Queen Elizabeth Country Park.

brindlescoops
brindlescoops Posts: 465
edited October 2012 in MTB general
Hi,

A bunch of us are going down the QECP tomorrow for the first time. We are usually Swinley riders but fancy a change. Wheres the best place to Park / start the trail? i cant find out much info from the websites I have trawled and dont want to waste an hour looking!

Any advice on this or other pointers muchly appreciated!

Cheers. :D
My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.

Comments

  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Just park intime of the car parks and follow the signs. It's all way marked. The furthest car park is closest to the end of the trail.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • brindlescoops
    brindlescoops Posts: 465
    benpinnick wrote:
    Just park intime of the car parks and follow the signs. It's all way marked. The furthest car park is closest to the end of the trail.

    Intime? Typo? Thanks for the info, when you say the furthest car park how do you mean, from the A3

    Cheers again! :D
    My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.
  • lummox
    lummox Posts: 43
    drive into the country parks first car park (main one) as you drive in at roughly the 1 oclock position is a gate out of the car park leading to further car parks, travel through the gate with the visitor centre on your left, follow road round to next parking pay machine (£1 for an hour £2 for the day) this is the last pay machine so cough up the coinage! Carry on up the road for approx 30m, on your right is a car park, park here. The trail starts opposite where you turned into this car park and finishes at the car park.

    If you're used to swinley be prepared for damp challk, it doesn't drain, also it's pretty flinty so if you've got some soft knee pads as a gashed knee would kinda ruin your trip.

    P.S make sure to have a brew at the cafe and remark how awesome the new trail is and how it should be invested in more.
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    edited October 2012
    Here's the main carpark and the route to the trail... park here and you're by the cafe.
    BuritonHants-BingMaps-MozillaFirefoxIBMEdition20052012000131.jpg

    Here's the trailmap... there's a second carpark bottom left (to the left of where it says JBF) which you can also use - if you park there you cross the road an the first climb is through into the trees and immediately on your right.
    RedTrail-v21-1.jpg

    What time are you planning to be there?
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • brindlescoops
    brindlescoops Posts: 465
    Lummox wrote:
    drive into the country parks first car park (main one) as you drive in at roughly the 1 oclock position is a gate out of the car park leading to further car parks, travel through the gate with the visitor centre on your left, follow road round to next parking pay machine (£1 for an hour £2 for the day) this is the last pay machine so cough up the coinage! Carry on up the road for approx 30m, on your right is a car park, park here. The trail starts opposite where you turned into this car park and finishes at the car park.

    If you're used to swinley be prepared for damp challk, it doesn't drain, also it's pretty flinty so if you've got some soft knee pads as a gashed knee would kinda ruin your trip.

    P.S make sure to have a brew at the cafe and remark how awesome the new trail is and how it should be invested in more.

    Wow, perfect! Thanks for the top info, dont worry, we'll be in the cafe, i hope they have a good supply of cakes!

    Got my Nobby Nics on so I hope they survive the flint, we will soon see! Is the trail a loop? From what I have seen its either a 7 ish mile route or a novice 3 mile route and an intermediate 4 mile route, what do you normally do, a couple of laps of both or is it harder work than that?

    Cheers.
    My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.
  • brindlescoops
    brindlescoops Posts: 465
    Bartimaeus wrote:
    BuritonHants-BingMaps-MozillaFirefoxIBMEdition20052012000131.jpg

    RedTrail-v21-1.jpg

    Genius, thanks for this, answered my question before I asked it. :D:D

    Cheers!
    My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.
  • brindlescoops
    brindlescoops Posts: 465
    Bartimaeus wrote:

    What time are you planning to be there?

    About 09.00 is the plan if you fancy giving us a guided tour. We're not the fastest but a good bunch of guys (and a Girl!).
    My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    BrindleScoops wrote:
    we're not the fastest but a good bunch of guys (and a Girl!).
    Ha... well, I was so slow I was still in bed at 9am...

    If you'd been aiming for the afternoon I'd have been offering a guided tour, including some of the less official trails. Hope you had fun - I'm guessing that the 'Hard Shoulder' section was very challenging today - with mud, off camber sections, wet roots and now wet fallen leaves... if anyone knows what tyres grip in these conditions would they let me know.

    If you come down again post something in advance, or sign up on Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers - I'm sure we can set you up with a guide, and if you are down for the day and are up for a bigger circuit there's plenty of XC from QE down to Kingley Vale and back... and we might know which bits aren't under water.
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • brindlescoops
    brindlescoops Posts: 465
    Bartimaeus wrote:
    BrindleScoops wrote:
    we're not the fastest but a good bunch of guys (and a Girl!).
    Ha... well, I was so slow I was still in bed at 9am...

    If you'd been aiming for the afternoon I'd have been offering a guided tour, including some of the less official trails. Hope you had fun - I'm guessing that the 'Hard Shoulder' section was very challenging today - with mud, off camber sections, wet roots and now wet fallen leaves... if anyone knows what tyres grip in these conditions would they let me know.

    If you come down again post something in advance, or sign up on Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers - I'm sure we can set you up with a guide, and if you are down for the day and are up for a bigger circuit there's plenty of XC from QE down to Kingley Vale and back... and we might know which bits aren't under water.

    Had a great morning, holy crap it aslippy, i had to check I hadn't bought my road bike at times!! But, it must be fantastic in less crappy conditions, especially the second half. really great work by the trail builders there, the very last section in particular was awesome. the first two berms at the top are like mini walls of death. Hilariously one of the guys had a puncture about a mile from the end and decided to walk instead of repairing as my Garmin showed we were close. We didn't know what was to come and had a good chuckle at him as he walked down the last section - the best bit!!

    We only did one loop as it was pretty hard giong, but will defo be back when it dries a bit, be great to take up the offer of a guide - especially to find some of the off piste bits.

    P.S. Nobby Nics were useless, I had some reall heart in mouth moments through some of the fast sections as I did my speedway impression whilst squealing. :D:D
    My biggest fear is that should I crash, burn and die, my Wife would sell my stuff based upon what I told her I paid for it.
  • mrmonkfinger
    mrmonkfinger Posts: 1,452
    Bartimaeus wrote:
    I'm guessing that the 'Hard Shoulder' section was very challenging today - with mud, off camber sections, wet roots and now wet fallen leaves... if anyone knows what tyres grip in these conditions would they let me know.

    is there any time of year (except "high summer" which we didn't get this year) when this section isn't slippery, rooty and awkward? :)
    Blog
    Iron Horse Ojiki
    Carrera Kraken
    The Carrera Hardtail owners thread
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    It was fantastic at the end of March/beginning of April :D... It is often challenging - we've had some discussions about it, but the general consensus is that QE is a pretty natural trail so we'll do our best to make it drain well, keep it safe, and prevent erosion. It's never going to be a surfaced rollercoaster, so choose your tyres wisely for the conditions.

    When it is really wet I often take the first climb to the top, then head right, up the road a bit and along the fire-road link (in yellow on the map I posted) to session Snakes and Ladders and then the rest of the trail.
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    I find QECP a little average vs Swinley but its not terrible - personally I'd go for the extra hour or so drive and head to Afan or Cwym but for a little wobble its OK.
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • sammysideways
    sammysideways Posts: 41
    I pick my new cannondale up tommorow. Im a complete begginer. Would QECP be ok for somebody with no experience? also any locals up for taking me out and showing me the ropes in a couple of weeks? also is knee protection a must?
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    sammysideways wrote:
    Would QECP be ok for somebody with no experience? also any locals up for taking me out and showing me the ropes in a couple of weeks? also is knee protection a must?
    (1) 'That depends'... it's quite challenging physically as there's a lot of climbing, and it has a few features that could be a little intimidating - but almost all are avoidable. When it's really wet you might want to miss out the whole A3 section (Electric Avenue / Hard Shoulder) as that can be a bit dispiriting... depends what sort of riding you like, how fit you are and what skills you have.

    (2) Where are you based? We have a local riders website covering QE, Kingley Vale and other areas - see 'Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers' in my sig. Join up and post something - there are bound to be people about to show you around, and to help you find trails which are challenging without being too intimidating. Kingley Vale and the local area is also a great place to ride as a beginner - as long as you don't mind climbing.

    For (3) - I would say no. Many people wear kneepads all the time - others never do. QE is not rocky, though there are some sections with the usual South Downs a rough chalk/flint rubble. The Park asks that you wear a helmet - other protective gear is up to you.

    Finally, what tyres do you have? Pretty much everywhere you go round here is going to have muddy/slippery sections so 'summer tyres' will be pretty useless.... and almost all new bikes come with summer or general purpose tyres. Beginner or expert, it's all going to be very sketchy if you don't have suitable rubber!
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    Here are my 'local trails'... most of this is offroad. QE is top left, KV is near the bottom right.
    Routes.jpg
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • Eranu
    Eranu Posts: 712
    I pick my new cannondale up tommorow. Im a complete begginer. Would QECP be ok for somebody with no experience? also any locals up for taking me out and showing me the ropes in a couple of weeks? also is knee protection a must?

    You can ride QE, just be careful and walk anything you don't like the look off. I'm fat/old/slow/injured/crap and I make it round. Like Bart said, you can skip sections like 'Hard Shoulder' if you like and I do even in summer as I hate it. You can also ride out both ways on to extend the loop if you so desire.

    I would get some winter tyres, Mud-X or Dirty Dans would be my choices.

    You could also come and meet some the people who ride/dig there on the 3rd/4th November on our dig day...I'm sure someone will be up for a ride.
  • sammysideways
    sammysideways Posts: 41
    Thank you for the friendly and helpfull response guys. im in portsmouth and i'd say im very fit although perhaps not cycling fit if that makes sense. Cant remember what tyres were on it but they looked fast and not very grippy so i can see my first investment already :D
    Im based in portsmouth so its going to be sort of my local trail till march when i leave the navy. sucks as i gota work that weekend, although i plan on going there the weekend after.
  • bartimaeus
    bartimaeus Posts: 1,812
    Quite a few people also ride mid-week evenings. You are welcome to join in... again Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers is your friend for sorting rides.

    I usually ride Kingley Vale on Wednesdays as it's not far from my house (though I may not be able to make the next 2 Wednesdays). You are welcome to join us... though I'd recommend getting your bearings in daylight before you hit the trails after dark. You can borrow lights if you don't have any of your own just yet.

    Tyres... you'll get lots of different opinions, but I'm with Eranu on the virtues of Mud-X
    Vitus Sentier VR+ (2018) GT Grade AL 105 (2016)
    Giant Anthem X4 (2010) GT Avalanche 1.0 (2010)
    Kingley Vale and QECP Trail Collective - QECP Trail Building
  • sammysideways
    sammysideways Posts: 41
    I may take you up on that, are you on facebook at all? ive just joined the QECP dig page on there as id like to help out my local trail. As i dont have cash for tyres at mo my plan is to go down there and just go really really gentle and get a feel for the place. Thank you very much. REALLY appreciate it as silly as it sounds i was finding it a bit daunting going to tackle it on my own

Categories