[Closed] Gisburn - I dont get it

I think it's just the nature of the terrain there tbh. There's no massive hills so no big climbs/descents - its very 'XC'.

I like home baked, hully gully, the slab and bit just after it, and the hope line - surely some descending thrills there.

Hope line is pretty tight, there is a new skills area as part of the blue extension that little birdies tell me will be opening soon.

I really Gis, but much prefer the bottom loop to the top one, not too fussed for roller coaster sections, prefer the natural feel of the wooded sections. It does get a lot of rain and needs some repair work along many bit tbh. But good outwieghs the bad for a the only long trail centre 1hr from my door. Off today, thought it might just be dry, but its soding rained all night hasn't it. #massive grrrr# 👿

EDIT: it is still a work in progress, they are nowhere near finished.

Its not very GNNNARRRRR. But there's plenty of that in East Lancs if that's your bag. I always think of Gisburn as somewhere to go and have a potter round with the missus on a nice afternoon, then pop for a pint afterwards. There are always plenty of people there with their kids.

We went last weekend, mainly as everything else was so sodden

Why do people moan about trail centres? They are free for goodness sake, built only for our enjoyment, they are fantastic facilities, we are lucky to have them. I love Gisburn, it is great.

The 'missus trail' - I like that

1st and only man made trail i've ever ridden,as said before, first bit a tad dull.but enjoyed the more flowing bottom sections,and i may be the only person to ride into a tree at the bottom the decent from the carpark.

I am not a massive fan of Gisburn either but (a) it exists and (b) trail building appears to be difficult and hard work. Every time I ride at a centre - usually because it's been very wet and the Dales grass has boggified - and I think, 'this is a bit shit' I also think, 'why don't you turn up for one of the weekend trail building sessions then you whining git'. If I was paying proper money for a trail I would expect more, but for free/cheap parking I think we do pretty well.

Yep. No flow at Gisburn.

It doesn't conform to the 'long climb...long descent' style of trail centre, it bobs up and down, with a bit of everything, and keeps you on your toes and rewards effort by throwing in a tough little climb right after a fast section. It's billed as an XC route, and it is. I've never found it dull, it always gives me a good workout, and reveals something I can work on technique-wise.

It's clearly not going to please everyone, and that's fine.

'why don't you turn up for one of the weekend trail building sessions then you whining git'

for what its worth, show up a few times and you find you're helping to decide on how/what stuff gets built. It may sound a commitment, but half a day once a month, and Its A) rewarding B) a hoot and C) Exercise like no other (unless you're a builder or do other manual work involving lifting etc in which case the novelty may not be so interesting for you 😉 )

Don't have to build, many trailbuilding clubs have a membership few that goes right into the trails/tools/materials. It all helps. For gisburn it PMBA. 😀 [/sermon]

I don't like it. It lacks flow, descents or any real interesting technical parts. Also, on a few of the descents the berms are about 3 feet away from the cornering line. It's just a bit of a slog really. And there's no point building something that's a slog. Ae is the worst example of this, Gisburn a close second.

And there's no point building something that's a slog.

Except as you can clearly see from this thread and the busyness of the car park that lots of people do like it. Trail centres aren't just built for you personally, amazingly enough. As above, I don't see the point in moaning about an effectively free facility that lots of people have put lots of hard work into.

The thing about Gisburn is that most of it has been around for yonks , but it was mainly the woody trails at the bottom and the family stuff , + the odd bit of cheekiness, all the good stuff at the top section is what people have built up since as well as improving the forest trails .Its not the most exciting but there are good bits and as people have said it's free .I like the wooded sections which they have got just right , good grip etc.

+1 grum
You ride it and you no like? Get involved with it or ride somewhere else that you do like. Job done.

Here's a revolutionary idea - how about you buy a map and a compass!

Or is that too old-school for people these days?

Don't have to build, many trailbuilding clubs have a membership few that goes right into the trails/tools/materials. It all helps. For gisburn it PMBA.

Thanks for the reminder. It takes about a minute to join online [url= http://pmba.org.uk/OnlineSignUp.htm ]here[/url]

I've never been, but from that vid it looks good. Looks like one of those places where if you pootle nothing much happens, but if you're fit enough to put the hammers down it becomes fun.

Whoever's riding in that video certainly leave it late turning into corners though!

It's ok not to like a trail centre. It's ok to express that opinion too. And you don't have to be a trail builder yourself to have that opinion either (In much the same way your are allowed to express your opinion on a mag article without ever being a writer yourself or fulfilling a requirement to submit 'something better' before you do).

I love Gisburn, but then I like the XC nature of it and I've been riding there for 20 years and I've seen it grow from fire roads only to a proper trail centre.

I do, however, recognise the points the OP has made. I don't personally agree but I do recognise Gisburn from his description. It's just a personal, fair and valid opinion.

I guess (IMO) I'm lucky to have Gisburn only 30-40 minutes away from me. I've had some really good rides there and some especially good night rides. It's not the be all and end all but then no trail is.

I didn't think the OPs comments were particularly moany, saying there was no point building it seems unduly negative though.

And you don't have to be a trail builder yourself to have that opinion either

Agreed, might be nice to acknowledge all the work done especially by volunteers when you are being critical though.

As an aside, I really just don't get this complaint I always hear on here that a certain trail is not "flowy" enough. Surely you make your own flow out of the trail and that is the skill of a rider.

I quite like Gisburn but I have always loved the area (beautiful views) but I wouldn't necessarily recommend travelling a great distance to it as you may well be disapointed. It's much better than the fire roads it used to be an it's developing all the time.

Gisburn is more or less my local place and yes it can be a bit meh but i go there when iI can't be bothered with the lakes. yes it isn't as good as any of the 7 staines but a lot of gisburn has been built by volunteers. some of the new stuff that the additonal grant money is paying for will be open soon and the volunteer section (the swoop) will be finished as well.

gisburn really is the trailer center for the people built by the people, join PMBA or join the gisburn facebook page as your opinion really does count.

Agree with OP but then I imagine it is supposed to be

its very 'XC'.

And therefore it's not a place i'd choose to go if I wanted descending trails.

Hully-Gully is way overrated too imo on the other hand I like Home-baked a lot.

This thread goes to show we're all different!

I've really enjoyed riding Gisburn. I've have had some great days there from riding with my Mrs, who always wants to go if we are in the area, to fast elbow banging action through the berms with some DH/4X riders at speed.

Usually ride the Peak District so it's nice to have some corners to hit hard - last time I was there I rode back up the fire road and did the berms to the car park 3 times, love it, get's better the faster I ride it.

I really can't believe some people can moan about a trail that is free to ride and built by volunteers?

I'd love to ride the trail the OP has built.

As said above it is developing all the time. It's due for a large opening of trails and additional facilities in the Autumn. As for the flow, I'd agree I'd like to see some more flowy bits, not massive gradients, XC flow, although I'd dispute the lack of techy sections.

Thing is I like XC riding and as only one more person has put more volunteer hours into building the trails this year than me you're going to get what I like riding 😆

It's not the lakes, it's not the Peaks, it's Gisburn. Really nice to see the number of people above who have realised how much volunteer time is put into the trails, didn't realise people were so aware. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as Mark, just be more diplomatic to start the sentance with IMHO rather than stating an indisputable fact.

This thread goes to show we're all different!

Indeed. We are all individuals

[img] [/img]

How's the new swoopy bit coming along Jon?

BTW thanks for the repairs to the first section to the causeway and the start of 'Bottoms' I'd forgotten how much fun they felt.

momentum is in short supply and you never really know if your supposed to be enjoying a descent, or continuing to climb.

I've found this is a problem at most trail centres I've ridden tbh.

It's certainly not intended as a moan - just an expression of an opinion. I applaud the work and dedication that has gone into the place and have a great deal if respect for those involved. If I lived closer I'd certainly get involved.....its only my opinion, but I think a changes at some key places and the ride quality would be transformed - for example the two trees on the first Forrest descent that all but take you out or grind u to a halt - no need for them, especially with the rise of the wider bars. Some of the berms could be smoothed out etc. that would make the ride more fluid and enjoyable - I of course understand that such changes wouldn't suit everyone, but it would suit a majority.

Gisburn I likey!

willber, fair comment. We're planning to complete work on the section we're on in the next month or so and then spend some time reviewing, repairing and modifiying the existing trail network. The forestry team also do a lot of repair work, it's them that have done the sections on Bottoms and the causeway.It's always a fine balance, on man's repairs are anothers sanitisation.

I LIKE GISBURN. OK, ITS NOT THE MOST 'FLOWY' AND THE DOWNHILLS ARENT VERY LONG... BUT.. ITS A GREAT PLACE TO DEVELOP YOUR FITNESS AND TECHNIQUE. THERE ARE SOME SECTIONS THAT NEEDED AND HAVE BEEN MAINTANED BUT ITS THE BITS THAT HAVE BEEN DAMAGED OR ERODED THAT I LIKE THE MOST. THERE ARE SOME FAIRLY TESTING SECTIONS IF YOU HIT THEM PAST ENOUGH. IT CANT BE EASY TO CATER FOR EVERYBODY AND DONT FORGET THAT GIZ IS A RELITAVELY YOUNG 'CENTRE'. TO SAY THAT THE WORK DONE THERE HAS BEEN LARGELY ON A PART TIME BASIS I THINK THE PROGRESS IS GREAT. KEEP IT UP GUYS YOURE ON THE RIGHT TRACK 😀

i was up today. and with this thread in mind looking about with a critical eye. Certainly a few sections need some repair work, blue trail up to the 28 berms, first part of home baked, sandy berms before hully gully leapt out at me. But the two new sections of trail will both remove a fair amount of fireroad, both of which are quite descendy. And from working at stainburn I know its very easy to transform trail once the skeleton is there by patching and altering little bits. So if the guys turn their eye to that over winter they'll make quite a difference very quickly (they have more people and equipment than us ) I really should try and get over for a dig soon.

I like that it undulates , and doesn't just go up for ages and then down for ages. Think I'll like that even more once I get a dropper post for the hardtail. 😉

Whoever's riding in that video certainly leave it late turning into corners though!

I also flinched a lot! Trail looks pretty good to me though. Perhaps it only makes sense if you don't brake much. Some trails are like that.

Brian Blessed - is typing exclusively in caps how you get across your deep booming voice, online? 😉

I assumed that was it. "I'M BRIAN BLESSED!" 😀

POSTS IN BLOCK CAPS SHOULD BE DELETED - IMO of course.

The section in that vid (before the rooty part which then takes you over the beck) is one of the (non-trail centrey) and/or tamer parts of Gis'.

So for those who haven't been and liked that vid, then go you won't be dissapointed.

I would feel very priveliged if I lived local (riding distance) to Gisburn.

Going back to the 'no flow' thing.

Is it just me that finds this is as much dependent on the bike as it is the trail? If I ride the Singular Swift round Cannock it feels great, but the Pitch feels like loads of hard work for little reward. Conversely the Pitch feels completely alive at GT which is substantially smoother, but I can't imagine being as much fun on a rigid SS.

That and my perception of flow is in a large part correlated to my fitness, if I'm on an upwards trend then rides always feel flowy as any lost momentum is easily re-gained. If I've had a few weeks off it feels awkward and slow as every mistake is punished by being slow as I'm too out of breath to sprint between corners.

trail * (bike + fitness) = flow ?

and as only one more person has put more volunteer hours into building the trails this year than me you're going to get what I like riding

That must be Tezzer then !

That and my perception of flow is in a large part correlated to my fitness, if I'm on an upwards trend then rides always feel flowy as any lost momentum is easily re-gained. If I've had a few weeks off it feels awkward and slow as every mistake is punished by being slow as I'm too out of breath to sprint between corners.

trail * (bike + fitness) = flow ?

Interesting... I've been working at a half written article for STA recently about what is 'gnar' and what is 'flow'. Hear the flow argument a lot at Stainburn, and it's always a bit contentious. I might steal your formula and a bit of your 2nd paragrpah if that's alright.

Not really worked out what the conclusion is yet...

That must be Tezzer then

Whenever I don't flow on a trail I assume it's because I'm not riding it well enough. Often I return with more skill/fitness and then flow happens!

thisisnotaspoon - Member
trail * (bike + fitness) = flow ?

(trail * familiarity) * (bike + fitness) = flow

slainte ❓ rob

Indeed. One reason I never got up to proper speed riding trails blind on my last two gravity enduro races!

flow = ( skill * fitness * mindset + trail familiarity) / (trail difficulty)

I was riding Puddletown Forest today, which has some fairly intimidating/challenging trails for me, especially with the ground being loose dry sand and wet mud and wet greasy roots (light rain after a dry spell). I came to the conclusion that I have essentially three 'gears':

1. Surviving- isn't pretty, barely coping with the terrain, slow, jerky, unbalanced, feet out, etc. I don't end up in this one that often thankfully.
2. Cruising - I think many consider this flow, that smooth riding when you're comfortable with the trail but not pushing yourself that hard, with plenty of thinking time. I do this a lot on new trails or if I'm behind a slower rider or in a chilled mood.
3. Ripping - properly in the zone, maximum flow, really going for it. When I'm riding like this you have to be good to leave me behind! Don't think I've hit this at all in my two trips to Gisburn. Manage it frequently on my home trails.