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silveringsurfer · **Posted** Mon Nov 2, 2009 5:05 pm

Hmmm - was told that some considered the old Red run to be more like a black (not so IMHO Confused

) and there are tails of a fatality or two and a string of serious injuries which would certainly worry the forestry commisions lawyers . While it was technical and in need of some repairs it wouldn't be that hard to tidy up some of the more ragged bits and call it the Haldon Black run and it then makes for a much more varied set of routes. I'm certainly quite dissappointed if they have closed it for the longer term. Crying or Very sad

I did see a lot of those heavily gravelled sections when riding around a couple of weeks ago and if the whole trail is like that it will be pretty dull - at least till it gets ridden in and berms and ruts develop. However as a winter route it should be fine as it would be rideable in pretty much any weather. My worry is that it is so well armoured that once finished they won't bother to add any additional technicalities unless they use the existing track as the chicken run to harder mini loops?

Anyone else been there yet as I'm still keen to read reviews?

Scott Genius 08, Marin Pine Mountain 89

camerauk · **Posted** Mon Nov 2, 2009 5:26 pm

silveringsurfer · **Posted** Mon Nov 2, 2009 8:03 pm

I was due up there tomorrow but can't make it - hammered down most of today and more rain due for the next couple of days so will be interesting to hear how weather proof it is.

Scott Genius 08, Marin Pine Mountain 89

jimmurray · **Posted** Mon Nov 2, 2009 9:17 pm

Did the trail on Thursday morning a couple of hours before the official opening and had it to myself. I'm very much a novice and found the trail very, very narrow in lots of places with tricky cambers. Ok if you are taking it easy but once you start pushing it a bit reckon it would be quite tricky in quite a few places. Don't like the fact that it uses some of the family, play and adventure (quite a lot of this actually) trails and reckon it would be a bit of a pain at the weekend when it becomes crowded with no real passing places on much of the route. Best bit was the section taking you down to the very bottom of the fire road which I believe was part of the old red run.

Jim

MTB_Ads · **Posted** Tue Nov 3, 2009 4:56 pm

Went up on Sunday afternoon and....

Still a bit undecided about it to be honest. Basically you shoot off across the road on the family adventure / play (cant remember which, the one out towards the castle) and then head through the woods on the start of the gravel motorway. A lot of it is flat and slightly uphill, not many downhill sections. I'll agree with the comment about some of the track being a tad awkard as it is very very tight, but the treet stumps were more of the problem, I caught a pedal or two on my way through sections.

There was one really fun section, nice long last descent. The good thing about the trail is it includes the fast flowing corners of the old red route towards the bottom of the hill, but inevitably you get the fire road torture back up the hill. All in all it's okay, not technical, but an okay ride for what it is. As i've always said is the case at Haldon, the best tracks are over the other side of the hill.

Oh another thing, on Sunday the weather was a bit dodge, light drizzle, obviously rained a few days prior, the drainage on parts was ridiculous, I'm not expecting clear trails, that's the whole fun with the winter eh, but when the width of the track is a puddle really takes any speed you try and carry through the slower parts of the course away. Ah well something different to fill an hour or two, and I'm thinking an ideal little track to test my p7/c1 combo Smile

camerauk · **Posted** Tue Nov 3, 2009 5:45 pm

I am Going to go up in the morning if anyone is about and fancies joining me for a trip round

camerauk · **Posted** Wed Nov 4, 2009 3:04 pm

Well been up and completed the new ridge trail and I have to say I like it Laughing

It flows nice but does not seem too technical (although I nearly came off a few times Embarassed

)
It is mostly gravel paths which are narrow with a few rock gardens in there but they are not very long a couple of bike lengths, there are a few wooden bridges to cross, the paths are very narrow and they have rocks in places to catch your pedals also there are a few low branches and some tree's are very close to the path's
it is different from the old red as you seem to be going up and down hill all the time so have to pedal a lot more than before
They have kept part of the red right at the bottom with the flowing berms but you do have to come back up the fire road which is steep(had to walk that bit as not been out for 5 weeks) and over weight Embarassed

I completed it in around 50 mins so not that long a ride but I have to say I really like it and will be back up there a lot more, it may get busy in the summer and there are no real places to go around people which could be a problem
I am uploading a few pictures and the course from my garmin will post links in bit

Course is here
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=olgpargvdkddobod

Pictures here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14049581@N04/sets/72157622607976783/

deadkenny · **Posted** Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:00 am

Hercule Q · **Posted** Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:18 am

i have to say i thought the ridge trail was a bit poo really, i cant understand all the stumps and rocks at the side of the trails. personally i think my ride into town is more technical, the old red run was far better it had berms, drops, proper rock gardens and jumps. The best bit is the fact they left the bottom bit alone because that atleast tries to test your bike skills.

as mentioned above they should have kept the old red open aswell so there's more variety in the riding instead of a narrow family trail covered in kitty litter

----------------------------------------pinkbike--------------------------------
One of Gods own prototypes, to weird to live, to rare to die

camerauk · **Posted** Thu Nov 5, 2009 9:14 am

I spoke to one of the rangers up there yesterday and asked why the red was closed, she said she liked riding the old red run but they had closed it because when you rode it one day it would be totally different the next ie the track condition, well I would have thought this was a good thing!!!!!

deadkenny · **Posted** Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:32 pm

The thing I love about some of the non trail-park areas is the way the conditions constantly change. Throughout the year it makes the rides fresh and new as they are different all the time.

GT I-Drive XCR 5 ('09)
Tracks | Photos | Twitter

Sponging-Machine · **Posted** Fri Nov 6, 2009 8:35 am

I was talking to a FC worker a few weeks ago up there. He told me their team were a bit gutted that they were being told to destroy the old trails, but these were orders coming from above. He could see that the kids using the family style trails needed somewhere to progress and had voiced it to management, but reckoned they weren't interested.

I would suspect there's more profit to be made from family-orientated facilities, as they're probably more likely to pay for parking and use cafés, etc., while I normally park up the road and take my own food.

silveringsurfer · **Posted** Fri Nov 6, 2009 2:09 pm

Ok - here's my review of the new Ridge Route at Haldon

Firstly it helps if you take out any comparisons with the old Red route. This was a downhill route with a fireroad exit and ideal for full sussers and heavier bikes (RIP) Crying or Very sad

.

The ridge route is an XC circuit and therefore aims to target a different audience. Leave your pads and full face helmet at home and take out your hardtail or short travel full susser and you will have a ball. It is well armoured and after a week of rain there was almost no mud on the whole circuit Smile

. Tkae a rear summer tyre for speed and a front that likes cornering - you will be doing a lot and the gravel can be slippy!

Once you get to the start of the route proper (about 2 minutes from the centre) you are straight into the main theme of the route - narrow winding singletrack that really flows Cool

. At least 80% of the 6 mile circuit is in this style. The smooth flowing surface begs you to ride it as fast as you can and the faster you ride it the better it becomes. There is very little in the way of technical ground but the course has plenty of lumps bumps and dips; most are 4X smooth. What makes the course really work is how narrow it is. It is rarely more than a meter wide and in places barely 18 inches. With trees, stumps and rocks and in places a steep bank next to the track. You have to concentrate as a lapse could be nasty. Shocked

I had a couple of peddle strikes and nearly snagged my rucksack on a tree but nothing worse than this. There is a lot of contouring around the hill but you can blast through most of the climbs in the middle ring as they are not that long.

At about half way the trail drops down to a fireroad and onto the bottom section of the old red route - this is by far the most technical bit of the circuit (For the timid you can miss this section by just riding on up the fireroad and picking up the track at the top) So straight down a rock garden and some other nasties before dropping into a number of really sweet bermed turns before you are spat out onto another fireroad. You are then faced with a slog back up a fireroad for about 10 minutes Crying or Very sad

before turning right alongside the main road back onto the new skinny path. Smile

After a little more climbing and a nasty short rocky rise (just after crossing the road) and my only dab of the day Rolling Eyes

you are on a reasonably flat section of the skinny path all the way back to the trail centre. I won't describe this in detail but just encourage you to hammer it - really nice if you do this. Wink

It took me about 40 minutes on my own but no doubt the fit could cut this considerably.

So to summarise its:

Good for:
XC boys
Windy singletrack (and lots of it Very Happy

)
Hardtails/ Short travel full sussers
Ragging yourself silly
Pulling the tripe out of lardy arsed mates

Bad for:
6'+ travel bikes
Full face helmets
drops/ jumps
Lardy arsed mates Wink

Those looking for the old red route

I really enjoyed it and as a wet weather alternative to the moors it's a great ride. Come on Haldon FC now it's time to put in a couple of downhill only routes.

Scott Genius 08, Marin Pine Mountain 89

jimmurray · **Posted** Fri Nov 6, 2009 8:39 pm

<< After a little more climbing and a nasty short rocky rise (just after crossing the road) and my only dab of the day

I came off there. Went to put a foot down, forgot I was trying out spd's and took a dive into the 'pit'. Was very lucky not to smash my face on the rocks.

silveringsurfer · **Posted** Fri Nov 6, 2009 9:26 pm

It is a nasty little rise I ran out of steam as my front wheel hit the top lip and ended up balancing on one foot and my brakes. Embarassed

Had to hop forwards until I could get on top. Bizarrely it is the kind of feature that is missing on the back of some of the rollers on the downhill sections and would be great on a straight but I can see a few people doing the same dive that you did! Rolling Eyes

The other point I forgot to say is that the route would be a nightmare with really wide handlebars there are a few trees and fence posts that nearly caught me out. Shocked

I'm really looking forward to returning as once it gets some wear and tear the loose gravel will pack down and it will get even faster. There are one or two corners that will hopefully develop some camber or mini berms as well. At the moment they ruin the flow and you have to crawl around them (the main one is just before you cross the old red route).

Overall though I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to doing it with mates. Cool

[/quote]

Scott Genius 08, Marin Pine Mountain 89

jimmurray · **Posted** Sat Nov 7, 2009 12:32 pm

Went round it again this morning and throughly enjoyed it, didn't come off at the corner this time as I'd unclipped a foot beforehand to dab down just in case. It's definitely the trickiest corner on the trail. Also need to work on my fitness as found some bits hard going especially the bit at the top of the fireroad which was spolit a bit because I was knackered.

camerauk · **Posted** Sat Nov 7, 2009 12:50 pm

I am looking forward to giving it another go tomorrow afternoon, I know the feeling about fitness I was shot at the top of the fire road lol

silveringsurfer · **Posted** Sat Nov 7, 2009 6:27 pm

Ha Ha - Glad it's not just me. Took me until over the main road before I really recovered. I do think the damn route encourages you to blast and but then you suddenly get to the fireroad and are running on empty. Crying or Very sad

Whisper in the carpark was that they are still building up there. Here's hoping it's a new red downhill/freeride course with some drops, jumps and berms because the old red does need a replacement. Wink

Scott Genius 08, Marin Pine Mountain 89

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