[Closed] Aston Hill

Been there only once before, years ago, but it was great. There is also a xc route. I think your wife will be fine....

Is she on a full Susser? I think it will be hard work for her on a hardtail.

My husband and I are thinking of going next weekend and bringing our 11 and 13 year old, email in profile if you want to meet up.

Simone

As long as it is dry, she'll be fine - but tbh if it's just to go for a ride - then there is far better riding to be had on the bridleways of the Chilterns.

If it's wet, avoid.

Thanks Moniex, but we'll be there mid-week.
b r, I think we will take your advice and do some bridleways. I've downloaded a .GPX from Just Go Ride, sorted.

Thanks all for the advice,

APF

The Aston Hill red xc is considerably harder than the Shefford pines red xc. They are not comparable.

the "XC" at aston is the easiest of the DH runs, with a b*tch of a climb and some seriously rooty top section. the pump track is great, the bombholes are fun as is the old 4x, but even then you are looking at pushing up each time.

Some vids from the weekends race, gives you a reasonable idea

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/378306/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/378514

the "XC" at aston is the easiest of the DH runs, with a b*tch of a climb and some seriously rooty top section. the pump track is great, the bombholes are fun as is the old 4x, but even then you are looking at pushing up each time.

Never ever again. And they charge you £7 for the privilege of riding shite trails. Great.

Nothing like sherwood, the XC loop is rooty and fairly technical.
The DH runs are great but it's a fair push back up.

Never ever again. And they charge you £7 for the privilege of riding shite trails. Great.

Didn't you hate BPW too ?

Careful which runs you choose.. depending on ability its either steep techy death or rooty fast steep techy non death, with a sweaty pedal up or push back up. We use it for getting our eye in for big mountain trips... If it is wet then double the skill level required.
On a more positive note there is some lovely riding across the road in Wendover woods and the Ridgeway is a bridleway all legal for MTB use.
Pop into Lovello bike shop in Berkhmasted and they will help with places to ride in the area and are also big supporters of Aston Hill.
Have fun. 🙂

passtherizla - Member
Never ever again. And they charge you £7 for the privilege of riding shite trails. Great.

Wish I still had such shite DH trails close-ish to me!

Look how dry it is in this vid! Have they secretly moved it to Spain or something?
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/aston-hill-mash-up-race-video-2014.html ]http://www.pinkbike.com/news/aston-hill-mash-up-race-video-2014.html[/url]

its ok passtherizla, im always keen for folk to realise that AH is [b]not[/b] a trail centre, where they will find hours of (what most would agree is XC) riding with some nice views. Its a compact DH site which has its pros and cons. If you want to focus on your drops, jumps, steep, rooty, riding its unbeatable.

valid complaints are:
that the DH runs are short - winning runs on the mashup track at the weekend were IRO 1:09 although it takes me significantly longer to get from top to bottom! Either way its not a WC track.
there is no uplift - :yawn:
in bad conditions, the roots and chalk are 'challenging'

I'm quite used to purely DH venues and fully realise that AH isn't a trail centre.

Yes I rode all the DH trails. Still don't like it.

And yes it was me that didn't like BPW but I'm not alone on that one.

Unbeatable for steep and rooty!? Shhh don't tell Llangollen or revo or stinky or even BPW.

Never ever again. And they charge you £7 for the privilege of riding shite trails. Great.

You're on the fence then! 😉

I'm guessing if that the XC stuff is graded red, like every other red trail it'll be a fair bit harder than Sherwood Pines. I've not been for years, but I rememeber some toughish climbs.

The charge at least ensures build & maintenance together with covering liability and is also a requirement to ride to ensure people accept the risks.

Unlike many trail centres where the only charge is a parking fee which might go to a local council and sod all goes to trails and isn't a requirement to ride with a risk acceptance so numpties still sue the land owners (*cough* Swinley).

Aside from that, for DH, Aston is worth every penny.

There isn't anything that warrants taking a DH bike there...

passtherizla - Member
There isn't anything that warrants taking a DH bike there...

https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/522445 🙂 😉

Haha good work! Mind maps Stanton would be ace fun there!

passtherizla
There isn't anything that warrants taking a DH bike there...

tbh, with modern AM / Enduroorwhateveritscalledthisweek bikes, you can say that about any trail in any country these days. But i bet you'd bet quicker on a pukka DH bike, even at AH!

Oh, and BTW, if you went to BPW & AH and didn't enjoy either, i'm not sure the sport of mountain biking is for you?

😉

I don't mind AH but I am fairly local and it makes a change from riding Woburn all the time. That being said I think £7 a day is a bit much for the facilities they have there, especially since a full year permit for woburn is £20. The push up is a bugger as well but worth it for S2A.

You may as well say that there's no where in the SE that warrants a DH bike, if you went to a hillside in the Chilterns expecting Antur or Revolution then you were always gonna be a hater !

Its a fun place to ride your bike, what more do you want ?

Fair points well made....

AH is great. It takes some skill to ride it well. It's not open fast flowy downhill trails, it's techy and challenging but you get tons of satisfaction when you nail a really good run and I find it a good place to pick up some riding skills. It's got off camber stuff, rooty stuff and very tight and steep stuff which all require some thought to ride well.

I'll echo what others have said about DH bikes there though. It doesn't need a full on DH bike. I'm much quicker on my 125mm DMR Bolt down there than I ever was on my DH bike.

tom_ - Member
That being said I think £7 a day is a bit much for the facilities they have there, especially since a full year permit for woburn is £20.

The £7 actually gives you personal insurance to ride there. Though it's £6 if you buy online.

There's annual fees which includes CTC membership and covers riding at Rogate also.

As they say, they have no other form of income and have to keep the place running. http://www.rideastonhill.co.uk/about/membershipfees/

Great for XC training. Love the XC loop, lots of roots, lots of techy riding, some fast descending and a sodding great climb - what's not to like in the dry?

I wouldn't make a big trip of it to just do the XC loop though.

I did the Race on Sunday and had a great time, I ride there maybe once or twice a year, it's an hour away and is certainly worth the driving and fees IMO...

OK so you'll struggle to find a 2 minute run, but there are plenty of different courses with their own mixture of features and terrain, there's plenty to ride in a relatively small space.

If you think of it as a mini DH/training venue you'll not go far wrong, that 15 minute push up after every run is exercise, it's good for you!

I've only ever bothered with the 'XC' loop once, I was there on My HT for the day and thought I'd try it out, it uses the Red run and there's some nadgery bits to the climb, but it's not too long, OP your missus might find it slightly more challenging as 'technical' riding, but you can take it easier on the Red run if you need, it's the flattest of the runs I believe...

Haven't ridden the XC loop for ages always just do the DH stuff. Which is good fun.

Have they changed the climb at all? or is still just a smooth, steep and switchback climb?

Its a hard climb but its also boring, you just need to keep the legs ticking over and you'll get to the top.

Don't think it's changed and granted it's not technical but I don't think boring when I do it - just shut up legs!