Llangdegla was great, the people there were not.

Boy Lard

I was out with some friends at Llangdegla on Saturday. We hail from Yorkshire, although we had a couple of foreigners with us (not their faul that they live over the border in Lancashire). When we are out, normally battering over moors, any other bikers we see always get a friendly greating. Even when I am climbing up a verticle wall and blowing out my ar$e I can normally manage at least a nod and a grunt. However, we very soon noticed that most of the people we passed at Llangdegla actually looked offended when we said hello, 'ow do', 'morning' or what ever else.

Because there are a few of us riding we get strung out, so every now and then we'll stop and let everyone bunch up again, if we see other people coming we'll move over and let them through, even though we will probably be passing them again within minutes. Not one of the armour wearing, full face helmet, 'too cool for school' types could even manage a 'thank you' as we waved them on. The thing that really pissed me off was one of the morons, (lycra clad race whippet) who had ridden passed and completely ignored our friendly hellos ended up with a puncture and was sat further up the trail with his bike upside down. As the first member of our group approached he slowed to ask the guy if he needed any help, and still the guy didn't have the decency to acknowledge him, other than looking at him with a dull, glazed expression.

The only people who managed a courteous response were a couple of younger lads (turned out they were from Bradford), and a family of Dad, Mum and 3 kids. They kids were really polite and Dad was cheering us on as a couple of us got airbourne, all be it a bit sketchy.

Is this what is to be expected from trail centres? Or from Wales? I thought us Yorkshiremen had a reputation for being a bit inhospitable. That being said, it being a bank holiday weekend, I am guessing that there were probably quite a few non-locals there.

As in the title though, the trails themselves were damn good fun, shame about the people.

biff55

some folk are too far up their own arses and forget about the fun / friendly elements.
their prob not yours.

MountainMonster

I've had quite a few run ins on certain mountains here in Austria that have the assholes riding them everytime i'm there. One mountain literally everyone is giving the best welcoming hello they can while climbing it, then another they try to not even look at it.

Remember, humans are assholes. Try not to get too worked about it.

altern_8

we was riding walna scar on saturday,and hailing from yorkshire ourselves(apart from 2 lads who we met up with from over the border,we had our passports),we had great banter from the walkers who we rode past,some of them asking what institute we had been released from,riding down some of the stuff they had trouble walking down....i do find at dalby(trail centre,if you call it that),you do get the odd one blanking you out...maybe its just a trail centre thing!!!!!!!

Stu 74

I regurlarly ride at Llandegla and I have noticed that it is not as friendly as it used to be. I think it may be because there are so many people on the trails there, particularly at weekends.

I would say that the majority of people riding at Llandegla are not local and are not from Wales

Anonymous

I'm with Stu on this one. Generally most people are friendly at Llandegla, but you do get some days when the ar5eholes seem to all organise a group ride there.

Oh, and I've not once, ever, met a single Welsh person in Llandegla.

stumpyjon

I don't think it's typical of many trail centres, I've had many conversations with people at Afan and Lee Quarry. If you're unlucky enough to meet me at Gisburn I'll talk you into a stupor if you say hello.

welshkev

from what i've heard about llandegla is that it gets very busy and gets lots of visitors. us welsh are friendly really...honest

Anonymous

Had a great day at Llandegla today. My mate crashed quite badly on one of the jumps, and suspected he;d fractured some ribs.
Two of the dirt jumping kids who were riding in the same area went to get help whilst I stayed with him in case he got worse.
Couldn't ask for more.
Properly friendly place today.

ricardo666

Hey I was at llandegla on sat and today (monday) had a great time even though i nearly baulked at the cost of the parking permit.

I'll always let on, nod say hello or grunt if I'm out of breath

I think just being polite or good manners, the world is going mad and we shouldn't let it effect our happy tribe. No matter what part of the country your from or age etc. Dunno if its something stuckup-ish to do with what bike your riding or how much it cost.

Yeehah I hope your mate is ok, I was just leaving, half way down from the upper car park when the ambulance was coming up to the pump track area. Was thinking the worst.

Most of all the weather today was superb and made for great riding.

nonnac85

i nearly baulked at the cost of the parking permit.

that's why people park in he lay-by at the bottom!

Anonymous

Matt's fine by the way, he got an X-ray, and there's no fracture, just bad bruising. I think he basically gave himself a "dead leg" (remember those?) but to his chest muscles.

I will not be ok when his wife sees me next though

dodgy

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Oh, and I've not once, ever, met a single Welsh person in Llandegla.

Seriously? The place is full of Welsh! And why not! I ride up there all the time on the road bike for a cup of their excellent coffee and am always gabbing with local lads.

Anonymous

Well, to be honest, there's not a lot of Welsh folk up round there full-stop, really.

jay12

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Had a great day at Llandegla today. My mate crashed quite badly on one of the jumps, and suspected he;d fractured some ribs.
Two of the dirt jumping kids who were riding in the same area went to get help whilst I stayed with him in case he got worse.
Couldn't ask for more.
Properly friendly place today.

ah, i saw them at the bike shop.

Anonymous

They were good lads, those two. And excellent riders.
Big thanks to them

Almightydutch

Was up there yesterday too. Yes some very ignorant peeps but then some uber friendly ones too.

All in all about what I expect no matter where we ride.

So was that two ambulances? as we saw one later on in the day when some bloke looked like he had some kind of arm/shoulder injury on the Dirt jump section

First time there yesterday and although not the longest place in the world and some pretty boring firetrack i liked the place. Something for everyone!

One day i'll have the balls to hit the jumps properly instead of rolling over way too many of em.
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Anonymous

Nah, sounds like the same ambulance. I guess it was about 4pm or so.
In case he had broken ribs, the paramedics told him to hold his arm up and press it into his side to prevent the ribs moving.

Almightydutch

Yeah he certainly looked in pain walking back up the slope from the jumps. Hope he's ok.

Splottboy

Before the Marin was finished, we did some trails that were "closed"...

On a last very short/steep descent, the saddle came back at me striking me in the stomach -No, I didn't put it down, I never do - and got winded. OUCH!!!

Prob broke a few ribs too, and it was 2 days before Christmas.

Laughing, coughing, shagging was Very, Very sore. ( Didn't stop me shagging though...)

Feel for your mate, as it's bloody painful.
Hope he gets back in shape asap.

Anonymous

he's fine, but a bit sore. Nothing was broken, but he bruised himself quite badly.

lesz42

i go to Llandegla very often ( its 15 minutes away)

Most people say hi or something, few do not

aguesty1

Last time I was at Llandegla, I rode past a bloke, I gave a nice polite hello and was just ignored. At one point I stopped to gain my breath and the bloke in question pulled up beside me again I clocked on and he again ignored me. Fair enough, but then the ignorant prat actually spoke to me with some excitement! " Is that a 2010 Meta Carbon?" It's clear some people will only speak to people that have an expensive bike. (It's a 2009 meta 5.5.3, the muppet didn't even have a clue even though he was riding a 2009 Meta 5.5.2)

I will keep on as I already do acknowledging people and if they don't have the decency to respond well screw them, no need for bad attitude especially when we all share a common interest. Life's too short to be miserable.

Come to Lee Quarry all the locals are great!

Anonymous

You know, I just had a thought. Maybe some people are shy as well, and aren't the type to approach strangers. Mountain biking does draw a somewhat peculiar crowd at times.

kaytronika

I'm quite the shy type, but I'll try to nod and maybe say hello too. Also occasionally push myself to ask if people with mechanical issues need help.

I tend to find it's larger groups that often don't say hello back.

I found most people at degla were perfectly polite, I'm not fast so i pull aside to let people through and find they appreciate that.

Will make a point of saying hello to everyone if this weather keeps up and I go back there at weekend

stubs

I was up there today and everyone was fine and friendly. However it wasnt very busy the carpark was half empty when we rolled up at 11am and we saw very few people on the trail apart from a big mob on matching red Merida hardtails probably having a lesson.

Possibly when its heaving at the weekend people feel a bit crowded and get snappy. The last time I went it was a Sunday morning and every downhill bit had a crowd at the start all standing around gassing and you virtually had to use your bike as a battering ram to clear a path.

I wont be going back at the weekend any more unless the weather is absolutely soaking wet or freezing at least you know theres a caff waiting to warm up and dry out.

cambo

I too was there yesterday, I was with a mate and we were having this very same conversation. I speak to anyone, always say hello as I pass people or get passed and always offer help to anyone who needs it. However, one day I went past a couple of lads having a breather, said hello, blank faces. They then came past me whilst I was admiring the views, I said hello again, they ignored me.

I then overtook them a bit later, one of them was having a mechanical. Did I take the moral highground and offer to help? Did I fook, I blasted past them, said hello and carried on my happy way. I didn't even feel guilty that they hadn't finished the trail before I washed the bike, got changed and ordered/ate my lunch.

Moral of the story? Don't ignore people, you never know when you might need their help!!!

I would also add that yesterday we had no problems, it was almost like we were part of a big group, the amount of people that we kept passing only for them to pass us, you just bully people into talking by being relentless

kaytronika

I wonder if all these people who don't say hello wonder if us slightly more friendly types are just a bit mad.

'He said hello to me three times, I don't even know the bloke'

bbug

nonnac85 wrote:

that's why people park in he lay-by at the bottom!

Shame on them, then. I quite often go to llandegla early in the morning, before they've opened. I park on the lane and lift my bike over the gate.

I've bought a yearly car park pass this year, but before that, I used to pay the car park fee anyway.£3.50 isn't a lot of money and if there's a few of you in the car it works out even less per person. I figure that all that trail building costs money and I would feel guilty riding it for free. That would be stealing in my view.

Rant over. Sorry

kaytronika

Had a great day on my own there today. Did the red followed by the blue. Not bad for a fat bloke.

Most people were really friendly, I said hello to most people I met and gave a little advice about the jump section where the red splits and there are two table tops... Should have heeded my own advice that you could ride round them... Nearly overcooked it

Was about to offer help to some poor bloke who'd torn his whole rear mech off, but he needed a breakaway bolt and that's one thing I don't carry.

Great day out, massive smile on my face.

upthedale

Rode the black trail on the Monday of the August bank holiday arriving at 10 ish.
Had a few who dont say hello or nod or even say thanks when you let them through but you get this in all walks of life.

Very busy when we'd finished the ride,1230.

Loved the place cant wait to go back again

£3.50 to park but its helping to improve the trails/facilities so cant complain about that!!!