First uplift day at Snowdon
Comments
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True enough, but that's the nature of the sport - you take risks. I don't own body armour as I don't feel that it's worth wearing every time I ride downhill on that offchance that I land with my back on a sharp rock, especially given that it's just as easy to do it whilst riding XC as it is whilst riding downhill, and I don't wear any protection riding XC other than a lid. Personally, I don't see the body armour. 99.9% of the time, it prevents cuts and bruises. I can deal with them.YeehaaMcgee wrote:
Depends what happens. If you get a sharp rock into the spine, then yes, body armour would have prevented it.ilovedirt wrote:
Body armour isn't going to stop that!YeehaaMcgee wrote:
Nobody plans on crashing. Nobody plans on getting airlifted out.ilovedirt wrote:You only need armour if you plan on crashing lots
It happens though.
Or just so much blood loss that you need emergency hospitalisation.
Also - you are aware that my "try not to crash" comment was meant in jest?0 -
Hang on, I've been to Blaenau Ffestiniog, it'd maybe be the most scenic part of Mordor but not England...Uncompromising extremist0
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DodgeT wrote:Armour or not is of course your choice, but i'd certainly advise the OP to wear it, as I would anyone - if your going to go and ride the trails fast.
Here's a good vid, although as usual it gives you no impression of the steepness, but it lets you see some of the rocks I was talking about. Oh, and it isn't the black, this is the red with black bits, the black is nastier. Doesn't look too bad to start off with, but take note of 1:00 min onwards.
http://vimeo.com/49101497
Nice work man! Is it the sort of place a decent trail rider could go?We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
Aye, the blue and red should be fine if you're remotely competent at trail riding. The "black powder" starts to get a bit more interesting, and I've heard from some who'd ridden the unfinished (at the time) black, that it is properly mental.ddraver wrote:DodgeT wrote:Armour or not is of course your choice, but i'd certainly advise the OP to wear it, as I would anyone - if your going to go and ride the trails fast.
Here's a good vid, although as usual it gives you no impression of the steepness, but it lets you see some of the rocks I was talking about. Oh, and it isn't the black, this is the red with black bits, the black is nastier. Doesn't look too bad to start off with, but take note of 1:00 min onwards.
http://vimeo.com/49101497
Nice work man! Is it the sort of place a decent trail rider could go?
For what it's worth, even if you end up just sticking to the blue and red runs, it's still a hell of a lot of fun, they flow beautifully.0 -
That's not my vid, just one which show's the rocks well, i'd be going way faster
(yeah right)
As yeehaa says, most would be absolutely fine with the blue and first red. The vid is actually a red but with black bits, but as I said above, the proper black isn't rockier, it's just really really steep. I only did it once yesterday and ended up having to walk down a small section as I got the turn wrong and came to a stop and it was so steep I couldn't get back on
Stayed pretty much on the red (black powder) as it is such a good track and there's so many different lines you can take through parts, it is just brilliant. Also went back on the the blue and red for a few runs as they are so fast and flowy, you do have to do quite a bit of pedalling on the blue and a bit, but not so much on the red.
Hopefully going again next month.0 -
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Thats what i originally thought, but everybody kept calling it the red and i'm sure I saw a sign at the top which showed black powder with a red sign, then every now and again on the way down there was black signs where the nasty sections were.
Either way, its bl00dy good.
Have you seen any shots / vids of the drop off (on the proper black) near the bottom? That is mental. Watched some of the lads do it yesterday. I didn't.0 -
Ah your right, doesn't class the blue as a blue on the website aswell tho.
The Trails
Y Du (The Black)
Black DH run with a super fast, flowy, jump top section with a gnarly steep rock section with big jumps to keep you on your toes, and then prepare for the steepness! Carved turns and berms all down an open hillside, finishing with another super steep rock roller and a jump section. A premier DH run.
Black Powder
Black DH run sharing the top 50m of 'The Black' before a series of berms send you down the other side of the hill. Big rock sections and jumps await you as you traverse down the mountain side... not for the faint hearted!
Wild Cart
Red DH / Freeride run with a super steep fun roll in through the opening berms and an endless supply of fun in the way of beautifully crafted corners, berms, jumps and step downs... from top to bottom. As much fun on a 6" travel bike as a full DH rig.
'Drafft'
Red DH / Freeride run with the same features as 'Wild Cart' but with slightly less 'GNAR'. Ideal as an introduction to DH / Freeride as all the features are rollable or jumpable, dependant on your riding skills!
edit to add - see, its the sign in this first pic which got people yesterday calling it the red. http://www.anturstiniog.com/photo-gallery/?ref=20 -
From what I have heard of this place you are heading, I reckon a couple of three laps on the easier run should get you an idea of whats what, try the next harder one a cople of times and if you're confident try the easier black - if things are going well then try the hardest run!
The key to having fun is progression - if you dont give yourself time to grow and develop on the trails you will probably end up in a ditch with your head on backwards.
As for armour - I wear knee and elbow pads and a full face for bike park riding - from what I have heard of the place you are heading you can get away with not having a full face on thetwo easier trails but I'd still go for knee pads at the very least.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
There's basically 2 things to consider there... One is how likely you are to crash, and the other is where you'll crash. Places like this, you're fairly likely to go fast, learn the trails, go faster... So risk goes up. But also, similiar to fort william, from what I can see there's not a single place on the track that I want to crash. If you're lucky, you're landing on compacted hardpack, which is like concrete. If you're unlucky, you're landing on a rock the size of a Ford Edzel. Neither is a lot of fun.
And even if you don't end up in an ambulance- because mtbing genuinely isn't that dangerous- it could still mess up your paid-in-advance day, even a little fall can ding you up enough to not want to keep riding. Pads don't often prevent/reduce serious injuries, just because serious injuries are rare, but they don't have to do that to be worthwhile- and you never know, you might be one of the lucky few!Uncompromising extremist0 -
What he said!
I wear pads on my knees because I need my knees to be able to ski and have enough issues with them already without screwing them up further due to a stupid off. I wear elbow pads because I find lacerated elbows really painful and I ripped them to shreds once in the PdS. I wear a helmet because I always have (to eb honest a lot of what I ride in my FF I would have ridden in a xc lid in the past. Witht he gear I wear at the speed I go I find an off just means I have to dust myself off and straighten a few things, without them I'd be bleeding like a stuck pig and picking grit out for days. Its a no brainer innit.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
DodgeT wrote:Done antur again today, got 19 runs in (and that was sitting out 2 runs to give my knee a rest!), doing all 4 tracks, bl00dy fantastic.
As said, just take it easy and have fun. Don't think about comparing the trails (there's a blue, red, red with black & a black) to normal trail centre type gradings, just start on the easiest and when your comfortable, move on.
The blue and red (apart from one dodgy drop) are good for everyone, the red with black and certainly the black are a whole different kettle of fish.
And if you do stop, do not stop on the trail, pull on to the side. If you have armour, use it.
Thanks Dodge, I just assumed it was a downhill slope, didn't realise there were choices of track and the like. Looking forward to it.Cube AMS 110 Pro
Spesh Rockhopper Comp
Bianchi Nirone 7
Spesh Sirrus Comp
Dahon D7 Speed (for sale, PM if you woudl like to buy - a bargain!)0 -
Oh dear. Probably best ask if the air ambulance will just park in the car park to wait for you.0
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YeehaaMcgee wrote:Oh dear. Probably best ask if the air ambulance will just park in the car park to wait for you.
Yep, probably not a bad idea.Cube AMS 110 Pro
Spesh Rockhopper Comp
Bianchi Nirone 7
Spesh Sirrus Comp
Dahon D7 Speed (for sale, PM if you woudl like to buy - a bargain!)0 -
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The very end is a piece of wee wee in comparison to the majority of black powder. Go there and ride it hard, then come back and tell us how you got on.
Same thing happened this weekend as last time I went, early morning everyone is bigging it up "oh yeah, I've done this, rode that blah blah" then after a run, they quieten down.
Will be going back next month, come along, its a big step up from peaks stuff, you'll love it 0 -
@ OP - Out of curiosity, what bike are you doing it on? One of the XC bikes in your sig? or do you have a proper DH bike for it?0
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Cat With No Tail wrote:@ OP - Out of curiosity, what bike are you doing it on? One of the XC bikes in your sig? or do you have a proper DH bike for it?
See i was going to ask that question until i looked at some of the vids. Black powder looks ace, but the vid in the earlier part of the thread didnt show a track that needed a full on DH rig, despite the guys in the vid riding them
Appreciate that the vid wont demonstrate the steepness of the track, but i didnt see anything that couldnt be done on a smaller FS bike
Its a bit of a trek for me, but looks worth the drive. Certainly looks better than Cody0 -
I've been twice now on my 160mm enduro. Done all the tracks. First 2 tracks, is absolutely fine. 3rd is OK, until you start upping the speed. Was getting to grips with black powder yesterday and it did start to feel that the bike was getting towards its limits (well more probably me and techinique - or lack of but thats another story ) as I was bottoming out a few times and felt the extra travel of a DH rig would of allowed me to go faster over the really rough sections - good job i've got one on order
That being said, you could enjoy the trails on anything really, hell my mate even did it the first time on a 29er - he since bought a Dh rig though.
I'll pick you up on the way DCR, it's not far at all. I went from near Worsley on sat and it took me 1hr 40mins. (98 miles)0 -
Well, Cody's a city in Wyoming, so yeah, can't be hard to beat that.DCR00 wrote:Certainly looks better than Cody
I've ridden there on a wolf ridge, and it was fine, until it snapped a linkage. However, the black powder run was hard work at speed, it is far, far rougher than any video suggests.0 -
DCR00 wrote:See i was going to ask that question until i looked at some of the vids. Black powder looks ace, but the vid in the earlier part of the thread didnt show a track that needed a full on DH rig, despite the guys in the vid riding them
Appreciate that the vid wont demonstrate the steepness of the track, but i didnt see anything that couldnt be done on a smaller FS bike
What does need a dh bike though?Uncompromising extremist0 -
See, I knew some people would come along and point out that there is nothing in the UK that can't be ridden on a rigid singlespeed 29er or a unicycle or kids trike or something, and that's all well and good if you're into that sort of thing.
But lets be honest most people won't enjoy doing DH trails on an XC bike. Just like most people wouldn't enjoy doing XC trails on a DH bike. And if you've got zero DH experience, you may well find yourself well out of your depth pretty quickly if you're using a bike not designed to take that kind of punishment.0 -
The reality is that most 140-150mm travel bikes are as capable if not more so than DH bikes from 10 years ago, and even some from 5 years back. Not to say all bikes are the same mind. Some are way more capable than others, but often its the pilot, not the bike that makes that difference. From what I see its all going to be ridable on any bike by the right person, but I doubt its much fun on anything sub 150mm.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
Cat With No Tail wrote:But lets be honest most people won't enjoy doing DH trails on an XC bike. Just like most people wouldn't enjoy doing XC trails on a DH bike. And if you've got zero DH experience, you may well find yourself well out of your depth pretty quickly if you're using a bike not designed to take that kind of punishment.
Other types of bike are available though. Benpinnick is spot on. My everyday bike- a 160mm, 30lb full suss- is just as good on downhill trails as my first downhill bike was (a 200mm, 45lb full suss). It's got the angles, the strength, and better suspension to boot. All your Fives, Zesties, Metas, Stumpies etc are much more than XC bikes.
I'm a pretty average rider so if I can race a 6 inch bike at fort william and do OK, then it's got to be within the capabilities of a lot of riders (and a lot of them probably think they can't do it because they need a DH bike and because they're XC riders not downhillers)
It isn't for everyone- lots of my mates wouldn't do it, even though some of them are definately capable of it. But modern bikes are awesome.Uncompromising extremist0 -
This is true, modern bike can ride pretty much anything, but the reality is, it's just much more comfortable on a full on downhill bike. I found mine gave me a lot more confidence to ride faster because of the slack geometry and amount of travel.0
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@ northwind - Agree with that, but the comparison your making is of modern XC / AM bikes to older (don't know how long ago your first was) DH bikes. A modern DH bike will surely be even more awesome
Simply for me, I ride once a week and only been DH'ing a couple of months, so no pro by any standards, but I can do / get down most things and am not too slow. My 2011 enduro is very good, don;t get me wrong, but I feel i'll go faster / bigger on something with extra bounce, hence the purchase of a YT tues.
I'll be able to make a proper comparison once she arrives 0 -
Hmm. YT Tues. Very, very, very jealous.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
I've only gone for the basic, not the 2.0, but it should be more than good enough.0
