Familiarity breeds contempt...

bails87

I was having a flick through MBR yesterday and read the section about Cannock Chase, one of my regular haunts. I probably go the once every 3-4 weeks. I've only actually ridden at 2 other trail centres (Climachx and Nant-yr-Arian).

Anyway, they described the final descent on the monkey as (roughly) "one of the wildest descents they've ridden" and said it was "the closest thing to a full on DH course you'll find at a UK trail centre".

Now, while the Monkey's good (hence me regularly driving an hour each way to go there) is it really that good?

Is it really that much like a full on DH race course, closer to one than anything in Scotland or Wales?

Or maybe because I've ridden it so much I've lost touch with just how good it is? If so Monkey, I'm sorry for taking you for granted

Anyone else had this with their 'local' trails, where an outsider has raved about something you've got used to?

mak3m

lol newb biker attempted ftd and monkey on first trail ride

scared the crap out of me

bails87

mak3m wrote:

lol newb biker attempted ftd and monkey on first trail ride

scared the crap out of me

I actually thought of the advice I'd given you when I read the article! Sorry about that! :oops:

Anonymous

I've never ridden there, but I have ridden Innerleithen.
Seeing as Inners actually ends on the lower part of an actual DH track, then that must SURELY be the closest thing to a full on DH course?

bails87

Maybe it was "the closest you can get to a DH course at an XC trail centre". But then, Innerleithen is an XC trail centre isn't it?

Anonymous

Innerleithen red is an XC trail "centre", correct.
it also has several DH runs, and the red XC run finishes off by joining one of the DH runs.

Kiblams

After riding Dalbeattie (a whole new technical level when compared to the Innerleithen XC route), I am of the opinion that FtD/Monkey are better than both Inners and Dalbeattie.

I wouldnt call it close to DH in any way, but 'crazy fun' is how I describe Cannock now, and as I sample more and more trail centres my opinion of Cannock rises and rises

Anonymous

Fair enough, but inners does actually end on a DH course though.

miss notax

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Fair enough, but inners does actually end on a DH course though.

So I can officially say that i've ridden a DH course on my Superlight then..?! Cool 8)

Anonymous

technically, yes!
Not from the top though.

miss notax

Hey, that's good enough for me!!

Anonymous

That last bit of inners is just so much fun it's incredible. Loads of little drops, kickers, rollers and berms, and all taken absolutely flat out. Great fun

anton1r

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Fair enough, but inners does actually end on a DH course though.

I didn't think it did from my experience riding it.
However, looking at the inners map it appears it does. I don't think it looks as "downhilly" as the other downhill routes at inners though. Regardless if it's mapped as downhill though I guess it is!

Going back to the original topic though, lots of people rant and rave about Glentress red being the best trail ever. Though it was the first trail centre I visited and now I guess its just what i'm used to/I don't know any better so i'm not overly sure what all the fuss is about!

LjStronge

I think that riding a trail you ride often you do take it for granted.

The Deerstalker at Swinley I ride at least once a week and because you get so used to the trail, the line, the speed, the berms and the banks, you get faster and faster and it stops being (as) difficult.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying I am the Dog's B's at riding down hill trails (I invariably suffer from fear of falling off and limit my speed to where I feel comfortable) but when you ride a trail often, it's easy, and that takes the difficult and danger element out of it.

The Danger element is exciting for me, so now I use the other downhill trails from the club house at Swinley as I am not used to them and they give me a little fright.

A little time off from Deerstalker will have me returning there with more respect and hopefully a little less famililarity

milfredo

I was good but not that good.

Cwncarn cross country actually arrives at the start ramp of the downhill there and that is some PROPER downhill. Scary rding with no pads or full face!

The Northern Monkey

Which bit are they saying was like a DH course?

the bit just over the road with the jumps?

bails87

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Which bit are they saying was like a DH course?

the bit just over the road with the jumps?

I think the final 2 descents, before you cross back over the road and the railway line, and rejoin FTD.

Northwind

OK, innerleithen red officially does end on a DH course, but in practice it's just a very good XC descent... It'd be the tamest DH route in the world really.

OTOH Fort William's nevis red really is very close to a DH course, and very similiar in feel to the world cup DH. And not enormously less difficult either. Never ridden the monkey but I know a guy who has (and who helped build it I think) who also declared himself terrified of the nevis red and refuses to ride it ever again So i'm not sure the statement really stands up.

cee

yeehaamcgee wrote:

That last bit of inners is just so much fun it's incredible. Loads of little drops, kickers, rollers and berms, and all taken absolutely flat out. Great fun

Ah Make or Brake!

It is good fun...but I wouldn't say its a DH run either.....

They tried to build it in the spirit of a whistler style bike park run....like A-Line....

Its pretty smooth from top to bottom....hence why they used it for the end of cross country loop.

Did MBR not once say its the best descent they have ever ridden?

Whoever said it was correct....it is nothing like any of the 'other' DH tracks at inners...

Can't wait for uplift this sunday....

Anonymous

There's no "I wouldn't say it's a DH run" in it, it IS part of a DH run.

mak3m

Northwind wrote:

OTOH Fort William's nevis red really is very close to a DH course, and very similiar in feel to the world cup DH.

mate of mine rode the fort william wc dh

said it consited of about 40 mins of sliding down a hill/mountain on his ass

pros do it in about 4.5 mins :oops:

Thewaylander

Hmmm I am gonna have to make the trip up to cannock before hte end this year, so i can say if i still hate it or not lol

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

There's no "I wouldn't say it's a DH run" in it, it IS part of a DH run.

The article said "full on DH course" though. so maybe that bit of Inners is tamer than this particular section of Cannock. Even though the former is a DH course (in name) and the latter is an XC trail (in name).

paulrockliffe

The red route at Inners ends by coming down Caddon Bank, which isn't part of any of the three DH runs. Caddon Bank pops you out at the bottom of the three DH runs, but you never actually ride on any of them.

Thewaylander

lets be fair though trail centers are getting tamer and tamer this year and the tail end of last. The nanny state is slaughtering so i feel comparing any red trail center to a good DH course is a bit silly. It would be a rare case where you find anything remotely that extreme on an Xc course

Anonymous

paulrockliffe wrote:

The red route at Inners ends by coming down Caddon Bank, which isn't part of any of the three DH runs. Caddon Bank pops you out at the bottom of the three DH runs, but you never actually ride on any of them.

Bollocks.
MAP IS HERE
Go to page 2, red XC trail joins make or break.

All this hyping things up as DH tracks is nonsense anyway. i've not been to any DH tracks that I was not well prepared for by riding in and around north wales. sure the "proper" DH tracks are steeper than other marked trails, but there is no massive step in technicality.
The danger, and the difficulty comes when riding those DH trails at full tilt.
Simply getting down a DH run intact is not really the same as riding it.

bails87

Thewaylander wrote:

lets be fair though trail centers are getting tamer and tamer this year and the tail end of last. The nanny state is slaughtering so i feel comparing any red trail center to a good DH course is a bit silly. It would be a rare case where you find anything remotely that extreme on an Xc course

You really do need to get to Cannock again. All that's happened over the last 18 months there is things have got a LOT trickier, with more rocks, more drops and more jumps. I don't see any nanny state interfering, in fact, quite the opposite, seeing as the FC is supporting the changes.

cee

yeehaamcgee wrote:

paulrockliffe wrote:

The red route at Inners ends by coming down Caddon Bank, which isn't part of any of the three DH runs. Caddon Bank pops you out at the bottom of the three DH runs, but you never actually ride on any of them.

Bollocks.
MAP IS HERE
Go to page 2, red XC trail joins make or break.

All this hyping things up as DH tracks is nonsense anyway. i've not been to any DH tracks that I was not well prepared for by riding in and around north wales. sure the "proper" DH tracks are steeper than other marked trails, but there is no massive step in technicality.
The danger, and the difficulty comes when riding those DH trails at full tilt.
Simply getting down a DH run intact is not really the same as riding it.

hmmm. The difference in technicality between the 'other' DH runs at inners and Make or Brake...is astounding.

In fact, I would say that the black at glentress (not a particualrly technical black by some standards), is more technical than any of make or brake.

It's pretty much smooth from the top to the bottom!

Make or Brake is being hyped up as a DH track here....its orange bike park graded......because of the number of opportunities to get RFARFQ (ReallyFrickinAirborneReallyFrickinQuick).....especially if you take the Double D section!

Thewaylander

Not just on about cannock with it though bails,

Alot of trails around Wales ahve been either up rated, or had drops and so on removed ei the ladder drops and wall ride at Cwm. we just don't seem to be allowed to have the scary stuff at the moemnt.

I have been riding some more technical locals traisl recently and to be honest some of the trail centers are starting to annoy me because as soon as some part tough comes along its cleaned up. cwms climb this year had a good bit of work done on it and its no where near as challenging or fun now

Anonymous

cee wrote:

hmmm. The difference in technicality between the 'other' DH runs at inners and Make or Brake...is astounding.

So what? It's still classed as a DH run.

Quite apart from that, jumps don't make something easy or hard. And neither do roots.
I can ride happily, at speed over roots, drops, rock gardens, but, having not had any jumps around until recently, I suck at jumps. For ME, that makes a smooth, jump littered trail more testing. Fun, certainly, but it chalenges me more than roots rocks, holes etc.

On the flipside, there are people who have ridden dirt jumps almost exclusively, who can ride the biggest jumps without hesitation, and trick off them all. But, they can struggle on rooty rocky sections.

One person's tricky, is another person's walk in the park.

bails87

Thewaylander wrote:

Not just on about cannock with it though bails,

I didn't think you were talking about Cannock at all. If you've only been once, before the monkey, how could you know if it had been made harder or not? :?
I assumed you were talking about Welsh places, and I was just saying that might be another thing in Cannock's favour.