[Closed] Sandwell Valley New Trail... Open Yet?

I think so, i'm going to ride up for a peek tomorrow.
My understanding is it's open to ride but officially opens later in the month - search on here for the facebook page.

Officially opens 23rd June, though it is sign posted now and plenty of people have already ridden it.

Hopefully head up there tomorrow for a nosey ..... If you see a fat bloke on a blue On one Single speed, come say hi 🙂 ....
Was going to take the car up there but think i`ll have a leisurely spin along the canal to get there :).... its all miles ...
How longs the finished trail ??

I will be up there, so look for a skinny whippet who should be faster than he is on a c456.

3km

popped up this afternoon... pleasantly surprised how they could put so much into a tiny place... bearing in mind no real height around SV... to be honest loved it.. recovering from a calf tear (physio check up in morning) and going to be my recovery place for sure.

Looking forward to going down there when it's properly open. There was an idea for a STW group night ride, anybody fancy it?

Is it open from early? Might be tempted to pop over but I'm only free till 10.

Group ride still sounds fun 🙂

Deffo, along with a big STW pumptrack sess.

I had a quick ride through the Valley tonight but didn't stop to take a look. I'll have to see if I can get down there early next week!

nwill, it's open 24/7

Shindiggy is it open properly now?

Andy, I'll be up for a midlands baded STW ride.

Will be nice to ride a new spot.

Have just got back from there and have to congratulate shindiggy and all involved, its great for the area and cycling in general,it was quite busy up there today including 2 chavs with the tesco full suspension bikes and full face helmets checking out the line down the black routes biggest drop !! ... I just rode past them and straight down it on my rigid single speed !! .... they were still there on my second lap as well 🙂 ....
There were quite a few familys on it as well, some with very young kids ?
anyways .. well done to all involved

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Looks fun. Shindiggy - cheers, it's just that I'll be driving over and didn't know if the car park had restrictions. I rode local this morning Kinver as I was unsure. I'll get myself over very soon for what looks like some flat out fun.

Be careful as the car park has height restriction barriers !! .. dont want people getting there pride and joys damaged before the ride ... nice having dust on the bike instead of the usual mud 🙂

That looks like a fun little blast on a hardtail. I definitely want to get over there to ride it. It's just over riding distance to get there, though. 🙁

@ getonyourbike ...its a 11 mile spin along the canal for me each way .. and i mean spin ... on my SS ... all ridable on rigid and single speed .. well worth the ride over 😀

My local,seems ok considering,gonna be a nice extension to my midweek spin.

Rode there on Thursday evening but I thought on a 29'er I was over biked. The surface was loose so will get better with time and use. They've packed plenty in and dont let the black sections worry you, they're quite easy.

Is that a black drop in the pic above?

Sounds good, can't wait to get over.

@ scamper .. yeah thats the black drop in pic .. its steeper than the pic shows ... still ridable 🙂

I'm sure it is, just thinking of the Wife. I'm fine on my 6 inch full susser, Cannock stylee 😀

@ scamper , theres a blue run around that drop as well so no worries with the wifey 😀

ill have to head over soon as well, spin around a few times, nice to have something else to ride nearby as well!

scamper, no problem for your wife... i'd say a great place to practise your skills and build your confidence on...and short enough to go round to go round again and again to make practise perfect and better... plus you can park right by it and not be miles away.. thats a brilliant bit. no camelback required 🙂

There's some go pro footage of someone pootling round.

It really is a pootle, isn't it? 😯

I've just seen on Facebook that the trails are due to open on the 23rd. Who is up for an opening week night ride? Maybe on Thursday the 27th at say 7:45?

Work permitting I might be interested. But that time of the evening around there. ... I'm guessing there might be a different kind of pumping going on! 😀

I'm in. Looks like good fun.

Went over last night and only came across 1 Chav on a boardman in a baseball cap and a couple attempting to take dodgy pics of each other (fortunately I scared them off the trail by blasting past). I agree it is well designed from such a small envelope, but its less than 7mins round (sticking to red and black graded sections only) so needs to be looped at least 3 times to make it worthwhile. The "black" sections would barely make the red grade at most trail centres, but I guess it is designed for families and young riders. Just don't be put off riding the black bits if you can manage the Dog or Monkey at Cannock, or any Welsh centres. There are a couple of brief but flowing sections and 3 well spaced table tops at the end of the run which can be nicely jumped, and can be sessioned by turning left out of the exit and looping back up the climb. I didn't see a pump track, but didn't do a great deal of searching. Being on a forest trail and hearing the constant sound of the M5/M6 interchange is a rather bizarre experience too! Still it certainly beats going to the gym.

Be warned that you need to remove your bike from a roof mounted rack if you want to get through to the car park!

nwill1 and I are going tomorrow morning, but quite early so hopefully it should be dead quiet. I'm looking forward to it. I'm expecting the full lap to be a hotly contested segment on Strava before long if it's only a 7 minutes to get round.

You got Strava Pete? We could set the lap time!!!!

Yeh, I'm on Strava but I'll be on the full sus with draggy tyres so I don't stand a chance. I'll give it a go, though.

I'll have to go back on the hardtail with some fast tyres to have a proper go at it.

The pump track is the other side of the M5 in Dartmouth park side and is a paid for facility.

You'll still be quicker than me on my HT with fast tyres....but that's only thanks to fitness not skillz ! I' wanna try the pump track out too!

nwill1 - Member
You'll still be quicker than me on my HT with fast tyres....but that's only thanks to fitness not skillz !

I'm up for the pumptrack as well. We'll see how the bouncy bike does on it.

I did 3 laps today and combined them with a few sections of singletrack. The surface is getting better as more ride it, it wasn't half as loose as a few days ago.
I've got a couple of pics of the drop on one of the black sections but its nothing to worry about.

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Will, I've got a game for tomorrow. Who can huck furthest down that little drop. 😀

Really struggling to see how that is a drop, is the entry really fast or something? Is it actually a 5ft drop to flat?

To me it just looks like a not very steep roll in.

@I_Ache- It isn't really a drop at all, just a roll in. It's hard to get some proper speed to huck all the way down it, either. It's nothing really.

nwill1 and I went today and it is very short but a lot of fun. We did 4 laps and then played on the pumptrack. No way should it be called a black, though. I just hope beginners don't do the 'black' at Sandwell and then go to a centre at Wales or Scotland thinking they'll be perfectly fine. It could end badly.

I would say that some of the jumps aren't very well thought out, though. There's one on the last black section that I physically can't clear because of the size of it versus the speed of the trail, and that's cranking at it with no braking. There's also a few tabetops on flat or uphill sections, though.

I'd definitely go back, though. It's perfect for interval training or just generally ragging round.

I'm viewing it as my local skills loop. Its close enough 2 pop there at anytime do a few laps then ride the natural stuff

This still happening tonight folks?

Bump as a reminder as I don't want to be there with the doggers. 😳