[Closed] Swinley with youngsters this weekend ?

we were contemplating this last night...need to check schedules but certain Sat is out as the kids are away at parties and sleepovers... our lot will be between 11 and 9

I'm in .... 11am ready to ride which for me will involve getting there 20 mins earlier by the time I organise Jnr

I'm planning on taking my 5 year old on Sunday morning. Will try not to be a pair of mobile chicane's for the Strava types.

**** em.... if they're that quick they should be racing Gorricks on Sunday morning 😉

Ooh good. Hopefully a Gorrick event will thin out the traffic at Swinley then.

I haven't been up there this year yet. My boy keeps asking me to take him to 'the dirt jumps'. I think he's been watching too much of the Aptos Post Office section of his bike movies. However, I would like to find a section that best resembles a pump track to session with him. He is getting airborne on his plywood and bricks jump and at the skate park.
Any suggestions as to where we should hang out?

Any suggestions as to where we should hang out?

red 25 has a bit at the top (botttom is FAST) but the problem might be sessioning that section .. we tend to session the whole run but that involves doing the climb and downhill again and its a few minutes to get back and often groups at the top waiting to bomb down.

The new features on Red 7? (or thereabouts)

Is really good to session, we often do it 15-20 times but its not really "pump track" and its quite challenging vis the spacing (especial;ly when damp) and hitting a tree if it goes wrong.

Due to a bit of a lack of anything concrete, we'll head to Swinley at 11am start on Saturday morning. I'll hang around the blue/green entrance point while he does a lap or 2 of the green to warm up, i'll be on a sky blue Whyte T130, he's on a white and blue CUBE 240.

The skill levels can be as easy and tame as you/whoever needs, we can do a few laps of green etc, then some blues. I'm likely to hit some Red trails with my boy a bit later on assuming he's feeling it.

Everyone welcome 🙂

yeah sorry by the looks of the kids schedules they only have Monday free for a ride.

Enjoy.

Thanks Steve. I enjoyed the Youtube links. Its amazing to see their confidence grow when they start at a young age isn't it? I didn't even learn to ride a bike until I was 7 years old, let alone ride the stuff that some youngens are now. Mind you we didn't have trail centres in the early 70's.
We probably stick to the blue trails as its his first time at Swinley and he is on 14" wheels and single speed.

Great idea weeksy! I don't think we can make this weekend, 11 might be a bit early, but definitely on another one. Keep posting them up. 🙂

The skill levels can be as easy and tame as you/whoever needs, we can do a few laps of green etc, then some blues. I'm likely to hit some Red trails with my boy a bit later on assuming he's feeling it.

Swinley being Swinley it should be really easy to cater to multiple abilities.

Everything really fits into loops.... and gets connected by fire trails so its easy for some faster kids to do a route twice or do it and then a short nearby one and meet back...

In my head Swinley is 3 main bits... if you take the Lower Star Post (start of Red 1) then you have stuff between the lookout and Lower star.... the red 1 through whatever that comes back to Lower star and the stuff in the opposite direction over towards axle-run/labyrinth etc.

This is a bit out of date but shows how it breaks down (at least in my head).... Most of the time the routes are just going in circles round the fire trails (this makes great use of space but is a bit disorienting if you don't know it)

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My (unfit) brother came one time ... and I left him and the kid at the start of red 1 and did the loop back to Lower Star Post (only takes a few minutes) and there are also a lot of opt-outs... I'm really rubbish with the actual numbers....

(We have a "wet route" where we miss Red 1-5? for example as it becomes a mud bath) and take the fire trail ... and then half way round you can miss out a whole branch and go straight to the "new trail feature"... or you can go straight from lower star post almost to the "new trail feature" almost completely on fire trails... (just the last climb is red) or you can do all or part of the Western red Loop but then bail after the "New trail Feature" and go back to starpost on fire trails etc.

In other words..[b]dependent on numbers/ability mix[/b]..we could agree 2-3 key meeting points on some bits where we can meet up at some time.... and also just do some loops twice with faster/more confident kids whilst others might session a part of it...

Thanks Steve. I enjoyed the Youtube links. Its amazing to see their confidence grow when they start at a young age isn't it? I didn't even learn to ride a bike until I was 7 years old, let alone ride the stuff that some youngens are now. Mind you we didn't have trail centres in the early 70's.
We probably stick to the blue trails as its his first time at Swinley and he is on 14" wheels and single speed.

Yep not sure what you see and don't vis YouTube.... (most of the stuff is aimed at sharing with family friends but I tend to leave it just in the "not listed but available with a link) setting.

I'm not paranoid about that though....
I saw a link with some 5-7 yr olds at a US bike park.... knock my kid into a hat....

Vis age though .... he didn't start cycling really early... (5 1/2 I think) and he's now 7 1/2 ... but I honestly think its [b]regularity [/b]that drives progression.

He's rubbish at jumping compared to some kids... (though that's partly the bike as the chainstays are the same length as my Medium T-130)

His fitness has increased hugely, not just getting older... and when he started his was for want of a better word "dead average fitness" (just running round a playground or after a ball)

Ages ago (not long after we started) we met another Dad and they sessioned the Red near starpost (Tank Traps) and I adopted this philosophy.... really builds confidence and technical ability then follows giving more confidence etc. I started with a hybrid ...it would probably break/fall apart following him now if I could even keep up!

Another personal philosophy is we never stop at the bottom of a hill.....
Even if in the early times I had to carry his bike or Dad assist.

Everything always seems better if they were tired starting off after some food/drink where the next bit is flat or downhill!

This one I adopted from when I was a youth and did extreme distance fell running. In my mind there is nothing wants to make you give up early like stopping and then the next thing being a big hill climb!

Lots and lots of food/drink as well.... once they deplete their stored energy in my experience that's it for the day... or cranky/tired kid but if you keep it topped up you go faster and further and you BOTH have a much more enjoyable time.

Can't argue with any of that Steve 🙂

I'd like to play at Tank Traps on Sat actually, my lad had a brain fade there last time on the very final root out of it, he mastered the other tricky bits in it, but couldn't get past the last little root.
Seagull (the flat twisty blue with the *rock garden* ?) is also one of our favourites as is Blue 2 last section he loves to session.

I'd also like to take him and do Red25 is it ? The fast jumpy one. We've not done that one and i think he'd have a laugh and it's quite easy to loop round at the end to session it.

The last BLues from the top down are 2 of our/his favourites too.

I'll make sure we've got tonnes of jellies and stuff don't worry 🙂

Might be there - depends if we get tickets for the Reading game. I'll be on a bright yellow Mojo

By the way isn't the flat twisty blue bit called 'Stickler'?

Maybe Flash.. i get them mixed up

Can't argue with any of that Steve

I'd like to play at Tank Traps on Sat actually, my lad had a brain fade there last time on the very final root out of it, he mastered the other tricky bits in it, but couldn't get past the last little root.

For some reason (would take a long explanation) he has an issue on one of the bits on tank traps where he fell ages ago... which is crazy as he rides WAY WAY more technical and bigger....

Seagull (the flat twisty blue with the *rock garden* ?) is also one of our favourites as is Blue 2 last section he loves to session.

I'd also like to take him and do Red25 is it ? The fast jumpy one.

We've not done that one and i think he'd have a laugh and it's quite easy to loop round at the end to session it.

Sounds like Red 25.... the bottom is [b]really [/b]fast...

You really need to session it to get the best IMHO as it's potentially serious injury time if you mess up the bottom part... a couple of jumps are a aligned a bit so if you don't know them your landing would be halfway up a tree... and a few berms better to take slowly the first time.

It's not so much technically difficult as deceptive and bad landing choices for the speed you carry but its probably Ollie's favourite and lots of fun.

We usually do a push-up when we session .... you could ride round but we make a bit of an exception .. the route we push-up is not [i]really [/i]cycle-able ... (good challenge to any parents to see how far they can get up type) and going all the way round it's one of Ollie's least favourite climbs.

Also for us red 25 is a kind of "last serious ride" marker... one way or another it marks a "start making our way back to the car park"...

The last BLues from the top down are 2 of our/his favourites too.

I'll make sure we've got tonnes of jellies and stuff don't worry

He's not going to be jumping at Red25. He's not a jumpy kid. He may be an XC whippet on his day but he's no Steve Peat other than that.

We'll happily push up the Red25 at the bit you know, i'm guessing it's the usual one about 75m up as you exit trail and go left. Then back to the top.

We'll discuss on the morning 🙂

Anyone else making it ?

stevextc - Member 
Sadly it's closed due to "ground bird nesting"

Yep.

Tank Traps is essentially destroyed now. Trees gone, lack of dusty summer riding opportunity, shut for half the year. Thank you Natural England and Thames Basin Heaths Partnership (group now responsible for banging on about ground nesting birds in almost every scrap of heathland in the area).

I still say, when have ground nesting birds ever set up a nest in the middle of a trail? If they have any sense they're off in the scrub and wouldn't be in the slightest bothered by bikes on a designated trail.

Though I'm not sure why evolution hasn't sorted them out anyway. Birds nest in trees for good reason.

Thank you Natural England and Thames Basin Heaths Partnership (group now responsible for banging on about ground nesting birds in almost every scrap of heathland in the area).

I look at this completely from the other side.... I can't get over how lucky we are to have miles of dedicated trails....

Tank Traps is one of those iconic Swinley trails of old that has sadly lost its charm in that the trees have gone.
But, it's a working forest, so it's inevitable. I'm sure I've been riding this trail for at least 17 years, and it was wonderful through the trees. Very hard to find in the early days!
I originally thought ground nesting birds kept coming back to one place every season ( and that area would be shut off half the year) but it turns out the closures anywhere due to ground nesting birds will only be in place because the trees have been cut down and until the trees have grown back to a certain point, about a foot iirc.
So the ground nesting birds thing I guess will go throughout the forest as they chop trees down, but we'll be able to ride again once the trees have grown back a little bit.
From what I've been told, if the closed trails are ridden, the whole place will be shut down to cyclists.
As regards to bringing the kids down Weeksy I can't do this weekend as doing the Dorset Gravel Dash thing, but would love to hook up in the future.
Sounds like a great idea.

mark d - Member 
So the ground nesting birds thing I guess will go throughout the forest as they chop trees down, but we'll be able to ride again once the trees have grown back a little bit.

If Natural England have their way, any growth will just be chopped again. Now that it has ground nesting potential they have the power to override any forestry benefits from trees growing and will ensure it's a long term nesting site.

Or at least that's my cynical view. Maybe they don't have the powers.

stevextc - Member 
I look at this completely from the other side.... I can't get over how lucky we are to have miles of dedicated trails....

Absolutely (glossing over my opinion of cobbles and ginge 😛 ), though it's constantly being eroded each time trees are chopped down near trails just because there's a slim potential of one bird nesting somewhere in the undergrowth.

I'm on a semi not very serious whinge here though. Bloody ground nesting birds just bug me is all 😀 . As I say, why aren't they extinct according to evolution? 😉

though it's constantly being eroded each time trees are chopped down near trails just because there's a slim potential of one bird nesting somewhere in the undergrowth

But nowhere near as much damage as we do......

We have miles and miles of trails and if the ground nester supporters close 1-2 .... no big deal. Same with the no picking mushrooms... etc. etc.

On the other hand there are lots of places that could be brilliant where we can't ride at all... push comes to shove it's us who would be kicked out if "popular opinion" was sought.

I even try to be polite to dog walkers who think letting little spot wander along a technical trail with fast jumps is acceptable/smart ...

Cracking ride with Steve and his VERY chatty lad 🙂

Great riding from both of them... He's got some balls that lad 🙂

Great stuff, planning to take junior tomorrow.

Cracking ride with Steve and his VERY chatty lad

Great riding from both of them... He's got some balls that lad

We both had a great time, and discovered the missing trail...
I've no idea how he breathes, talks and rides up the climbs.... but talking seems to continue regardless....I keep telling him, "just think how good you'd be if you stopped talking..."

I might just need to ask him if he still has balls though.. (should have asked him to check when he got a shower yesterday after he met the saddle on that drop off)

I'm going to have to check my drink bottle as well.... perhaps ergot poisoning or did we really see a dog riding with its paws round the riders neck.... and was that kid with the rear kick stand real... he had those drop off's nailed ... my mind is still struggling with the kick stand though...

I took my boy along on Sunday. We had a blast. Only being just 5 we did 3 loops of the green. The three small rollers about 2/3 the way around were perfect for a little session on trail pumping. The boy 'got it' first time and doubled his exit speed into the corner, which was railed in varying degrees on control. Man they learn fast when they're small.
Next we moved onto the blue. Due to the change in Blue 1 it was easy to just loop Blue 1 then Blue 18, so we did that, lots. Getting a little air off the small table top on 18 and carving berms like it was nothing. Until he decided to try and clear the table, cased the back of it, got all out of shape and human cannonballed a tree. It was time to chill out in the playground after that.
All riders were super patient and courteous, thanks. Thanks also to the riders that checked on us while I consoled weeping boy. He was absolutely fine and I have been checking for neck pain and headaches since. He said it was his best day ever on the way home. It gets you right there doesn't it? Super proud dad moment. Going to try and head up this weekend again.

Awwwwwww. That's fantastic 🙂

I've had 3 "best day ever in my whole life" in the past few weeks 🙂

It makes you feel like a good parent for sure, like we're doing something right !

We went straight from rugby to do a lap of the blue on sunday, we were a bit peckish when finished!!

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