what makes a good trail center

tiredout

Hi all

I,ve been off roading for 9 months now(as well as road rides) and as i live in norfolk, the only close trail center is at Thetford. I can ride all the routes o.k. and really enjoy what they have to offer, although I still have a lot to learn, and need to get fitter.
My question is how good is Thetford, Is it worth traveling further, and what can i expect when i travel. I realise this area is very flat, so downhill is non existant, but I love the beast area and all the bomb holes on the black route and would like to do more rides with these type of features and more.
Time is a major concern with a business to run and family stuff, so I really need to know if the time spent traveling is going to get me a much better ride or is time better spent riding localy.
Any help is good as I have no other trail centers to compare it to.

phz

Thetford is a decent XC-style trail centre, but beware that the gradings at Thetford don't really match most other UK trail centres.

Like you I'm based in East Anglia and ride (and enjoy) Thetford regularly. I have also ridden at Laggan, Nevis, Dalby and Brechfa when away on holiday.

In terms of technical difficulty, the Red and Black at Thetford are fairly similar IMHO, but neither is actually any harder than the Green/Blue at Brechfa! (there are sections on the Green there that are faster and more technical than The Beast and Double Shocker but just not as variable in terms of surface).

In my experience, any UK trail centre (except for maybe Sherwood, which is quite tame too although it does have a small 'downhill' area) will give you the technical challenges and fun you're after but will entail a fair journey. Cannock might be the closest?

Might be worth a journey to Chicksands though - closer to you and built around the play side of mountain biking.

Bottom line I guess is that, yes travelling will get you a better (different) trail centre experience if you can spare the time. I generally try to holiday in areas with a trail centre or two and sneak the riding in that way (helps that I have a wife who doesn't mind dragging her Hardrock round some of the easier trails with me and then sitting and reading her Kindle while I hit the Reds).

slainte rob

snowden_88

Hi

I also live in Norfolk. Not had any experience with Thetford yet as only just brought my bike but as a kid I used to ride Mousehold Heath everyday. Its small, but plenty of bomb holes . It costs nothing and its in the middle of the city. Just got to slalom the dog crap on major paths.

Other than that then Iv heard of Bacton Wood through research. Again, no experience though.

andrewyzfr6

I have been all over scotland, in the lakes and cannock chase(ages ago) and generally found the colour grading fairly consistant. With the exception of the "red run" at Fort Bill. Which along with others, who I go biking with, and people Ive met they would think a better grading for it is black.
I suppose that length of trail as well as technical features makes up parts of the grading process?
Anyway off to play with 1 of my bikes!!!!

stumpyjon

Yep grading is pretty subjective and trail conditions can change over time. Llandegla is also relatively over graded and then you hit something like Lee & Cragg Quarries which are mainly red but in a completely different league. Being closely associated with Gisburn forest I've seen the trails become harder as they have worn although the grading hasn't changed.

There's four aspects to consider when looking at trails difficulty, speed (can it be controlled easily), line choice (is there a choice of lines), power (do you need to be able to power over obstacles) and balence (how stuttery is it?). If only two of the these aspects are in play, i.e. fast downhill with multiple lines then it's considered to be easy / medium, throw in some step ups, skinnies or rock gardens and then suddenly balance and power come into play and it's more likely to be graded diffiuclty.

the other issue is length of trail and remoteness can also make a trail black although if you're fit you can usually just plod through the trail, a shorter red like the ones in Lee Quarry can be much more technically demanding. Penalty for failure can also play a role, Hully Gully at Gisburn Forest is Black, it's not massively difficult to ride if you keep off the brakes, but if you come off the edge it's a 20ft drop into the stream.