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Hello all I'm heading to swinley tommorrow never ridden there before.was just wondering is the red trail well marked and easy to find the start of?.also is it doable on a singlespeed?..cheers graeme
1. Not really.. but you can ask people
2. Yes.
I couldn't find the start of the 'new' red trail despite having ridden there numberous times before! I assumed I was just being a bit dim...
yes and yes
there was one point where i was not sure where the next marker was (straight ahead) and one where i took an early right turn (it was an old trail that i knew - it soon became obvious it wasnt in use)
find the start of the red by following the blue from behind the lookout. dur.
find the start of the red by following the blue from behind the lookout. dur.
Obviously....
The red starts from the blue after section 10 - look out for the mighty bridge of death on the blue, then do a left when it ends - the blue goes right. Singlespeed? There's no really big or long climbs so its down to your legs.
Start of Red section 1 (Tank traps) is just off to the left as you come out onto a fire road at the end of Blue 10. Yes SS will be fine in fact I prefer SS to gears @ Swinley.
Follow blue around until you go over the little wooden bridge. Next bit of fireroad you get to, blue continues to the right, start of red is to the left.
Couple of bits where signage isn't great, but if you follow the tyre tracks you'll not go far wrong!
edit: oops, too slow.. 🙂
They've added a few extra sign posts wher it was ambiguous before, and SS is fine.
There's only really one climb upto the top of deerstalker (red 17 or 18?) that's hard work on SS, doable, just don't go balls out up the first bit becasue it get steaper!
On the whole it is pretty well sign posted although there are a couple of sections where, if you are new to the area, may feel like you have been abandoned. One is at lower star post where the direction seems a bit vague and you end up on what feels like an old grass / mud trail rather than the newly manicured trails but keep following it and you will be ok.
Overall I think they have done a great job with the trails with some bits that are good fun. It's not the same "natural" experience that was available before but as a known ride I think it's good fun.
Blue trail starts here:
http://binged.it/13lxEVX
Red trail starts here (half way round the Blue):
http://binged.it/13lxY7a
Rode there for the first time last Saturday found it pretty easy to find my way round both blue and red. Even managed to work out a few unmarked bits.
The only slightly confusing bit I found was round the Lower Star area, just remember the marker number you are looking for and search round till you find it.
finding the red trail was not ''too hard'' but finding all the segments of the red was harder imo some places deff needed more sign posting.
Watch out at Red 17 - it's easy to go the wrong way at Deerstalker. The rest is easy to follow. And it's all fine on a SS. And rigid.
Easy to navigate? Yep
Easy to find start of red? I missed it several times but if you know roughly which marker it's near, you'll find it.
Will you have a blast? Hell yeah!