[Closed] Hamsterley and Gisburn - any good?

Hamsterley is well worth a visit. Much more entertaining than Gisburn and more trail choice.

i rode hamsterley on monday if you go i would recommended riding the first half of black and then up the fire road to get the 3 fun segments of red, rather than doing the full red loop as i found it was pretty dull and alot of effort for little gain until you get to the fun bits, namely transmission accelarator and nitrous..

Thank you for the word!

Cheers!

I.

I'd concur with that, Gisburn's not bad but there are diversions in place at the mo as well.

Loads of fantastic cheeky stuff in Hamsterley as well.  And most of it is pretty easy to find.  Lots of trails end or begin on the fireroads linking the black and red trails

Thanks again.

Will have local-ish guy with me for Hamsterley ride, so might be he knows about some of the cheekies 🙂

Cheers!

I.

Gisburn used to be fantastic but is getting a bit run down. It’s rocky but in a bad way imo- lots of effort without much fun.

Hamsterley is better in every way. The red/black is a good loop and you can do it twice (90mins round) with a stop at the cafe in between. Cafe does hot food, cakes etc.

Id always cut out the long red loop at the end and just go up the fire road to the top of Transition. There’s another newer bit before Transition but it’s not my thing (table tops, bmx type stuff).

The cheeky stuff is excellent but better if shown; see if you can tag along with a local

Which diversions are in place at Gisburn? Looking on strava there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of cheeky either.

Hamsters is good fun. Do the three reds (Transmission, Accelerator & Nitrous), or go further up and do K-Line if you want but it's not that great to be honest, and then go over the bridge and up the other side to pick up Section 13 and Bone Shaker (and the others I can't remember- Special K? Brain Freeze?) We usually park in the Grove car park and push up to Section 13, then go up to Transmission etc, then back over to Section 13. The red XC bit that goes around the back is as dull as dishwater.

edit- Chopwell's worth a quick look in as well 🙂

Ta!

It’s rocky but in a bad way

Might be then my "normal" riding, when every turn is a bit of a struggle, mincing or on the verge of walking 🙂

Chopwell’s worth a quick look in as well

Thanks!

Will ask my mate if he is familiar with that place.

Cheers!

I.

Assuming you mean the 28th, gimme a shout if you fancy Chopwell. I'm only a few miles away (<5) and ride there loads.

Haven't decided if this weekend (21st) will be Chopwell or Hamsterley.  You can spend all day riding natural trails in Hammers without even touching the trail centre stuff, and it's a better place for it.  It's nee Chopwell, though.

Hamsterley (and I say that as someone who lives 25 minutes from Gisburn).

Do the black, then head over to the start of K-Line, do those sections, then climb up to Section 13 and finish from there.

The back end of the official red is very boring.

Which diversions are in place at Gisburn?

The boardwalk section up from the quarry at the start of Hope Line was shut, but I did see pictures of people levelling some of the climbing bits, so they may have finished by now.

As an afterthought, if you're staying near Kielder, you are the same driving time from Keswick as you are from Hamsterley, and the Lakes is a lot nearer than Gisburn.

Assuming you mean the 28th

Yes, it is definitely 28/10. Saturday night in Kielder and Sunday to make up for driving time from South Yorks.

Will give you a shout teethgringer !

Cheers!

I.

PS

I'm in Kielder only for night stroll, staying at my friend's place in Consett, so going back north, or going Lakes is rather not ideal. I do like Lakes A LOT though.

Hamsterley sounds ideal then. Gisburn would be well over two hours from you, and the extra driving would most definitely not be rewarded.

Hamsterley is defo worth a visit if you're passing, as a few have already said avoid the official red route as there's a lot of pointless fireroad climbing that can easily be missed out if you know how. Start on black from visitor centre until you reach a small bridge with the end of the nitrous trail on the right afterwards,  then up to the K line and finish on the rest of the red. Loads of cheeky trails, some are easy to find, some pretty hard to find, most of it is on Strava. There's also Danny Harts bike park although it's pay to ride and full face helmet only, uplifts run pretty much every Sat / Sunday but I'd book in advance. Probably 50 / 50 between dh and trail bikes these days, bikes and full face lids can be hired at the bike park cabin

It is definitely the closest one to Consett, but want to pack as much riding into one day as possible. Will need to get back south by the end of the day so wandering left or right on the way back is still acceptable.

Cheers!

I.

The bike park at Hamsterley can be worth adding in to a day out. As well as the main DH line (which takes most of the traffic) there's the 4x track which is a hoot (even if you're crap at jumping like me, it's quite forgiving) and also some good rooty trails that seem rarely used. £7 to sign in, full face obligatory on the DH section but I think trail lids ok on 4x and in the woods.

As for the rest - ignore the top end of red as mentioned but don't miss K-Line and the triple red run. Black has some good sections but some grind in between.

As for Chopwell - I love it as a quick local option but not sure I'd go massively out of my way for it.

Gisburn is great but I'd say hammers, try the Hamsterley Riders FB group for trolling and to potentially find an off piste guide or 2 😉

Also...you said you were staying in Consett so.....

http://www.mtbtrails.info/Trail_Venue.aspx?VenueNumber=70#TrailNumber348

One more idea, slightly more like my type of riding. Remember seeing, probably even here, article/post (?) about Niedderdale riding. Seems to be unable to trace it though...

Cheers!

I.

PS

Very interesting suggestion jainthedotz

the ride that jointhedotz posted is a good one but I'd do the section west of edmudbyers both ways as its more entertaining than the road past the reservoir. Like this:  https://www.relive.cc/view/1681464013

Nothing at all technical about it but hopefully it's still not too boggy. You'll probably not meet another soul so it's good for some peace and quiet!

Niedderdale riding

Nidderdale is very much an XC loop. Great views, decent enough but 'mild thrills only'. I can point you in the right direction if required. If you're looking for a loop on the east side of the Pennines, I'd go to Reeth in Swaledale.

If you're going with a local then Hamsterley is great, he'll know the off piste sections, try Beehives, the Wall Line and Doctors gate. You can fit them in with the black/red combo that misses out the tedium of the start of the red.

Something like this (hopefully the link works)

https://www.strava.com/activities/1854275934

I noticed you said that you weren't a massive fan of trail centres ..that being the case why don't you do one of the best natural rides in the county and only a few miles west of Consett ..Bolts Law Loop.

Having said that Hamsterley is great fun..we are heading there on the 27th for the first time in a while..

Thank guys!

I'm having a feeling that MBR Killer/Bolts Law is growing to be an ultimate contender 😀

Cheers!

I.

Hammers is ace.

The much mentioned set of Poultys / K-line / Transmission / Accellerator / Nitrous is well worth the fire road haul to the top.

Routegadget for Gisburn Forest

There's plenty of cheeky in Gisburn having organised an MTBO there a few weeks ago. The problem with having trail centres in a forest is that a lot of the old trails that people used don't get used any more. Doesn't mean to say that there aren't lots of tracks about!

Don't do Poultys. It's terrible. Awful going in to it and a climb to get out of it.

Cheers!

The plan will be to ride natural stuff around Consett with shit weather bailout option for Hamsterley.

Thanks all!

I.

If Poultys is the newer jumpy bit above Transmission then I disagree, so much fun we bobbed back up the fireroad for another go.

We rode there last weekend during Storm Callum using info from a local, loved it, first half mostly natural trails followed by all the TC type stuff, way more fun that Gizzy ( love the volunteer built bits at Gisburn though)

That's K-line. Poulty's is above that

Ta, confusing stuff, there's a big metal sign in memory of Poulty.

Poulty

Poulty's Last Blast starts on a hill. there's a terrible chicane and rock garden to get in to it.  It's then acceptable until half way when it turns into an arsehole climb.  Was meant to be all down, but apparently the Trailblazers ran into a lot of boggy areas part way through.  It then joins on to K-line, although you can join from the fire road as well.  K-line claimed yet another collar bone this weekend, and there's a lot of braking bumps.

Was over Hamsterley today and got 20 miles in, and only official trail was Odd Sox, the rest cheeky trails.  It's loads better for avoiding them, TBH.

Rode Gisburn for the first time recently in an evening after working nearby(ish). Surprisingly fun - apart from the detour...

Does K-line have a reputation for broken clavicles or something? I could see that it could catch people out who might be expecting something more in line with the other reds but never thought of it as that dangerous.

As for the unmarked stuff, I've followed a few random gaps in the trees before but will investigate a bit further next time I'm down there.

Consett this weekend was a bit snowy ..did you get a ride in OP?

Hamsterley get’s my vote over Gisburn, Gisburn does have it’s good bits but there just not long enough, where as Hamsterley has lots of good bits that you can pretty much link together, the only climbing you really is fire road, so it’s doesn’t zap you quite so much.

However, the in-between pedally bits Gisburn are probably more interesting than Hamsterely, swings and roundabouts I guess.

Does K-line have a reputation for broken clavicles or something

Yeah, there was a few instances of the air ambulance ferrying people out when it first opened.

Consett this weekend was a bit snowy ..did you get a ride in OP?

Oh, we had more than that 🙂

Scorching sun, bitter wind, hail, torrential rain, more wind, snow, drizzle and low level clouds.

It was great 🙂

Need to ride it once again when I'll be around.

Cheers!

I.

Classic! Consett area always seems to get snow even if nowhere else in the region does - there's even a couple of 'ski slopes' not far away.

@kayla1 - interesting... I wonder if it needs regrading - TBH it's probably easily as challenging as anything on the black route.

We drove past Consett to get to Hamsterley..( Castleside ) ..and while it had a good two inches of snow on Saturday morning ..Tow Law had double that ..nothing to speak of at our destination ..and it had all cleared when we returned home ..

I'm originally from that area ( born in a house in Burnhope )..lived at Delves Lane ( Consett) with my grandparents until I was six ..then spent the next 23 years living in the Annfield Plain/ Stanley ( windy city ) area ..missing six months of school and later work due to being blocked in by snow ( a slight exaggeration !) ..each year

So did you do the  Bolts Law route OP?

@joemmo - Dunno, it's a weird one. It's not difficult to ride in a wet-roots-and-rocks-and-mud way but it can get fast quickly which is what I suppose caught/catches people out. Some of the lips on the jumps are pretty sendy.

K-Line isn't hard but it's easy to hurt yourself on. There's a big difference between the two. The modern day six inches of skill compensation are getting people in to trouble rather than out of it.

There isn't another section of trail at Hamsterley that comes close to putting a smile on my face as much as "Accelerator"..its over way too soon ( and your wheels dont leave the ground )..

There isn’t another section of trail at Hamsterley that comes close to putting a smile on my face as much as “Accelerator”..its over way too soon ( and your wheels dont leave the ground )..

+1 Accelerator is ace 🙂 We'll go back up and do it again a few times on our way down.

@kayla1 - yes, there's one lip that's nearly got me a couple of times come to think of it.

@jon taylor - shouldn't grading take both into account? difficulty of traversal and potential for injury?

@hogynd - agreed, one to pretend you're riding on a starwars speeder bike... pew pew! no?.. just me?

out of interest, have any of you done the trail bike TT or the NDH Enduro (January?) at Hamsterley?

I have...

Yep, we've done the TT the last few years, it's great fun and +1 to being on a speeder bike 😆

I can recommend the funduro at Chopwell too 🙂 Link here, nothing to do with me but the people who run the races are smashing-

http://northerndownhill.bigcartel.com/

yes I have that and the TT in my calendar, interested in the Enduro as well - have you done that @benpinnick or the TT?

So did you do the  Bolts Law route OP?

Yeah, at least in part 🙂

Cheers!

I.

nice. How was it on the stretch over the top west of Edmundbyers? Last time I was there the heather was smouldering. It's probably a bit damper now

Not too damp. Just here and there little puddles. Not even too much mud.

Nice one, need to re-ride it is slightly less sub-optimal conditions 🙂

Cheers!

I.

hmm must do Bolts before that wet bit after a minute or so gets really wet.....I did a loop out from Whitley Chapel over the moors between Slaley Forest and Blanchland on Saturday, bone dry like summer, 0.8C and strong northerly wind was quite fresh however....

I normally go over Muggleswick from Edmundbuyers when doing Bolts. Has a long bit of the old railway in the middle but slightly less tedious than the road climb route above...... Oddly I was looking back at my rides from last December in Strava earlier, some good snow ones out over the moors, watch out for Ice.....one Bolts ride it was down to about 20m visibility when a snow storm hit so I re-routed off piste to short cut to the top in foot deep snow/heather. Good times 🙂

Now I remember the first time I tried the exact loop Ivan did above, also in snow, got to end of road section and too much snow to see the path to Bolts. Only had about 30 mins of daylight left so no way I was going to blindly follow the GPS having never ridden it before so I turned round and rolled back down the road way, that was quite annoying...