Dalby Forest conditions w/c 22 Nov

GiantMike

Planning to go to Dalby Forest this Weds/Thurs. Anybody been there in the last couple of days able to give me an idea of the conditions for different routes?

Cheers in advance

GM

Briggo

Without actually being there I could hazard an educated guess at cold / wet / muddy in places.

Its well surfaced so I wouldnt worry too much.

GiantMike

Thanks.

I'll report back after the ride tomorrow.

sheffieldpaul

We were at Dalby on Sunday- weather was very wet and cold and the trail wet and muddy, but being a built trail it was fine and all ridable only problem was half the red route finished off a set of pads and had to ride the second half on forest roads.

The chilli back in the cafe and the new set of pads from the shop were the perfect end!

altern_8

sheffieldpaul wrote:

only problem was half the red route finished off a set of pads

thats why i dont ride dalby when wet,but then again,when the moors are a hour and half away,and the dales and peaks 2 hours away,no point in riding a trail centre

sheffieldpaul

I'm new here and already can't stand the snobbery on display. I've been mountain biking for 20 years, I've done the moors, the dales, the peaks are my patch and the alps and pyrenees on holidays.

It seems every time someone says they had a great day at a trail centre someone else has to chip in that its not real riding, well 'real' mountain biking normally involves lots of tarmac to link sections up, lots of being careful and polite to horses and walkers, not being able to rip round corners incase there's someone having a picnic or a dog to go into your wheels and the fun technical stuff is there but the boring plodding on easy tracks out weighs it.

I've ridden at trail centres only 3 times and its a blast but just as going to an indoor climbing wall to get fit, have fun and develop skills and see your mates doesn't make you a whimp incapable of headnig out the mountains for something more committing there's nothing wrong with trail centres, its part of the very rich tapestry of cycling, as a mountain biker I wouldn't expect you to be rude and dismissive when I take my my road bike to ride tour de france cols for a holiday so if another day I fancy a laugh at a trail centre so be it, keep your snobby opinion to yourself.

Natural trails are great but at least at trail centres there's less conflict between user groups and there's a business plan to maintain them rather than the quagmire many natural moorland tracks turn into and there's great use of the huge amount of land that was pretty much private dull forest before.

I said Dalby was very wet but totally ridable, many of the moorland tracks in the moors and dales and peaks are at the moment unridable in places and its highly unethical to add to the damage. In my experience I can get totally muddy on natural trails so it was a pretty weak premise to have a dig at people who enjoy trail centres as part of their riding, but at least the cafe at a trail centre will still let me in when I'm covered in splat and they'll smile and ask how the ride was rather than ask me to sit outside.

Its academic, the mud is now frozen.

Sorry if I've misssed the irony in your post- your pics seem to be nearly all from Dalby- but my post is about all the trail centre snobs who hang out here.

altern_8

ermmmmm,i was in no way having ago at dalby/or the people who ride there,i was simply saying that i dont ride it in the wet as it destroys my pads,and that i prefer riding the natural stuff to a trail centre.

yes i do have "some" pics from dalby,the majority of them are from the world cup held there,and i do go for a blast there maybe 4 times a year.

sheffieldpaul

yes point taken, you got the wrath that really I'm directing at quite a few here who belittle trail centre riding, you personally didn't deserve it, I guess I was looking for an opportunity to say my piece. I'm just disappointed about web forums where the users quickly divide people into niches and then snipe at each other when we all just like riding our bikes and enjoy different types of bikes and different types of rides.

altern_8

no worries,there are a few people on all forums,not just here,who are only on them to see how far they can push other peoples buttons.

dalby is a good trail centre,nothing to technical for those starting out in the great sport of mountain biking,and even for those of us,who want to go for a quick blast at short notice.....just a pity it destroys my pads when wet

sheffieldpaul

It does eat pads! I knew that by how well stocked the shop was with pads of all kinds when I went in for my new set!

See you on the trail....