Sherwood Pines Red Route for Beginers - Hiring Bikes
Phil S 83
Posts: 8
I thought i'd throw a quick message up on here for anyone new to mountain biking and thinking of going to Sherwood pines.
I went this Saturday and did the Kitchener route which is my first ever red route. Previously i'd only done blue at Dalby.
I can honestly say it served as an excellent introduction to what I imagine single track xc to be. I know that the area doesn't have the same gradient you would expect from areas such as Dalby, but in honesty this was perfect for me, someone who stopped riding bikes at around 16 and spent the next ten years smoking and drinking. I didn't miss the lung bursting uphill slogs. For experienced/ fitter riders i'm sure this doesn't provide the challange they would like, and in fact I had read some negative reviews on here before going, and nearly gave it a miss. I'm really glad I didn't and would encourage anyone new to mtb to give it a go. I really enjoyed it and i'm thinking of going back this weekend ...to do it faster!
On a slightly more negative point, my friend accompanied me and hired a bike from sherwood pines cycles. He was given a piece of cr*p raleigh, which really wasn't fit for purpose. It had flat tires for a kick off, the gears didn't work at all so he was forced to do the whole trail in one gear and the bike was filthy. Any grip that the tyres once had was hidden well under layers of muck. for £14 half day I would expect a lot better than this. When we've been to Dalby in the past we have both hired cycles from purple mountain and they provide excelent spec Kona Caldera's fully serviced with sharp gear changing, everyone goes out with spare iner tube little repair kit and a pump. These ones didn't even have bottle cages. It really did but a downer on the day for my friend which is a shame cos otherwise the ride was excellent.
The surface at the moment is okay, only one place where I had to get off and push over very boggy area, mainly to avoid my tyres adding to an already churned up track. I'd say about 95% of the red trail was dry.
Sorry to anyone out on Saturday who had to wait for us novices to move over and let you through. However, your patience was much appreciated. Also, thanks to the people who helped us keep on the right track when the little red arrows seemed to disapear. MTBers really are a friendly bunch.
All in all a great morning out for a beginner, I think it will be a good few more rides before I got bored of that trail. Maybe see you there this weekend!
I went this Saturday and did the Kitchener route which is my first ever red route. Previously i'd only done blue at Dalby.
I can honestly say it served as an excellent introduction to what I imagine single track xc to be. I know that the area doesn't have the same gradient you would expect from areas such as Dalby, but in honesty this was perfect for me, someone who stopped riding bikes at around 16 and spent the next ten years smoking and drinking. I didn't miss the lung bursting uphill slogs. For experienced/ fitter riders i'm sure this doesn't provide the challange they would like, and in fact I had read some negative reviews on here before going, and nearly gave it a miss. I'm really glad I didn't and would encourage anyone new to mtb to give it a go. I really enjoyed it and i'm thinking of going back this weekend ...to do it faster!
On a slightly more negative point, my friend accompanied me and hired a bike from sherwood pines cycles. He was given a piece of cr*p raleigh, which really wasn't fit for purpose. It had flat tires for a kick off, the gears didn't work at all so he was forced to do the whole trail in one gear and the bike was filthy. Any grip that the tyres once had was hidden well under layers of muck. for £14 half day I would expect a lot better than this. When we've been to Dalby in the past we have both hired cycles from purple mountain and they provide excelent spec Kona Caldera's fully serviced with sharp gear changing, everyone goes out with spare iner tube little repair kit and a pump. These ones didn't even have bottle cages. It really did but a downer on the day for my friend which is a shame cos otherwise the ride was excellent.
The surface at the moment is okay, only one place where I had to get off and push over very boggy area, mainly to avoid my tyres adding to an already churned up track. I'd say about 95% of the red trail was dry.
Sorry to anyone out on Saturday who had to wait for us novices to move over and let you through. However, your patience was much appreciated. Also, thanks to the people who helped us keep on the right track when the little red arrows seemed to disapear. MTBers really are a friendly bunch.
All in all a great morning out for a beginner, I think it will be a good few more rides before I got bored of that trail. Maybe see you there this weekend!
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Comments
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Went up there for the first time a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We (me and the mrs) started on the green route and then the blue which was great for our first time off road.
Going up this weekend on my own for a go on the kitchener route so hopefully I won't hold too many people up.
Rob0 -
I'm sure you'll love the Kitchener route Rob, you'll see a big difference between that and blue route.
Don't worry about holding people up, people were really cool about it with me last weekend. It's kind of split up anyway, into small singletrack sections that spit you out onto a fire road. This gives you a chance to catch your breath and let others past if they need too.
Just a quick tip, when you reach the junction for the Jump park and Downhill sections follow the sign for the downhill then you'll pick up the red arrows again. We got lost here and ended up doing half the blue by accident. Don't worry you don't have to do the Downhill runs, although the red run down this bit should give you a big old grin!0 -
Sherwood Pines is a great place for an intro to mountain biking, it is reasonably technical and quite well laid out and sign posted.
It is a shame that you had a negative experience with the hire bike. I am pretty sure that if you had voiced your concerns to the shop they would have looked after you... Every experience I have had in the shop has been positive... They are all very helpful and willing, especially "Dan" in the shop itself. Their mechanics are awesome too, they will always try to fit jobs in for you where they can. Dale is a natural when it comes to getting people up and cycling again!
Try to find some of the local lads/lasses when you are out riding, ask if you can tag along and you will get to ride some stuff I bet you never knew existed!!!0 -
is it just me or does it sound like this guy works there? :?rich8 wrote:Sherwood Pines is a great place for an intro to mountain biking, it is reasonably technical and quite well laid out and sign posted.
It is a shame that you had a negative experience with the hire bike. I am pretty sure that if you had voiced your concerns to the shop they would have looked after you... Every experience I have had in the shop has been positive... They are all very helpful and willing, especially "Dan" in the shop itself. Their mechanics are awesome too, they will always try to fit jobs in for you where they can. Dale is a natural when it comes to getting people up and cycling again!
Try to find some of the local lads/lasses when you are out riding, ask if you can tag along and you will get to ride some stuff I bet you never knew existed!!!
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No,
I don't work there and never have.
Just a loyal customer, simple as that.0 -
I did get up to Sherwood Pines early yesterday morning and had a really good time on my first red route.
Opposite to Phil S 83 in that about 95% of the course was competely soaked but a cracking introduction to my mtb experience. The downhill bit was great (even though I got a bit carried away and nearly came a cropper
)
Gonna try and get the mrs out on it next week now.
Rob0 -
Sherwood pines is a fun route, but definitely classifies as a southern red route.
The grade is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than a northern red route like Dalby or Glentress.
Do not assume that because you can do the red here you can do it at glentress.
This is good for someones first mtb ride.
The DH section there is fun, but still easier than most of the technical sections at Dalby.Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?0 -
IMO Sherwood Pines should be classified green and Dalby blue(at best) no where near as technical as any of the Welsh or Scottish reds :?0
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some of the new world cup stuff has definitely increased the grade at dalby.
I would agree that Scotland and Wales have on average harder reds, but there are always the embarasments like Mabie.Why would I care about 150g of bike weight, I just ate 400g of cookies while reading this?0
