New trails at Coed Llandegla

DodgeT

I went down a black run on my first snowboarding trip, first day i'd ever boarded actually.

Spent a quite a bit of time on my ass, but hell it was fun

Pudseyp

DodgeT wrote:

I went down a black run on my first snowboarding trip, first day i'd ever boarded actually.

Spent a quite a bit of time on my ass, but hell it was fun

Exactly the kind of idiot I am talking about...

DodgeT

Grab a beer pudsey and chill out

Or get yourself out on the trails and get rid of some of your frustration instead of venting it all on here, what with this thread and the Gisburn one, your not a happy bunny today are you..

Pudseyp

DodgeT wrote:

Grab a beer pudsey and chill out

Or get yourself out on the trails and get rid of some of your frustration instead of venting it all on here, what with this thread and the Gisburn one, your not a happy bunny today are you..

Gisburn is Ok, all I said in my opinion it is not worthy of trail of the year..

DodgeT

Maybe we should have a BR poll for best trail - saying that, its probably already been done..

Nant y arian was going well up my list on a ride there last weekend, until the "legburner" , it just never seemed to end

Pudseyp

There are some fantastic trials in the UK, like I said Gisburn is Ok and sometimes I do enjoy it...if you have been to the likes of Glentress and Inners infact all the 7Stanes you will see what I mean when I say in my opinion it isn't up there.

DodgeT

Want to get a bit further oop north and try some of those at some point, think a weekend away is due..

Pudseyp

DodgeT wrote:

Want to get a bit further oop north and try some of those at some point, think a weekend away is due..

After a few blasts down the Glentress red you won't want to leave....can't wait till March

jimpy

Llandegla is great for beginners, even the new blacks are barely an easy red and best of all they are a blast

TheGeneralist

Thing is there are plenty of signs up about the trails and about the skill level required...hence why there is beginer, intemediate and advanced.

Don't get me started on those signs. They are an abomination. I almost* hope that someone reads and heeds those signs, then goes somewhere with real trail grades, hurts themselves and sues Llandegla for completely misrepresenting the difficulty of their trails compared to the rest of the nation.


(* almost, but not quite, obviously)

Pudseyp

TheGeneralist wrote:

Thing is there are plenty of signs up about the trails and about the skill level required...hence why there is beginer, intemediate and advanced.

Don't get me started on those signs. They are an abomination. I almost* hope that someone reads and heeds those signs, then goes somewhere with real trail grades, hurts themselves and sues Llandegla for completely misrepresenting the difficulty of their trails compared to the rest of the nation.


(* almost, but not quite, obviously)

(Sigh)....they are only a guide...and again if you had any common sense you judge your ability against the grading...would you send a beginer down the black ? as I think your insinuating it's a doddle....if so your more stupid than I first thought

Muttly1981

Pudseyp wrote:

DodgeT wrote:

Want to get a bit further oop north and try some of those at some point, think a weekend away is due..

After a few blasts down the Glentress red you won't want to leave....can't wait till March

Did 3 days at Glentress the other month and your right the reds are great (good game taking the red options and Spooky wood are probably the best sections of trail i've ever rode)
As for the Llandegla haters i started on a hardtail last september when two blue loops was my limit, then blue/red, red/red (around the time i went full suss), red/black options. The first time i rode the Black around 6 months ago rolled everything and rode well within my skillset but felt like i'd achieved something and i was the Mancunian Steve Peat but looking back i was out of my depth so went back to trying to improve my riding on the red until i knew i could handle the black, it was the best idea i've had as now i hit every table and even try to style it up on certain sections.

Rode the new stuff again today and the trail was like butter with the recent rain so i used common sense by scrubbing enough speed off to not go big but still get air and not do anything stupid, i left with just as big of a grin on my face as i'd have had ridden in the dry. Unfortunately not everyone thinks the same as me as i saw 3 seperate over the bar incidents (one on the new north shore drop in) from carrying too much speed for the conditions and another crash on the red switchbacks with a lad sliding out on a hybrid with slicks

Pudseyp

Muttly1981 wrote:

Pudseyp wrote:

DodgeT wrote:

Want to get a bit further oop north and try some of those at some point, think a weekend away is due..

After a few blasts down the Glentress red you won't want to leave....can't wait till March

Did 3 days at Glentress the other month and your right the reds are great (good game taking the red options and Spooky wood are probably the best sections of trail i've ever rode)
As for the Llandegla haters i started on a hardtail last september when two blue loops was my limit, then blue/red, red/red (around the time i went full suss), red/black options. The first time i rode the Black around 6 months ago rolled everything and rode well within my skillset but felt like i'd achieved something and i was the Mancunian Steve Peat but looking back i was out of my depth so went back to trying to improve my riding on the red until i knew i could handle the black, it was the best idea i've had as now i hit every table and even try to style it up on certain sections.

Rode the new stuff again today and the trail was like butter with the recent rain so i used common sense by scrubbing enough speed off to not go big but still get air and not do anything stupid, i left with just as big of a grin on my face as i'd have had ridden in the dry. Unfortunately not everyone thinks the same as me as i saw 3 seperate over the bar incidents (one on the new north shore drop in) from carrying too much speed for the conditions and another crash on the red switchbacks with a lad sliding out on a hybrid with slicks

Yippeee !!! at last someone with a brain and some common sense...if we all had this attitude we would all be better riders and the trails would be safe and enjoyable for everyone.

This is exactly the point I was trying to make out about knowing your limit...and having the right farking bike to start with !!

omegas

I have friends that have been to Llandegla for the first time, hired a bike from the shop and have gone around the black without any problems.

Llandegla is a fantastic place for people to get introduced to mountain biking and for lots of people living within 50 miles it’s probably the first trail centre they went to.
They have took out a lot of the difficult sections from 6/7 years ago to make it more appealing to the joe public and that why its so popular.
If its not your cup of tea , gets to busy or not challenging enough get yourself a OS map and compass and you have hundreds of miles of real riding on the doorstep of Llandegla.

Pudseyp

omegas wrote:

I have friends that have been to Llandegla for the first time, hired a bike from the shop and have gone around the black without any problems.

Llandegla is a fantastic place for people to get introduced to mountain biking and for lots of people living within 50 miles it’s probably the first trail centre they went to.
They have took out a lot of the difficult sections from 6/7 years ago to make it more appealing to the joe public and that why its so popular.
If its not your cup of tea , gets to busy or not challenging enough get yourself a OS map and compass and you have hundreds of miles of real riding on the doorstep of Llandegla.

I go there because I like it, it is close to me and I have an annual car pass....yes it is a fantastic place to learn they have a blue section and a brilliant skills area, all I am trying to say is hone your skills work your way up the grading on the trails so you feel comfortable riding them at speed and be able to hit the jumps and drop offs etc etc..

There is nothing worse than hammering down a section and have to slam on the brakes due to a rider in front not having the skills to ride the trail....I don't enjoy that and if you were that rider in front your probably wouldn't be enjoying it either, where they would probably have a lot more fun on the likes of the red as they probably would have a bit more pace....I am not trying to be a kiljoy but again I say some should MTFU and realise what your level REALLY IS.

tsenior

pudsey,you pays your money and takes your choice mate: omegas is spot on.

CL is to some extent a victim of its own success, given the location and the design of the trails it does attract large numbers and mixed abilities and as others have said we all like to push ouselves. guess what? they pay the car park fees and (high level idiocy like stopping mid trail aside) have as much right to ride as you. look round the car park on a weekend; its inevitable some will end up in over their depth.

if you dont like it go there off-peak or put some effort in and find the other great riding in the area

Muttly1981

tsenior wrote:

pudsey,you pays your money and takes your choice mate: omegas is spot on.

CL is to some extent a victim of its own success, given the location and the design of the trails it does attract large numbers and mixed abilities and as others have said we all like to push ouselves. guess what? they pay the car park fees and (high level idiocy like stopping mid trail aside) have as much right to ride as you. look round the car park on a weekend; its inevitable some will end up in over their depth.

if you dont like it go there off-peak or put some effort in and find the other great riding in the area

I wish the clown the other week in Leisure Lakes lycra would have taken your advice, i was climbing badgers (trying to climb in one go for the first time) and i admit i'm not built for climbs but to have some @rsehole XC bellend on his 3k Yeti who'd fallen behind his mates call me dangerous because he couldn't get past on the said climb.

ste_t

Don't suppose there was a Leisure Lakes van in the car park? There was when I was there recently,



thought they were there to train the shop staff..........................................................

Pudseyp

tsenior wrote:

pudsey,you pays your money and takes your choice mate: omegas is spot on.

CL is to some extent a victim of its own success, given the location and the design of the trails it does attract large numbers and mixed abilities and as others have said we all like to push ouselves. guess what? they pay the car park fees and (high level idiocy like stopping mid trail aside) have as much right to ride as you. look round the car park on a weekend; its inevitable some will end up in over their depth.

if you dont like it go there off-peak or put some effort in and find the other great riding in the area

But a newbie riding the black is just stuip....well untill they take a major tummble and end up in hospital......actualy your right....let the idiotic fools ride what they want...then if the end up in hospital that's one less on the trial !! briliant !!! :-)

Muttly1981

Pudseyp wrote:

tsenior wrote:

pudsey,you pays your money and takes your choice mate: omegas is spot on.

CL is to some extent a victim of its own success, given the location and the design of the trails it does attract large numbers and mixed abilities and as others have said we all like to push ouselves. guess what? they pay the car park fees and (high level idiocy like stopping mid trail aside) have as much right to ride as you. look round the car park on a weekend; its inevitable some will end up in over their depth.

if you dont like it go there off-peak or put some effort in and find the other great riding in the area

But a newbie riding the black is just stuip....well untill they take a major tummble and end up in hospital......actualy your right....let the idiotic fools ride what they want...then if the end up in hospital that's one less on the trial !! briliant !!! :-)

It's even better when a newbie pays 2k for a bike has a tumble then decides it's not for them and bangs the bike on Ebay 3 months later

Neal_

What the hell does it matter how well you can ride, what you ride or which trail you ride? As long as no one actually crashes into you (potentially doing so doesn't count) just enjoy your own ride without being a knob and bitching to other people enjoying the same sport.

...or as Cartman said We can live together.

I will take the shiny bikes from fleabay though

Pudseyp

Neal_ wrote:

What the hell does it matter how well you can ride, what you ride or which trail you ride? As long as no one actually crashes into you (potentially doing so doesn't count) just enjoy your own ride without being a knob and bitching to other people enjoying the same sport.

...or as Cartman said We can live together.

I will take the shiny bikes from fleabay though

In any sport you have different levels of competence.....you start off and work your way up...simple....would you get bin the ring with Tyson in his prime...no..actually that's a bad example as we have Audley Harrison....and I could have him....

Lowride

Me and a mate rode the new sections today, I thought they were really good. I`m quite a regular at Llandegla, well as regular as I can be with a four hour round trip. I`ve never seen it as busy as it was today, people were struggling to park and there were groups of about thirty ppl waiting at the tops of some sections

I`m glad it`s not usually that busy, there were quite a few d1ckheads there. I saw one guy riding the red the wrong direction and lots of ppl trying to overtake in stupid places.I had somebody tailgating me and trying to get past on a really narrow section so he got told to shut the fcuk up and wait. I hate trail pests, come past by all means but wait until its safe to do so, not when the section is a fast DH and not much wider than my handlebars

Neal_

Pudseyp wrote:

In any sport you have different levels of competence.....you start off and work your way up...simple....

Yep, I agree with that...not really related to my point but never mind.

Pudseyp wrote:

would you get in the ring with Tyson in his prime...no..actually that's a bad example as we have Audley Harrison....and I could have him....

Riding a mountain bike on a trail isn't really comparable to boxing is it. One is a ride in the woods where you may hit your face on something, the other is 3 minutes of competition where you will hit your face on a fist.

An unskilled rider hurting themselves on a difficult trail is stupid but it's their own stupidity. Highly skilled riders can just as easily succumb to stupidity and ride beyond their ability but that will still be their business.

Live and let live eh.

tsenior

Lowride wrote:

I`ve never seen it as busy as it was today................ there were quite a few d1ckheads there.

i had the option of going there today and would have been on on my olde worlde GT HT ( :shock: puds ), instead revisited an old haunt about 5 miles away: 2x 1 hr loops of rooty, leafy sliperyness i've never managed to get round without copious dabbing...........dident see a single other rider

will be hitting the new bits of CL asap tho, love the place (just not on a weekend)

ricardo_smooth

Lowride wrote:

Me and a mate rode the new sections today, I thought they were really good. I`m quite a regular at Llandegla, well as regular as I can be with a four hour round trip. I`ve never seen it as busy as it was today, people were struggling to park and there were groups of about thirty ppl waiting at the tops of some sections

I`m glad it`s not usually that busy, there were quite a few d1ckheads there. I saw one guy riding the red the wrong direction and lots of ppl trying to overtake in stupid places.I had somebody tailgating me and trying to get past on a really narrow section so he got told to shut the fcuk up and wait. I hate trail pests, come past by all means but wait until its safe to do so, not when the section is a fast DH and not much wider than my handlebars

was there too today with a group of 10 of us.....agree with some idiots on trail today. one woman bellowed 'move out the fuck1n' way' on the first fireroad climb when all our group was at the trailside. If she was struggling to get past when there was at least 2 bikes widths then i'd have hated to be stuck with her all day! Too many people were not being considerate on trail today, as in not giving way to quicker riders when it was more than safe to do so, cutting people up and having some kind of trail ego that nobody was allowed to pass them despite holding people up. On the other hand there were some switched on, nice people. One bloke i was behind knew I was faster and asked if i'd like to get by. My reply was simple.... don't rush and wait until there is room. Trail bullies (beit hoggers or pushers past) really grind my gears!

mcnultycop

I'm going to go tomorrow, weather permitting, but unfortunately it'll have to be on my own. I'm getting fitter (I'm still a big lad, but gradually shrinking) and I guess a bit more better on the bike, so will I be OK on the red or will I be better sticking to the blue - I was planning on doing blue then red.

I've done the blue at Whinlatter which I really enjoyed, and I did the South Loop of the red there too straight after the blue, which I must admit I had to walk some of the rockier bits but rode 97% of it. How does Llandegla compare to Whinlatter in terms of the trail gradings?

dan shard

Muttly1981 wrote:

Pudseyp wrote:

tsenior wrote:

pudsey,you pays your money and takes your choice mate: omegas is spot on.

CL is to some extent a victim of its own success, given the location and the design of the trails it does attract large numbers and mixed abilities and as others have said we all like to push ouselves. guess what? they pay the car park fees and (high level idiocy like stopping mid trail aside) have as much right to ride as you. look round the car park on a weekend; its inevitable some will end up in over their depth.

if you dont like it go there off-peak or put some effort in and find the other great riding in the area

But a newbie riding the black is just stuip....well untill they take a major tummble and end up in hospital......actualy your right....let the idiotic fools ride what they want...then if the end up in hospital that's one less on the trial !! briliant !!! :-)

It's even better when a newbie pays 2k for a bike has a tumble then decides it's not for them and bangs the bike on Ebay 3 months later

And thats where I step in

Thewaylander

Actually with Pud here.

People who go on black trails with little to no experience on poor gear are often the people who have or cause accidents, which then the emergency serivces have to struggle to get to.

Common sense improves everyones enjoyment of the trails, everyone should push there limits, but the point is to not go a mile beyond them as its can be dangerous not just for you but others.

For example this year there was a lady coming down the last section of red at Cwm Carn and she was obviously out of her depths and slightyl scared, I was at full tilt coming down and i was shocked how fast i came up on her, I had a lot of trouble stopping lost traction nearly went of the trail, and nearly took her with me. I managed to stop about 4" of her back wheel while she was still moving. This could have ended in a bad accident for me and i could of hurt her which would have not been something to make me particularly happy.

Common sense is key when using any public facilities, and the first question is, is it appropriate for my skill level, will I be spoiling it for everyone else, if your a bit slow and stretching yourself, thats one thing and fine, if your out of your depths and terrified your causing problems not only for yourself but other trail users.

Chinley Churner

I guess the problem or the joy (depends on your viewpoint) of Llandegla is that it's all rollable and there's nothing early doors on the trail that'll make someone who's not very experienced think "wait a minute I shouldn't be doing this". Because it's so fast, smooth and swoopy, it can easily lull people into a false sense of security. This is why I think the trail builders at CYB got it bang on with the early sections there. Nothing fast or steep but rocky, fairly technical and enough to make people think twice before carrying on. Maybe, the next phase of trail building at Llandegla should be to include something like this on the ball ache ride out to the start of the trails proper?

I think if you're going to ride trail centres at peak times then you've just got to bite the bullet and accept that not everyone on the trail will be up to your high standards and ride accordingly. I personally find it frustrating when people are pushing up the "climbs" at Llandegla (I use "" because they're more like gentle blips ) but I'm not going to start berating them or hurtling up to their back wheel. We were all noobs once so, a bit more tolerance and, if slower trail users are really getting your goat, ride natural on the weekends and hit the trail centres at night during the week.