doing something but I heard it was another adventure type route but hope not

Hercule Q

the place could reall benefit from a new gravity oriented trail being built with more drops, rock gardens and off camber techy stuff

bertberr

I've been trying to find out some info on the other non-centre trails around Haldon - there used to be some info on the now defunct exmtb website, anybody got any suggestions or can point me towards some known routes?

timnoyce

I went up on Saturday for a ride out. Mixed opinions really but I generally agree with what people have said before. My main gripe is that it is classed as a Red run. Erm... Whites Level at Afan is a red run, this is an adventure trail. For those who said the trail is narrow needs to get up to Cannock Chase as that is narrow! Few excitingly placed trees which needed some ducking and diving though.

Trying to forget the previous trail to give a neutral opinion it is a good fun trail, and I believe it will improve with age to an extent. Once the loose gravel gets worn down then it should ride faster.

As someone mentioned before, WTF is it with the walkers?! On one of the faster early sections I nearly ruined a couple walking their dog the WRONG way round the trail?! If bikers were found riding the walk trails there would be an up roar, funny how it doesnt work the other way. Also, there are no signs explaining the difficulty of the trail, at the start of the old trail there was a doom and gloom message about death warnings, this one there is nothing. Met a family stumbling through a rocky section which slowed me up somewhat.

Will go up there again next weekend and see how it goes!

pmsansom

jimmurray wrote:

<< After a little more climbing and a nasty short rocky rise (just after crossing the road) and my only dab of the day

I came off there. Went to put a foot down, forgot I was trying out spd's and took a dive into the 'pit'. Was very lucky not to smash my face on the rocks.

I did exactly the same, 2nd time in SPD's and first time trying 'technical trails'. Thankfully my front tyre just kind of jumped up in the air and I 'delicately' rolled into my mate behind as I finally managed to unclip.

Great fun trail though, perhaps not the best if you're used to blasting round stuff like this all the time but for the vast majority I reckon it's quality. Be good if it was even longer. Everyone was riding the closed sections today and they were awesome, except for the 2 climbs back up, man they were hard!

silveringsurfer

I thought they had thoroughly dug up the closed sections - certainly there were huge digger holes over the bit I saw :? (where the new red crosses the old red and where the old red hit the fire road just above the final bermed section). You sure you don't mean the bottom section just mentioned which has the rocky stepped entry and the bermed turns? That has the nasty fire road climb back to the start but is an ideal repeatable loop.

jimmurray

The bottom bit was closed over the weekend for 'repairs'.

robmccreedie

Yeah noticed it said closed but it was fine, a little washed out but rideable.

I did it twice on sunday for the first time and have mixed feelings. There is one nice section that leads from the road down towards the bottom bit that flows quite well and is good but unsure about the rest :?

jonnyc2420

going to have a go next weekend - cant wait - also found this website which gives a bit more info as to whats on offer.

http://www.haldonfreeride.org/pages/info.php#directions

robmccreedie

that site is quite out of date and the red route featured on there is mainly shut now and replaced with the ridge route.

try this link for some info:

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/ourw ... eRideTrail

vengeance111

At the moment their building some kind of pump track or jump spot now near the carpark, cant wait till its finished

Anonymous

Little bit on some new stuff here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_UAMj9Tjs4

I think most of this stuff is not official by the Forestry Commission. The official stuff is tame family rides now. Even the Ridge run could be done by families out with kids in my opinion (well, maybe slightly more experienced ones). Hard tail, leisurely sunny day ride job. Little risk in getting sued. Seems the only technicality about it is it's narrow in places.

I want to get back up there at some point, but I'll not even bother with the Ridge run. I'll look for the proper stuff others have built and natural trails.

kenan

Was cycling there this morning (6:30 start) and noticed the guys doing all the work in/around the carpark. Had a quick chat and they are building a Pump track and a skills area. I could see some small doubles, berms etc taking shape in the skills area. Nothing big, but look perfect for a little fun for wimps like me

Anonymous

If it's going to be a bit of a learning area then I may have to take a look when I'm down over Christmas