Surrey Hills, Summer Lightening and BKB

Yeah noticed the trail fairies had done some work on BKB last Sunday.

Also if you find yourself over at lovely legs they've added the northshore back on the second drop, the one after the tight left corner.

The SL closure bugs me. It starts at the open section, and that makes sense because it’s where the fire was, so I have respected the closed signs. But they also have made sporadic efforts to close the following section where it enters the woods again - I can’t see any reason for that because the fire did not affect it and there is nothing that looks dangerous or any different to a year ago.

I rode BKB this morning and don’t like the new bumps at all. There are already loads of trails in the area with those features, and the chicken lines they have left totally destroy the flow for the rest of us. I don’t know if they are official or not, but if so they would have done much better to spend their time fixing the braking bumps on the final big berms.

Just googled Summer lightening fire and read about it, had no idea that had happened!

Also whilst riding along a Bridleway close to Holmbury St Mary i came accross a pump track with banners up for the Trail Academy

BKB updates are ‘official’.

Was the pump track open to anyone? Could be fun. The lower part of Summer Lightening was closed because of "dangerous trees" in the summer.

The pump track was not cordoned off and was right next to the bridleway, it did have signs up saying its Private property

BKB updates are ‘official’.

Thank goodness... it was hard for it to get any more boring

A bit disturbing though is someone has taken a spade to the drop in.

Yesterday they had scattered babies head sized rocks from the lip in the landing zone.

SL burned in the summer. I was on the original build / maintenance team that dug out the section that burned, and got in contact with FE to ask if I could round up some volunteers to clear and reinstate it; it's worth noting this section was clear cut years ago, so this is not the first time it's needed work. The response from FE was not terribly positive, but hopefully there will be some news on this soon.

The pump track was not cordoned off and was right next to the bridleway, it did have signs up saying its Private property

Yep, that's on a school's land, so is private property.

I rode BKB yesterday and the new jumps were a little odd for a trail that hadn't been seen a jump track before. I would have thought it would be better to make them table tops rather than doubles since there will be plenty of people that have ridden BKB before and will be surprised to see the new jumps. Also, why doubles not just jumps? All a bit odd. Finally, the last jump looks like it's been built with crap drainage and will be a mud puddle soon.

I've always thought of BKB as a XC type trail and I can't say that I'm impressed with the new features. The jumps are no way as well built as say the Graveyard. Not progress for me.

who is authorised to build on BKB? Is it a volunteer group?

Also if you find yourself over at lovely legs they’ve added the northshore back on the second drop, the one after the tight left corner.

I wonder how many people will be caught out by it? Whilst not the most difficult feature, the more speed you hit it, the higher the drop. I reckon one big crash before its ripped out. I preferred it just as the drop from the log.

Also, why doubles not just jumps? All a bit odd.

It baffles me.. my lad and mates build jumps, but everyone always builds them as gaps not tables... but why, i have no idea as it means that the vast majority of riders won't hit or enjoy them, so end up wrecking the trails for most. I'm all for nice little launches... but as soon as its a gap, it grabs me by the nuts.

everyone always builds them as gaps not tables… but why

I think in general it's because doubles require a lot less earth to be moved than tabletops.

Not ridden BKB for a few months so can't give an opinion, but given they're sanctioned jumps on a popular trail I can't imagine there's a high degree of difficulty and given the amount of traffic it gets they'll be half the size in no time.

everyone always builds them as gaps not tables… but why, i have no idea

A lot less dirt and effort required to build a take off and landing rather than a big tabletop.

it means that the vast majority of riders won’t hit or enjoy them

Also stops continual rollover riders wearing down the takeoff (assuming it's not a roller jump).

but as soon as its a gap, it grabs me by the nuts

Me too, but gives room for progress.

In other SE 'new jump' news, they've made a right dogs dinner of the new jump line at Swinley, the run in to the first of the 2 tables is horrible (the tables themselves are Ok), the left hand hip into the 'hard' line is a shocker, and then to have any chance of clearing the rollers beyond that on either line you have to be going/pedalling warp speed.

I’ve always thought of BKB as a XC type trail

Yes surprised anyone would put jumps on bkb, more so given it sees a lot of less experienced riders down it.

It baffles me.. my lad and mates build jumps, but everyone always builds them as gaps not tables… but why, i have no idea as it means that the vast majority of riders won’t hit or enjoy them, so end up wrecking the trails for most. I’m all for nice little launches… but as soon as its a gap, it grabs me by the nuts.

This is not a dig at the OP, by the way - the quote just picks up some of the sentiment in this thread very well.

I've been involved in trail building quite a bit, including BKB - several years after mucking in with the old Dragon DH series courses.

I haven't ridden BKB since the new jumps were put in, so I'm not going to comment directly on them, not least because the volunteers who built them took the time and effort to do so, and the rest of us didn't. Thank you, trail builders.

What I will say is that, when we were talking with the local land owners and managers, including Hurtwood Control, one of the approaches was discussed was guiding the majority of riders onto dedicated routes to reduce wear and tear on other stuff. To do that, we had to make these arterial routes as sustainable as possible. This meant two things:

1) build trails that drained well, eroded slowly and needed minimal maintenance
2) build trails that everyone from a four year old on their first bike to a full on trail rider would get something out of without causing one to come into collision with the other

There are many ways of getting off Holmbury Hill to Peaslake, at least two of which are more challenging than BKB but far less well known. There are several features on BKB that are good for air if you've got good technique and speed and know where to look.

Please don't gatekeep trails that will attract the most traffic because you think there should be a barrier to entry for them that stops less experienced riders. That's something we should all dwell on, I think, especially if (like me this afternoon) we're sitting on our bottoms posting on a message board instead of actively working with land managers or even helping out with a spade or rake.

Equally (and this doesn't apply from what I can see of photos of the new stuff) don't build things with Consequences(tm) when there are no performance cues to tell approaching riders that they exist, especially on existing trails.

Be good to one another.

Please don’t gatekeep trails that will attract the most traffic because you think there should be a barrier to entry for them that stops less experienced riders.

Its like 10' max gap.... and they are all roll-able slowly (I guess ? can't see why anyone would but they are)

They added a new one last night or this morning, the builders (who shall remain nameless) took ODUB and Brendog to session them.

The actual drop in (before the water company started work on the reservoir) is still more dangerous today with more material being taken from the lip and babies head sized stones scattered in the landing zone - an accident waiting to happen if someone takes it blind to flat and the lip collapses...

and some people keep rolling through the gap in the logs to sit in the landing zone ??? wft - only 2 trails *(1 1/2 at the moment)* in the whole of SH with an actual direction and they want to go the wrong way through a gap for the climb and footpath?? Next thing they will get a chainring in the head and be complaining after they sat round a blind corner in the obvious landing zone???

The actual drop in (before the water company started work on the reservoir) is still more dangerous today with more material being taken from the lip and babies head sized stones scattered in the landing zone – an accident waiting to happen if someone takes it blind to flat and the lip collapses…

Sounds like that should be the priority, rather than building more sweet jumps.

Next thing they will get a chainring in the head and be complaining after they sat round a blind corner in the obvious landing zone???

Not to sound too chippy, but a trail with good performance cues allows you to see where you're going to land for exactly this reason. Are you sure it's the case?