[Closed] Gorrick XC

Like a bowl of spaghetti, loads of tight squirelly singletrack with short sharp ups and downs.

Yes,as above.....Highlands Farm otherwise known as Area 51. The total area is fairly small but there is a lot of trails in there but as a result lots of turns. Not a lot of opportunity to relax on downhill bit and a lot of pedalling.

Thanks, couple more questions, roots and/or mud?

Yes there will be roots and lots of them. The whole area drains very well so the mud doesn't tend to stay around for long and its not sticky clay which we have around my neck of the woods. As above its pretty tight and great fun👍

I'll just add that its good for spectators because of it being in a smaller area and the course normally passing around sections of the parking area.

It’ll be a good course for a 90min XC blat. As said it’s tight, its twisty but there’s some great sections. I’ve only ever ridden it as part of their endurance series & it gets a bit wearing after 3+ hrs but for 90mins I reckon it’d be a great laugh.

It's a great venue. Very tight and twisty. Good corner speed will help. Roots - yes lots, but it's usually all fairly grippy. Drains well, so wet, not cloggy mud if it's very wet. There's usually a small log jump and a small tabletop too, but that depends whether the course has it uphill or downhill.
If it's wet, then barzo/ rocket ron will do. If it's dry then usual mezcal/ racing ralph etc will be fine.
It's also completely private land too. So no cows, excessive dog-walkers, etc.

I use to do the Gorrick events when I lived down South, it was always worth doing a sighting/warm-up lap. Especially to work out where the first bottleneck was (from the start), so knowing how little/much effort was needed at the start to get into a flow rather than stuck nose-to-tail.

This  

     might give the OP a little idea of what it's like in there.  Just me, slowly exploring. Despite it being a small area I always lose my bearing especially as the trals get covered over quite a lot in between races.

It's funny... this is my least favourite venue of all the Gorrick settings. I find it a bit too twisty to ever open the taps. I've only ever raced it on a jarring carbon HT though. Last time I was there at the Equinox back in 2020 - I got short travel FS envy, spend the next lockdown researching them and then put a big dent on my credit card.

But I digress.... Not my favourite venue. But also had my worst result there (I had flu coming on, it snowed, I had a puncture and went home after 2 laps), and my best result (4th) in my very next race there. I think I am still scarred by the first of those.

How accessible the area to ride when there aren't races?? Could you just rock up and have a ride around? Easy to find?

How accessible the area to ride when there aren’t races??

It's easy to find, but it's all private so rocking up wouldn't be good. The owners are very close by. We sometimes do kids club sessions there, but that's all agreed and booked in advance.

Did Gorricks for years back in the day great races very well run Bagshot/Crowthorne/Yately etc.

thanks for the comments

As noone has asked what's it like for overtaking.. tricky I assume

It's the XC Race equivalent of Monaco.

there's one very short section of fire-road in there. In the recent races there was also a section where the singletrack split two ways offering you a different line you could take advantage of if you so wished.

It’s possible but you’ll need to have a good kick & pick your place. It’s tight but definitely very doable.

Overtaking is a bit tricky, you just have to be bit patient and imaginative..