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In case anyone is interested I spent some of this morning at the new trail centre and playing about in the surroundings and thought i might share my thoughts;
The trail has bedded-in ok and despite the rain it wasn't quite as greasy and slippery as I was expecting. The odd "moment" pumping through the bottom of the swoopy bits of trail when the wheels squirmed a bit more than expected.
There's obviously been loads of effort put in & there was a great cafe along with some lovely views in many places and not too many moments of exposure type feel.
Lots of up-down-up-down swoopy bits with a lot of opportunity to get airborne. With the trees cut down to rib and hip height on the outside of trails and lots of places that chuck you up in the air I can see why the heli-pads are marked on the trail map. It struck me as a relatively unfriendly place to ride at ones limits which might be worth bearing in mind if you're going with a mixed group.
Switchbacks. So. many. switchbacks. everywhere.
I was on a singlespeed and the switchbacks on every climb got a bit tedious. Ridable but quite tight and a bit of a momentum killer.
Downhill they were quite entertaining but are already attracting the inevitable braking bumps and water damage. I saw a lot of people locking up the brakes and sliding/paddling round them which was frustrating. I pity the maintenance crew/volunteers. Several sections already showing "Strava lines" straight across lovely sweeping "S" bends.
The climb up to the start of the hells teeth decent is steep, slippery fire-road & not really worth the bother IMO. Lots of climbing just to ride a little bit of a rock garden & come back down some big bermy switchbacks, it's a bit of a one-trick pony as far as sections of trail go and it's not like there aren't thousands of other big bermy switchbacks. Not much else in the way of challenge from memory - I got the idea that it was trying to sort-of recreate the feel of riding in a steep sided gulley. This bit and big manufactured berms in general leave me somewhat uninterested but if this is your thing you'll love it - best go soon though as braking bumps are already appearing in stupid places.
The Blue alternative is a much more entertaining & varied bit of trail, swoopier and with a couple of tabletop type bits to keep you entertained along with some really nice gradient reversal sections.
The Dialled-in Dave red is essentially more Blue singletrack with an option to do a (not very) technical climb instead of more switchbacks. It is, however, much better than the blue option at this point which is to ride along the fire-road a bit.
Some other nice bits around, there was a nice rolling bumpy section on one downhill that I found just about doubleable, although I don't think that's the intention. I rather messed it up first time down and came up a bit short on the second set, as my bruises will testify.
It was also really, really nice to have some singletrack climbs that were not just switchback ladders or fire-road hauls. Too many places leave this bit out. There's a great piece the loop that climbs beautifully.
All in all, an entertaining place to go for a change from my beloved usual routes and I don't doubt that I'll go again some time. At over an hour from home I can't honestly say I'll be returning very soon though as there wasn't really enough of the gradient-surfing/twitchy technical stuff that I really enjoy. That said it's different strokes for different folks - try it out, it may be your thing (& if you make the trip then I hope it is). Either way I'd love to hear other opinions of the place.
I thought it was the best mini trail centre ive ridden. So much fun to ride and much more flow than the likes of the FOD blue. Very entertaining. And im going to give the last steep climb to the red a thumbs up, its worth doing, just to get an extra bit of distance out of the lap, (its steep, but over in 2 minutes).
I agree that there is defo potential to injure your self here, if you ride it hard. Its tight, and even though its a blue, the faster skilled riders will still enjoy the endless tight tables, lumps and bumps
Actually, I liked it a lot. I was there at Easter. Tend to agree with you about the climb up to the start of the hells teeth though. I hope they might develop a link/extension to take you out north onto the moor and back just to make the loop longer. But its well worth the craic
I've ridden it twice now / had two visits. Living between Cardinham and Haldon (well closer to Haldon by 20 mins driving, but family and surf nearer to Cardinham) it makes a great wet weather or race training destination that you know you can reliably ride when the moor is too wet. I imagine i'll use it a lot in the winter.
Aside from that I think it is great. Swoopy, quick and fun. Maybe this is what a trail centre should be, as you don;t get that sort of riding on the natural trails around here, so a good alternative to that!
I agree, I do think the maintenance guys have got their work cut out as some of the switchbacks and berms are already encouraging braking bumps!
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Evilsam and I like it. It was always going to break up quickly given the location and the number of switchbacks . I think they've done great things within the small space available.
TBH I prefer the blue route to the red, with the exception of the fun little steps up at the top(in the pic at left). We'll be heading there again soon (Sam prefers it to Haldon) as she might just learn to jump there...
Nice summary ontor & an even handed view from someone East of the Tamar 😉
It's still very new & work in progress down there, I believe that other sections will be built on to the current stuff open with plans for some black runs too.
Personally I agree that the climb up to 'Hells teeth' is a lot of effort for small reward, however that being said I'm not a fan of the sharp downhill switchbacks on t'other side. We go down to do a series of laps normally 3+ to get some mileage in & as has been said it will be a great all weather destination when the moors are leaking wet & hardly rideable. The cafe is great & they don't turn you away if you're covered in crud.
I've ridden @ Haldon for many years & I'm glad I don't have to do the 100 mile round trip now I have something suitable less than 30 mins away & no bridge toll 🙂
Nice to see other perspectives. I can see how it would be a fun local loop, especially on a little jumpy bike perhaps. I have to admit that the steep up and technical rooty down of local woods/lustleigh cleave or the [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/well-that-was-fun-epic-ride-and-sunshine ]long slog of a moorland epic [/url] are more my style than small trail centre thing. I wonder if the long-travel singlespeed that so suits my local & preferred stuff wasn't exactly the least suitable thing to be riding here...
I was there today for the second time, first time I went the red routes were not open and the blue route was an abbreviatied version. Having ridden Gawton on Sunday today felt very tame and it was a lot of effort for very little reward. The red 'In Dave' section was a complete waste of time and effort, it was meant to be Red, it was flat to uphill at best, compared to the Red route at Gawton, HSD, it was tedious and boring! The Hell's teeth section was definately not worth the climb, switchback to switchback to switchback, you get my drift!
I know that different people require different things out of their riding but there was people on BMX, hybrids and people with kids in seats doing the blue route, rightly so, but as an extreme sport attraction it seriously fails to get the heart pumping! The Red sections are no jump up in difficulty and as such fail to challenge any half decent rider!
Personally I will stick to the Red of HSD, and step up the challenge at Gawton on Proper job, Super Tavi and ultimately aim to ride Eygpt!
I appreciate how much work went into the whole Cardinham centre but it seems to be a compromise too far! Easy for real mountain bikers, open for families and not particularly challenging to anyone!!
Not exactly fair to compare Cardinham to Gawton. One's XC and the other's Downhill. Different levels of grading.
Thats like comparing a family day out karting, to a day on a F1 experience. Not the same really!
If you compare the blue route to other blue routes, its head and shoulders above any others, maybe GT blue is slightly more fun. As said above if you hit it hard, you need to have your wits about you, you cant saY that about many blues. True that the red bits arent really red, but then neither is cannock, in fact i dont see the difference between the 2 places in difficulty, that is a testament to cardinham. (Obviously not the black sections at cannock )
when we settled on the grading at gawton, it was simply a relative thing. super-tavi and egypt were black, therefore HSD was red. it would probably be a black run anywhere else in the uk.
Great little trail. Lots of switchbacks, perhaps too many on the climbs , but then the terrain is pretty steep.
As mentioned above, would be good to have some links to the other riding in the area.
Gunnagofasta - if you liked Gawton and were looking for more downhill stuff in the Bodmin area then there's unofficial/semi-official stuff in woods on the other side of the town. Bit tricky to find, so best meeting up with a local though.
Myself and the family were getting a bit jaded riding Haldon all the time and we've discovered Cardinham at just the right time. Whilst I agree with some it could be more technical for experienced riders, I'm not sure that's entirely the intended audience.
I believe if you think of it as a stepping stone from Novice to more technical Welsh centres then it makes more sense. With a little cajoling my 4 yo got round and his confidence has really increased.
i am still undecided on cardinham, like crispy said you need 3 laps to get any mileage done and 3rd time round its a bit tedious.
I didn't like the switchbacks (too tight) and hells teeth not worth it imo. but on the whole its fun, its a nice place to ride, and an added option if you are down that way.
I'm located middway (ish) between there and Haldon, I prefer haldon as you can get a longer ride and extend it with some off piste stuff...is there any unofficial trails there at Cardinham anymore? I've seen one dh run on somebody's strava (cant remember the name).
edit, need to take my kids there soon to seehow they get on, they love haldon blue so hoping they'll like the trails there.
Cardinham is far better than anything Cornwall had previously and considering its their first effort its a really fun XC blue run. There is plenty of scope for longer loops and red and black XC runs, if what the forestry commision allow on the chase by me is anything to go by it can only get better. As for the comparison to Gawton, that is a full on DH site and Super-Tavi and Eygpt are easily on a par with the hardest stuff ive ridden in the alps or anywhere else in the UK - Not a fair comparison with a blue XC run.