[Closed] Golfie / Inners trails and difficulty

Notforpoofs and too hard for EWS are pretty full on, as are wolf of wall street and nae spleen.

I've think I've ridden most of the trails you've listed. The good thing about the Golfie (I thought) is that it has worn down to a kind of grippy, gravelly slurry on some of the steep trails (community service? 3g?)

I imagine the NN was steep and muddy and more treacherous?

Anyway, Aussie Rules and Nae Spleens stick out as a couple of the tougher Golfie trails I rode last weekend. I was OK getting down them but struggled to ride them very fast.

Notforpoofs

Is this the really steep switchbacks to the right of the Gold Run?

Notforpoofs is near Barts trail.

Do you mean Date night coming out of the first switchback on Deerhunter.

PS. Op Flatwhite and Angry owl are great fun flow trails but not really typical of the steeper trails to be found in the valley neither steep or difficult.

Thanks for the info. Yes, NN had a lot of slippery, non-bedded sections, but also to be honest I wasn't used to the level of steepness.
From what I've heard, some if the tracks mentioned above are pretty tough. If things like flat white, community service etc were at the easier end, and too hard for GWS, nae spleens etc were at the harder end, what would be in the middle?

Is this the really steep switchbacks to the right of the Gold Run

Tbh Stace, I'm no quite sure, only ever ridden it in 'switch off follow a local' mode. Its certainly around there, as is date night, as fergal says, which is also pretty steep.

Tbh I tend to avoid the steepest stuff at inners now, as you end up spending all bloody day climbing fireroad and no much time enjoying it.

Repeat offender would be somewhere in the middle I would think . New wolf and old school downhill have had a refresh from recent races and might be the type of thing your after .
A look at the off piste stuff on the trail centre side , stuff like mince baby mice and Alistair lees is a step up from the flowy stuff but not to steep . And the one that runs off the black down to walkerburn, the classic I think it's called .

This is something i'm learning steeper doesn't always up the fun quotant, spesh when it's super greasy, but the"racers" seem to love that shit.

The best trails seem to have a good balance of tech, flow and steepness, at least somewhere like thornielee starts mellow enough then ratchets up in the bottom third.

Notforpoofs

Is this the really steep switchbacks to the right of the Gold Run

If you go about 20 feet up the hill from the uplift dropoff circle it's on the right- steep entrance with pads up. TBH that's the hardest bit, good trail.

I reckon from where you are, 3G would be a good step up- not massive but enough to make a difference. And Boner, and probably Bart's Trail and the Classic. I definitely wouldn't be racking it straight up to the harder end (too hard for EWS actually isn't that tough once you learn it but it's... consequential. if you bin it no matter what you land on you will instantly regret it. Mostly in that part of the valley, all you land on is dirt or a tree, just sometimes very fast and from some height.

Oh, I kind of agree with Fergal, I love steep and nasty but if I'm on a trail that's difficult just to ride, I'm not playing. It's a different sort of fun- I'll laugh out loud doing nae spleens or something but it's a more hysterical laugh than angry sheep 😆

I rode at Naughty Northumbrian event this weekend and frankly was a bit out of my depth on a couple of the tracks.

We did and were too, to the point we both came off and hurt ourselves in practice on stage 2 (the bit in the woods) on Saturday morning and ****ed the rest of the weekend off 🙁 That shit's just not fun. Don't misunderstand me, I love a bit of techy rooty muddy droppy slop but when most of it's not rollable at all it's a bit off-putting and demoralising, and, as it turned out, injurious.

Kayla, sorry to hear about the injury but reassuring to hear it wasn't just me struggling.

Hi guys,

I just started doing enduro this year and was where you are a couple of months ago. It's really a learning process and what I became aware of is how experienced the average enduro rider is. I wouldn't enter "proper" enduro's until doing the above type trails to the point where you can flow them. TBH it's more like downhill on some tracks than people realise so you need to be comfortable going at a fair enough speed to keep momentum otherwise they may not be rideable. I'm live in the Tweed Valley and go to the various locations 2-3 times a week so let me know if you need a partner who is relatively s**** to practice with 😀

SS

riklegge- Nah, it's nowt serious but a PITA* enough to keep me off the bike for a few days and OH has a nasty graze up his right leg and onto his bum! We entered for fun, not our jobs, so we just binned it off. Shame, cos I was really excited about it. Stage 1 was really good fun as well!

* literally 😳 😆

If you go about 20 feet up the hill from the uplift dropoff circle it's on the right- steep entrance with pads up. TBH that's the hardest bit, good trail.

Thanks, I know exactly where you mean.

So I was thinking of where you drop into Date Night off the middle fire road and then countour along the hill to the right - there were some super-steep switchbacks at the end if you go past Date Night itself (I assume).

Anyway, back to the OP - do give Date Night a go, also A Salmon's Journey and the Gold Run. Those are all challenging enough but not as mental as the Golfie stuff. You can let go of the brakes now and then!

Over on the Golfie side, I'd say give Aussie Rules a go. It's awkward and frustrating - but almost all rideable and not mega steep.

I had a wee go on Pro Spacker on Saturday.
Far too steep for me.

Angry Sheep was more fun!

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll give them a try and see how I get on.

Don't think any amount of Inners training would have helped you for stage 3 of the NN! You can't replicate the line of bog several hundred riders produce in a taped out forest.

speedstar when do you ride usually? I'll make you look like a complete legend....

The steep stuff is fine at Golfie, 'till you stop, and just can't get going again.
Yes, yes, I know the answer, but I'm a wus.
Have still never ridden Flat White… always seems to be closed when I visit.

Agree on the Thornilee comments… all the top runs are interesting/fun without plummeting.
The bottom runs less so… = ;87)

Notforpoofs

Seriously??

The steep stuff is fine at Golfie, 'till you stop, and just can't get going again.
Yes, yes, I know the answer, but I'm a wus.

I think that's the problem I had at the NN over the weekend, I might have been ok if I'd kept going but I [i]properly[/i] bottled one section and ended up swearing and sliding my way down to the bottom pretty much. I think even if I'd made it down ok I wouldn't have gone back up for another go though 😆

re. the steep Golfie trails, I'm happy to ride them for the experience and for practice - but I'll admit I survive rather than enjoy about 50% of them.

It's almost like a different discipline, much more upper body involved, very physical.

re. the steep Golfie trails, I'm happy to ride them for the experience and for practice - but I'll admit I survive rather than enjoy about 50% of them.

Me too, I've found myself on occasion getting to the bottom, hanging on, and then the prospect of hauling your erse up to do it all again, questioning the logic. But then you get a good run at something tough, and feel good again.

Sometimes I just want flow though, last time I did an uplift day at uplift inners (hurry up and take it over, somebody!) we just rode Angry sheep ad nauseum, sweet flowing joy that it is...

Angry Sheep was a delight, enjoyed Green Wing (aka Gnarnia?) even more.

Such an amazing trail network up there.

GKW I'm going up today to try out a Whyte G160 if you're about? If not I think i'll be going up on Thursday hopefully. Trying to get as much practice in before next years enduro season. Because I really, really need it.

Angry Sheep was a delight, enjoyed Green Wing (aka Gnarnia?) even more.

Such an amazing trail network up there.

Tis that, think I may head over this weekend, haven't been for a while.

Bookmarking for later. Interesting to read this and the NN stuff about folks being out their depth on the steep/slop and the fun/terror ratio. More fun less terror for me..

Steep I can do, slop I can do, roots I can do. I struggle on steep rooty slop though 😆

kelvin - Member

Agree on the Thornilee comments… all the top runs are interesting/fun without plummeting.

The bottom runs less so… = ;87)

Apparently there's a line over on the side of the hill that gets you down without turning up the y axis quite so much, but I've not found it yet...I absolutely love thornielee, but there's people I wouldn't really want to take there, who'd love the top but not the bottom.

chakaping - Member

So I was thinking of where you drop into Date Night off the middle fire road and then countour along the hill to the right - there were some super-steep switchbacks at the end if you go past Date Night itself (I assume).

Cha****ng, as you drop off the fireroad and traverse slightly, there is a chute left and traverses back across the hill, that is deer Stalker. The steep switchbacks at the end of the straight ahead traverse are the start of date night and date night 2.

Cha****ng, as you drop off the fireroad and traverse slightly, there is a chute left and traverses back across the hill, that is deer Stalker. The steep switchbacks at the end of the straight ahead traverse are the start of date night and date night 2.

There's so many tracks in there, I never end up finishing on the same one!

Cheers for clearing that up Oli.

🙂

So who does laps on Jawbone, certainly type two fun for me, cleaned it blind but it was a little but clenching, liked it so much i haven't been back, well it was my first run of the day, maybe a revisit is on the cards.

We haven't really mentioned bike choice are these tracks smoother/easier with big wheels?, my 140 trail bike seems to cope but i do wonder what the trails would feel like on a 180 Capra, a riding god!.

So what is the most common weapon of choice in the valley Capra/Bronson/ Whyte 130?

@northwind Full definition is poss the trail you mean, a very good newish flow trail at Thorny only found it a few weeks ago, still steep lower half but nowhere near as full on as the others.

Cheers Fergal, that sounds like the description I had too, probably is that one. I've done laps of jawbone, I love it tbh, the bit with all the chattery rocks just gets me so in the zone, it's like there's nothing else happening in the world apart from me riding the bike- perfect. But I know what you mean, I rode it for the first time in EWS practice and I was just barely surviving, it was pretty ugly, left me feeling like a total dobber.

fergal - Member

We haven't really mentioned bike choice are these tracks smoother/easier with big wheels?

Doesn't make that much difference on some of them but on others it helps- like, best example I can think of was doing the extended prospacker off the top of minch moor- on my 26er, I was just hanging on by the bottom, on the 29er I just didn't get worn out the same. No individual bit felt any different, mind, but all added together it was just that bit less tiring.

TBH having ridden the steep stuff on 26, 650 and 29er I can safely say I was p****** myself fairly similarly each time!!

I was also totally out of my depth at the Naughty Northumbrian. Practiced loads in the South at places like Bike Park Wales + Morzine which is manicured great fun but not much help / comparison to off camber deep muddy steepness and teflon non-stick grass descents at the NN. Back slid away, went otb, balls into bars and slid down bits but still made it round and enjoyed the day. Where I got really stuck I just pulled up and watched a few pros take sections staying well out of the way and then jumping back in. This hammered my times but let me enjoy it more.

Just walked away with respect for everyone flying round and also wanting to take a trip to Golfie to brush up on a side to my riding that is lacking. Very different skills needed than a black park trails / jumps / drops which give you a false confidence.

Massive thanks to Scrabble on the board for giving me a lift, you are a legend!

Can't wait to brush up skills and return next year!

26 is nicer Backwheelin' through the furrows. (not faster. or less hurty. Just nicer. ie. moar fun)

'bout 15 years back I witnessed an inners NPS track ridden on a 20" BMX with street tyres and only a rear U brake.

S'pose it all depends on what you personally find fun. 😉

#NoShit

I have always ridden shit bikes, doesn't stop me pondering what the pros are riding.

#Noshitsherlock

Up there this weekend are any of these trails closed or two wet to ride?

Too not two!

Can someone put the Golfie trails together in an order that works well as a ride please while avoiding the most difficult?

And does having a play at Inners on Bart's, A Salmons Journey, Green Wing and Angry sheep (is that a push up path nearby?), Then heading back via Alaister Lee's and Date Night sound ok?

Mugboo - Member

Can someone put the Golfie trails together in an order that works well as a ride please while avoiding the most difficult?

I reckon a good first golfie ride is something like Repeat Offender, Community Service (a shorter trail from halfway up the road instead of going up to the reservoir), 3G, Boner if you want more riding, and end on Flat White. That's not the <best> but it's all easy to find and navigate, has a nice variety and some superb riding, and some EWS might rub off on you. And then second visit you go off and get lost on oldschool, see how you get on with jawbone or a wolf, spread out over the hill a bit. Or even do the Rocky, it always feels like a waste of altitude to me but it's good fun and very different.

It's tempting to create a personal favourite death route but I wouldn't go back in time to the first time i went to the golfy and suggest that. I think I'd just say "don't do avalanche, you won't like it even one tiny bit"

Loose women is really good fun and still has mud factor unlike the bedrock that a lot of trails seem to be down to now. It is however a bit of a mission to get to. A good route first time would be
Lone wolf (option to cut off to get to loose women)
community service
Repeat offender top
waterworld (this may be contentious for a first ride but I dont find it too difficult compared to some of the other options)
Feed the Pony (If your not feeling energetic and cant stomach the push up little pony is still a good option)

Check out Rock and Roll into Plan B for something slightly mellower, liked it so much I did it three times in a row to cap off last Saturday's ride.

🙂

Re Northwind's comment about Avalanche, that was my first trail ever ridden on the Golfie side of things, solo effort and did it in error one evening thinking it was something else. Well, I say, 'ridden', that's a bit generous.... I was ready to sell on my EWS entry at the bottom, but fortunately riding some of the other trails suggested restored my faith in my (limited) abilities

Thanks folks, I watched the waterworld video, it's looks amazing, steep but amazing.

Flat White says closed on the trail forks app, is this right?

Jason - if it's silly steep, ahm oooot! 😀

Flat White has closed signs across its entrance. Looks like people have ignored that and ridden it anyway, but that's a poor way to treat those working on the trail.

What is "Little Pony"?

Thanks Kelvin

Woody, there you go

Nope, not for me that Jas! I'll do GT again on Sun 🙂

Sorry Little Pony is the strava segment for the bottom half feed the pony I thought it was called that on Trailforks as well but just checked and its not on. Its basically the part of feed the pony from where the pushup starts. Only problem if you start riding the golfie regular it makes everything else you ride seem pretty tame. I always find it best to ride about 2 or 3 days after rain so its still tacky. I find it as difficult to ride when its bone dry as I do when its a mudfest.

I had an OTB incident on Avalanche, it was all a bit rock sky rock sky rock sky rock for a while 😆
Splash and dash is not to bad though as an alternative.

Took a lot of advice from this thread so thought I’d add a post in case others find it...

Im just back from two days up there in 30+ degree heat! previously only ridden it in the wet & mud and during race events where I just blindly follow the course and never really enjoyed it tbh, but I absolutely loved it this time.

My route yesterday was; repeat offender / flat white / splash n dash / waterworld into boner / 3G into Avalanche / community service / final fling.

Then today rode up and did Ray ling / Aussie rules / no social / feed the pony - over to inners and did green wing / angry sheep and finished on Gold run.

awesome few days. Highlights for me were waterworld and FTP.

also - whoever created Trailforks, I’ll buy them a pint!!

Sounds like you had a great time. Is it community service or splash and dash that has that very steep start, directly off the main forest road climb? I'm normally OK on the Golfie trails once I get my eye in [need a few runs as it's miles harder than my local stuff], but always swerved that drop-in. It's a bit of a ball-shriveller.

That's splash and dash- it's actually pretty striaghtforward,you just get down the steep by whatever method you can then work out the corner after. Then screw up the root on the little climb because you're still going "woooo"